Database Users

Hack for Keyboard Backlight When on External Power?

Is there a registry hack to enable the keyboard backlight to remain on whilst external power is present?
Looking for this for use in-car with my Brodit Cradle.

No need for a registry hack. You can change it in the GUI
Go Start -> Settings -> System Tab -> Backlight.
The second tab allows you to set it so that the backlight doesn't go off.
Or doesn't that work for you?

snorbaard said:
No need for a registry hack. You can change it in the GUI
Go Start -> Settings -> System Tab -> Backlight.
The second tab allows you to set it so that the backlight doesn't go off.
Or doesn't that work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't work for me.

Doesn't work for me, only ranges up to 10 seconds. I too would like to leave the kb backlight on because it's better whilst in laptop mode in the cradle.
Cheers
Ant

Anyone know where the light sensor is as my keyboard backlight ver rarely comes on (even when in total darkness), I think the sensor has been bunged up or moved.
Any ideas?

griffog said:
Is there a registry hack to enable the keyboard backlight to remain on whilst external power is present?
Looking for this for use in-car with my Brodit Cradle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at the HKCU\ControlPanel\BackLight\QKeyLedTimeout setting - it's not battery/external power sensitive, but you can switch off the backlight by closing the clamshell, and re-opening. The value is the timeout in seconds, and can be set to a maximum of 10 seconds via the "Buttons" control panel applet, but I've got mine set to an hour, and it seems to work.
Cheers,
Steve.

the_ape said:
Anyone know where the light sensor is as my keyboard backlight ver rarely comes on (even when in total darkness), I think the sensor has been bunged up or moved.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sensor is small white dot above the left, green (answer) button on keyboard

Worked great
That worked great, thanks. I set mine at 1,000 seconds for now. It's goimg to come in handy, since it always went off too soon. I also found out if you cover the sensor with the flat black end of the stylus it shuts out the light perfectly (My finger couldn't cover it since it's really close to the edge).

How???

How what?
If you are referring to my HKCU\... stuff, then I'm talking about altering your registry settings, which should be done with care. You will need a registry editor, a number of which are freely available, and then you just need to make the change to the registry setting.
Cheers,
Steve.

I know how to edit the registry, I'm on about how to change it to 1000 seconds. Is there a string value giving the entries in the delay dropdown?
Ant
EDIT - oops I should've read what you actually put. Sorry

you can paint over the sensor window with a black permanent marker - this will get the keyboard light going earlier , and makes the sensor less vulnerable to the screen backlight.

2 Tytn Questions

Hi All,
Got, (Finally) my Tytn 3 days ago.
2 quick questions, (that might sound stupid to some of you.... )
1. is there a key-light on the QWERTY keyboard?
2. when I'm outdoors, (sun light) the screen is almost unreadable....
Any suggestions?
Thanks

1) yes.
2) increase backlight

LinoX said:
1) yes.
2) increase backlight
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so how do I turn the keyboard light on?
The brightness is set to MAX......
10x

the keyboard light turns on automatically when the room brightness is not enough (there's a light sensor between the "P" key and the green phone key)
For screen backlight.. I don't know.. mine works well even in high sunlight (when set to maximum brightness) however there's a tool from vj that increases backlight over the maximum value (like when you start the "camera mode") but as far as I know it can be used for small amounts of time (if you don't want to damage your device)
http://www.vijay555.com/?Releases:VJLumos

VJ has an app that will allow the screen to overbright like it does for the camera. It is in the latest WM6 rom. its called BrightScreen.
This helps a little in really sunny places but I also find the screen hard to read outdoors.
The Keyboard has an auto sensor that should activate it only in low light conditions. Change this setting under Settings > Buttons > Backlight Tab
Jules

Fox_SE said:
2. when I'm outdoors, (sun light) the screen is almost unreadable....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sticked a glare-reducing screen protector on it.
(Despite my nickname, which cause confusion, I'm not the vijay mentioned in the thread )
Jörg

Using G-sensor to turn backlight on and Off during a Phone Call

Is there a program that will turn the screen off during a call when the phone is held vertical to your ear and then turn the screen on when the phone is lowered allowing use of the keypad similar to the Iphone?
Thanks,
Henny

You might try Mobile Magic from this forum. But I don't know for sure.

Mate there is already a thread for this, the problem is if there are loads of little threads we can't pool our resources to 'make it happen'.
Here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=451456
So far i don't think anyone has found a working solution.

check out this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=317070
Advanced configuration tool works perfect for me. Just set the light sensor polling to enabled, interval to 10, threshold to 5 and threshold to turn screen off to 5 also.

PatrickSmelt said:
check out this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=317070
Advanced configuration tool works perfect for me. Just set the light sensor polling to enabled, interval to 10, threshold to 5 and threshold to turn screen off to 5 also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
interval to 10? that seems very high, 100 times per second. i'd say something more like 200ms or even 500ms interval. it would use a lot less system resources.
marko

Patrick and Elmarko,
Thanks for the replay.
Tried setting the light sensor as reccomended in your post via the advanced config tool and it does not blank the screen when holding the phone against my ear.
Also, when you lower the phone does the screen come back on?

from my experience I can get rid of the black screen during phone call if i press the <home> button; it gets me back to the dialer
Hennyb said:
Patrick and Elmarko,
Thanks for the replay.
Tried setting the light sensor as reccomended in your post via the advanced config tool and it does not blank the screen when holding the phone against my ear.
Also, when you lower the phone does the screen come back on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

PatrickSmelt said:
check out this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=317070
Advanced configuration tool works perfect for me. Just set the light sensor polling to enabled, interval to 10, threshold to 5 and threshold to turn screen off to 5 also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and what about when in the dark???? wanting to read or use the HD?

Backlight question

What is the darkest possible backlight option ? I often read at night. Also, is backlight easily changed ? On WM 6.1 you simply click on battery.

Dr.Sid said:
What is the darkest possible backlight option ? I often read at night. Also, is backlight easily changed ? On WM 6.1 you simply click on battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you still can click on the battery to change light settings:
start - settings - menu - more -system - battery. There you can change the settings.
I disabled automatic light setting and have it on 40% - suits me well.
BTW: Clicking on the notification bar doesn't do the battery/light job.

So changing backlight takes 6 clicks !?
Anyway I still wonder what is the minimum level in total darkness .. I worry if it is not too strong. I want it to be pleasant to watch in total darkness for longer time.

I use it as a GPS and driving with it at night with automatic blacklight is fine. With my Touch Cruise i always set the blacklight to minimum but with this one I don't seem to need it, even thought it only goes down to 20%

That would remove the need of going into settings ! Thanks for info.

you can set it manually to 10% (and probably even lower with registry tweaks/changes)

Brightness adjustment fail

I installed a battery booster app from the market, and it had an option to dim the screen, it was on 11%, well i tried to adjust it, and i guess i went way to far and it turned my screen black, i cant see nothing.
im on the Darkstone build.
is there a way to either delete that app or what, i know the phone works as i feel the vibration from me sliding it to unlock from home screen.

aznsHD2 said:
I installed a battery booster app from the market, and it had an option to dim the screen, it was on 11%, well i tried to adjust it, and i guess i went way to far and it turned my screen black, i cant see nothing.
im on the Darkstone build.
is there a way to either delete that app or what, i know the phone works as i feel the vibration from me sliding it to unlock from home screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The LCD still light up but very dim, so try going into a dark room and wake up the phone. Then you will be able to see the contain on your phone.

10507 said:
The LCD still light up but very dim, so try going into a dark room and wake up the phone. Then you will be able to see the contain on your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no its literally black, i cant see anything.

aznsHD2 said:
no its literally black, i cant see anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not even in a totally dark room?

10507 said:
Not even in a totally dark room?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like i said it is BLANK. seriously blank. its not dim or nothing.
Is there a way to restore the brightness on here, because i cant see anything im doin on it.

what you can try to do is, grab a friends phone and try to immitate the same touches on both devices, the best way to do it is by unlocking it, pressing the menu key, click on the corner to make sure u go to the settings, scroll all the way up and find your way to "display" tipically the 4th (or 5th in my case because i have cyanogen mod) and brightness (should be the one at the top) and just try to drag ur finger from left to right to increse it (as it should over pass any 3rd party app) and see if it works, but..... keep in mind these things dependeding on what phone you use to guide you....
screen size
DPI scale
sense??? or not! as settings are different
and other things, also..... when you unlock it make sure its on the home screen
i also believe if you go outside you can see the screen a little bit under the sun, but not completely sure
hope this helps, oh and by the way, if you have a build based on sense go to a sprint store and use an EVO lol, or if u have stock froyo grab a nexus one from a friend and use that (but like i said before, keep in mund the screen size)

yea thats what i was tryin to do. no luck.

I had this problem twice and rejoice, I have a solution!
Simply download "DroidExplorer" for windows.
Boot your phone in android.
Once booted (when your screen turns black), plug in USB, and launch DroidExplorer.
In DroidExplorer, look for the "Screencast" icon (little android icon).
Run that, you will see your screen. Reset brightness to a normal level.
You are saved

aznsHD2 said:
I installed a battery booster app from the market, and it had an option to dim the screen, it was on 11%, well i tried to adjust it, and i guess i went way to far and it turned my screen black, i cant see nothing.
im on the Darkstone build.
is there a way to either delete that app or what, i know the phone works as i feel the vibration from me sliding it to unlock from home screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When this happens, try shining a bright light on the screen, make sure the device is woken up (i.e. press a hard button) and view your screen from different angles. Even if the backlight is completely off, the LCD display is still active and the graphics elements just about visible.
With this method, you should be able to make enough of your screen to navigate to the brightness settings.
Screencast in Droid Explorer (for your PC) is also a good last measure.
Most apps that control brightness has this problem on HD2, so be careful about going too low in all of them. In Tasker, for example, 30 is the lowest setting that works.
Even the standard screen dimming that occurs a few seconds before screen timeout is not calibrated correctly. In all Android builds/kernels I have tried, the backlight is turned off when it should be just dimmed. Cyanogen(mod) has a setting for the dim level, but the maximum you can use is 26, which still turns off the backlight.
Curiously, sometimes (very seldom) after waking my phone up from standby, the backlight is in a much dimmer state than usual. When sliding the standard brightness from min to max, the actual brightness range varies from barely visible (but still on) to the regular dimmest level. So the device *can* support incredibly dim levels, but I've have found no way of getting into this state predictably. It has happened only 3-4 times over the past 2 months. A reboot fixes it, but I've also gotten out of this state after a locking/unlocking cycle.
So there seems to be several layers to the backlight brightness:
- the actual hardware (which supports much lower brightnesses than we're usually allowed access to)
- the Android API (which probably is the layer turning backlight off below 30, and which occasionally is fooled into using a much dimmer range than usual)
- whatever app providing the GUI (usually showing a range of 0-100% or 0-255).
Does anyone know if there's a reason for the threshold? Is it somehow risky for the LCD display hardware to be very dim?