[Q] Calibration fixes for S-Pen on 4.4.2 KitKat?

[ngorgi]

I actually managed to get my S-Pen recalibrated. I opened up S-Note and scribbled all around the edges until there was a solid 0.5 cm border. But the trick is that I did it all in a single stroke (or in other words, I never lifted the pen until I had filled in all the edges, which took a long while). After that, the dot now appears right under the pen. And it stays across applications. It worked for me; maybe it'll work for you.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

I can confirm that this method works perfectly, but ONLY if you do it inside S-Note. I'd been trying to re-calibrate it by writing on the edges for weeks and it didn't do anything, but 5 seconds in S-Note fixed it perfectly.

I think the reason it sucks so bad is that after a fresh install, the Samsung ROM doesn't even have default calibration data but it gets generated the first time S-Note is used. The only problem is that I never ever use S-Note because of LectureNotes.

 

[shardsx]

I can confirm that this method works perfectly, but ONLY if you do it inside S-Note. I'd been trying to re-calibrate it by writing on the edges for weeks and it didn't do anything, but 5 seconds in S-Note fixed it perfectly.

I think the reason it sucks so bad is that after a fresh install, the Samsung ROM doesn't even have default calibration data but it gets generated the first time S-Note is used. The only problem is that I never ever use S-Note because of LectureNotes.

Hi ngorgi,

I'd tried this method before but it never worked for me. Can you confirm something for me? When you are drawing in S-Note, you are drawing only on the S-Note's drawable surfaces? I mean, are you drawing into the top status bar areas or are you stopping where the status bar begins?

Thanks.

 

[QuanGan]

Assuming you are rooted? If so, try flashing civato's new kernel. It has integrated fix for S-Pen alignment.

this ？SphereKat-Rev4.1 Note8.0

 

[mruddick]

My S-Spen went goofy with 4.4.2 as well (fully stock)

Hi ngorgi,

I'd tried this method before but it never worked for me. Can you confirm something for me? When you are drawing in S-Note, you are drawing only on the S-Note's drawable surfaces? I mean, are you drawing into the top status bar areas or are you stopping where the status bar begins?

Thanks.

I am having similar stylus offset issues after 4.4.2 update. I am fully stock, and never had stylus offset issues. Crazy frustrating, and I actually opened a help case with Samsung, whose advice was to factory reset. Having never done one, I backed up via Kies, copied SDCard files, etc, but dang, what a bummer to go thru a factory reset and try to rebuild the tablet to have icons where I want them, apps, etc. Not to mention all of the local saved game progress that is gone. AND it did *nothing* to help the s-pen accuracy problems; I should have known better, but thought I'd give it a try. Samsung suggests sending it in for a tech to look at it, but not way I am doing that...I don't trust their level of support, to be quite honest.

So, I am equally interested in experiences that have gotten other users' SPens to start behaving. I have tried S-Note scribbling, but with vertical scrollbar, and menu stuff at the top and bottom of the screen, I surely cannot scribble the entire screen. I am also curious in more details on how anyone, using S-Note, got it to effect some positive change.

Thanks,
Mike


Now, after always staying stock, I am considering whether to use custom ROM or kernel; I saw the couple of posts about civx(sp?) ROMs making the s-pen work well again. So many questions on custom ROMs, though <sigh> but perhaps it's time to do some research and give it a shot.

 

[mruddick]

I have S Pen 4.4.2 issues, curious if our builds are the same?

I can confirm that this method works perfectly, but ONLY if you do it inside S-Note. I'd been trying to re-calibrate it by writing on the edges for weeks and it didn't do anything, but 5 seconds in S-Note fixed it perfectly.

I think the reason it sucks so bad is that after a fresh install, the Samsung ROM doesn't even have default calibration data but it gets generated the first time S-Note is used. The only problem is that I never ever use S-Note because of LectureNotes.

I also have S-Pen issues, and have not been able to get S-Note to drive a fix. I am running stock 4.4.2.
Just for completeness and clarity sake, I wonder if it makes sense for any of us to compare versions/builds that are on our tablets? I assume we are all on the same, but who knows...
Tablet -> about tells me:
GT-N5110
4.4.2
kernel 3.0.31-1498778
[email protected] #1
Fri May 23 20:39:57 KST 2014
Build KOT49H.N5110UEU2CNE2

-Mike

 

[CCallahan]

I can confirm that this method works perfectly, but ONLY if you do it inside S-Note. I'd been trying to re-calibrate it by writing on the edges for weeks and it didn't do anything, but 5 seconds in S-Note fixed it perfectly.

I think the reason it sucks so bad is that after a fresh install, the Samsung ROM doesn't even have default calibration data but it gets generated the first time S-Note is used. The only problem is that I never ever use S-Note because of LectureNotes.

Just keep in mind that not only does the framework require modification to fix the SPen accuracy but it is also in the kernel. Don't see how SNote can modify the kernel data and framework to fix. Not saying you don't see a big difference using the method you used, but have to wonder why it works for some and not others. Best option still is to root and install custom rom & kernel.

Just my $.02

 

[Spidey01]

I've found that (at least in INKredible) that it is much more noticible on portrait than landscape. Changing between them and back again seems to reduce the offset. I dunno why the orientation matters so much. Normally I use landscape.

 

[tarrumpit]

Just wondering if anyone is still having the S-Pen precision issues on a Note 8 device. I know I am, it's off by 1-2mm. Samsung are proving unable to recreate or fix it, although they have replaced the screen and 'some internal components' (so they told me).

 

[mruddick]

Yes, still having s-pen precision issues

Just wondering if anyone is still having the S-Pen precision issues on a Note 8 device. I know I am, it's off by 1-2mm. Samsung are proving unable to recreate or fix it, although they have replaced the screen and 'some internal components' (so they told me).

My s-spen offset has remained ever since the latest Samsung-pushed 4.4.2 OS update. I have tried the calibration routines (use s-note) without any success. A real bummer since I did use this tablet for drawing, and now it's useless for that. I keep waiting in hopes that Samsung releases a 4.4.4 (or Lollipop, but doubt it) update, and maybe that will fix the issue.

I saw elsewhere on this thread that someone, after multiple tech support attempts and tablet returns to Samsung, finally got a 4.0.x tablet returned to them, and the s-pen was fine again. Either way, what a bummer/hassle.

Mike

 

[gooberdude]

You can do it through Snot, just have to be patient and careful to do the edges... I did it long ago and was one of the first to tell peeps here on the Note 8.0 threads. I went from corner to corner without lifting the pen until I made it to where I started.

 

[mruddick]

Help me understand how you used S-Note to cal

You can do it through Snot, just have to be patient and careful to do the edges... I did it long ago and was one of the first to tell peeps here on the Note 8.0 threads. I went from corner to corner without lifting the pen until I made it to where I started.

Gotta love the autocomplete for S-Note (Snot) in your note. All good.

Anyhow, I have tried opening S-Note to do full edge tracing as a means to calibration, but I just can't seem to do it.
Here's the problems I am having, maybe you have some advice on how you did it?
- Holding the tablet in portrait mode (long edge up and down), I cannot get to the far right or left edges of the screen to draw onto. I either can't get the drawing page to extend to those edges, or if I zoom in, I get a vertical scollbar on the right that doesn't allow me to draw there. EDIT - just realized that if I collapse the toolbar that lets me select pen width, color, etc, the scrollbar goes away. Okay, so now I can get to the far left or right edges.
- Still holding the tablet in portrait mode, I cannot get to the far top or bottom edges while drawing. At the top, I have OS status bar (notifications, speaker status, wifi status, battery status, time, etc), and a menu bar for S-Note. At the bottom, I have a menu bar with things like being able to toggle between drawing and panning, adding page, etc. Is it necessary, in your experience, to get to the entire physical extents of the screen for the cal to work, or is drawing along the edges in a continuous line for this less-than-fullscreen areas sufficient?
- Any idea if this is maybe something that needs to happen the first time S-Note is opened, or should it be able to be done at any time?

Thanks for reading, and your replies, I sincerely hope this end up being a forehead-smacking (on my part) outcome.

-Mike

---------- Post added at 12:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 AM ----------

Gotta love the autocomplete for S-Note (Snot) in your note. All good.

Anyhow, I have tried opening S-Note to do full edge tracing as a means to calibration, but I just can't seem to do it.
Here's the problems I am having, maybe you have some advice on how you did it?
- Holding the tablet in portrait mode (long edge up and down), I cannot get to the far right or left edges of the screen to draw onto. I either can't get the drawing page to extend to those edges, or if I zoom in, I get a vertical scollbar on the right that doesn't allow me to draw there. EDIT - just realized that if I collapse the toolbar that lets me select pen width, color, etc, the scrollbar goes away. Okay, so now I can get to the far left or right edges.
- Still holding the tablet in portrait mode, I cannot get to the far top or bottom edges while drawing. At the top, I have OS status bar (notifications, speaker status, wifi status, battery status, time, etc), and a menu bar for S-Note. At the bottom, I have a menu bar with things like being able to toggle between drawing and panning, adding page, etc. Is it necessary, in your experience, to get to the entire physical extents of the screen for the cal to work, or is drawing along the edges in a continuous line for this less-than-fullscreen areas sufficient?
- Any idea if this is maybe something that needs to happen the first time S-Note is opened, or should it be able to be done at any time?

Thanks for reading, and your replies, I sincerely hope this end up being a forehead-smacking (on my part) outcome.

-Mike

Been trying to make a good edge all around the drawing page, and one place that trips me up is that I hit the 'save' button while trying to get the pen to draw all the way to top edge of the drawing page. I am assuming that somehow I need to avoid hitting the 'save' button, but still hit that last row of pixels that are just below the save button for this to work, eh?
-Mike

 

[rtiangha]

I think any drawing program might work. I used Autodesk Sketchbook since you could hide virtually everything to get to all four edges. I did make sure to draw a 1-2mm thick border and made sure there were no white spots left. Sometimes when scribbling on an edge or the corner of the screen, the line wouldn't actually touch the end of the screen until I did multiple passes (perhaps that was the calibration at work?). Who knows, maybe you don't even need a drawing program (definitely makes things easier to see though) and all you have to do is keep moving the stylus back and forth multiple times continuously on the edges. I did make sure to not lift up the stylus until I was finished, though. You wouldn't believe the hand cramps, lol.

 

[mruddick]

I think any drawing program might work. I used Autodesk Sketchbook since you could hide virtually everything to get to all four edges. I did make sure to draw a 1-2mm thick border and made sure there were no white spots left. Sometimes when scribbling on an edge or the corner of the screen, the line wouldn't actually touch the end of the screen until I did multiple passes (perhaps that was the calibration at work?). Who knows, maybe you don't even need a drawing program (definitely makes things easier to see though) and all you have to do is keep moving the stylus back and forth multiple times continuously on the edges. I did make sure to not lift up the stylus until I was finished, though. You wouldn't believe the hand cramps, lol.

Thanks for the reply and sharing your experience. I have Sketchbook (the Galaxy version), so I opened it up to give it a shot.
If you don't mind, I have some additional questions, etc, to try to make sure I am doing this as much the same as you have, which apparently gave you some good results.

In my case, the drawing onscreen gets offset a bit below (south of) the stylus contact point, but more so to the right (east of) the stylus contact point.
If I flip the tablet 180deg (so the home button is now at the top, north), the offset becomes a bit above (north of) the stylus contact point, but just about perfect in the right/left (east/west) direction.
I hold the stylus right-handed.
I try to use the tablet in the flipped (home button at the north) orientation for drawing, but the north/south offset still makes it pretty lame.

On to my questions:
I can get all but the top menu bar to disappear in Sketchbook. Are you doing something to make that menu bar disappear, as well?
When you say going back-and-forth to get the edges complete, do you sometimes go beyond the edge of the screen, and onto the body of the tablet a bit?
Or are you keeping the stylus contact point still within the screen/drawing area, going back and forth, until you finally see a line where you need it?

In my experience, to get the drawn lines to hit the full left edge, for example, I have to move the style about 2mm past the physical edge of the screen, onto the body of the tablet, to get the line to draw all the way to the edge.

Thanks for your replies and help, I'm still holding out I can make this thing happy again. And if that means some hand cramps, okay.

-Mike

 

[rtiangha]

Yeah, I had something similar and I'm also right handed. In Sketchbook, uncheck Toolbar Always Visible to make it disappear. Yes, I actually had to go outside the screen area. Rather than just trace the edges, what I did was a sort of very fine zig-zagging motion going back and forth between the screen and the bezel as I went down the edges (I didn't draw all the way to the edge of the device though, more like 1 cm or less past the edge of the LCD). I did make sure to completely fill in a 1 to 2 mm border around the edge of the LCD while I was at it (I used a fine point on the drawing tool though; can't remember the number but it wasn't the default as it was too thick. More like slightly greater than the lowest setting), and taking special care and doing multiple passes whenever I noticed the 'ink' not reaching the edge of the screen or white spots in the border I was drawing that wouldn't fill in on the first pass. They would fill in eventually the more times the stylus went over those areas; I just had to keep drawing over the area until it did, sometimes moving on and then coming back to the area later if nothing seemed to be happening. And again, I didn't lift the stylus up until I was completely finished drawing my solid border, which meant that if I screwed up, I would erase everything and start again from scratch. I don't know if what I did or how I did it was overkill, but the immediate result once I was done was the blue dot being directly under the stylus point, rather than 1 or 2 mm off. I was surprised that it was so instantaneous.

I'm also running rooted stock with no custom kernel, so it's possible to fix this without having to flash anything special.

 

[mruddick]

So glad that there might be hope given that you are running stock, albeit rooted.
The back of my mind wonders if you being rooted, and having an app that requires root, might inadvertently be contributing to the fix. Anyhow...

Some questions inline with your text below: (and thanks again for the replies, can't say it enough. Although now you have turned me into an obsessive screen scribbler in hopes of making this thing work again)

Yeah, I had something similar and I'm also right handed.

And I suppose that you are holding the sylus normally while you do this operation; meaning you are not changing the tilt or orientation of the stylus to try to get your full edges marked, correct?

In Sketchbook, uncheck Toolbar Always Visible to make it disappear. Yes, I actually had to go outside the screen area. Rather than just trace the edges, what I did was a sort of very fine zig-zagging motion going back and forth between the screen and the bezel as I went down the edges (I didn't draw all the way to the edge of the device though, more like 1 cm or less past the edge of the LCD). I did make sure to completely fill in a 1 to 2 mm border around the edge of the LCD while I was at it (I used a fine point on the drawing tool though; can't remember the number but it wasn't the default as it was too thick. More like slightly greater than the lowest setting), and taking special care and doing multiple passes whenever I noticed the 'ink' not reaching the edge of the screen or white spots in the border I was drawing that wouldn't fill in on the first pass. They would fill in eventually the more times the stylus went over those areas; I just had to keep drawing over the area until it did, sometimes moving on and then coming back to the area later if nothing seemed to be happening. And again, I didn't lift the stylus up until I was completely finished drawing my solid border, which meant that if I screwed up

Uh, define 'screwed up'. I notice that while I am going off the screen and onto the bezel, certainly less than 1cm away from the screen, sometimes I see the 'menu' and 'back' soft buttons illuminate on the tablet. I believe that illumination happens when the tablet sees the stylus. Assuming that's correct, it leads me to also believe that in going beyond the screen and onto the bezel, I have gone too far and the tablet interprets that as having lifted the stylus. Agree?

And, so, in your explanation, is any time that you see the soft buttons light up, you know you've screwed up and need to start over? <cringe>

, I would erase everything and start again from scratch. I don't know if what I did or how I did it was overkill, but the immediate result once I was done was the blue dot being directly under the stylus point, rather than 1 or 2 mm off. I was surprised that it was so instantaneous.

I'm also running rooted stock with no custom kernel, so it's possible to fix this without having to flash anything special.

 

[rtiangha]

I use the stylus normally. That may include tilting the stylus at a different angle to get at some of the hard to reach places. Sometimes I'll rotate the tablet while scribbling to make things easy on myself but in general I try not to change things as much as possible once I start.

By "screw up" I mean accidentally lift the stylus. If I notice a broken line because my hand starts to go spastic, then I've screwed up.

The one time I avoid the bezel is at the bottom. I try not to hit the capacitive buttons for fear of it thinking that it's a different input and thus no longer one continuous line like you say. But I do try to fill the border to the edge as much as possible. The other edges seem to be fine. Or at least, I never encountered issues by scribbling outside the screen in those areas. Might be easier to start from the bottom and work your way up.

Rooting should have no effect on the calibration. I only mentioned it as an aside. The main point I was trying to make is that this method works fine on a stock kernel.

But honestly, the best way to test this all out is to try it for yourself. If it doesn't work and you're ready to throw in the towel, you could try flashing Civato's custom kernel which claims to fix the calibration stuff out of the box, for the most part (it's based on Samsung's kernel source with some of his own tweaks) and see if that works for you. You can find it by searching one of the Note 8 Android Dev forums (I don't have the link on me).

Sent from my SGH-T859 using Tapatalk

 

[mruddick]

I use the stylus normally. That may include tilting the stylus at a different angle to get at some of the hard to reach places. Sometimes I'll rotate the tablet while scribbling to make things easy on myself but in general I try not to change things as much as possible once I start.

By "screw up" I mean accidentally lift the stylus. If I notice a broken line because my hand starts to go spastic, then I've screwed up.

The one time I avoid the bezel is at the bottom. I try not to hit the capacitive buttons for fear of it thinking that it's a different input and thus no longer one continuous line like you say. But I do try to fill the border to the edge as much as possible. The other edges seem to be fine. Or at least, I never encountered issues by scribbling outside the screen in those areas. Might be easier to start from the bottom and work your way up.

Rooting should have no effect on the calibration. I only mentioned it as an aside. The main point I was trying to make is that this method works fine on a stock kernel.

But honestly, the best way to test this all out is to try it for yourself. If it doesn't work and you're ready to throw in the towel, you could try flashing Civato's custom kernel which claims to fix the calibration stuff out of the box, for the most part (it's based on Samsung's kernel source with some of his own tweaks) and see if that works for you. You can find it by searching one of the Note 8 Android Dev forums (I don't have the link on me).

Sent from my SGH-T859 using Tapatalk

Absolutely re:trying it out myself. I have been all along, but have not been able to effect any difference yet. Hence, my clarifying questions to understand your particular experience better.

I suspect part of the problem is when I see the capacitive buttons flash; not because I am hitting them, but because I think I am going too far onto the bezel with the stylus and creating what is essentially a lifted stylus event. On some areas of my tablet, if I go less than a millimeter onto the bezel, I get the capacitive button flash. Quite hard to find that perfect balance between drawing onto the bezel to get the line to appear on the last set of pixels at the edge of the screen, versus going too far and triggering a lifted stylus response. Each edge of the screen behaves a little differently, which makes sense given the offset, but the corners get incredibly touchy where sometimes I am still on the screen, not the bezel, and a lifted stylus is triggered. Grrr, sigh.

Getting all the way around the tablet without causing a capacitive button flash, which presumably indicates a noncontinuous path, hasn't been successful yet. But still trying and hoping...

Thanks again,
Mike

 

[mruddick]

... and you're ready to throw in the towel, you could try flashing Civato's custom kernel which claims to fix the calibration stuff out of the box, for the most part (it's based on Samsung's kernel source with some of his own tweaks) and see if that works for you. You can find it by searching one of the Note 8 Android Dev forums (I don't have the link on me).
Sent from my SGH-T859 using Tapatalk

Yeah, for some reason I keep holding on to wanting to keep it all stock. Probably because any time I have entertained rooting and going custom ROM/kernel, I find conflicting information on how to do it, where to get files that are official, etc. I don't have a fear of interacting with the tablet, flashing it, etc; but there seem to be so many tools and places to grab ROMs, and lots of conflicting advice or information.

Regardless, the Civato kernel or ROM you mention I think is SphereKat, right? Ie. this one http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2775998, yes? I think to do it right, both kernel and ROM need to be applied.

Edit1: Okay, I threw the towel in. Rooted, tried the kernel above, but it made some apps and games kind of wonky/choppy, and I was seeing some Chrome app crashes. Then I realized a newer civato kernel was prob better, the one that depends on kitkit bootloader (can't remember the name of the kernel). So after a few learning curve moments, I was able to get that kernel in, keeping the stock ROM/OS, and things seems REALLY good now. For sure hte SPen is working like it should. Dunno if I will investigate doing a cutom ROM to maybe get a bit more SPen accuracy, but it's mucho mejor now.

Thanks again for the detailed responses, it at least gave me confidence that I did about all I could before going root route. Now I suppose Samsung will release Lollipop, with SPen fixes, for this tablet tomorrow...since I can't get OTA updates anymore from what I can tell.

-Mike

 

[rtiangha]

Yeah, just the kernel is enough. I wish I knew how civato "fixed" the S-Pen issues in the kernel and I'm curious as to why Samsung doesn't set their kernel to those settings by default.

And yeah, you won't get anymore OTA updates from Samsung anymore, but I have a feeling that outside of *maybe* a 4.4.4 update (the GT-N5100 got one in Poland back in January), that might it for this tablet. We'll see, though. Anyway, glad you got your tablet issues sorted out!

 

[fedex2go]

I actually managed to get my S-Pen recalibrated. I opened up S-Note and scribbled all around the edges until there was a solid 0.5 cm border. But the trick is that I did it all in a single stroke (or in other words, I never lifted the pen until I had filled in all the edges, which took a long while). After that, the dot now appears right under the pen. And it stays across applications. It worked for me; maybe it'll work for you

Hm, sounds like a lot of BS, one can't get to the screen edges in S-Note (due to horizontal status & menu bars).

It's really upsetting that Samsung omitted such an important tool as calibration, it's well known fact that Wacom digitizers tend to loose calibration over time (due to magnetic nature), and need to be re-calibrated. Heck, my 2005 Toshiba M200 has one, and 2007 Lenovo X61T, too. I guess it's better to stick with Windows tablets if good pen support is needed.

My I467 is a paperweight now, S Pen is off 1-2mm on part of the screen (maybe due to 4.4.2 OTA update, not sure). Now use my old trusty X61T for drawing. If I won't be able to fix calibration issue on i467, then will buy Dell Venue 8 Pro with N-Trig digitizer and Win8.