So, according to all kinds of rumors the Xperia 10 III does have a magnetic/hall sensor, but it has been “disabled” ob both Android and SailfishOS devices.
Can someone say how ‘disabled’ that thing really is?
Because for one there’s hints that it does do something here, and myself I see the following:
I have an aftermarket “book” style case with a magnet in the flap.
Usually when sitting and browsing things on the internet I have the flap flipped over to the back side, and use index and middle finger to hold the flap (thus securing the phone so it can’t slip out of my hands).
Diagram:
screen side
=========================
| Phone | )
========================= |
______________ /
index finger ) /
-------------- /
--------[~]----------- book case flap w/ magnet [~]
_______________
ring finger )
---------------
As is wont to happen on the interwebs, regularly there come Facepalm moments, in which I use my left hand to perform the facepalm, and put the phone down with my right hand.
When putting down, I remove the fingers and put it e.g. on my upper leg or a table.
Now, it regularly happens at this moment that the display goes off.
Picking the phone up again sometimes turns it right on again, in any case it is not locked.
So basically it’s the opposite of this post.
I believe this is the hall/magnet sensor reacting to the flap magnet coming into contact on the back of the phone.
Questions:
does the theory sound reasonable?
is is possible that the sensor is indeed active, contrary to the official “rumors”? (e.g. because I flashed on top of an Android version that didn’t have the turn off fix?)
--set-lid-sensor-mode=<enabled|disabled>
set the lid sensor mode; valid modes are:
'enabled' and 'disabled'
--set-lid-open-actions=<disabled|unblank|tkunlock>
set the lid open actions; valid modes are:
'disabled' ignore lid open
'unblank' unblank (and show lockscreen)
'tkunlock' unblank and deactivate lockscreen (if possible)
--set-lid-close-actions=<disabled|blank|tklock>
set the lid close actions; valid modes are:
'disabled' ignore lid close
'blank' blank display
'tklock' blank display and activate lockscreen
$ mcetool | grep -i lid
Kbd slide blank inhibit: disabled
PS acts as LID sensor: disabled
Use lid sensor mode: enabled
Filter lid with als: disabled
Lid closed als limit: 0 (lux)
Lid open actions: tkunlock
Lid close actions: tklock
Kbd slide open trigger: no-proximity
Kbd slide open actions: unblank
Kbd slide close trigger: after-open
Kbd slide close actions: tklock
I’ll experiment with ALS filter mode ( --set-filter-lid-with-als), maybe that helps.
Oh and while revisiting MCE I also found this (which is ON on my device):
--set-orientation-change-is-activity=<enabled|disabled>
set the orientation change cancels inactivity toggle; valid modes are:
'enabled' orientation changes keep display on etc
'disabled' orientation changes do not affect inactivity state
Hmm, on reflection and taking 5 minutes to play, I realise that perhaps mcetool is of no help here. I don’t have a case for my device, but I do have a small magnet wrapped in blutak. I don’t seem to be able to affect the device at all with any settings previously listed. I guess the cover just works on the proximity sensor and timing.
Jeez, Sony implemented a flaky hall sensor and disabled it deliberately in SoC? What else did they mess up with this device (e.g. the way off LED colours because of wrong current to power the led, missing echo cancelation even if correct acdb IDs are in use, the OLED screen colour problem and last but not least the hall sensor that is not working reliably and instead of finding and fixing the issue let’s simply remove it from the SoC sensors).
a) there IS a working Hall sensor inside the device
b) it is NOT disabled by Sony
I upgraded my device to firmware 62.0.A.9.11 (latest Android 11) before flashing Sailfish OS.
You should place your magnet on top of the phone approx. 1cm left to the volume up/down button to turn on the display if you remove the magnet from that position (or turn it off if you replace it).
If the magnet is in the right position the state will switch from 0 to 1:
It works just fine also when installing on first recommended Android 10. I have had this magnetic book case since day one, so I never even thought about it.
Sorry about the Swedish site.
Wow, it works! I just moved the magnet in my case to the correct position; I use the same case as with X10 II, so the magnet just needs to be in a different place. I would never have found the correct place myself, thank you!
