Database Users

Defective proximity sensor/screen stays off [SOLVED]

Just wanted to post up in case anyone has a similar problem.
Since I got my phone the screen never turned on when I took it away from my face - had to push the power button. Really annoying. Thought it might have been a bug in android but once I got into the test screen through *#0*# at the dialer, I found my proximity sensor ADC values never dropped below 50.
As demonstrated by the display model at AT&T, the ADC value range should be 0 - 255.
This problem simply caused the phone to detect proximity and turn the screen off (in my case an ADC around 61), but the ADC values never dropped enough (below 50, obviously) to trigger the reverse.
So if your screen stays off when you take your huge phone away from your head, check your ADC values.
AT&T warrantied the phone no questions asked :good:

Proximity Sensor Problem?

Howdy.
On the Model: SM-N900W8" Bell Galaxy Note 3
Basically when in call, Here is a problem that is reoccuring for the past few weeks ever since a couple over the air (ota?) updates I have received compliments of google.
Enabled right now, via "call settings" = "Turn off screen during calls" is CHECKED with Green checkmark.
Just handset call, moving handset to ear to talk. Handset goes black. When removing handset from ear to click hangup, or press buttons, ie to "see" the screen... screen is continually black. - Fix = PRESS HOME BUTTON... brings screen up...
When on speaker phone call, screen is lit. Move hand to the first of 2 sensor circles by the main earpiece part, screen goes black, but does not return on.
I have tried *#0*#. = "Connection problem or invalid MMI Code". - However try again, and I get red green blue receiver etc etc.
I clicked "sensor hub test" and it went BLACK.
I had to click home button, unlock screen, and I get a white with black text stating that..
INT Check: OK
FirmwareCheck
MCU Firm Version : ST0113090300
Bin Firm Version : ST0113090300
MCU Name: STM32F401CCY6B
"blue letters" PASS
I don't see how it passed, a screen went black, did not return, just went black..
Hit the back button. Tried "TSP HOVERING". That works fancy, drawing green squares everywhere...
Under "SENSOR"
I move the hand over proxmimity sensor - ACD goes to 1000+ when I put my finger over it and the screen goes green with black fonts of the prox, acceler, barometer, lights, etc...
Prox is native when sitting still anywhere from 80-95 averages for ACD
Proximity is 0.0 and TSP Color ID: 00
The different tests are rather cool to try, but not helpful in solving my issue...
What I have done: Use a lcd led plasma tv screen cleaner from nexxtech for non streaking. A cloth that came to clean my glasses I have to clean the screen. It is streak free. I have used compressed air to thoroughly blow the area around the upper speaker / sensors and even had the battery out / cover off, etc and blown every hole around the phone.
I still cannot solve this issue of black screening.
The only resolution which leads my ear to "hang up calls accidentally" is to "un check" ie single box, no checkmark, the "turn off screen during calls" option.... ie disable that sensor thing...
I have hard booted, rebooted, cleaned, etc...
Suggestions?

I have the same problem, hoping I won't have to send my device to the service because it's a pain in my country and I will be without a phone for more than a week.
Anyone know any fix for this?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Does anyone have an idea on this yet?

See here:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...-sensor-issue-during-calls-3.html#post3233866
And here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47329433&postcount=22
I plan on trying to return mine before re-calibrating via the above technique. Though I would like to hear peoples opinion on if its a calibration issue (i.e they didn't calibrate it from factory properly) or a hardware defect and the sensor it self is bad. My ADC value's when not covered sit at about 70 (clean screen after blowing with air at ear piece) My screen was solid green, wouldn't go white until I blew it out, I didn't check the value beforehand.

Went to Bell today and they will let me exchange it (backing it up now) I checked out the new phone they have for me and its ADC value is 30 with nothing close. From the link above it shows the "normal" value with nothing close to the proximity is around 10, not sure if I should be concerned with the new phone and try and find another if they are willing? Either way its better then my ADC 90 I'm getting today (blew with air yesterday to get it down to 70)
Thoughts? I would love to know a few more peoples ADC values.

bnevets27 said:
See here:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...-sensor-issue-during-calls-3.html#post3233866
And here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47329433&postcount=22
I plan on trying to return mine before re-calibrating via the above technique. Though I would like to hear peoples opinion on if its a calibration issue (i.e they didn't calibrate it from factory properly) or a hardware defect and the sensor it self is bad. My ADC value's when not covered sit at about 70 (clean screen after blowing with air at ear piece) My screen was solid green, wouldn't go white until I blew it out, I didn't check the value beforehand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't install superuser as i'm on a different model then the 2 common series out there... Unless you have some way to install root to correct...
It's more then likely difficult to complete without this...

well, I've had this exact same issue, but I read somewhere that if I blow into the earpiece (no air spray, I mean by my mouth, normally blow air into earpiece) it might get fixed. so I did and it is ok now it seems there might be getting dust under the glass through the speaker

jmaciak said:
well, I've had this exact same issue, but I read somewhere that if I blow into the earpiece (no air spray, I mean by my mouth, normally blow air into earpiece) it might get fixed. so I did and it is ok now it seems there might be getting dust under the glass through the speaker
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used a can of compressed air... and ADC went form 120 and non working proximity sensor to 10-15 with a good working proximity sensor.
I've contacted the seller where I bought my device (Omegacell somewhere in Alberta... for a SM-N900 imported from some other country)... they told me that if I can reproduce the problem, they will replace my device since I bought the exchange warranty at the same time. So now I'm back to square one... because I got it working with the air through the speaker "trick". Hoping that this fix will last for ever... but if it ever comes back, I hope that it will be within my 1 year exchange warranty.

Deep cleaning
I had the same problem with my proximity sensor. First it wouldn't work at all. Then ,after wiping the screen and blowing (with compressed air and mouth), it would work somewhat. The screen would go black when I put it to my ear but would not come back on after I took it down.
I tested it by dialing *#0*# and using the "Sensor" button. It would sense my hand approaching the sensor but not my hand going away.
I disassembled the phone following the instructions from GalaxyNote3Root.com (Sorry I can't post a link, not enough posts yet).
I wiped the sensor and the inside of the glass with a clean cloth, reassembled and the phone is now good as new.
This might obviously void your warranty, but on my AT&T SM-N900A there are no seals or tapes of any kind that has to be broken to get access. So no warranty voidage. At least no way anyone can tell you the phone was opened as long as you are carefull.
The whole operations takes about 15 mins.

[Q] How to disable Proximity sensor in Nexus 4

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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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 :/
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.

Possibly broken Proximity Sensor? Screen always goes off when calling

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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

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).
Click to expand...
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).
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.

Case messes proximity sensor

Dear all,
I have bought a new case to my good old Note4. The case is great except that its edge is a bit too close to the proximity sensor. The result is that the screen goes off during every call and when playing whatsapp audio.
As I want to use this case (it offers perfect protection) I would like to ask:
- Will the permanent detection of close proximity cause any harm to the sensor?
- Is there any way to get around this? (disable the sensor or recalibrate it so it would not respond to the false positive?)
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

maybe slightly cut the case so that it doesn't block the sensor