Root HELP: Trackball not working in Recovery

[NPH-]

So I went to flash a zip in recovery tonight, (specifically the stock keyboard zip for xtrrom 4.6, but that's beside the point))

booted into recovery successfully, and I noticed my trackball isn't working at all!


It would let me select reboot now, but thats it. Trackball is working fine once it reboots into normal mode, but it is completely useless in Recovery.


Is it permanently like this or is it just a minor glitch I can fix with a few things.

 

[scary alien]

So I went to flash a zip in recovery tonight, (specifically the stock keyboard zip for xtrrom 4.6, but that's beside the point))

booted into recovery successfully, and I noticed my trackball isn't working at all!

It would let me select reboot now, but thats it. Trackball is working fine once it reboots into normal mode, but it is completely useless in Recovery.

Is it permanently like this or is it just a minor glitch I can fix with a few things.

NPH-,

Well, we are starting to see more and more folks with reports of their trackball's "mis-behaving" (to put it kindly). Amon_RA's recovery appears to "read" the trackball movement by sampling the up and down movement until a threshold/delta reaches 3 (not certain what this value actually represents). The Android OS obviously has more sophisticated drivers that alllow the trackball to continue to work outside of recovery.

I had previously thought that possibly by exaggerating the trackball movement in custom recovery might make it work, but one forum member did not find this successful .

Anyway, barring having you use ClockworkMod recovery which only depends on the trackball press to work, you might want to take a look at this thread in which erisuser1 instructs a way to do Nandroid backups, wipes, and flashes without using the trackball at all (it all must be done while booted into recovery and using a series of the Android SDK's adb commands along with some others):

http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/163423-flashing-rom-trackball-not-working.html

This option has a few downsides because it requires one to be able to successfully use the Android SDK's adb utility and follow some very specific instructions and commands (there is no 1-click solution here ). That and USB driver issues seem to be a major roadblock for many folks, so this will and should factor in your decision whether or not to try this.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

 

[NPH-]

woah...

I went to try that thing using the android sdk... so of course I boot it into recovery while connected to a usb cord and my computer, and before I go to type in cmds i say "what the hell, I try to scroll one more time" and viola! its working again


wonder what I did to fix it

 

[scary alien]

woah...

I went to try that thing using the android sdk... so of course I boot it into recovery while connected to a usb cord and my computer, and before I go to type in cmds i say "what the hell, I try to scroll one more time" and viola! its working again


wonder what I did to fix it

Glad to hear this...perhaps the trackball needs a little housekeeping? Have you seen this link and thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6oz_FHz0O8 (from http://androidforums.com/htc-droid-eris/114731-trackball-cleaning.html)?

Cheers!

 

[scary alien]

NPH-,

Another thought just occurred to me--something that I had forgotten about. I think that there is consensus that the proximity of the USB port/connector to the trackball is a primary suspect in people's trackball issues. So, perhaps when you connected your phone via USB to your computer to try the SDK thing, that this connecting/wiggling/movement "helped" your trackball resume working (at least for the moment) in custom recovery.

Just a thought for the future.

Cheers and good luck!

 

[Podivin]

Hmmm...
I wonder if this would help if it does turn out that the problem is only when plugged in. I've never used it, so can't speak to whether it works or not.

adbWireless (Widget version) - Android app on AppBrain

 

[GrdLock]

My brother's Eris has trackball issues, and I've found that the USB cable deal works on it.

When I need to use the trackball in the recovery partition, I just wiggle/push on the cable until I find the sweet spot, and the trackball will work fine while I'm holding it there.

Obviously it's a temporary fix, but who the hell uses the trackball anyways except in the recovery partition?

 

[Podivin]

My wife, but she's a little odd - after all, look who she's married to...

 

[scary alien]

Obviously it's a temporary fix, but who the hell uses the trackball anyways except in the recovery partition?

+1, lol! I don't think I ever used my trackball except when in recovery .

 

[WormDoes]

I use my trackball to navigate to words in emails, txts and web browsers that I need to delete or add on to. It's a nasty habit from my BB that I NEED to stop doing because once I upgrade from the Eris I may not have a trackball to rely on. The paper trick has worked for me in the past. I tried using a compressed air duster (like for computer keyboards and such) and that has worked flawlessly as well

 

[ctgscott]

THANK YOU!!! I have been searching for a solution to my useless trackball in 'android system recovery'. I simply put a slight upward pressure from beneath the USB cable and the trackball came back to life!

That sure beats the hell out of the ADB work. stupid trackball, anyway.

Evil-eris-v1.6.2 image
from Evil-Eris 4.0

 

[scary alien]

THANK YOU!!! I have been searching for a solution to my useless trackball in 'android system recovery'. I simply put a slight upward pressure from beneath the USB cable and the trackball came back to life!

That sure beats the hell out of the ADB work. stupid trackball, anyway.

Evil-eris-v1.6.2 image
from Evil-Eris 4.0

ctgscott,

Welcome to the Android Forums.

You MIGHT be interested in this very recent thread: http://androidforums.com/eris-all-t...2-custom-recovery-trackball-not-required.html

Cheers!

 

[CXXV]

I find the trackball totally useless. I wish instead that they had put a button on the right side of the phone that could be user defined. In the case of recovery it would be the same as the TB press.

It is one of the very few things I miss from the BB. It had two buttons on the right side. You can define them to bring up anything on the phone.

 

[doogald]

I'll defend the trackball as the best way to do fine text selection when trying to edit text in a text box. I actually prefer the iOS press-and-hold magnifying glass control, and wish that Android had that, but the trackball helps end a lot of frustration when you try to place the text cursor in a specific location.

 

[scary alien]

Hey doogald,

Don't know if you've already seen this or are interested, but this weekend, I made a beta version of recovery with a new twist:

xda-developers - View Single Post - [Recovery] [17-Mar-2010] RA-eris-v1.6.2

(by the way, it occurred to me after I posted that I could make my new functionality automatic, without needing to select a function--what do you think?).

Also, Amon_RA posted some good news in that Eris-specific thread (no ETA though).

Cheers!

 

[doogald]

Hey doogald,

Don't know if you've already seen this or are interested, but this weekend, I made a beta version of recovery with a new twist:

xda-developers - View Single Post - [Recovery] [17-Mar-2010] RA-eris-v1.6.2

(by the way, it occurred to me after I posted that I could make my new functionality automatic, without needing to select a function--what do you think?).

Also, Amon_RA posted some good news in that Eris-specific thread (no ETA though).

I just read it. To be honest, it fixes a problem that I don't seem to be having myself, but good on you for the people who want this. Added functionality is always good. My biggest issue is that I sometimes download a new version with Dropbox to my phone and forget to move it, meaning that I have to do some adb shell work (or restart the phone if I am away from my computer), but the files are always in different directories, and I have pretty much trained myself by now not to do that.

I agree that it's good news that Amon_RA will update his recovery.