Help Proximity sensor while making calls

[James Bell]

I have not seen this mentioned but I have trouble with it every day. When I make a call the proximity sensor does not always work. During the call my cheek will pull up the keypad and then start dialing. Sometimes this will happen even if I remember to hit the sleep/wake button as I start the call (to turn off the screen).

Very embarrassing to explain to the other party why your phone is touch-toning over their conversation.

Does this happen to everyone or just me? It did it with the I4 and now the K4 firmware.

 

[Rastaman-FB]

I have not seen this mentioned but I have trouble with it every day. When I make a call the proximity sensor does not always work. During the call my cheek will pull up the keypad and then start dialing. Sometimes this will happen even if I remember to hit the sleep/wake button as I start the call (to turn off the screen).

Very embarrassing to explain to the other party why your phone is touch-toning over their conversation.

Does this happen to everyone or just me? It did it with the I4 and now the K4 firmware.

other people have reported this
have you looked where the proximity sensor is?
the ones that reported this issue noticed a build up of dust in there from a bad seal on the phone.
no fix though

 

[James Bell]

I have only had the phone a month or so, and I don't see any dust. I removed my screen protector from the proximity sensor to see if that would help but no luck. It sure seems to be software. Sometimes when I make a call the screen darkens as it starts to place the call - before I bring it to my cheek. Most times it does not do this and no amount of bringing it to my face will make it go dark.

 

[Naruvam]

If it's software problem wouldnt there be more people around with problem like this. Hardware issue seems more likely to me....

 

[crow6]

As far as I know K4 has diffirent sensor driver (samsong.sensor.so as I remember) so you shoud check with other firmwares first (I think II5 should be enought). For testing purpose there is app called "sensor test" in market. This tools shows state of proximity sensor (it should shows "1" if you hide sensor, and "0" if sensor is clear). If sensor won't work in II5 and K4 then it might be really broken.

 

[hagi]

Does this happen to everyone or just me? It did it with the I4 and now the K4 firmware.

Its happening to me as well now with K4, didn't happen with I5 or any of the other firmwares I've flashed.

 

[crow6]

@hagi:
try to replace /system/lib/hw/sensors.samsung.so (I made mistake in my previous post ) file from II5 firmware to K4. You can use adb (with push/pull command) program to do it.

 

[James Bell]

The "sensor test" app shows nothing for my proximity sensor. Can another Galaxy user confirm it should work for us? I just wonder if the test is for specific chip(s) that the Galaxy might not use.

 

[KlaymenDK]

James, I had tons of proximity problems with I5, but none since I updated to K4. Have you tried to reflash back to I5 and then K4 again? I'm pretty confident that the K4 version should fix your problem.

 

[James Bell]

Thanks for the advice but ugh, another reflash? I have 20 apps installed and all my accounts setup..I just put in K4 3 days ago. I had all these same problems with I5 too BTW.

Is there something other than (not free) MyBackup that will save everything and make re-flashing less painful?

 

[KlaymenDK]

... ugh, another reflash? I have 20 apps installed and all my accounts setup ... Is there something ... that will save everything and make re-flashing less painful?

I feel your pain. The reflash itself isn't so bad really, it's having to start from scratch. That's the downside of the Android security model: system-wide backups aren't really possible ... unless you hack it.

I recently followed the "Simple Rooting Guide (without galax0/galaxher0 roms)" to get the modified rescue system which enables a full system backup/restore function called "Nandroid". You can apply this to your existing device with no ill effects , but I think you will need to start afresh with every new firmware version. What I'm saying is, once you're on K4 (and find it working, and have it set up the way you want it) you can make a solid restore point to revert to when you want to experiment.

 

[fabianobonin]

I have this same problem with my phone, running a brand new IK4 install.

 

[James Bell]

Can someone please take 2 minutes to download the "sensor test" app from the Market (free) and see if they get data for their proximity sensor (last one on the list). A K4 firmware user would be even better.

I get all zeros but I don't know if that means my sensor is broken or the program doesn't work for the Galaxy.

 

[fabianobonin]

Can someone please take 2 minutes to download the "sensor test" app from the Market (free) and see if they get data for their proximity sensor (last one on the list). A K4 firmware user would be even better.

I get all zeros but I don't know if that means my sensor is broken or the program doesn't work for the Galaxy.

I downloaded the 'sensor test'.
My firmware is K4.

When i start it, the 'proximity' section has 3 lines:
0: 0.0
1: 0.0
2: 0.0

When i put it near my face, the first line changes:
0: 1.0
1: 0.0
2: 0.0

 

[crow6]

I've Galaxo 1.1 (so it's II5) with sensor driver from IK4. Sensor test shows 1 when near face and 0 with clear. Before - with original driver it don't work (always 0). Moreover now it seems that dialpad works ok during calls (3 days tests without restarting!)

 

[Member12446]

I downloaded the 'sensor test'.
My firmware is K4.

When i start it, the 'proximity' section has 3 lines:
0: 0.0
1: 0.0
2: 0.0

When i put it near my face, the first line changes:
0: 1.0
1: 0.0
2: 0.0

Same here with K4.

 

[KlaymenDK]

Same here with K4.

Ditto.
But, I have had tons of sensor problems with every firmware up until that, I even sent it in for repair for it (and all they did was reinstall the same old firmware). It may be you really do have a defective unit.

Oh, and tip: You don't need an app, you can just dial *#*#0*#*#* to access a host of test programs.

 

[James Bell]

Thanks to everyone for testing for me & the dial code sensor test screen.

Nothing I do seems to make my sensor change at all. I will try to pop open the cover to look for a loose connection. If no luck I'll try reflashing back to I5 then K4 again. If all THAT fails I'll see if Samsung will fix it.

 

[Kouske]

I've Galaxo 1.1 (so it's II5) with sensor driver from IK4. Sensor test shows 1 when near face and 0 with clear. Before - with original driver it don't work (always 0). Moreover now it seems that dialpad works ok during calls (3 days tests without restarting!)

Could you upload the IK4 sensor driver? I wanna try doing it as well.

 

[crow6]

@Kouske
up to II5: RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting
from IK4: RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

 

[Kouske]

Works like a charm. Thank you very much.

 

[James Bell]

Taking it apart and reconnecting the sensor did not help. @Kouske: Are you pushing those i5 and K4 sensor drivers to the phone without reflashing? If so, how exactly?

 

[informale]

That problem hit me recently

I've done some testing too. I think the problem is with the sensor driver, or whatever there is interpreting data from the sensor and reporting it to the apps.

Notice when you launch Sensor Test, GP2AP reads 0. Cover the sensor - the reading will change to 1. Now when you remove the finger it is still 1. It is stuck in 1 forever, unless you kill the Sensor Test and restart it. So it works the same way with force stopping Dialer Storage from app manager.

So I suspect the driver does not report the sensor changing back to 0 to the apps. Which is why the Dialer locks up. The only question is then, why the screen even turns on - it should be receiving false sensor status as well.

When testing with built-it tester (dial *#*#0*#*#*), covering the sensor triggers the test app to turn on vibration and, again, it won't stop until the app is restarted.

 

[Rastaman-FB]

im on galaxo ii5 with ii5 sensor drivers and proximity sensor resets to 0 every time

 

[informale]

I guess it would be rational to go back to Galaxo (II5) from IK5 then ) Snappiness of IK5 is immeasurable - may be it is just placebo, and I don't use the pouch, so the camera button battery drain should not be a problem. + no dialer bug + the compcache and swap.

seems like a no-brainer )