It seems I am not the only one that have had "some pains" when using A2DP (="Stereo Bluetooth" / "Wireless Stereo"-bluetooth profile).
I thought I write down some tips for getting A2DP to work, and how to minimize the issues people are having...and hopefully others will fill in their tips...and maybe even prove me wrong (I have been wrong before...but what are the odds of that happening TWICE!?" ) on some points?
1. Challenge is getting a headset that supports A2DP, and works well with the Universal
I have had a pair of HP stereo headphones (these are only for music, does not have a microphone), a set of Motorola HT820 and a pair of i-Tech BluePRO. There are probably 20-30 other options as we speak (among other from Ericsson, Nokia, etc).
All the 3 ones I had worked with the Universal using A2DP to listen to music. Here are the PRO's and CON's for each of them from my point of view.
HP Stereo Headphones (same as Logitechs iPod BT headphones)
+ Clear and nice sound.
+ For "over the ear"-headphones, they were comfortable.
- Seems to be fairly sensitive for stuttering/lag/gaps when used for A2DP...at least is MY headset like that!
- Poor batterycapasity (approx 8 hours)
- Not an mini-usb plug (since the JasJar use mini-USB...less cables to bring)
- lacks a little bass wise (at least compared to the i-Techs)
i-Tech BluePRO
+ Seems to have fairly little prob with "lag/suttering" (my specific headset has almost no issues with it at least!)
+ Great bass (a BIG plus for me...I love techno-music
+ Great batterylife (approx 20 hours, and even more if you buy a 2500mah rechargable AA battery)
+ Can play very loud...if you want to that is (actually louder than my wired Koss headphones)
+ Uses 1 AA battery (I felt this was a CON first, but now that I have bought some 2500mah rechargable AA batteries, this actually is a "pro")
- "fuzzy" sound (compared to HP and Motorola HT820, the sound is slighty "fuzzy"...I noticed it when I swapped from Motorola to these, but have not noticed afterwards...so for HiFi people it might be a big CON, for me it was not).
- Reconnect not as expected (will not automatically reconnect to Universal when it is turned off and then on again)
- not very good for phonecalls (people are sometimes complaining it is hard to hear me)
Motorola HT820
+ Clear and nice sound.
+ Great microphone (people on other end say I am crystal clear, even when I walk outside)
+ Good batterylife (15 hours I think)
+ Charges over MiniUSB (hurrah, can use the Universal sync/charge cable)
+ Reconnects as expected (if you turn on the headset it will automatically reconnect with Universal)
- Seems to be fairly sensitive for stuttering/lag/gaps when used for A2DP (not an issue with phonecalls it seems)...at least is MY headset like that!
- ucomfortable to wear over time (after around two hours, they "hurt the ears", due to the way they hang over the ears...might be my ears though
- lacks a little bass wise (at least compared to the i-Techs)
I think that just about any person would chose the Motorola's over the i-Tech's anytime.
...but I am not everyone...so I personally use the i-Tech...and that is ONLY because of the "heavy bass", "loud soundlevel" and "closed earmuffs"...since that means I can listen to music/podcasts in even noisy environments and get what I define as "good sound" (="lots and lots of bass"
[UPDATE 1. august 2006]
I used my Motorola's again when I was on vacation (have used only the iTechs for several months now), and suddenly had a lot of lag/stuttering again...an issue I thought I had resolved with registryfixes and new ROM's.
...but "suddenly" I could not walk around with my headset and listen to "gapless music in stereo"...I could not do a workout at the gym with them, even when the Universal was 2-3 meters away from me...I would get gaps/lags once every minute or so.
With my iTech's this problem is almost non-existent. ...I wrongly thought this issue was fixed on the Universal-side, with the latest ROM's I installed, so forth...but it seems that at least "part of the problem" was the headsets themselves (my Motorola HT820's and my HP headset seems a quite a bit worse off in this regard than my iTech's).
My conlusion...test before you buy, since the headsets ALSO can influence the amount of lag/stuttering you get (as this was not complex enough as it was)!!!!
I am "happy" with my iTechs...but wish they automatically reconnected to Universal when I turn them on...and wish they were as good as the Motorola's for phonecalls.
[END OF UPDATE 1. august 2006]
2. Get a ROM which supports A2DP
This should not be to hard today, you can for example install the latest QTEK ROM (I use the WWE/english ROM, not sure of status on the other versions). Jwright (a user on this forum) have made a custom ROM which also contains A2DP and PushMail, and I know there are quite a few other "official ROM's" with A2DP...but I do not have that overview.
I do not have a QTEK 9000 myself, but actually a "Norwegian i-Mate JasJar"...but I was able to install the QTEK ROM, and U should be able to do it too, regardsless of version of Universal you have. ...it might be a rough ride though, you might need to search these forum and read up on the Wiki pages on how to get around "DeviceID" and "CountryID" issues...but is IS solveable (later I might update this with some direct links to some of those guides posts).
[UPDATE 14.06.2006, tip from "cktlcmd"]
The following are the ROMs with A2DP and AKU2 support (Battery icon replaced Time):
****QTEK ROM (latest ROM)
****T-Mobile NL (latest ROM)
****JWright's Modified ROM (latest ROM)
The following is the only ROM with A2DP support (No AKU2) but with the Time icon still showing:
****JWright's Modified I-Mate ROM (1st test released ROM)
You can find a lot of different ROM installation files here; ftp://xda:[email protected]/Universal/Shipped_Complete_Updates/
PS!
If You have an AKU2 ROM (the ones with PushMail), and do not have A2DP, you can add it with a patch originally made for the HTC Tornado. I have tried this myself with an Norwegian iMate AKU2 ROM that did not have A2DP...and it worked!
It should work on other Windows Mobile 5 devices also (as long as they have AKU2). Then you do not have to reinstall your device from scratch...with all the work that usually involves (in getting everything back to exactly you like it).
You can read about it, and download file from here; http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=48491&highlight=tornado+a2dp+patch
So how do I know if I have A2DP or not
When you have bonded with your A2DP-able headset, you should under "Bluetooth Setttings", under the tab "Devices", among other see your headset (for me this is listed as; "i.Tech BluePRO").
If you tap-and-hold this, you will get a context-menu that should contain "Set as Wireless Stereo", if you see that text, you have A2DP. I see for example the following;
Edit
Delete
Set as Hands-free
Set as Wireless Stereo
If anyone reading this know a better/easier way to verify if one has A2DP, feel free to tell me/us...so it is easier for people to check this!
3. Choosing a musicplayer to use on the Universal with A2DP
OK, you have A2DP setup, you have a headset...which musicsoftware should/can you use.
In teory, you should be able to use whatever music software you use today, TCPMP, PocketMusic, MortPlayer, Windows Media Player, so forth. Cause all sounds is sent to the headset (but strangely MortPlayer struggles at least). But you might have problems with AVRCP (AVRCP bluetooth profile, makes it possible to change tracks and play/pause/resume the music from buttons on the headset...very convienient when the Universal is in the rugsack for example).
MortPlayer (exellent player...but A2DP-vise...unfortunately...no)
http://www.sto-helit.de/modules/wmpdownloads/viewcat.php?cid=4
I have always before used a musicplayer called MortPlayer.
The reason for using that one, was that it is incredebly tuned for "doing everything without taking out the stylus" (big buttons everywhere), and that it has an insane amount of options (you can for example set it to always start with a specific voulme, start playing the last song you heard, at the position in the song you left it, and when you quit the sound is set back to what it was before starting it. You can even tell it that a specific folder is "soundbooks", and then it will always remember last listened position of all files in it).
But with A2DP MortPlayer unfortunately does not work well, I get only sound on the left speaker, and the AVRCP buttons do not work. So MortPlayer I must unfortunately leave for now! :-(
Windows Media Player (works...but I "hate" it
You can of course use the built in Windows Media Player. It works with A2DP, and it support AVRCP. There is two (and in my eyes BIG such ones) problems with WMP.
One reason is that is is unbelievably painfull to use in daily use...every time you start it, it "forgets" where you left off the last time, and you have to choose "Storage Card" (it seems to choose "Main Memmory" as default library on startup?), then find the album or playlist and play it...and the areas to click on the screen to do all this requires the stylus (or a "precision finger".
Another reason, is that the play/pause/resume button is not working 100% for all headsets (my HP headset seem to work fine, the iTech and Motorola seems to only work once, then I have to click the next time on the Universal, and then it will work one again...not much use in realworld scenarios).
One big bonus with WMP is that it is already installed, and AVRCP and A2DP works "out of the box", nothing you have to do.
PocketMusic (great, AVRCP works flawlessly)
http://www.pocketmind.com/pocketmusic.htm
This is in my eyes a very good musicplayer for "the go", much like MortPlayer (even though I think MortPlayer is better...with a wired headset that is). It can be set up so that it contines exactly at the same point in the same song as you quit it the day before, and look and behold, AVRCP work with it...and not just that...here the play/pause/resume button works flawlessly (which it does not for WMP for some headsets it seems)...at least with all my 3 headsets.
I now use PocketMusic. The minus with it is that it costs money, but it is well worth it (for me at least). And you can test/use it for free for 15 days or something like that, so you can "test before you buy".
TCPMP (works, at least sound vise)
http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/download
I do not use TCPMP (I use it for video, were I believe it is THE player to use...but not for music...too much fidling with the stylus in my view, but that's just my opinion), so I can not say tomuch about it...but I tested and the sound worked at least over A2DP. I did not get the AVRCP buttons to work...but I have seen some people saying "on the web" that it is possible to use...but I do not "how".
4. Stuttering/lag when using A2DP
A2DP works great...but there is at least one issue that can put most people off, and that is that you can get some stuttering/lag in the sound. This can feel like this; You listen to your music, all is great, and suddenly there is no sound at all for a second or so, and suddenly the music continues, and then it is silent, and then it plays again. Sometimes you get one of these, and no problems for hours, and other extreemes can be that the twice every second the sound disapears and appears all the time, until you give up, curse the "damn A2DP", and in best case puts your headphones hard on the table.
REASON 1: Universal is strugling (CPU/RAM)
One reason for stuttering can be that the JasJar is struggling performance vise. To help with this you can do the following;
1. Install "A2DP priority patch"
This is done by adding a value to the registy of your Universal, you can manually enter the registry value, or use a CAB-file or a REG-file someone has prepared.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=46811&highlight=a2dp+lag+patch
2. Kill background programs (or do a soft reset)
When you get this problem, it can also be because of some program working in the background.
But as we all know...there is some rare moments when our PDA's/phones' just seem to be living its own life. I have had occations when there is no programs running, and the phone stills is incredible sluggish, and I can see the menus getting drawen painfully slow. ...and of course, if your PDA gets one of those "I-do-not-want-to-coperate"-moments, A2DP or your music player will struggle...but then it really is not an A2DP issue, since you most likely would have had the same problem with a wired headset.
REASON 2: Radio connection is disturbed (object obstructing signal, WiFi nearby, so forth)
It seems that the connection can be very sensitive for obstructions (between Universal and headset). For example, if I have the Universal in a pocket in my pants, while walking around...I can sometimes get lag/stuttering all the time. If I put it in my rugsack, it stutters very rearly...and if I hold it still in my hand in front of me (OK, you look very stupid doing this, it will not stutter at all.
But if I put it on the table, and walk around the room, and even walk into another room, and will be around 10 meters away, it might not stutter. So I assume it depends of what kind of material is between the Universal and headset, and also the amount of it...but also it will depend on the "general amount of radio disturbance" in that area (an area with a lot of WiFi equipment/Bluetooth signals might be a lot worse that an area with little or no such equipment).
In general for me, I have practically no problems when I walk around with it in my rugsack, and generally have a little (and sometimes a lot of) stuttering when I have my universal in my pant-pockets.
I also have no disturbance at home or at the Gym (as long as I have the Universal around 8-12 meters away from me), but at work (Telecom company with lot of radiotransmitters around) it works at best 3-4 meters maybe. All of this without obstructions.
"Hearing the root-cause"
If you have done all this, and still get stuttering, here is a tip for understanding WHERE the issue is. It seems that you actually can hear if it is an "Universal struggling"-issue, or an "radio-disturbance" issue...
If the sound is continuing exactly where it left of, when it stopped...then it is the Universal that is struggling. Meaning, if you hear a podcast and they say; "The president of...[silence]...the united states of America, Bush said today...", then it is the Universal that is struggling, and you could try to close some programs a soft reset or similar.
If the sound does not continue exactly where it left of, like; "The president of...[silence]...Bush said today", then it is an issue with radio disturbance in some form.
...and with this knowledge, you hopefully will be able to resolve it.
Hope this extreeemly long post will be usefull for someone, feel free to comment/correct/add info and experiences...so that "A2DP newbies" get an easier start than us!
Excellent post, just what I need to know as I have just ordered the Motorola HS820.
Two questions - am I correct in thinking that the latest official UK O2 XDA Exec Rom does not include the a2dp profile?
And if so, which ROM should I go for - I don't need push email, and I want as little branding as possible.
Thanks.
Hi Pantaloonie,
I do not know if "latest official UK O2 XDA Exec ROM" have A2DP, hopefully someone else reading this will know and respond.
There is a lot of official ROM out there (ftp://xda:[email protected]/Universal/Shipped_Complete_Updates), but the only two english ROM's that I know for certain that have A2DP is (but I think there are more now);
Jwrights customized ROM (I have not gotten hold of this)
QTEK WWE ROM (ftp://xda:[email protected]_WWE_13077_130176_10900_WWE_Ship_GR2.0.1.exe
)
[WARNING] It seems that my link above is NOT to the ENGLISH version, but to a GREEK version of the ROM!!!!
I will try out myself at home, and change the link to the correct ROM...but can't do this at work...
And if you want to have minimal operator customization, I think the QTEK ROM's are fairly basic ones. And in worst case you can softreset when the installation starts installing all the apps from ExtendedROM when you do an installation of the ROM. But then you will also often miss some utillities that you actually want to use.
Another alternative is to "cook your own ROM" (I did this for my old Qtek9090), but then you can expect to spend a day or two reading up on this forum, downloading the tools for doing this, and creating you own ExtendedRom. If I get hold of Jwrights customized ROM, I will update my post here though.
Excellent post!
The following are the ROMs with A2DP and AKU2 support (Battery icon replaced Time):
****QTEK ROM (latest ROM)
****T-Mobile NL (latest ROM)
****JWright's Modified ROM (latest ROM)
The following is the only ROM with A2DP support (No AKU2) but with the Time icon still showing:
****JWright's Modified I-Mate ROM (1st test released ROM)
Excellent post dude...you just saved me a ton load of internet research...you should do this more often...keep up the good work
cktlcmd, thanks for the great input!!!
Have added it to my original post, so that others reading this post, don't have to scan through all comments...not a problem right now...but might be harder when more people start giving tips and comments!
Pantaloonie, cktlcmd and youmeus, thanks for the positive feedback! Hopefully at lot of other will fill this with more experiences and tips! ...and I will try to summarize all tips into my original post, so that it is as up-to-date as possible!
This topic is under the Universal category, however everything listed in the initial post should be applicable to any device trying to get A2DP to work cleanly.
However, I believe there are several of us that have tried each of the suggested solutions and it still hasn't resolved the lagging issues. I'd be interested in learning about any debugging tools that could be used to figure out the root cause. Are there any kind of system tracing tools available or even a tool that could list process/thread and device driver priorities that could provide some clues. Is there some way we can determine if it's cpu limited, bandwidth limited (cpu to bt i/o?), interrupt related, etc.
I would also be interested in figuring out if there are any tweeks that can be applied to the bta2dp.dll driver other than setting the priority. For example what is the Flags parameter in the registry used for? It's currently set to 65538 on my device. Could it be a buffer size? A baud rate? Anyone know?
It seems to me if we figure out the root cause then it could even help people where A2DP is working so-so, but only if they close all apps, overclock, etc. To me doing these things is just a workaround until we figure out the real issue.
HS820 aren't stereo. HT820 Are... Great post otherwise
Aah...one can very easily use the Tornado A2Dp posted in the prophet section with any of the AKU2 ROMs...I hv successfully used with Nokia HS 12W...with FM..it works...really works
hdubli, are you saying that it actually works with Universal also? Do you have a direct link to the file in that case, so others easily find the correct file.
ady, thanks will correct post, HT820 it is, I remembered it was someting with "820" at least!
hannip, I put it under Universal since I only had experience with Universal in this regard, and also the ROM's...but if I get some tip/help/assistance from others... ;-)
hannip, I seem to have almost no problems anymore, and most of the times I have had lag/stuttering, it seems to have been "radio disturbance" that have been the problem...now I have learned when it work and when it doesn't, and have very seldom any problems. for example having JasJar in rugsack when I walk, and not in frontpocket of pants. ...and due to the size of JasJar you need a rugsack anyway!
That said, I agree it certainly wouldn't hurt to understand more about root-causes.
Will try to find out name of a app I used a year ago, which showed CPU utillation, memmory and processes.
I must quit now, my girlfriend complains about the irritating clicking from the keys of my JasJar here...
Hannip,
Searched for a tool (and tested all I found) you asked for...here is results...
Performance Monitor (does NOT work on WM5...made for Casio E-10x...veeery long time ago I had one
http://www.thumbsupsoft.com/maphtm/pemon.html
Downloaded, installed it on JasJar. Starts up, but only shows ProgramMemory and MainMemory, but no graph, nor any threads)...and does not completely uninstall either!
MemMaid 1.6 (Works on WM5)
http://www.dinarsoft.com/
I have this myself, is not really an monitoring app, but it also can show all running processes (not programs, like built in simmilar program for this) and their memmory usage. On my JasJar when builtin app shows 1 running app (MemMaid), MemMaid shows 17 running processes (and that they take up approx 22MB!).
Great app...but gives no info about CPU utilization unfortunately.
PMH TaskManager (does NOT work on WM5)
http://www.phm.lu/products/PocketPC/TaskMgr/
This one looked really promissing; "Display the running processes with their IDs, number of threads, CPU time, priority and complete path...".
But also is an PocketPC 2002 app, and on the JasJar it only shows process name...no info on CPU time, priority, so forth! :-(
SuperTasks 2.0 (YEEES, it works...and do what we want!!!)
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=14661
This one shows CPU time pr process, and a graph for total CPU usage (among other), much like task manager om your PC (if you're one of the Windows-people that is.
It has a 30 day trial, so you should be able to test a lot before deciding to buy or not.
Did an "unscientific" test using SuperTask.
I had no other applications running, started after soft reset all times (but of course WindowsMobile will run some background tasks, but since I soft reset each time it should be at least simmilar for all tests). I played same MP3 track that is encoded with 192 Kbps.
Here is the results;
PocketMusic with A2DP
40-45% CPU
PocketMusic without A2DP
20-25% CPU
WindowsMediaPlayer with A2DP
35-40% CPU
WindowsMediaPlayer without A2DP
15-20% CPU
So A2DP (if we trust this "unscientific test"!) takes approx 20% CPU, and WMP takes approx 10% less CPU than PocketMusic (but I still prefer PocketMusic due to usabillity issues).
And this seems to fit with my experiences with A2DP on my JasJar...I seldom have problems with my JasJar outputting...it is a problem normally with BT signal/connection between JasJar and headset...and that is reduced by keeping them close, few/little objects between them.
...but then again...other people might have more CPU intensive apps running on the Universal than me, and therefore get a problem due to the approx 20% CPU usage of A2DP.
UPDATE: Made a seperate post for the test with more info...here http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=53717
I got this from the wizard forum. Apparently there is a free task manager which works on universal as well and shows plenty of info. Can't find the thread though
ady said:
I got this from the wizard forum. Apparently there is a free task manager which works on universal as well and shows plenty of info. Can't find the thread though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that's a pretty cool app, however the cpu utilization doesn't seem to work for all apps. With PocketMusic playing it shows 0 % cpu for that process. It claims my Idle is 90% with PocketMusic over A2DP. That just can't be correct. Gonna try SuperTasks next.
Using SuperTasks I see the following stats
PocketMusic w/A2DP 15-25% cpu
services.exe 4-6% cpu
device.exe 5-15% cpu
everything else was 0.
So cpu-wise the device doesn't seem to be stressed. What I am hearing is from 2 to 15 seconds of music that gets paused for about a second before it continues. When it continues it sounds like the music is sped up for a moment as if it were trying to catch up.
It's almost like some kind of flow control start and stops. I've tested this in a wireless free area so I don't think it's interference related.
Neither one of these tools show priorities from what I could see. I'm still looking for something that can show process/threads and service priorities.
Mmm how do you get Pocketmusic and AVRCP to work?
I cant get it to work at all......WMP works fine with my HT820's but not with Pocketmusic.
DaveUK said:
Mmm how do you get Pocketmusic and AVRCP to work?
I cant get it to work at all......WMP works fine with my HT820's but not with Pocketmusic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version are you using? Try the latest one.
http://www.pocketmind.com/files/pmusic.zip
Note that you should disable gapless playback if you experience hangs when switching tracks.
hannip said:
So cpu-wise the device doesn't seem to be stressed. What I am hearing is from 2 to 15 seconds of music that gets paused for about a second before it continues. When it continues it sounds like the music is sped up for a moment as if it were trying to catch up.
It's almost like some kind of flow control start and stops. I've tested this in a wireless free area so I don't think it's interference related.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that this does not sound like "interference related". I think that when you have "interference"/"BT signal" issues, you will just loose some of the sound, while when it is JasJar issues it continues where it left of, or sometimes sound like it suddenly speeds up for a short while to catch up.
The behaviour you have here, I have not heard at all in at least a month, and I use A2DP a couple of hours every day...so it makes me wonder if there is something in the ROM that you have or some software on your JasJar that I don't have...!?
Maybe we should compare ROM versions, what services that are running in background of device, what apps we have installed currently, so forth? ...we probably won't find anything...but maybe worth a try!?
BTW
I DID have that issue a lot before though, and I don't really remember exactly WHEN I got rid of it, if it was manually entering the "A2DP lag patch", or if it was uninstalling some software...since I tried so many things in that period to resolve it...it just works pretty well now (except of course that it sometimes lags if there is to much obstructions between headset/JasJar).
On sunday (first time I have chance to "play again" ), I will also test with my Motorola HT820's again...just to verify that it works just as well with those headphones as it does with my iTech headset. ...it would really surprise me if that has had an effect...but I do not remember when it started to work fine...and "desperate people try desperate things"!
hannip said:
DaveUK said:
Note that you should disable gapless playback if you experience hangs when switching tracks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhhh thats the reson for those anoying delays!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some reason the version I downloaded direct from their website was 4.03
The copy you sent works like a charm with AVRCP.
Thanks alot!!!!!!!!!!!
hannip said:
DaveUK said:
Mmm how do you get Pocketmusic and AVRCP to work?
I cant get it to work at all......WMP works fine with my HT820's but not with Pocketmusic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version are you using? Try the latest one.
http://www.pocketmind.com/files/pmusic.zip
Note that you should disable gapless playback if you experience hangs when switching tracks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently running timurs rom but it crashes a lot. Are there other roms that allow fast charge, sleep/wake with power, on screen volume etc.
Any help greatly appreciated
adamsilver1987 said:
Currently running timurs rom but it crashes a lot. Are there other roms that allow fast charge, sleep/wake with power, on screen volume etc.
Any help greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been running Timur's ROM as well and I really want an alternative as well as I've been facing issues with the ROM, and it looks like Timur has discontinued development on the 2012 model.
From what I've seen so far though CM11 should support USB DACs so I'm keen to try that out.
Some notes:
Fast charge - that's a kernel setting so any custom kernel should allow that.
Sleep/Wake on power - After many months of usage, sleep or even firm sleep has been a hit or miss for me. When it works, it works really well but sometimes a some random app might cause a wakelock, draining the battery. Even otherwise, there are many other issues such as USB audio doesn't resume. Plus the battery tends to drains quicker + looses health because of being in a hot car.
So instead, what I'm planning to do, is to just completely shutdown/boot up a tablet on power. Some notes:
- Bootup time is fairly quick - about 30 seconds, upto a minute, which is acceptable for me. You can reduce the startup time even further by using apps like BootManager to prevent unnecessary apps from starting up. Perhaps we can slim down the ROM further by deleting unnecessary apks etc.
- Fresh start is always a better option - you don't want your tablet to crash while driving right? I've had to reboot many times before or during driving, and it annoys me to say the least.
- USB audio always works fine when booted (well, with Timur's ROM anyways, need to test with CM11/others)
- No battery drain due to device standby or wakelocks
- No overheating and loss of battery health
- For shutdown on power loss, we can use Tasker. Maybe make a script to first turn the screen off, and after say 10 minutes of idle turn off the device completely (this will give us a chance to resume quickly in case we stopped the car for some reason).
- For startup on power, we can use the fastboot oem command to make the device automatically power up
On-Screen Volume: From daily usage, this hasn't been very practical in reality. I mean if you're driving, you really shouldn't be looking at the screen and trying to aim at the tiny buttons. Instead, a better option would be to use gestures to control the volume. There are heaps of apps for this, eg: All In One Gestures, Tasker, Gesture Navigation, GMD GestureControl, etc. You could use a single-swipe down and swipe-up to increase the volume up/down. Swipe left/right to change tracks. Two finger swipes to switch between apps. Just use your imagniation.
Might seem like a lot of work initially, but IMHO it'll be worth it, at least to get a stable ROM which is updated regularly (not to mention, you get to use the newest GApps!).
My only concern is to get the DAC working on startup. Might have to look into Timur's startup scripts to see how he does it - maybe even port the FHD scripts over to 2012 if necessary.
do you have a link to any fast charge kernels ? all i can find is Timurs ?
thanks
adamsilver1987 said:
do you have a link to any fast charge kernels ? all i can find is Timurs ?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kang-aroo kernel.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2558717
Supports fastcharge, OTG, hotplug DAC, firm sleep, multiboot and more.
thanks. this may sounds stupid ( im new to this rooting thing etc ) i am running paranoidandroid ROM. seems to run smoothly. i have flashed/installed that kernel and nothing is different. no extra settings etc? am i doing something wrong ?
thanks again
adamsilver1987 said:
thanks. this may sounds stupid ( im new to this rooting thing etc ) i am running paranoidandroid ROM. seems to run smoothly. i have flashed/installed that kernel and nothing is different. no extra settings etc? am i doing something wrong ?
thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use a kernel tweaking app, like TricksterMod.
ok downloaded that and it means nothing to me im afraid. how would i turn on fast charge for example or OTG host mode, firm sleep etc ?
only thing i can find where i assume you can set things is the " SysCtrl Editor" but it jsut comes up with a huge list of stuff that i have no idea about.
i assume i need to find fast charge in sysctrl and change it from 0 to 1... but cant find anything under the search. not a clue what id be looking for
starting to think Timurs rom was simple compared to this. haha
thanks for the help
Use PowerEventManager:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50265682#post50265682
i saw that, but yet again. dont know how to use it ? where do i place it on the tablet. it doesnt show up in recovery mode
You have to install it. Copy it to your device and then use a file manager to open and install it. It will create an icon in your drawer. When you open it, you'll have options to configure firm-sleep etc.
Done. Worked at first but now I've reverted to timurs rom. The tablet froze loads. Wouldnt open some apps at all and power on/off with ignition wasn't reliable. Sometimes it woke, sometimes it didnt. Will give it another go when i habe more time i think.
On a related note, I haven't had much luck with getting my DAC to work with other ROMs - even with Kang-aroo kernel. I'll have to try CM11 with _crue_'s USB audio patches and Netfluke's kernel this weekend and see how it goes.
Edit: No luck. Maybe because it's I'm on tilapia. Even with cm11, Netfluke's latest kernel, and _crue_'s updated audio patches for cm11, couldn't get it to work. And it's a Fiio E17, which I've had no issues with on Timur's ROM.
And no, I'm not going back to Timur's CM10 - it's old. I can't use any of the newer GApps on it, and the ROM is buggy.
I think I'll swap my tilapia with my 2013 deb and use that as a car device instead. It looks like Timur just updated his kernel to v1.0 which fixes a lot of bugs - at least it's being actively developed. As for my tilapia, I'll switch to a more stable/mainstream ROM like Omni and forget about USB audio for now.
Where did u get timurs updated kernel? Cant find a link
adamsilver1987 said:
Where did u get timurs updated kernel? Cant find a link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, you'll have to donate for now, but it should be made public soon.
How much and where?
Thanks
I posted my problem in few topics about MY mic problem, but nobody responded, so making my own thread to get visible.
About 5 months ago, my microUSB port was damaged, and it was replaced 2 times in local service.
Motorola refused to repair my device, due to unlocked bootloader.
Now my phone charges only when I plug the cable, and reboot it. No quickcharge since this time, also no connection with pc (only adb via fastboot works).
I was forwarded to other "specialised" service points, because there was needed a special soldering iron (whatever it means) that is extremely costly.
So far any service that had that soldering iron I called refused to do the repair (I think the easiest would b to change motherboard, cannot afford this due to costs)
Both problems appear on ANY (even stock) ROM I've tried so far, I tried nearly every single one from XDA.
Some roms allow to bypass the mic issue, by simply turning the speaker mode on (then the other side hear me, not perfectly but I'm able to talk with them, when speaking loud).
To fix mic I tried everything that I found so far:
-Changes in build.prop for the echo cancellation/noise reduction
-Cleaning the mic hole
-Changes in audio_platform_info.xml file (which contains the input/output devices list)
-Setting permissions for dialer/audio effects app
-Change to a different dialer app
-Disable audio effects app
-Various different stuff like service menu settings (*#*# etc)
-Reflash everything using CORRECT device images (5.1.1, 6.0, 6.0.1)
-Use different kernels
-Other things I forgot due to "fix attempts" ammount
The mic itself WORKS - checked it, by using some call recorder app and service test menu (not on the speakermode ofc).
Everything I say is CLEAR TO HEAR on the playback, just the call receiver cannot hear me. Where is the devil hidden?
Here are my Phone app on stock 6.0.1 latest update permissions that I use right now:
I will try anything, just to make it work like it should.
A note to the usb connection and fastcharge - there is a 24/7 running wakelock from the USB 3.0 controller (at least this is what I found it to be) called f9200000.ssusb, dunno how to trace the process responsible for it, I'm not THAT DEEP into android to figure it out on my own, it propably causes the problem (that's why turned on device doesn't respond for connecting the cable, nor to the PC/1A charger/2A quickcharger [aukey one], I've still got to reboot my phone or turn it off, to start charging my device).
I'm able to flash anything in fastboot mode, works without problems.
Upon trying to charge my moto with quickcharger, Ampere shows that the TurboCharger is connected, then after 2-3s charging stops and starts again, looped forever resulting in no charge at all. Only 1A chargers works.
Screenshot of the wakelock:
Thank everyone for reading this, awaiting for ANY tip, I'm struggled with those 2 probs for already 5-6 months, and I've read all the over 100 pages of Q&A without finding the solution, I've finally decided to post it on my own.
Are you still having problems with the Mic?
Mic problem won't go away affecting xt1575
Mycroftski said:
Mic problem won't go away affecting xt1575
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are two things that were done to over come my problem, first thing was to clean/open-up the speaker hole that's on the back of the phone (odd place), I also turned off "Enhanced 4G LTE Mode".
Also remember since the mic is on the backside, flip the phone over when using this feature so you're not blocking the mic hole, because it's very tiny.
These steps worked for me but your problems may be different.
Good afternoon,
So after seeing a bunch of videos and out of boredom I ordered almost all the pieces to make the switch. Was amazed by how simple it was until I noticed that the OTG cable was not supported by the Nexus 7? And that to my understanding I would have to root and install a custom rom in order to do this?
Well I did some research and found timurs rom and installed it. Well noticed gapps wasn't installed. Went to install gapps then I spent an entire Saturday trying to get it to work with no avail. I'm not skilled in this line of work. Alot of the articles I'm finding are from 2012 -14.
Just wanna make sure I'm making the right steps not sure if there has been a new way of doing this or possibly an easier method? Would greatly appreciate it if someone could assist with this.
I would love to have GAPPS on which ever ROM will give me the requirements to install the Nexus as my head unit. Im just not entirely sure how to get it to work proplery. I apologize for my lack of knowledge in advance.
List of parts
-nexus 7 (wifi)
-radio harness
-otg
-usb hub
-dac (behringer UCA222)
As well as some other misc items such has a volume knob, just awaiting the Amplifier.
Thank you for your time, hopefully someone can help me with this :good:
So from what I've gathered Autodroid is the newest rom, just downloaded it. Will be giving it a shot tonight. If someone could help me with Google apps and installing it on there that would be awesome!!!
BlackenWkN7714 said:
So from what I've gathered Autodroid is the newest rom, just downloaded it. Will be giving it a shot tonight. If someone could help me with Google apps and installing it on there that would be awesome!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For Autodroid, look for Slim-Addons-mini_gapps.4.4.4.build.9-20150107.zip from Here.
I had issues with OTG+Charging with Autodroid, but the more i have been tweaking and trying different things, I think the high temperatures were what caused the tablet not to charge. Monitoring the battery, I have noticed when the temp is over say 110* F, it will not charge, but will hold the charge and not drain the battery. The lower the temp gets the faster it starts charging.
I would suggest not converting to F2FS if you plan to use OTG. I could not get it to work properly.
I'm currently running LineageOS 14.1 with Powereventmanager 1.8 installed. This has been working well for me the last week or so, but some issues have me wanting to go back to Autodroid. One issue i've noticed lately with LineageOS is the sound quality doesn't seem as good as Autodroid. It sounds decent for my factory system, but what bugs me is the volume control is not sensitive enough, its either way too loud or too quiet. There may be ways to fix this though, as i have not had time to research a fix. I dont run a DAC, I run my tablet via bluetooth to a headunit hid behind the tablet, so you may not have this issue.
Another issue i have is with PowerEventManager. It will put the tablet to deep sleep, but usually not the first time i turn the ignition off. I have to turn the ignition back on then off, then it will trigger powereventmanger. No big deal, but is a pain since i have to constantly make sure it does go to sleep.
You can also add the volume control buttons to the nav bar through the "buttons" setting. You can add media controls too. This works well for the most part, but there are times the icons disappear, though the control is still functional. I think this issue is caused by my icon size, but not 100% sure.
B|acknd said:
For Autodroid, look for Slim-Addons-mini_gapps.4.4.4.build.9-20150107.zip from Here.
I had issues with OTG+Charging with Autodroid, but the more i have been tweaking and trying different things, I think the high temperatures were what caused the tablet not to charge. Monitoring the battery, I have noticed when the temp is over say 110* F, it will not charge, but will hold the charge and not drain the battery. The lower the temp gets the faster it starts charging.
I would suggest not converting to F2FS if you plan to use OTG. I could not get it to work properly.
I'm currently running LineageOS 14.1 with Powereventmanager 1.8 installed. This has been working well for me the last week or so, but some issues have me wanting to go back to Autodroid. One issue i've noticed lately with LineageOS is the sound quality doesn't seem as good as Autodroid. It sounds decent for my factory system, but what bugs me is the volume control is not sensitive enough, its either way too loud or too quiet. There may be ways to fix this though, as i have not had time to research a fix. I dont run a DAC, I run my tablet via bluetooth to a headunit hid behind the tablet, so you may not have this issue.
Another issue i have is with PowerEventManager. It will put the tablet to deep sleep, but usually not the first time i turn the ignition off. I have to turn the ignition back on then off, then it will trigger powereventmanger. No big deal, but is a pain since i have to constantly make sure it does go to sleep.
You can also add the volume control buttons to the nav bar through the "buttons" setting. You can add media controls too. This works well for the most part, but there are times the icons disappear, though the control is still functional. I think this issue is caused by my icon size, but not 100% sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for the response!!
I ended up getting timurs rom to work. I attempted to go with Autodroid but it would never load up. Attempted timurs rom and it worked and figured I'd try gapps and finally it worked perfect and I have no issues now.
Now I'm trying to find the best method to incorporate Bluetooth to the car. I'm replacing my entire head unit with the tablet. I wanna be able to play music from my phone and have it come out of the cars speakers.
Any suggestion on that?
BlackenWkN7714 said:
Hey thanks for the response!!
I ended up getting timurs rom to work. I attempted to go with Autodroid but it would never load up. Attempted timurs rom and it worked and figured I'd try gapps and finally it worked perfect and I have no issues now.
Now I'm trying to find the best method to incorporate Bluetooth to the car. I'm replacing my entire head unit with the tablet. I wanna be able to play music from my phone and have it come out of the cars speakers.
Any suggestion on that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Autodroid, you have to flash the kangaroo kernel after you flash the rom. there are people that say you have to flash a version of SlimKat and dirty flash Autodroid over it, but i never had to do this.
Check out HeadUnit Reloaded. it is an Android Auto clone. allows you to make a receive calls, stream music from your phone. There is a 5 minute trial, so make sure you have everything set up before you give it a try.
I've been debating on switching to a DAC, just so i can have better volume control. Something about using software buttons for control is just a pain. I've also thought of hard wiring my removable face from the head unit to somewhere it is accessible, but not sure i want to go through the trouble.
Have you thought of just using the phone as a hotspot and using your tablet for everything else? This is what i do and it saves me from having to fidget with my phone all the time.
Another tip for you, though i dont know what DPI Timurs rom is set at, but on AutoDroid I always increased the DPI to make things on screen larger and easier to control, since it is in a vehicle. I believe i had mine set at 230..
I'll be switching back to Autodroid this evening. the bugs i encounter using LineageOS have just been too much to deal with. Worked great for awhile, just need something more stable and worry free.
B|acknd said:
Autodroid, you have to flash the kangaroo kernel after you flash the rom. there are people that say you have to flash a version of SlimKat and dirty flash Autodroid over it, but i never had to do this.
Check out HeadUnit Reloaded. it is an Android Auto clone. allows you to make a receive calls, stream music from your phone. There is a 5 minute trial, so make sure you have everything set up before you give it a try.
I've been debating on switching to a DAC, just so i can have better volume control. Something about using software buttons for control is just a pain. I've also thought of hard wiring my removable face from the head unit to somewhere it is accessible, but not sure i want to go through the trouble.
Have you thought of just using the phone as a hotspot and using your tablet for everything else? This is what i do and it saves me from having to fidget with my phone all the time.
Another tip for you, though i dont know what DPI Timurs rom is set at, but on AutoDroid I always increased the DPI to make things on screen larger and easier to control, since it is in a vehicle. I believe i had mine set at 230..
I'll be switching back to Autodroid this evening. the bugs i encounter using LineageOS have just been too much to deal with. Worked great for awhile, just need something more stable and worry free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have thought about being able to supply a hot spot with my note 5. I found ways of getting around it without rooting it but those have seemed to be disabled. Still hoping to come across a simple way of doing it without paying for it or rooting the phone since I'm currently on the "lease program". I plan to keep the phone once I'm finished paying on it so I believe I should have an issue. I just don't wanna end up screwed if for some reason I have to turn it in and I get hit with a large fee since it's rooted.
I will definitely look into that app, can it be connected thru Bluetooth or just wifi? If wifi I will have to wait until I figure out how to make my phone wifi tethering enabled.
Also I though of an idea, I have found the Bluetooth devices for everyday car stereos. Box with usb to charge and an aux to plug into the car audio. My Dac has an input and an output. I'm currently not using the input since it's all thru usb. I'm wondering if I can hook up the $20 Bluetooth piece and then aquire a female 3.5 aux cable to make rca and hook that up to the input on the dac.
BlackenWkN7714 said:
I have thought about being able to supply a hot spot with my note 5. I found ways of getting around it without rooting it but those have seemed to be disabled. Still hoping to come across a simple way of doing it without paying for it or rooting the phone since I'm currently on the "lease program". I plan to keep the phone once I'm finished paying on it so I believe I should have an issue. I just don't wanna end up screwed if for some reason I have to turn it in and I get hit with a large fee since it's rooted.
I will definitely look into that app, can it be connected thru Bluetooth or just wifi? If wifi I will have to wait until I figure out how to make my phone wifi tethering enabled.
Also I though of an idea, I have found the Bluetooth devices for everyday car stereos. Box with usb to charge and an aux to plug into the car audio. My Dac has an input and an output. I'm currently not using the input since it's all thru usb. I'm wondering if I can hook up the $20 Bluetooth piece and then aquire a female 3.5 aux cable to make rca and hook that up to the input on the dac.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about Bluetooth with Headunit reloaded... you can use USB. To be able to make and receive calls, you have to have it connected to a "Bluetooth headset" according to their page, but i think this is just for phone calls.. I could be wrong though. I've been curious if my head unit would act as a "headset" since my tablet is connected through Bluetooth...
One day I will buy the app and play with it more, I'm just cheap
About your DAC, I dont see why that wouldn't work. I've read of people using stand alone Bluetooth adapters with their DAC. But like i said before I dont know anything first hand when it comes to DAC's.