Help Not a Newbie But Some Basic Questions Please

[rozel]

Hi

I have been using my phone for a few months now and am delighted with it. I have rooted it and am reasonably familiar with CPW and Titanium Backup, in that I know what each can do, even though I haven't used them yet.

After browsing on here for a few months and using my phone to get familiar with it, I have some questions and would be grateful if someone could let me have an answer or two: -

1. I saw a home screen recently which had a shortcut on it to Mobile networks/Use packet data. How was this done/what program was used to create it etc?

2. When I first got my phone I configured the phone to only switch on WiFi when the screen was active. For the life of me I do not know how I did this. Recently this setting has been lost and the WiFi is on constantly. When I am at home I would like it to switch off when the screen goes off and comes on when active. The only thing I can find is "WiFi Sleep policy, which I have configured to "When screen turns off". However after my screen switches off and I turn it back on, I do not see any signs of it having been off - ie; I do not see it switching back on like it used to do, by observing the top notifications bar. This is a drain on my battery - yesterday I noticed that it had been on all the time I was at work - over 10 hours - and the battery reduced by 50%, which is not what it used to do. In WiFi Settings, even though I am locked on to my home wifi, the phone is constantly scanning away every few seconds - I would like it to stop doing this when connected. Any thoughts etc please?

3. Is there a program out there which can save your Home Screens/Application Screens? Yes I know I can restore my phone using CPW/Titanium Backup but I only want to restore my Home Screens after diddling about with new themes etc. I usually always prefer the look and feel of my existing ones but am getting fed up with restoring manually and Titanium Backup doesn't appear to do this - it wants to restore all my previous apps etc. Again some help would be appreciated.

4. In CPW/Titanium Backup how do I start to Freeze a program? I would like to experiment with freezing WiFi Sharing but not sure how to do this exactly ie; what exactly do I do? - the opening screens are not that user friendly.

FWIW I am on 2.3.4 CPW (waiting patiently for an upgrade via Kies) and CF-1 Kernel (I think).

Would appreciate any advices and help

Cheers

 

[Hawker]

1. menu>settings>wireless+networks>mobile networks
as for setting up a shortcut for this on a homescreen, an app called "any cut" should be able to do it.

2. menu>settings>wireless+networks>wifi settings>menu>advanced>wifi sleep policy
set to "when screen turns off"

3. if you use go launcher or TWLauncher 4.5+ then there is a backup/restore feature in there.

4. in titanium backup, click backup/restore tab, scroll to the app and select it, then choose "freeze" (paid up version only)

 

[rozel]

Thanks Hawker - much appreciated - can I clarify a few things please?

1. It was a method of creating the shortcut that I was looking for - hopefully your program suggestion will do the trick

2. I did indicate that I have already set the sleep policy to the setting you mention. This isn't working, whereas it did up to the last few days. I now have to manually turn it off and manually turn it on and in WiFi settings even though I am locked on to my home wifi, the phone is still scanning. Is this a separate issue and is there a way to stop it scanning?

3. Can I confirm that there is an option just to restore my home screens and/or app screens please? I have tried looking for this app on the market and cannot seem to find it.

4. Thanks, wasn't sure

 

[rozel]

A further clarification on point 3.

I have established that TWLauncher is the default launcher on my phone as it was there when I got the phone lol! How do I find it's version number and how do I update it?

 

[ironass]

4. In CPW/Titanium Backup how do I start to Freeze a program? I would like to experiment with freezing WiFi Sharing but not sure how to do this exactly ie; what exactly do I do? - the opening screens are not that user friendly.

For a step-by-step guide on, "freezing", app's and, "bloatware", using Titanium Backup Pro, see here:-

http://androidforums.com/3866833-post2.html

Hope this helps.

 

[Russell Ng]

Thanks Hawker - much appreciated - can I clarify a few things please?

1. It was a method of creating the shortcut that I was looking for - hopefully your program suggestion will do the trick

I used widgetsoid to set up toggles. That works to.

If you want to know details bout TW launcher, try going to "Settings/Manage Applications" and under the "All" tab, scroll down and look for TW launcher.

Cheers

 

[rozel]

Great thanks guys - most appreciated

I am fine now with Questions 1, 3 and 4.

Question 2 is still bugging me - the sleep policy setting just isn't working any more - does anyone know what is causing this and how I can sort it please?

 

[rozel]

I must assume without any further responses that nobody else is afflicted with this problem.

I am now controlling things by switching WiFi on and off using the icon in the notifications bar. This technique probably uses less battery power than adopting the WiFi Sleep Policy every time the screen shuts off and on.

It would be good to know if anything can be done though in getting the Sleep Policy to work and to switch off WiFi Scanning when wifi connected.

 

[Slug]

Wifi will remain on for 15mins even with "When screen turns off" set, to prevent updates being interrupted etc. However there appears to be a elusive 'bug' with this under certain conditions - see Wifi sleep policy not honored. This may be what your are experiencing.

It's actually more economical, if you're connected to a wireless AP constantly e.g. when at home or work, to leave wifi enabled but disable 3G (mobile data) as background wifi scanning when connected uses much less power than maintaining a 3G data connection.

If constantly searching for an AP to use though e.g. when out of range of any "remembered" connections, it's a battery hog but unfortunately there's no way to adjust the wifi scanning interval without root access.