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Okay, digging deep into Android's source.... not for the feint of heart, and not for those whose coding skills are somewhere just above, "Hello, world!" (Me)
Here's the deal. We all know, with Froyo, Google disabled task killers. No app can kill another app. I for one am happy, because killing all apps when your screen goes off is stupid, pointless, and all kinds of harmful. Well, happy but for one little thing....
Killing other apps still does have a purpose! Specifically, in my case, I want to replace my long-press home option with a cool app switcher that also gives me the ability to kill a running app if I know I am done with it for the day and it refuses to die naturally. I'm sure there are other legitimate uses for it, such as killing everything before a benchmark. Sure, these are very specific, uncommon uses, but a thousand apps on the Market exist for specific, uncommon uses, and I think that most hackers/modders with su here would know better than to let a task killer run rampant. Anyone wanna discuss re-enabling this on 2.2?
Edit: I should correct myself. I keep saying "app," what I mean is "service." I know you can still stop (most) apps, but not services. Which keeps a lot of apps running, despite your best efforts. Forgive me for misusing the words
wait task managers dont actually kill in 2.2? This is news to me, as one I have downloaded seems to work fine..
stuff said:
wait task managers dont actually kill in 2.2? This is news to me, as one I have downloaded seems to work fine..
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Click to collapse
^ditto.......
stuff said:
wait task managers dont actually kill in 2.2? This is news to me, as one I have downloaded seems to work fine..
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Click to collapse
Taskiller will show the app was killed. I'm sure many others will too. But kill an app, then go to Settings>Applications>Manage Applications>Running, and you'll see that it's still running.
Edit: I should correct myself. I keep saying "app," what I mean is "service." I know you can still stop (most) apps, but not services. Which keeps a lot of apps running, despite your best efforts. Forgive me for misusing the words.
Forgive the obvious question but can't the services just be killed by a root request/process? If so, creating an interface for this should be easy as pants.
Of course, root is required but that shouldn't be a constraint.
djmcnz said:
Forgive the obvious question but can't the services just be killed by a root request/process? If so, creating an interface for this should be easy as pants.
Of course, root is required but that shouldn't be a constraint.
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Click to collapse
True. But wouldn't it make more sense to allow the dozens of non-root apps that already exist to do this, rather than have to re-write an app that does the exact same thing, but has to use su? It would be safer, too. Running everything as root all the time runs contrary to the whole idea of Linux. It's better to give apps the permissions they need, rather than give everything unlimited power.
carnegie0107 said:
True. But wouldn't it make more sense to allow the dozens of non-root apps that already exist to do this, rather than have to re-write an app that does the exact same thing, but has to use su? It would be safer, too. Running everything as root all the time runs contrary to the whole idea of Linux. It's better to give apps the permissions they need, rather than give everything unlimited power.
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Click to collapse
Oh, I see. It might be useful but that's the essence of the Froyo changes... it can't be done now without root. You've have to compromise the security model... probably not a feasible route...
I think you are mistaken, maybe in Manage Applications it still shows it as "stoppable", however... I just did a test.
1. Opened DDMS on my PC.
2. Took note of an app to test with (speedtest) that was currently running.
3. Opened Advanced Task Manager.
4. Killed speedtest with task manager and watched it disappear from the running process list in DDMS.
Obviously ATM was able to kill the task. And, just so you know, it did not start running again. Also, it was removed from the "Running" tab in Manage Applications, so you are double wrong.
And, in case you were going to further the argument that you meant to say "Services", I just killed the PhoneFusion VM service with ATM, and it was removed from the running process list in DDMS.
djmcnz said:
Oh, I see. It might be useful but that's the essence of the Froyo changes... it can't be done now without root. You've have to compromise the security model... probably not a feasible route...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or create something that uses su to kill these processes for third-party apps, without the need for them to have su. Similar to superuser apk, but on a more specific level. Or, we could make it even better, and have superuser hand out specific, user-approved permissions, rather than permit root access as a whole to any app.
Apparently there's not a lot of interest in this, but I thought it would make an interesting discussion.
Saw this app called pdroid, allows you to set the permissions apps have(better than other apps like droidwall), probably gonna patch it onto my nook color, but would make even more sense on my phone.. only problem is that for HTC devices it says it requires s-off.(updated: apparently this isn't an issue)
I guess my question would be if anyone would know a way to workaround? It doesn't require root.. I am wondering if there is a way I can patch the rom before I flash it perhaps?
Also, I didn't know that apparently there is a feature that cuts off all network connectivity for selected apps built into cm7.. I'm starting to think I didn't know about 99% of the features cm7 allowed. That is probably why I always went with MIUI.
Anyways, figured I would ask here, or perhaps someone else would think this was interesting, or maybe something like this could be included in future roms. It evidently has a tiny memory footprint, uses little processor, etc.. so don't see what the harm could be. I'll have time to play with it this weekend I am thinking..
Silentbtdeadly said:
Saw this app called pdroid, allows you to set the permissions apps have(better than other apps like droidwall), probably gonna patch it onto my nook color, but would make even more sense on my phone.. only problem is that for HTC devices it says it requires s-off.
I guess my question would be if anyone would know a way to workaround? It doesn't require root.. I am wondering if there is a way I can patch the rom before I flash it perhaps?
Also, I didn't know that apparently there is a feature that cuts off all network connectivity for selected apps built into cm7.. I'm starting to think I didn't know about 99% of the features cm7 allowed. That is probably why I always went with MIUI.
Anyways, figured I would ask here, or perhaps someone else would think this was interesting, or maybe something like this could be included in future roms. It evidently has a tiny memory footprint, uses little processor, etc.. so don't see what the harm could be. I'll have time to play with it this weekend I am thinking..
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Click to collapse
Stericson has an app that has the same features call "Permissions". It doesn't require S-off
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using xda premium
This is a solid app. I have it installed
heyodee said:
This is a solid app. I have it installed
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Which one, pdroid, or permissions?
Chance Ill said:
Stericson has an app that has the same features call "Permissions". It doesn't require S-off
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using xda premium
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Click to collapse
I saw the permissions app when I was looking into it, apparently the way pdroid functions you are less likely to get a force close from apps that you cut permissions off.
I'm not the paranoid type, there are some apps that aren't designed very efficiently that I would cut off features from like wakelock, boot_receive, gps, etc.. and sadly those apps don't show up on the list in the free version(like facebook, I don't want it doing ANYTHING unless I am using it). The pro version might do it, but I'd rather donate to a dev of an app like pdroid that gives you the full features than buy an app hoping the paid version does what the free version doesn't.. 15 minutes just isn't enough time to explore some paid apps.
I'm sure the developer stated it needed s-off in good faith, only recently was it possible to have a boot loader with s-on (unlocked) and be able to have r/w access to /system. Previously s-off would be required for this. I'm sure pdroid will work with a s-on unlocked boot loader, with a rooted system. The only difference between s-on unlocked and s-off is that the radio and boot loader can't be overwritten when not signed from HTC. As far as custom roms and root capabilities are functionally the same.
Silentbtdeadly said:
Which one, pdroid, or permissions?
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pdroid. and s-off is not a core requirement. If you can flash from recovery, then it's all good.
the only thing I have to decide between now is LBE Privacy Guard or Pdroid
jmhalder said:
I'm sure the developer stated it needed s-off in good faith, only recently was it possible to have a boot loader with s-on (unlocked) and be able to have r/w access to /system. Previously s-off would be required for this. I'm sure pdroid will work with a s-on unlocked boot loader, with a rooted system. The only difference between s-on unlocked and s-off is that the radio and boot loader can't be overwritten when not signed from HTC. As far as custom roms and root capabilities are functionally the same.
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Good to know, I wasn't sure why it would need s-off, but what you said makes total sense..
heyodee said:
pdroid. and s-off is not a core requirement. If you can flash from recovery, then it's all good.
the only thing I have to decide between now is LBE Privacy Guard or Pdroid
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Click to collapse
Well maybe you can share what you know about LBE privacy guard compared to pdroid? I've already spent too much time being distracted from school work the last few days or I would look into it myself.. but in a few days I will have time to mess around with all of this guilt-free.
What rom are you using? I keep seeing people post the flashable zip file patch output in different forums, maybe we could do that here for others who may be using the same rom?
Well maybe you can share what you know about LBE privacy guard compared to pdroid? I've already spent too much time being distracted from school work the last few days or I would look into it myself.. but in a few days I will have time to mess around with all of this guilt-free.
What rom are you using? I keep seeing people post the flashable zip file patch output in different forums, maybe we could do that here for others who may be using the same rom?
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Click to collapse
Both apps are rock solid.
LBE Privacy Guard does the job nicely, coupled with an intuitive UI, firewall, data monitor...
PDroid, love it. Although compatibility is issue. Requires patch. It however gives extra option in privacy department
Whichever you decide to choose, its a good pick
Currently using Deodex tmobile 1.43.531.3 from this thread
heyodee said:
Both apps are rock solid.
LBE Privacy Guard does the job nicely, coupled with an intuitive UI, firewall, data monitor...
PDroid, love it. Although compatibility is issue. Requires patch. It however gives extra option in privacy department
Whichever you decide to choose, its a good pick
Currently using Deodex tmobile 1.43.531.3 from this thread
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Click to collapse
LBE seems pretty good so far, I like that it allows you to change the permissions of system apps.. and to choose "prompt" when some apps try to access permissions. The only thing I wonder is how the monitoring part will impact battery life, and the only thing I wish it did was allow was a change to the wake lock permission.
The main thing I am trying to accomplish is to cut off communication for certain apps altogether EXCEPT when I use them- facebook, google voice, g+, stuff like that. I also want to cut off the ability for certain apps to wakelock the phone at all, like gtalk(I don't use it at all) and a few others. The fact that some of these services don't allow you to change how they sync or they hold a wakelock I don't want.. I want to change that.
Would pdroid better accomplish what I am trying to do? Does it allow permissions changes of system apps?
Silentbtdeadly said:
LBE seems pretty good so far, I like that it allows you to change the permissions of system apps.. and to choose "prompt" when some apps try to access permissions. The only thing I wonder is how the monitoring part will impact battery life, and the only thing I wish it did was allow was a change to the wake lock permission.
The main thing I am trying to accomplish is to cut off communication for certain apps altogether EXCEPT when I use them- facebook, google voice, g+, stuff like that. I also want to cut off the ability for certain apps to wakelock the phone at all, like gtalk(I don't use it at all) and a few others. The fact that some of these services don't allow you to change how they sync or they hold a wakelock I don't want.. I want to change that.
Would pdroid better accomplish what I am trying to do? Does it allow permissions changes of system apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is pretty light on battery. pdroid is better with battery from the looks of it. Wake lock is not part of the supported permission for both apps. lbe privacy supports firewall. for gtalk, sign out when not using it. for g+, uncheck it from sync. for Google voice, ... dunno yet
pdroid allows you to set permission of system apps
heyodee said:
it is pretty light on battery. pdroid is better with battery from the looks of it. Wake lock is not part of the supported permission for both apps. lbe privacy supports firewall. for gtalk, sign out when not using it. for g+, uncheck it from sync. for Google voice, ... dunno yet
pdroid allows you to set permission of system apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've turned off sync on g+ and voice, signed out of gtalk.. but I'm trying to eliminate any wakelocks on these apps I rarely or never use. The biggest wakelock every time is the alarm sys, if I do a "dumpsys alarm > alarm.txt" in terminal, many of these apps are still keeping the phone from sleeping right..
Ultimately, I am probably trying to beat a dead horse, I got things tweaked to the point I'll never really have to worry about killing my battery in a day, but it seems like one of the features of us android users(or maybe it is xda users).. we want TOTAL control over what our phones do and don't do, lol.
LBE was heavy on my battery and Permissions Denied's interface is not intuitive enough.
I'd like to give PDroid a try but which patch to use for HTC Amaze? (beastmod 2.2.0)
jjane45 said:
LBE was heavy on my battery and Permissions Denied's interface is not intuitive enough.
I'd like to give PDroid a try but which patch to use for HTC Amaze? (beastmod 2.2.0)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using LBE since it was recommended to me.. and even though I don't see any wakelocks caused by it, and IT reduced the wakelocks other apps on the phone would cause, by battery life has degraded majorly. It is a cool app, but rather than get 24+ hours on a light use day, I have been getting at most 14 with barely any use. It may be because I have it monitoring my data use, so I may continue using it after I turn off monitoring to see if that is the draining part.
To answer your question, based on how I read the thread.. one of the downloads in the thread is used to CREATE the patch(and remover) which you can then flash and/or share with others.
PDroid is the only one I haven't tried yet, so think I'm gonna remove LBE and give it a try. One of these apps will surely give me control over these other apps, without being a bigger pain than those other apps.
Did you give PDroid a try and have any success with the Amaze?
If so, it would be great to share the patch.
I've been using LBE, avoiding the re-flash to deodex / Zipalign, for now, and it seems like its pretty good / handles system apps pretty well but I'd think about running both in tandem to cover what each doesn't do. Hmm
Just FYI....Rom Toolbox Pro is currently 50% off @ Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.liberty.toolboxpro
Normally a $5.99 app now $2.99.
I highly recommend this. It is aptly named. It takes you from five or six different apps to one.
How does the backup compare to TB?
I find it to be better except for the lack of dropbox support. If you install an app, RT automatically backs it up which has saved my butt a couple times.
My only question is, is it worth it since I have TB Pro, Root Explorer, and Set CPU bought already?
ZeroManArmy said:
My only question is, is it worth it since I have TB Pro, Root Explorer, and Set CPU bought already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had this app a long time, it's by far the best root app out there. It's like combining those, the various apps for build.prop mods, terminal & script apps, autostarts, auto memory manager, and some of the themeing apps.
Not the worst $3 dollars your ever gonna spend
dre89 said:
Had this app a long time, it's by far the best root app out there. It's like combining those, the various apps for build.prop mods, terminal & script apps, autostarts, auto memory manager, and some of the themeing apps.
Not the worst $3 dollars your ever gonna spend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the backup compare to TB?
ZeroManArmy said:
Does the backup compare to TB?
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Click to collapse
See post #4 by Loki. Unless there is something more specific you would like to know?
I bought this app and love it as it literally got rid of about 8 apps for me. Does rooted stock support the ability to change icons such as the battery or usb connected?
CCallahan said:
See post #4 by Loki. Unless there is something more specific you would like to know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it do a scheduled backup of the app and data like TB does?
ZeroManArmy said:
Does it do a scheduled backup of the app and data like TB does?
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Click to collapse
Yes and no. Lets say market gets updated to play. ROM Toolbox then creates a backup of Play as soon as it's installed.
Grabbed this on Lokifishes recommendation. Replaces a few apps I've already bought. It also seems like it doesn't really do a lot of the Rom managing stuff itself but I'll have to look deeper into that.
Fyi - if you are on any version of cyanogenmod. If you want to install a font, you need to choose your font, apply it, cancel the reboot, install the font again, decline the reboot, then manually reboot. If you don't do this, there is a 95.73859% chance your phone will bootloop.
Cheers
27s said:
Fyi - if you are on any version of cyanogenmod. If you want to install a font, you need to choose your font, apply it, cancel the reboot, install the font again, decline the reboot, then manually reboot. If you don't do this, there is a 95.73859% chance your phone will bootloop.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had that problem.
Lokifish Marz said:
Yes and no. Lets say market gets updated to play. ROM Toolbox then creates a backup of Play as soon as it's installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my TB backup every night. So my app data is never lost.
Anyone else getting an error when trying to undervolt with this app? Using Loki's 1.0.4 with jokers 1.3 kernel.
Hello,
I was told this is the place to come for everything related Galaxy S III from several people. Please excuse me if this is the wrong place or section.
I'm completely new to the Galaxy 3 and Android in general.
I'm on sprint and I've had the Palm Pre since launch, I just got my GS3 yesterday (amazon $149 no tax, free 2 day shipping) :victory:
As you can imagine coming form the Pre, my mind is blown. It's a bit overwhelming, I'm a pretty tech-savvy dude (pre was hacked to its limits) so I down to tinker. But before I even get started with that I have some basic questions.
1. Is there a way to only use a password unlock once per phone power-on instead of every time the screen locks?
1a Even better would be able to use a simple pin for screen unlock but still have the SD/Internal encrypted with a long password. Is that possible?
2. When I press back, how do I know if an app has been killed? I keep getting the feeling it still somehow running in the background?
3. Is the application manager like the Windows process manager? How do I know what are essential system apps and what can be stopped?
4. What is the best way to get rid of bloatware?
5. What are the diffrent system updates? PRL, Profile, Samsung Software, Firmware?
6. Why is there "com.sec.sprextension.phoneinfo.D..." under Device administrator? Do I need that? Is that a security hole/risk?
Again, sorry for so many questions, just trying to wrap my head around all of this. If there is a better place to be asking question please let me know.
Look forward to being part of the community! :highfive:
BR
1) not by default, maybe an app could aid there, not sure, but on stock "out of the box" the answer is "no"
1a) nope, if you want to use encryption, it's password all the way
2) Settings -> Application Manager -> "Running" tab
3) Kind of. It also warns you when you try to kill off a system app, but you can't really damage anything by doing that. I tend to kill just everything I don't want at the moment (which is usually everything but the widgets and app I am intentionally running) and all is well.
Stuff that REALLY needs to run, restarts automatically anyways (and some that don't have to, do as well....)
4) Settings -> Application Manager -> All -> Tap on app -> "Disable"
5) You will find an uncountable number of ROMs / Firmwares here. Stock as well as custom. What the best one is, is personal preference.
6) might be something added by the carrier. try to disable it, see what happens
7) ( ) .... ( ) whoops, no 7 xD
Hope that helped a bit
I'm on sprint and I've had the Palm Pre since launch, I just got my GS3 yesterday
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You most certainly are in the wrong forum. This one is for the international S3 which doesn't feature LTE. There's a Sprint forum right above/below this one =)
Is there a way to only use a password unlock once per phone power-on instead of every time the screen locks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would make password unlock more or less redundant. Anyone could still access the phone.
When I press back, how do I know if an app has been killed? I keep getting the feeling it still somehow running in the background?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're correct. Well, partially. It's still "alive" in terms of being in the memory. But it doesn't use CPU anymore which is all that counts.
However you don't want to kill it. Cached processes take up no space (the RAM is emptyed whenever the capacity is needed), no resources and allow you to multi-task right back to where you left off.
Is the application manager like the Windows process manager? How do I know what are essential system apps and what can be stopped?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't want to stop anything. Refer to the prior question for this. Well... you may want to kick off some bloatware but to get rid of thm the phone needs to be rooted. There are threads listing which apps you can safely remove.
What is the best way to get rid of bloatware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As said, you need to be rooted. Use TItanium Backup to freeze the bloatware. It's still physically "there" on the disk (doesn't take up much space) and you can defrost it whenever needed but as long as it's frozen it cannot be started.
What are the diffrent system updates? PRL, Profile, Samsung Software, Firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
App updates are always delivered through their corresponding market. Usually the Google Play Store, but as for Samsung apps they have their own update mechanism.
Firmware and ROM are updated either OTA or through Kies on the computer. They can also be manually flashed through Odin.
"com.sec.sprextension.phoneinfo
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Click to collapse
Sounds like some carrier bloatware and from the name of it is supposed to open some file extension called '.spr' for the phone.
Thank you for the info! Mods could you please move to correct forum?
I have the ConsumerCellular version of the Mate2. I wish I didn't, but I do. I am thinking about selling it and getting a non CC version, but I don't think I will be able to.
I flashed @xordos b148 zip to "convert" the CC version to OEM version. It worked fine, but here are the problems I have.
1. TitaniumBackup and all other backup apps don't work. TitaniumBackup says "Batch backup failed: Insufficient free storage space." Despite having a few free gigs. Even if I only select one app, it says this. I have tried all the regular fixes I found with Google, like deleting the odex file which we don't have, and installing busybox and not using the one it comes with. It has to have something to do with Android's janky SD card directories like Legacy, emulated, etc...However I tried both the internal SD card and External and both say the same thing.
1a. When doing certain commands via adb which would create a file somewhere, it will return the following error: "/sdcard/*: cannot open for write: Read-only file system".
So some apps can use the SD cards, some can not.
2. Most push notifications fail to come in. The Google ones seem to work fine...Hangouts, Gmail, etc, but any other app seems to have a lot of problems getting a notification through. CloudMagic, my favorite email app almost never shows a new mail until I go into the app. Every now and then I will get a new email, but its about 1 out of 10. Twitter, facebook, and even the stock messenger app usually don't show a notification.
I have wiped and re-flashed quite a few times, and nothing seems to help.
Anyways, if I could get both of those problems fixed, I would be pretty happy with the phone.
Did you restore YOUR Cust folder?
I found that a lot of my problems with notifications had to do with protected apps under settings. I added Gmail and Google messenger to protected apps and it seems to have fixed any problems I had with them.
Moody66 said:
Did you restore YOUR Cust folder?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just flashed Xordos' zip file that came with a cust folder. I don't have my original anymore and wouldn't have known how to do that anyways. Anytime I try to copy or move anything in the cust folder it fails due to inadequate permissions.
tomlemange said:
I found that a lot of my problems with notifications had to do with protected apps under settings. I added Gmail and Google messenger to protected apps and it seems to have fixed any problems I had with them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, where is this "protected app" setting?
Might be a kitkat only thing. Been awhile since I've been on jelly bean. I know I've seen people in other threads suggest that power genie and notification manager might also be the problem.
Hmm, I don't have that setting, and I don't know what pier genie is....but I have gone through the notification manager and granted access for everything awhile ago...didn't seem to help.
yes, check this thread about protect app even disable those power genie app etc:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=56936970&postcount=3
And regarding readonly sdcard/TB backup issues, try disable the setting 'mount namespace separate' in SuperSU, credit goes to someone in mate2 thread.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You seem to have totally fixed my first problem.
The second one I am still working on....I renamed the powergenie.apk, but I have went all through the settings and seem to be missing the battery saving section, where exactly is it? I found the battery in settings, but its just stats with no options.
I think you are good now. Once you freeze/renamed those app, the battery saving setting will disappear. I am in L now so I cannot check but I believe this is the reason.
xordos said:
I think you are good now. Once you freeze/renamed those app, the battery saving setting will disappear. I am in L now so I cannot check but I believe this is the reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, everything seems great now. I took my phones listing off ebay just because of this thread, so thank you very much.
hehe, glad it helped. Even the jellybeans is so smooth that I dont have any complains on it. Regarding the L on CC, hang on their, it is too early to tell, but i think we will get it.