Hi there, sorry if this has been asked before. I did have a quick look (The first post in the FAQ thread) around but couldnt find this question, if it has already been asked please point me in the right direction .
I am looking at purchasing myself a SGS2 soon (Month or so, when the price drops) but I was wondering do you need a Samsung TV to connect it to the SGS2? I currently have a LG 32" and Panasonic 42", will either of these be ok?
Also a side question, which im guessing has been asked before, do I connect to the TV using a HDMI cable or DLNA? Im not exactly sure what DLNA is? is it just connecting to the Tv wirelesly?
Thanks for all the help. Cheers
Hi look here for DLNA http://www.dlna.org/digital_living/how_it_works/
In a nut shell yes its a way of communication between two wifi enabled devices that are DLNA certified . Your TV will have a certificate or state that it is DLNA compliant .
You can stream music , videos , etc to all DLNA devices over the air removing the need for cables.
I personally prefer cables as WiFi can be a hit and miss affair with most interference involving anything on 2.4 ghz will effect performance.
So any DLNA device your Samsung will connect to with the ALL share app
No it doesn't need to be a Samsung TV. Any TV which has a HDMI port would work perfectly fine.
I know it's maybe a little pedantic but you really dont need a tv to have a phone
The only thing a samsung TV one of the later ones will give you is the ability to use the phone as a wifi-remote and control.
DLNA which stands for complete crap, is actually good it's a simple way to stream from source to targets or to be able trigger said stream from targets specified. Best to do a youtube search as it will explain it more.
Most new tv's have dlna server clients built in. HDMI is a faster way to get a stream to play on a tv though so depends.
Side note : The current bit rate for HD vid shot on the phone is actually really crap, 10-13mbits so anything you shoot on the phone would stream over wifi using dlna quite easy. However if you decided to put a 40mbit per second HD movie, streaming over wifi maybe a little hard on all but the best wifi routes/systems. For that you would really want a hdmi out for your sgs2
Neways, hope that helps
Edit : 2 replies in the course of me typing this, must type faster
just be clear here, any TV with a HDMI port will allow picture and sound from the phone, however you are going to have to wait until june to get the adapter to allow this. This adapter (MHL) converts the mini usb port into a data port which will allow usb host, hdmi and charging from a MHL enabled TV (not available yet) and just picture and sound from a normal TV with HDMI.
Thanks for the replies everyobdy. Barry, I wouldnt want to record a video and then show it on Tv, I would most likely be downloading a movie/tv show to my PC, then onto my phone then play it through the TV. That can be done cant it?
Cheers
Edit: Sorry I didnt mean Barry, I meant Dean
Wellynz said:
Thanks for the replies everyobdy. Barry, I wouldnt want to record a video and then show it on Tv, I would most likely be downloading a movie/tv show to my PC, then onto my phone then play it through the TV. That can be done cant it?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to show wirelessly on TV, and the TV is DLNA compliant, you can show directly from PC to TV. You can also throw an HDMI cable from PC to TV if you can.
stoolzo said:
just be clear here, any TV with a HDMI port will allow picture and sound from the phone, however you are going to have to wait until june to get the adapter to allow this. This adapter (MHL) converts the mini usb port into a data port which will allow usb host, hdmi and charging from a MHL enabled TV (not available yet) and just picture and sound from a normal TV with HDMI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. So basically what you are saying is currently if I was connecting the phone to a TV using HDMI the sound would come out of the phone and not the TV? However when this adapter gets released the sound will come out of the TV?
If you use DNLA then no, sound and video both will come out of the tv. If you're talking about connecting to tv's HDMI then again no, both sound and video come out of the tv. In other words, if video comes out of the tv, so will sound. If video doesn't come out of the tv, then neither will sound.
Basically you either get both or none lol
shabs52 said:
If you use DNLA then no, sound and video both will come out of the tv. If you're talking about connecting to tv's HDMI then again no, both sound and video come out of the tv. In other words, if video comes out of the tv, so will sound. If video doesn't come out of the tv, then neither will sound.
Basically you either get both or none lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correct, both send sound and video to the tv digitally.
stoolzo said:
just be clear here, any TV with a HDMI port will allow picture and sound from the phone, however you are going to have to wait until june to get the adapter to allow this. This adapter (MHL) converts the mini usb port into a data port which will allow usb host, hdmi and charging from a MHL enabled TV (not available yet) and just picture and sound from a normal TV with HDMI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it impossible to charge the phone while connected to a non-MHL TV, or does the adapter have a separate charging pass-through?
The MHL-HDMI adapter has a socket for a charger so you phone will get charged, too.
Hi All,
My dream, one that I hope Android can help me fulfill is to hook my Galaxy S2 to a HDMI tv, fire up remote desktop and by using a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, effectively have a full desktop available.
I am yet to try hooking up my phone to a tv as I am waiting for the MHL cable, but issues I envisage are the following:
1) When the screen is mirrored on the TV, the RDP program will not use the TVs display show 'full screen'. I have installed some RDP applications and they allow you to select the resolution so perhaps this will resolve the issue
2) Are there any RDP applications that allow bluetooth keyboard and mouse entry?
This is the hold grail for me!! Many a time I have stayed in a hotel for work or holiday and not had my laptop with me and wished for such a solution. Combine this with Wake On Lan and it's perfect!
I hope someone can help!
I can't believe i'm the only one that wants something like this to work!
RDP programs should just take any inputs from your phone and pass them onto the remote machine so BT kb/m should work ok IMO. Not sure about the mirroring but if it is fullscreen on the phone then maybe the MHL cable will upscale for the TV.
rob_h said:
RDP programs should just take any inputs from your phone and pass them onto the remote machine so BT kb/m should work ok IMO. Not sure about the mirroring but if it is fullscreen on the phone then maybe the MHL cable will upscale for the TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm waiting for the cable before I can try. In fact I would have had it by now but my girlfriend wants to buy some stuff for me for my bday and I believe she's already ordered it!
I should get mine tomorrow and I'll try it out.
Thanks! I'll check back on thread!
I've been doing some reading around and have found that BT keyboards and a mouse will work no problem.
I tried my MHL cable with the Android VNC viewer app and allows you to fit to screen but does not output at the tv's native res.
I have had similar experience with Remote RDP, it just mirrors the phone's native resolution. Hopefully this kind of thing will be supported soon, including internet browsing at 1080p.
Thanks guys, that sux!
I still haven't received my cable so I can't try for myself, but have you managed to make it work to a workable output on the TV?
would be interesting if we could port some parts from the atrix (webtop) over to this phone. I actually enjoyed that feature.
blunted09 said:
would be interesting if we could port some parts from the atrix (webtop) over to this phone. I actually enjoyed that feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps, this kind of program may help to format the resolution?
Am I missing something? If you got a bt keyboard and bt mouse and the phone to tv hdmi, don't you have it all? Why would you need a remote desktop or vnc software?
Well, you'd have it all except for USB, which you might be able to live without.
ckinninger said:
Am I missing something? If you got a bt keyboard and bt mouse and the phone to tv hdmi, don't you have it all? Why would you need a remote desktop or vnc software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it could pump out the full Remote Desktop resolution then you will effectively have a full desktop through your phone rather than just have the phone's software capability.
Fair enough you can surf the web and play a video but what if I want to use full excel or Word, and multi-task like on a desktop.
I've still not received my cable so I don't know whether the browsing the net with the phone's browser is legible on a big screen.
In my earlier post I complete missed off the applications name - LCD Density - haven't tried and I don't know if it's compatible with the SGSII, but sounds like it changes the native resolution of the phone.
Try Splashtop as your vnc app it is the only one to my knowledge that can stream audio almost perfect and video pretty good over vnc and works like a charm on the atrix.
Did you find a good BT keyboard that works well with the Evo? I'd prefer one with a built in trackpad, as my goal is to use this on the road (ie, airports, trains, etc), and would like to have an all-in-one keyboard/mouse.
The one thing that I haven't had time to tinker with have been HDMI goggles that can give a virtual display. Has anyone tried these w/ the Evo's mini-HDMI output?
Hi,
I recently bought Xperia S - that has separate HDMI and USB ports, so i was thinking if i could use the device to play pc games and stream video and sound via my phone to tv.
The phone can stream 1280x720 resolution to tv, so i was thinking i could create some kind of onlive-like experience, by plugging phone to tv and connecting keyboard/mouse to it via usb hub/bluetooth - and WIFI streaming output from pc to my phone then to tv.
Is there any app i could use to archieve my goal?
I am pretty sure OnLive is kind of what you are looking for! You can't run windows on your phone, so this is as close as it gets!
Hope this helps! Hitting the thank button if I helped it much appreciated
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
You misunderstood, i dont want to run windows on my phone, i want to stream video/audio/input between my pc and phone - yes, same thing that OnLive does but with my own games on pc. I just dont want to use onlive - i want my local pc in other room - so far the closest thing out there seems to be kainy...
I know, I was just saying, I have tried several things and there is not really pc streaming to your phone that is instance from pc to phone. It has some lag.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
I don't think this is possible. Closest you'll get is Onlive as previously stated or using teamviewer.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
Actually - ive figured out what i need to do - thankfully i can come by with 10 meter hdmi cable from pc to tv. So ill do this.
Bought "kainy" app from the market, bought samsung USB-otg adapter and a cheap usb hub. I will run kainy on minimal gfx and sound settings, plug keyboard and mouse to usb adapter so i will be able to stream input to pc via kainy.
HDMI output will its job for video and audio.
I've also tried super snes emulator with logitech rumble pad connected via usb to my phone - thos works awesomely well - a mobile console/emulator replacement, the only problem i experience now is that phone slows badly when i enable tv out via hdmi from my Xperia
ergo14 said:
Hi,
I recently bought Xperia S - that has separate HDMI and USB ports, so i was thinking if i could use the device to play pc games and stream video and sound via my phone to tv.
The phone can stream 1280x720 resolution to tv, so i was thinking i could create some kind of onlive-like experience, by plugging phone to tv and connecting keyboard/mouse to it via usb hub/bluetooth - and WIFI streaming output from pc to my phone then to tv.
Is there any app i could use to archieve my goal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing that could work is OnLive. VNC is too laggy for gaming. At least over my network.
Well i intend to use it only between 2 rooms, not over internet - if onlive works - local wifi should work better
chase2hoop said:
The only thing that could work is OnLive. VNC is too laggy for gaming. At least over my network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see this not being smooth/fast enough either, but who knows, maybe he will get it working.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
well, i already got kainy working on my tv - but the compression is horrible, so i've decided instead to byu 8-10m HDMI cable and connect my pc -> tv directly , and just use phone as remote hub for keyboard, mouse - the lag for input should be minimal enough to play fps online - and probably way better option than onlive.
Hello all! My first attempt at any type of guide or help, so give me pointers if you notice a better way to go about this than what's here.
This was done by me on my Ultra that broke, but I would imagine the same works for any other device that has a Snapdragon 800, and probably earlier chipsets as well. SPMC and XBMC have documentation about the supported hardware.
Doesn't it suck when you crack the screen on your baby and she no longer responds to touch input? We've probably all been there with one device or another. But don't let that busted phone gather dust, turn it into a full fledged media center! These quad core beasts can do so much more than the phones of a few years ago. I take no credit for anything here, as I'm just passing along my experience so others can make use of a disabled phone.
I have used Plex, Chromecast, etc, but no combination of those gives me the control of XBMC, and the ability to play mostly any codecs without the need for transcoding.
A few things before I get into the steps:
1. I started with a rooted phone, but you don't necessarily need one. It just helps later on if you want more control over the device functions.
2. I recommend using the most up to date firmware possible, I am on 4.4.4 myself, using this rom here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2800414
3. You'll want a usb OTG cable like the one I used here, along with a cheapo wired usb mouse so you can control the phone until it is set up to work with a remote.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00871Q5PI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
4. You'll also need an MHL adapter. I used this one here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPXI4S2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
5. You'll need wifi, assuming you have moved the sim to your next device.
6. You will want some form of controlling XBMC remotely. I use Yatse for Android, installed on my replacement phone and it's a godsend.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.leetzone.android.yatsewidgetfree&hl
Here we go.
1. Clean that busted phone up. Reset to factory settings, flash a new rom, OR just remove any non-essential apps. I only have my phone signed into Google so I can access the Play store, which you will want to do as well.
2. Install this if you are rooted. It will allow the phone to disable the screen when the MHL adapter is plugged in, saving battery and keeping it nice and dark around your TV. The wizard should guide you through a fairly simple set up. What you are looking for is for the app to disable/suspend/standby the screen when it detects MHL.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkahoang.screenstandby&hl
3. Install SPMC. This is a forked version of XBMC for Android, and frankly, it's better suited for this application. It has more features, and takes better advantage of the hardware.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.semperpax.spmc
4. After installing SPMC, you can use it as a launcher, meaning the phone will boot directly into SPMC. Just press home and you'll be given the option.
5. Launch SMPC, go into Settings-Services-Webserver and check Allow control of XBMC via HTTP.
6. At this point, you can now control SPMC with Yatse or another similar XBMC remote app on another device. Depending on your situation, you may still want that mouse to do a few more things before you connect to the TV.
Options Options Options
I use XBMC in my living room on a dedicated PC. My media resides on a NAS, wired via gigabit ethernet to an AC wireless router. Since I wanted to use this broken phone as a sort of satellite system in the bedroom, I set up a MySQL server on the same NAS. It can be daunting, but XBMC provides great documentation and this method makes getting your media onto the phone very easy.
http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL
If you do not have another XBMC or do not wish to share the library between devices, skip this section.
1. If you have another instance of XBMC, give this a serious look, as both the library and the playback status will be synced among all devices. You can stop in one room and resume in another.
2. Running the current version of SPMC, and XBMC 13.2, I had no issues with MySQL, despite the warning to use the same build date.
3. If you have this type of setup, all you need to do is copy the advancedsettings.xml file you created from your original XBMC install, and paste it into the userdata folder deep inside the SPMC file structure. This is usually found inside sdcard/Android/data
4. Once you do this, launch SPMC and your existing library will be there.
5. I have not tried this, since I went through the trouble to set up MySQL before, but you can alternatively use Media Browser 3 to serve up your library, and it does appear
to be easier to set up. Download the XBMB3C plugin inside XBMC/SPMC to allow for this.
http://mediabrowser.tv/download/#server
Add Media
Alternatively, you can navigate to videos inside SPMC, select files, and then choose Add Source to add your media from wherever to your new library. There is lots of documentation over at the official XBMC site, so go there if this is your first foray into this type of thing.
I've found that I just have to turn the phone on when I walk into the bedroom, and it will boot directly into SPMC. From that point I can use Yatse on a different device to control the media center. When I am done watching content, the shutdown option inside Yatse will shut the phone off, and it just goes into a powered down charging state.
Mostly everything should play after the install, but you may need or want to adjust some settings inside SPMC/XBMC. Again, look to the official XBMC wiki for help if you need it.
If you're rooted, you can probably do without the USB OTG cable. You could use ADB to install packages and the shell (or a wrapper like this — worked well for me a few months back) to control the screen. This might also be useful if your screen is dead.
There is a new specific xbmc for android that comes preconfigured with the most important repositories for those that really don't want to dabble with all of that kind of stuff. Just install and all the main plugins are automatically installed for you. You can find it here http://www.tvaddons.ag/tvmc-android/
Is TVMC anything more than XBMC 13.2 with preconfigured settings? Seems redundant slightly because SPMC (version 13.3.2) actually contains fixes to XBMC 13.2 to enable hardware acceleration on more devices. With the Z Ultra specifically, under XBMC 13.2 official, even though hardware acceleration was enabled in the settings, it was not working. SPMC is built by official XBMC team members and contains "fixes" that were left out of the official spin for whatever reason. The settings are also mostly preconfigured, at least the defaults are different than regular XBMC, and for me at least, everything worked right away.
What are the possibilities for a phone that does not support MHL? (Oppo Find 5) I had the same idea after I broke my screen, but I am not sure now what to do. A mediacenter seemed great to me. A webserver is possible too, but I don't like how it won't use it's media capabilities anymore.
The device supports wireless screen (Miracast?) but I don't think that works great and I can't get it to work really.
Well, Android Lollipop will support Chromecast Mirroring, so if you are able to find a rom for that device when Lollipop makes its way around, that would work. There seems to be a good amount of development for that phone on XDA, so you might just need to wait it out a bit.
HaTeNL said:
What are the possibilities for a phone that does not support MHL? (Oppo Find 5) I had the same idea after I broke my screen, but I am not sure now what to do. A mediacenter seemed great to me. A webserver is possible too, but I don't like how it won't use it's media capabilities anymore.
The device supports wireless screen (Miracast?) but I don't think that works great and I can't get it to work really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mailme45 said:
Well, Android Lollipop will support Chromecast Mirroring, so if you are able to find a rom for that device when Lollipop makes its way around, that would work. There seems to be a good amount of development for that phone on XDA, so you might just need to wait it out a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may be worth a look if you are interested in chromecast mirroring.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/har...experimental-enable-mirroring-device-t2812193
mailme45 said:
Hello all! My first attempt at any type of guide or help, so give me pointers if you notice a better way to go about this than what's here.
This was done by me on my Ultra that broke, but I would imagine the same works for any other device that has a Snapdragon 800, and probably earlier chipsets as well. SPMC and XBMC have documentation about the supported hardware.
Doesn't it suck when you crack the screen on your baby and she no longer responds to touch input? We've probably all been there with one device or another. But don't let that busted phone gather dust, turn it into a full fledged media center! These quad core beasts can do so much more than the phones of a few years ago. I take no credit for anything here, as I'm just passing along my experience so others can make use of a disabled phone.
I have used Plex, Chromecast, etc, but no combination of those gives me the control of XBMC, and the ability to play mostly any codecs without the need for transcoding.
A few things before I get into the steps:
1. I started with a rooted phone, but you don't necessarily need one. It just helps later on if you want more control over the device functions.
2. I recommend using the most up to date firmware possible, I am on 4.4.4 myself, using this rom here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2800414
3. You'll want a usb OTG cable like the one I used here, along with a cheapo wired usb mouse so you can control the phone until it is set up to work with a remote.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00871Q5PI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
4. You'll also need an MHL adapter. I used this one here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPXI4S2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
5. You'll need wifi, assuming you have moved the sim to your next device.
6. You will want some form of controlling XBMC remotely. I use Yatse for Android, installed on my replacement phone and it's a godsend.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.leetzone.android.yatsewidgetfree&hl
Here we go.
1. Clean that busted phone up. Reset to factory settings, flash a new rom, OR just remove any non-essential apps. I only have my phone signed into Google so I can access the Play store, which you will want to do as well.
2. Install this if you are rooted. It will allow the phone to disable the screen when the MHL adapter is plugged in, saving battery and keeping it nice and dark around your TV. The wizard should guide you through a fairly simple set up. What you are looking for is for the app to disable/suspend/standby the screen when it detects MHL.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkahoang.screenstandby&hl
3. Install SPMC. This is a forked version of XBMC for Android, and frankly, it's better suited for this application. It has more features, and takes better advantage of the hardware.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.semperpax.spmc
4. After installing SPMC, you can use it as a launcher, meaning the phone will boot directly into SPMC. Just press home and you'll be given the option.
5. Launch SMPC, go into Settings-Services-Webserver and check Allow control of XBMC via HTTP.
6. At this point, you can now control SPMC with Yatse or another similar XBMC remote app on another device. Depending on your situation, you may still want that mouse to do a few more things before you connect to the TV.
Options Options Options
I use XBMC in my living room on a dedicated PC. My media resides on a NAS, wired via gigabit ethernet to an AC wireless router. Since I wanted to use this broken phone as a sort of satellite system in the bedroom, I set up a MySQL server on the same NAS. It can be daunting, but XBMC provides great documentation and this method makes getting your media onto the phone very easy.
http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL
If you do not have another XBMC or do not wish to share the library between devices, skip this section.
1. If you have another instance of XBMC, give this a serious look, as both the library and the playback status will be synced among all devices. You can stop in one room and resume in another.
2. Running the current version of SPMC, and XBMC 13.2, I had no issues with MySQL, despite the warning to use the same build date.
3. If you have this type of setup, all you need to do is copy the advancedsettings.xml file you created from your original XBMC install, and paste it into the userdata folder deep inside the SPMC file structure. This is usually found inside sdcard/Android/data
4. Once you do this, launch SPMC and your existing library will be there.
5. I have not tried this, since I went through the trouble to set up MySQL before, but you can alternatively use Media Browser 3 to serve up your library, and it does appear
to be easier to set up. Download the XBMB3C plugin inside XBMC/SPMC to allow for this.
http://mediabrowser.tv/download/#server
Add Media
Alternatively, you can navigate to videos inside SPMC, select files, and then choose Add Source to add your media from wherever to your new library. There is lots of documentation over at the official XBMC site, so go there if this is your first foray into this type of thing.
I've found that I just have to turn the phone on when I walk into the bedroom, and it will boot directly into SPMC. From that point I can use Yatse on a different device to control the media center. When I am done watching content, the shutdown option inside Yatse will shut the phone off, and it just goes into a powered down charging state.
Mostly everything should play after the install, but you may need or want to adjust some settings inside SPMC/XBMC. Again, look to the official XBMC wiki for help if you need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im confused. How does the phone charge while its hooked into the TV?
Roseysdaddy said:
Im confused. How does the phone charge while its hooked into the TV?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The mhl adapter is powered.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71TmMtz9uIL._SL1500_.jpg
One port to rule them all
adfurgerson said:
The mhl adapter is powered.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71TmMtz9uIL._SL1500_.jpg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Galaxy Note 2 with the same issue,
What is confusing me here is the phone has one MicroUSB into which three things need to plug into it
Power
OTG for Mouse and Keyboard
MHL adapter
ShiversZN said:
I have a Galaxy Note 2 with the same issue,
What is confusing me here is the phone has one MicroUSB into which three things need to plug into it
Power
OTG for Mouse and Keyboard
MHL adapter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. The mhl is a Y cable with a male micro usb on the end of cord and a female at the end with hdmi that requires power which runs adapter and charges phone.
2. OTG is only for initial setup and will not be used with mhl ( OP states this is for screens that will display but not respond to touch) after setup control will be via a second device using yatse or another remote control app.
3. See #1.
This thread is great i ened up doing this very thing after destroying the digitizer on an s3 a while ago (I was one unlucky sap to try replacing a cracked screen) and the resultof having a usless phone was made better by having a perminant xbmc device connectd to my tv-way better than satellite or cable
Awesome!
I have a few devices that I keep around. Note 2, galaxy S2, nexus 1 (and my retarded/retired phones iphone 5S, ipad and blackberry playbook). I will definitely give it a try and let you guys know how it goes.
Have you tried on your S2?
Although I've touch screen working, but my gorilla glass is broken. I dont know some are saying that they've to replace whole assemble costing $125 here. While some people on the internet say that it can be done and on ebay I saw front panel(Gorilla) being sold in India.
I just came across this thread after my own experiences with getting this going yesterday! I have an LG Optimus G (E973) with a cracked digitizer, and I was about to buy an Android box, when I realized this phone would be more powerful, and have more features, than anything I could buy in the $100 range.
I made an OTG cable myself. Very easy to do, all you need is a microUSB cable male end, and a USB female end... except, problem #1, I found out my phone doesn't support OTG power. So I had to turn it into an OTG Y-cable so it can receive power (and charge the phone) simultaneously. Then, problem #2, my kernel doesn't support OTG. I wasn't able to figure this out. So I looked for another solution.
Maybe I could install VNC or one of those ADB viewers? Hook up my computer... problem #3, not authorized for adb. Can't authorize without touchscreen. (I later discovered the device keys are stored at /data/misc/adb/adb_keys, and could have added my computer in recovery.) Went to the gf's house and found my old MacBook Air, turns out that one was authorized!
Great! I'm in... now... after fiddling around trying to get it to work in Windows and OSX, problem #4 neither VNC or ADB viewers worked. I could SEE the screen, but interaction did nothing.
Eventually, I decided to just manually run touch events from the adb shell, a la adb shell input swipe 0 0 0 1280 to pull down the menu. Armed with this, I hacked together a script with JavaScript and PHP to have a web interface I could interact with my phone through. It's SLOW as hell at 768x1280 (max 1fps, I'd say), as it uses screenshots.
If anyone is interested, here's the script I made. https:// gist.github.com/shahyar/8d24815b54b8ca1c1d9c
...It didn't end there. I decided now that I have it working, I'll reset the data. Problem #5: I forgot that this also resets debug to off. I had to calculate, using a ruler, where to swipe and tap to enable developer mode, and then enable USB debugging. I wrote an init.d script which did this.
Now, I'm just waiting for my MHL cable and Bluetooth keyboard. Let's hope those go a little better than how the rest of this adventure did.
Screen cracked and not usable
I have a further issue in that my screen is cracked and I can't see what's happening on the screen.
Any thoughts on how to set it up in this case?
Great guide, thank you for taking the time to write it mailme45
tithij said:
I have a further issue in that my screen is cracked and I can't see what's happening on the screen.
Any thoughts on how to set it up in this case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in a similar situation when I embarked on this little project, my screen was completely dead but i could hear sounds from the physical buttons so I knew the phone was on. There are a few solutions to get your phone setup, assuming you are still looking for a solution, if not I'll just mention it for the next person in this predicament. If you didn't buy your mhl adapter yet and your screen doesn't work at all, then I suggest buying a mhl cable with CEC function; this will allow you to control your phone with your tv remote when connected. These mhl adapters cost more than the ones found on ebay but also come with more features. The rocketfish RF-G1171($12 at bestbuy) for example will work with most phones including 11-pin samsung models so if you didn't buy a mhl yet, I would recommend getting one with CEC or one that comes as part of a hub, search ebay for the 5in1 mhl. If you already bought a cheap ebay one, continue reading below.
You will need a mhl cable, otg cable and usb mouse/keyboard; These steps are for people with a dead screen and digitizer. If your screen works but touch does not, just use a otg cable and mouse and if your screen doesn't work but touch does then use mhl cable and control using the touch screen.
Note** If you had USB debugging enabled already, skip to step 5
Step 1: connect the MHL cable to your phone and connect with your TV/Monitor and wait for your device to boot into the lockscreen
Step 2: Once at the lockscreen take out the mhl cable and use the otg cable to connect your mouse and swipe to unlock, switch back to mhl cable to make sure you got passed the lockscreen.
Note** If you had a password lock or pattern lock this will be very annoying, use the otg with keyboard if its a password and use mouse for pattern; might take awhile since you will be doing the pattern blind.
Step 3: use the keyboard to navigate to Settings > About Phone > scroll to "build number" and hit enter 7x to turn on developer options.
Note** As each phones menu, app layout and UI is slightly different, you may have to switch between mhl and otg just to see where you currently as you navigate. I suggest taking your time and switching between the two for each action you make, as we will only have to go through this process once.
Step 4: with developer options enabled, navigate to the "developer options" menu and turn on USB debugging.
Step 5: At this stage there are two methods, if you are lucky option 1 will work, if it does not, sadly you will have to go through the annoying mhl/otg switching to navigate one more time.
Option 1:
Install a google chrome app/extension called Vysor on your pc
Link: Vysor
This is an app developed by Koush that allows you to connect, view and control your android device on your PC through USB. The app is still in beta phase so might not work with every phone. Drivers will need to be installed for this app to work, which can be found at the Vysor homepage(I can't link to outsite sites so just google it) along with instructions. If the app works for you, I suggest the first thing you do is turn off certain features like lockscreen and sleep timer; next install a bluetooth keyboard/mouse/controller, something that will allow you to control the phone when connected to the tv/monitor through mhl. Finally you can also do all the required setups mentioned in this thread to get kodi running and when you are satisfied with the setup, connect the phone back to the tv/monitor.
Option 2:
If you were unlucky and Vysor did not work for you, navigate to the play store by switching between mhl and otg and install an app called Teamviewer Quicksupport. Install teamviewer on your PC; launch the app on your phone and you will be given an ID, use the ID on your PC to connect to the phone. When you try to connect from your PC, you will get a confirmation on your phone; make sure your phone is connected through mhl so you can see the confirmation. switch to otg to accept then switch back to mhl since you will be prompted to install an add-on, this add-on is necessary to view your phone screen on your PC. Once the add-on is installed, you will be able to see and control your phone from your pc, use your pc to setup your phone. As mentioned in option one, turn off certain features that are hindrance like lockscreen and install a bluetooth device that will let you control your phone wirelessly.
Hope this helps people with a completely dead screen but otherwise working phone, It can be very frustrating and time consuming but once you get past the initial stuff, you should be able to either link using vysor or wirelessly using teamviewer for feature setups.
So this is a great idea, except that it doesn't work for any other apps, since I do most of my watching on Netflix and HBO and I can't figure out a way to control the phone outside of Kodi.