Hi all,
I got my XTZ with docking station the other week.
When I first connected to the cradle it started some app I just dismissed and didn't really care about at the time.
Now its started every time I dock the tablet, but there is a bug I think. The volume starts to go crazy ON/OFF on the tablet.
As if the volume down button is hold, but when I try to volume up with the HW the button it automatically gets down again. When I remove the tablet everything is OK.
I didn't find it to be a known issue and any way to resolve it.
Is there a workaround?
Hate to use the tablet just as photo frame when docket, I would like to use it as a player also.
Rozamar said:
Hi all,
I got my XTZ with docking station the other week.
When I first connected to the cradle it started some app I just dismissed and didn't really care about at the time.
Now its started every time I dock the tablet, but there is a bug I think. The volume starts to go crazy ON/OFF on the tablet.
As if the volume down button is hold, but when I try to volume up with the HW the button it automatically gets down again. When I remove the tablet everything is OK.
I didn't find it to be a known issue and any way to resolve it.
Is there a workaround?
Hate to use the tablet just as photo frame when docket, I would like to use it as a player also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at Smart Connect - in the "View" tab it allows you add start and end actions when charging via the dock - this includes starting apps, open webpages, playing media tracks etc ... I suspect your offending app is being triggered by this - simply delete it and add your own (or have it do nothing like I did).
hth
Rozamar said:
Hi all,
I got my XTZ with docking station the other week. When I first connected to the cradle it started some app I just dismissed and didn't really care about at the time. Now its started every time I dock the tablet, but there is a bug I think. The volume starts to go crazy ON/OFF on the tablet. As if the volume down button is hold, but when I try to volume up with the HW the button it automatically gets down again. When I remove the tablet everything is OK. I didn't find it to be a known issue and any way to resolve it. Is there a workaround? Hate to use the tablet just as photo frame when docket, I would like to use it as a player also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The misbehaving app is most likely the Crackle app (see THIS THREAD) that came pre-installed on the tablet and currently, no amount of tinkering with it or Smart Connect will cause it to not start when the tablet is placed into the charging cradle. My research has found it to be a Crackle bug, not a Sony bug. You can solve the problem by uninstalling the pre-installed Crackle app and then installing the Crackle app (version 3.0.2) provided by Amazon.com. Do not install the Crackle app provided by Google's Play Store, it is the same version (3.0.11) that is pre-installed on the tablet. The main difference I have experienced between Crackle 3.0.2 from Amazon.com and Crackle 3.0.11 from Google's Play Store is 3.0.2 displays its selection screens in portrait mode whereas 3.0.11 displays its selection screens in landscape mode. Both versions of Crackle display videos in landscape mode.
Its actually Smart Connect (LiveWare™ Mgr) I think. I downloaded and tested some other apps for cradle like Night clock and even when not docked it behaves the same way if started - Smart connect was not started.
Any workaround? Seems like XTZ issue to me if other apps from the market behave like this as well. I think I found a menu where I can set what to happen if connect to dock/charger, but it has no option to remove auto Silent mode.
It seems strange as my dock station is completely controllable. My XTZ behaves exactly the way I want it to.
Maybe you can try to uninstall ane reinstall Smart Connect. Then go to Dock tab, set the sound to normal whenever your tablet is docked
Sent from my C6602 using xda app-developers app
Haha thats funny.
I actually can't find SmartConnect as an app. Tried to tinker a bit more with the settings, but realized it is only accessible if started by docking in the cradle. Not in either app browser or app management .
Didn't have access to the cradle yesterday, and when I have access I usually don't have the time.
Today when I connect it automatically started with music playback (still muted) and gallery slideshow. I found it has 4 types of events connect to dock (labeled View??), When on Mobile, When in Home, etc. But none had added option to turn sound OFF. When I added clock to View event, it didn't start the clock, but actually turned on the music player
Any idea how the app is labeled in App managed, or if it is in the app browser with a different name?
Go to Play Store and search for Smart Connect. If it is not installed, install it. If it is, you will see an option to open it.
So far I cannot think of any other solutions for you except Smart Connect. Sorry if I am not helpful
I don't know if Smart Conncet is pre-installed because apps are automatically installed when I link XTZ to my Google account. All apps in my Xperia phone are downloaded to XTZ.
Whenever I dock my tablet I get a popup asking me to choose one of my dowloaded bedside clock/alarm apps. I went into Smart Connect and deleted all events but the popp continues to show. Any ideas what could be causing the auto launch? Thanks.
Does anyone know of a way to force the SiriusXM app into landscape orientation? I don't care if it only takes up 1/3rd of the screen with black bars on the side - I just want to see song information on-screen, and not sideways like you might expect from a 3rd-rate no-name app in 2009, or an iPhone app on an iPad in 2013.
I'm appalled that this app has had the same stupid forced portrait mode since inception over 6 years ago. Man, devs/app designers are so naive. Like, don't you think some people might have tablets mounted in their car or home? HUGE eyeroll @ SiriusXM.
Are there any apps that can emulate a landscape mode for an app that doesn't have it built in?
I have tried using Android Auto but it is really terrible at playing SiriusXM. It just says "SiriusXM doesn't appear to be working right now". Then when I do get it to work, it is stupid and doesn't update song title and album art - it just displays the first song name and art the entire time, even though songs are playing fine.
I am contemplating mounting another device (old Note 4) in my car in portrait orientation just to use for SiriusXM. This phone is on a 4th line I never use and actually saves me $10/month because with T-Mobile, the 4th line is free and you get $10 kick-back if you use under 2GB per month. Granted, I'll lose that kick-back if using my Note 4, so my minor cost savings with this whole setup kinda goes out the window.
I have a SiriusXM antenna and was using it with my Sony deck, but decided I'd rather save money and have better audio quality by using SiriusXM streaming and the app set to maximum quality now that I have unlimited data (and don't try to tell me the antenna + deck should have better or equal audio quality - it doesn't. My ears are pleasantly surprised when I use the app versus antenna in 2 different cars).
The Android Auto app doesn't install on my Nexus 7 in-dash. It says the OS isn't supported, sadly. I think I'm on 6.0.0 still, so maybe it works on 6.0.1 or one of the AOSP 7.x roms. To use my Nexus 7, I still need to use my Note 4 to have the hotspot turn on automatically.
Which brings me to my other rant/workaround possiblity:
Is there a way to turn on tether/hotspot without root access? When I went from Galaxy Nexus to an S6, this was not possible without root anymore (Android 5.x feature? Or maybe just Samsung locking it down). This is what ruined my automated carputer/nexus7 setup in the first place, leading me to getting the SiriusXM antenna that I now want to ditch since I have a rooted device again. Why on Earth would the powers-that-be stop Tasker (and other Tasker-like apps) from turning on the hotspot?
These are the things that remind me why I hate people in power that don't care about or listen to the little guy / power users.
Well I've been using my Note4 mounted in portrait mode. It works somewhat. The SiriusXM app keeps amazing me with its lack of features, like you can't set the start screen, so the app takes you to the stupid ForYou page by default every time. And you have to force close the SiriusXM app when the car turns off because the app will refuse to play any audio if it loses network then regains network. Sometimes it will play the audio at double rate, so it sounds like chipmunks.
I seriously despise the app devs for SiriusXM. One of the worst major apps I've ever had the displeasure of using, if not THE worst.
Now I'm going to try side-loading the Android Auto app on my Nexus since it refuses to install. Or possibly Automate (the car app, not the automation tasker-like app of the same name) since it can hook into SiriusXM and display the content in (omg!) landscape mode. Then, I could hide my Note4 and simply use it as a modem+router for my Nexus. Right now, the Note4 is mounted in plain view, but my car is a WRX and everyone knows they have alarms on them so I doubt anyone will try to steal it.
Sigh....getting closer. Now I have my Note4 acting as the modem+router and the Nexus 7 running SiriusXM and stuff. However, Tasker won't let me do Media Control -> Play or Toggle Pause for the SiriusXM app. I click on "app" to select the app but nothing ever appears. It works fine on my Note4 and Tasker can make the music play without me hitting the play button.
Once again, SIRIUSXM DEVS, YOU ARE DUMB. Why wouldn't there be an option or ability to resume playing automatically, or something similar? All you give us is tiny stupid buttons that are near impossible to touch while driving, with no useful options other than "audio quality - maximum", and it doesn't even tell you what maximum quality is (I'm assuming 320kbps).
Gave up on using the Nexus 7 as the Sirius XM player, mostly because the bluetooth connection on the Nexus 7 to my Sony head unit isn't consistent. Not sure why or how, but it breaks up and gets interference badly, even with other bluetooth devices off and my OBD2 adapter unpaired and unplugged.
I have now mounted the Note 4 in landscape mode and somehow, when launched by Tasker, the Sirius XM app works in landscape mode! Not like I really care though, because the Automate car dashboard app is working well to display Sirius XM content. Automate can't change channels, but at least it supports pause/play/skip and album art. The SiriusXM app in landscape mode is pretty worthless, as it doesn't give you a good display of the current song and whatnot (it also doesn't take you to the Now Playing screen automatically, so I just use Automate to display SiriusXM).
On my Nexus 7, I'm pretty much just running Real Dash, which is a really slick app. I wish the fonts were bigger on a few of the layouts, but it is overall very beautiful when compared to Torque. Sure, Torque works better to show you things like max value of your boost, like a real driver would want, but Real Dash is just so slick that I find myself using it all the time, and I did pay $7 for the full version. Unfortunately, custom dashboards also cost like $3 or $7 each, so it's kind of expensive.
It seems like every time I get an idea of how to accomplish my goals, I get a new obstacle. Like, Tasker fails to do airplane mode changes on my Nexus 7, even using the Secure Settings add-in. So I installed the app Power-off Shutdown (or something close to that) that will shut down your device with a countdown and stuff. It worked when I did the built-in shutdown test, but when I came back to my car the next morning, neither of my devices actually shut down and my Nexus 7 was almost dead. Then there is the SiriusXM app that, when you lose data connection for even just 2 seconds, will pause then resume the music at 2x speed (yes it sounds like The Chipmunks). Overall the SiriusXM app is garbage, but I need to use it. Cardash Ultra can display SiriusXM content but crashes when the song skips or if you push pause or skip. Tasker fails to detect bluetooth status on my Nexus 7, so I can't use that as a condition. Samsung devices don't have fastboot so the command to make the device boot up when it gets a charge doesn't work. Etc. etc. etc. Just one problem after another. However, I've got it working pretty well now, as long as the shutdown task succeeds. More tweaking and testing in my future, not like anyone is reading this thread or cares what I'm doing. Maybe one day someone that wants to use SiriusXM in landscape mode will happen upon this thread and laugh at my feeble attempts to document my experience.
For anyone interested, here is what happens when I start and stop my car:
Turn key on -> Power inverter under my seat gets power and sends juice to 3 USB devices: Dashcam, Nexus7, and Note4
Galaxy S9 (primary phone, usually in my pocket) connects to Sony head unit, with bluetooth settings set to phone audio only (no media audio so the Sony head unit allows a 2nd BT connection from Note4 for media).
Note4 and Nexus7 boot up from powered off if car was off long enough. Nexus7 takes around 1 minute to boot up, the Note4 with CyanogenMod and no Xposed FW takes ~90 seconds to boot up, so we sit in silence while we wait. Note4 might be capable of staying powered on all day, with a shutdown scheduled at like 7pm so I only have to wait for boot-up once a day in the morning. It would be shut down for half the day anyway.
Note4 - Tasker detects STATE = POWER AC and changes Power Mode to normal, enables bluetooth, disables wifi in case I had turned it on manually, enables wifi hotspot for Nexus 7 to connect to, forces bluetooth connection to Sony head unit a couple times (to help it reliably connect), launches SiriusXM, waits, attempts Media Control - Play, waits longer in case SiriusXM app is opening fresh and takes 10+ seconds, attempts Media Control - Play again, launch Automate
Nexus 7 - Tasker detects STATE = POWER AC and launches Real Dash. Real Dash is set to enable bluetooth if it's off and connects to my OBD-II adapter. I don't have the Nexus 7 doing anything else at the time.
Turn key off -> Power inverter no longer has power
Note4 has some Tasker profile state "exit tasks" that it performs to help save power, like power mode = battery saver, bluetooth = off, kill app Automate + SiriusXM because SiriusXM doesn't work reliably when music is paused and data connection is lost or phone enter deep sleep, etc., then it runs the app Screen Off to turn the screen off immediately (just so I can be assured the exit tasks ran when I'm exiting the car and I see the screen turn off).
Nexus7 has no exit tasks.
Note4 has a half-hour countdown before it turns off via the app Power-off Shutdown. This gives me enough time to run into a store and get a few things and my music will resume quickly when I get back into the car. I will probably increase this to 1 hour for those longer in-store trips, as long as the Note4 still has enough battery juice to do a full hour all the time. Or, like I mentioned before, I'll disable this app completely and will just have a scheduled shutdown at 7pm every night so the Note4 is powered off for half the day. Hoping this is possible without the addition of a battery pack of sorts.
Nexus7 has a short 2 minute countdown timer before it shuts down. This delay is necessary because you don't want the devices to shut down as SOON as power is cut, because this will occur when you go from ignition position 1 (like listening to tunes while getting fuel) to position 2/3 (car start / on). I was thinking of keeping it at half hour or full hour like the Note4, but the Nexus7 battery charges quite slowly even at 2.4amp and I think it will slowly drain faster than it will charge over time.
I generally drive my car about 1 hour a day, Monday thru Friday. I need the devices to gain enough battery charge in that amount of time to power themselves. The Note4 seems to gain a decent amount on my half-hour drive to work, like it goes from 88% to 97% charge. But my Nexus 7 usually only gains a few battery %, especially when it's closer to 95%+ where it takes more energy to charge. Luckily, the Nexus 7 is only really used for Real Dash and big navigation maps, so I don't mind waiting for the boot-up sequence every time I get in the car. I have a 10,000mah battery pack to refresh the devices if they get low, rather than leaving my car on for a long time to charge the devices (namely the Nexus7 because it's perma-mounted in the dash). Over time, I will fine-tune this config and see what works best. The Note4 seems to be using very little power when it's dozing, so it might just have some scheduled shutdown times. I wish I could schedule a boot-up time, hehe, but really I start my car and let it warm up a little at least 6 months out of the year (Montana has cold mornings more than half of the year), so the boot-up time in the morning doesn't bother me. In fact, I will set up the Note4 to do scheduled shutdowns right now and see how it works, long term.
Anyway, enough blabbering about my config. I'm just happy that it's kinda working, finally. Now if only I can figure out a way to keep SiriusXM from going into double-speed playback. Maybe if I reduce the playback quality from max to high, but I really don't want to do that.
Decided to create some profiles in Tasker that will set a variable for current power state. Then, I can use the variable in my main profile/tasklist.
However, after doing this, it appears that Tasker once again fails miserably. I can see my profiles changing the variable %CHG to "AC", "USB", and "NO", yet my tasks do not read the current contents of the variable, but rather they read what the variable was WHEN THE EXIT TASKS BEGAN! Such extreme fail, Tasker devs! Tasker even tells you to use capital letters for a variable to be usable by multiple profiles, yet the profiles don't seem to dynamically look at the variable. I guess to use these variables, I'll have to avoid using an exit task and instead create another profile so when its tasks begin, the variable will be correctly set. I assume this will work, but Tasker is pretty amazing at how hard it can fail at basic tasks, so...
Oops, jumped the gun a little and should not have bad-mouth Tasker quite so much.
I had my WAIT set to 7 seconds, which wasn't enough time for the variable change to be read. Increasing this to 10 seconds, I can see the variable being read correctly so my exit tasks ABORT MISSION if %CHG goes back to "AC". Example of when this is useful: Stop at gas station to pump gas, turn off car but leave ignition in AUX so I can listen to music. Done pumping gas, go to start car which cuts power briefly - this is when normally my exit task would fire off and shut down my devices and stuff. Now, it waits and checks for power state via my custom variable, then does nothing because the variable does not equal "no" because it changed back to "AC" prior to the 10 second wait finishing.
However, the "start tasks" still occur, which isn't too bad. It just means my phone goes back to the SiriusXM app for a while, then back to Automate. It doesn't pause the music since I'm using "Play" for the media controls. I can live with that. Perhaps I can make it avoid going back to SiriusXM when it briefly loses power, but nah that's a waste of time.
Now if only I could figure out how to properly set the volume with GPS speed. I tried using Speed of Sound app, which works great, but for some reason when doing bluetooth, my volume controls don't work right. From 0 to 19% volume, it scales up as expected, but at 20% volume it makes an audible jump to MAX volume, so 20% thru 100% all sound the same max volume, while 19% is MUCH MUCH quieter than 20%. No clue why this is happening, but I have a feeling it has to do with CyanogenMod running on a Verizon Note4 device. Maybe I can control the volume differently. I used to use Smart Volume Control but it doesn't exist on the Play Store anymore. I guess I'll go grab the APK for it off my Nexus7 and put it on my Note4 and see if it can control a different volume that isn't broken (but it seems that Media volume becomes "bluetooth media" volume when you are pairs with bluetooth, and there is no other master volume to control or anything).
Well, having the IF statement wait for 16 seconds isn't long enough for the %CHG variable to detect the correct power state, so I'm increasing it to 30.
This morning, while at a stop light, I turned the key off for a second, then back on. The phone waited 16 seconds, then continued to process the exit tasks because it read %CHG = NO even though it had 16 seconds to switch from AC to NO and back to AC.
Maybe 30 seconds will be enough time. I have no problem increasing this time since it just means the phone will stay on that long when I turn off the car. The music pauses immediately, I think because the bluetooth connection severs, so i don't care if the phone stays on for 30 seconds every time I stop.
The Note4 was in standby all weekend for 2.5 days and went from something like 95% down to 75% battery. It lost around 20% over the weekend. Pretty slow drain, under 10%/day. On the drive in to work, it went from 75% to 77% I think, so it doesn't gain very much charge on the drive to/from work. I guess that figured because the screen is on pretty bright, hotspot is on, SiriusXM is streaming data, GPS is tracking my speed, etc.
Oh and the whole reason SiriusXM is working in landscape mode is because Automate is set to landscape in the settings. When Nova Launcher or the base Android settings are set to landscape, SiriusXM ignores them and runs in portrait. But for some reason when Automate forces landscape, SiriusXM follows suit.
The variable isn't reliable or consistent. Like, right now there is a profile that is green/active and it sets %CHG to NO. Then when looking at the exit tasks for my main profile, it shows "IF %CHG ~ NO" and it's a red indicator next to it, showing that currently the %CHG variable does not equal NO, even though IT FREAKING DOES!!! I disable and enable Tasker, it doesn't help. If I reboot my phone, it tends to fix it and Tasker then reads the variable correctly....once.
I both hate and love Tasker. If anyone has a clue how to make it read variables more consistently, I'm all ears!
Anyone running the Android app for Sirius on a 1024 x 600 head unit ?
My head unit ( Eonon GA2170B) overrides the Sirius "force to portrait", and for the most part runs fine. The only issue is that the LARGE channel graphic when browsing channels is "Ripped", like it has lost horizontal sync.
The Text that is superimposed on the Graphic Picture displays fine.
When I tried the app on a Smartphone, of course initially it forced to Portrait.
I then installed a Screen Rotation lock program, set it to force Landscape, and then when I ran Sirius App, it ran fine in Landscape.
What was impressive was that the Background Channel Graphic sized to fit the wider screen, but retained its correct height/width ratio. ie Faces in graphics were not stretched hoizontally, and the text was placed in the correct place on top of the graphics. (in a slightly different place to that in Portrait mode, but that was good, and well done).
What was not impressive (actually totally unacceptable) was then I called Sirius "Top Level Tech Support" about the graphic tearing issue, and talked to some guy who told me he was actually a programmer, and that I needed to talk to whoever installed my Head Unit. He was technically CLUELESS and I don't think he was even aware that the App forces Portrait mode.
Kept telling me that he did not have a "Manual" for this Sirius issue (whatever that means ??)
So an hour of my life wasted talking to Sirius (that I will never get back again), and after reading Sirius Related posts on the Internet, I really do not want anything to do with Sirius again.
Yes, they gave me a free 3 month trail .. and after that I really think I can live without it.
20,000 titles on a USB stick (of music I like), and I can do without the repetative programming from Sirius,
(Rant over --- I will never be a Sirius subscriber now - I do not appreciate being lied to and Bull S#^tted)