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Hi everyone,
Long story short, I got a used Nexus 4 off someone, everything works perfectly except the proximity sensor. During a call the screen blacks out and doesn't come back unless I hard reset the phone to hang up. I figured out it was a problem with the proximity sensor. Upon reading these forums and many other articles on Google about taking off the screen protector (which I don't have) and swapping the rubber "sensor" holder holes, I decided to open the phone up and take a look.
It appears that my phone is missing the rubber piece to hold the proximity and light sensors in place, making the sensor unusable and causing many issues with making calls. I've tried playing around with it using other peoples' suggestions and nothing has worked. I've decided to just find a way to disable the proximity sensor instead during a call, as I'll be quite satisfied with just a simple software fix.
Right now I am using Proximity Screen OFF to keep the screen on, but it drains my battery pretty hard. I was thinking to just flash my phone with a mod that allows me to turn the proximity sensor off during a call.
Any suggestions as to which mod contains this feature?
Thank you.
So i recently upgraded to Lollipop but my proximity sensor is broken. I used an app called Proximity Screen off lite but it is not working on latest android lollipop. So now when i make a call my screen goes dark until the call is disconnected from other party. same is the case with incoming call. Please help
I was in the same situation as you last weekend. Unfortunately, there's no way to get around it in software that I know of. I even went as far as developing an app from scratch to duplicate Proximity Screen Off Lite's functionality, but ended up hitting a road block on the OS level. Another option that would've worked pre-5.0 was to use an xposed mod to disable the proximity sensor, but of course that doesn't work in 5.0 now. Hopefully someone else can chime in with a software solution that I couldn't figure out.
Did you replace your phone's screen by any chance?
Shimakaze said:
I was in the same situation as you last weekend. Unfortunately, there's no way to get around it in software that I know of. I even went as far as developing an app from scratch to duplicate Proximity Screen Off Lite's functionality, but ended up hitting a road block on the OS level. Another option that would've worked pre-5.0 was to use an xposed mod to disable the proximity sensor, but of course that doesn't work in 5.0 now. Hopefully someone else can chime in with a software solution that I couldn't figure out.
Did you replace your phone's screen by any chance?
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Yes i did :/ nownfed up and hating it. there has to be someway which disable the hardware :/
sink1991 said:
Yes i did :/ nownfed up and hating it. there has to be someway which disable the hardware :/
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Click to collapse
I replaced the original screen with an after-market one as well, and that's what caused my proximity sensor issue. There is a good chance your proximity sensor is actually working perfectly, but the after-market screen is blocking it from reading a "far" value. If you're comfortable with taking your phone apart, you could fix it without replacing anything. There were two things that I did to fix mine, but I'm not sure which of the two actually did the trick. 1) I repositioned the sensor so that it sits further away from the glass, and 2) I scratched off the black paint on the back side of the glass around the two clear sensor holes. Obviously you should attempt option 1 first, because the second option is permanent and will damage the aesthetics of your phone. Others have reported success with option 1, by gluing a thin spacer with two holes to the front of the sensor, but I did not have any luck with it when I tried initially. You will find that it helps a lot to do this while the phone is on, and you can see the results of your changes immediately with the Proximity Sensor Finder app.
Edit: Before you attempt any of the fixes, you should verify that your sensor is in fact working by pointing it away from the phone after opening up the back.
I had the same problem, I gave up on a software fix and I ended up taking the phone apart and fixing it outright. It's not too difficult, all you need is a plastic tool to open the case and a T5 and a 00 screwdriver.
There's a good youtube video (I can't link - see /watch?v=AZDAIgwbXk4) showing how to do it. Skip the battery section, you can keep that in place. At 9:00 he indicates where the proximity sensor and light sensor are. Take the small rubber gasket that covers the two sensors, and flip it around so that the larger hole is over the proximity sensor. Put it back together and turn it on, it should work perfectly.
Also, in the interim, you may wish to have your phone end calls with the power button, it can be found under accessibility settings. At least that way you won't be stuck waiting for the other party to pick up or hang up.
Admiral Nelson said:
I had the same problem, I gave up on a software fix and I ended up taking the phone apart and fixing it outright. It's not too difficult, all you need is a plastic tool to open the case and a T5 and a 00 screwdriver.
There's a good youtube video (I can't link - see /watch?v=AZDAIgwbXk4) showing how to do it. Skip the battery section, you can keep that in place. At 9:00 he indicates where the proximity sensor and light sensor are. Take the small rubber gasket that covers the two sensors, and flip it around so that the larger hole is over the proximity sensor. Put it back together and turn it on, it should work perfectly.
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I did the same thing. It's a common issue, and that's the typical fix.
Planterz said:
I did the same thing. It's a common issue, and that's the typical fix.
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Click to collapse
I had the same problem, solved by a thin plastic sheat that I drilled two holes in and then cut to the right size.
I placed the plastic part in the bottom of the hole, where to fit the sensor. I also shaved of aboute 1 mm on the part that presses the sensor from the back.
( I hade already taken the blackish film away in a own attempt to fix the problem, at least the light sensor seems to meassure more accurat)
Hi all, I've similar problem on my LG G2 D802. I have tempered glass with covered prox. On KK everything was OK, but unfortunately Lollipop has much more intensivity on prox
and I had the same issue as you, I mean - turned screen while I maked call and vice versa. Moreover, I can't get in to the service menu on LP (AOSP 5.1.1).
I bought new tempered glass with uncovered prox but fortunately Xposed has working old module: Disable proximity sensor.
I don't know about what module you guys talked about but this module works very well.
Hi,
I've recently changed the LCD panel on my Nexus 4, as well as the headphone jack (which includes the proximity sensor) - the screen was broken, and the headphone jack had very noisy output.
After putting it back together, I noticed that the proximity sensor wasn't working - during calls, it would constantly blank out the screen, and there was no way to unblank it (i.e. it seems to permanently think there's something there).
I took it apart again and noticed that the rubber gasket that fits behind the sensor is missing - it must have come off during the repair and gotten lost.
I tried putting some Blu-Tack behind it as a temporary fix, but no change. Now, I'm not so sure the new proximity sensor is working either.
Anyhow, my first question is, where can I buy a replacement rubber gasket? I've done a search online, and I can't seem to find it for sale anywhere?
Is it available as part of another spare part for the Nexus 4?
Cheers,
Victor
I had to replace the screen on my n4 too and fixing the proximity sensor was a pain in the ass. I had the rubber gasket but it was only working when the front panel was not attached as soon as i attached the front panel it stops working i.e. when in call the screen goes off but it doesn't come back on. So what the guy did was to scratch off the two holes on the top left from the inside of the panel. its looks a bit nasty but its working fine now. you might wana try to scratch off a bit neatly. like in a round shape.
I dont know if the gasket is the cause, but I know a case where this exact problem happens : its when u don't push the sensor well enough to fit in its place, cuz it should be near enough, or it'd blank the screen during calls. Try using a flat screw driver, and push the orange part where the sensors are well enough, that should do the work ( don't push haaard or I'll Damage it). I hope that'd help, cuz finding this gasket is hard. And this applies also for the guy who commented, cuz this is the case for him
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app
According to this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/help/proximity-sensor-rubber-part-t2571396
the LG part number is MBL65457701
I managed to find an eBay seller selling it (original_parts_mobile_99):
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Goma-Sen...gle-Nexus-4-rubber-New-ORIGINAL-/181369205976
I used a small piece of credit card, drilled two holes with t3 screwdriver. Worked like a charm!!!!
I tried installing the xposed framework but that threw a little notice saying it wasnt going to work. I looked for apps ont he app store but that didnt work as well..
Any ideas on how to disable the proximity sensor so when I turn the screen on it doesnt turn right back off?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
the issue might be your proximity sensor's alignment. it might not have aligned properly. there is a small black rubber holder to hold the proximity sensor. may be you might be missing it or might have loosen it. you can easily fix/align it, if you can open the back cover.
you can install a custom rom to overcome this sudden screen off issue. but when you taking a call your screen will be turning off until other user disconnect the call..
I suggest you fix/align the proximity sensor..
P.S:
There is a small troubleshooting step you can do to see whether your proximity sensor has a slight alignment issue. get a torch or good direct light source and point it directly at proximity sensor. if you can turn your screen on while pointing that light towards proximity sensor, you should have a very small alignment issue. there are plenty of proximity sensor test apps on play store too.
appsmarsterx said:
the issue might be your proximity sensor's alignment. it might not have aligned properly. there is a small black rubber holder to hold the proximity sensor. may be you might be missing it or might have loosen it. you can easily fix/align it, if you can open the back cover.
you can install a custom rom to overcome this sudden screen off issue. but when you taking a call your screen will be turning off until other user disconnect the call..
I suggest you fix/align the proximity sensor..
P.S:
There is a small troubleshooting step you can do to see whether your proximity sensor has a slight alignment issue. get a torch or good direct light source and point it directly at proximity sensor. if you can turn your screen on while pointing that light towards proximity sensor, you should have a very small alignment issue. there are plenty of proximity sensor test apps on play store too.
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Interseting... My screen broke so I had it replaced and its been having an issue ever since. Also, I don't use it for calls. It is just sitting on a mount in my car most of the day running a few car apps. But it is in airplane mode basically all day lol.
Pr3dict said:
Interseting... My screen broke so I had it replaced and its been having an issue ever since. Also, I don't use it for calls. It is just sitting on a mount in my car most of the day running a few car apps. But it is in airplane mode basically all day lol.
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Click to collapse
that makes sense.. you also replced front housing too right? that's where that rubber proximity sensor holder attached.. if you replace original front housing with aftermarket housing that rubber holder probably won't come with it. most of the repair technicians don't know this.. if you still have the old front housing you should be able to recover it and attach to your new housing..
p. s:
or you should be able to buy it.
here it is
http://rounded.com/lg-g2-d802-rubber-proximity-sensor-module-mbl65540401.html#/product/21920 (also try ebay or aliexpress )
appsmarsterx said:
that makes sense.. you also replced front housing too right? that's where that rubber proximity sensor holder attached.. if you replace original front housing with aftermarket housing that rubber holder probably won't come with it. most of the repair technicians don't know this.. if you still have the old front housing you should be able to recover it and attach to your new housing..
p. s:
or you should be able to buy it.
here it is (also try ebay or aliexpress )
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Honestly, if its possible I'd rather just disable it completely. I'd rather not open the phone up again if I don't have to and I will never use it for calls anyway.
Pr3dict said:
Honestly, if its possible I'd rather just disable it completely. I'd rather not open the phone up again if I don't have to and I will never use it for calls anyway.
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if you're not using your g2 for calls, I'd recommend flashing a custom aosp rom. so you wouldn't get in to this sudden screen off issue while unlocking it..
appsmarsterx said:
if you're not using your g2 for calls, I'd recommend flashing a custom aosp rom. so you wouldn't get in to this sudden screen off issue while unlocking it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds exciting.. Lets do it!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey guys,
just yesterday I got my phone back from repair (I cracked my screen, nothing was working then).
Here is a photo of my old screen, which had a hole right below the upper loud speaker:
I think it might be that the drop broke the sensor, and not the repair itself?!?
Using an app like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tigermonster.proxfinder shows that my sensor is constantly detecting something.
I'm not using any screen protectors or anything
For now I rooted my device and disabled the sensor by installing the xposed framework and then using http://repo.xposed.info/module/com.mrchandler.disableprox
Strangely enough, yesterday, like 3h after I got my phone back I called someone and everything, including the sensor was working perfectly!
Can anyone show me a picture of such a proximity sensor? Do you guys think a fix like in this video shown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPHsianYnqo, putting a piece of paper behind the proximity sensor could work?
You never ended up showing any images of the phone before/after the repair but if you have a screen protector fitted to the screen and it doesn't have a little cutout on the right just below the top speaker then the protector is constantly tripping the proximity sensor.
Thanks for your answer. Like I said, I am not using any screen protectors.
Here's an image of my old screen:
http://imgur.com/ufNSseD
I don't think it has anything to do with that damage now tbh, because it was working well yesterday. I guess maybe the connector loosened itself?
Which one here in the pictures to step 6 is the proximity sensor? https://de.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+6P+Teardown/51660
CryNickSystems said:
Thanks for your answer. Like I said, I am not using any screen protectors.
Here's an image of my old screen:
I don't think it has anything to do with that damage now tbh, because it was working well yesterday. I guess maybe the connector loosened itself?
Which one here in the pictures to step 6 is the proximity sensor? [/QUOTE]
It's directly above the t...i3be.cloudfront.net/igi/eDldW3bJmHSbQEYF.huge
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Thanks for the info about the position of the sensor - I'll definitely do that when I'm going to disassemble my phone (which is gonna take a while since I'm waiting to receive a new rear housing from a seller in the US).
I'm planning to disassemble as little as possible, so I'm hoping it's easy to access the proximity sensor (but guessing by the pictures it should be).
CryNickSystems said:
Thanks for the info about the position of the sensor - I'll definitely do that when I'm going to disassemble my phone (which is gonna take a while since I'm waiting to receive a new rear housing from a seller in the US).
I'm planning to disassemble as little as possible, so I'm hoping it's easy to access the proximity sensor (but guessing by the pictures it should be).
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Click to collapse
Good luck. Hope you can fix it by cleaning it. Make sure to have some thermal compound on hand to replace the old stuff when you disassemble.
Hey one more quick question:
Do you think it's possible to remove the motherboard without removing the battery?
I guess that the problem is that the proximity sensor is either too close to the screen, or too far away (like there's some small gap between the proximity sensor and the screen). I will probably have to remove the motherboard if it's the former (if it's the latter I can just put something like a pice of paper at the back of the rubber).
CryNickSystems said:
Hey one more quick question:
Do you think it's possible to remove the motherboard without removing the battery?
I guess that the problem is that the proximity sensor is either too close to the screen, or too far away (like there's some small gap between the proximity sensor and the screen). I will probably have to remove the motherboard if it's the former (if it's the latter I can just put something like a pice of paper at the back of the rubber).
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Click to collapse
You won't need to remove the battery to remove the main board. You'll just have to unplug it.
Alright, thanks. I am wondering about another thing: Why are there two holes for the light and proximity sensor on the backside of the phone? I was planning to try and first stick some piece of paper on top of that rubber plastic to get the sensor closer to the screen. Why the holes?
Ty.
CryNickSystems said:
Alright, thanks. I am wondering about another thing: Why are there two holes for the light and proximity sensor on the backside of the phone? I was planning to try and first stick some piece of paper on top of that rubber plastic to get the sensor closer to the screen. Why the holes?
Ty.
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I don't know which type of proximity sensor this is, IR, led, electromagnetic etc. But all proximity sensors I know of have two "eyes" One eye emits ir, led, or electromagnetic field, the other eye looks for a change in the return field. I think you'll find a scratched, smashed return eye. Or debris lodged in the sensor housing. Use a magnifying glass and excellent lighting.
If you shine a bright flashlight at the sensor through the screen can you see anything blocking the eyes? Doesn't matter I guess, you'd have to disassemble to get it out of the way anyways.
---------- Post added at 09:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 PM ----------
CryNickSystems said:
Alright, thanks. I am wondering about another thing: Why are there two holes for the light and proximity sensor on the backside of the phone? I was planning to try and first stick some piece of paper on top of that rubber plastic to get the sensor closer to the screen. Why the holes?
Ty.
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It looks like the prox sensor comes covered in a rubber cover. In this pic the rubber is there:
https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/SQfQ23vhRFsvbJJT.huge
In this pic they removed the rubber to expose the prox sensor:
https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/eDldW3bJmHSbQEYF.huge
I suspect the rubber could be missing, lost during repair. Or perhaps installed wrong.
hawkswind1 said:
If you shine a bright flashlight at the sensor through the screen can you see anything blocking the eyes? Doesn't matter I guess, you'd have to disassemble to get it out of the way anyways.
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I did what you asked: There is no light coming out on the back of the phone if that's what you meant.
Anyway, I'll have to wait until I receive my replacement back housing and then I'll try my best to repair the sensor. I hope the rubber is just misaligned.
Alright - so I did have time today to disassemble my phone (got the replacement housing last week).
I noticed that there was no rubber part on top of the light and proximity sensor, as well as on the device above the two (i don't know what that is).
What I did is that I had a small tube like this one: https://sc01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1hBgwKVXXXXcvXpXXq6xXFXXXY/8mm-small-clear-plastic-PC-pipe-TUBE.jpg which I painted black and put it on top of the approximity sensor.
Everything is working well again (there were some lints on the display right below where the proximity sensor is located, that's probably why it stopped working from one day to another).
I guess the main function of the rubber is to protect the sensor against dust and lints.
I also am very mad at myself for having forgotten to take out the NFC antenna from the old housing before replacing it, so I had to open my phone again after I did already close it (and now there are slight traces of an opening - again )
But apart from that everything's fine now and I hope it'll stay this way.
CryNickSystems said:
Alright - so I did have time today to disassemble my phone (got the replacement housing last week).
I noticed that there was no rubber part on top of the light and proximity sensor, as well as on the device above the two (i don't know what that is).
What I did is that I had a small tube like this one: which I painted black and put it on top of the approximity sensor.
Everything is working well again (there were some lints on the display right below where the proximity sensor is located, that's probably why it stopped working from one day to another).
I guess the main function of the rubber is to protect the sensor against dust and lints.
I also am very mad at myself for having forgotten to take out the NFC antenna from the old housing before replacing it, so I had to open my phone again after I did already close it (and now there are slight traces of an opening - again )
But apart from that everything's fine now and I hope it'll stay this way.
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Click to collapse
Glad you got it fixed! And yeah, unfortunately it's nearly impossible to remove the back cover without leaving dings at the injection site. When I put on my new top and bottom rear covers I removed most of the glue. So next time I can remove them without much trouble.
I am having similar problems. I just traded for a nexus 6P and everything works great except for the proximity sensor. The 6p was just OTAed to 7.0 and I only unlocked it and installed TWRP. No other changes and no root (yet).
There is no screen protector on the device.
When I make a call, the screen stays on. The screen turns off as soon as I cover the proximity sensor. The screen then does not come back on until the call is completed. I downloaded a bunch of proximity apps, including Proximity Sensor Finder. Proximity Sensor Finder (and others) report that sensor detects Far (5cm or more) and Near (value of 0 cm when the sensor is covered). The sensor doesn't seem to identify intermiate values. The odd thing is that the sensor doesn't seem to reset. If I cover the sensor (value of 0 cm) and remove my hand, the sensor continues to read 0 cm.
Does this sound like a hardware or software issue? The device appears to detect both the near and far states, but doesn't return to far after the sensor is uncovered. Thanks for any help.
Solved the problem. I downgraded to MM and the proximity sensor problem persisted, so I figured it was a hardware issue.
I took apart the 6P and the there were signs that repair had been performed. The screen was probably replaced previously. The little rubber gasket covering the proximity sensor was missing, just as the OP described. I cut a blue-colored straw and placed it over the proximity/light sensor. Works perfect!
I need to bump this thread cause a few days ago I started having the same problem that nickfuzz describes.
Now I've got my opened phone in front of me and tried putting a pice of a black straw around the two sensors, but that does not help. It reports 5.0 cm and if I cover the sensor it stays at 0.0 cm
Can anyone give me an advice about what to do now?
Update:
The light sensor is also not working properly: It is reporting way too less lightness, and tends to report 0 lux when I'm not directly holding the phone under a lamp (for instance).
After 5 hours of trying I somehow managed to at least get the sensor to always report 5.0 cm. That's better than constantly reporting 0.0 cm.
I put a piece of a wide straw (there are different sizes, you know) around the hole board on which the two sensors (light & proximity) sit on. I guess this is a bad idea.
I am now trying to get this rubber gasket from somewhere, but I guess I'll have bad luck since I'd have to buy a defective nexus 6p from which I could take it from
UPDATE:
Can anyone tell me why the screen is painted black on the inside, right where the proximity sensor is located? I scraped off the paint and painted it over with a black pen. That must be the reason why the proximity sensor is always reporting 5.0 cm (which doesn't make much sense, because at some point it would have to detect something if it's not broken).
nickfuzz said:
Solved the problem. I downgraded to MM and the proximity sensor problem persisted, so I figured it was a hardware issue.
I took apart the 6P and the there were signs that repair had been performed. The screen was probably replaced previously. The little rubber gasket covering the proximity sensor was missing, just as the OP described. I cut a blue-colored straw and placed it over the proximity/light sensor. Works perfect!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me if you put the straw around both sensors and their "chassis" (that black thing they sit on), or did you put the straw only around the sensors (i.e. on top of the chassis)?
I still need to find a way to fix my sensors
I tried to use some electric tape and put it on top of the sensors with two small circles cut in, but eventually I figured that the problem actually lies in the black paint on the inside of the screen.
I removed that paint a few weeks ago and I couldn't paint a new black paint on it that is not too thick, so I am stuck with a sensor consequently reporting 5cm.
I did try to use an Edding.
I had the same issue with the proximity sensory and a new 6P, but fixed it with this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobiledirection.proximitysensorreset&hl=en
Everything was still good after uninstalling that app too.