Database Info

G2x = PC Replacement

Hey everyone. I just wanted to follow up with the several questions about using your G2x phone as a PC. Pretty simple really. Here are the required items (obviously)
Code:
G2x!
CM7 (tested on #70 but most should work)
Bluetooth Keyboard
Bluetooth Mouse
Micro HDMI Cable
Root Explorer
I am using a Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 v1.0 and a Mini Bluetooth Keyboard I bought off ebay for $7.
Go into [Settings>Wireless Settings>Bluetooth Settings] Turn on Bluetooth and Pair your devices according to their instructions. My Mouse paired using the passkey "0000" and my keyboard gave me fits and forced me to read the directions. It required you type in a passcode into Bluetooth Settings popup box, THEN enter the SAME password on the KEYBOARD + ENTER.
Anyway, after you pair up, both devices will say "Paired, but not connected". So tap on each one until they both connect. You should get a MOUSE CURSOR once the mouse connects.
Mouse Controls:
Left Click = Normal Select
Right Click = Back (Handy!)
Wheel Click = Menu (Genius)
Scroll Wheel = Scroll
You can also click and drag using the mouse.
The keyboard works as a normal keyboard. Mine has all kinds of FN key functions. Mine also lacks dedicated arrow buttons so I have to press FN+ to get to my Arrow Keys which these scroll in the OS.
At this point you could plug the phone into a HDMI Television or Monitor and use the mouse and keyboard to navigate around. Everything is kinda HUGE but works.
To fix the HUGE problem we need to edit the [u]/system/build.prop[/u] file and adjust the screen density. So use Root Explorer and go to "system" and tap on the "Mount R/W" button at the top. This enables Read/Write so we can save our changes. Next press and hold on the "build.prop" file and select "Open in Text Editor" from the pop up window.
Now viewing the contents of "build.prop" lets be very careful we don't change anything accept what we need. This could cause problems forcing you to reload the OS.
Scroll down several lines until you see [b]ro.sf.lcd_density=240[/b]. This is the only thing we want to change. Set this according to your preferences. "180" seems good. Others use "190".
Make your changes and hit the back button. Select the option to SAVE and exit. Now restart your phone.
Now everything appears smaller. Sync up your devices and have yourself an instant PC!
[UPDATE]
After a while the mouse really feels good. I can really scoot around with this setup. The G2x powerhouse keeps on chugging too. Also the stock apps don't really show off the larger screen. Probably need some tablet aware apps.

This is pretty cool but would you mind posting some pics of your setup. Id like to see what it looks like using the phone on a monitor.

Ha it looks like CM7 in landscape mode and bigger. 240 is too cramped this mode. Changing the density is a big help.
I don't have a decent camera other my phone but I have a camcorder that I could make a video to upload.
The mouse and keyboard work really well. I just need some better apps to show it off but this is mostly just a test for others since I had the Bluetooth equipment.
It would be perfect if you could change the density on the fly without a reboot or an app that would do it automatically when it detects the HDMI cable.
LG G2x - CM7.1 RC1 2.3.4
www.CincyAdmins.com
www.MiiWiiChat.com

Nice guide, we just need linux
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1151931
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App

Thanks for sharing the info mate. Will surely try that mode.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

hey everyone. i got this to work this weekend as well. I used a logitech IPAD bt keyboard and an apple magic mouse. also paired with the apple bt keyboard in the store but they were out so i didnt grab one. for lcd density i just use the lcd density changer app in the market. works for me. I would not reccomend the apple magic mouse. while it is super smooth and great at navigating, there is no wheel so you loose out on the option to bring up the menu. having to reach and touch the menu button on the phone is a drag. also, the logitech keyboard was mapped for ipad. had the square ipad menu button, but that didnt work to bring me to my home screen or bring up my menu. so definitely if you are doing this make sure the keyboard you choose has buttons mapped to specific functions, i.e. "home" dont want to be in a browser and have to click back 30 times to get to your home screen. just my two sense. as far as HDMI out, my display's margins were cut off a bit which was kinda annoying. and everything looked a bit pixelated even with the LCD density switch although after the switch you will find much more home screen real estate which is bomb. well, let me know your thoughts on the hdmi margin cut. would love to get it super clear.

chillwill11 said:
Nice guide, we just need linux
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1151931
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is up with this linux stuff?! I actually just started running ubuntu on my netbook. Would love to do that on my android when im home just for the simple fact that it is more powerful than my asus aspire one from three years ago lol.

Gametel bluetooth game controller now available in US. [pic plus review]

The Gametel controller is now available on Amazon.com. I got mine in the mail today. Here's a quick review.
It came with no battery charge, so I had to plug it in to test it out. I was using a USB cable plugged into my computer. At first it only showed a red light to indicate charging, but then a green light came on shortly afterward. This is supposed to indicate that it's on but not paired. I tried pairing with the device using the Gametel software from the market, but it would not work. Turns out you can't use the controller while it's plugged into a computer. As soon as I unplugged it it turned off, and when I turned it back on it paired fine. I tested it again while plugged in and it still wouldn't connect to the phone. No big deal, but it's a minor hassle. It might work fine when plugged into an outlet. It supposedly has a 9 hour battery life, so just keep it charged and this issue should never bother you.
Despite the One X's huge size it fits fine, even with a TPU case. The TPU case has the added benefit of keeping the controller arm from pressing the down volume button. The software has a feature to disable the volume keys because of this potential issue, but it's nice that I didn't need to use it. It says it can provide volume control using the device itself, but I'm not sure how that would work, since all the physical buttons are mapped to SNES buttons for my purposes. You could always slide the phone a little bit to the left and it wouldn't hit the volume key. The phone would be off center, but it wouldn't be too bad.
The controller acts as a virtual keyboard. As part of the software setup it installs an input method in your keyboard settings. As soon as you launch the software it prompts you to change to its input method, which is handy. Then you can launch your favorite emulator and map the keys is uses to the emulator's buttons.
I initially had problems with the default keys that the controller was emitting. I'm used to an SNES button layout, so I will call the buttons X (top), Y (left), B (bottom), A (right). For some crazy reason the A button was emitting the Android "Back" button by default. This was mappable in Snes9x EX, but pressing it still performed the "Back" action which prompted you to quit the game. The B button was emitting the "DPAD Center", which worked, but was an odd choice. It's even stranger because none of the preset key configs in the Gametel software's Advanced Settings have this setup. If this happens to anyone else, just load the Android Gamepad preset and it will work fine. However, it reverses X & Y and A & B from what I'm used to, so I made my own preset named SNES. That way when I configure Snes9x the purpose of the button matches up with the key being emitted.
As for the controller's buttons and D-pad, they are OK. The buttons are great, but the D-pad makes you move diagonally a little too easily. If anyone is familiar with the Xbox 360 D-pad, it's the same sort of problem, but not as bad. Maybe with more time I'll get used to the feel of exactly where to press to avoid moving diagonally. Part of the problem is the D-pad is circular instead of cross-shaped. It's hard for your thumb to feel exactly where the cardinal directions are. This isn't the entire problem, though, because the 360 controller has clearly raised cardinal directions and it still sucks really bad. Thankfully it's not nearly that bad with this D-pad. Pretty much anything is better than on-screen controls.

That actually looks pretty cool.
I don't game enough to need this and touchscreen controls don't bother me enough, but thanks for the review!

As it turns out, the D-pad is really ****ty. This is most noticeable in games with movement in both directions, like Secret of Mana. Zelda wasn't so bad because you move kind of slow and you can adjust your thumb position if you notice yourself moving diagonally by accident. However, in Secret of Mana you fly across the screen, and moving diagonally by accident for a second can really put you off course. In a game like Super Mario World you don't really notice the problem.
I might have to try an iControlPad. I just really liked the Gametel's single-piece design and spring-loaded arm.

Sixaxis controller app and ps3 controller.. All you'll ever need
Sent from my One X using xda app-developers app

[Q] Hiding the mouse pointer.

I have one of those Android HDMI TV sticks (A variant of CX-01, to be exact.) running 4.0.4, successfully rooted and hacked up to my liking. There is one thing I would like it to do, which, in my case, is the reason to own it in the first place: I need a very portable presentation device, which I could plug into anything with a HDMI socket and play a presentation. (As a side note, it boots whenever it gets power supplied, so you can use it as a very hidden cheap web server - it's smaller than a Raspberry Pi.)
There is a problem with this usage, however. The device comes with a 2.4 GHz wireless accelerometer-based mouse with a few buttons, which is it's only input device, connected over USB OTG. (Replacing it with something else would be very much not cost-effective) That mouse is only usable because when it is connected, ICS displays a mouse pointer on screen, otherwise, navigation would be way too cumbersome. I have replaced the stock mouse pointer with a smaller one by replacing the png image in framework-res.apk, and it's good enough. Using Hide Bar, I was able to hide the status bar (the wireless mouse has back and home buttons) so I get the full screen for my presentation.
During the presentation itself, I need an input device to move between individual slides and otherwise trigger execution, buttons on the wireless mouse work, or can be reassigned in various ways. However, I need the mouse pointer to invisible during that, as the motion sensitive wireless mouse would make it move constantly while I'm talking with the mouse in my hand.
There is apparently no way to temporarily disable the accelerometer in the mouse itself, while it has a power button that disables it entirely, it turns off everything, including the buttons, and pressing the buttons enables the mouse again.
This means I need a software means to temporarily hide or disable the mouse pointer. (I can obviously permanently hide it by replacing the pointer with a transparent PNG. That would make it very hard to control the device, because the only button it has to trigger a control actually simulates a left click, so it's out.) Extensive googling failed to provide an answer -- most of the time people who get a mouse pointer they don't want seem to eventually give up and pick a HID device which does not produce it instead. As far as I can see, there can only be two ways to do it:
Somehow get the OS to think it has no mouse HID device, or that it's not moving.
Somehow force the mouse pointer to stick to a corner of the screen and keep it there while it's not needed.
Unfortunately I could find no clear sources on either method. I'm not above some hacking and programming to get it done, but I would appreciate an advice on what to look for.

Use tablet as touchpad when connected to big monitor/TV? (not simple mirroring)

I'm surprised to learn that we must keep our eyes on the tablet while clumsily tapping even when the tablet is connected to a big display.
Instead of plugging a mouse into the touchpad (I guess that's the current workaround), why not turn the tablet into a touchpad when mirroring the display of the tablet on a large screen? With that setup, the tablet display wouldn't actually be mirrored, the big display would look like a desktop computer display with a pointer floating around on it. Also, the virtual touchpad on the tablet could be resizable so that you could simultaneously show a virtual keyboard (neither of which would show on the big display). Or there could be a spot on the tablet display tapped to switch between virtual keyboard and touchpad. Again, neither showing up on the big display.
Let me know if I'm not being clear enough. This has nothing to do with simply mirroring the tablet display to a monitor/TV, I know that can be done through MHL and HDMI stuff. Also, it has nothing to do with using the tablet as a touchpad for another computer. The only components are the tablet and the big display (monitor or TV).
And of course if it's already been done, please let me know.

The simplest of implementations...
The big display would mirror the tablet display. The tablet would show a tiny pointer. How small doesn't matter because you won't be looking at the tablet. The pointer location would correspond to the current pointer location as shown by "developer options" on anAndroid. That pointer would be driven by touch. That should be easy enough, the only difference is that a relative pointer position would be used instead of current finger point position.
Apparently 99% of the programming for this stuff is already done on Android tablets. Probably also on iPads or whatever. It would just need a GUI switch and to make a few tiny adjustments when connected to a monitor.
VoiceScripter said:
I'm surprised to learn that we must keep our eyes on the tablet while clumsily tapping even when the tablet is connected to a big display.
Instead of plugging a mouse into the touchpad (I guess that's the current workaround), why not turn the tablet into a touchpad when mirroring the display of the tablet on a large screen? With that setup, the tablet display wouldn't actually be mirrored, the big display would look like a desktop computer display with a pointer floating around on it. Also, the virtual touchpad on the tablet could be resizable so that you could simultaneously show a virtual keyboard (neither of which would show on the big display). Or there could be a spot on the tablet display tapped to switch between virtual keyboard and touchpad. Again, neither showing up on the big display.
Let me know if I'm not being clear enough. This has nothing to do with simply mirroring the tablet display to a monitor/TV, I know that can be done through MHL and HDMI stuff. Also, it has nothing to do with using the tablet as a touchpad for another computer. The only components are the tablet and the big display (monitor or TV).
And of course if it's already been done, please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Anybody connect their tablet to a large monitor? Enjoy fumbling around on the tablet when you could be using precise pointer control? Think this might help for stuff like browsing?
Anybody?

Logitech Universal. Bluetooth Folio for the HD 8.9

Finding decent accessories for this tablet is hard. Especially when it comes to cases as many of them are poorly made. A few days ago I went to Best Buy and bought the 'Universal Folio' by Logitech, however, I wasn't planning on doing so. My intentions were to buy a USB keyboard designed for tablets, and they already had some in stock of what I had looked at the least time I was there. I also needed a case. So I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone and buy it. The salesman let me open and look at it. I was impressed.
Initially I was going to pass at it. The front of the box says "Fits most 9-10in tablets." (This is a Kindle 8.9 and when it comes to Amazon products vs. accessories, yes size does matter). I flipped the box and read ALL of the back. On the right side, the last supported product listed, 'Amazon Kindle Fire 8.9 (HDX included). Score!
Retail at Best Buy was $59.99, ten dollars cheaper than the USB keyboard (not a case). Open it up, insert tablet under the two bottom tabs. Push up on both corners of the clamps on both sides and insert the upper half of the tablet below the clamps, allowing them to grasp it into place. You have a fully functional QWERTY keyboard, which is confusing to setup. Pull the yellow tag out of the battery case and switch on the Folio. Looking at the top right of the keyboard, you will see the F12 key which also has a Bluetooth symbol on it. Make sure you are in the tablet's Bluetooth settings and make sure the tablet's Bluetooth is on, and the folio is turned on. Press the bluetooth symbol (F12) on the folio and also tap it on your tablet. Select your options in the pop up box and tap ok. Enter their given pin number when it's displayed. You have about 10 seconds to enter it so be quick or you'll have to try again. No box will pop up, so just type the pin quickly and hit the enter key on the folio when done.
All in all, this is a really cool accessory. I give it 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it to anyone. My favorite part: it looks like a laptop Pictures attached.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/universal-folio-tablet-keyboard-case

I wanted to get more out of this setup and wanted to get a mouse. Two things to know: 1) Although the tablets support USB OTG, they do not supply the port with enough power so the standard USB mouse, used with an OTG adapter, will NOT work. 2) A standard wireless mouse with the clip, also will NOT work.
So now I was left with the final option, Bluetooth. I wasn't sure if these tablets would run two Bluetooth devices at one time. I figured it was only $20 for a Bluetooth mouse, so I had nothing too much to lose. I again went to Best Website and looked for one. I got an HP Bluetooth mouse for $18.99, $20 off retail for Black Friday. Batteries were included (2 AA). Simply pull out the paper tab, turn on the Bluetooth on both devices, and select the mouse on your tablet. No pin number is required. Connection is near instant.
Since nearly everyone has rooted, TWRPed and rommed by now, you can I stall the Xposed Framework and install a module called 'Disable full screen keyboard.' this will add a toggle to a notification in the statusbar that allows you to turn off and on, the full screen keyboard "for any keyboard" allowing you the full physical keyboard experience. See attached photos below.

Disadvantages:
1) you may have trouble using this on your actual lap. The tow clips located on the bottom of the tablet, which hold the tablet in place when in the laptop format, pull up on the plastic ever so slightly when leaned back too far. This causes the connection between the battery and the folio, to become separated which causes the folio to constantly reconnect when pressing the screen too hard.
2) There's no padding between the screen and keyboard. The clips put about 1/4 inch between the screen and keyboard so make sure it's secure and the strap is pulled over properly or you'll scratch the screen big time.
3) Pressing the keys too quick or too hard will cause you to type double letters. This happens a lot for me. So if you're used to really pounding on the keys, you'll have to adjust your pressure.
4) The instructions are vague. If I hadn't figured out how to set it up on my own, it would've gone back to the store.

Issues with mouse?
I've recently been using a mouse with my tablet over Bluetooth but in most apps the "click" isn't working I have show touches on and obviously with my finger it shows up but with a mouse is does not, any chance you know a way round this? Cheers

bjscott55 said:
I've recently been using a mouse with my tablet over Bluetooth but in most apps the "click" isn't working I have show touches on and obviously with my finger it shows up but with a mouse is does not, any chance you know a way round this? Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you rooted? If so with or without a custom rom?
Sent from my Amazon KFSUWI using XDA Labs

DragonFire1024 said:
Are you rooted? If so with or without a custom rom?
Sent from my Amazon KFSUWI using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am running a old ROM, I've figured it out now for anyone that is interested.
Simply download the octopus app from play store and launch your desired app you want to use a mouse on through that works flawlessly. Thankyou for your time.