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Tornado PowerControl


Guest merwin

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Guest merwin

Tornado PowerControl 1.2

©2006 merwin

Download:

Tornado PowerControl v1.2

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.

Supported Phones:

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

Command Line Usage:

* Start the program with either the 'dim' or 'bright' arguments (default 'bright') to start the application in dim or bright mode

* Start the program with either the 'hide' or 'show' arguments (default 'show') to hide or show the application at startup

* Start the program with the 'toggle' arguement to change between dim and bright mode

* 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

Event Shortcuts:

* Event Shortcuts are started whenever the phone display changes modes

* If the files do not exist, they will not be executed

* 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

Version History:

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 Svent Shortcuts as well as 'Dim' and 'Bright' display settings

Edited by merwin
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Guest merwin

Hint hint, this can be used to run 'OmapClock' every time the screen turns on :-)

I had some problems where OmapClock would lock the phone up when doing changes that were too big or trying to overclock when 'On' and underclock when 'UserIdle', so watch out for that.

I wouldn't try using this on anything other than a Tornado... not sure what will happen.

BTW, the 'dim' display setting is the same as the TornadoLowLight application, so this can be used in replacement of that if needed.

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Guest nastassja

great app! thanks for the hint merwin, I thought the same when i was reading the post lol

i will install it in my qtek 8310 and let you know

Edited by nastassja
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Guest merwin

I have mine overclocked at 228 when 'on' happens, then down to '180' for backlight off, and no shortcut event for 'useridle'

On: Phone is on and being used

BacklightOff: The 'dim' mode of the backlight

UserIdle: The mode where the display is completely turned off.

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Guest nastassja

i dont really know how to use it... i copied the app and the dll file to my storage card, but how to configure the events and stuff?

i want to do the same as you, set it to 228 when ON, and to 180 when OFF...

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Guest merwin

Read the .txt file :-)

To have it set up like mine, create 2 shortcuts to the OmapClock application. Edit those shortcuts so they have the -clock parameter... similar to:

#40"\Program Files\OmapClock\OmapClock.exe" -clock 228

and

#40"\Program Files\OmapClock\OmapClock.exe" -clock 180

To edit them, I usually copy them to my computer and open them in notepad. Basically, just add the -clock 228 and -clock 180 to whatever is already in the OmapClock shortcuts and copy them back to the phone. Also note that they probably won't show as having the .lnk file extension when they are on your computer, but they will have it after you copy it back.

Rename the overclocked shortcut to Power_On.lnk and the normal one to Power_BacklightOff.lnk

Copy both of those lnk files into the same folder that TornadoPowerControl.exe is in.

Now those lnk files should be executed when the phone switches into the appropriate display modes.

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Guest Islanti
* 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.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A few requests...

* Can the screen brightness be changed without bringing up the application?

* Can the program have a command-line option to NOT display anything on startup?

These would be nice to keep the program's window from appearing constantly.

* Can the program not go active if already running and it is run again with new options (bright / dim)? Right now the window pops up, and no changes are made to the display state.

* Could you create a toggle option for brightness ("TornadoPowerControl.exe" togglebright)?

With these changes, we could have 1 shortcut to switch the screen brightness, rather than two. These would work whether the program is running or not already. This would be more useful for assigning a speed dial key to toggle screen brightness.

Edited by Islanti
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Guest merwin
A few requests...

* Can the screen brightness be changed without bringing up the application?

* Can the program have a command-line option to NOT display anything on startup?

Yes, I can have an option automatically hide itself on startup. The program must remain in the background for it to work (since it monitors the power activity), but I can have it auto-hide itself. I"ll add that in ASAP.

As for changing the brightness without bringing up the application, I'll have to figure out a clever way to do this. I think that the way WM5 handles applications is that if the program you are trying to execute is already running, it will just switch to that application. I'm not exactly sure what to do to get it to toggle. I'll look into it though.

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Guest Islanti
I think that the way WM5 handles applications is that if the program you are trying to execute is already running, it will just switch to that application. I'm not exactly sure what to do to get it to toggle.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The way I've seen this done in the past is to run a stub .EXE that just sits in RAM, with the actual UI as a separate program that exits after passing the appropriate commands to the stub.

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Guest merwin
The way I've seen this done in the past is to run a stub .EXE that just sits in RAM, with the actual UI as a separate program that exits after passing the appropriate commands to the stub.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Check out v1.1 Beta 1 posted in the first post in this thread. It has the ability to autohide... which really just means that right after it starts, it shows the desktop :-) Apparently microsoft didn't think a 'hide' feature was appropriate for smartphones. The one they included hides it from EVERYTHING, including task manager.

So instead of starting it with TornadoPowerControl.exe bright, you'd use TornadoPowerControl.exe bright hide.

The Parameters can be in any order you want.

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Guest Islanti

Thanks for the hard work on the new version! There is a minor issue I see with your solution. If I'm in IE, for example, and I want to brighten the screen I might run the program from xBar. Since you're showing the homescreen after running, I then have to go find IE again.

* Could you create a toggle option for brightness ("TornadoPowerControl.exe" togglebright)?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This would still be nice, if it's possible. ;)

Either way, thanks for the software!

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Guest merwin
Thanks for the hard work on the new version!  There is a minor issue I see with your solution.  If I'm in IE, for example, and I want to brighten the screen I might run the program from xBar.  Since you're showing the homescreen after running, I then have to go find IE again.

This would still be nice, if it's possible. ;)

Either way, thanks for the software!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm planning on implementing the toggle function very soon (using a second tiny application that only sends a message to the main application and then exits), which will eliminate the problem you are describing.

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Guest merwin

I very much doubt it, although you can feel free to try it at your own risk. It's .NET Compact Framework 2.0, so it's probably only supported on WM5, and on top of that it's power saving 'features' are probably implemented differently.

Hi Merwin excellent work ;)

Do you know if this would work on the C550 or lower devices :??:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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Guest volkl23
Thank you Merwin. The program works FLAWLESSLY with Omap. You are my hero! Nice job! ;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Quick question... when I enable the hide mode, will the program still show up in the task manager?

Also, when I exit the program, and I actually quitting it, or just "hiding" it?

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Guest merwin
Quick question... when I enable the hide mode, will the program still show up in the task  manager?

Also, when I exit the program, and I actually quitting it, or just "hiding" it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, all the 'hide' mode does is show the desktop after launching the application. It will still show up in task manager.

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Guest Snooginsguy
Thank you Merwin. The program works FLAWLESSLY with Omap. You are my hero! Nice job! ;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It does work well with Omapclock, but I had a few glitches running it on my 2125. The first one was that if I Exit or stop PowerControl from the Task MAnager, my backlight never turns off till I reset the phone. Another more subtle discrepancy that I cannot directly correlate to PowerControl Though it has not occurred when PowerControl is not running) is that my phone will randomly switch over to Flight mode. Other than these couple quirks, though, it does work quite well, and really does resolve the shortcoming of Omap resetting the clock speed when the screen turns off! Thanks for the product merwin!

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Guest merwin
can't download, can you update the links please?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The server that they're hosted on went down but is back up now

Edited by merwin
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Guest merwin
It does work well with Omapclock, but I had a few glitches running it on my 2125.  The first one was that if I Exit or stop PowerControl from the Task MAnager, my backlight never turns off till I reset the phone.  Another more subtle discrepancy that I cannot directly correlate to PowerControl Though it has not occurred when PowerControl is not running) is that my phone will randomly switch over to Flight mode.  Other than these couple quirks, though, it does work quite well, and really does resolve the shortcoming of Omap resetting the clock speed when the screen turns off!  Thanks for the product merwin!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a very good reason why that happens when you quit the program using Task Manager. It's not cleanly exiting the program. There's cleanup that must be done when you exit the program (setting the lowlight back to normal), or what you described wil happen.

As for flight mode, I can't see how my software would affect that, since I'm only changing settings for the Display. How often does this happen?

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Guest merwin
Thanks for the hard work on the new version!  There is a minor issue I see with your solution.  If I'm in IE, for example, and I want to brighten the screen I might run the program from xBar.  Since you're showing the homescreen after running, I then have to go find IE again.

This would still be nice, if it's possible. ;)

Either way, thanks for the software!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Try version 1.2 (find it in the first post in this thread). You can use the command line option 'toggle' to toggle the display. Add 'hide' to that and it will go back to the last application that you were in.

This solution basically is allowing multiple instances of the application. If you use the 'toggle' option, it changes the mode, and then brings up the existing Tornado PowerControl window, and then exits. If you use 'toggle hide', it changes the mode, and exits, leaving the last used application in the foreground.

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Guest Islanti
Try version 1.2 (find it in the first post in this thread). You can use the command line option 'toggle' to toggle the display. Add 'hide' to that and it will go back to the last application that you were in.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The program works wonderfully now! Thanks for this great app.

If you're bored, there are a few other ideas...

* Hide the program from task manager on initial load.

* Display no UI at all during initial load to remove program from "back" key history.

* Configuration dialog for shortcut(s) to run at different power states.

* Shorten load time. The program seems to take a very long time to load. Perhaps because of the .NET library?

Again, just a few ideas that come to mind. The program works great as it is. ;)

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