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Help HTC EVO multitouch issue.

G

gordon1hd1

Well-Known Member
I got my HTC Evo right when it came out, I sold my Moto Droid and switch to Sprint for it, because I love the 4.3 inch screen that it offers. But it seem that the EVO is full of problems, and tonight when i am playing on my emulator I discovered a new one :(
YouTube - HTC Evo Multi Touch Issue

At first I hope that it was just an issue with the SNES emulator i was using, so I downloaded the multi touch app from market to test out my suspicion. Sadly my suspicion was confirmed :(

So the issue, when the EVO register 2 touch points (ie 2 finger taps), when the user remove 1 of the touch point (lift one finger off the screen), while the other finger stay on the screen unmoved, both point are still registered, until the 1 touch point remaining on the screen moves. I started noticing this issue when i was playing SNES emulators (but it is the same for Genesis and GBA emulator).

So I made the above video to demonstrate the issue.
-At first i demo the issue using the market's multi-touch test app.
-Then i show how the issue effect emulators like the Sneoid. Notice how when I touch the D-Pad, then touch 1 of the button, and then lift my left thumb off the D-Pad, while keeping the right thumb on the key button, Sneoid registers D-Pad right-down touch even though nothing is touch the area. Additionally, if i move my right thumb around, i can control the directions with just 1 finger.

Can everyone please test out your EVO to see if your unit display the same issue. I am hoping that i just have a defective touch screen, and I can just trade my unit in for another that doesn't have this issue.

Despite all the issue with the EVO: ungrounded touch, short battery life, light leak, and possible screen separation in the future (my evo currently does not show any symptom), i still love my EVO. But if this is a real production issue, and not just me having a defective unit, I think i will have to return my Evo to Sprint and wait for the Droid X :(:(
 
I would say to use the wiimote controller app to have a physical control pad for your emulator gaming like I do on my Nexus One (its amazing!)... but HTC screwed us over by putting on Sense UI which blocks the wiimote from connecting :(
 
Covert_Death said:
nm found it and i have the same issue, it happens when you have a first press, then add a second press, and if you lift either press and until you move the other press by ONE X or Y cordinate then it sticks until moved
Click to expand...

Sounds like I am not the only one then. So it is a production issue :mad::mad::(:(
 
Mine isnt doing this. I tested it out as well. I dont know why your seems to stick when you let go of the screen.

Interesting.
 
I have watched your video again and i am not sure it is really registering the 2nd touch like you think. What i think is happening is the app isnt refreshing the screen until something changes visually. Its hard to describe but i noticed that you are not moving your one thumb at all for this to happen. As soon as it moves even the slightest amount it no longer shows the second touch on the screen. I dont know if the problem is really the phone or the app. I think the app refreshes when it has something to refresh. Not sure about this one.
 
kellte2 said:
I'm really not an expert, but don't you think it could likely be a software problem as opposed to a production hardware fault?
Click to expand...

I also thought at first it was an application issue with the Sneoid, but after independetly confirm the same issue accross 4 application (3 emulator, and the multi-touch test app), in which the most damning is result from the multi-touch app, I high doubt that any more (note, i had the moto droid for 3+ month before i got the Evo, and never seem this problem on the droid)

So that leave 2 possibilities, hardware problem(unfix-able) and driver issues (fix-able but not likely to happen). From my understanding the nexus one multi-touch issue was a hardware issue that have a driver workaround. It has been more then 6 month since the nexus one was release, and HTC havn't release a fix for the nexus one, or does it look like they are going to release one. So my hope for the Evo driver fix/workaround is not high

tmaxey1 said:
I have watched your video again and i am not sure it is really registering the 2nd touch like you think. What i think is happening is the app isnt refreshing the screen until something changes visually. Its hard to describe but i noticed that you are not moving your one thumb at all for this to happen. As soon as it moves even the slightest amount it no longer shows the second touch on the screen. I dont know if the problem is really the phone or the app. I think the app refreshes when it has something to refresh. Not sure about this one.
Click to expand...

I would agree with you if it wasn't happening across 4 different applications, but the fact that this act up in 4 different application lead me to think otherwise. PS i just notice that it is happening in Google map also, but i have not been able to consistently reproduce it yet, when I do, i can put up a new video showing it on Google map.

tmaxey1 said:
Mine isnt doing this. I tested it out as well. I dont know why your seems to stick when you let go of the screen.

Interesting.
Click to expand...

As you can tell from the video, it take a while to learn how to consistently trigger it, but once you learn how, you can usually do it consistently 50-75% of the time, please try a few more time to make sure that your unit doesn't suffer from the same issue. Now, however if your unit indeed doesn't have this problem, then this give hope that the issue is isolate to certain batches, and we can swap our device out until we find one that doesn't have this issue.
 
You are correct. I did it again and sure enough mine does just like yours. I guess emulators will be harder to enjoy now. Unless you can master some dpad wiggle method that keeps mario running fast and not falling to his death. Very annoying for sure.
 
tmaxey1 said:
You are correct. I did it again and sure enough mine does just like yours. I guess emulators will be harder to enjoy now. Unless you can master some dpad wiggle method that keeps mario running fast and not falling to his death. Very annoying for sure.
Click to expand...

:( sorry to hear that, ya it make playing action/platform games on the emulator very difficult, Zelda, Mario world, Sonic, Earthworm Jim, to name a few
 
Yup just tested this and the issue exists :(

Another way to test this: Hold one finger down at all times, and do not move it. With a second finger, tap the screen in different places.
 
I posted something similar a while back and seems like no one really knows the answer and this might be related to the problem you're experiencing. I doubt it's a hardware issue, most likely crappy drivers by HTC. They probably used the same driver from the older chipset hence the slow response time. The answer from HTC hasn't been good either, all they can say is it only supports 2 points pinch and zoom...


10 points Multitouch on Droid incredible not working? - xda-developers
 
I was going to buy a few games from gameloft, but this actually makes me afraid to waste my money. Does anyone notice problems playing hero of sparta or dungeon hunter with this multi touch issue? With the no return policy on their games you have to be sure you want to spend the money. Even though its only 5 dollars.
 
hm still sound like poor programming on part of people trying to circumvent certain multi-touch patents to me..
 
tmaxey1 said:
I was going to buy a few games from gameloft, but this actually makes me afraid to waste my money. Does anyone notice problems playing hero of sparta or dungeon hunter with this multi touch issue? With the no return policy on their games you have to be sure you want to spend the money. Even though its only 5 dollars.
Click to expand...

neither of those games have been an issue for me :)
 
The EVO has multitouch issues and lag. No one knows the reason why, just speculation. There are threads about it here and all over XDA.

People who claim that there's "no lag" or doesn't have any "problems", probably doesn't even realize it because they don't have anything to compare it to.
 
Disappointing especially in comparison to the Incredible which was released just before the EVO and after the Nexus One.
 
Ya this issue is annoying, but unless you play games on your phone, it is probably not a big problem for you. But for people that enjoy playing Sneoid games on the EVO, this is a major issue. I am very tempted to go with the Droid X at this point, since i had good experience with the Moto Droid, i am hoping the Droid's build quality carries over to the Droid X.

However, HTC is rumor to release a patch fix for touch screen issue on the EVO soon.
HTC has fix in the works for EVO 4G screen sensitivity; separation problems are minor -- Engadget
If the fix hit before my 30 day trial ends and fixes this multi-touch issue, i will be more then happy to stay with the EVO. (after all i love this phone :p)
 
tmaxey1 said:
I was going to buy a few games from gameloft, but this actually makes me afraid to waste my money. Does anyone notice problems playing hero of sparta or dungeon hunter with this multi touch issue? With the no return policy on their games you have to be sure you want to spend the money. Even though its only 5 dollars.
Click to expand...
I just tried out Gangstar from Gameloft and due to the multitouch issue, it makes the game unplayable in my opinion.....This is a really disappointing issue on a device that is suppose to be top of the line....

And for all those people that say the EVO isn't made to play games, well in that case, the EVO isn't meant to do anything but make phone calls then since it is a phone!

So who is to say what the EVO is made to do and what not to do. It should be able to do everything that the specs allow it to do. And on paper, the EVOs specs allow it enough power to play games and then some. Unfortunately, once again we are seeing crippled devices from HTC. I just don't understand if the merchandise in under the hood, why not let us use it!!! This is getting extremely frustrating.

To bad there isn't another Android device that is coming to Sprint with a 4.3" or larger screen. I think I would be all over it!
 
I discovered yesterday that this issue is a problem when the phone is on a stand in the car. I tried to pull down my Notifications screen but since the phone stand isn't grounded on anything (suctioned to window), the top portion of the screen doesn't respond. Also, the capacitive Home Key doesn't respond on every touch either. The only way to resolve it is to plug it in while it's on the stand. Hmm..
 
eric3316 said:
I don't think that has to do with the multitouch issue though.
Click to expand...

There is always hope that the screen fix is in the form of a updated multitouch driver since they are supposly trying to fix the ungrounded touch issue. I just hope the fix is out before my 30 day return allowance is up, or else I would need to leave Sprint for the Verizon Droid X.
 
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