Help Broken power button on HTC Desire

[Asgan]

HI,

So, long story short. My powerbutton broke because my phone got wet, so now i can't put my phone in sleep mode or take it out of it.

Is there any app i can use to change so that instead my search button (that i never use) puts the phone in sleep mode and takes it out of it aswell?

I have been looking at a link at wiki-droid on how to remap your buttons. But it doesent seem to work with Desire.

I might add that my phone has not been rooted and i would like to keep it that way if possible.

 

[Intruder]

HI,

So, long story short. My powerbutton broke because my phone got wet, so now i can't put my phone in sleep mode or take it out of it.

Is there any app i can use to change so that instead my search button (that i never use) puts the phone in sleep mode and takes it out of it aswell?

I have been looking at a link at wiki-droid on how to remap your buttons. But it doesent seem to work with Desire.

I might add that my phone has not been rooted and i would like to keep it that way if possible.

Think the only choice you have is root it and put a custom rom on it as some use trackpad thing to wake and unlock it... Why don't you want to root it btw?

 

[Asgan]

Well, mainly because i'm not very technical.

But i guess if i can keep my Sense GUI i would be ok with it.

There is no file i can change in like this: (sorry for the wall of text, but i cant post links yet)

The D1 (and maybe other Android phones) have a problem with the power button becoming depressed and losing it's "clicking" action. This forces you to have to press very hard to turn the screen on/off, and sometimes it doesn't work at all. If you are out of the warranty period, this can lead to extreme frustration. There are apps available to remap your buttons automatically, but it's fun to tweak/hack yourself as well. This tutorial will show you how to remap your buttons on the Droid 1 (the instructions should be similar for most Android phones).
You will need a file explorer on your phone, for the purposes of this tutorial I will be using Root Explorer
Open Root Explorer and navigate to /system/usr/keylayout/
The file you want is sholes-keypad.kl
In Root explorer you will have to mount your filesystem, so click the "Mount R/W" button on the top right of your screen
Next, you want to longpress the sholes-keypad.kl file and select "Open in Text Editor"
This file will list all the buttons and what they are mapped too. You can look for the button you want to remap and change it's value
For example, if you want to remap your volume up button to become your power button, you would go to key 115, delete "VOLUME_UP" and in it's place put "POWER"
For the D1, you can also remap the "useless" keys on the keyboard. For example, there really is no need for 2 ALT buttons or two SHIFT buttons, so why not remap them to become HOME and BACK?
Once you're done, simply hit the back button and Root Explorer will ask you if you want to save. It'll also create a backup of the original file in case you messed something up
After a restart, your new mappings will take effect
Enjoy!

 

[amlothi]

I believe Widget Locker allows you to wake the phone using different buttons. WL is a lockscreen replacement, and it's a paid app, but it's very good. This might be able to do what you are looking for.

Don't let your phone run out of battery though, or you might not be able to turn it back on! I'd seriously suggest you try getting it fixed instead of using an app to get around it, because there are some things that you cannot do without the power button and you may end up with a phone you can't use at all.

 

[AndyBones]

if rooted I can easily help you make it so you can turn your phone on using the volume keys, PM me

 

[pezzer]

HI,

Is there any app i can use to change so that instead my search button (that i never use) puts the phone in sleep mode and takes it out of it aswell?

I have a widget to do this on my home screen Lock Screen widget (I got this to save my power on/off button) and then I used to use the 'No Lock' app so that I could wake with the buttons/trackpad, until I rooted and then my rom (LeeDroid HD port) does this as standard.

hth

 

[999life]

Just got the same problem here, a bit of water and now the off button doesn't work! Luckily I'm rooted with leedroid, I am interested to know how I can turn the phone on using the volume keys though.

 

[SUroot]

You can't. The hardware button is a hardware button and since the phone is off, you cannot use software to change the function of a button.

 

[999life]

So if my phone powers off for any reason will I now be unable to turn it back on again?

 

[madhatter1689]

Have you thought of sending it to HTC for repair?

Here is my experience of sending it back to HTC http://androidforums.com/desire-support-troubleshooting/410812-desire-repair-how-will-i-cope.html

Worth contacting them to see what they say.

 

[999life]

Interesting, I was just about to say i've had it over 18 months now, didn't realise there is a 2 year warranty, thanks for that info, I'll have a look at unrooting and sending it back then.

In the mean time, will I be able to turn my phone on at all with no power button?

 

[madhatter1689]

I doubt it, but I would let others, more able, comment on that.

 

[SUroot]

Don't think so no

 

[lifeonmtv]

For what it's worth, I switched on a samsung galaxy s that had a broken power button with a USB jig i bought on ebay, dunno if HTC have an equivalent method.

 

[container]

I've had phone for a couple of months now without the power button using "Fix Broken Power Button" application, worked well on 2.3 Android.
You could switch on the phone by taking the battery out and back in.

I have upgraded two days ago on 4.0 and now the app doesn't work. I would love to root my phone now ... but I think I need to use the power button to do that!!

(or do I?).

Well, haven't even tried the repair as they say we have a terrible repair service here. and 2 yrs warranty? I thought one! Hmm ....