182 replies to this topic

[joetemp]

merwin, on Mar 2 2006, 02:32, said:

http://www.modaco.co...ode=sst&id=1640File Name: Tornado PowerControl
File Submitter: merwin
File Submitted: 1 Mar 2006
File Updated: 4 Aug 2006
File Category: Utilities - Phone Management

Tornado PowerControl 2.0 Beta 4
©2006 Jurasa LLC

THE COMPANY NAME IN THE INSTALLER HAS CHANGED IN THIS VERSION. UNINSTALL ANY VERSION OF TPC ON YOUR PHONE BEFORE INSTALLING THE NEW VERSION.

**********
NOTE: TPC Version 1.4 (which uses .NET CF 1.0) and can be downloaded from:
http://merwin.bespin.org/tornado/TornadoPowerControl14.cab
Version 1.4 is not fully featured
**********

Features:
* Runs a program when the On, BacklightOff, and UserIdle Display events are triggered
* Has a 'Dim' and 'Bright' Display setting. Dim setting keeps the display at the 'BacklightOff' brightness at all times, while bright keeps it the normal
  setting.
* Control CPU Speed directly (using OMAPClock)
* Automatic switching of CPU Speed based on CPU Load to maximize performance and battery life

Supported Phones:
* Any HTC Tornado phone (i-mate SP5, i-mate SP5m, Cingular 2125, T-Mobile SDA USA, etc)

Requirements (READ THIS!!!):
* Compact Framework 2.0 is required! This is a small download and SP1 can now be installed to the Storage Card.
* CF2.0 SP1 for the Tornado can be download from: http://merwin.bespin.org/cf2/NETCFv2.wm.armv4i.cab

Command Line Usage:
* Start the program with either the 'dim' or 'bright' arguments to start the application in dim or bright mode
* Start the program with the 'hide' argument to hide the application at startup
* Start the program with the 'toggle' arguement to start the application in the opposite brightness mode that was used the last time the program was executed
* Example shortcut file to start the program in 'dim' mode:
  60#"\Program Files\TornadoPowerControl\TornadoPowerControl.exe" dim hide
* Example shortcut file to start the program in 'bright' mode:
  60#"\Program Files\TornadoPowerControl\TornadoPowerControl.exe" bright show
* Example shortcut file to toggle the display between 'dim' and 'bright' mode:
  60#"\Program Files\TornadoPowerControl\TornadoPowerControl.exe" toggle hide

Display Modes:
* On - Display is at full brightness
* BacklightOff - Display has dimmed after being idle for a period of time
* UserIdle - Display has completely turned off

CPU Speed Control:
* NOTE: The creator of Tornado PowerControl (TPC) is not responsible for any damage you do to your phone through overlocking or underclocking!
* The HTC Tornado phone automatically resets CPU speed when the phone goes into power saving mode. TPC automatically changes the CPU speed when the phone comes out of power saving mode.
* Since large changes of CPU speed tend to lock the phone up, the CPU speed is actually changed twice when you select a speed. First, it is changed to 180MHz, then it is changed to whatever is selected. This provides additional stability.
* CPU Speed is saved in the Registry and will be automatically saved when changed.
* The CPU speed displayed in TPC is the setting stored in the registry, not the actual CPU speed. To verify CPU speed, run OmapClock.

Automatic CPU Speed Control:
* NOTE: This feature is BETA. Any input on how to improve this would be appreciated.
* TPC has an option to automatically control CPU speed. This will set the speed of the CPU based on CPU Load.
* The CPU Load is polled up to 4 times per second when the display is on, and is not polled when the phone is in power saving mode (display completely off)
* The CPU is switched between 116 MHz, 180 MHz, and 228 MHz based on an algorithm. Basically, it will step up very quickly, and step down slowly.
* 116 MHz will be used if the CPU Load is under 33% for 10 seconds.
* 228 MHz will be used once the CPU Load reaches 66%.
* The phone will step up as fast as it can, but will only step down every 10 seconds (if needed).

Event Shortcuts:
* Event Shortcuts are started whenever the phone display changes modes
* If the files do not exist or are empty, they will not be executed and an error will be displayed in the application
* Any application can be executed from these links.
* Create and place the following files in the same folder as TornadoPowerControl.exe
  Power_On.lnk
  Power_BacklightOff.lnk
  Power_UserIdle.lnk
* The shortcut files that are included with the application are empty and must be replaced with real links before they will work

Version History:
2.0 Beta 4 - Fixed a bug causing the state of the CPU Speed Indicator not to be saved at exit. Fixed a bug that would cause the application to not fully exit under rare circumstances. Changed form behavior to only show one form at a time - The main form is hidden when another form is active.
2.0 Beta 3 - Fixed a bug causing the app to not start... Forgot to include OpenNETCF.Windows.Forms.dll
2.0 Beta 2 - Added configurable settings for the 'Auto CPU Speed' speeds. Added graphical CPU Speed Indicator for the notification bar. Squashed a bug that caused the app to minimize when the display went to dim. Changed creator from the creator 'merwin' to the formal company name of 'Jurasa LLC'
2.0 Beta 1 - Complete rewrite of the software. Added a new scrolling form layout. Added Automatic CPU Speed Control. Changed 'Dim' back from D4 to D3
1.45  - Upgraded to Compact Framework 2.0 and OpenNetCF SDF2.0. Changed 'Dim' from D3 to D4. Rewrote process execution to provide more detailed errors. Altered method of changing display brightness to help prevent the display from staying off if the app crashes.
1.4  - Shiny new CAB installer. Optimized events to prevent duplicate events from happening. Added OMAPClock control to the application. Added 'About TPC' option. Rearranged GUI.
1.3             - Fixed 'backlight stays on forever when exiting' bug. Changed app to not allow any program other than TPC to close TPC (including XBar).
1.2             - Added 'toggle' command line option. Allowed multiple instances of app to start, but only one stays resident (to allow toggling). Last Display state is also saved in the registry
1.1 Beta 1      - Added 'hide' and 'show' command line options
1.0             - Initial Version. Includes Event Shortcuts as well as 'Dim' and 'Bright' display settings
Click here to download this file

i installed the program and i keep getting an error saying cannot initiate I/O

[Hmoll]

svtmook, on Aug 25 2006, 14:22, said:

can someone please explain the "power_on.ink, power_backlight.ink and power_useridle.ink"?

i just installed this app, and the readme says to create files in the same folder as tpc.exe (/programs/tpc/ ).  there are folders with these names there already.

now, here in the thread, it says to create shortcuts.  what am i to link these shortcuts to?

I'm a very happy user (for months!) of TPC.  But,  I am also confused (very) as to what these files do.  I understand how to use them,  but for what purpose?

I'm wondering what someone would put in these files.  What would I want to start every time the mode changes?

Any purposeful examples?

[adamsbrian74]

3 quick questions on this app.

1.) Is there a way to get the CPU Status indicator on the homescreen?
2.) Is it possible to set this application up to auto start from the startup folder and auto minimize so it's always running when the phone is booted, etc?
3.) Also, does it need to run as an app?  Couldn't this be setup as a service so it's not in the list of applications from a task manager perspective?

I just stumbled on to this application, and got it to install perfectly on my Dopod S300.....just starting to actually use it and wanted to see if those 3 questions were worth the time of this typing!

Thanks!

[DXL007]

I can't seem to get it to work also

[heavylift]

HTC  S 620  stable at 264 mhz, but more reliable at 252 mhz, thanks for this great ap.   video quality increasead dramaticly!!!

[sergiopi]

heavylift, on Oct 30 2006, 17:42, said:

HTC  S 620  stable at 264 mhz, but more reliable at 252 mhz, thanks for this great ap.   video quality increasead dramaticly!!!

On my HTC 620 I am using it to have more battery time...  Power Control and the DOWNCLOCK feature are important for me. Any experience using omaclock on Excalibur or Tornado devices to improve battery life?

[heavylift]

sergiopi, on Nov 1 2006, 13:04, said:

On my HTC 620 I am using it to have more battery time...  Power Control and the DOWNCLOCK feature are important for me. Any experience using omaclock on Excalibur or Tornado devices to improve battery life?

As for the overclocking feature, there is no doubt, at least for me, that the speed increases and also, battery consumption, not that great deal, but is preceptable. i´ve tried to underclock to many speeds, 108, 124, but normaly i´ll go for 132 mhz that is the first speed sugested by the program, well is shure that something is working slower, menus, everything, what is odd , is the fact that , i at least with my s620, can´t find any, SuBSTANCIAL  diference in battery consumption or economy, i ain´t saying that it don´t exists, but is not perceptable to me, that for me is enought for using the normal clock speed of 201mhz ( the program says it´s running at 186 mhz..) for battery saving, anyway . (for instances, if you compare the underclock feature as for battery saving, with the tornado low light, the dim light feature will give u much more autonomy , hands down)

Edited by heavylift, 03 November 2006 - 02:59 PM.

[kwues]

@ heavylift

Just curious to know how you were able to change the default highest setting of 228 in the PowerControl App to 252 or 264 for your Excalibur. Basically I would like it to be at 252 at all times, I guess the only way is to have the app (PowerControl) running in the background all the time even when the device goes into standby so when awakened it will still be overclocked at 252. I would greatly appreciate your time and help, thank you.

Regards,

[andy_sutton]

Can someone clear me up on this please?  I created the shortcuts as follows but I left them with the default of pointing to the executable with no options.  Is that how it's intended to work if I have TPC set to auto-CPU?

Power_On.lnk
Power_BacklightOff.lnk
Power_UserIdle.lnk

All contain:
        60#"\Program Files\TornadoPowerControl\TornadoPowerControl.exe"

Do I need to add options after them to manually change CPU and brightness or will the Auto function take care of that for me?

I also created a shortcut in the \windows\startup folder to start TPC automatically and hide (below)
       60#"\Program Files\TornadoPowerControl\TornadoPowerControl.exe" hide

But it doesn't hide it pops up in the foreground and I have to exit.  Again is this the way it's intended to work or am I doing something wrong?

-Andy-

Edited by andy_sutton, 18 November 2006 - 02:07 PM.

[Wombleuk]

Hmmm. Nothing from the author in nearly two months now.

[merwin]

Wombleuk, on Nov 18 2006, 07:13, said:

Hmmm. Nothing from the author in nearly two months now.

I'm hoping that various users will  provide some support for the product themselves All of these questions have been answered before.

In any case, I lost the source to the recent versions of the software, so I'm going to have to start from the beginning for lots of the features. This isn't going to happen for a month or so probably, as my paying job has priority, and it's keeping me very busy.

[Wombleuk]

Well, looks like my problem won't get fixed then.

Nice to see you're still on the case though.
Cheers.

[hujer]

merwin, on Nov 20 2006, 01:40, said:

... I lost the source to the recent versions of the software, so I'm going to have to start from the beginning for lots of the features....

That's funny. I don't understand how you can lost it. Did you hear about backups ?
Oh, nevermind. Second time it is much faster and sometimes better. Good luck.

[sszz]

Any solutions for ActiveSync disconnecting when TPC is running? My qtek8310 does it either. I've tried auto as well as manual settings (even P_On, Idle, Backlight_off all clocked to factory 180) and the problem is still present. The only thing that helps if I quit the program. Thats sucks...

[compoundw]

Where do you get the most recent version?  The link just sends you to version 1.4 and if you go to http://bespin.org/~merwin/tornado/ the most recent version you can get is version 2.0 Beta 1.

Thanks

[compoundw]

compoundw, on Dec 15 2006, 13:45, said:

Where do you get the most recent version?  The link just sends you to version 1.4 and if you go to http://bespin.org/~merwin/tornado/ the most recent version you can get is version 2.0 Beta 1.

Thanks

Nevermind found it.  Thanks tho.

[hankejh]

Anton Oprya, on Jul 27 2006, 04:58, said:

I have some problems with TPC:
- on first launch with keys trim hide TPC works correctly, but next launch makes TPC not hide and display mode doesn’t change (dim/bright)
- on running TPC other programs minimize more quickly than specified in device settings
P.S. Enabled automatic mode

I love this program, Merwin.  Brilliant - my phone is so fast. I'm using 2.0 Beta 4.

The placement of the EXIT button "in" the left soft key leads me to inadvertently exit the program when I think I'm unlocking the phone -- Cingular 2125 unlocked using left-soft-key and then *.

Does the hide flag work in this release?  The program keeps popping up everytime I use the phone (after it has gone into dim).  The shortcut in my Start folder reads:

73#"\Storage Card\Program Files\TornadoPowerControl\TornadoPowerControl.exe" bright hide

Thanks!

Edited by hankejh, 29 January 2007 - 05:31 PM.

[Cybertronic]

hankejh, you could try the Load to background program which makes Tornado PowerControl a background process and it will not appear in  task manager.

However it doesn't always work 100% for me because sometimes if I press the back button on my homescreen, Tornada PowerControl will appear but most of the time, this doesn't happen. It's well worth trying this program out

[hankejh]

Cybertronic, on Jan 29 2007, 13:36, said:

hankejh, you could try the Load to background program which makes Tornado PowerControl a background process and it will not appear in  task manager.

However it doesn't always work 100% for me because sometimes if I press the back button on my homescreen, Tornada PowerControl will appear but most of the time, this doesn't happen. It's well worth trying this program out

Thanks for the tip, Cybertronic!  

I installed Load v. 1.01 - and while it may be early to report, it appears to be working as expected.  AND it eliminated the problem I was having with Exiting Tornado PowerControl when I thought I was unlocking the keypad!

[barn]

Hi

Tried to install both the Compact Framework 2.0 (from Microsoft website) on T-Mobile SDA (United Kingdom) and it wouldn't/couldn't install.

Any ideas? Should I try to install Tornado PowerControl without the Compact Framework?

barn