Database Users

[Q] Making touch keys less touchy/easier unlock

Annoying Touch buttons
I think that the most DHD users have the same problem, touching the buttons at the bottom if you really dont want to.
So my question is if it would be possible to change the "Home" or the "Menu" button (pushing long) from "last used apps" to "turn on/off the touch keys???
that would be awsome
thx Dr.Pepper

Never been an issue for me, although i was anticipating problems with no hardware buttons its been fine...

Pepper90 said:
I think that the most DHD users have the same problem, touching the buttons at the bottom if you really dont want to.
So my question is if it would be possible to change the "Home" or the "Menu" button (pushing long) from "last used apps" to "turn on/off the touch keys???
that would be awsome
thx Dr.Pepper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't help but say, "you're holding it wrong!"
Seriously though I've never encountered this problem on either this phone or my N1 which has a smaller screen.
How exactly are you managing to press the buttons by mistake?
Regards.

iam the only one who has the problem that he accidently hits a touch key while using the phone or playing a game? every little contact triggers the keys. i.e. if i use the thumb to type a message, holding the phone in the right hand, i sometimes trigger the search key.
my idea is to make it harder to trigger these keys. as they are part of the touchscreen, it sould be possible to do anything that can be done with the touch sreen. my ideas:
1. double-touch; tapping the key 2 times (like a double-klick) triggers it once
2. sweep; i.e. you touch the home-button and sweep out of it, then release. can be even harder with sweeping out and back in.
3. circle-touch; making a little circle over the button triggers it.
other ideas welcome.
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2nd problem: easier unlocking;
i feel it sometimes tricky to unlock the pone, wich is done by pressing the powerbutton at the top of the phone and sweeping on the bottom of the screen. the phone is'nt very small (or i have small hands). if iam holding the phone at the bottom, i can nearly reach the whole touch area with my thumb, but to unlock, i need to use my 2nd hand or to juggle the phone so i can reach the power button with the right hand. with the G1, which had a menu button at the bottom, it was just double-pressing that button and the phone was unlocked. iam looking for a similar easy way to do it.
its just annoying to take the phone out of the pocket and use both handy or juggle around to unlock it...
i dont know it it wastes additional energy to have the touchscreen active, so it can be used to unlock the phone. so my ideas:
1. use the touchscreen to unlock; i.e. draw a pattern, press the bottom key in some order (home, back, menu to unlock)
2.1 use the volume keys. if the screen is disabled, they are used to change the audio volume (or is that only the case, if music is playing?) When holding the phone at the bottom with the right hand, the volume-down hey is easily reachable. so you can do volume-down (which activates the screen) and then slide on the screen like you would do if you have pressed the power button. pressing volume-down with deactivated screen does not change the volume, but pressing it twice does (i.e. 1st press unlocks the screen and 2nd press takes volume down).
2.2 press vol-up and vol-down at the same time to unlock the phone. if i do that the phone vibrates sometimes, no idea why.
3. use acceleromater (or a other sensor?) to unlock, i.e. shaking the phone in a special way (i.e. a circle), activates the screen, so you can unlock it by sliding on it. also full unlock by shaking a phone could be possible (also known as kung-fu-unlock )
other ideas also welcome.

Proximity sensor for unlock when taking it out of the pocket :-D. I have the same problem as you so a 'fix' would be nice

yeah, you take the phone out of the pocket and it unlocks and says "hello raw, how you are doing?".
but that would be nice. question is if constantly checking the prox sensor would drain the battery much. it needs to be checked every 3 seconds or so.

lynxboy said:
Can't help but say, "you're holding it wrong!"
Seriously though I've never encountered this problem on either this phone or my N1 which has a smaller screen.
How exactly are you managing to press the buttons by mistake?
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i try to use the phone with one hand

seems like here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=854073) is another user with that problem.

same problem: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=9550179#post9550179

Merged threads as topic is similar....
Cheers,
M_T_M

power button wake up problem

is anyone having issues with waking up this phone? Randomly to get the screen back on I will have to press the power button about four times for the screen to come back on. its really starting to bug
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

press harder. I learned quickly that it takes a firm push and you have to hit the button w/o your fingers getting caught up on the sides of the phone.
it's either that or you got a bad button

I have the same issue, this along with the lag I get at times when I attempt to use the camera has me seriously considering returning this phone. The Inspired I returned had non of these issues just a tinny speaker.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Mine wouldnt go to sleep today when pushing the button. Seems to be a few bugs with this phone eh?

I'm starting to look at re-mapping the keyword to allow the volume keys to wake it up, and then use the fingerprint reader to unlock it. That power button seems to fragile to me. To turn the screen off I just use Extended Controls.
Any thoughts?

Widget locker has an option to use the vol buttons for wake

I kinda have the same problem but its when i press the lock button the screen shuts off but then comes right back on. I press it again, it shuts off, then comes right back on.

I had the same problem - power button wouldn't wake phone from sleep.
I had to do a battery pull to resolve the issue.
I'm using the lastest FW.

Motorola phones (Not just Atrix, but Droid X also) have some funky business that sometimes prevents/delays the screen from turning on, even if the button press is registered. This happens with the power button and also the volume buttons if they're used to wake the device (Like with WidgetLocker). I haven't been able to narrow it down, but I suspect it's related to (ab)use of PowerManager's preventScreenOn()

[email protected] said:
Motorola phones (Not just Atrix, but Droid X also) have some funky business that sometimes prevents/delays the screen from turning on, even if the button press is registered. This happens with the power button and also the volume buttons if they're used to wake the device (Like with WidgetLocker). I haven't been able to narrow it down, but I suspect it's related to (ab)use of PowerManager's preventScreenOn()
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds logic to me, because even editing the right keyboard file to add a wake_dropped to the volume down, it won't turn on the screen. I hate when they change things the way they do with this, the bootloader, etc.

Focus is dying, what could it be?

i suspect the power/lock button is FUBAR, but there are some other symptoms that do not resemble just a bad power/lock button. here are the symptoms that indicate it is the power/lock button:
1. when the phone is off, almost impossible to turn on. sometimes have to press and hold power button 10-12 times before it will shut on
2. when the phone is on and i press the lock button to lock the phone, most of the time it thinks i held the button and says "slide down to power off" although sometimes it doesn't respond at all. it almost NEVER locks when i press it (like it should be doing)
3. when the phone is on and i press the lock button to unlock the phone, most of the time it shuts off completely and i go back to step 1
symptom that indicates another problem not related to power/lock button:
1. if the phone is off and i press the power button, when the phone responds it will sometimes say "samsung" like it is turning on, and then nothing else will happen. i won't get the ATT screen and it won't boot up. this some times happens multiple times before the phone finally boots
currently i've been letting the phone time out automatically instead of the lock button, and using the camera button to unlock it. i've also been trying to not let it turn off at all, because getting it back on is really tough.
is there anyway i can disable the lock/power button...and/or is there an alternative way to lock and turn on your phone that doesn't require the use of that button? even if i tell myself not to use it, there are still times in your pocket where the darn thing gets pressed. for me that could mean it kills my phone and doesn't restart for the rest of the day, which i'm sure you can imagine is not ideal.

tuffluck said:
i suspect the power/lock button is FUBAR, but there are some other symptoms that do not resemble just a bad power/lock button. here are the symptoms that indicate it is the power/lock button:
1. when the phone is off, almost impossible to turn on. sometimes have to press and hold power button 10-12 times before it will shut on
2. when the phone is on and i press the lock button to lock the phone, most of the time it thinks i held the button and says "slide down to power off" although sometimes it doesn't respond at all. it almost NEVER locks when i press it (like it should be doing)
3. when the phone is on and i press the lock button to unlock the phone, most of the time it shuts off completely and i go back to step 1
symptom that indicates another problem not related to power/lock button:
1. if the phone is off and i press the power button, when the phone responds it will sometimes say "samsung" like it is turning on, and then nothing else will happen. i won't get the ATT screen and it won't boot up. this some times happens multiple times before the phone finally boots
currently i've been letting the phone time out automatically instead of the lock button, and using the camera button to unlock it. i've also been trying to not let it turn off at all, because getting it back on is really tough.
is there anyway i can disable the lock/power button...and/or is there an alternative way to lock and turn on your phone that doesn't require the use of that button? even if i tell myself not to use it, there are still times in your pocket where the darn thing gets pressed. for me that could mean it kills my phone and doesn't restart for the rest of the day, which i'm sure you can imagine is not ideal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem to have a (hardware) problem with the power button (obviously).
There are a couple of ways to turn on the phone/display without the power button:
- camera/back
- connect power charger
- usb connect
Last 2 are not practical and first you already do. You should try and see how much would it cost to replace the power button, if you're out of warranty. Should be cheap, and beats workarounds.

is there any way to lock it rather than letting it just time out? what about turning it on?
do you feel pretty confident that the seemingly unrelated symptom where the "samsung" screen comes up and then shuts off while trying to turn the phone on STILL indicates the button is broken? just worried this problem extends further than just the button.
thanks for your help.

tuffluck said:
is there any way to lock it rather than letting it just time out? what about turning it on?
do you feel pretty confident that the seemingly unrelated symptom where the "samsung" screen comes up and then shuts off while trying to turn the phone on STILL indicates the button is broken? just worried this problem extends further than just the button.
thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no other way to turn it on (except plugging it to charge) and you found the one workaround, with the camera.
I am *very* sure that the power button is the culprit in your case, most likely the spring that pops back the button is either broken or out of place.
If you keep the power button pressed, in 2 seconds you'll see the slide message, but if you keep it pressed, then it just turns off after 2 more seconds. So, yes, it's the power button and nothing else, in your case.
Fix that and you should be back to normal.
And you're not the only one with this problem. Recently, I've tried to help someone else here, with the same problem, as you can see here.

thanks. i called around and a guy here in town said it will take him 30 minutes for $30 to fix it. i'm taking it to him at lunch, so hopefully i'll come back with a fully functional phone--he also was pretty certain it was the power button, and had seen this before. thanks for your help.

well it wasn't the power button. apparently there is a battery connected to the power button that is dying. but you can't even order a new battery, so pretty much once it's dead, it's dead for good and you have to do the camera button workaround like i was doing.
though he did solder the battery to the board a little more (that's another problem, from the factory it is soldered to the main board so even if you could replace it, you'd likely damage the board), and it seemed to fix the problem. he claimed it would only be temporary and within a few weeks the problem will likely come back.

tuffluck said:
well it wasn't the power button. apparently there is a battery connected to the power button that is dying. but you can't even order a new battery, so pretty much once it's dead, it's dead for good and you have to do the camera button workaround like i was doing.
though he did solder the battery to the board a little more (that's another problem, from the factory it is soldered to the main board so even if you could replace it, you'd likely damage the board), and it seemed to fix the problem. he claimed it would only be temporary and within a few weeks the problem will likely come back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is weird indeed. I don't think I ever heard of another type of battery being used in phones, tied to buttons. Unless it's a capacitor but anyways...
Thanks for sharing the info with us!

I know this is thread is almost a year old, but unfortunately, it seems my Samsung Focus (v1.3) also has the exact same issue.
The worst bit is that every other aspect of this once glorious phone still works and I was very happy using it, not really feeling the need to upgrade.
I was using a custom ROM which I flashed back to AT&T original 7004 but that did not work. It doesn't seem to be a software issue at all.
The symptoms are the same - tapping the power button to lock the phone gives you the option to slide to power-off and after a second it will do that anyway (without any interaction). When you try to boot, it won't progress past the SAMSUNG screen and in the rare chance it does boot, it will work for an hour or two before dying again. Connecting power helps a little (as you can't turn off the phone with mains power connected), but only just. I have tried using the original battery which I initially suspected was causing issues but even a generic battery has the same issues. I'm tempted to spend $20 on a genuine battery but I don't think it will really help given the generic battery did work properly when the phone was itself.
I'm now faced with upgrading to the Lumia 920 but with new models around the corner I think I'm going for the budget Lumia 520 which has similar specs to the Focus (except LED flash) and will hold out for the new flagship model, or buy the 920 when it falls a bit more.

Hi - just wanted to add my experience with this issue (as my focus exhibited these exact symptoms today). Unlike some people, though, even if my phone managed to boot up, it would shut down again after a few seconds on the tile screen.
Like cysser0, I also suspected the battery at first, but replacing the long-life I had purchased last year with the original battery (which I keep charged as a back-up) had no effect on the symptoms. To be brief, I tried all sorts of things over the course of an hour. Nearing the end of my tether, and resigning myself to try a format as a last resort, I discovered that if I held the power button and the volume button down, I could get the phone to stay on. Releasing either of these buttons would result in the phone switching off suddenly.
Wrapping a rubber band tightly around the top of the phone has allowed me to continue using the phone for the moment, and I have managed to do a backup of all my content (not that I will be able to restore it on this phone, it seems).

Way to make phone Sleep While Charging?

Is there any way way to make the phone sleep while charging without pressing the red button? I have the problem where the phone's touchscreen doesn't like to respond because of the worn out digitizer. So i have to hold the red button down very hard to make it work again. And when i press the red button while the touch screen is working, i have to redo the process. So is there any way to make it sleep while charging without pressing the red button?

Just leave the phone and the screen should time out. If not, you can change it in the settings, probably under 'display' (although it would really help if you mentioned a specific ROM, or even for that matter an OS).

Easy on android & very easy on WM to have an icon linked to a power off exe or a mortscript. on WM you could use uTask to have extra soft button & map long or short press to turn screen off ...

Essential with a loop restart

Hi guys!
What's happening its that I bought the phone online, it's basically like brand new! No damaged on the buttons or a si gles minor scratch.
The problem is that the phone is always pressing the power button, sometimes I get in to a loop of restart sometimes I can use the phone normally and even sometimes I am using the phone and it stats to lock it self or open the camera (that usually happen when you double tap the power button) I already contact Essential but, by the way I bought it I doubt that they will do something, this happens without need of touching the phone. So I am sure that this it's not a defect on the button directly
I was thinking on root the device and by any way, disable the power button, I already try with button remaper or apps like that but, they don't work with the power just with the volume which sometimes it press it self as well.
Thanks in advance