Hi all. My friend and I have swapped our phones. He wanted something more pocket-friendly and more like a phone, whereas I wanted something with a bigger screen to sling in my bag - so it seems like a good compromise.
However, the way the Universal handles power/standby and the backlight seems quite different and it's baffling me. I'd appreciate some help getting my head around it.
On my Wizard, after I'd got it all figured out, I would just pull it out of my pocket and press the power button on the top to instantly turn the display and backlight on and see what was on the screen. Then I'd press the button again to turn the display and backlight off and put it back in my pocket. While in my pocket like this, all buttons except the power button were locked, yet it would still receive calls and get my e-mails and texts: ideal. If I wanted to shut the whole thing down I would *hold* the power button and it would shut down completely.
Now I've got the Universal. Pressing the power button seems to have the same effect, but holding it now turns the backlight off. Here are my questions:
1) Why would you want to do that?
2) Why is there a separate backlight button too, if holding the power button toggles the backlight?
3) How can I turn the device fully off (apart from removing the battery temporarily)?
4) How do you generally use *your* Universal? Do you just close the screen and toss it in a bag/pocket? Or do you leave it in tablet mode and press the power button?
Thanks for any thoughts!
- Si
Re: Swapped my Wizard for a Universal: power button confuses
Wow, your friend sure got ripped off. I came from a Wizard myself, the Universal is a much more refined machine. I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.
1) Why would you want to do that?
I have no clue, I wonder why there are so many backlight options.
2) Why is there a separate backlight button too, if holding the power button toggles the backlight?
Same answer as above :lol:
3) How can I turn the device fully off (apart from removing the battery temporarily)?
I've never had to fully turn it off, even in the factory manual they don't tell you. They give you a run around answer I'll quote here,
"Power button: Press and hold to turn the screen backlight on and off (you can also do this using the screen backlight button see page #9 & #17) When you close the lid the screen goes off; if you leave the lid open, the backlight will time out and then the screen will switch off. A single press of the power button will turn the screen on or off. The phone is turned on at startup, after the SIM pin is entered. If the screen goes off, the phone will still remain connected."
4) How do you generally use *your* Universal? Do you just close the screen and toss it in a bag/pocket? Or do you leave it in tablet mode and press the power button?
Becareful closing it and tossing it in your bag, the screen likes to make contact with the keyboard leaving marks on the keys and screen ( ) People usually put a small screen wipe rag in between the screen and keyboard before closing or get a silicone case. I have the silicone case, when I'm out it's in my hands since I'm not a belt clip person or in my pants pocket when it fits :wink: The only time it's in tablet mode is when I'm surfing the net or playing a game; I don't like to leave it in tablet mode as it exposes the screen to accidents.
My friend is pretty happy with the Wizard - it suits his needs better and it is amazing what a difference the 'compactness' makes if you use it mainly as a phone rather than a PDA.
Okay, so it seems you can't turn the Universal off. I always plug my phone in to charge at night, so I'm not worried about that.
I was really impressed with the ruggedness of the Wizard. The screen never got any scratches on it. I wish they made iPods out of the same material!
When you use the Universal as a phone, do you tend to use it closed? I feel sort of silly holding a chopping-board sized slab up to my ear. Maybe I'll get a Bluetooth headset
Izzard-UK said:
When you use the Universal as a phone, do you tend to use it closed? I feel sort of silly holding a chopping-board sized slab up to my ear. Maybe I'll get a Bluetooth headset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I've only used the Universal's earpiece once or twice. It's too big to hold up to your ear for talking. When sitting at your desk, or when you're playing with it, people are always giving you the "Wow!" look but when you have it up against your ear as a cell phone they laugh...and laugh :lol:
I always use a bluetooth earpiece/headset. I have either my Bluespoon AX2 or Motorola HT820 with me at all times. Bluetooth is a must! I rarely use the Wizard's earpiece either, always bluetooth on the Wizard as well.
Good morning - or afternoon to all, depending on where you live. Just had a question on if there was a way to be able to tell how much battery I have from within a game. Maybe a rough estimate could be made possible by when in a fullscreen game, or even when the phone is locked and the screen is dark,if the battery level goes to 75%, then 3 of the 4 soft touch buttons would be lit up, and when it goes to 50%, only the menu and home button would be lit, and when the battery hits 25%, only the menu button would come on. Of course they wouldn't stay on, only for 2 minutes or so. Just long enough for you to notice it and make a note, so you don't have to unlock your phone, or stop what you are doing on the phone, to go back to the home screen to check your battery. Thanks for your time everybody and I appreciate any input negative or positive to this idea.
it is an interesting idea, and maybe possible, but i don't think it would be worth them amount of work and digging necessary. The reason i think it might not be possible is that i've never seen just one of the lights on on this phone, ever. I know one will blink off when you touch it, but they're all lit...
i have searched around and haven't found quite what im looking for. i find my phone screen is turning on in my pocket and sometimes unlocks. i hear the sound of it unlocking all the time just from the pressure against my leg. i keep it so my screen is faced in because of what i do for work i could easily smash it against something. i have bought a case that helps prevent the side power button and the home button from being pressed but still happens quite often.
what i am looking for is an app/mod that will keep the screen from coming on when the proximity sensor detects that it is in my pocket. this would need to work regardless of whether home/power buttons are pressed or a notification wakes it.
if anyone knows of something like this for our phones i would much appreciate it.
Don't have that app/mod, but you may be interested in this one instead. Killing the home button's ability to wake up the phone. I did this on my S4, although you only need to modify the one file, the gpio-key.kl. You need to be rooted:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1702675
Thanks ill give it a try and see if it cuts down on screen on time. I have noticed that ill get notifications and phone calls that will turn the screen on and then simply walking will be enough to swipe and unlock. This screen is much more sensitive than my old epic.
Hi Guys,
got my S8 about 6 days ago. it's been working flawlessly and i've been really enjoying it.
Yesterday i took it out of my pocket and the screen wont turn on. it's completely black. i can hear it unlocking, i can even answer phone calls on it and talk, but again, can't see anything. I've tried hard resetting the phone (volume down & power button), it completely reboots, which you can hear the tune of it starting, but nothing. I've tried plugging it into the charger, still nothing.
I'm new to the samsung party, so i did some research naturally and found this was a common problem on the previous generations. Most cases were solved by removing the battery and reinstalling. however with this model, i can't do that. I've taken the phone back to at&t to get an exchange, and because i "preordered it," i need to go through customer service, which they are telling me i need to send the phone back, and because i do not have the original shipping box, i need to pay a 15% restocking fee to return the phone. THEN, they will take up to 5-7 days to send me a new phone. As you can tell, i'm a bit frustrated.
Any suggestions?
try holding down the power and the home virtual button (even if you dont' see it)
jonno95 said:
try holding down the power and the home virtual button (even if you dont' see it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried it, nothing. I can feel the phone giving haptic feed back and clicking as i click the virtual home button too. I held it for upwards of 30 seconds.
bryce_wsj said:
Tried it, nothing. I can feel the phone giving haptic feed back and clicking as i click the virtual home button too. I held it for upwards of 30 seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
darn. my brothers did that, and that is how he got it to power down. then it powered up normally
have you tried:
Vol up, bixby and power for recovery
Vol down, Bixby and power for download mode
jonno95 said:
darn. my brothers did that, and that is how he got it to power down. then it powered up normally
have you tried:
Vol up, bixby and power for recovery
Vol down, Bixby and power for download mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried all of that, however, i can't see the screen. So I'm not sure where i stand when i enter those modes. When the phone reboots normally, i have to enter my code manually the first time, which i can do, just by memory of the button placement on the screen, but as i said, can't see anything. I'm willing to try anything. At this point i'm just letting the phone sit idle and let the battery die, hopefully that will do something.
You have a month free of Samsung Premium - sign up for it, call samsung and they'll take care of it
ElBeaner said:
You have a month free of Samsung Premium - sign up for it, call samsung and they'll take care of it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i spoke with them. I need to make an appointment with a local best buy so a Samsung agent can run diagnostics.
bryce_wsj said:
i spoke with them. I need to make an appointment with a local best buy so a Samsung agent can run diagnostics.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
final update, i was instructed to go to a corporate AT&T store. i did so and they swapped it no questions asked.
Happy Ending! Cheers
Great!
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Damn, I got the exact same behavior on my S8+ today! sitting in the couch watching Hockey and I got all excited after the Caps crushed Penguins tried to send a text to a friend but the screen won't turn on? Tried everything above but screen is black..SUCKS!
I just got the same thing ..tried everything ..however the download did work ..and a blue screen came up and asked if i wanted to download so i pressed yes ...so we will see what happens
A friend and I both had this happen within a week of buying the phone. What it turned out to be in both our cases is the screen was on the very lowest brightness setting. We did not set this. Somehow it happened spontaneously. Go to the darkest place you can find and you should be able to return your screen to a normal brightness. I have a feeling this is going to be a recurrent problem with a software fix in the future.
I had a similar issue. I set the power saving option and it looked like the screen turned black. Only after going to a dark room could I tell it was on. It was a new level of dark I never seen even if you consider setting the brightness to its lowest setting.
same here,
during typing screen freesh and black out.
as death as a door knop. nothing worked none of the mentioned options by Samsung relieved me from a black and dead screen.
its now being collected for repair,
lets wait and see
Same here also.
After 7 days of using it I picked it up to check for notifications just to see the black screen.
Never let it fall or anything.
Unfortunately I will not get a replacement from my dealer but a repair. Let's see if we get a BSOD-gate ****storm with this.
Another BSOD here.
Less than 7 days of normal use, screen seems to be deade. I have haptic and sound feedback. Even the alarms are ringing all day long and I can't turn them off.
Now I'm waiting for the vendor to collect it since I requested a return due to defect.
I FINALLY understand what is going on with Samsung Black Screen of Death-- how it happens and what to do.
First off the bat -- IT'S A DESIGN FLAW IN PHONE! Here is what occurs to induce the Black Screen.
1.) As you lift the phone to your ear, the top of your ear touches the screen. The screen "understands" this to be your finger drawing down the "notifications" bar.
2.) If your ear comes off of the screen, when you place the surface back to hear, the screen "understands" this to be a 2nd time pulling down on the screen.
3.) At this time, your screen brightness "slider bar" is sitting smack dab in the middle of the screen. This 'slider bar' controls the brightness, from very bright to the screen turned off. Slide to the left, screen gets dim. Slide to the right, screen gets brighter.
4.) If your ear next touches the screen, it is almost always on the left side of the screen - no matter whether you are left or right-handed. The Samsung S8 + interprets this 3rd contact to the screen as you "instructing" the phone to turn the screen intensity to "off".
5.) You now have the "Black Screen of Death".
You can simulate this with just using your finger on the screen. Pull down the notifications bar ONCE. Then do it a SECOND TIME. You will now see the screen intensity "slider bar" before your eyes. It is the one with the half sun / half moon icon on the left side of the bar. If you move the little blue bar with your finger, going right to left, you will see the screen go dark.
These are the exact same movements your ear traces on the screen as you use your phone to answer a call or to talk on the phone. 3 accidental touches and the screen is BLACK and you don't understand how it happened.
This is a design flaw in the software. Samsung needs to change how the sllder bar controls screen intensity.
If you go into a very dark place, there will still remain a very faint glow from the screen. All you have to do is 2 finger swipes down, then with your finger push the slide bar back to the right- and VOILA -- you can see the screen again.
Hope this helps everyone until Samsung fixes the problem.
Chuck_Daytona said:
I FINALLY understand what is going on with Samsung Black Screen of Death-- how it happens and what to do.
First off the bat -- IT'S A DESIGN FLAW IN PHONE! Here is what occurs to induce the Black Screen.
1.) As you lift the phone to your ear, the top of your ear touches the screen. The screen "understands" this to be your finger drawing down the "notifications" bar.
2.) If your ear comes off of the screen, when you place the surface back to hear, the screen "understands" this to be a 2nd time pulling down on the screen.
3.) At this time, your screen brightness "slider bar" is sitting smack dab in the middle of the screen. This 'slider bar' controls the brightness, from very bright to the screen turned off. Slide to the left, screen gets dim. Slide to the right, screen gets brighter.
4.) If your ear next touches the screen, it is almost always on the left side of the screen - no matter whether you are left or right-handed. The Samsung S8 + interprets this 3rd contact to the screen as you "instructing" the phone to turn the screen intensity to "off".
5.) You now have the "Black Screen of Death".
You can simulate this with just using your finger on the screen. Pull down the notifications bar ONCE. Then do it a SECOND TIME. You will now see the screen intensity "slider bar" before your eyes. It is the one with the half sun / half moon icon on the left side of the bar. If you move the little blue bar with your finger, going right to left, you will see the screen go dark.
These are the exact same movements your ear traces on the screen as you use your phone to answer a call or to talk on the phone. 3 accidental touches and the screen is BLACK and you don't understand how it happened.
This is a design flaw in the software. Samsung needs to change how the sllder bar controls screen intensity.
If you go into a very dark place, there will still remain a very faint glow from the screen. All you have to do is 2 finger swipes down, then with your finger push the slide bar back to the right- and VOILA -- you can see the screen again.
Hope this helps everyone until Samsung fixes the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't the S8 have a proximity sensor like the iPhone to determine that the phone is being held up against someones ear?
I FOUND A RECOVERY FROM THIS!!
I just got the Black Screen of Death for the first time after owning the phone for 2 weeks - pretty alarming when the phone is unresponsive, you can't reboot with the power button, and you can't pull the battery. (Coming from an S5, this is my first phone with a non-removable battery). Even though I knew my phone was fully charged, I tried plugging it in, and didn't even get the red LED. Not good.
After a little Googling, the solution I found that worked for me was: Press and hold Down Volume + Power at the same time for 7 seconds.
This brings you to a screen with some options, the first being to reboot like normal.
Volume toggles up and down between the options, but be sure not to choose option 2, which is a factory reset!
The Bixby button selects, so I just clicked on option 1, and I was back in business.
This apparently does a "simulated battery disconnect". Assuming it was some sort of firmware crash, this should bring you back to life. It did for me. There are other suggestions on the page if it doesn't work, but I was back to life after step 1. Hope it helps...
http://thedroidguy.com/2017/05/sams...ck-screen-death-troubleshooting-guide-1072353
Hi,
I've found a lot of posts about the second screen but not for the main screen.
I have a LG V20 US996 unlocked and rooted. I also have a case that covers the sides and back.
I usually wear t-shirts with a deep chest pocket (Carhartt) where I keep my phone, screen in. When I'm outside working listening to music on bluetooth headphones (mostly with Poweramp), the main screen randomly turns on. I notice this when the music starts jumping or skipping tracks because my chest is now randomly pressing spots on the main screen. When I look at the phone, what's on the screen is always some random app that started. It doesn't seem to correspond to any notifications as it does it when there are none. The default second screen when the main screen is off is the date and time.
I tried completely disabling the double-tap to turn on and off the main screen (both in the android and Nova Launcher settings) but that didn't help. Nor did making sure the phone was locked as a few seconds later, the main screen would turn on again.
Am I missing any other settings or secret screen presses that might turn the main screen on? If not, does anyone know of an app or Xposed module (if it's available for the V20/Nougat; I haven't checked yet) that might turn off the main screen except when explicitly turned on?
Thanks!
-Jeff
feretio said:
Hi,
I've found a lot of posts about the second screen but not for the main screen.
I have a LG V20 US996 unlocked and rooted. I also have a case that covers the sides and back.
I usually wear t-shirts with a deep chest pocket (Carhartt) where I keep my phone, screen in. When I'm outside working listening to music on bluetooth headphones (mostly with Poweramp), the main screen randomly turns on. I notice this when the music starts jumping or skipping tracks because my chest is now randomly pressing spots on the main screen. When I look at the phone, what's on the screen is always some random app that started. It doesn't seem to correspond to any notifications as it does it when there are none. The default second screen when the main screen is off is the date and time.
I tried completely disabling the double-tap to turn on and off the main screen (both in the android and Nova Launcher settings) but that didn't help. Nor did making sure the phone was locked as a few seconds later, the main screen would turn on again.
Am I missing any other settings or secret screen presses that might turn the main screen on? If not, does anyone know of an app or Xposed module (if it's available for the V20/Nougat; I haven't checked yet) that might turn off the main screen except when explicitly turned on?
Thanks!
-Jeff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're using the second screen, it too can turn the screen on, particularly anything that launches an app or long pressed on something on the second screen. Unless of course you're not using the second screen?
Critical Detox said:
If you're using the second screen, it too can turn the screen on, particularly anything that launches an app or long pressed on something on the second screen. Unless of course you're not using the second screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The proximity sensor should turn off the second screen when covered, along with disabling knockon and requiring you to push power button twice just to wake the screen(try this out at home). If for some reason this doesn't occur, you probably have a defective model.
It does appear to function the way you describe. If I double-tap the second screen, it turns on. However, if I cover the proximity sensor, the second screen turns off, double-tapping doesn't turn anything on but as you said, I need to press the power button on the back twice to turn it on.
Every now and then when I peek into my pocket, the second screen is indeed off. I need to pull the phone out enough for the second screen to come back on to see the time. I'm still not sure what might be turning the main screen on while it's in my pocket, though.
-Jeff