Can I change system-wide brightness levels? - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have a Nexus 4 unit that has what I presume is a hardware issue.
The brightness on my device can go below normal. And turn off the backlight completely. (Rendering the phone unusable). This happens when turning the slider to the lowest setting. The screen goes pitch black. And I can only turn it back on because I can get my way around the new status bar toggles and switch it back on.
In KitKat I used to tweak the minimum brightness setting with GravityBox to 10 (in a scale to 255).which the brightness slider, system toggles and battery saver settings seem to move down to 0.
Does anyone know can I reproduce this tweak in lollipop?.
I don't have a lot of experience tweaking system files but I can find my own way around it if pointed in the right direction
I've already tried root apps, build.prop edits and they sadly, don't work.
Thanks in advance.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app

Related

Screen brightness goes down automaticaly.

Hi,
Everytime my battery goes down 15%, my screen brightness goes to almost 0.
I cant see any setting to change this.
I dont have any app to do that.
Currently rba023 rooted.
Thank you
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
If there's a way to change it I would like to know as well. It's very hard to see for that last 15%.
Wish I could help.
The last 15% would last no time if it was at normal brightness. It's designed for, you know, if you need to use it in an emergency ;-)
To get your brightness back go to the sound and display setting and click brightness. It returns it to full brightness. When your battery drops to 10% and 5% it will do the same.
As far as I'm aware there isn't a proper solution to this.
My issue with the brightness is the "auto brightness" function seems backwards to me.
E.g. if I am in direct sunlight, auto brightness turns the brightness of the screen way down, which means I can hardly see it. If anything the brightness should be turned UP.
If I am in a dark room, auto brightness turns the brightness up, when really, turning it down would be better as it doesn't need to be as bright in a dark room. So it should be turned DOWN automatically.
It's arse-over-tit, as we say.
Yes,
But now with root, i'm sure anyone with the right knowledge can modify this 'stock setting' ! ...
Anyone to try it?
Cheers!
misterzak said:
To get your brightness back go to the sound and display setting and click brightness. It returns it to full brightness. When your battery drops to 10% and 5% it will do the same.
As far as I'm aware there isn't a proper solution to this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mine seems fine.. Yours however does, as you say, seem arse over tit.
Sent from my x10 using XDA and swype.
This doesn't really fix the query but for fast access to adjust the brightness I use an app called QuickSettings which I have on my front screen to give quick access to some basic settings. On the brightness adjuster you have to have the phone settings not on automatically adjust.

Beware of the Brightness Of Death

Hi all,
On a number of occasions, I've used Market apps to control the screen brightness, either manually (like a brightness widget) or scheduled (using Timeriffic - a great tool for automatic profile changes throughout the day).
Apparently, these apps are not aware of the correct minimum brightness supported by the Leo, making it too easy to go too low, which essentially disables the display completely.
Touch still works, so if I'm lucky enough to remember the location of the widget/slider/controls, I may be able to turn brightness back up to a "sane" level.
For example, Timeriffic turns the screen off with a brightness level of 10% - 15% is the lowest working setting.
If I'm unable to fix it this way, I'm basically forced to reset. The problem is that Android *remembers* this setting after a reboot, and reapplies it just when the device is vibrated slightly at the "Android" logo animation. Thus, with a black screen, it is impossible for me to unlock the SIM, hard to unlock the screen lock, and virtually impossible to correct the brightness setting. I need to remove my data.img ("hard resetting" Android) and restore what I can from backups.
The problem also seems to occur with the standard screen dimming which occurs at about half time before the "screen off" setting. I can see the display start to dim, then it suddeny turns off. In this case, however, Android of course reverts to normal brightness at the touch of the screen or press of a button.
On a related note, I have experienced (like right now) that brightness range used by Android is much dimmer then normal. That is, using the regular brightness slider in Settings, I can only vary between almost invisible (min) and quite dim (max). Curiously, in this situation, the display can get *much* dimmer than normal, without becoming disabled.
Any ideas on these issues would be most welcome!
Workarounds found later in this thread:
- Shine a bright light on the screen - the graphics are still there if you look really hard. It's not a joke!
- Use Screencast in Droid Explorer to "remote control" your Android
- adb shell "echo 255 >/sys/class/leds/lcd-backlight/brightness"
ugumba said:
Hi all,
On a number of occasions, I've used Market apps to control the screen brightness, either manually (like a brightness widget) or scheduled (using Timeriffic - a great tool for automatic profile changes throughout the day).
Apparently, these apps are not aware of the correct minimum brightness supported by the Leo, making it too easy to go too low, which essentially disables the display completely.
Touch still works, so if I'm lucky enough to remember the location of the widget/slider/controls, I may be able to turn brightness back up to a "sane" level.
For example, Timeriffic turns the screen off with a brightness level of 10% - 15% is the lowest working setting.
If I'm unable to fix it this way, I'm basically forced to reset. The problem is that Android *remembers* this setting after a reboot, and reapplies it just when the device is vibrated slightly at the "Android" logo animation. Thus, with a black screen, it is impossible for me to unlock the SIM, hard to unlock the screen lock, and virtually impossible to correct the brightness setting. I need to remove my data.img ("hard resetting" Android) and restore what I can from backups.
The problem also seems to occur with the standard screen dimming which occurs at about half time before the "screen off" setting. I can see the display start to dim, then it suddeny turns off. In this case, however, Android of course reverts to normal brightness at the touch of the screen or press of a button.
On a related note, I have experienced (like right now) that brightness range used by Android is much dimmer then normal. That is, using the regular brightness slider in Settings, I can only vary between almost invisible (min) and quite dim (max). Curiously, in this situation, the display can get *much* dimmer than normal, without becoming disabled.
Any ideas on these issues would be most welcome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know these app(s) but if they are writing their settings and configured values into a ini or settings file, than you might be able to connect via adb and change the setting by this way.
With tools like Droidexplorer or ADB magic, browsing through the files should be very comfortable and you might find the correct file.
this happens on regular android devices ...i have a couple of them
thatruth132 said:
this happens on regular android devices ...i have a couple of them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What happens? That brightness is set too low, essentially disabling the screen, so you're forced to hard reset or perform some root magic? How do you cope with it? Or does it happen that the permitted brightness range is just dimmer than usual?
Btw, until there is no light-sensor support in kernel, you can't use such apps for the brightness
Stills a good advice
I have had the same issue with the brightness range being too low. The max brightness is really dim and the colors don't seem right. That may just be the dimming effect though. If I restart the phone it seems to take care of this. I have not had the screen go below the minimum level and turn off though.
is there a fix for this. i just experienced this problem
I experienced the same with Multicon widgets.. had to delete Android and start over
somebully said:
I experienced the same with Multicon widgets.. had to delete Android and start over
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow, not good at all, crap...
so that means if i do that i'll lose everything huh?
Theres no way to restore the factory brightness or factory settings for the android?
aznsHD2 said:
Oh wow, not good at all, crap...
so that means if i do that i'll lose everything huh?
Theres no way to restore the factory brightness or factory settings for the android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you have a working WinMo it should be possible to edit the values of brightness, but I have no idea where this information is stored.
Deleting Android folder and unzipping again is esentially restoring to factory settings.
yea this happens to me all the time, its a *****. it cuts off at exactly 12% for me. what i do is have aldiko(a book reader) on the home screen. if i click on it and open a book i can just swipe on the left side of the screen to adjust brightness. since i know that its on the home screeen on the right side middle, i can usually find my way back to it.
somebully said:
As long as you have a working WinMo it should be possible to edit the values of brightness, but I have no idea where this information is stored.
Deleting Android folder and unzipping again is esentially restoring to factory settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which means that i'll lose everything such as data correct? new contacts etc. msgs...
any thing on this... isnt their a file in the android folder that i could maybe replace to restore to factory settings.
and could someone post a screen shot of their phone so i know where the numbers for the pin code lockscreen. tryin to get past that, then i can adjust my brightness
LOL I experienced it one time. And I must delete data.img to restore the phone. After this, I don't use any brightness tools (except ones already in the Android build).
If anyone have solution, please point us
Well i was able to get my screen back to normal. lol.
I didnt delete the data.img, i simply copied it and then removed it, started a fresh install, and then just marked on my screen where the numbers were, turned it off, put the old data.img back. Followed my marks, and was able to unlock it and then found the power control widget. And bam! screen back to bright...
This might work for you!
Erm... In similar circumstances I found this worked...
I was trying out different Android builds and I found a screen brightness widget. It had various available levels of brightness, one being 0%. As soon as I selected it I felt pretty stupid as true to it's word it gave me 0% brightness placing me in a similar position to the OP.
My Solution. I used my (very bright) led torch to light the screen. By playing around with the angle and beam width I found I could just make out the on screen graphics enough to re-adjust the brightness level.
Simples!
Just as " Justblair " said .. you can place your device under a very bright light thus you'll be able to see the screen and what it's showing .. idk what build you guys are using but in cyanogen you can adjust the lowest dim level so that any app or widget tries to set the brightness to 0% it's automatically set to your preset, 15% for instance.
I've only faced this problem once
Is it absolutely necessary to flood the main thread with all these useless noob posts?
It really has nothing to do with Android development on HD2 and should be posted in the General section IMO.
kawazaki said:
Just as " Justblair " said .. you can place your device under a very bright light thus you'll be able to see the screen and what it's showing .. idk what build you guys are using but in cyanogen you can adjust the lowest dim level so that any app or widget tries to set the brightness to 0% it's automatically set to your preset, 15% for instance.
I've only faced this problem once
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cyanogen allows you a max dim level of 26 - which is too little on the HD2.
In Tasker, 30 is the lowest setting that still provides light. Maybe Cyanogen can be patched for the HD2 in coming builds?
Thanks for the tip on shining a bright light on the screen.
Another tip is to use Droid Explorer's "Screencast" feature, to view and control your Android's screen on your PC desktop. Of course, the brightness setting has no effect here.

Screen Brightness refuses to stay at down

I would like to have my screen brightness turned all the way down. This is my 2nd epic (1st one's menu soft key wasn't sensitive like the other soft keys) I go into the settings and set it that way as well as in the browser. I've tried having it setup with and without the power saving mode option selected, but no matter what, the screen brightness always changes to a higher setting on its own. I cycle through the power control widget and dim it back to 0 all the time but it doesn't remember the setting. I also notice that in some apps the brightness is raised i.e. market. What am I doing wrong? My bet is Samsung has an annoying glitch that they need to fix ASAP!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Black06STI said:
I would like to have my screen brightness turned all the way down. This is my 2nd epic (1st one's menu soft key wasn't sensitive like the other soft keys) I go into the settings and set it that way as well as in the browser. I've tried having it setup with and without the power saving mode option selected, but no matter what, the screen brightness always changes to a higher setting on its own. I cycle through the power control widget and dim it back to 0 all the time but it doesn't remember the setting. I also notice that in some apps the brightness is raised i.e. market. What am I doing wrong? My bet is Samsung has an annoying glitch that they need to fix ASAP!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed mine does that too. It will randomly be at a higher brightness setting. Also, the lowest brightness is WAY too bright! 0 on the epic is equivalent to 35 on the EVO.
Maybe when your pulling down the notification bar your sliding across on accident just enough to make it change brightness. Remember the brightness changes in your bar.....
i've got a vibrant but mine's doing same - hasn't done it that often, but does it
i found a small app for screen brightness control that displays the brightness percentage running as part of the icon, - just yesterday it had jumped from 11% to 52% on it's own
have no idea what gremlins are at work here
smashpunks said:
Maybe when your pulling down the notification bar your sliding across on accident just enough to make it change brightness. Remember the brightness changes in your bar.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from WM I was not aware of this gesture. I did notice sometimes when pulling the tray down it would do it. I need to read an android for dummies book and see if there's any other hidden jedi mind tricks that can be done.
I compared my brightness at 0 to an iphone4 all the way down, EVO, G1, Hero, BB Bold, and my former WM phones and the epic is way too bright at 0. I wish there was a way to keep the brightness set to the same setting when the screen dims in some apps, that would be ideal.
Good to see I'm not the only one with this issue and definitely getting a screen brightness icon in the notification panel will be very helpful to track samsung's shiesty shenanigans!
P.S.
The screen brightness increased on its own while typing this message from the xda app....
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Doesn't the epic have an ambient light sensor for screen britness control?
kgold708 said:
Doesn't the epic have an ambient light sensor for screen britness control?
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Click to collapse
Yes but sometimes that's too bright, I'd rather have it set all the way down and stay down and raise it as needed on my own.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Black06STI said:
Yes but sometimes that's too bright, I'd rather have it set all the way down and stay down and raise it as needed on my own.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is when a custom rom will be handy... no other way to get around it I don't think. I use adw and have my swipe down gesture for notification bar. That way I never have to reach all the way up.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Brightness control
There is a setting under Sound and Display > Display Settings, called Power Saving Mode. I disabled this along with the automatic brightness control and my screen brightness hasn't changed since. Not sure if this is your issue but couldn't hurt to try.......
erickh said:
There is a setting under Sound and Display > Display Settings, called Power Saving Mode. I disabled this along with the automatic brightness control and my screen brightness hasn't changed since. Not sure if this is your issue but couldn't hurt to try.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He did say he have used this setting before.
There's the power saving mode AND there's also the automatic brightness control. Two different settings. I turned both off and I haven't really seen the brightness change since.
Incidentally, disabling the automatic brightness control (in the brightness menu) has greatly improved my battery life.
Firon said:
There's the power saving mode AND there's also the automatic brightness control. Two different settings. I turned both off and I haven't really seen the brightness change since.
Incidentally, disabling the automatic brightness control (in the brightness menu) has greatly improved my battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you read the first post? It said he did BOTH.
Fixter said:
Did you read the first post? It said he did BOTH.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixter, you beat me to it.... We need to find a way to get the phone to stay dim like when the XDA app is searching/refreshing. This would be ideal if that would be the baseline for 0% brightness. I hate how the Eclair browser's brightness 0% is one tick higher than using quick settings to turn the brightness down. Too bad I don't know how to develop, as this would be the first thing I would fix!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I think that it's easy to accidentally change the screen brightness when pulling down the notification bar.
Once I realized that...I haven't had any problem keeping my Vibrant at minimum brightness.
Sent from Samsung Vibrant
I have figured it out been having the same issue since I got the phone was driving me nutsbut I have noticed two things one if u slide notification bar down a lil then slide left it lowers and right it highers and two sumtimes when sliding the notification bar down I sumtimes slide over light senson snd if hand is oily u produce a smudge over it causing it to lower brightness or higher

Screen Brightness Keeps Changing

I took off the automation for the screen brightness and I manually set it. However, after about a day and a half it changes by itself. I can not figure out what is changing it. I use Dolphin browser...but I don't think that is changing it. Does anyone why the screen brightness is not static?
for web browsing the brightness setting can be different then the phone itself .. idk if thats what u mean but just a little fyi ... since the update however if its set to auto ive found the web browsers brightness is not adjustable
dman777 said:
I took off the automation for the screen brightness and I manually set it. However, after about a day and a half it changes by itself. I can not figure out what is changing it. I use Dolphin browser...but I don't think that is changing it. Does anyone why the screen brightness is not static?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me it was doing the same thing till I noticed that the drop down curtain at the top of the screen is a manual brightness adjuster as well. If you happen to drop it down just enough to see the date and move your fringer to the right it brightens, if you move it to the left it dims. I found myself pulling it down and accidentally changing it alot until I figured out why. Since then it never changes now that I know to pull the curtain straight down and don't move left or right with it.
Another setting that I noticed would randomly adjust the backlight brightness is Settings -> Sound & Display -> Power Saving Mode. I've disabled this and my backlight no longer changes an I have noticed no difference in power consumption (with it checked or not, the display consumes a lot of power ;-)
TheMostToys said:
Another setting that I noticed would randomly adjust the backlight brightness is Settings -> Sound & Display -> Power Saving Mode. I've disabled this and my backlight no longer changes an I have noticed no difference in power consumption (with it checked or not, the display consumes a lot of power ;-)
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Click to collapse
This was sooooo frustrating for me until I found that setting and unchecked it. When I turn off auto-brightness, I don't want the brightness changing unless I change it lol.
jaygraffix said:
For me it was doing the same thing till I noticed that the drop down curtain at the top of the screen is a manual brightness adjuster as well. If you happen to drop it down just enough to see the date and move your fringer to the right it brightens, if you move it to the left it dims. I found myself pulling it down and accidentally changing it alot until I figured out why. Since then it never changes now that I know to pull the curtain straight down and don't move left or right with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's gotta be it! Is there anyway to disable that?
dman777 said:
That's gotta be it! Is there anyway to disable that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
setting it to auto brightness will
This sounds kind of funny when I had autobrightness and the powersaver automation on the battery would drain faster. When I turned it off the battery lasted longer.
Have you ever accidentally swiped on your notification bar? This will change the brightness and it's supposed to be some shortcut to change the brightness.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
dman777 said:
This sounds kind of funny when I had autobrightness and the powersaver automation on the battery would drain faster. When I turned it off the battery lasted longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same experience here. The auto-brightness really keeps the screen pretty bright at all times, it just dims it a little bit in dim lighting. If you set it manually, you can keep it dimmer than the auto-brightness will ever dim it.

[Q] What is overriding my brightness?

Just got the N4 last week. Loving it so far, but my battery life has been pretty terrible. Trying to find ways to optimize it so it lasts longer (any suggestions welcome!).
I installed the Notification Toggle app, and set one of the toggles to be a brightness toggle. When I use it and set the brightness to, let's say, 10%, the brightness dims down UNTILL i exit the notification toggle/notification shade. The second I go back to another app or the home screen, the brightness goes back up! It usually goes up to 50%, but it looks like 100%. It's so bright!
So, does anyone have any idea why this is happening? Is there something overriding my brightness settings? I know it'll be hard to troubleshoot without knowing what apps/tweaks are installed on my phone, but any idea what could be happening or where I should look?
Thanks!!
Edit: Nevermind! figured it out! I was using a plugin called Notification Toggle, which had 3 options for brightness toggle. I tried lowering/changing the brightness through the display settings, and it stuck, so the problem had to be with the Notification Toggle plugin. I changed the brightness toggle option to a different one, and it worked. So it seems the issue was with the toggle called 'Brightness Menu'.

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