lapdock hdmi/power issue - RAZR HD General

Just opened my atrix lapdock for the first time in a while to try it out and had a bunch of weird things happen that i havent seen listed eleswhere. Just wanted to know if anyone else seen something like this.
First, i'm running the latest Carbon nightly on my Razr HD.
Things that happened:
1) I plugged in the HDMI/USB and the phone mirrored onto the screen, however the mouse/keyboard didn't work and it wasn't charging the phone.
2) I removed the phone, checked the jacks and plugged it back in again. This time, the lapdock's backlight turned on, but nothing showed up on the screen. I ran an lsusb and it does show a device there (when i remove the usb it doesn't list anything).
I can't seem to get the phone to mirror again though. I've since rebooted the phone and tried a few other things, but i can't seem to replicate #1.
Anyone have a similar experience?

djuniah said:
Just opened my atrix lapdock for the first time in a while to try it out and had a bunch of weird things happen that i havent seen listed eleswhere. Just wanted to know if anyone else seen something like this.
First, i'm running the latest Carbon nightly on my Razr HD.
Things that happened:
1) I plugged in the HDMI/USB and the phone mirrored onto the screen, however the mouse/keyboard didn't work and it wasn't charging the phone.
2) I removed the phone, checked the jacks and plugged it back in again. This time, the lapdock's backlight turned on, but nothing showed up on the screen. I ran an lsusb and it does show a device there (when i remove the usb it doesn't list anything).
I can't seem to get the phone to mirror again though. I've since rebooted the phone and tried a few other things, but i can't seem to replicate #1.
Anyone have a similar experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty much normal on custom JB roms. You can get the phone to output to the Lapdock in a bastardized 1080p if you go to dev settings and disable hdcp -- there's a bug in the custom kernel regarding both obtaining the lapdock's EDID as well as the phone always trying to initiate the hdcp handshake even though it's really a dvi monitor with an hdmi>dvi adapter. With HDCP disabled, the phone will force output to 1080p, only the monitor is 1366x768, and due to the buggy EDID, none of FB1's (framebuffer 1...hdmi output) settings are tweakable...mainly the resolution setting like we have to use in Stock Moto JB. Sucks knowing the bug and not knowing how to fix it.
Good news is the Lapdock is reported to work just fine with Stock KitKat. Once the dev team is ready and start releasing CM11 with the 3.4 kernel, we'll finally be able to use the Lapdock with custom KK roms like we did with stock ICS.

skeevydude said:
That's pretty much normal on custom JB roms. You can get the phone to output to the Lapdock in a bastardized 1080p if you go to dev settings and disable hdcp -- there's a bug in the custom kernel regarding both obtaining the lapdock's EDID as well as the phone always trying to initiate the hdcp handshake even though it's really a dvi monitor with an hdmi>dvi adapter. With HDCP disabled, the phone will force output to 1080p, only the monitor is 1366x768, and due to the buggy EDID, none of FB1's (framebuffer 1...hdmi output) settings are tweakable...mainly the resolution setting like we have to use in Stock Moto JB. Sucks knowing the bug and not knowing how to fix it.
Good news is the Lapdock is reported to work just fine with Stock KitKat. Once the dev team is ready and start releasing CM11 with the 3.4 kernel, we'll finally be able to use the Lapdock with custom KK roms like we did with stock ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually had HDCP disabled during all of those cases i mentioned. I was doing some testing on laggy playback of protected video streams via HDMI (Netflix/Xfinitity/etc. had been lagging the video stream and getting out of sync recently) and had disabled it to see if it would help. The other odd part is that now i can't even see the hub via lsusb. When i plug the phone in, the little white LED on the trackpad lights up, so it definitely sees a connection, however lsusb shows 0 results on the device. I'm wondering if maybe the small cables that go through the hinge got damaged somehow while i was messing around with it last night.

djuniah said:
I actually had HDCP disabled during all of those cases i mentioned. I was doing some testing on laggy playback of protected video streams via HDMI (Netflix/Xfinitity/etc. had been lagging the video stream and getting out of sync recently) and had disabled it to see if it would help. The other odd part is that now i can't even see the hub via lsusb. When i plug the phone in, the little white LED on the trackpad lights up, so it definitely sees a connection, however lsusb shows 0 results on the device. I'm wondering if maybe the small cables that go through the hinge got damaged somehow while i was messing around with it last night.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of Lapdock? I have the 500 and it's unable to work in the proper resolution on custom roms since around June of last year (when Epinter's hdcp/hdmi commits started showing up in the cm kernel). When it did work, did it work with the correct resolution? Because it's in a forced 1080p with no way of changing it on the Atrix HD & any custom rom (and only then when HDCP is disabled).
The hinge cables...that would suck if that's what happened. I could see that being a difficult fix to do, though I've never taken my Lapdock apart to know if it's actually that difficult.

skeevydude said:
What kind of Lapdock? I have the 500 and it's unable to work in the proper resolution on custom roms since around June of last year (when Epinter's hdcp/hdmi commits started showing up in the cm kernel). When it did work, did it work with the correct resolution? Because it's in a forced 1080p with no way of changing it on the Atrix HD & any custom rom (and only then when HDCP is disabled).
The hinge cables...that would suck if that's what happened. I could see that being a difficult fix to do, though I've never taken my Lapdock apart to know if it's actually that difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the atrix lapdock (which i believe is a different model from the 500 or 100). I had picked it up cheap for my old OG Razr and i know that it did work previously. The resolution was actually correct though. It showed up full-screen without the black bars, which was quite surprising given what i've read elsewhere. There are quite a few exposed screws on the bottom of the unit, so if i HAD to go in there and replace the cable that runs from the hub to the dock, i think i could, but i've only opened up the back-dock section to flip the jacks around to fit the HD.

djuniah said:
It's the atrix lapdock (which i believe is a different model from the 500 or 100). I had picked it up cheap for my old OG Razr and i know that it did work previously. The resolution was actually correct though. It showed up full-screen without the black bars, which was quite surprising given what i've read elsewhere. There are quite a few exposed screws on the bottom of the unit, so if i HAD to go in there and replace the cable that runs from the hub to the dock, i think i could, but i've only opened up the back-dock section to flip the jacks around to fit the HD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odd, especially since they all run at the same 1366x768 resolution, but it could simply be a case of the phone registering the incorrect EDID from the 100 and/or 500.
There isn't a single exposed screw on the 500 without removing all the rubber feet and rubber screw blocks.
Thursday needs to hurry on up and get here. It's when my replacement Atrix HD will arrive. No phone sucks.

Related

TV OUT Samsung Vibrant problems

I have a vibrant and recently got a 3.5 km to RCA out and I'm having problems displaying vibrant on TV. I've tried all combinations but nothings working. Any suggestions.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
-make sure the 3.5mm plug is all the way down on your phone
-swap the yellow and red on your tv side
-this might sound dumb but make sure your on the correct input on your tv set...
Can't think of anything else...make sure you click on tv out on your phone
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
You have the 3 RCA out wire not just a single RCA out, correct?
As mentioned above yellow is not the video, it's red.
You have made the appropriate change in Settings to enable TV Out?
It's also possible that your cable is simply not compatible, unless of course you bought one that was tested already by someone here. Not all of them work, for some reason.
yah I did everything. I thought it might be the Tom I was running. I made sure I did everything. Bit it might just not be compatible
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
FYI there's a Nokia cable out there that has the correct colors. You can find it on eBay. CA-75u I believe.
CHANGE
change the colors..instead of yellow yellow..red to yellow yellow to red..good luck
I have a 3.5mm to RCA cable that I bought for my Creative Zen X-Fi2 and it works great for the video out on the Vibrant. Monoprice.com has them for a reasonable price.
Just making sure you didn't miss this step. You have to go into settings/Sound & Display/TV Out
You then have to check the TV Out box. This resets every time you reboot the phone so you have to continue changing each time you need it.
Nokia CA-75U
I just got my CA-75U cable in the mail and no matter what I try, I can't get it to work with my Samsung Vibrant.
With all the colors plugged in correctly and music playing, I can hear it on the TV speakers, unplugging white cuts half the sound, unplugging red cuts the other half out.
The strange part is that all I get is one large white zigzagging line halfway down my screen, the REALLY strange part is that it gives me that line no matter which color is plugged into the yellow port!
The TV is on the correct input.. TV Out is indeed enabled.
I have no idea what else to try, could it possibly be the ROM I'm running?
I've got Nero V3 on my Vibrant along with Voodoo enabled.
Any ideas are much appreciated!
Alperon said:
I just got my CA-75U cable in the mail and no matter what I try, I can't get it to work with my Samsung Vibrant.
With all the colors plugged in correctly and music playing, I can hear it on the TV speakers, unplugging white cuts half the sound, unplugging red cuts the other half out.
The strange part is that all I get is one large white zigzagging line halfway down my screen, the REALLY strange part is that it gives me that line no matter which color is plugged into the yellow port!
The TV is on the correct input.. TV Out is indeed enabled.
I have no idea what else to try, could it possibly be the ROM I'm running?
I've got Nero V3 on my Vibrant along with Voodoo enabled.
Any ideas are much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this may seem obvious but... you have the TV out set to NTSC, right?
Alperon said:
I just got my CA-75U cable in the mail and no matter what I try, I can't get it to work with my Samsung Vibrant.
With all the colors plugged in correctly and music playing, I can hear it on the TV speakers, unplugging white cuts half the sound, unplugging red cuts the other half out.
The strange part is that all I get is one large white zigzagging line halfway down my screen, the REALLY strange part is that it gives me that line no matter which color is plugged into the yellow port!
The TV is on the correct input.. TV Out is indeed enabled.
I have no idea what else to try, could it possibly be the ROM I'm running?
I've got Nero V3 on my Vibrant along with Voodoo enabled.
Any ideas are much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having the exact same problem. Any help would be great.
Just for reference, is this the correct cable? In the comments section some random guy said it worked great on his vibrant so I went with it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1D0BW/ref=oss_product
That's why I posted about the CA-75U earlier in the thread. Someone, not on Amazon, said it worked fine too.
Are you perhaps trying to play Avatar? That won't work. It's got DRM.
Well if you were thinking of upgrading to Nero V5 or soon to be V6 you might want to flash back to stock and see if that works.
I have Nero 5 and plugged my non-Nokia cable in, red as video and it's working
For the tv out. I am using a wire set that came with my old motorola zine. You could call tmo and find out where to get a replacement for that phone.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
megatherian said:
I know this may seem obvious but... you have the TV out set to NTSC, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NTSC is used for US made or made FOR US TVs
PAL is for european. not going into details but the difference deals with FPS and power output.
it just sucks how bad tv out looks on my hdtv...i wish there was an option to do it thru hdmi besides buying a video converter box.
frames per second (which is directly related to power output) and resolution are different for PAL tv sets

Smart Dock issue with Galaxy S4

Hey guys,
Basically I'm currently reviewing the Smart Dock and was wondering if anyone else has one and a Galaxy S4.
I have connected the S4 to the Smart Dock but for some reason it only comes out at 720p max on a monitor and a TV. I tried two other TV's and it doesn't even show up on them.
I'm not sure if it is an issue with me device or compatibility with my S4 and the Smart Dock. I have tested the Smart Dock with an S3 and it displays at 1080p on any TV I connect it too.
So if anyone else has the Dock and S4, can they tell me if it is outputting correctly!
I'll try it on my wife's s4 when she gets home and report back. Barely had a chance to mess with it. Had it for just a few days and I've only ever used it to mirror my Note 2. Haven't even thought of plugging hers in yet.
Aside from charging really fast, I'm pretty disappointed in it so far. The streaming quality is pretty dismal and it's kind of a pain to scroll when you have to force landscape and look at it sideways. I'm gonna hook up a wireless mouse when I get a chance and see if it makes it easier.
-Duly GNOTE2'd
lhkjohn said:
I'll try it on my wife's s4 when she gets home and report back. Barely had a chance to mess with it. Had it for just a few days and I've only ever used it to mirror my Note 2. Haven't even thought of plugging hers in yet.
Aside from charging really fast, I'm pretty disappointed in it so far. The streaming quality is pretty dismal and it's kind of a pain to scroll when you have to force landscape and look at it sideways. I'm gonna hook up a wireless mouse when I get a chance and see if it makes it easier.
-Duly GNOTE2'd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers, I really appreciate it. I have noticed that the S4 does seem to have some more tricks. For instance, it will turn off the device display if it detects a mouse is connected to the dock and I have notice it auto rotate itself when docked, however this was with apex launcher, so not sure if touchwiz does as well, but still it was a plus, but something ultimate rotate set to landscape when docked is just as handy.
Anyway, thanks again for the help, let me know how you get on.
1080 here brotha. Actually works better then my Note 2. Sad considering the dock is made for the note.
Edit running stock, unroooted rom and works in 1080 on both my Samsung smart tvs. Haven't tried on a comp yet. Let me know if there's anything particular you want me to test out bro.
-Duly GNOTE2'd
I received my smart dock today (EDD S20EWEG) but when i insert my S4 (9505) into it, nothing happens, Do i need to enable "dock mode" or is it supposed to be automatic(plug and play)? I tempted to return it for a replacemeent , but if i'm doing something wrong it would be great to know before i get a replacement only to find out that the issue is the same
Edit: removing the battery helped
hi
Hello, I have a problem when connecting a peripheral (mouse, keyboard, etc) the screen automatically flips and turns black, saying, which it is connected by hdmi too. that's not right.
otherwise it has explain, does not leave me connect the mouse and keyboard, because the s4 assumed that this also connected the hdmi.

[Q] Car Dock - losing call functionality

I recently got the courage to unlock and root, but I feel like a bull in a china closet. I just breaking things and fixing them! I really feel like a dumb animal, but I keep reading and learning. So far, I've been able to fix or reflash until this post.
My issue is my when placing phone into car dock, I can't hear a call afterwards. It doesn't matter if I leave the phone in or take it out, I can call out, but the person I"m calling can't hear me. The only cure is a reboot, in which calling can resume until I enter the car dock.
A little background, I have flashed several ROM's over the past several days and I'm not sure where it started. PacMan, DeadCalm, etc. Now I'm using 4.2 RootBox. During my flashing spree, I did have almost the same issue, but minus the car dock. I think it was with PacMan, after every call I would lose the ability to hear or talk on the next call until a reboot. Again, now is good, except for when I use the car dock.
I also flashed Arrghs, 19 kernel with DeadCalm to fix the known screen proximity issue and borked my phone. I got a bootloop I couldn't get out of and had to use recovery.
Does this make any sense? Before every flash, I'm wiping numerous times. Any help would be appreciated!
I use no-op dock.
As to custom rom that WORK a 100% I can't find any.
My daily driver is a mildly moded Telstra stock rom.
See link below. Go to the OPs Russian site & they have a poll of popular roms. I linked to their site in same thread.
You aren't doing anything wrong as far as the "audio loss" part is concerned when using the car dock. You're using the official Motorola car dock, and the ROM developers for this phone either don't own the dock or have no interest in fixing it (nothing against them, it's extremely proprietary). The audio is just redirected and doesn't come back without a reboot.
The reason the audio is redirected is that Motorola designed it to work with their also proprietary audio/charging cable, which splits a usb charging port and audio jack out so you don't have to plug an aux cable directly into your phone when you want to hear it on your car stereo. Catch is, this never caught on, because they didn't include this splitter cable with most of the docks they sold.
The dock has a chip in it (and a crap ton of small circuitry) that tells the phone not only what dock it's on, but integrates tightly with the smart actions included by default on the phone. The custom roms are made for standard docks, or custom solutions using the resistor value tricks that Samsung is famous for. It's unlikely that we'll see more support for this type of dock system unless the new Moto X uses the EXACT same system.
To bypass this issue for me, I disassembled the car mount and removed the offending circuit board, then soldered on this breakout board (http://www.jayconsystems.com/usb-mini-breakout-board-556.html) and finagled it in there (carefully) using some of that epoxy steel stuff you see in auto parts stores. This simply made the car mount what it already appears to be: a pure pass-through. You cannot get around this issue without either disconnecting the internal circuit, removing the usb jack portion from the mount altogether, or reprogramming the offending part of the ROM you want to use (because I don't think anyone's working on it yet).
Btw, if you spend $10 or more you get free shipping, so why not throw in the OTG cable (among other random things) if you don't have one: http://www.jayconsystems.com/usb-otg-cable-female-a-to-micro-a-5.html
Donowolf said:
You aren't doing anything wrong as far as the "audio loss" part is concerned when using the car dock. You're using the official Motorola car dock, and the ROM developers for this phone either don't own the dock or have no interest in fixing it (nothing against them, it's extremely proprietary). The audio is just redirected and doesn't come back without a reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, good reply. I didn't know about the chip inside of the dock, but it makes sense since when I enter the phone into the dock it automatically goes into Car Mode.
I tried the No-Op app from the Play Store that Avi mentioned (thank you too), but car mode still started when I used the dock and of course I lost audio.
Stinks, I really like the OEM car dock. I'm in sales and rely on the GPS a lot for work. I always put the phone right into the dock as soon as I get into the car which is numerous times throughout a normal day. So no ROM's have working audio with Motorola dock? I guess I get rid of the dock or go back to stock.
perkinscl said:
Wow, good reply. I didn't know about the chip inside of the dock, but it makes sense since when I enter the phone into the dock it automatically goes into Car Mode.
I tried the No-Op app from the Play Store that Avi mentioned (thank you too), but car mode still started when I used the dock and of course I lost audio.
Stinks, I really like the OEM car dock. I'm in sales and rely on the GPS a lot for work. I always put the phone right into the dock as soon as I get into the car which is numerous times throughout a normal day. So no ROM's have working audio with Motorola dock? I guess I get rid of the dock or go back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem (obviously). I have not done this yet but was thinking I would set up a Tasker task to reboot the phone as soon as it is disconnected from the dock. This phone reboots so quickly (on PAC at least) that I don't think it should interfere with much. I have just been too lazy to set it up
styndall said:
I have the same problem (obviously). I have not done this yet but was thinking I would set up a Tasker task to reboot the phone as soon as it is disconnected from the dock. This phone reboots so quickly (on PAC at least) that I don't think it should interfere with much. I have just been too lazy to set it up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up going back to stock (almost - Deodexed 98.16.3 Base) All good so far. I had one hiccup and couldn't hear during a call, but that was only once and everything has been peachy since. Just no cool custom ROM goodies...:victory:

My experience with the infamous Shield Tablet... Also a question for other owners.

I bought this thing first off of Amazon, and it was backordered... So I canceled and ordered from Newegg. Fine, i have to pay for shipping, and wait longer, but whatever.
I get the tablet, so excited, and i notice first that the screen would switch orientation when it shouldn't have. Like if i have it in landscape, then lay it flat on it's back, it would go into portrait. This could be recreated every time, so it wasn't just a fluke. I installed Asphalt 8 Airbourn and tried to play. I held the tablet flat, then all of a sudden when the car took off, it took a sharp right and ran straight into a wall.
Great... the accelerometer is broke. Also i can see the backlight flickering a little bit.
I request an RMA from Newegg and they said it'd take probably about a week to get it back. Get it processed, about to go take it back and check their site to see if it's in stock still and it's sold out. I get on their chat to make sure and they said it's backordered, so i'd have to wait for it to come in or switch it to a refund. So i switched it to a refund and by that time, Microcenter in my area had them in stock so i dropped by and picked one up.
Go it home and it was acting fine, until i installed Asphalt again and then it ran the car into the wall again... Also, again, i can see the backlight flickering. Starting to get depressed, i contact Nvidia asking if this is a common problem and then they said it was the first they'd heard of it. They tried Riptide GP2 and said it worked fine on their test tablet. So i bought Riptide GP2 with my Google Opinion Rewards and tried it, the little water craft ran straight into the wall, just like the first tablet. They told me to try exchanging it again, and that they were sorry that i was having trouble.
I go back to microcenter, demonstrate what is happening, they give me a new tablet and tell me to install the game and test to see if this one does it before i leave with it. Their wifi was being crappy, so they gave me a USB Ethernet adapter and an OTG cable to connect to their Internet (it worked instantly, freaking awesome.)
Install updates, install app updates, install the game, it works... Finally have one that the Accelerometer works... I leave and go home, and the screen still flickers on this one too.... So thats the question part of this post, does anyone else have this tablet and notice the backlight flickering? It happens more often on darker brightness settings.
Other than the problems trying to get a working tablet, and the screen flickering, i love this tablet. The screen is really sensitive though, so when you're holding it and trying to hit edge of the screen, and you're barely touching somewhere else, it'll usually give you a hard time. The stylus is awesome, the screen can be very bright and easy to see out in the sun. The 1080p is a noticeable different over my 2013 N7 ( i can see the pixels in this tablet, i have very sensitive eyes and the ability to see very fine details) but it's still a great screen. the battery life at least for me is not as good as the 2013 N7, however it does make it through the day.
anyways... TL;DR: Love this tablet, had a pain in the ass of a time getting one that worked though. Also, does anyone notice the screen's backlight flickering like i do?
is it a continuous flicker or is it just slight changes in brightness when the screen content changes? there is a known "feature" called prism that does some kind of auto/dynamic brightness/contrast adjustment depending on whats showing on screen. there's a thread over at geforce.com about it. apparently it was introduced in a prior update on the other shield devices too so im hopeful its fixed. if its a true flicker and not just brightness changes, then its either defective or the backlight is pwm and you can see it. some people are sensitive to pwn backlights on regular computer monitors and can see the flicker. google pwm backlight if you're unfamiliar with the phenomenon.
It happens when the screen content changes, and i figured it'd be some kind of dynamic change.
it also happens when the screen has the content on screen constant. It's sort of like a pulse, sometimes it also gets bad for a split second. I don't really know how to explain it. it will be pulsing, then it will have a bad flicker then go back to pulsing. It gets worse the darker you make the brightness, and also when you turn on autobrightness (although im sure this makes it worse because it's trying to adjust the brightness in dark light).
I looked up the pwm backlight and it looks like it's mostly with LED backlights. Thats my guess of the backlight on this tablet. That makes sense though, because i can see a VERY VERY slight pluse on my work's Macbook Pro, and a slight pluse on my Nexus 5 too. I suppose that this might be the case.
I just don't see it being a defect because i've had three of them, from two different vendors and they've all done the exact same thing with the backlight.
I haven't noticed any screen flicker.
I am also comparing this forum with the N7 (2013) forum when it first came out.
Lots of people there seemed to have troubles getting a good one -- light leaks, touch screen issues (there were several firmware updates for this), dead pixels, etc.
At least so far, there seems to be fewer people (per captia) complaining here.
Speaking of touchscreen issues, I did notice something about my Shield Tablet...
I was using it in the evening, while connected to a charger. I suddenly had a terrible time typing. I had just installed Thumb Keyboard, so I thought that was the problem. Went back to the Google Keyboard. Still had trouble. Scrolling web pages was also slow/erratic. Reboot -- same thing.
The next day I took it to work -- lots of email, including lots of typing.. general usage, etc. --- all with no problem. Back at home in the evening, some games, Google+ (typing) -- no problem.
Later on I was surfing eBay, and again I could not type or scroll without a lot of problems.
I turned on Settings --> Developer options --> Show touches and --> Pointer location.
With my finger steady on the screen, it was showing lots of erratic movement, particularly in the vertical axis. Several mm of vertical error, and about 1mm horizontal. Sometimes clearly below the entire area my finger covered.
Then I realized that both times it happened I was connected to the charger (Travel Surge protector with 2 -- 2.1A(shared) USB outlets).
I disconnected the charger, and the problem went away.
Connected the charger, and after a few seconds, the problem returned.
I was using the included cable, and another 2.1A rated charger.
I changed to a different 2.1A rated charger, and did not have the problem.
Different cable, 1st charger -- No problem.
The problem is reproducible (although not always) only with the 2.1A travel surge protector, and the included NVidia cable.
I noticed that this thing will charge at nearly 2A. The included cable is quite long (as compared to the other cables I have laying around), but is not thinker. In fact it is thinner than other USB cables.
It's really too small a wire guage to run almost 2A for that length.
It is marked with the Shield symbol (Like the controller or the Shield Portable), and came wrapped in a thing that said "Use with", and the Shield controller symbol.
Was the wrong cable in my box?
How are other peoples cables marked?
Has anyone else noticed an erratic touch screen if you use it while charging?
Mine is marked the same as yours. I just notice the screen keeps poping on while it is charging for no reason.
Tapatalk
Linuxslate said:
I haven't noticed any screen flicker.
I am also comparing this forum with the N7 (2013) forum when it first came out.
Lots of people there seemed to have troubles getting a good one -- light leaks, touch screen issues (there were several firmware updates for this), dead pixels, etc.
At least so far, there seems to be fewer people (per captia) complaining here.
Speaking of touchscreen issues, I did notice something about my Shield Tablet...
I was using it in the evening, while connected to a charger. I suddenly had a terrible time typing. I had just installed Thumb Keyboard, so I thought that was the problem. Went back to the Google Keyboard. Still had trouble. Scrolling web pages was also slow/erratic. Reboot -- same thing.
The next day I took it to work -- lots of email, including lots of typing.. general usage, etc. --- all with no problem. Back at home in the evening, some games, Google+ (typing) -- no problem.
Later on I was surfing eBay, and again I could not type or scroll without a lot of problems.
I turned on Settings --> Developer options --> Show touches and --> Pointer location.
With my finger steady on the screen, it was showing lots of erratic movement, particularly in the vertical axis. Several mm of vertical error, and about 1mm horizontal. Sometimes clearly below the entire area my finger covered.
Then I realized that both times it happened I was connected to the charger (Travel Surge protector with 2 -- 2.1A(shared) USB outlets).
I disconnected the charger, and the problem went away.
Connected the charger, and after a few seconds, the problem returned.
I was using the included cable, and another 2.1A rated charger.
I changed to a different 2.1A rated charger, and did not have the problem.
Different cable, 1st charger -- No problem.
The problem is reproducible (although not always) only with the 2.1A travel surge protector, and the included NVidia cable.
I noticed that this thing will charge at nearly 2A. The included cable is quite long (as compared to the other cables I have laying around), but is not thinker. In fact it is thinner than other USB cables.
It's really too small a wire guage to run almost 2A for that length.
It is marked with the Shield symbol (Like the controller or the Shield Portable), and came wrapped in a thing that said "Use with", and the Shield controller symbol.
Was the wrong cable in my box?
How are other peoples cables marked?
Has anyone else noticed an erratic touch screen if you use it while charging?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, there are a lot of devices that will freak out when you're using different chargers. I was going to tell you to go back to the Nvidia cable and charger that were included with the device to see if that fixes it, but it looks like you've found out that the charger was the issue.
I'm still unable to tell if it's the PWM Backlighting method that was brought up earlier or not. I can't get anyone else to see it though, and after three devices, i'm starting to feel like it's something that is normal.
pencil316 said:
Mine is marked the same as yours. I just notice the screen keeps poping on while it is charging for no reason.
Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happens with mine. While charging the screen will frequently come back on and then go off again in a few seconds. I haven't noticed the behavior when it's not charging. It's almost like something is running in the background causing it to wake up when charging.
bluejay2345 said:
Same thing happens with mine. While charging the screen will frequently come back on and then go off again in a few seconds. I haven't noticed the behavior when it's not charging. It's almost like something is running in the background causing it to wake up when charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check if your bluetooth is on... Mine only does this when I leave my bluetooth controller connected.
No blue tooth is off
Tapatalk
I've noticed it slightly in low brightness but not as bad as the Tegra3 based N7 and TF700t. I'm guessing it has to do with prism if that's the case.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet
Screen "Flicker" is the auto brightness, try changing to a manual brightness. I have noticed the orientation is very sensitive, sometimes when sitting down or moving a bit it will flip orientation on me, seems overly sensitive, whereas ive used other tablets that were not sensitive enough. Sounds like you may have had a few bad ones but the screen "issue" seems to be common, the light sensor seems to be overly sensitive (assuming changing to manual brightness resolves your case).
Eat it iPhone said:
Screen "Flicker" is the auto brightness, try changing to a manual brightness. I have noticed the orientation is very sensitive, sometimes when sitting down or moving a bit it will flip orientation on me, seems overly sensitive, whereas ive used other tablets that were not sensitive enough. Sounds like you may have had a few bad ones but the screen "issue" seems to be common, the light sensor seems to be overly sensitive (assuming changing to manual brightness resolves your case).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't noticed any type of flickering on my TN7 or my new shield tablet. This could partially be because most of the time i have the brightness setting to manual. Its seems as when i have it on auto the screen is just a little too dim for me. Although, when using the tablet outside i usually have it on auto and the screen chooses the correct brightness so it can be best viewed.
As I mentioned, I haven't seen anything I would call a "flicker", but I am glad someone mentioned the auto brightness.
To me, the auto brightness seems a bit "hyper" -- too much gain.
A slight change in orientation to or away from room lighting causes a drastic change in screen brightness.
The same for a shadow from my thumb if I hold the tablet in landscape.
I guess it could cause a flicker, but it depends on the context of timing --- Kinda like "the dinosaurs died out quickly", vs. "the quark decayed quickly".
Also I want it to be clear that I am not complaining about my Shield Tablet. It's just that xda-forums are a place where things are discussed in minute detail. It is not a problem, issue or complaint.
I have no interest at all in using my Nexus 7 (2013) (or any other Tablet) since I got my Shield Tablet.
The weak wifi appears to be the priority focus Nvidia is now giving the tablet. Question is will they go into denial mode like Asus did with the T700, or address early and revise the design IF needed. Sales were badly impacted for the T700 and a high return rate, per Best Buy.
Hopefully a simple firmware fix, but weak wifi is almost always antenna related for devices like this.
rushless said:
The weak wifi appears to be the priority focus Nvidia is now giving the tablet. Question is will they go into denial mode like Asus did with the T700, or address early and revise the design IF needed. Sales were badly impacted for the T700 and a high return rate, per Best Buy.
Hopefully a simple firmware fix, but weak wifi is almost always antenna related for devices like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think any of the shield tablets I've used so far have had Wi-Fi problems.
I have a similar issue. Check it out here:
Shield tablet screen defect: http://youtu.be/PUP_zAgpbxs
I have been on and off the phone with Nvidia trying to get them to ship me a new one for free. They refuse and I refuse to pay more shipping charges just to get a working device. Great tab otherwise. Just was unlucky and Nvidia has terrible customer service. I'm just returning it
markymark567 said:
I have a similar issue. Check it out here:
Shield tablet screen defect: http://youtu.be/PUP_zAgpbxs
I have been on and off the phone with Nvidia trying to get them to ship me a new one for free. They refuse and I refuse to pay more shipping charges just to get a working device. Great tab otherwise. Just was unlucky and Nvidia has terrible customer service. I'm just returning it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, I'm glad I don't have that issue. That looks like some sort of video driver.
bryctucker said:
Man, I'm glad I don't have that issue. That looks like some sort of video driver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tell me about it. Its been like that since I first turned the tab on 3 days ago. Nvidia refuses to acknowledge my issue and insists I pay return shipping and a restocking fee. I don't understand why I should pay more than every other customer just to get a properly working device. Nvidia has pushed me away from sticking with this tablet.
The flickering when the content changes is probably Nvidia's PRISM at work. Basically, it tries to optimize brightness and colour so that power usage is reduced.
Instead of maxing the backlight and telling the pixels to display dark grey, it dims the backlight and tells the pixels to display light grey, saving power.
It is an advanced form of autobrightness, and I think it can be disabled. But a continuous flickering should not be caused by this. This should happen only when the screen is refreshed.. like new page or picture
---------- Post added at 08:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 PM ----------
markymark567 said:
I have a similar issue. Check it out here:
Shield tablet screen defect: http://youtu.be/PUP_zAgpbxs
I have been on and off the phone with Nvidia trying to get them to ship me a new one for free. They refuse and I refuse to pay more shipping charges just to get a working device. Great tab otherwise. Just was unlucky and Nvidia has terrible customer service. I'm just returning it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That IS a probelm.. for some reason the bottom is getting clipped and being sent to the top.. send them a picture.
I don't have the flickering problem either...but the tablet used to wake up constantly when charging ...but after I did a factory reset everything is fine now .... My only complain is the poor WiFi performance

RK8 HDMI issue

I got an RK8 box and runs great with my 4k TV. Exception being HDMI. When I turn on the RK8, it will not display on my TV. I have to unplug the HDMI from the box and plug it back in and than it will work. Is there a setting that I'm missing?
It's plugged into my HDMI port on the LG for 2.0. The TV also recognizes it as an HDMI 2.0 devices and switches the tv to 10bit colour on that port. Only issue is unplugging and plugging back in the HDMI cable to it to show.
Hi Kevin. Have had the RK8 for a couple of months now, and after the first couple of weeks using it on my Samsung UE65JU6070, I can no longer switch it on with my remote (switching off works fine), thus I have gotten used to unplug/replug the power cord. Maybe it's the same issue you're experiencing? I'll check tonight if unplugging/replugging the HDMI cable does the same trick for me as the power cord.
Can I ask, what is your experience in playing 4K youtube video's? It seems mine is very reluctant to do so (doesn't work on the youtube app, and only sporadically using a webbrowser).
Otherwise I agree with you .... it is a great box which seems to run very stable without any overheating issues etc. ..... and having upgraded KODI to 15.2 means I no longer have any stability issues there either (NB: if you do this update, you need to uninstall the pre-installed KODI 14 first .... so remember to save your settings etc.).
Just a last comment. At 70 USD this seems to me to be great value ..... I'm surprised it's so difficult to find other people on the Internet who have experience with this box ....
Best regards Mogens
mogensberg said:
Hi Kevin. Have had the RK8 for a couple of months now, and after the first couple of weeks using it on my Samsung UE65JU6070, I can no longer switch it on with my remote (switching off works fine), thus I have gotten used to unplug/replug the power cord. Maybe it's the same issue you're experiencing? I'll check tonight if unplugging/replugging the HDMI cable does the same trick for me as the power cord.
Can I ask, what is your experience in playing 4K youtube video's? It seems mine is very reluctant to do so (doesn't work on the youtube app, and only sporadically using a webbrowser).
Otherwise I agree with you .... it is a great box which seems to run very stable without any overheating issues etc. ..... and having upgraded KODI to 15.2 means I no longer have any stability issues there either (NB: if you do this update, you need to uninstall the pre-installed KODI 14 first .... so remember to save your settings etc.).
Just a last comment. At 70 USD this seems to me to be great value ..... I'm surprised it's so difficult to find other people on the Internet who have experience with this box ....
Best regards Mogens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no remote/power issues. Just issue with it showing on my tv. It powers up and won't display. TV see's that HDMI3 has power but does not show unless I unplug/plug the HDMI cord in the box.
I don't use youtube on this box. Just Kodi.
kevink15 said:
I have no remote/power issues. Just issue with it showing on my tv. It powers up and won't display. TV see's that HDMI3 has power but does not show unless I unplug/plug the HDMI cord in the box.
I don't use youtube on this box. Just Kodi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again Kevin. Since my last post, it has happend 3 - 4 times that I've experienced your issue of "black screen", but for me it has come out of the blue. Picture comes back when unplugging and replugging the HDMI cable just as you say. I was wondering if you have gotten any closer to find a solution?
Pls be aware that I tried to update to Kodi Jarvis (16.0) release, but went back to 15.2 due to an issue with menu text being "corrupted", which required each time starting Kodi to go and change the font. Allegedly it's an issue related to HDMI as well, so I'm wondering if there is some "glitch" in the box' HDMI implementation (HW or FW).
I'm sure you have tried already, but if not, have you tried to move the HDMI cable to another input on the TV? Do you have some configuration possibilities with the HDMI inputs on the TV ... if yes, maybe play around with those.
Small quirks ... but I have to say that for USD 60, this is still an amazing box even if I still cannot power it on with any remote (but power off works fine with all remotes).
Best regards Mogens
mogensberg said:
Hi again Kevin. Since my last post, it has happend 3 - 4 times that I've experienced your issue of "black screen", but for me it has come out of the blue. Picture comes back when unplugging and replugging the HDMI cable just as you say. I was wondering if you have gotten any closer to find a solution?
Pls be aware that I tried to update to Kodi Jarvis (16.0) release, but went back to 15.2 due to an issue with menu text being "corrupted", which required each time starting Kodi to go and change the font. Allegedly it's an issue related to HDMI as well, so I'm wondering if there is some "glitch" in the box' HDMI implementation (HW or FW).
I'm sure you have tried already, but if not, have you tried to move the HDMI cable to another input on the TV? Do you have some configuration possibilities with the HDMI inputs on the TV ... if yes, maybe play around with those.
Small quirks ... but I have to say that for USD 60, this is still an amazing box even if I still cannot power it on with any remote (but power off works fine with all remotes).
Best regards Mogens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had time to work with it to be honest. I think its a poor HDMI 2.0 design on the box. I still have the issue and just yesterday, my Kodi updated to 16 and I get the same issue as you with the block lettering which I haven't tried to fix as yet. Thanks for sharing changing of the font.
Reason I suspect its the unit and not tv, is because sometimes when it does not display on my tv. The tv gives a pop up indicating "The device connected does not support 10 bit deep colour". Then I unplug and plug and it goes away.
Hopefully I can get sometime to fiddle with it more and see how it can be resolved.
Have you tried to see if there is a software update? The update option on my box does not even work. I wonder if we both got knock offs or just duds.
kevink15 said:
I haven't had time to work with it to be honest. I think its a poor HDMI 2.0 design on the box. I still have the issue and just yesterday, my Kodi updated to 16 and I get the same issue as you with the block lettering which I haven't tried to fix as yet. Thanks for sharing changing of the font.
Reason I suspect its the unit and not tv, is because sometimes when it does not display on my tv. The tv gives a pop up indicating "The device connected does not support 10 bit deep colour". Then I unplug and plug and it goes away.
Hopefully I can get sometime to fiddle with it more and see how it can be resolved.
Have you tried to see if there is a software update? The update option on my box does not even work. I wonder if we both got knock offs or just duds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Kevin,
The box is made by Acemax, and there is no FW update since the original (believe the one it's shipped with is dated 30. sep 2015 ...but that's from memory as I'm at work). I don't think it's a knock off, but I do think it's a "standard" board which is basically put into a plastic cabinet, where the only difference to identical spec products (like the Xidoo X6 Pro) is the location of the USB ports. It seems it uses exactly the same components as that one and others similar to it ... however, Acemax do seem to have FW updates for other products they've made on their homepage, so ... who knows. If somebody is brave and skillful enough, such person may even try at install a FW from f.ex. the Xidoo box ... but I'm afraid that's not me (not due to lack of bravery, but ... skill!!). With that being said, I believe my issue with having to unplug/replug the power cord once per day is something I can live with easily (and it has worked, so it may be a question of resetting the box, which I frankly am to lazy to do!!), so .... I guess looking at such small quirks and comparing them to the overall usability of the box, then the trade-off is not too bad.
A quick view on a couple of threads for similar boxes (f.ex. the Xidoo) would seem to indicate that some of their users are having issues that makes ours "luxury problems" in comparison.
Anyway, I'll keep you updated if I stumble over something useful .... and would appreciate if you do the same.
P.S. A "clever" streaming guy has told me that the best Kodi version in terms of stability for live TV streaming still is Helix .... although I'm quite happy with Isenguard (got too tired of the font changing thing on Jarvis, so I re-installed Isenguard). I'm more or less only using mine for streaming HD channels (mostly UK Sky / BT sports) for EPL, and it works fantastic.
I found a weird solution for the unplug issue! When I turn on the box and my tv is on the hdmi port. I turn the tv off and turn it back on and the box displays. Tried this a few times and it worked.
mogensberg said:
Hi Kevin,
The box is made by Acemax, and there is no FW update since the original (believe the one it's shipped with is dated 30. sep 2015 ...but that's from memory as I'm at work). I don't think it's a knock off, but I do think it's a "standard" board which is basically put into a plastic cabinet, where the only difference to identical spec products (like the Xidoo X6 Pro) is the location of the USB ports. It seems it uses exactly the same components as that one and others similar to it ... however, Acemax do seem to have FW updates for other products they've made on their homepage, so ... who knows. If somebody is brave and skillful enough, such person may even try at install a FW from f.ex. the Xidoo box ... but I'm afraid that's not me (not due to lack of bravery, but ... skill!!). With that being said, I believe my issue with having to unplug/replug the power cord once per day is something I can live with easily (and it has worked, so it may be a question of resetting the box, which I frankly am to lazy to do!!), so .... I guess looking at such small quirks and comparing them to the overall usability of the box, then the trade-off is not too bad.
A quick view on a couple of threads for similar boxes (f.ex. the Xidoo) would seem to indicate that some of their users are having issues that makes ours "luxury problems" in comparison.
Anyway, I'll keep you updated if I stumble over something useful .... and would appreciate if you do the same.
P.S. A "clever" streaming guy has told me that the best Kodi version in terms of stability for live TV streaming still is Helix .... although I'm quite happy with Isenguard (got too tired of the font changing thing on Jarvis, so I re-installed Isenguard). I'm more or less only using mine for streaming HD channels (mostly UK Sky / BT sports) for EPL, and it works fantastic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you saw my last note about the power. I've also figured out more about this box. It has a rockchip which is one of the worst to use. Kodi does not support that chip fully, hence the weird text when launched. We have to stick with the preload or, I've read some place to download the "X86" apk from the kodi site. Also, I tested my box on a regular 1080p tv with hdmi 1.4. And the issues of it not displaying right away, are eliminated which lead me to believe the hdmi 2.0 in this box is poorly designed.
I'm probably going to use this box in my room and get a box with an Amlogic chip for 4k as those are the better boxes to have and more support is offered.
kevink15 said:
Not sure if you saw my last note about the power. I've also figured out more about this box. It has a rockchip which is one of the worst to use. Kodi does not support that chip fully, hence the weird text when launched. We have to stick with the preload or, I've read some place to download the "X86" apk from the kodi site. Also, I tested my box on a regular 1080p tv with hdmi 1.4. And the issues of it not displaying right away, are eliminated which lead me to believe the hdmi 2.0 in this box is poorly designed.
I'm probably going to use this box in my room and get a box with an Amlogic chip for 4k as those are the better boxes to have and more support is offered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Kevin,
I just now saw your other post about the power .... I tried that myself, but to no avail.
I'm not sure you're right about the Rockchip being one of the worst technically, but in terms of support (official and un-official) you're right.
However, since I use my box for watching IP TV, I can live with using Kodi 15.2. I've tried the Kodi 17 dev version, and it has the same issue with garbled text as Kodi 16.
The Kodi x86.apk cannot be installed on our box .... I tried yesterday, but I guess it is for an Intel based android solution.
In terms of HDMI 2.0 implementation, I wouldn't be surprised if it's not perfectly implemented .... not sure if HDCP 2.2 also plays a role.
Anyway, at the end of the day you get what you pay for .... and since I paid USD 65 for my box, I have to say I feel I got a lot of value for money, despite it's few quirks .... and as a friend of mine always says; what kind of life would it be without complaints
Best regards Mogens
Hi again Kevin,
The family being out for Saturday shopping, I spent a little time with my afternoon coffee on the computer.
You are right, that KODI do not support the RK3368 SoC, as the manufacturer does not comply with Android standards, which necessitates that standard KODI is "hacked" to work perfectly with this chip .... something the KODI development community naturally does not want to do.
However, it seems the manufacturer Zidoo whose Z6 box is based on the same SoC, has showed some good customer service, and actually created a ZDMC app, which is basically KODI 16 with a few modifications for RK3368.
I downloaded their firmware for the Z6 box, and extracted the ZDMC apk from there and installed it on my RK8 box ..... and albeit I've only tested it shortly, it works beautifully with no issues so far. Apart from not having garbled menu text, it also seems like it's actually able to make 4K output (the standard KODI irrespective of versions only seemed to be able to show FHD, but would in turn show a refresh rate of twice the actual .... too techincal for me!).
Long story short, if you want to test it out, I've uploaded the above apk to Mega with the download link below.
https://mega.nz/#!TR1SEByC
Encryption key needed: !kN-15aGvZljVdKEus9LT7NxCYjqnthR8bbaYD_YfhiQ
Let me know if it works for you and/or if you find anything. Also let me know if the download link doesn't work.
Enjoy your weekend!
Best regards Mogens
kevink15 said:
Not sure if you saw my last note about the power. I've also figured out more about this box. It has a rockchip which is one of the worst to use. Kodi does not support that chip fully, hence the weird text when launched. We have to stick with the preload or, I've read some place to download the "X86" apk from the kodi site. Also, I tested my box on a regular 1080p tv with hdmi 1.4. And the issues of it not displaying right away, are eliminated which lead me to believe the hdmi 2.0 in this box is poorly designed.
I'm probably going to use this box in my room and get a box with an Amlogic chip for 4k as those are the better boxes to have and more support is offered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again Kevin,
Just a last comment this time around. I've now used the above mentioned RK3368 "modified" version of Kodi 16, and I have to say it is extremely stable and works better on the RK8 than Kodi 15.2.
If you have a chance, try it out. Given the very, very limited 4K material out there, I hope this box should be able to carry me through the next couple of years until availability of material as well as new compression methods become available.
Best regards Mogens

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