yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
When Atomic Walrus turns his device upside down (logo on top) the issue stays in the exact same place (over where the "s" in the logo would normally be) on the display. If it were h/w, the issue would move with the device. A physical defect wouldn't be affected by rotating the display. If it is s/w, it's totally possible that some ROMs are affected and some aren't. If the Italian N8000 ROM is affected the issue would appear on every device using that ROM. Two out of seven versions of S-Note are borked which we found out when we all started comparing version numbers. The people on the two versions that are borked thought the people on the five working versions that said they had no issues were insane. There are professional graphic designers here that use the hell out of S-Pen and are familiar with Wacom digitizers. They would have noticed this long before we would have without anyone needing to point it out to them. And I’ve tried to replicate all the examples shown in this thread and haven’t been able to so I can say for sure my Korean-made Brazilian N8000 isn’t affected.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JuniorGG:
No

. Probably you have not understood. The issue does indeed move with the device. It does not stay where the "s" in the logo

would normally be

, but where that "s"

is

after you have turned the device upside down.

And of course it stays in that exact

physical

position relevant to the device, no matter how you turn the device: portrait, landacape, upside down, etc. You look at the device, and no matter how it is oriented, the issue is always over the "s". Got it?

Hence, as you also correctly suggest, the issue is definitely of

hardware

nature.

With respect to your unit not being affected by the issues (here I'm simply trusting what you say, because you did not provide any true evidence), I have just downloaded the ROM of your brazilian unit (being it a N8000 like mine), and I'm curious to flash it in order to check if the issues disappear. Although I find it hard to believe it, the kernel of your ROM may in fact perform some better filtering, or be equipped with some better adjusted set of calibration parameters, and hence who knows, succeed better than our ROMS in hiding the inductive interference to the user, as well, perhaps, as managing the capacitive touchscreen better.

What I am concerned about, is that by flashing a brazilian ROM to my italian device, I could somehow damage or brick it. I need to make sure that the operation is safe. And I need time, which I hardly can find for solving such problems, that should simply not be there in such a high class, expensive device.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] drei666:
I confirm it is a hardware failure.

My device is from Wind Italy
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JuniorGG:
For sure it is.

Mine is unbranded. I'm suspecting

all

the units sold up to now in Italy (and also in some other countries) are equally affected.

Did you contact Samsung, as I did?

I am sure that eventually, we will have no option rather to keep our units as (fauilty) as they are.

Samsung is a great hardware manufacturer, however they are korean, and korea = china in terms of quality. I had other bad experiences with korean products. Technologically speaking, korean products are among the best, if not the best, but build and firmware quality is ALWAYS a pain in the ass.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] thegios:
yes... mine is from TIM ITALY, but de-branded
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JuniorGG:
I see you are located in Latina, with a branded unit. Drei666 must also be italian, and he has a Wind branded unit. So since I am in Venezia, and mine is unbranded, and I've checked all the units in the shops in my area finding them faulty, it's quite reasonable to believe that most if not all the units sold in the italian market are affected.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] thegios:
I believe all units worldwide are...
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JuniorGG:
I also do ;)

As I said and repeated many times, it's obviously an engineering flaw of the tablet. It's like the antenna gate of the iphone 4, with the difference that us, samsung customers, are so "used" to catch it in the ass that we fail to admit the evidence.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mi7chy:
Probably has to do with the pen when applying light pressure possibly leaving a gap in the mechanism. I'm not sure if it's compatible but perhaps try the updated Galaxy Note II pen.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
So basically what a couple of you are saying is that the several hundred users here on the forum are either incapable of seeing a pretty glaring defect or see it and are denying it. Whether it's h/w or s/w if this affected every device from the start of production it wouldn't have taken four months for it to come to light. Especially with 2MM sold in just August and September alone. I can tell you with certainty I can't replicate anything described here on my device and I bought it before the general release and it's running the July-build shipping s/w. So thegios, it's "all units worldwide" minus one. If it is a problem that develops over time that would suck and we should start to see more reports of it. I really don't know what to tell those of you that are experiencing the issue. Perhaps send your device to Samsung repair with pics in the box visually showing them the problem. If you've don't want the Note anymore and need a tablet with an active stylus consider W8. If you want a good 10" tablet for consumption consider a N10.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JuniorGG:
No. Sorry, It's clearly not the pen. We've all different pens and experience all the exact same issue, in exactly the same point in the screen, so no, it simply can't be the pen.

Anyway thank you for the suggestion.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JuniorGG:
Yes. With all respect, we do, because all the many material evidences except your personal statements, logically lead us to think so. I would be delighted for example, if you could post a video

demonstrating

that your note is not affected by both the issues. Otherwise, don't get me wrong, I do sincerely appreciate your good will in trying to help, but I really can't help from getting to that conclusion.

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ----------

If you're still following this thread, could you please state your location? Thanks!
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] smaw51:
AZ, USA
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Cocax:
I'm from Portugal
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] relldroid:
This happened to me when i was drawing.. but i cleaned my screen and all was well. I tested it after reading this thread and all seems well. But i guess you tried that.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JuniorGG:
Yes, sure we tried.

Perhaps, since the battery is the only thing right underneath the screen where the problem is visible, there may be slightly different batteries sourced from different manufacturers installed inside, and that would quite well explain why people like you and Barry swear that their unit is free from the issue, while others can clearly see it.

It would be interesting to know if this is true, but unfortunately it would require to open our units to check that... or I guess the serial number, on the inscription at the back of the tablet, could reveal something? Mine is RxxCxxH0GGA. It would be interesting to cross-compare the serials and see if there is some sort of correlation. Or perhaps someone here knows the mask for decoding, from the serial number, which factory the unit was produced by?

Meantime, one thing I will do one of these days, I will go on another tour of the stores, and grab the serials of the units on display. Knowing that they are all bugged, It could certainly be of help.

Still, here we are dealing only with one of the problems, that of the s-pen. I am instead actually more worried about the issue of the capacitive touchscreen digitiser, and would appreciate if someone could provide some feedback also in that respect...
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hpblze:
Workaround found

I can confirm 100 % that using the Note 1's stylus this problem is totally gone . I have the same problem that you guys have and I am from India . This problem seems to be present in varying strengths for Note 10.1 in my country too.

But what I am surprised is why the Note 1's stylus makes clean lines and the one that we have wobbles in that area !! :eek::eek:
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kresna rudy kurniawan:
I did experience my spen less sensitive / not responsive ... especially at middle bottom near "samsung " text ...

This was caused by tablet cover ... my flip cover tablet use magnetic clip to attach the cover to back body ...
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Atomic Walrus:
Interesting. Does anyone know if you get the full 1024 pressure levels with the original Note stylus on the 10.1? I know that the quoted number of pressure sensitivity steps on the original phone was 256, but I have no idea if this is a limitation of the stylus itself or the device.

I ask because of the pressure-related nature of the issue. If the older stylus has a much smaller number of pressure "steps" it may entirely skip reporting anything at the very minimal pressure level this occurs at. And if the solution is that simple, this could be fixed at the software level simply by increasing the minimum pressure level that produces a line. You could probably get nearly identical performance if you then adjusted the sensitivity on the pen's pot a bit so that it requires less mechanical pressure to get to the software's minimum recognized pressure. It would clip a few levels from the total range, maybe netting you 950 or so levels of usable pressure but that's still not bad. Might also get rid of that dead zone where it leaves thin trails at the ends of lines.

*Edit to add a reply to another post:

You're apparently quite right, the picture I was looking at wasn't great and I didn't even notice the white cable down the middle. iFixit's teardown (http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+Note+10.1+Teardown/10144/2) definitely calls that the battery cable, and it does seem to be in exactly the right place to be the cause of the issue. It's even made up of 5 (I think) clearly visible wires that lay flat and could easily be directly lined up with the distortions we're seeing. I also agree that it looks like two battery cells that connect at the center.

An "easy" way to be certain (+void your warranty while you're at it) would be to remove the battery, reconnect all the data cables, and then connect the battery without actually putting it back inside the tablet (it looks like there's just enough exposed cable that you could hold the battery out at a 90 degree angle away from the tablet). Unfortunately I highly doubt anyone here's going to do this to their tablet just to confirm this issue, though I have to admit I'm super tempted considering how simple it appears to be to get in there. If it could be isolated as the cause I'm sure someone here would know what you'd need to do to properly shield it.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] thomasc73:
I have same problem. Found out the magnets use in the case cause the jitter/jagged lines. I changed to Anymode Book Cover case which have no magnets and the problem gone.

GT-N8000/stockROM ICS 4.0.4.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hpblze:
@ atomicwalrus , good idea for reducing pressure sensitivity levels . Cuz I believe that pressing the pen tiny bit harder solves the issue

Can any one fiddle with that parameter or create a small .apk that could do this ..

I think we all could do with slightly lesser pressure levels if it solves this problem , we probably could donate that person if he/she tries . What say ?
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Granna:
@juniorgg, I have 8013 and stock other than the one update. I can not replicate your issue no matter how slow I draw the line using lightest pressure. Have you tried using the rubber tipped nib in the stylus? Just curious as in your video I noticed you were using the pen with eraser but couldn't see the nib type. Does this happen using stock stylus with black rubber nib? Also have you tried with pen input only checked, does that make any difference? Sorry that I can't be of more help!!
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] wingzero2085:
I had to try this for myself -- I have an N8013, bought day one from Best Buy running the stock ROM, nothing but stock from the beginning. I have the latest version of the firmware and have not ever seen this issue in actual use, mind you.

I can replicate the bump in the line using the stock pen that came with my note, but when I use the pen + holder that I bought separately (which is the original Note phone's pen), no matter how light I press (and I'm using the same pressure with both pens), I cannot get the bump in the line. Interesting. I should note that I use my pen with the holder far more than the stock pen, as it is more comfortable to grip.

While I can see the issue and I wouldn't be shocked if it IS a design issue, in truth, I think this is being made by some into a bigger issue than it actually is. I don't think I'd go so far as to call an entire device a piece of **** because of a small bump in a line in a particular area of the screen. I'm honestly wondering why I never saw this before when I've done tons of drawings on my Note 10.1 (and I did a number of them before buying the other pen, too). I can only surmise that I never draw anything slowly enough to see the effect -- drawing these lines to replicate this was actually a bit painfully slow for me, and I guess I'm just never that deliberate when drawing or writing on my Note.

Just my two cents & confirmation that the issue does exist on my N8013, but I could honestly care less about it, sorry ;).
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] afarnedi:
this is my experience

I've made some trials...so this is my experience; I've a magnetic cover and with the cover on I've this defect...If I remove it no defect...that's it!
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hoss_n2:
I tried my father's note one s pen today and it is much more responsive, responce at minimum pressure and have no problems at all
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mrgrey1701:
I have noticed an issue with my note 10.1 lately where a couple of isolated spots at the edge of the bottom of the screen are unresponsive with the pen but ok with my finger. Then after reading this thread thought I would remove the cover, which has a magnetic closure, and whatdya know the issue has gone away completely and I can once more draw all around the edge of the screen with my s-pen in sketchbook pro and photoshop :good:
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] marcxs:
I also have this issues when drawing, but it's not so easy to reproduce. I tried to use the pen in any kind of dirrection.

I tried to get the note to use more current, (full bright, GPS... anything on) but that just a half amp more. ( dmesg in a tty) Is there a way to load the processors even more, while using S-Note?

I also rolled up, the pen in alu foil, but as long as one inch of the tip is not covered, it works as same before.

I'm using ICS, and while I looked at the dmseg output I did see things that the pen is also related to the Ic2 (kernel)-module, which I found out yesterday, is a bit buggy. I was looking for the IR port, tried peel and after that used dmesg to search about the remocon IrDA module (found this in the kernel sources), but there the Ir also use the Ic2 and this call did crash because of some interactions from the power supply controller watch dog (or sort of). waccom_ic2 is also buggy see the screenshot. (But it has no direct relation to the problem)

Also S-Notes is a bit buggy, with only pen input, put 2 fingers on the display, the drawing isn't anymore smoothed out and sliders appears on bottom and left until the next pen input, I did forget that you can pinch zoom and move the sheet with 2 fingers but you must allow drawing with fingers. :silly:
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] marcxs:
SPen as scale ?

In the dev section of the settings you could set the pen and touch debug switches.

So you can see the position and also the pressure level.

I got the idea of building a scale with it, because it's pretty sensible, the slightest pressure will raise the Ptr value.

But while trying things out, I discovered the "sensibility T", yes there are regions where the pressure input is more sensible as others.

Look at the pics, you will see what I mean.

I just dragged the card around, same pressure applied every where.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Atomic Walrus:
I agree that it's only a moderate concern at best; you need less pressure than a normal drawing (and especially writing) level for it to happen and I'm personally still using the device for drawing almost daily with basically no problem. The main reason it's a concern is beause people want to determine if it's a repairable manufacturing defect they can get a replacement for or a design defect. While we have a few people reporting that it's not reproducable, we have even more saying that it is, so I'd say there's a fairly decent chance that if you have this issue now a replacement won't help.

As far as using the original Note pen, you're the second person to say that. My guess is that it's because it only has 256 levels of pressure sensitivity, so the level at which this distortion occurs isn't even in the range of pressure the pen responds to.

From my perspective this may support my theory from my last post about a potential software fix: if you can increase the minimum pressure level that is accepted at software level then you'd never get these distortions. Then a small adjustment to the pot of the pen by the user could leave you with a nearly identical feel since less physical pressure would be required to get to the minimum software input level. Unfortunately I don't know of any drawing apps that actually allow adjustment of these precise pen input settings.

I noticed this too, just messing around in Photoshop by hand. I'm glad you went to the trouble of actually confirming it a bit more scientifically. Not sure exactly what it implies but it's very odd since the pressure is determined by the pen... I assume it points to more EM interference from the device itself.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hpblze:
Another discovery is rotating the tablet upside down fixes the issue , I have absolutely no clue as to why this should happen :confused:

See attached image

Also do note that I had locked the screen rotation to upside down position when doing this test .
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] joehsieh99:
If your stylus moves too slow and pressed lightly, than the potentiometer in your stylus couldn't generate enough electrical resistance to make it work properly on your screen. Then the distortion will appear. The movement speed of your stylus is important for the potentiometer.

"The*potentiometer*is an electro-mechanical transducer that converts the movement of your stylus into electrical resistance (or something like that). Basically it's what makes your stylus work with your screen."
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
I guess the bigger question is where do you guys that are upset about this see this going? I've tried to replicate what everyone's been posting but can't. Maybe it's because I'm not drawing slow enough. But based on the tests I've done I can't ever imagine drawing that slow in the first place if that's what it would take to prove the problem. And even if I had the problem I wouldn't send my Note in for repair so Samsung could perform open heart surgery on it and potentially create another problem in the process. So I totally get how bothered some of you are but this thread could grow to 100 pages and it won't solve the problem. If it's something you can't live with return the Note. You can also send it in for repair with some of the pics that have been shared here so the Samsung repair tech can clearly see what the issue is. Short of that, while venting here is cathartic, it's not going to make the problem go away. Especially if, as some of you are convinced, we all have it and just don't know it. I take a ton of notes on my Note and haven't had any noticeable issues with inking.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hpblze:
The thing is every one has that issue ... but some of us have it more intense than others.

For me , being an artist and graphic designer .. its bothersome cuz on mine normally drawn lines give that issue n not just drawing slowly or light.

My friends tab gets it but its barely noticeable .. so I do know that its not everyone with a glaring issue

On the positive side I found two solutions

Draw rotating the tablet upside down

Or use the note 1 stylus

But the permanent one would b if someone could clamp off that initial pressure sensitivity level .

Anyone ?

But I am happy for this post , at least we know others with the issue n can help them .

I work for Dreamworks and I am almost about to recommend this tab to the other artists here as well .
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JuniorGG:
Exactly! I thought the same as you, and was at the point of doing the test, but then I surrended because, yes, I didn't want to void my warranty (so early;) ).

I am also suspecting that the reason why some users find their tablet free of the issue could be that their tablets may be equipped with slightly different batteries produced by a different manufacturer, that do not produce enough magnetic field to affect the wacom digitiser.

I have already asked in an earlier post, if someone could help me decoding the serial number of our tablet. Unfortunately got no answer... Which factory the tablets came out from should in fact be coded in the serial number...

btw, I bought my tablet in my country (Italy), and it's the unbranded version directly distributed by Samsung Italy. Last week I was on a business trip, and had the chance to test all the note 10.1s on display in Amsterdam airport (The Netherlands). Needless to say, ALL of them had exactly the same problems as ours (both the s-pen and the capacitive digitiser, and with the same degree of severity). Actually I would have been very surprised to find out the contrary.. So it's getting clearer and clearer that this issue is quite widespread...

In any case, while at the airport, I also tried out the note 2, and realised that also its digitiser, though in smaller scale due to its smaller dimensions, is pretty far from being precise...

Regarding the issue disappearing when using the pen of the note 1, I also agree that it is almost certainly due to it being masked by the smaller resolution of the load cell in that stylus (or perhaps smaller sensitivity).
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RotBot:
My new Note 2 probably has one of the worst instances of this problem. An entire vertical stripe of the screen almost 1 cm wide cannot be hit by the s-pen at all.

Here's a screenshot of attempted straight lines, and trying to draw down the center of the dead zone.

And a video: http://youtu.be/ulaQV5e3QkM

This is actually my 2nd unit. The first one had theS-Pen hover tap problem. This one did too for a while before the pen seemed to settle in. Now I need to exchange for a 3rd one. I'm really wondering whether there's enough quality control taking place during manufacturing.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonzdroid:
I have Note 10.1 with exactly the same problem (trying to draw vertical line above the first S of Samsung logo produces jagged line). It seems to be a hardware problem, indeed.