I'm not new to the world of ppcs by any stretch of the imagination...but i have one question which has always puzzled me. How much strain does checking email every 5 minutes have on my battery? I have a gsm touch and can't seem to hold a charge for more than a day with very minimal usage. A typical day for me is 2 or 3 short phone calls and several texts..in addition to checking for new email every 5 minutes. Would I be correct in assuming that to check for email my touch is awakened from standby..thus causing the drain?
Js
You are correct, but also consider that when it connects to check email it is using the radio to connect to the network. So essentially you are having the radio on almost ALL DAY. Similar to a voice call all day. Battery is then drained by the radio usage to talk to the network.
does the same apply to a push mail setup?
well...am i essentially doing the same thing by having GPRS always on? In other words, is this going to drain my battery at the same rate whether i'm checking for mail every 5 minutes or every hour?
No it is not the same for Push email. Push email wakes the device and delivers the mail when there is some. As opposed to the device connecting and querying for mail, the device gets woken (sp?) up and gets delivered the mail for Push. Push is a much more effective way of getting your mail... I forward all my mail to my hotmail account which then gets pushed to my device via Windows Live.
Regarding the always on GPRS... yes and no. Yes you are connected and draining the battery but just being on doesn't use as much as actually pulling or sending data. The difference is negligible and really irrelevant. I would say that you turn off GPRS all the time if you are trying to save on battery life.
Make sense?
You may want to install Battery Status and turn on the current drain option. While a bit of a catch 22, considering the screen has to be on for you to see what the drain is, thus causing a higher than idle drain. At least you can get an idea of what your device is draining and see if changing settings makes a difference.
Link to Battery Status (not sure if this is the current version)
http://www.chi-tai.info/cs_BatteryStatus_XDA_Neo_WM5_iM_cs.htm
The other suggestion is to consider changing ROMs. I have a GSM Touch and the factory ROM was really poor on battery life. I have been using the Blue Touch ROM version 2.10 (not the newest version) listed in the Elf upgrade section. I can now go more than one day without charging the battery, with push e-mail activated.
High Level Symptoms:
- I notice battery has drained very quickly in a short time even when I have not been using phone (i.e. idle with display off)
- Phone feels noticeably warm/hot even when I have not been using phone (e.g. like it does while charging)
- Issue only seems to happen when running in 4G LTE mode
- I have gathered detailed usage statistics and do not believe there are any miss-behaving apps or system processes responsible
- I have noticed issue start most often near my office (in midtown NYC)
Note: This is where I use the phone on battery the most, so it may just be sampling bias
- I can temporarily stop the rapid power burn by switching out of 4G LTE mode (i.e. to 3G mode, or disabling radio)
- I have not found a way to stop the issue in 4G LTE mode once it starts except by restarting phone
(things I tried without success: toggling airplane mode, switching to 3G and back to 4G, radio off/on, and moving to different location/tower; rapid burn starts back up again as soon as 4G LTE mode is re-enabled)
Power Burn Rate:
- Data captured using Battery Monitor Widget which I have set to sample/log battery available % and usage every minute (this is a great app!)
- Available % dropping at a rate of about 20% / hour while phone is idle w/ screen off (my normal is about 5% / hour)
- Usage shows a very flat baseline of about 1000 mW / 250 mA (normal baseline is more like 100 mW / 40 mA)
(by baseline I mean many samples are equal to that baseline value with the rest being spikes up to greater values; no observed values are less than the baseline)
Background Info:
- My phone is unrooted and running stock firmware w/ the Verizon OTA upgrade (installed ~2011-05-19)
- I have noticed this issue many times since first getting the phone (~2011-04-12), and this issue is still present even with the newest LTE radio FW in the OTA update
- I am new to Android (~2 months in) but I am diving in deep with all the amazing tools both built-in and via add-on apps; I have collected a range of data/observations from numerous sources that are detailed in this post
My hypothesis is that the LTE radio hardware is responsible for this power burn. Most likely due to a software/firmware bug, but I'm not sure how to confirm that.
I wonder how common this issue is. I remember reading other posts on the forum that sound like the same thing. For example: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1008761
Can anyone else confirm they have seen this issue? If this issue is wide spread, I think it may be a contributing factor to the wide spread reports of 4G LTE a lot of battery.
I do not think this is the only factor that causes 4G LTE to use more power than 3G. I have read the reports, and personaly seen, higher 4G LTE power consumption when in low signal areas. However, I belive that to be independant from the burn issue I am describing here. The worst case power consumption I've seen that I think was "low LTE signal" related was only about 500 mW / 130 mA. The burn issue I'm refering too consumes power at about twice that rate and happened when I had strong signal. I had three to four of four possible bars. Also, I grabbed more detailed information:
----------
Phone info
reached using "LTE OnOff" app, "Network" app, or by dialing *#*#4636#*#* -> Phone information
Signal strength: -67 dBm to -80 dBm, 3 to 4 asu
Location: BID = 39b SID = 16 NID = 4
LAT = 7fffffff LONG = 7fffffff
Network Type: CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto
I believe this is good signal (e.g. issue not due to a low signal condition)
==================
Usage Data Capture
I briefly connected to power to reset the statistics after noticing the issue had started and and captured about an hours worth of data. My understanding of the data is that the display was off for almost all the time, and no apps or system processes are listed as using any significant amount of CPU/sensors in comparison to the hour data collection window.
-----------
Battery Use
reached using Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Use, or Battery Monitor Widget -> Usage
When last unplugged for 57m 12s
Display 30%
* Time on 1m 11s
* Auto Brightness
Cell Standby 21%
* Time on 57m 12s
Phone idle 19%
* Time on 56m 1s
Foursquare 11%
* CPU total 8s
* CPU foreground 6s
* GPS 26s
* Data sent 13.59 KB
* Data received 379.93 KB
Android System 7%
* CPU total 41s
* CPU foreground 2s
* Data sent 12.09 KB
* Data received 20.27 KB
Android OS 6%
* CPU total 39s
* Data sent 20.11 KB
* Data received 136.25 KB
Pandora 6%
* CPU total 35s
* Data sent 1.83 KB
* Data received 27.16 KB
---------------
Battery History
reached using Battery Monitor Widget -> Statistics, or by dialing *#*#4636#*#* -> Battery history
since last unplugged
CPU usage
* Android System (Total time:39s)
* Pandora (Total time:35s)
* suspend (Total time:31s)
* Foursquare (Total time:7s)
... (Note: more apps listed but with smaller total times)
Sensor usage
* Android System 29m 47s
* AccuWeather.com 28m 36s
(Note: after this capture I uninstalled AccuWeather.com app and retested. It wasn't listed anymore, but power drain behavior was unaltered)
Partial wake usage
* K-9 Mail 7m14s
* Android System 5m 4s
* Seesmic 9s
... (Note: more apps listed but with smaller times)
Other Usage
* Running (27.6%)
* Screen on (2.1%)
-------------------
CPU Spy v0.3.0 beta
Note: timers reset at begining of measurement interval
Time in state
1024 MHz 4:21 7%
768 MHz 0:54 1%
368 MHz 0:35 0%
245 MHz 12:11 20%
Deep Sleep 41:34 69%
This is a typical distribution I see when the phone is mostly idle (CPU sleeping for most of the time).
=================
Variation testing
After the data capture I systematicly tried several methods to see what it took to stop the abnormal drain in 4G LTE mode. In the end only rebooting the phone did it.
Set preferred network type: "CDMA auto (PRL)" (i.e. 3G mode) -> normal power usage (5:00pm-5:18pm)
Set preferred network type: "CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto" (i.e. 4G mode) -> abnormally high power usage (5:18pm to 5:43pm)
Set airplane mode (i.e. radio off) -> very low power usage (5:43pm to 6:54pm)
Turned off airplane mode (i.e. 4G mode) -> abnormally high power usage
Set preferred network type: "LTE mode" (i.e. ONLY 4G mode) -> abnormally high power usage
Set preferred network type: "CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto" (i.e. 4G mode) -> abnormally high power usage
Moved to a new place:
Signal strength: -65 dBm 4 asu
Location: BID = 23c SID = 16 NID = 4
LAT = 7fffffff LONG = 7fffffff
-> abnormally high power usage
Phone info "Turn off radio" button -> very low power usage
Phone info "Turn on radio" button -> abnormally high power usage
Restart phone -> normal power usage
I experience the same problem. My guess is that the radio firmware gets into a bad state when you are in an area with bad coverage.
I have been in a state where disabling data didn't stp the battery drain, only entering airplane mode would stop it.
crpalmer said:
I experience the same problem. My guess is that the radio firmware gets into a bad state when you are in an area with bad coverage.
I have been in a state where disabling data didn't stp the battery drain, only
entering airplane mode would stop it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I originally thought the same thing about the issue starting while in poor coverage, but since I have seen it occur multiple times in a good coverage area I began to doubt that was the case. The extra power consumption I usually get while in poor coverage is less in magnitude, and varies much more, and goes away when I have good coverage again. This issue feels distinctly different to me.
When you say disabling data didn't stop the drain you experienced, do you mean turning off Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks? I haven't tried playing with that option. I'll give it a try next time I see the issue too.
You said entering airplane mode would stop it. Did you have the same experience that when you turned airplane mode off that the drain started back up again until you restarted?
Thanks
Excellent post, I would venture a guess that your background is in one the sciences.
One thing I noticed you didn't try was connecting through wifi. I believe this will render the 4g radio on but not in use. If the issue persists, it could help narrow down the cause.
As far as attempting to fix it, you can factory reset it or go to verizon for a replacement.. but that doesn't do much for others with this problem.
I have been having the same issue, both on stock and BAMF 1.6. Thanks for looking so thoroughly at this problem. It appears not everyone is affected. Can someone confirm? If so, exchanging the could be the solution.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
To test your hypothesis, I'd recommend turning off LTE somehow. My suggestion for non-rooted phone:
Dial ##778#
Chose edit mode, password: 000000
You should be able to turn off LTE in Modem Settings->Preferred Mode
Please let us know your finding.
Nice work on the research!
The scenario you described happened to me yesterday.
I was in a building where I didn't get any reception at all. I noticed the phone started to warm up. By the time I got outside and the phone re-established a connection with the 4g network, it was extremely warm and the phone was at 7% life begging to be charged.
This has happened to me on two other occasions but I don't recall being in an area of zero to poor reception.
My bolt is also rooted running the BAMF Remix 1.6.
agdaniels said:
Excellent post, I would venture a guess that your background is in one the sciences.
One thing I noticed you didn't try was connecting through wifi. I believe this will render the 4g radio on but not in use. If the issue persists, it could help narrow down the cause.
As far as attempting to fix it, you can factory reset it or go to verizon for a replacement.. but that doesn't do much for others with this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Your guess is spot on; I did my Ph. D. in computer science.
I have not tried switching to WiFi. Next time I see the issue I will put that to the test. I find I haven't been using WiFi much with this phone since I have lower standby power consumption in 3G mode when I don't need the speed. When I do want more speed, I find here in NYC 4G LTE is actually significantly faster than either my home or work Internet connection (Cable and DSL respectively) (Crazy!). Also, here in NYC the 2.4 GHz band is VERY crowded so WiFi can slow down at times even on a good wired Internet connection. I wish this phone was 5 GHz WiFi capable to help avoid this particular issue.
My intuition is that this is a radio firmware issue so I have my doubts that a factory reset or even a replacement would fix anything. Factory reset would help if there were misbehaving apps or screwed up settings on my phone, but this seems unlikely. I'll probably need to root my phone so I can back it up before I try a factory reset. A replacement would only help if there was a hardware fault. Part of the purpose of this thread is to help gauge if many other people have this problem. The more that do, the less likely it is an abnormal HW fault with only my phone, and more likely a bug or other HW errata issue that hasn't been worked around correctly.
I think it is still too early in the game to make the call that it is not fixable in FW. I was aware that this LTE network/chipset is quite new and this phone was likely to have some rough spots at the start. Verizon/HTC/Qualcomm have only made one OTA release so far, and even that release has major bugs that were not present in the original stock FW (e.g. the frequent spontaneous rebooting when in 3G mode). Forums like this seem like great places for us users to publicly characterize issues we encounter. I hope it helps the engineers involved in making fixes and that we get updates not too far down the line.
cuguy said:
To test your hypothesis, I'd recommend turning off LTE somehow. My suggestion for non-rooted phone:
Dial ##778#
Chose edit mode, password: 000000
You should be able to turn off LTE in Modem Settings->Preferred Mode
Please let us know your finding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion.
If you look at the last part of my post under the "Variation Testing" heading, I believe I did try a number of configurations with LTE off. Each case where LTE was off I saw normal or low power consumption. This is why I grew to suspect the LTE radio in the first place.
The technique I used for switching between 3G and 4G modes was actually the "Set prefered network type" drop down on the "Phone info" menu that can be reached using "LTE OnOff" app, "Network" app, or by dialing *#*#4636#*#* and selecting "Phone Information".
I have used the dial ##778# to get the ESPT menu before, but that was to modify the "Rev. A" setting from "eHRPD" to "Enable" as a work around to re-enable 3G EVDO during the few days of nation wide 4G LTE & 3G SVDO outage we had a month or so ago. BTW, it looks like I had by phone set to the non-stock "Enable" setting rather than "eHRPD" for the original data capture. I switched this back to "eHRPD" and I'll report if I have the issue again. I was last playing with this setting to see if had any effect on the random reboots after the OTA while on 3G, but it did not.
In the ESPT -> Modem Settings -> Preferred Mode drop down I only see the options for:
- Automatic
- HDR Only
- Digital Only
- CDMA Only (selected by default)
- CDMA HDR Only
There is also a a Preferred Mode(9k) drop down that has these options:
- Automatic
- HDR Only
- LTE Only
- HDR LTE only (selected by default)
I believe that these are settings for the voice radio and the data radio respectively. See the third page of the excellent Anandtech review of the HTC Thunderbolt: <Sorry, I am a new xda-developers forum member so it won't let me post external links yet.>
Do you have suggestions on how to set these? I am unfamiliar with the HDR acronym and haven't turned up anything that seems relevant in my Google searches.
I had another instance of the 4G LTE power burn issue today. I tried a few of the above suggestions.
I enabled WiFi and logged on to an access point. This did not stop the abnormally high power burn. Instead it went up slightly; I assume this was the extra power for the WiFi radio.
I also tried turning off Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks. That resulted in the 4G LTE icon going away but the signal bars were still showing. I couldn't use the Internet but a SMS came through in this mode. This mode did not stop the power burn either.
The burn stopped only when I rebooted.
The reboot happened when I dialed ##778# to get the ESPT menu and switched the "Rev. A" setting from "Enable" to "eHRPD" and this time remembered to commit the changes (forgot to when I posted above). Committing the changes auto-rebooted the phone, which returned me to normal power consumption. I will report if I have the problem again now that I have confirmed I am back in the stock eHRPD mode.
Most of today I was in very good signal conditions, judging by the time the drain started, I could have been out on a errand in the neighborhood. So I can't 100% guarantee that the 4G signal was high the whole time.
Does anyone know of an app that works on the Thunderbolt that can log signal strength over time and preferably graph it too (e.g. similar to Battery Monitor Widget). I have tried to download and use a few without success including: Open Signal Maps, Network Signal Info, RF Signal Tracker, and Signal Finder. Some of these apps didn't work at all (I suspect 4G signal is reported a bit differently and this confuses some of them). Some work in general but I can't seem to get the logging I'm looking for.
Thanks!
OdinGuru said:
I originally thought the same thing about the issue starting while in poor coverage, but since I have seen it occur multiple times in a good coverage area I began to doubt that was the case. The extra power consumption I usually get while in poor coverage is less in magnitude, and varies much more, and goes away when I have good coverage again. This issue feels distinctly different to me.
When you say disabling data didn't stop the drain you experienced, do you mean turning off Settings -> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks? I haven't tried playing with that option. I'll give it a try next time I see the issue too.
You said entering airplane mode would stop it. Did you have the same experience that when you turned airplane mode off that the drain started back up again until you restarted?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By disabling data, I was actually using the notification tools in most rooted roms. That should be equivalent to what you said.
Toggling airplane mode toggled the battery drain problem until it failed to enter airplane mode and I had to reboot.
I see the same thing
Where I live at home we only have 3G at work I have 4G. The phone will get itself into some kind of mode at work and burn through the battery in 4-5 hours. So I keep it charging on my desk all day. If I didn't, some days it wouldn't make it till lunch.
OdinGuru said:
Thank you. Your guess is spot on; I did my Ph. D. in computer science.
I have not tried switching to WiFi. Next time I see the issue I will put that to the test. I find I haven't been using WiFi much with this phone since I have lower standby power consumption in 3G mode when I don't need the speed. When I do want more speed, I find here in NYC 4G LTE is actually significantly faster than either my home or work Internet connection (Cable and DSL respectively) (Crazy!). Also, here in NYC the 2.4 GHz band is VERY crowded so WiFi can slow down at times even on a good wired Internet connection. I wish this phone was 5 GHz WiFi capable to help avoid this particular issue.
My intuition is that this is a radio firmware issue so I have my doubts that a factory reset or even a replacement would fix anything. Factory reset would help if there were misbehaving apps or screwed up settings on my phone, but this seems unlikely. I'll probably need to root my phone so I can back it up before I try a factory reset. A replacement would only help if there was a hardware fault. Part of the purpose of this thread is to help gauge if many other people have this problem. The more that do, the less likely it is an abnormal HW fault with only my phone, and more likely a bug or other HW errata issue that hasn't been worked around correctly.
I think it is still too early in the game to make the call that it is not fixable in FW. I was aware that this LTE network/chipset is quite new and this phone was likely to have some rough spots at the start. Verizon/HTC/Qualcomm have only made one OTA release so far, and even that release has major bugs that were not present in the original stock FW (e.g. the frequent spontaneous rebooting when in 3G mode). Forums like this seem like great places for us users to publicly characterize issues we encounter. I hope it helps the engineers involved in making fixes and that we get updates not too far down the line.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are absolutely correct on all three points, my main focus with the two suggestions were background data for the factory reset and faulty hardware for the replacement.
If you have the ability to disable all background data syncing while on 4g- on the application side, sense ui side, and the android side you could completely rule out software being the cause. My thoughts with this are some background service is keeping the radio active, causing the burn.
The replacement device would help to narrow down whether the issue lies on the device side, or if its more related to the towers/the way lte functions. The latter is bad news for you. My thoughts on this are that some people report no issues running lte, while others are having similar problems as you have reported; I doubt that it is faulty phone hardware, but its possible.
I share your conclusion that this is a firmware(baseband) issue. Actually going in and manipulating it would require root, a considerable understanding of how the interaction between hardware and software works, and the abilty to make tweaks and test them. I will also contact some people more knowledgable then myself and see if they want to chime in on the matter.
crpalmer said:
By disabling data, I was actually using the notification tools in most rooted roms. That should be equivalent to what you said.
Toggling airplane mode toggled the battery drain problem until it failed to enter airplane mode and I had to reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent idea. I then I was able to execute the test you suggested yesterday when I re-encountered the issue. I saw the exact same behavior you reported: even though I disable applications data over LTE, the drain did not stop. This is strong supporting evidence that it is not an issue with some kind of rouge app / sync settings.
Drain toggling with airplane mode is the exactly consistent with my observations as well. Sounds like we have confirmed you having the exact same burn issue.
Thank you for the feedback and confirmation.
mcargil05 said:
Where I live at home we only have 3G at work I have 4G. The phone will get itself into some kind of mode at work and burn through the battery in 4-5 hours. So I keep it charging on my desk all day. If I didn't, some days it wouldn't make it till lunch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is consistent with my observations of the burn issue. The baseline power consumption I observed is about 20% of the battery per hour while phone is idle with screen off. That would correspond to the phone burning through a full charge in 5 hours even if you didn't use it at all. Add any extra actual usage on top of that and 4-5 hours of life sounds very plausible. That assumes you have the problem right away though (the worst case).
I typically see a variable amount of time of normal consumption before the issue starts. For instance, let's say I've been running normally for 3 hours and am at 80% before the issue starts. Then I'd quickly burn through the last 80% in 4 hours or less. In that case I'd get less than 7 hours of total battery life (e.g. not making it through the day). If my normal usage had continued, it should be more like 15 hours (e.g. more than enough for a long day and needs charging every night).
There is still the question if this issue is related or not to 4G signal levels. What do you normally see in the office? Number of bars is useful, and also the more detailed dBm number can be found in Settings -> About Phone -> Network.
Thank you for your report.
agdaniels said:
You are absolutely correct on all three points, my main focus with the two suggestions were background data for the factory reset and faulty hardware for the replacement.
If you have the ability to disable all background data syncing while on 4g- on the application side, sense ui side, and the android side you could completely rule out software being the cause. My thoughts with this are some background service is keeping the radio active, causing the burn.
The replacement device would help to narrow down whether the issue lies on the device side, or if its more related to the towers/the way lte functions. The latter is bad news for you. My thoughts on this are that some people report no issues running lte, while others are having similar problems as you have reported; I doubt that it is faulty phone hardware, but its possible.
I share your conclusion that this is a firmware(baseband) issue. Actually going in and manipulating it would require root, a considerable understanding of how the interaction between hardware and software works, and the abilty to make tweaks and test them. I will also contact some people more knowledgable then myself and see if they want to chime in on the matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the most recent test I disabled "Mobile Networks" which effectively shutdown data service. I also tested switching to WiFi which should have redirected all data away from the 4G LTE radio. Neither one of these stopped the power burn. Do you agree this is sufficient enough to rule out apps/services?
I noticed on the Phone info screen there are some counters for number of bytes sent over the radio. Next time I have the issue perhaps I'll keep track of how those change when I'm having the issue vs not.
I agree that trying replacement HW would be a useful data point to help identify if the issue is inherent or tower related. I'm not quite ready to jump through all the hoops with Verizon to do it myself yet. I'd want to root first to create a backup of my current setup first to reduce the pain of the procedure. And I'll probably give them the benefit of the doubt and wait for the next OTA to give them another shot at fixing the issue with FW.
Part of our questions would be answered if there was indeed a user out there that runs 4G LTE and can document that they do not have this issue. Does anyone out there run Battery Monitor Widget or similar and can say they have never seen the tell-tail pattern of power burn I am talking about?
I really wish Android had a built in screen capture feature. I need to get adb installed and setup on my computer so I can post examples of what the graphs look like; I think that would help other users to identify the issue as it happens so they know when to re-boot to save what is left of their battery.
I agree there is very little we as users can do to fix the issue if it is in the radio FW. As you say, it would indeed take very detailed knowledge of the HW. Also, I think it would be impossible without the radio FW source code. Although I haven't looked through the HTC released code, I would be very surprised if this was included. It wouldn't be covered under the Android or Linux open source licenses as it likely originally came from Qualcomm and is considered proprietary. Without that, we can only hope that Qualcomm/HTC/Verizon work together to get it figured out. The good news is that they all have a good business case to do so. This LTE chipset is likely to be used in several phones so they need these issues resolved before it affects their whole lineup.
Anyone know if the new Samsung Droid Charge has this issue too?
After experiencing all the same issues myself, I have noticed that this seems to have been addressed in the leaked Gingerbread radio. Might be worthwhile to repeat testing using that radio and then somehow compare code.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
I would have to agree you've sufficiently ruled out software, the point about the gingerbread build not having issues is worth noting though. Can someone confirm the 2.3 release has new radio firmware? It wouldn't be difficult at all to pull it out and flash it if it does
My thunderbolt will be in hand Monday, I don't have the phd you have in c.s (mines just a bs) but I've been in the business long enough to throw some graphs together. We'll compare notes then if we don't find resolution sooner.
I experience the same problem in North Phoenix when running 4GLTE in a weak 4g signal area. It doesn't happen too often if I'm in a heavily blanketed 4g area.
EDIT. I'm running rooted. OC to usually 1400 mhz. I'm constantly being synced with the Exchange Server. My phone gets super hot when running navigation plus 4GLTE. Temperature gets up to around 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
When I notice my phone heating up, I'll switch to CDMA prl and immediately my battery temperature starts dropping to normal levels, ie. 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
At the time I was running on different radio combinations. Such as, CDMA. 6 and lte. 7 radio combo. I have recently switched to Gingerbread so more testing is needed.
Had a spare minute to look up the radio, looks like its bricking certain devices after flashing. Not completely ruling it out, maybe you can flash it, test it, then flash it back, but there is some risk involved.
Whatever the case, its reassuring to know updates are coming eventually.
Here is a link for reference:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1098363&page=70
Hello,
as you may or may not know fast dormancy is by now a mature technology implemented by all major networks worldwide. It involves 3G (HSPA) technology only and it allows the phone AND the network to keep the connection on using different levels of state (RRC) so that when you finish transferring data at high speed the state goes to a lower energy one or even idle using much less power, saving battery life significantly.
It has been explained by XDA website 2 years ago, you can also find more info on wikipedia.
What's the point of this topic? With my i9505 International I've always used Google Edition ROMs since the first edition was released. Battery life has always been fine while using 3G data on standby.
When I upgraded to KitKat Google Edition I noticed the battery would drain much, much quicker (when the screen is off mainly). I got used to it that I assumed it was how things worked until I ended up reading about people with much battery life on 3G and KitKat (but CM11 or AOSP) so I started investigating and trying different ROMs/configurations (I asked devs on their respective threads but I have been completely boycotted! ). At the end I concluded fast dormancy was not working (on the phone part) in anyway on KitKat ROMs made by Samsung.
How do you know if FD is active on the device?
- install apps to detect wakelocks like BetterBatteryStats (you don't need root)
- turn on 3G data and disable WiFi
- keep the screen off for about 1 minute (make sure you're not downloading anything)
- turn on the screen on check "kernel wakelocks". If you have "fast_dormancy" anywhere in the list then it's on otherwise it is not active
What ROMs did you test and how?
This is what I did: I made sure to have the same configuration and apps on every test, same location and signal strength.
I charged the phone to 100%, turn on 3G data, unplugged and left it idling with sync on for 4 hours. I noticed (via betterbatterystats logs) that with fast dormancy off I would lose about 2.5%/h, while with fast dormancy on the drop would be about 0.7%/h!!
And let's not talk about when you move around or drive, for instance with FD off with my usual drive to class I've always lost 3-4% in 15 minutes, I mean ALWAYS. With FD on the battery wouldn't move at all! That is a HUGE difference!
The ultimate test for me was a real life test. I went studying for two consecutive days at college in the same spot using the phone the same way (browsing, tapatalk, facebook messenger), with FD off I would come back home after using the screen for 1h30m at about 15% (mainly because I would lose power just on stand-by!) but FD on repeating the same steps the following day with FD on I went home at the same time and after using the screen for 2h20m I still had 45% of battery, WOW!
ROMs where FD works:
- 4.2.2, 4.3 TW
- 4.2.2., 4.3 GE (untouched and customized)
- CM10.2, CM11
- AOSP 4.4.2 ROMs
ROMs where FD doesn't work:
4.4.2 GE (untouched and customized)
4.4.2 TW (leak)
I used only one modem during these tests, the latest from the KITKAT leak.
What have you tried to force it?
Well I can tell you for sure that ro.ril.fast.dormancy.rule has no effect on TW/GE ROMs, I also tried to change the database as described here http://www.androidnz.net/2012/06/at-your-own-risk-how-to-disable-fast.html to set it to ON but you should know that FD on every ROM is on by default. I have no proof of this but with FD off even if your network seems to go to lower energy states on the network side (you can see all this using Samsung Service Mode), on the phone side the radio keeps using a lot of power as if it remains "active" thus draining battery like a b*tch
So has Samsung forgotten to include this feature? What do you think?
Also do you know where I can ask support for this to be fixed? Should I ask Google on the play store (even if I don't technically have a GPE phone!) or via Samsung website even if it's not sold on their site? Even worse KK TW is not even out yet officially.
Mod Edit
Please incorporate this in the KitKat thread HERE
Thank you
Thread closed
malybru
Forum Moderator
Hi, all.
This is my first time posting. I have searched the web and through this forum for an answer to my question but no dice. I hope someone here can help.
(By the way, I'm currently using the Oxygen ICS rom. I used to be on Oxygen Gingerbread, and I briefly tried the latest Kitkat build, but couldn't use as a daily driver).
Over the past months, I've transitioned off of my monthly cell plan in favour of a prepaid data add on + VoIP app (Fongo) for calls/texts. I WFH so my cell is on WiFi 90% of the day.
The issue I'm facing is that when I use the WiFi lock option in the app itself, my battery life dips down considerably. But when I don't use this option, I often miss incoming calls (the WiFi appears to go to sleep after awhile, even though I have WiFi set to be always on even when the device is sleeping).
As an alternative, I've tried many apps in the Play Store, such as Wifi Keep alive (Roys and Shantz), and Wifi Fixer.
I've tried them all individually and in combination with each other. They do make the device more efficient at receiving incoming calls while preserving more battery life than the above WiFi lock, but it's still not 100% perfect.
I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions to improve WiFi connectivity when my phone is in sleep mode without sacrificing a lot of battery? (In the form of either an app, system setting, or alternative ROM to what I'm using.) I realize there has to be some impact on battery if WiFi is on, but given that Fongo drains the battery whereas third party apps are more forgiving on it, I'm wondering if there's a better solution/configuration out there.
I experience this issue in Gingerbread and ICS. I don't experience it in Kitkat, but the battery barely lasts for 6-8 hours.
I hope I'm explaining this clearly. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! TIA.
An update:
I found the Wake Lock app (developer "darken") in the app store, and that seems to have solved my issue. I set it to the "Partial Wakelock" setting and now all incoming calls come in correctly on WiFi and my battery doesn't drain as quickly as it did with other apps or the Fongo setting.
Posting this in case it helps someone else in this situation.
Hi, so the simplest way of stating my problem is when my device is either unlocked (AKA browsing apps and whatnot with the screen on), or locked (sleeping), notifications are slow to arrive. Right now I've been testing with Skype, and Gmail, both of which are inconsistent. My OPO does not currently have a SIM card (haven't setup the plan yet), and I've tried with both LTE and Radio off (using *#*#4636#*#* on the phone info page)
Info about my OPO/Setup:
Flashed CyanogenMod 12.1 as stated in the Sultan thread before flashing Sultanxda Rom
Using Sultanxda Unofficial CyanogenMod 12.1 Sep 14, 2015 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one...m-kernel-unofficial-cyanogenmod-12-1-t3120259)
Using AK v.020 CAF Kernel (http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/orig-development/kernel-ak-t3189886)
Using StyloKing v1 Synapse profile for CAF (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one...ad-oneplus-t3163211/post62600798#post62600798)
Using build.prop mods (http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/general/build-prop-tweaks-device-t3168207)
Using TK Gapps Pico (http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software/tk-gapps-t3116347)
Using Oxygen OS Modem ONLY (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one...dio-updated-modem-radio-files-oxygen-t3072516)
Using Xposed for Lolipop (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3034811)
Using Greenify and Amplify with settings from both of these threads (http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-0-0-hour-idle-battery-drain-stock-t2973588 & http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-extreme-battery-life-t3095884)
My OPO does not currently have a SIM card (haven't setup the plan yet)
Things I've tried:
With both LTE and Radio off (using *#*#4636#*#* on the phone info page)
Older Skype versions
Push Notification Fixer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andqlimax.pushfixer&hl=en)
Disabling Amplify by disabling the module in Xposed, and rebooting
Double checked that Greenify isn't touching Skype or anything related
I also have a Samsung Galaxy S3 that is using the stock ROM (Android 4.1.2) with root permission and a custom recovery. That is the device I've been using to test with. If I send a Skype or Gmail message from my OPO to the Galaxy, it takes 2-3 seconds EVERY TIME consistently.
If I send a Skype or Gmail message from the Galaxy to the OPO, sometimes I'll get the message within 3-5 seconds, other times it takes 1 minute+ and even a few messages don't arrive until I unlock the device and open Skype or Gmail.
When I leave Skype open, and lock my OPO, it seems to get the messages very quickly almost every time.
Also, it appears that when my phone sleeps for a certain period of time, seems inconsistent, the WiFi will disconnect - and I DO have keep WiFi on while phone is sleeping.
I've run out of ideas short of trying a full wipe and different rom/kernel/who knows what at this point...=\
Any/all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Edit/Update: Found this post (http://forum.cyanogenmod.org/topic/107023-cm12121-wifi-connectivity-issuesdrops-workaround-included/) on another forum, and that seems to have fixed it for me. Doing further testing, but so far positive results.
The delayed response is most probablye due to the Greenify/Amplify tweaks that you've made. Remove everything related to Gmail, Skype, Google Play Services from Greenify & Amplify and then test. Add back the tweaks one by one and find the culprit.
I've already tried that. Fully disabling Amplify, and double checking that I've touched nothing close to Skype or Gmail or Google Services in Greenify's settings.
As I put in the edit in my first post, I found out going to /system/etc/wifi/WCNSS_qcom_cfg.ini and changing the line
Code:
McastBcastFilter=3
to
Code:
McastBcastFilter=0
appears to have solved the issue for me.
But when I did that, I also noticed something else, and I wish I hadn't unplugged my device (AKA wiping battery data so I could show a clear screenshot of what I mean), because I saw when I was looking at the battery usage chart, all day long while I had McastBcastFilter=3, my WiFi signal was turning on and off CONSTANTLY throughout the day, and sometimes for decently long periods. Now that I've changed McastBcastFilter=0, my WiFi signal shows that it's on 24/7 in my battery screen.
I'm worried that this is going to cost me a fair bit more battery, but at the same time I need my notifications.
I found another setting in that file with this comment:
Code:
# Enable suspend or not
# 1: Enable standby, 2: Enable Deep sleep, 3: Enable Mcast/Bcast Filter
gEnableSuspend=3
Before I made any changes to this file, it was set to 3, which makes sense with the McastBcastFilter changes I made. But attempting to get some more battery life so my WiFi goes into some sort of partial power save mode for battery longevity, I'm going to try my OPO with Enable Deep Sleep on all day. We'll see how the battery fairs and if notifications are still delayed or not.
Edit: I was able to get the data from my secondary battery app so screenshots for all!
This is what my Wifi/Battery was like before I changed McastBcastFilter at all:
Code:
imgur.com/ZXmFYhI
This is after I changed it from 3 to 0:
Code:
imgur.com/H5ZlXc2
And this is what it's been like since I rebooted last night with gEnableSuspend=2 (AKA Deep Sleep):
Code:
imgur.com/2O6GuVE
Obviously when the WiFi is off, I'm not getting my notifications. >=\
(Gave the URLs CODE tags so I could link the images...)
Well so far I haven't seem to have come across any issues with leaving BcastMcast at 0 and using Deep Sleep for WiFi. I'm still getting all my notifications, and as far as I can tell the battery life is give or take about the same. Possibly a little more battery drain than with BcastMcast on, but I haven't done any sleep tests yet, just initial observations with using OPO in a daily setting.