[Q] Modify DPI on rooted moto X without system write access - Moto X Q&A

I'm curious if there is a way to modify the dpi settings without system write access. I'm rooted with TowePieRoot on a Verizon XT1060 moto X running 4.4.3, which sadly, has no system write access. I've seen a couple apps in the play store that claim to modify your dpi settings, but it looks like they just update the build.prop file. I've also seen that there's an Xposed module that allows you to modify dpi settings on a per-app basis. I'm not sure how it's achieving this, and it may be the route I end up going, but if I could do it system wide, that would be my preference.

No, it needs to edit the system.

In case anyone else is watching this, I'll report that the App Settings Xposed module does work without system write access. You have to modify the settings on a per app basis, but it works, and it's great. In addition to just the pixel density, you can spoof the screen resolution to force apps into 'tablet mode' or 'phone mode'. It has other settings too, but I haven't played with them yet.

Just don't ever reboot. ?

You can do a soft reboot.

Yes you're right. If it works, that's awesome. Watch running out of juice too... Power down or a reboot will reset it all.
Maybe titanium backup... If it works, can backup your settings?
You'll need to reboot at some point... An app install that requests it or something...

I've been playing with it for a couple days, and I haven't noticed any impact on battery life. I haven't tried to back up the settings, but it hasn't been a problem. I have had to reboot, and when I do I then have to re-root, enable Xposed, and then soft reboot. When it comes back up, everything is restored.

Related

Auto Memory Manager 1.0.3

Hi guys. Just wanted to plug my app here. It's based on the work that has been happening in the "auto task killer" thread.
In a nutshell this app lets you configure Android's internal memory manager to help define when to shut down different types of apps.
Features:
- Presets and custom settings
- Works with Android 1.5+
- Sliders for easy setting of the apps.
If you have any questions just pop me and email or hit me up on twitter. This is very much a work in progress so I'll be updating it fairly often. So give it a try (QR code below) and I hope you find it useful.
Requires root access
Another good reason to root my Hero. I'd probably do that before upgrading to 2.1.
sanderg said:
Requires root access
Another good reason to root my Hero. I'd probably do that before upgrading to 2.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry. forgot to mention that it requires root. If you are rooting then I would recommend flashing a 2.1 ROM since that's faster than the 1.5 ROMs. There are caveats of course since not everything is working perfectly on the 2.1 ROMs but it's working good enough for me. Call me shallow but I LOVE live wallpaper.
Could you perhaps give more information? I have set it to mainly 120MB (to test) and nothing is happening. Does it happen every x mins or something?
G8D said:
Could you perhaps give more information? I have set it to mainly 120MB (to test) and nothing is happening. Does it happen every x mins or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This works differently than a task killer. What you are doing is setting thresholds for each application type. So if you set the threshold for Empty Apps to be 120MB then Android will kill these apps when there is only 120MB left. This would be most of the time.
However these thresholds are soft settings. So if Android needs to start an app/service or the user manually initiates an app/service then these will still start as normal.
This is my understanding of how it works. (I am not an expert regarding this.) However I have noticed that Android is still starting up certain apps that seem to be useless and I haven't used either e.g. Amazon MP3. This could be something to do with the out-of-memory priority of the app. (will need to investigate this)
For me at least, I have found that using a task killer to kill all apps after you apply your settings works the best. But the app should keep things much tidier in terms of memory usage.
As mentioned above these are soft settings and I have tried setting all bars to 120MB and everything still works fine. You may or may not get the same experience but these are soft settings so the worst that could happen is that you have to reboot your phone and revert to the default setting.
In the next update the settings will be saved after reboot but you will still able to go into the app to change the setting anyway.
I hope I answered your question.

Directions for Best Android Experience :)

Ok, so we all want the best of the best of experiences for our DX superphone. Well, I am here to tell you how I have my setup.
The goals of the ultimate setup are to:
1. Keep as much privacy as possible
2. Ensure the best performance
3. Ensure best method to extend battery life
4. Ensure best feel
5. Ensure HAPPINESS!
NUMBER ONE:
First things first; we need to install the absolute best ROM right now. The ROM is called FISSION 1.1 by Team DeFuse. You will most likely have to re-root the phone after installing though. It is worth the hassle.
Known issues with Fission 1.1 but I'm sure will be fixed:
1. Compass Calibration
2. No custom battery profiles
NUMBER TWO:
We need to install all of our applications.
NUMBER THREE:
If you don't have them already, download the paid version of Titanium Backup and the application called AUTOSTARTS and very very importantly, DROID WALL, SetCPU, CacheMate and also very importantly, Advanced Task Killer
NUMBER FOUR:
Restart phone. Upon reboot, we will first open up Droid Wall and give it root privileges. Then, we are going to fill in both boxes with checkmarks next to only the applications which you use a lot and need internet access! It is good practice to look at what all apps need access to when installing applications. If an app like Notepad for instance needs Internet Access, we know there is a problem. It is apps like these, we don't want to have access to the internet.
You will also have to have checkmarks next to "Media Server", "Browser", "Calender", "Calender Storage", "Email", "Google Search", "Maps", "Market", "Messaging", "Street View", and "Visual VM". Those are the ones which need to be allowed in order to not cripple your Android experience. Obviously, the remaining apps are UP TO YOU.
You should manually disable and re-enable the firewall after every reboot! You then want to kill Droid Wall and the other showing apps with Advanced Task Killer. Once Droid Wall sets the firewall rules, they stick regardless if the app is running or not. There is no need to leave it running.
NUMBER FIVE:
Now, we are going to open up the program AUTOSTARTS! It will take awhile to load all of the apps of your system. This app makes it so you can actually reliably use ADVANCED TASK KILLER without the apps you kill AUTOMATICALLY restarting and thus wasting precious battery.
You want to disable all your 3rd-party user apps in EVERY CATEGORY except for the Widget Categories at the bottom. For the first app you disable from starting, you will have to give AUTOSTARTS root privileges.
Don't disable "Google Voice", "Visual VM", "Dialer", "usb", "Dialer Storage", "Battery Manager", "Battery Manager (Power Profile Receiver)", "Google Partner Setup", "Google Services Framework", "Voice Dialer" (If you use it), "Email" (If you use it), "Messaging", "Bluetooth Share" (If you use Bluetooth), "Contacts Storage", "Droid Wall", "SetCPU", "ADW Launcher" (If use it), "Launcher Prof" (If use it) or "Launcher" (If use the stock launcher)
Everything else should be clicked on and disabled except for apps which are your widgets on your homescreens and in the Widget Categories!
You are going to notice a crazy increase in speed from this!!!!
NUMBER SIX:
We need to reboot. Upon reboot, open up ADVANCED TASK KILLER. We now need to put some apps on the ignore list.
The apps I have on my ignore list are:
SetCPU, Messaging, Music, Google Search, Market, Visual VM, Beautiful Widgets, Voice Search, K-9 Mail and Google Voice
You would also want to put any apps which are related to any widgets you have on your homescreens on the ignore list too!
This will effectively make it so any app we close, IS CLOSED FOR GOOD until we ourselves initiate it MANUALLY.
NUMBER SEVEN:
My phone is a dud; well at least the CPU is. It won't go over 1100mhz and be stable regardless of how much voltage I crank into 'er. So, for my phone, I modified the 1.1Ghz .zip folder which is installed in the Fission folder of your SDCard when you install Fission. I modified the setscaling.sh in text editor and changed the following values:
Changed the 800mhz to 900mhz. You may or may not have to raise the voltages that they have pre-set for the 800mhz and 1100mhz settings. If you are not stable, just give each of them a couple notches of increase.
NUMBER EIGHT:
Upon reboot, we need to setup SetCPU. We are going to create 3 profiles
1. Screen off --> 300min / 600max --> OnDemand
2. Charging AC/FULL --> 300min / 600max --> OnDemand
3. Charging USB/FULL --> 300min/ 600max --> OnDemand
We then go back to the homescreen "of SetCPU" and change our values of what we want the phone to do whenever the screen is on and it is not charging. Here we want to put 900mhz for the min and 1100mhz for the max.
For some reason, even if SetCPU is not disabled in AUTOSTARTS, it doesn't load the values upon reboot. You will have to manually open up SetCPU just one time for each reboot.
IMPORTANT: If you want to OC higher or maybe not even at all, have at it. However, I still think SetCPU and the profiles I listed above would be great for you.
NUMBER NINE:
This may not be an option for some of you, but I like to disable remembering form data, cookies, cache, passwords, and history on my browsers.
The best browser to use "IMHO" is the new XSCOPES version 6.
If you like some other browser, just change the privacy settings to those of above to be safe. If you can't live without, then just don't worry about it.
NUMBER TEN:
Install CacheMate for Root Users.
In the settings we want to have checked:
1. Clear TA Utility Caches
2. Close CacheMate on Close
3. Clear Admob and Google
4. Clear Flash Cache
5. Clear Temporary Cache
Then, we want to have everything checked in Data Experimental and SDCard which is Relevant to our phone. For any app you don't have, don't put a check next to it. If you use apps like APMobile (Associated Press), you want to uncheck that and apps like it so you don't have to set it up every time you open the app.
I don't really like letting CacheMate run all the time being set to automatically clear on intervals. I didn't mention it, but I NEVER leave ADVANCED TASK KILLER run all the time either.
Uncheck power clear on the main screen and clear the cache ever day or two.
NUMBER ELEVEN:
Install ADW Launcher. It is by far better than LauncherPro. Only continue to use LauncherPro if you can't live without its widgets.
In ADW Launcher, we want certain settings done.
1. In Screen Preferences, we want to have both Desktop Scrolling Speed and Desktop Overshoot set to "0"
2. In Drawer Settings, we want animated drawer check, show app labels checked, fade app labels checked and for background color, I like to use a dark color with some transparency!
For Zoom Effect speed, set it to its lowest setting of 300ms
3. Under System Preferences, we want to check Wallpaper Hack and set Scrolling Cache to "Auto". Obviously, if you have widgets, you will want to check scrollable widget support.
4. In UI Settings, I check everything besides:
Dockbar, Closing folder, Secondary ActionButtons and Show Desktop Indicator.
I have AB Scale Factor set to "5".
After you get your homescreens all set up EXACTLY how you want them, backup both the desktop configuration and backup ADW settings. Also, make sure to do another backup in Titanium so when you restore ADW Launcher after installing a new ROM, it is exactly how you had it before.
NUMBER TWELVE:
Open up the program which is already installed called Spare Parts. It will be in your App Drawer. Don't install it again from the market unless you for some reason don't already have it in your app drawer.
1. I have haptic feedback and compatibility mode checked.
2. Set the "Window Animations" and "Transition Animations" to FAST
NUMBER THIRTEEN:
Do a Titanium Backup via Batch operation.
1. There are only 2 options in the batch operation options which you should ever need to use!!! They are:
A) RUN - Backup all new apps & newer versions
B) RUN - Restore Missing Apps with data
Run the backup every once in awhile to keep the backup of your apps up to date.
IMPORTANT:
When restoring apps, UNCHECK ALL SYSTEM APPS FROM BEING RESTORED!
The paid version gives you HyperShell which means you don't have to manually click each app when it is restoring. It makes the process very simple.
You also want to uninstall the older version of Flash Player and get the newer one from the market.
I have followed this guide for Titanium and have installed numerous ROMS for the Droid 1, HTC Droid Incredible and now the Droid X WITHOUT EVER HAVING ISSUES!!!
NUMBER FOURTEEN:
Go into ROM Manager and install the AOSP Keyboard under /Download ROM/Drod2169/CHANGE OPTIONS-Focused-1.0/AOSP KEYBOARD
You will automatically have to check FIXED 8MP AOSP Camera as well. That is the camera installed by default on Fission 1.1 so it won't hurt anything. Don't check backup data or wipe data/cache!
Also, I would install both QuickOffice and DX_Music.zip under the SDCard/Fission/Add-Ons directory. You obviously have to do this in Recovery!!!
The Music player will be 100% identical to the one that comes installed by default on Fission 1.1, but it gives you the option to pause play and seek tracks from the lockscreen!
NUMBER FIFTEEN:
Install any themes or mods which are compatible with your ROM and set up your sounds and everything else you like to do and enjoy your android device to its fullest
I know I probably missed a couple things but will update when I remember.
VIVA LA ANDROID
EDIT: I had Fission 1.0 for some reason. I meant Fission 1.1. I'd also like to point out that Rubix 1.0 is the same exact thing as Fission but with more optimizations and tweaks. I ran them both but slightly prefer Fission 1.1
reserved...
Nice post!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Sleuth255 said:
Nice post!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot! That's all derived from months of obsessive learning along with trial and error
How dare you recommend Advanced Task Killer. You need to have your Android License revoke immediately.
Since we're talking about rooted phones and memory management, use Autokiller. It does what android already does natively, only better.
Nice write up, but do yourself a favor and get rid of ATK!
LexusBrian400 said:
How dare you recommend Advanced Task Killer. You need to have your Android License revoke immediately.
Since we're talking about rooted phones and memory management, use Autokiller. It does what android already does natively, only better.
Nice write up, but do yourself a favor and get rid of ATK!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't get caught up on the ATK thing. I don't want this thread turning into a pro or con ATK. One will however say that ATK without AUTOSTARTS is pointless. Due to AUTOSTARTS, ATK is once again relevant and really beneficial.
If the app AUTOSTARTS or anything like it wasn't available, I wouldn't tell anyone to install ATK. With my setup, any app we kill with ATK will not be automatically restarting thus wasted battery. That was the biggest issue with ATK before AUTOSTARTS was available. Now, anything we kill are only apps we ourselves initiated.
Apps left running do still use CPU resources. The latest privacy study of Androids apps show that 50% or so of the tested apps sent private information to advertisers in the background.
When the Android system only has like ~40mb of free system RAM available, the system will no matter what bog down somewhat. We can get rid of this from ever happening.
Just put the little green ATK widget on your main homescreen and one tap and your done. The ATK widget takes the same amount of space as an icon. It is simple and easy.
Doing it like this ensure at no point EVER is the Android system going to lag.
Sleuth255 said:
Nice post!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well was I happy seeing those post when did you get a Droid X.
-McMex
A few weeks ago. Excellent device too. I'm confident that the locked BL will be defeated. I'm running through some of luv2increase's mods now... I like the idea of being able to defeat autostart and place strict control over the apps I allow to run.
Sleuth255 said:
A few weeks ago. Excellent device too. I'm confident that the locked BL will be defeated. I'm running through some of luv2increase's mods now... I like the idea of being able to defeat autostart and place strict control over the apps I allow to run.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is an excellent device just today I posted on Twitter I have all the high end Android phones and the Motorola implementation of the Droid X is by far the best nice polish too. I been playing a lot with SetCpu profiles (removing bloatware via adb) and power saving settings and can get over 18 hours of heavy usage. Just starting to try these other ROMs out. As always if you need a tester or I can help you with something let me know I have been on Android a while now and have a lot of experience and a ton of apps.
A lot of you guys have no idea the asset that Sleuth is having a Droid X.
-McMex
Alot of great tips in the OP. I actually run with almost this exact setup. I am using Rubix 1.0, though. Great rom. These tips will help tremendously with performance and battery life. Thanks for passing this along.

Is there a fix for the new market yet?

I'm running CM7 nightlies on my Nook, just wondering what I need to do in order to get the market work the way it's supposed to. (Hidden download buttons, can't update apps, etc)
set lcd density to 160 in build.prop
force stop market, clear cache
brings back functionality for ~ 1 day, clearing the cache again get's you another day, etc.
long term fix...?
NCKevo said:
long term fix...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm looking for
NCKevo said:
set lcd density to 160 in build.prop
force stop market, clear cache
brings back functionality for ~ 1 day, clearing the cache again get's you another day, etc.
long term fix...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've failed at this multiple times
Using ES File Explorer and giving it permissions, I can edit but not save the build.prop file.
Don't know if this matters, but I have CM7 on the sd card (no eMMC install).
Also, I suspect the /system folder is read only?
I thought the solution is
a. Stop (rename or uninstall) the MarketUpdater
b. Clear cache / data on the Market then uninstall "Updates"
Step b. above is a roll-back (old) version of Market (2.6.x.x?)
Step a. above is stopping the Auto Update of the Market.
There's some report of modifying the density to 160 in the build.prop.
you can also use a LCD density changer app from the market. the biggest problem is that none of the fixes are long term. you can change the lcd to 160dpi and clear cache but in a day or two you're back to where you started. the only long term fix for now is to go back to the old market and freeze or delete the updater. or at least until the old market becomes incompatible.
I know this sucks. why are we being CENSORED by google
I uninstalled market update then cleared cache and data, then in root explorer I deleted market updater.apk and now I have old market working just as it should. Thanks for the tip boxcar!
What am I doing wrong? I have cm7 on sandisk sd. Installed the latest nightly and installed gapp file for cm7. Installed lcd density changer app and set to 160. Force stopped market and deleted cache, but still not working right.
I don't understand how to set the market back to the old style.
kingston73 said:
What am I doing wrong? I have cm7 on sandisk sd. Installed the latest nightly and installed gapp file for cm7. Installed lcd density changer app and set to 160. Force stopped market and deleted cache, but still not working right.
I don't understand how to set the market back to the old style.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to get the old market back all you have to do is...
1) in settings / applications / manage applications / press all scroll down to market and uninstall updates.
2) with titanium you can freeze the market updater or with some kind of file manager app like astro or root explorer you can delete the updater. if you delete the updater and wish to get it back all you have to do is re-flash gapps
3) now you should have the old market back
4) enjoy
If I set my density to 160 or 240, then force stop & clear data in Market app (after reboot, before connecting to Market), the new market works fine for me. Works fine for many days at 240, seems to work for only a day or so at 160.
I change the density in build.prop using Root Explorer, so it stays that way every time I reboot. Running 177 from sd card.
If I also uninstall updates when I do the above, it reverts to the old market, and that works fine for a day or less.
If Google was really trying to prevent the Nook Colors from accessing the Market, they could probably figure out a more effective way to do it. I think this idea is paranoia, and the cause is just something weird in the rom's details. I could be wrong, though.
lynnji said:
If I set my density to 160 or 240, then force stop & clear data in Market app (after reboot, before connecting to Market), the new market works fine for me. Works fine for many days at 240, seems to work for only a day or so at 160.
I change the density in build.prop using Root Explorer, so it stays that way every time I reboot. Running 177 from sd card.
If I also uninstall updates when I do the above, it reverts to the old market, and that works fine for a day or less.
If Google was really trying to prevent the Nook Colors from accessing the Market, they could probably figure out a more effective way to do it. I think this idea is paranoia, and the cause is just something weird in the rom's details. I could be wrong, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you set the density to 160 or 240 or whatever? I downloaded the ROM toolbox, but I cannot find under which menu this lcd setting is?
Everybody is talking about setting the LCD density as if it is already taught at the kindergarden.
velizet said:
How do you set the density to 160 or 240 or whatever? I downloaded the ROM toolbox, but I cannot find under which menu this lcd setting is?
Everybody is talking about setting the LCD density as if it is already taught at the kindergarden.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, that was my reaction too. I had to search a lot to find the procedure. The techies seem to assume that we all know this stuff, and have probably gotten tired of explaining it to every noob (understandable).
You can use the LCDDensity app, it's the easy way. You set the new density, it reboots into what you just set. However, reboots after that seem to go back to the default of 161.
I use the Root Explorer app, which allows you to go into build.prop and change the LCD density there.
Open Root Explorer.
Open 'system'.
At the top you need to change r/o, read only, to r/w, read/write, by pressing the box that says 'Mount R/W'. It'll change to 'Mount R/O'.
Long press 'build.prop'. Choose 'Open in Text Editor'
Scroll to line that says qemu.sf.lcd_density=161
Change 161 to 160 or 240, or whatever
Press menu>Save & Exit
Press 'Mount R/O' to change back to read only.
Voila.
I've had LCD Density at 240 for about 2 weeks now. No problems here with the market. =) Sometimes the apps dont show up in the list but you can still update them by manually searching, which subsequently adds the app to the list.
It's large, but surprisingly, I actually like the largeness.
PoisonWolf said:
I've had LCD Density at 240 for about 2 weeks now. No problems here with the market. =) Sometimes the apps dont show up in the list but you can still update them by manually searching, which subsequently adds the app to the list.
It's large, but surprisingly, I actually like the largeness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The market seems to differentiate between tablet offerings at 160 and phone offerings at 240. In fact, on a freshly refreshed market at 160, you can find a category titled "editors picks for tablets" at the top. No such heading exists when the market is refreshed at 240. But even then, all previously downloaded apps can still be updated.
This is probably why you can't find some apps, but can still update them.
This seemed to work for me in Terminal Emulator:
1 su
2 pm disable com.android.vending.updater
If by chance things go wrong, you can just enable updating.
Axecaster said:
This seemed to work for me in Terminal Emulator:
1 su
2 pm disable com.android.vending.updater
If by chance things go wrong, you can just enable updating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This does work pretty well, thanks
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
Also the blade buddy app in the market has a tool to change LCD density and it holds after reboots.
Axecaster said:
This seemed to work for me in Terminal Emulator:
1 su
2 pm disable com.android.vending.updater
If by chance things go wrong, you can just enable updating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! Doing that and then uninstalling the updates brought the old market back. Quick question, is this change persistant across reboots?
thereddog said:
I'm running CM7 nightlies on my Nook, just wondering what I need to do in order to get the market work the way it's supposed to. (Hidden download buttons, can't update apps, etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had my Nook Color with 1.2 and 1.3 manually nooted go into endless boot cycles after a while because of the Market automatic updates.
I found that the automatic updates in Market screw up the latest manual nooter. Here's how I fixed the problem.
*IMPORTANT* You have to do this before the Market first updates itself resulting in an endless boot cycle. This procedure will unfortunately also stop automatic updates to the Market. However, it also stops the Nook Color going into the endless boot cycle after the first Market update.
1. Wipe the device (8 failed boots) and clean the memory (press and hold n while booting and keeping the power key depressed).
2. Complete the B&N registration process.
3. Upgrade to the latest B&N firmware (I tried 1.2 manually)
4. Use CMW and manual nooter by following this http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...1054027&page=1 to root your Nook Color.
5. Use the Market to download Terminal Emulator (see https://market.android.com/details?i...roidterm&hl=en for details)
6. type
$ su -
# pm disable com.android.vending.updater
Check out
http://forum.oxygen.im/viewtopic.php?id=919 for more on this.
You have to do this before the Market first updates itself resulting in an endless boot cycle. This procedure will unfortunately also stop automatic updates to the Market. However, it also stops the Nook Color going into the endless boot cycle after the first Market update.
So you guys are telling me that you all will have to use the OLD MARKET for the rest of your life?
You guys not gonna tell me that you are waiting for the fix, aren't you?

Is there an app to automatically disable bloatware from running on non-rooted device?

Hi
I'm running the latest stock Sense UI on my One. I am aware of the side effects of rooting with the One (loss of data during bootloader unlocking and no chance of getting OTA updates) but i've been able to easily increase the performance of my phone by manually disabling the bloatware apps from Settings > Apps > All. So, i was wondering if there is an app that can actually do all that automatically? That would have been really amazing. Especially after each OTA update or factory reset, these disabled apps are enabled again, so i have to spend a lot of time going through the long list of apps and disable each one manually. Does anyone know of such an app for the One? If it doesn't exist, this might be an opportunity to create a Sense-debloater app. I think it's a great idea and it'll quickly catch on especially with those who aren't into rooting or just like to keep things relatively simple.
titanium backup (menu, batch freeze)

For those having troubles with some root apps not working - possible solution/fix

I have been struggling with Magisk on this phone. Part of the struggle has been some root apps not working properly. One example was TiBackup. During restore it would just hang and I had to force close. I finally found a hint elsewhere and tried it. It helped so I pass it along. Make sure that in Developer Settings you disable Verify Apps Over USB. I have no idea why this has any impact but it allowed TiBackup restores to proceed - at least to some extent. In some cases, the restored apps do not work properly and crash.

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