[APP] BLN control - the official BLN settings app by neldar

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neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
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with Extended Controls. It is disabled, I can check it withing settings menu of the android itself. But then, when any notification is recieved and bln start to light up buttons, it everytime put APN on.

Ok, then you should check if any other app interfers with your apn settings, because the bln app is not participating in the notification process.

BLNotifications are activated (directly) through android (notification manager -> bln liblights -> bln kernel driver).
 
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BL4zD

Senior Member
Oct 19, 2010
358
49
I'm trying to use BLN with glitterball's kernel on my Captivate (for CM 6.1 ROM).
Problem I'm running into is the app telling me that liblights does not support BLN.
 

JaGuR

Senior Member
Jul 27, 2009
175
3
Do I have to re-enable BLN everytime I re-boot my phone ?

Currently if I reboot my phone I have to tick enable BLN, in the APP again.

Can we fix this ?

Cheers
 

talhamid

Senior Member
Jun 18, 2010
506
172
JUst want to say: I truly am grateful for your work, can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Samsung don't realize how pathetically omitting an LED has reduced the usability of their phone compared to others, and I also didn't realize it until I switched to SGS and had to push the stupid power/lock button (painful to use, slow to act), wait for the screen to come on, to see if I had any missed calls or not. Can't tell you how convenient it is
 

neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
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I'm trying to use BLN with glitterball's kernel on my Captivate (for CM 6.1 ROM).
Problem I'm running into is the app telling me that liblights does not support BLN.

Glitterball and me are investigating in that issue.
edit: fixed.

Do I have to re-enable BLN everytime I re-boot my phone ?

Currently if I reboot my phone I have to tick enable BLN, in the APP again.

Can we fix this ?

Cheers

Little bug, that will be fixed.
edit: fixed.
 
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aleadam

Senior Member
Feb 8, 2008
422
54
Albany, NY
Hi Neldar

I was using the scheduler to turn it off from midnight to 7 am every day and it was working just great. Now, the lights don't turn back at 7. If I turn on the phone and turn it of right back, without checking the notifications, the lights will turn on. It seems that it did not receive the clock event while in standby. If I'm correct there was an update recently, right? Maybe a small bug was introduced? It could be also rom related if nobody else has this problem.
 

neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
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Hi Neldar

I was using the scheduler to turn it off from midnight to 7 am every day and it was working just great. Now, the lights don't turn back at 7. If I turn on the phone and turn it of right back, without checking the notifications, the lights will turn on. It seems that it did not receive the clock event while in standby. If I'm correct there was an update recently, right? Maybe a small bug was introduced? It could be also rom related if nobody else has this problem.

Do you mean, that an ongoing led notification has been interrupted by the scheduler, but it got not re-activated after the schedule was over?

That issue is known - im searching for a work-around.
(The app needs to notify/trigger the notificationmanager to re-activate interrupted led notifications - maybe someone knows an intent or something like that to accomplish this?)
 
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aleadam

Senior Member
Feb 8, 2008
422
54
Albany, NY
Do you mean, that an ongoing led notification has been interrupted by the scheduler, but it got not re-activated after the schedule was over?

That issue is known - im searching for a work-around.
(The app needs to notify/trigger the notificationmanager to re-activate interrupted led notifications - maybe someone knows an intent or something like that to accomplish this?)

It's not a notification prior to she schedule off. What I mean is new emails that arrived during the night/early morning (like the ny times daily email) don't activate the notification at 7, unless I hit the power button. Maybe we're talking the same here and I didn't notice it before... Mabe the last couple of days I didn't get any email between 7 and 8 and that's why I only see it now.

Workaround: What not creating a notification yourself right after the schedule is on, if you had previous notifications? A notification notifying that you have notifications :)
 

neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
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It's not a notification prior to she schedule off. What I mean is new emails that arrived during the night/early morning (like the ny times daily email) don't activate the notification at 7, unless I hit the power button. Maybe we're talking the same here and I didn't notice it before... Mabe the last couple of days I didn't get any email between 7 and 8 and that's why I only see it now.

Workaround: What not creating a notification yourself right after the schedule is on, if you had previous notifications? A notification notifying that you have notifications :)

We are talking about the same problem.

And i had the same intention: fire a notification to trigger other notifications..
But it does not work, dont know why - maybe i missed some detail.

So as a workaround until i found a solution: press the home or power button in the morning.
(And yes, also tried to emulate that.;))
 

aleadam

Senior Member
Feb 8, 2008
422
54
Albany, NY
We are talking about the same problem.

And i had the same intention: fire a notification to trigger other notifications..
But it does not work, dont know why - maybe i missed some detail.

So as a workaround until i found a solution: press the home or power button in the morning.
(And yes, also tried to emulate that.;))

I don't know how it's implemented: can the program still detect whether there was a notification or not during the time the schedule is off? Or the program does not respond at all in that time? Instead of triggering a notification, why not just turning on the lights directly? You could use some static boolean areNotifications to decide at schedule on whether to turn the lights on or not.

You probably thought all this already, but I'm just thinking out loud.

Personally, if I receive an email that late at night or so early in the morning it will not be anything important. I can leave without BLN for that. If it's urgent, I'll get a phone call, not an email, and I'll hear that. So the workaround works fine for me, it's just interesting why is not lighting it up...
 

neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
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I don't know how it's implemented: can the program still detect whether there was a notification or not during the time the schedule is off? Or the program does not respond at all in that time? Instead of triggering a notification, why not just turning on the lights directly? You could use some static boolean areNotifications to decide at schedule on whether to turn the lights on or not.

You probably thought all this already, but I'm just thinking out loud.

Personally, if I receive an email that late at night or so early in the morning it will not be anything important. I can leave without BLN for that. If it's urgent, I'll get a phone call, not an email, and I'll hear that. So the workaround works fine for me, it's just interesting why is not lighting it up...

I could try to detect incoming notifications and try to determine if that notification wants to trigger the leds.
But the notification system of android is locked for non-system apps - it is difficult to determine by a third-party app (like mine) if a notification is sent by another third-party app.
It is only possible to detect notifications by the standard apps (like sms, phone/call/ calendar/ gmail) - but not directly through the notification system but indirectly through well-known intents sent by these apps and then trying to guess by that behavior if a notification should be sent or not.

But i solved that problem in a different way - the app will shortly flash the screen (when the scheduler enables bln again) and that does also notify/trigger the notificationmanager to re-enable led notifications. That requires a wakelock, but this wakelock is only hold for a very very short time - in fact it will be immediately released again after it is acquired (wakelock is hold for less than 1 ms).
edit: Btw, this wakelock solution is not yet released - this is only for the people who read "wakelock" and already begun to spread non-sense...
 
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Mangus_U*RA

Senior Member
Oct 9, 2010
363
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45
Ravenna
just purchased the pro version but when I try to install it (in the market it results as purchased), it starts download but than exit the "download mode"
If I try the "refund" button it says that I can't be refounded...

WTF!?!?
 

neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
569
363
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just purchased the pro version but when I try to install it (in the market it results as purchased), it starts download but than exit the "download mode"
If I try the "refund" button it says that I can't be refounded...

WTF!?!?

I just have look at my google checkout account and you are not the only one who has problems with the market. Nearly 60% of of the bln control pro orders since yesterday has been canceled and i dont know why.

I am also getting angry at android market and google.


edit: This is the error message of google checkout about the cancellations:
Authorization failed
The authorization of the customer's credit card failed. Google has sent an email instructing the customer to update their card. If they fail to provide a valid card within 7 days, this order will be automatically cancelled by Google.
I guess there is a bug/issue at the credit card check at google checkout -i hope google will fix that soon.
 
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BL4zD

Senior Member
Oct 19, 2010
358
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It's doing that "not supported" error again on CM 6.1 Beta 3 (nightly) with glitterball's reoriented kernel on the Captivate.
 

neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
569
363
twitter.com
It's doing that "not supported" error again on CM 6.1 Beta 3 (nightly) with glitterball's reoriented kernel on the Captivate.

The cm beta3 update replaces the bln liblights with the stock liblights - are you sure you have a bln liblights on your phone?

Just trigger the test notification, if that does not work you should install the bln liblights.
 

BL4zD

Senior Member
Oct 19, 2010
358
49
The cm beta3 update replaces the bln liblights with the stock liblights - are you sure you have a bln liblights on your phone?

Just trigger the test notification, if that does not work you should install the bln liblights.
I pushed the liblights from the blinky app. I thought that was the latest, but where do I obtain BLN liblights? I uninstalled and reinstalled the app but I'm not getting liblights from that.

EDIT: I also grabbed the latest from your github. But the app is telling me liblights is the correct version, but the kernel doesn't support BLN.
 
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neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
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twitter.com
I pushed the liblights from the blinky app. I thought that was the latest, but where do I obtain BLN liblights? I uninstalled and reinstalled the app but I'm not getting liblights from that.

EDIT: I also grabbed the latest from your github. But the app is telling me liblights is the correct version, but the kernel doesn't support BLN.

Well, the kernel does not support bln, i guess.
What does happen if you press "no" in the compatibility dialog and then trigger the test notification?
 

neldar

Retired Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
569
363
twitter.com
I released an update to the pro version:

added: call notification
added: blinking support

Btw, i am thinking of adding that blinking feature to the kernel driver - so anyone could benefit from that, whether you have the free or pro version of the app.
But that will need some time...
 
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  • 49
    This app does only work, if you have a kernel with BacklightNotification (bln) mod on your phone installed.

    Go and get BLN for Samsung i9000 Eclair, Froyo or Gingerbread or any other kernel/rom with BacklightNotification support.
    Or visit this page to view a list with supported phones by BLN.


    What is the BLN mod?
    The BLN mod turns the touchkey backlights into a notification led.
    It enables the notification led api for any android application that supports notifications by led.
    If you dont have the BLN mod installed, the app provides you instructions how to install the BLN mod.

    What does this app?
    This application gives you control over the BacklightNotification (bln) mod settings on your phone.

    What features does the Free version have?
    • enable/disable BacklightNotification function (without uninstalling bln)
    • test BacklightNotification
    • update notification (notifies you about new BLN app, liblights or kernel releases)

    Additional features in the Pro version:
    • widget
    • scheduler (disable BLN at night, ...)
    • locale plug-in(s) for: bln status, blinking, scheduler, static led, notification led
    • adjustable timeout of static led notification
    • blinking**:
      • adjustable on/off led period
      • adjustable overall blinking duration (5-60 minutes or unlimited)
      • select led status after blinking ends(on/off)
      • stop blinking if battery is below a selectable % level
    • adds led notifications for:
      • missed calls

    ** Please notice that blinking consumes more energy than static backlight!

    Download the app from market:
    Free | Pro
    attachment.php


    The price for the Pro version is 0.99€ (~ 1.99 US$).
    The Pro version is available at the android market (creditcard) and at androidpit (paypal, clickandbuy).

    If you find an issue, please report it here in the thread.


    Which features will be added to future Pro versions?
    • suggest me a feature

    What permissions are used for which features?
    • RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED: to activate BLN at boot and start the services
    • INTERNET: for update notification (new BLN app, liblights or kernel releases - you can disable the notification in the update settings) and for the compatibility check (the app receive instructions for you, if the app detects that something is wrong with the BLN setup)
    • READ_PHONE_STATE: to detect if an incoming call could become a missed call
    • WAKE_LOCK: services & schedule (reactivating interrupted led notifications, froyo only)

    Translations already done:
    • Dutch
    • French
    • German
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Russian
    • Spanish
    • Swedish

    The initial translations into Dutch, French, Russian and Spanish have been realized at crowdin.net with the help of adequacy, andifds, elroy911, HERVEG, HTCDevil, Jaax, jbnitro, ravexx, Rebel2k and Shaymelmed. Thank you.
    The translations into Japanese, Korean and Swedish have been realized at icanlocalize.com.

    Translations pending:
    • Chinese (Simplified) - suspended, no sufficient Chinese market service
    • Chinese (Traditional) - see above
    • Czech
    • Italian
    • Polish

    Kernel-devs / rom cookers: Please do only integrate the FREE version of this app into your releases.
    10
    BLN pro will work for JVP version (gingerbread 2.3.4 ) ? :confused:

    For all having trouble with JVP, i compiled a patched services.jar. It contains both liblights and services.jar, to have BLN working with any kernel supporting it on JVP. To be installed from CWM recovery.

    Tried on Juwe's 5.0 working with stock sms, calls, mail, etc.

    Hope it helps!

    Thanks to neldar for his great job.
    Thanks to Virnik for his update package & script.
    6
    FAQ:

    How do i enable led notification for ...?
    • touchwiz sms: notification is only possible if you use another sms app (e.g. Go SMS) or if you use a patched sms app or a patched services.jar
    • touchwiz email: notification by default
    • gmail: notification by default
    • Google talk: notification by default
    • calendar: download "Calendar notifier" app from market (alternative)
    • call: BLN control - Pro from market
    • any other apps:
      ask the author of the app for notification led support

    The led notification is enabled in app xyz, but it still dont work, why?
    This only a problem of Android >= 2.3. Led notifications in Android >= 2.3 do only work if the screen is powered off. You can not trigger a led notification while the screen is powered on and any led notification is automatically dismissed if the screen becomes powered on. This is a general "problem" of all gingerbread phones. This behavior is a design decision of the asop team and they think this is not important enough to be mentioned in the Android SDK documentation. The BLN control app has a workaround implemented for the internal call, locale/tasker plug-in & test notification. Any other apps may have also a option to disable the screen before these apps try to trigger led notifications (e.g. Go SMS).

    How much does this modification affect battery life?
    With backlight notification permanently powered on, the battery lasts around 82 hours (around 3,5 days, 1,22% per hour). This means, that activated backlights will increase battery usage by about 0,18% per hour. If there is no backlight notification ongoing, battery life is normal (around 96 hours, 1,04% per hour). Measurements were made on a i9000 (eclair) with enabled flight mode.

    The sgs2 does currently (6th august 2011) rely on a kernel wakelock, that does affect the battery more than on other phones.
    This is an exception from the general bln behavior and may hopefully change in future.

    How do you test the battery consumption? This is a common and reliable method.

    Could you add a fade feature?
    That is only possible on some phones, most hardware is limited (by controller firmware) to simple on/off. Maybe I add these capability in the future.

    The blinking or the missed call notification of the pro app are not reliably working, what is wrong?
    The lowmemorykiller of your phone is configured with too aggressive settings, thereby the app services are killed and not restarted.
    Either you use less aggressive settings or you have to live with the fact that your settings make things unreliable.
    Btw, it is better to have less free ram in android. A lot of free ram on a android device indicates that it is inefficiently working.
    4
    Just wonderign, is there going to be support for normal notifcations, like third party apps etc

    No, if you are wondering about the reason, then you might want to understand the functional principle of bln by looking at the following "art":

    |android application| --> |notification service| --> |bln liblights| --> |bln driver| --> |touchkey leds|

    legend:
    --> : x calls y (unidirectional)
    android application: any android application
    notification service: public api, part of the Android SDK
    liblights: conjunction between the android OS and the Linux kernel
    bln driver: provides interface to control the touchkey led hardware
    touchkey leds: light emitting diodes behind the touchkeys...

    The bln mod (blue parts) just adds the (modified) liblights and the bln driver in that chain, these components are missing in the original stock ROM from Samsung.
    Any android application that should trigger the leds just have to implement the call (the red arrow) of the functions of the notification service .

    And the gentle reader may now notice that the control app is missing in that flowchart. Well, the control app consists of 2 parts, one part actually accesses the bln driver to adjust some settings. The second part detects missed calls and acts like any other android application to issue a (hidden) notification with the led flag.


    PS: The flowchart includes only the necessary components and conjunctions between the application and the leds. There are a few more components involved, but you don't need to know them all.
    4
    On the AT&T GS2, I am getting constant wakelocks for wlProximityEvents, and I do not even have the new Proximity feature enabled.

    I just unplugged the charger 5 minutes ago, I have no notifications, and it's been in constant wakelock since then. (See the screen shot).

    Since the last update, my battery life has been very bad and deep sleep has gone down significantly.

    UPDATE: Attached is my wakelocks.txt file.

    Thank you for the informations about the wakelock, these infos helped me to resolve the problem.
    An update is now available at the market. I want to apologize to those who may have had problems because of this issue.