Root Is this even possible?

[scary alien]

You're not getting away with that again bro. I'll get you back!Issues so far: doesn't display correctly in horizontal mode.Doesn't seen to shut off when selecting stop monitoring and exit.Doesn't make me my morning coffee.

Lol...yeah, I noticed the horizontal thing this morning...(I'll probably end-up locking the screen orientation to portrait (and orientation change is sort of like pressing the back button or re-launching the app; there's other ways to handle it, but probably overkill for this app).

So, the LED is staying lit when plugged-in and you've exited the app via the "Stop Monitoring and Exit" button? Haven't seen that in my testing...if you want to see what the app is doing, run the Android SDK, start-up ddms and create a Log filter with "BattMonX" as the filter value and select the "Debug" logging level. It should show you trace messages that I left-in re. this. I would certainly be curious about this (and if it might be related to any custom ROMs or themes you've got installed).

Now, about that coffee thing...

 

[Bankswood]

Scary, I'm running stock rom and BlassGlass theme and the app works perfect for me. Plugged in this morning and redlight. Came back later green light and 100% charged. Thanks. Like Steven58 I alos like to donte to guys that solve problems and make good products.

Now for your next trick make the Droid X recognize an after market battery. Since the latest OTA 2.2 my after market battery no longer works. Alert comes up saying something like you can't use non Motorola batteries. This is a problem for all not just my Droid.

 

[scary alien]

Scary, I'm running stock rom and BlassGlass theme and the app works perfect for me. Plugged in this morning and redlight. Came back later green light and 100% charged. Thanks. Like Steven58 I alos like to donte to guys that solve problems and make good products.

Now for your next trick make the Droid X recognize an after market battery. Since the latest OTA 2.2 my after market battery no longer works. Alert comes up saying something like you can't use non Motorola batteries. This is a problem for all not just my Droid.

You are very welcome!

I think I saw a recent thread about the after-market battery issue (were you the OP?). I was curious of course, but wanted to tackle one battery-related task at a time .

What exactly does the warning say? (I can search the Android source for the string). Also, does it prevent you from booting (i.e., a Motorola boot message) or does it show-up after booting (i.e., an Android message)?

Cheers!

 

[Steven58]

I dunno, it doesn't seem to shut off when I press the button... but it does get me coffee!

 

[kensdavid]

You are very welcome!

I think I saw a recent thread about the after-market battery issue (were you the OP?). I was curious of course, but wanted to tackle one battery-related task at a time .

What exactly does the warning say? (I can search the Android source for the string). Also, does it prevent you from booting (i.e., a Motorola boot message) or does it show-up after booting (i.e., an Android message)?

Cheers!

I've actually gotten the same error using a Motorola extended battery!!

It came up within the Android OS, the message let me know that I couldn't charge a non-Motorola battery... Only got the error once so I haven't documented it fully.

A separate question - how do you get BattMonX to start at boot? When I reboot it is no longer running! Thanks ScaryAlien!!

 

[scary alien]

I dunno, it doesn't seem to shut off when I press the button... but it does get me coffee!

Lol, I put the coffee feature in only for your phone, Steven .

By the way, try nuking the BattMonX process with System Panel and try it again (being careful to not change the screen orientation--I'll lock that down in the next update).

If you are feeling a little industrious, you could download the aLogcat app (free in the Market), hit the menu button, add a filter of "BattMonX" (press Okay), hit the menu button again, select More (bottom right option), select Preferences, and then set the Level? to "Debug" and set the Format? to "Time"). Then hit the back key to view the logcat output.

You can then launch the BattMonX app, start monitoring, and then do the stop and exit thing. Return to aLogcat app (long-press the home button).

The last line logged should say "D/BattMonX (2305): service: run() should be self-terminating...".

You can also use the menu option (menu, Send, Gmail) to send the output to me (scary.alien@gmail.com) or save the output and post it up here.

Cheers!

 

[scary alien]

I've actually gotten the same error using a Motorola extended battery!!

It came up within the Android OS, the message let me know that I couldn't charge a non-Motorola battery... Only got the error once so I haven't documented it fully.

A separate question - how do you get BattMonX to start at boot? When I reboot it is no longer running! Thanks ScaryAlien!!

Thanks for the info...

Ah, yeah, I'll probably add a "start on boot" option in the next release (lol, I just cranked this app out this weekend...its a feature that's high on my list). I gotta add some menu/preferences support (when I get a little time).

Cheers!

 

[scary alien]

I dunno, it doesn't seem to shut off when I press the button... but it does get me coffee!

Steven,

By the way, is the Apex ROM CM6-based? (I haven't paid attention to any of the Droid X ROMs since I haven't flashed one myself).

The reason I ask is that there is another app on the Market that does something similar to mine, but is reported to not work on CM6-type ROMs.

Not sure why this would be...

Thanks!

 

[Steven58]

Lol, I put the coffee feature in only for your phone, Steven .

By the way, try nuking the BattMonX process with System Panel and try it again (being careful to not change the screen orientation--I'll lock that down in the next update).

If you are feeling a little industrious, you could download the aLogcat app (free in the Market), hit the menu button, add a filter of "BattMonX" (press Okay), hit the menu button again, select More (bottom right option), select Preferences, and then set the Level? to "Debug" and set the Format? to "Time"). Then hit the back key to view the logcat output.

You can then launch the BattMonX app, start monitoring, and then do the stop and exit thing. Return to aLogcat app (long-press the home button).

The last line logged should say "D/BattMonX (2305): service: run() should be self-terminating...".

You can also use the menu option (menu, Send, Gmail) to send the output to me (scary.alien@gmail.com) or save the output and post it up here.

Cheers!

Thanks for the coffee machine option, bro. Ok.. I'll look into it.

Steven,

By the way, is the Apex ROM CM6-based? (I haven't paid attention to any of the Droid X ROMs since I haven't flashed one myself).

The reason I ask is that there is another app on the Market that does something similar to mine, but is reported to not work on CM6-type ROMs.

Not sure why this would be...

Thanks!

Here I go... you make an app, just for me, complete with coffee and I go complaining. People nowadays!

 

[Bankswood]

You are very welcome!

I think I saw a recent thread about the after-market battery issue (were you the OP?). I was curious of course, but wanted to tackle one battery-related task at a time .

What exactly does the warning say? (I can search the Android source for the string). Also, does it prevent you from booting (i.e., a Motorola boot message) or does it show-up after booting (i.e., an Android message)?

Cheers!

Scary, the phone boots and operates fine with an after market battery. In the notification bar instead of a battery icon showing usage it displays a red circle with a yellow triangle in the middle. My after market app will measure the usage. The battery will not charge. When you plug in the power cord a warning comes up and states "Your device is invalid and cannot be charged. Replace the battery with an original Motorola battery"

Before the OTA 2.2 update this same battery was working and charging fine.

 

[scary alien]

Scary, the phone boots and operates fine with an after market battery. In the notification bar instead of a battery icon showing usage it displays a red circle with a yellow triangle in the middle. My after market app will measure the usage. The battery will not charge. When you plug in the power cord a warning comes up and states "Your device is invalid and cannot be charged. Replace the battery with an original Motorola battery"

Before the OTA 2.2 update this same battery was working and charging fine.

Thanks! I'll do some searching...but it sounds like VZW puts some Motorola-specific voodoo in there--not very cool, eh?

 

[scary alien]

Scary, the phone boots and operates fine with an after market battery. In the notification bar instead of a battery icon showing usage it displays a red circle with a yellow triangle in the middle. My after market app will measure the usage. The battery will not charge. When you plug in the power cord a warning comes up and states "Your device is invalid and cannot be charged. Replace the battery with an original Motorola battery"

Before the OTA 2.2 update this same battery was working and charging fine.

I'm flipping-over to the http://androidforums.com/droid-x-all-things-root/225812-battery-recognition-hack.html thread to keep from deviating too much over here.

Thanks!

 

[scary alien]

Steven, all:

I've been able to replicate the issue with the LED staying on even after the "Stop Monitoring and Exit" button has been pressed (it has to do with the app "losing focus" and sort of re-launched). I think its happening when you hit the back button vs. the home button to leave the app.

You should be able to get around this in the current version by:

1. Stop any current BattMonX process with System Panel or equivalent
2. Launch BattMonX
3. Press "Start Monitoring Battery Status" button
4. Hit the Home key to "exit" the app (its actually not really exiting)
5. Go about your business...
6. When you are ready to stop monitoring, long-press the Home key to recall the app's focus and press the "Stop Monitoring and Exit" button

If you normally follow steps 2 through 6 the app should behave as you would expect.

Anyway, a fix for this and new version should be coming soon.

New features forthcoming:

1. Ability to set different polling intervals (10 secs, 20 secs, 30 secs, 1 min, 5 mins, 10 mins, or 15 mins)

2. Ability to assign your own colors (green, red, blue, yellow, or off) to the LED for the various battery states (charged, charging, discharging).

3. Preferences saved across launches

4. Non-Droid X phone warning will only be displayed once per install

Thanks for everyone's patience and feedback re. this. Its been a fun project to learn about LED notifications and background processing/services.

Cheers!

 

[kensdavid]

Thanks for the info...

Ah, yeah, I'll probably add a "start on boot" option in the next release (lol, I just cranked this app out this weekend...its a feature that's high on my list). I gotta add some menu/preferences support (when I get a little time).

Cheers!

Dont forget to add this too!

Thanks Scary!!

 

[scary alien]

Dont forget to add this (start on boot option) too!

Thanks Scary!!

Yes, I haven't forgotten (I only listed the other things that I have actually tested, lol--the saved preferences should help make this possible / easier to do).

Thanks!

 

[fonefreak]

@scary
What did you use to write this app? I just got my invite for Google App Inventor and might have some free time to play around with it tonight? Gotta download your app because it's reminiscent of my Storm2.

 

[scary alien]

@scary
What did you use to write this app? I just got my invite for Google App Inventor and might have some free time to play around with it tonight? Gotta download your app because it's reminiscent of my Storm2.

I did it with Java in Eclipse...basically started learning/playing with all of this (Android programming) back in August...

I tried App Inventor, but it doesn't (or didn't) allow you to see the actually generated Java code for your project (which I was hoping to use to bootstrap my learning). Had to do it the old-fashioned way...

Cheers!

 

[scary alien]

All,

Okay, I've just uploaded a new, 1.1 version of the BattMonX app to the Market. Behaves much better, faster, has more options, etc. I'm much happier with this one that the original 1.0 version.

V1.1 changes include:

- fix for orphan LED issue (i.e., LED still on when it should not be)

- main screen now displays if battery monitoring is currently active

- added menu option to change the polling interval to 10 secs, 20 secs, 30 secs, 1 min, 5 mins, 10 mins, or 15 mins; you can even change the polling interval in real-time

- added menu option to select/assign colors (red, green, blue, yellow, or off) to the various battery charging states (charging, discharging, charged/full); you can even change the color assignments in real-time

- added menu option to display currently enabled settings

- lock main screen to portrait mode to avoid issues with screen orientation changes

- save/retain settings/preferences across program launches

I have not had time to do the set-on-boot/run-on-boot option--that and a few other goodies are on the list of the next version .

Anyway, I don't remember if I indicated that the web page mentioned in the app is now up and active:

https://sites.google.com/site/scaryalienware/battmonx

My next task will be to create an app thread for this (let me know if you're tired of hearing from me in here and I'll just update the new thread).

Here's some screen shots:



Cheers!

 

[Steven58]

You had better provide me with an email to send a donation, sir! Don't make me come over there!!!

+1 Bravo on the great work! I like my BattMonX. It kinda sounds like a Haitian word, mon.

Edit: You've outdone yourself! I don't want the green light staring at me all night, so now I have it arranged to just shut off. Brilliant! I love it!

 

[Steven58]

Yeah you probably should make an announcement thread!

 

[scary alien]

Yeah you probably should make an announcement thread!

Yes, I certainly will (probably this evening).

By the way, we Droid X owners should consider ourselves lucky...a co-worker of mine just got an Samsung Captivate and its LED (if it has any) will not light-up (even with my app ). So, I'm not even sure if they can see their battery charging status or text notifications...

Cheers!

 

[scary alien]

I know this'll probably quickly get lost with all of the recent OTA update news and issues, but I just wanted to do a quick thread bump to let everyone know that I've updated the BattMonX app to version 1.3 that now includes a set-on-boot / run-on-boot option.

Select this option via the menu (menu -> More -> Set on Boot -> select True or False).

Sorry this took so long, but it turns out that getting the boot notification handled (properly) took a little while to figure-out and get the kinks worked-out. I've shutdown and rebooted my phone more times that I could count in the last two weeks (glad I had StevensShutdown app handy ).

Anyway, I know several of you were looking and waiting for this functionality.

Enjoy!

 

[fonefreak]

I'd just like to add that now that I've "upgraded" to Froyo 2.2.1 (the OTA update) your app still works - both rooted and unrooted on my DX!

 

[scary alien]

I'd just like to add that now that I've "upgraded" to Froyo 2.2.1 (the OTA update) your app still works - both rooted and unrooted on my DX!

Thank you for the feedback--I very much appreciate it.

Had a lot of new downloads (and installs) right after releasing the latest version and am glad that its useful to people.

Cheers!

 

[fonefreak]

@scary alien

Here's an update for you:

Today I finally bit the bullet and installed the ApeX 1.3.0 custom ROM AND installed the new Gingerbread 2.3 theme on my rooted Droid X. I am happy to report that your app comes through with flying colors!

Thank you for such a wonderful program!