[Q] question on disabling front sensor, screen blanking ... - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III

Hello all ... I'm sure this is a simple question ...
My wife has a stock d2vzw with 4.3 installed. The proximity sensor next to the front-facing camera seems extra sensitive; anytime a stray object/finger crosses it's path the screen turns off. My guess is this is a power-saving feature whenever the phone is turned over or placed in pocket, etc. However in my case, it is just super annoying and I would like to disable it. (in contrast, my CM10.2 d2vzw doesn't seem do this by default)
Can someone point me to the option needed (in stock 4.3) to disable this, or perhaps extend the time so that it doesn't black the screen instantly? I've poked through most of the menus and can't seem to find it ....
Thanks

vax1170 said:
Hello all ... I'm sure this is a simple question ...
My wife has a stock d2vzw with 4.3 installed. The proximity sensor next to the front-facing camera seems extra sensitive; anytime a stray object/finger crosses it's path the screen turns off. My guess is this is a power-saving feature whenever the phone is turned over or placed in pocket, etc. However in my case, it is just super annoying and I would like to disable it. (in contrast, my CM10.2 d2vzw doesn't seem do this by default)
Can someone point me to the option needed (in stock 4.3) to disable this, or perhaps extend the time so that it doesn't black the screen instantly? I've poked through most of the menus and can't seem to find it ....
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't disable the sensor with stock rom. The sensor is either on (value 5) or off (value 0) so there's no time setting for this. You have to be rooted in order to disable the sensor. Some technical people reported that they have take the phone apart and clean it, but if the sensor is defective, you either replace it or disable it. Also you can download an app called proximity sensor finder and test your sensor, open the app and wave your hand over it, you should see the value changes from 5 (not cover) to 0 (covered).

Thanks, I'll try it out.
However, is there a setting somewhere that will simply disable the feature of blanking the screen based on the proximity sensor?
With this same phone, I don't think I ever observed the annoyance with 4.1.2 .... it looks like the sensor/blanking is either something new in 4.3 or perhaps some default value/option was reset when the phone was upgraded.
Thanks!

vax1170 said:
Thanks, I'll try it out.
However, is there a setting somewhere that will simply disable the feature of blanking the screen based on the proximity sensor?
With this same phone, I don't think I ever observed the annoyance with 4.1.2 .... it looks like the sensor/blanking is either something new in 4.3 or perhaps some default value/option was reset when the phone was upgraded.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do a factory reset. The ota has a lot of side effects if you do not reset.

Related

Proximity sensor issues?

I'm running CM 7.0.3, and I'm having massive proximity sensor issues, t the point where the phone is becoming unusable. If I'm in a call and I don't manually shut the screen off, the following happens (constantly):
I'll feel some haptic feedback on my ear, and my voice will mute. When I look at the screen, the lock screen is up and when I unlock it, it's at the dialer screen. I'm not hitting the mute or hold button with my ear, it seems like once it gets away from the call screen, my voice is muted.
Needless to say, this is getting massively annoying. Later tonight I'm going to try to see if using a Sense based rom fixes this, but I'd much rather stick with CM. Has anyone else experienced this?
I believe there is another post on this.. you can also Google search for inspire proximity sensor adjustment - someone created an app to adjust the sensor
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
The thread in question:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1062561
EDIT: I haven't used the proximity sensor adjustment application that's linked in the thread as mine is working normally. If it doesn't work there's a possibility the sensor's faulty and should be replaced (I recently went through this whole thing with my old iphone 4).
Yeah, to be honest, I tried that app and it didn't seem to make much difference. I'll try calling HTC
Flashed to a sense based ROM, and the sensor seems to be working fine. Very odd, to be honest. I will say that after using AOSP for so long, I have no idea how you guys deal with Sense at all.
Well, now I have to decide: I can live with Sense, or I can ship my phone back to HTC and be without a device for 2 weeks. Going to try out the proximity sensor app again, but it didn't seem like any setting made a difference, but it could be that I just don't know what I'm doing with it.
Check under Settings>Call Settings and put a check mark in the "Always use proximity" box. It says it's to help with prox. sensor screen locking when the phone is horizontal, but the CM7-based ROM that I was using showed the same issues and I fixed my particular issue by checking that box.
Tested with a few calls and the screen is definitely shutting off when the phone is standing or lying down.
I read up on the proximity app, and I think I have it calibrated properly at 5/6. It certainly helps, but it's definitely not perfect. Night, thanks for the advice, but yeah, that option has been checked from the start. At least the issue is tolerable now, before it would do this 10 times per call.
Funny - mine was calibrated at 10/11 by default and works pretty well. Try going up to those values. I used a local time/temperature number here, and it worked well when my finger got 1/8" or so from the phone. While I admittedly haven't measured the depth of my ear or anything, it does seem to be working well at those settings.
I think the upper threshold is where you may want to adjust. From my playing with that app, changing the lower threshold too high will make it ignore things too close to the phone and so will an upper threshold that is too low. Try lower 5, upper 11 and see what happens. Anything between lower and upper apparently triggers the sensor. (<<< speculation without documentation)

[Q] Sensation 4g proximity sensor problem

Hey guys. Im having a problem with the proximity sensor on my sensation 4g. It was working fine when i bought it. It shut the screen off while calling, but now it does not. I thought that maybe rooting it would fix the problem by getting a custom rom, but i would like some input before i go rom exploring on this phone. I assume its a software issue because i havnt dropped the phone or anything along that line. Any Help would be highly appreciated. I also am looking for the dialer codes that would lead you into a test mode to test the functions on the device. If anyone knows of a code, I would appreciate to learn what it is. thank you for your help.
Make sure Proximity sensor is enabled in Settings > Call Settings > Additional Settings.
thank for your reply. I checked the settings and the only thing that shows up is Caller Id settings and Call waiting. Oh and i downloaded a market app that would show me all the sensors that work on my phone, and the light and proximity sensors both come up with an unknown error. Could it be something from the gingerbread update?
Did anyone figure this out? I have the same problem and its getting pretty annoying.
Me too...:-(
Hello,
I am having the same problem. Earlier, I thought that it was a ROM issue, however, after changing multiple ROMs, it seems to be firmware issue.
On my sensation, I found out that it is related to the back light for the soft keys (home, menu, back and search).
I can get it to work if I turn on pocket mode in Settings > Sound and then restart (once or twice). It will work until next restart.
I have installed AndroSensor from market and it shows one of the 3 messages
Proximity Sensor: Waiting for Event
Proximity Sensor: Unknown Error.
Proximity Sensor: 3.5in
Also, I am getting exceptional battery life which makes me wonder whether phone uses both the cores or if anything else is wrong with the phone.
I am using Energy ROM (3rd Oct).
Any feedback?
Thanks,
Baiju
baijunagori said:
Hello,
I am having the same problem. Earlier, I thought that it was a ROM issue, however, after changing multiple ROMs, it seems to be firmware issue.
On my sensation, I found out that it is related to the back light for the soft keys (home, menu, back and search).
I can get it to work if I turn on pocket mode in Settings > Sound and then restart (once or twice). It will work until next restart.
I have installed AndroSensor from market and it shows one of the 3 messages
Proximity Sensor: Waiting for Event
Proximity Sensor: Unknown Error.
Proximity Sensor: 3.5in
Also, I am getting exceptional battery life which makes me wonder whether phone uses both the cores or if anything else is wrong with the phone.
I am using Energy ROM (3rd Oct).
Any feedback?
Thanks,
Baiju
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is interesting b/c I just noticed I have the same problem, too. I do not check the pocket mode because I want to save some battery life. I did get the proximity sensor working during calls "sometimes". And it's really hard to define this "sometimes" b/c I cannot identify the pattern or reproduce the scenario.
My solution to this issue is that If it's not working, I recharge the battery until full, do a reboot, maybe reboot twice, and it is "sometimes" "fixed" by itself. In my case, after doing that, the proximity will work for a while (again, it's hard to determine how long), and just stopping working all the sudden.
I hope there is a easier fix, maybe a app, that would reset the proximity so we can apply it when the sensor does not work.
Hi I just realized the cause, it's because the battery % mod from UOT kitchen. I removed it and everything is fine now. Apparently the UOT kitchen's setting has problem.
I have 2 sensation 4g. One doesn't have any problem with Energy ROM. For the other phone, I went back to Factory settings and reinstalled original TMobile ROM. I still have problem with that one. I have contacted t-mobile and asked for a replacement. It is something with the hardware I suppose.
Baiju
hello
I got the exact same problem and i do many rom/kernel change to figure out this problem but i just can't .
Yungyeh could you explain more how do you solve it ? thks
toowave said:
hello
I got the exact same problem and i do many rom/kernel change to figure out this problem but i just can't .
Yungyeh could you explain more how do you solve it ? thks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess nothing fancy.
As I've known so far, there are several causes, which can be divided into two categories: Hardware and software .
If your device came with this issue, with a stock rom installed, maybe applied some updates, then you shouldn't wait to call the (HTC/T-mobile?) customer service. Have a exchange or replacement is the only way to correct the hardware issue.
If it's a software issue, i.e. it worked before with a stock rom, but now it fails sometimes after flashing a custom rom, you may go with the following solutions.
Situation One: If the custom rom is fresh installed, charge your device until battery full, stay in charge mode for another 1 - 2 hours, complete power off and on at least twice (three times maybe, make sure the "fastboot" in the power settings is off). Do not install any mod until your rom settles for a few hours. Sometimes the sensor does not work will simply because the cache goes wrong. If after waiting for a few hours and the problem still persists, you may want to check your custom rom's instruction and make sure you've followed every steps.
Situation Two: If the proximity sensor does not work all the sudden, especially after doing a reboot, you should first clear your data for phone app (or any other apps that use the proximity sensor), and then boot into recovery to clear all your cache. After wiping your cache, you have to do what situation 1 instructed because your device is just like a fresh installed one.
Situation Three: If your proximity sensor fails to work after applying a mod, especially some mods cooked from the UOT kitchen, revert back to your previous backup. DO NOT APPLY THAT MOD ANYMORE!!! Try some other mods that work for you and that is friendly to your proximity sensor. This situation also applies to if your flash an inappropriate kernel. Revert back to your previous backup is the only solution.
If none of the situations described above works for you, then I am out of clue. Changing to other custom rom or kernel usually does not work. You may try that but I doubt it will resolve this issue. It may be just your bad luck that the proximity sensor of your device goes to its end. I sincerely hope it not the case.
my sensors are not working!!
accelerometer
gyroscope
light
magnetic field
orientation
proximity
All not working...
Was using HyperSensation-CM7.1-v0.8, then decided to update the kernel, faux newer one, then lost the ability to rotate the phone..
So, did a manual wipe, then super wipe, restored my backup, and still no sensors,
wiped again and tried a diffrent rom nothing changed,
wiped again tried arhd 3.6.7 with stock kernel and faux kernel,
tried cm7 with the kernel it comes with or the newer one and still nothing...
at what level does the software talk to these sensors, is there a 100%way to wipe the phone and start over? i have never had any issue like this before!
Would reverting back to the original rom via fastboot help at all versus what i have done?
if someone has any ideas pm me, its a little bit easier then catching a response here since this is the most popular rom in the world lol, but ill still be reading
I'm having the same probpem. I don't really mess around with Roms or anything and I have 2 sensation 4g that do the same thing. And I believe is an htc problem.
having the same iseu with proximity and light sensor.
Do you have an solution yet ?
yungyeh said:
Hi I just realized the cause, it's because the battery % mod from UOT kitchen. I removed it and everything is fine now. Apparently the UOT kitchen's setting has problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I`m having the same problem with both proximity and light sensors.They work occasionally but not for to long.Have you found a solution for this?
It's April of 2012 and I have found NO answers or fixes!!!!!!!!!!
Same sensor problem on my sensation.
If I reboot the phone in a dark room, booth sensors are working (I don't know if it's correct when the proximity sensor shows only 3,5 or 0 inches, but it works)
When I go to a lighted room, the proximity sensor stops to work and the light sensor needs more time to measure the illumination.
If I reboot the phone into lighted room, the sensors didn't work.
It is possible to simulate a "dark room" by covering the sensors with a finger ;-)
It is not easy to decide if the error is located into software or the sensors are "overloaded". For finding out a solution I have ordered new flex main board which should contain booth sensors. Hope it helps ^^
schand99 said:
Same sensor problem on my sensation.
If I reboot the phone in a dark room, booth sensors are working (I don't know if it's correct when the proximity sensor shows only 3,5 or 0 inches, but it works)
When I go to a lighted room, the proximity sensor stops to work and the light sensor needs more time to measure the illumination.
If I reboot the phone into lighted room, the sensors didn't work.
It is possible to simulate a "dark room" by covering the sensors with a finger ;-)
It is not easy to decide if the error is located into software or the sensors are "overloaded". For finding out a solution I have ordered new flex main board which should contain booth sensors. Hope it helps ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@schand99: The Flex/Main Board actually isn't the problem. It is an HTC software/hardware related problem. I have 2 Sensation's here now, one is rooted and unlocked entirely and the Proximity and Ambient Light Sensors and the Capacative Backlights on the touchpad DO NOT WORK. FYI, the touchpad lights work in cooperation of the Ambient Light Sensors: If there is any light under 90.0 Luxes (this is how the sensor measures light) the backlights will come on. If there is anything over 90.0 Luxes, the backlights will stay off. This is based on the fact that you need light in a totally dark environment, or you do not need light as you can see the touchpad and it is not that dark.
It is DEFINITELY not a hardware issue as there are some temporary fixes that will bring them back to life, but usually after a reboot, they are both dead again.
I am curious if your new flex/main cable would do the trick or not. I have tested the sensors chipsets independently and they work fine, there is just something that block their functionality on a software end.
mariosaraylian said:
It is DEFINITELY not a hardware issue as there are some temporary fixes that will bring them back to life, but usually after a reboot, they are both dead again.
I am curious if your new flex/main cable would do the trick or not. I have tested the sensors chipsets independently and they work fine, there is just something that block their functionality on a software end.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My report about main flex board changing:
After changing the board booth sensors are working fine. I have tested the functionality of the sensors also on different ROM's like stock rom, OrDroid and CoinDroid. No problem until now. It makes not a difference anymore if I power on the phone into dark room or on a sunny place.
BUT!
I don't recommend to do this by yourself. It is verry difficult to do this work !!
It is my profession to do this kind of work.
AND
to change the board was the right method for fixing the sensor-problem on my HTC Sensation. I had to unlock the hboot 1.27.xx by using the "beer drinking" method. So perhaps I have damaged the sensors by doing this...
schand99 said:
My report about main flex board changing:
After changing the board booth sensors are working fine. I have tested the functionality of the sensors also on different ROM's like stock rom, OrDroid and CoinDroid. No problem until now. It makes not a difference anymore if I power on the phone into dark room or on a sunny place.
BUT!
I don't recommend to do this by yourself. It is verry difficult to do this work !!
It is my profession to do this kind of work.
AND
to change the board was the right method for fixing the sensor-problem on my HTC Sensation. I had to unlock the hboot 1.27.xx by using the "beer drinking" method. So perhaps I have damaged the sensors by doing this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@schand99: That's very strange that it could be the SAME hardware problem for all of these people that are complaining about this issue. I wonder if is some sort of production issue they have. The strange part is that it is not just for the lot of hardware issued for the USA only, it is also in other parts of the world also.
I did a hardware exchange with mine at the TMOUS store and the "new" one I have now is working fine thank God.
I told them that the TMOUS ICS RUU OTA upgrade broke the sensors LOL!
Thanks for your feedback!

Anyone got Power Switch working?

I've tried a bunch of different "smart cover" type apps out, and I can't get anything to work. I saw in the Best/Worst apps list that Power Switch is good for the Infinity. I was unable to get it working, anybody else have success with it?
jhollender said:
I've tried a bunch of different "smart cover" type apps out, and I can't get anything to work. I saw in the Best/Worst apps list that Power Switch is good for the Infinity. I was unable to get it working, anybody else have success with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know that app but I use Screen off and Lock...works great to switch off screen.
You don't have a keyboard dock, do you? I just close my docked tablet to put it to sleep and open it again to wake it.
My cover is still in the mail, but when I tried SmartCover and used my finger to cover the light sensor, it worked like it was supposed to. The only thing i didn't have the patience to deal with (yet) was getting the settings right for low light situations; and yes I did check the box to make it know that after a certain time, it would be darker and thus not be as sensitive. When my cover arrives, I'll try again and let ya know :laugh:
I have tried every smart cover-esque app I can, and none seem to work on the Infinity.
I use Proximity Screen Off Pro on my TF700 (needs rooted)
after install, you have to choose "ambient light sensor" (not proximity sensor), hit start service (in app) and reboot.
works great in TF700
xkaiser said:
I use Proximity Screen Off Pro on my TF700 (needs rooted)
after install, you have to choose "ambient light sensor" (not proximity sensor), hit start service (in app) and reboot.
works great in TF700
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works great for turning it off. How do you get it to turn the screen back on?
I use Awesome On Off Ultimate. I tried other similar programs, but this is the best one so far.

[Q] Nexus 5 Proximity repair

Looks like my proximity sensor is well and fully borked. Light sensor works, but I'm getting zero input from the prox sensor (per sensorbox test).
q1: is there anyway to force the screen to stay on when placing / taking a call? Right now when I place a call, the screen blacks out, and I can't hang up / access the dialer, etc... must shut down the phone.
Q2: is it possible to replace the prox sensor? it looks like it's soldiered to the board.
Thanks.
Frank
Whatever you do, don't edit the build.prop trying to disable it, exact same thing happened to me and I bricked my phone, with no backups, and no USB connection (Micro USB port is messed up)
Also, i found a way, (although i haven't tested it myself, because my phone is dead) through xPosed framework, to completely disable the proximity sensor, because lets be honest, what do you use it for apart from calls?
Here's the link: http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.mrchandler.disableprox
cannuks76 said:
Whatever you do, don't edit the build.prop trying to disable it, exact same thing happened to me and I bricked my phone, with no backups, and no USB connection (Micro USB port is messed up)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You give me more credit on skills that I don't have.

Strange mic issue

Wondering if anyone has any advice for my weird mic issue - it's a little different to the others I've seen but willing to try anything at the moment. Here's what I've found so far:
*People can't hear me when I talk into the phone. I've tried calling my home phone and listening and I don't hear anything either.
*This problem seems to happen when I'm holding the phone normally (i.e. against my face - ear to the ear speaker and mouth near bottom of the phone's mic)
*If I talk right into the bottom of the speaker (as in have the bottom mic and speaker right in front of my mouth), it picks up audio fine on the other end.
*Speakerphone appears to be fine so secondary mic is working fine.
*Done the usual clean the mic hole with pin (and compressed air), made sure my finger wasn't covering the mic hole, removed any cases, etc.
My suspicion is maybe the proximity sensor is doing something to cause the audio to cut out? I can't imagine the bottom mic being that directional that it picks up nothing in one particular direction while works fine in another.
Phone is bone stock S6 - SM G920W8 running 6.0.1 (Build G920W8VLU3CPC8)
I've already done a factory reset so this thing is as clean as it gets and still no luck. Help!
Apps could be the issue.
Do you have any apps or had any apps in the past that use the proximity sensor on your Galaxy S6? I know that I have had these problems in the past where certain apps that use the proximity sensor, such as the wave your device on and off app that I frequently use interfere with how the microphone detects how far away your face is.
WSADKeysGaming said:
Do you have any apps or had any apps in the past that use the proximity sensor on your Galaxy S6? I know that I have had these problems in the past where certain apps that use the proximity sensor, such as the wave your device on and off app that I frequently use interfere with how the microphone detects how far away your face is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I recall. I did boot the device up in Safe Mode (which should stop any third party app from loading) and the problem still occurred. I also tried it again after I did a factory reset and before I loaded any apps but that didn't help either.
I don't use the gestures at all so I don't think it's that but maybe the factory reset turns it on. I'll see if I can find it to check.
syee said:
Not that I recall. I did boot the device up in Safe Mode (which should stop any third party app from loading) and the problem still occurred. I also tried it again after I did a factory reset and before I loaded any apps but that didn't help either.
I don't use the gestures at all so I don't think it's that but maybe the factory reset turns it on. I'll see if I can find it to check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it looks like gestures were turned on by default. Turned them all off and then turned them on one by one and made a test call and found it's the "Smart Alert" feature that caused the mic to not work when near my face.
Thanks WSADKeysGaming for the reminder about the gestures! I completely forgot about it because I never used them.
Don't mention it!
There are so many settings nowadays that its hard to remember whats on and off, left and right. Glad I could help!
syee said:
Well, it looks like gestures were turned on by default. Turned them all off and then turned them on one by one and made a test call and found it's the "Smart Alert" feature that caused the mic to not work when near my face.
Thanks WSADKeysGaming for the reminder about the gestures! I completely forgot about it because I never used them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for bumping an old thread, are you familiar with why the Smart Alert feature would do this? Thanks!

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