[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note I717] dkelley:
UPDATE: IT SEEMS TO WORK (read below, more than half way down this long multipost to find the link and instructions. ONLY SHOULD WORK ON TEAM PERFECTION ICS OBJECTION RC1 radio5 from june 28th though!)

ok.... interesting news...

I decompiled the framework and found the autobrightness settings that are used in team perfections latest ICS rom from june 28th or whenever, the one I'm using, and imho the latest greatest and best rom for this phone assuming you actually want to use the stylus and want the new s-pen app from samsung like I did.

The autobrightness levels in this rom ARE set quite low!

brightest value that can be set is 255. highest in autobrightness is 200 in this rom.

overall levels are somewhat lower than stock.

So I've adjusted them to some rather arbitrarily higher values, loosely based on what I've seen in some examples of other phones @ stock levels but with lower dark levels because I do think the note is a little too bright in a very dark room.

I recompiled the apk with "apparent" success.

Before I push it to my phone I'm making a new nandroid of my rom as it is since I really like my phone the way it's working currently, other than being almost useless in autobrightness mode.

PS there are other brightness settings which I suspect affect how it responds to light levels, but I know less than zero about those settings and first just want to see how this works, if it works at all.

So in about 3 minutes I'll reboot my phone, push the file over and reboot again, and I'll update this thread with my results.

If it works then I'll post the apk and some form of instructions (probably using root explorer since that's the product I use for these tasks) to push the file into your phone if you use the same rom I do.

BY THE WAY - if you dont' use the same rom that I use then this apk file will probably break your rom and possibly brick your phone, so only try my apk if you use the same rom I use.

the thread for the rom I use is this one:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1733216

I'm running RC1.

Only other thing I've done is add a newer busybox and su than is used in RC1, as I mentioned in my own first post in that thread (which was only a couple days ago I think since I just moved to the Note from some low end and/or older android phones). While I can't imagine that su and bb make any difference to my potential success with this apk, I'm mentioning that here in the interest of full disclosure and to try to be clear about what other users' likelyhood of success or failure with my posted file will be.

so let me test it and I will only post it if it works.

EDIT:

here are the specific before and after values (original apk then my apk):

ORIGINAL:

<integer-array name="config_autoBrightnessLcdBacklightValues">

<item>2</item>

<item>15</item>

<item>32</item>

<item>100</item>

<item>200</item>

</integer-array>

DON'S values being tested in framework:

<integer-array name="config_autoBrightnessLcdBacklightValues">

<item>2</item>

<item>22</item>

<item>55</item>

<item>125</item>

<item>255</item>

</integer-array>

---------- Post added at 10:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:56 AM ----------

nandroid done, rebooting phone so I can copy the framework to the phone.

I don't have my developer setup here so I can't do this using adb push while the phone is in recovery unfortunately, so I just have to keep rebooting and using android tools to copy the files around. thankfully android is VASTLY superior to every other mobile OS in the power of the tools it gives us, so I can actually do this.

hell, I could probably have done this on the phone if I'd wanted to spend the time porting the tools to android's jre and linux commands... but that would have been pointless. fun and interesting, but pointless.

I just love android though (having lived with an iPad at work for the past year and having to deal with imho the worst mobile OS that exists... I love macs, but I hate iOS, specially so for tablet sized products).

---------- Post added at 10:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 AM ----------

framework copied over and rebooting...

UPDATE:::

it seems to be WORKING :-)

I'd like someone else to try this please.

anybody here running the same firmware as me so the apk will work on your phone?

this one:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1733216

if you're using this rom, then try the file I made (download here from Mediafire).

EDIT UPDATED NOTE: you may have to re-add your accounts after flashing this, possibly after you've used your phone for a day or two or rebooted a couple times. no big deal, your data won't be wiped, but replacing framework can result in that side effect. you've been warned, although it's an easy workaround to re-add your accounts on your phone if it does happen (happened to me, zero impact once I realized it).

first of all, enable autobrightness on your phone to get an idea of how dim it is currently in this rom. leave it set for autobrightness (just makes comparisons easier).

use root explorer or adb push if you know how to do that and have the dev tools installed. other file managers that can write to system partition will work as well as root explorer.

NOTE: in root explorer, for example, you have to tap on the "mount as r/w" link to change system folder to be writable before you can copy the apk file into/over the existing one.

copy the file framework-res.apk into /system/framework

overwrite the file that is there.

your phone will probably lock up. that is expected and normal.

Assuming that happens, hold power button down for several seconds to force power off the phone.

wait a couple seconds, then press the power button to startup your phone again.

you should now be running with a little bit brighter screen in normal room light.

I walked outside in the sun and it brightened up nicely and I could see it all satisfactorily, where before I was almost blind in the sun on my screen.

went into the bathroom and turned off the light and found it dimmed down quite nicely as well. :-)

Further thoughts:

subjectively the general room brightness could be a "speck" higher (I might play with this again one day) but overall I'm very happy now with my phone's autobrightness, in fact happier than I was with manual settings, where before my mod I found autobrightness completely useless and manual settings never went far enough dark or bright to do what was needed.

One very cool thing is that the autobrightness dims down lower in the dark bathroom than at my brighter desk, yet when at my desk if I switch off autobrightness I have to drag the slider all the way down to match the brightness of the screen at my desk with autobrightness is engaged. therefore the bathroom dims down LOWER in autobrightness than it can with manual brightness settings.

either way, I'm much happier now.

NOTE: to tell which apk file is original versus my modded one, my apk is very slightly larger than the original apk. mine is 12.43MB versus 12.23MB for the original (according to mediafire).

cheers

Don Kelley

PS: don't blame me if this bricks your phone. it shouldn't, and didn't with mine, but it's a (small) risk to do anything of this type. It's more likely to break your firmware and require reflashing or restoring a backup than to actually brick your phone, but even restoring or reflashing is a pain if you don't have a nandroid of your exact firmware before you make the latest change.

I never (mostly) do this type of thing without making a nandroid (backup in clockwork recovery) of my firmware first, just in case something breaks.