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Help troubleshooting and FAQ
Wayfinder → More → Help & status. At the top it says "Everything is set up", or "A couple of things need attention". (When something needs setup, the More card on the Hub says "Help: something needs setup".)
| Section | What's there |
|---|---|
| Take the tour | Replay the welcome tour (about 2 minutes). |
| Support Wayfinder | The Ko-fi page, if you want to support the project. |
| Setup | Accessibility service ("on", or "turn on") and Battery optimisation ("disable (recommended)", or "disabled ✓"). |
| Back up and restore | See Backup and restore below. |
| Screens right now | The app on the top and on the bottom screen. |
| If something's wrong | Common problems, each with its answer — and a Fix › link where there is one. |
| System access | Whether Wayfinder can run system commands, and the state of the input layer. |
| Check for updates | On or off. Once a day, Wayfinder asks GitHub for the latest version number — nothing about you is sent. |
| Open-source licenses | The libraries inside Wayfinder. |
At the very bottom, a Version … line shows your Wayfinder version — useful for bug reports.
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Moving apps, brightness, audio, sleep — "working ✓", or "not reachable — press to check again". If it stays unreachable: turn off "Force SELinux" in the Thor's settings, then restart the Thor.
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Input layer (game controls, gyro, macros) — one of:
- "working ✓"
- "off — press to turn it on" (it's set to Nowhere)
- "off for this app" (it doesn't run for the app in front — for example with Only games I set up, or an app set to Off)
- "starting…"
- "stopped: reason — press to try again" — press the row to start it again. The reason is useful in a bug report.
Pressing the row while the layer isn't running starts it again and keeps your where it runs choice. If it's set to Nowhere, it goes back to where it ran before it was turned off (Everywhere if there's nothing to go back to).
While the Thor starts, Android sometimes stops apps to free memory — Wayfinder too. Android then leaves Wayfinder's service off until it's turned off and on again.
Wayfinder handles this by itself: about a minute after the Thor starts (and once more a couple of minutes later), it checks. If its service is on in Android's settings but not running, Wayfinder turns it off and on again. Opening Wayfinder also starts this check. It needs the Thor's system service (see System access). If you turned the service off yourself, Wayfinder leaves it off.
Still off? Open More → Help & status and press Accessibility service ("turn on").
Check System access on the Help & status page. If it isn't working: turn off "Force SELinux" in the Thor's settings, then restart the Thor. (It is off out of the box.)
- AYN's "Home needs two presses" must be off. Wayfinder shows a button Home combos can't work yet when it's on — press it. Or go to Controller → More options → Home needs two presses and turn it off.
- Only in one app? That app's combos may be Off: Games → the app → Wayfinder combos → Normal. (When combos are off in an app, holding Home shows "Wayfinder's button combos are off in app".)
- Only the screen-switching combos work? You may have chosen Just switching screens: turn More combos back on in More → Features (see Features & simple setup).
Turn Wayfinder's combos off for that app only: Games → the app → Wayfinder combos → Off. Home and Back then work as usual in that app; your other apps keep their combos. If only Back is the problem, set that app's Back button to The game instead. See the Games page.
Wayfinder sends that screen back to the home screen it last saw there. If it hasn't seen one yet, it tries Android's second-screen home; if there is none, you see "No home screen found for this screen — open your launcher there once". Open your launcher (home screen app) on the bottom screen once; after that, Home can find it. The same goes for the actions Home on the bottom screen and Home on both screens.
Hold Home + Back for 5 seconds. The input layer turns off (it's set to Nowhere) and AYN's own controller comes back. To turn it on again, press the Input layer row in More → Help & status → System access ("off — press to turn it on"): it goes back to where it ran before. Or choose in Controller → More options → Input layer — where it runs.
Wayfinder gives games a copy of the controller and hides AYN's. On the Controller page (More options → Input layer — where it runs), set it to Nowhere and back — or restart the game.
Some games only listen to controller #1. The Hub's status strip warns when the copy isn't #1 (a Game controls cell with an amber dot). Set the input layer to Nowhere and back (Controller → More options → Input layer — where it runs).
Some games don't react to the copied controller at all. For that game only, set the input layer to Off: Games → the game → Input layer → Off, or in the game Home + X → More › → Input layer for app. (For a game inside an emulator, this is set for the whole emulator.) The game then gets the Thor's own controller (its Game controls do nothing there). See the Games page.
- Check the input layer: Controller → More options → Input layer — where it runs. With Only games I set up, it runs only in games that have their own controls — change something for the game in Home + X and it starts.
- Check that game's Input layer isn't Off (Games → the game). Game controls shows a red banner when the layer is off for the app, with Turn it on for app.
If you see "Input layer couldn't start (…) — your controller works as usual", your controller still works normally; only Game controls, gyro and macros are paused. Try again from Controller → More options → Input layer — where it runs, or press the Input layer row under More → Help & status → System access.
The words in brackets say why. When Wayfinder couldn't trust its own helper file, the message says exactly what was wrong: the file is missing, it belongs to someone else (its owner), or other apps could change it (its permissions). The same reason shows on the Input layer row ("stopped: … — press to try again").
Using Wayfinder in a second Android user or a work profile? The input layer works there too.
If it keeps failing, note the exact reason shown and report it.
On some Thors, AYN's controller doesn't restart when the input layer takes over, and the layer stopped with "exit 4". Wayfinder now handles this by itself: after two tries, it starts the layer in a compatibility mode — another way to start, with nothing to set. The Input layer row in Help & status then says "working ✓ · compatibility mode".
In compatibility mode the copy can be controller #2 (AYN's own controller keeps #1, hidden from games), so the Hub doesn't warn about the number there. Games still get the copy first; if one doesn't react to it, set its Input layer to Off (Games → the app).
Home + right stick up sends it to the top screen, Home + right stick down to the bottom one. How it follows you (touch, where you send it, always top, always bottom) is on the Controller page. Hold Home to see which screen has it. See The controller.
Turn on Screens → Wake it with a double tap. Then it takes two taps to wake the bottom screen. See Screens, brightness & sound.
Turn off Screens → More options → Keep the navigation bar hidden. Wayfinder then never touches the navigation bar. See Screens, brightness & sound.
That's on purpose: with ClusterTune or Pulse installed, Wayfinder leaves the CPU to it, so the two never fight. Use the tuner's own profiles. See ClusterTune, Pulse and other apps.
Another app does the same job as a part of Wayfinder (Mjolnir: the Home button; BiFrost: the stick lights; OdinTools: performance and the fan per app). The message says what to do; press it once you've read it. Help & status → Other apps on this Thor lists them all. See ClusterTune, Pulse and other apps.
Controller → Test the controller measures it and sets a deadzone for every game in one press. For one game differently: Game controls, that stick. See The controller.
Android refuses Recents while it thinks the Thor's first setup isn't finished — a system reset can leave it that way. Wayfinder then shows Recent apps can't open at the top of the Hub and of the troubleshooting list. Press it to fix it.
While the input layer runs for RetroArch, Back is shared:
- a short Back reaches RetroArch as the controller's own Back button,
- Select + Back (RetroArch's menu, or any Back pressed while you hold another button) goes straight to RetroArch,
- hold Back still moves / swaps RetroArch, like in other apps.
In Games → RetroArch → Back button:
- Automatic (default) — as above while the input layer runs. Without the input layer, Back goes to RetroArch when RetroArch's own settings use Back for a hotkey or its menu.
- The game — Back always goes to the app (held too). No Back combos in that app.
- Wayfinder — Wayfinder keeps Back.
This works for any app, not only RetroArch. See the Games page.
Most apps move fine, but a few heavy or unusual apps may restart or refuse to move. If an app misbehaves after a move, try Games → the app → When it moves to the other screen → Reopen: it then closes and opens again on the other screen. See the Games page.
Firefox and browsers built on it could crash after a move, as soon as you selected a word or opened a menu. So Wayfinder moves them by reopening them on the other screen: the browser closes and opens again there, and your tabs come back. This is automatic — nothing to set.
- If it still crashes, check Games → the browser → When it moves to the other screen (press Change something for app if you don't see it): it should say "it reopens there". Choose Reopen if a Firefox-based browser isn't recognised.
- Reopening needs the Thor's system service: check More → Help & status → System access (see above).
If a game or frontend draws its own second screen there, Wayfinder can't put an app under it and says: "…shows app's second screen — an app can't go under it. Turn it off in app to swap."
While it's off, the Hub has no Quick panel card. Turn it back on in More → Features → Quick panel (the same setting as The AYN button opens the quick panel).
Home + X opens the controls of the game on the controller's screen. Start the game first, and make sure the controller is on its screen.
Wayfinder's keyboard leaves a thin strip on the game's screen while you type on the other screen ("Typing on the bottom screen — ↵ or B when done"). Type the text, then press ↵ (or B). See Keyboard & mouse.
The deck opens on the screen without the game, so it needs both screens.
Only the keyboard in use can read the clipboard, so the list is kept by Wayfinder Keyboard while it's your keyboard: use the big button at the top of Wayfinder → Keyboard (see Turn it on). The list also empties after an hour, when Android clears its clipboard, or when you switch to another keyboard. A password you copied isn't in the list on purpose: text marked as sensitive is skipped. See Keyboard & mouse.
The Gyro on / off action only works for a game with gyro set up: Home + X → Gyro.
Macros from a shared file arrive switched off. Open the button in Game controls, check the steps, then press Turn it on.
Check Controller → More options → Input layer — where it runs (not Nowhere), and that game's own Input layer on the Games page (not Off). Game controls, gyro and macros need the input layer. See above.
Something turned it off underneath — another app, AYN's own "bottom screen off" (holding the AYN button), or a brightness at 0. Press More → Help & status → The bottom screen stays black (touch still works) → Fix now: Wayfinder turns it back on, whatever did it. The Bottom screen off / on action (a combo, the AYN button, the quick panel) does the same when the screen is dark. If only one app stays black, move it to the top screen and back.
Does Wayfinder need root, a computer or Shizuku? No. It uses the Thor's own system service. Root and Shizuku are only used as a backup if you already have them.
Does the Quick panel pause my game? No, the game keeps running under it.
Can I still use AYN's drawer? Yes. Either turn off The AYN button opens the quick panel on the Quick panel page, or keep the quick panel and put AYN's drawer on the AYN button's hold (Controller → Combos → AYN button — hold).
Wayfinder does too much for me. Can I keep only the screen switching? Yes: More → Features → Just switching screens. Nothing is deleted. See Features & simple setup.
Do Bluetooth or USB controllers work? Yes. They work alongside; Wayfinder's input layer only takes over the Thor's own controls.
How do I know there's a new version? When there is one, a small Update available pill with an orange dot appears next to Ready on Wayfinder's main page. Press it to open the release page, then install the new APK over the old one — your settings stay. Wayfinder checks at most once a day, when you open it; turn it off in More → Help & status → Check for updates.
Can I change the combos? Yes, all of them: Controller → Combos — Home, Back and the AYN button. See The controller.
Does uninstalling Wayfinder put everything back? Almost. A few values are kept by the Thor itself (the screens' colour, the performance mode, the bottom screen's volume…). Set them back before you uninstall: see What Wayfinder changes that outlasts it.
Do screenshots include private things? Screenshots and screen recordings capture everything shown, including what apps hide from screenshots (passwords, banking).
Most of what Wayfinder does stops when Wayfinder stops. A few values are kept by the Thor itself — even after a restart, and even without Wayfinder. Uninstalling Wayfinder doesn't change them: set them back in Wayfinder before you uninstall it.
| What stays | How to set it back in Wayfinder |
|---|---|
| Colour (saturation) of the screens | Screens → More options → Colour → 100 % (as shipped). |
| Performance mode (Standard / Medium / High) — AYN's own setting | The Performance tile of the Quick panel (each press: Standard → Medium → High). A game's own performance is undone when you leave the game, so leave it first. |
| The bottom screen's volume — AYN's own bottom-screen level | More → Sound → Volume → the Bottom screen slider, or Same on both. |
| The speaker fix's stereo width | Turn Speaker sound fix off (More → Sound): the width goes back to neutral. (Without Wayfinder, the widener itself is gone after a restart, so a leftover width does nothing.) |
AYN's own switches: what you change with the Quick panel's Android and Thor tiles, the battery switches, Face buttons — all apps or Home needs two presses are the Thor's (or Android's) own settings. They stay as you set them, just as if you had changed them in AYN's drawer or settings.
On More → Help & status → Back up and restore:
- Back up now — saves a file in Download / Wayfinder.
- Send a backup… — share it to Drive, mail or another app.
- Restore from a file… — you'll see what it contains first.
Important: a backup restores everything only on the same Thor, with the same installation of Wayfinder. If Wayfinder is uninstalled or its data is cleared — or on another Thor — a backup still brings back your controller mappings, but not your combos and settings. Keep a fresh backup, and set those up again after a reinstall.
A full restore replaces everything and restarts Wayfinder.
Bug reports and ideas are welcome as issues on GitHub: https://github.com/Thor-Wayfinder/thor-wayfinder/issues
To help, please include:
- Your Wayfinder version (at the bottom of More → Help & status).
- What you did, what you expected, and what happened.
- The app or game (and emulator) you were using.
- What More → Help & status → System access shows, including the Input layer row.
- For sleep or battery problems: Battery → Sleep & standby → What it did → Copy report, and paste it.
Security problems: please don't open a public issue. Use Report a vulnerability on the repository's Security tab (private).
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This wiki is written with AI help and checked against the app.