A unique battery issue - AT&T, Rogers HTC One X, Telstra One XL

I have searched the interwebs high and low for this one, but I haven't found another with this issue.
Phone: One XL, ATT - 4.0.3 - CleanRom 4.1 - 1.85
Was browsing using chrome this morning with my battery at 48%. Right before my eyes it flashed the "0% battery - plug in" alert for a split second before it powered off and literally had no battery.
Furthermore, this seems to have been happening 1-2 times a week for a couple months. I keep waking up in the morning to a phone w/ 0% power, despite going to bed with somewhere between 50-100% charge.
I have also experienced the problem where I hold the phone in my hand and the are a near the antennae/camera gets very warm and my battery drops at almost a percent a second until it's dead. This occurs even with Wi-Fi turned off (which I tested due to "scanning" being the perma-status of wifi when the antennae area got warm).
Coming from every iPhone generation, I really like this phone , but the battery issues are pretty substantial. (worse, dare I say than the annoying death-grip apple tried denying was even real)
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Lastly, each time, the battery meter appropriately reflects the drop of power to 0% from 50%+. I have tried reformatting phone to default RUU, upgraded to 1.85, tried newer Cleanrom, everything, no cigar. If anybody has any advice, I'd really appreciate it. I'd also be happy to provide more info if I can.
Thank You!

robenwzrdhat said:
Coming from every iPhone generation, I really like this phone , but the battery issues are pretty substantial. (worse, dare I say than the annoying death-grip apple tried denying was even real)
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Pulling the "I had an iPhone, and it was better" card is pointless, and is only going to win you enemies here.
I'd say close to half the people I know with iPhones have had battery issues, or other severe hardware issues, at some point.
Have you tried flashing a different radio? If there is a reception issue, it can be killing your battery quickly searching for the network, even while connected to WiFi.
Also, posting a screenshot of your battery usage (particulary the "large" battery graph called "History details") for us to look at may be useful to help diagnose the problem.

redpoint73 said:
Pulling the "I had an iPhone, and it was better" card is pointless, and is only going to win you enemies here.
I'd say close to half the people I know with iPhones have had battery issues, or other severe hardware issues, at some point.
Have you tried flashing a different radio? If there is a reception issue, it can be killing your battery quickly searching for the network, even while connected to WiFi.
Also, posting a screenshot of your battery usage (particulary the "large" battery graph called "History details") for us to look at may be useful to help diagnose the problem.
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Click to collapse
forums.androidcentral.com/htc-one-x/207174-instant-battery-drain-0-t-one-x.html
This pretty much sums up my issue. Guy just went to ATT to replace his.
Also, I'm not pulling the iPhone is better card. It isn't. Period. This phone is amazing and android is vastly superior to iOS. I hate programming in objective C anyway and though the NDK isn't exactly straightforward at least I can run native code. If anything, my complaining about iPhone's crappy hardware problems should gain me praise and camaraderie. I left iPhone and blindly made the leap to an android phone for a reason. "anything has to be better than this (except blackberry o.0)"
Would hate to try and exchange this phone with ATT, given that mine is rooted and unlocked. I'm expecting resistance, and I haven't done my homework to see if I can walk out of ATT with the latest version replacement and still unlock it. Also, I have a tiny chip on the bottom. Don't know if they'll replace it.
Edit: Also, no issues with reception (4g LTE all day). Haven't tried flashing a new radio, but that may help with the second issue. The battery just plummeting to 0% though makes absolutely no sense.

robenwzrdhat said:
Edit: Also, no issues with reception (4g LTE all day). Haven't tried flashing a new radio, but that may help with the second issue. The battery just plummeting to 0% though makes absolutely no sense.
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You're right, it doesn't make sense for the actual battery voltage to instantaneously drop like that. Steep line yes, vertical, I don't think its really possible. The vertical drop is likely an incorrect battery meter reading, and the phone correcting itself.
I've seen this once on my phone, and a factory reset cleared it up (never saw it again). Same with at least one other use on here. But the fact that you've flashed some ROMs and ran the RUU should have accomplished the same.
I'd still encourage you to post a screen shot of the battery usage (for several hours of use), as looking at the battery grapsh versus the bars for network signal, awake, etc. might shed some light.

redpoint73 said:
You're right, it doesn't make sense for the actual battery voltage to instantaneously drop like that. Steep line yes, vertical, I don't think its really possible. The vertical drop is likely an incorrect battery meter reading, and the phone correcting itself.
I've seen this once on my phone, and a factory reset cleared it up (never saw it again). Same with at least one other use on here. But the fact that you've flashed some ROMs and ran the RUU should have accomplished the same.
I'd still encourage you to post a screen shot of the battery usage (for several hours of use), as looking at the battery grapsh versus the bars for network signal, awake, etc. might shed some light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had hoped a factory reset would solve it for me as well, but once it started happening nothing would stop it I will update the thread the next time it happens then. Just got off the phone with ATT and they'll exchange it if it doesn't have physical damage, but the small chip out of the bottom could possibly deem it out of warranty, in which case they charge the full price of the phone (509$)!

robenwzrdhat said:
Just got off the phone with ATT and they'll exchange it if it doesn't have physical damage, but the small chip out of the bottom could possibly deem it out of warranty, in which case they charge the full price of the phone (509$)!
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Click to collapse
From what other XDA users have posted, I don't think one small ding will void your warranty, if its in good shape otherwise. Its when people try to send a phone in that is pretty beat up, or has a cracked screen or water damage, and want a warranty replacement, that they get denied.

Been having the exact same issue with my Rogers One X recently. The problem comes and goes... I woke up and found it dead twice just like you described. Sometimes it even dropped 20% of battery in a flash second.
I'm on Clean Rom V SP1. Just flashed BeastMode kernel a couple days ago and it's normal so far for two days... Just a note (it might not even be relevant), I had to use flashlight for a longer than usual period once. Not sure if the aggressive draw of battery screwed up the battery's voltage meter and thus causing this issue..

redpoint73 said:
From what other XDA users have posted, I don't think one small ding will void your warranty, if its in good shape otherwise. Its when people try to send a phone in that is pretty beat up, or has a cracked screen or water damage, and want a warranty replacement, that they get denied.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for this. Am leery of ATT, as it's often their way or the highway.
robertyouu said:
Been having the exact same issue with my Rogers One X recently. The problem comes and goes... I woke up and found it dead twice just like you described. Sometimes it even dropped 20% of battery in a flash second.
I'm on Clean Rom V SP1. Just flashed BeastMode kernel a couple days ago and it's normal so far for two days... Just a note (it might not even be relevant), I had to use flashlight for a longer than usual period once. Not sure if the aggressive draw of battery screwed up the battery's voltage meter and thus causing this issue..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope new version of cleanrom works for you. It's a great rom. I haven't used the flashlight beyond turning it on and going "spiffy" and turning it back off, so I doubt that contributed to it. Mine started out every once in a while, then just happened more and more frequently. I don't want to leave my phone charging all night. Think I'm going to try and exchange at ATT today.

redpoint73 said:
You're right, it doesn't make sense for the actual battery voltage to instantaneously drop like that. Steep line yes, vertical, I don't think its really possible. The vertical drop is likely an incorrect battery meter reading, and the phone correcting itself.
I've seen this once on my phone, and a factory reset cleared it up (never saw it again). Same with at least one other use on here. But the fact that you've flashed some ROMs and ran the RUU should have accomplished the same.
I'd still encourage you to post a screen shot of the battery usage (for several hours of use), as looking at the battery grapsh versus the bars for network signal, awake, etc. might shed some light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the described problem looks like this (attached)

nvsmksru said:
I think the described problem looks like this (attached)
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Click to collapse
Yup, I understand perfectly what it looks like, and I've seen it myself. I want to see a screenshot of the OP's phone, not random other people. In particular, the screen "History details" accessed when you tap the graph, which shows bar graphs for Mobile network signal, Awake time, etc.
It also seems the OP is talking about 2 completely different issues. One is the vertical drop in the %battery graph (which is probably just a metering error). The other is a steep (but not vertical) battery drainage including the phone possibly overheating. I'm more interested to see the screenshot for that case.

redpoint73 said:
Yup, I understand perfectly what it looks like, and I've seen it myself. I want to see a screenshot of the OP's phone, not random other people. In particular, the screen "History details" accessed when you tap the graph, which shows bar graphs for Mobile network signal, Awake time, etc.
It also seems the OP is talking about 2 completely different issues. One is the vertical drop in the %battery graph (which is probably just a metering error). The other is a steep (but not vertical) battery drainage including the phone possibly overheating. I'm more interested to see the screenshot for that case.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I do mention two issues. The main one I address here is the vertical drop. And the above poster is right, that's exactly what it looks like when the battery dies. If (when) it happens again though I'll include the more detailed graph.
The secondary issue though, some have speculated is a result of the phone losing and then regaining 4g lte signal. Not sure about that one though, as it happens late at night for me. The one night I left my phone in the charger is when I discovered it in the morning. My phone was at 100% charge when I fell asleep, but when I woke it was at 80% and was very warm. It was using more power than the charger was providing, it seems, and that is when I experienced the rapid drop of a percent every second-ish after I took it off the charger. The wi-fi status was also set to "scanning" the entire time the phone was discharging until I rebooted it once it hit 10%. The issue stopped and the phone cooled off. Charged as advertised afterwards.
---Edit
Also, I went to the ATT store and since it was a core store they weren't familiar with exchanges. I got the manager though and had them take a peek at the phone and made certain they noted in my account that it's in good condition (they didn't notice care about the chips, I suppose). Replacement will be here in 6-10 days, but it will be a refurb (which surprised me). Hopefully I won't get two with the same issue.

robenwzrdhat said:
Yes, I do mention two issues. The main one I address here is the vertical drop. And the above poster is right, that's exactly what it looks like when the battery dies. If (when) it happens again though I'll include the more detailed graph.
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Click to collapse
No need to post that graph. I think its just a metering error, and I don't think the "History details" graph will shed much light.
robenwzrdhat said:
The secondary issue though, some have speculated is a result of the phone losing and then regaining 4g lte signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be. The "History details" graph indicates data network strength, as well as dropouts (amongst other things). So that is the one I want to see (not the graph for vertical drop).

redpoint73 said:
Could be. The "History details" graph indicates data network strength, as well as dropouts (amongst other things). So that is the one I want to see (not the graph for vertical drop).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will post it next time it happens!

robenwzrdhat said:
Will post it next time it happens!
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Click to collapse
I've actually had this issue happen to me about once a week, and I haven't figured it out.
I used to think it was from Google Maps or some rogue app eating battery, but I've really been careful about leaving them running and it still occurs.
I'll also try and grab a battery graph next time, but it literally looks like a complete instantaneous jump from 70% or whatever to 0%.

quasitime said:
I've actually had this issue happen to me about once a week, and I haven't figured it out.
I used to think it was from Google Maps or some rogue app eating battery, but I've really been careful about leaving them running and it still occurs.
I'll also try and grab a battery graph next time, but it literally looks like a complete instantaneous jump from 70% or whatever to 0%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but I have had "auto-brightness" turned off since I made this post and it hasn't happened since. My phone might also have known that I ordered a replacement, so now it's trying to be on its best behavior.

quasitime said:
I've actually had this issue happen to me about once a week, and I haven't figured it out.
I used to think it was from Google Maps or some rogue app eating battery, but I've really been careful about leaving them running and it still occurs.
I'll also try and grab a battery graph next time, but it literally looks like a complete instantaneous jump from 70% or whatever to 0%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I've already mentioned, the vertical jump is likely not related to any actual battery usage (such as a rogue app). Its probably just a metering error, and the vertical jump is the meter trying to correct itself. If the issue persists, the only solution that I have seen that helps is a factory reset.

redpoint73 said:
As I've already mentioned, the vertical jump is likely not related to any actual battery usage (such as a rogue app). Its probably just a metering error, and the vertical jump is the meter trying to correct itself. If the issue persists, the only solution that I have seen that helps is a factory reset.
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Click to collapse
You're probably right. The other possibility is a battery failure... I hope not. I've definitely reset battery stats in recovery but I haven't done a factory reset recently. Next time I flash I will.

quasitime said:
You're probably right. The other possibility is a battery failure... I hope not. I've definitely reset battery stats in recovery but I haven't done a factory reset recently. Next time I flash I will.
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Click to collapse
I doubt its a battery failure. I'm no expert on batteries or anything. But I would think that it would be impossible for the battery voltage to just drop to zero. Where would all the energy go? It would at least have to be expelled in a burst of heat or go to ground, or something. Conservation of energy says its got to go somewhere, it just can't vanish. That's what leads me to believe its just a metering error, not a real life event.
As for clearing battery stats, it really does nothing. It just clears the stats displayed on the battery usage screen, which also happens when you turn the phone off, or charge it fully. The myth of clearing battery stats was debunked a while ago: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/google-engineer-debunks-myth-wiping-battery-stats-does-not-improve-battery-life/

Either way it's really hard to tell. If it's a battery failure issue, then capacity won't be reliable. In conjunction with a metering problem, then the voltage is not really dropping, it's just reading much lower than it thought it was... which signals the phone to power down.
I'm definitely going to factory reset soon when I flash, and see what happens.
redpoint73 said:
I doubt its a battery failure. I'm no expert on batteries or anything. But I would think that it would be impossible for the battery voltage to just drop to zero. Where would all the energy go? It would at least have to be expelled in a burst of heat or go to ground, or something. Conservation of energy says its got to go somewhere, it just can't vanish. That's what leads me to believe its just a metering error, not a real life event.
As for clearing battery stats, it really does nothing. It just clears the stats displayed on the battery usage screen, which also happens when you turn the phone off, or charge it fully. The myth of clearing battery stats was debunked a while ago: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/google-engineer-debunks-myth-wiping-battery-stats-does-not-improve-battery-life/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

So I think it happened again.
quasitime said:
Either way it's really hard to tell. If it's a battery failure issue, then capacity won't be reliable. In conjunction with a metering problem, then the voltage is not really dropping, it's just reading much lower than it thought it was... which signals the phone to power down.
I'm definitely going to factory reset soon when I flash, and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Related

[Q] Sudden (strange) battery issues

I've had my nexus s (9020a) since late November (bought it used, in execellent condition.) While battery life was never awesome, it was at least bearable - until last week. I'm now unable to get more than 6 hours on a battery with super-minimal usage. For instance, today, as of right now, I have 5h 58m 57s (at 7% battery left) - the top "user" being the display (32%) with a "time on" of 17m 30s. Even when I power the phone completely off (not the screen, literally powering off) - say for a half hour or so - when I power it back on I lose substantial amount of battery.
Some other details:
Currently running stock 2.3.6 rom (since yesterday), but rooted.
Previously was running stock ICS (flashed the tmobile 2.3.6 ota, then ics, then the att radio) - was fine for the last 2 months
Tried brand new battery (not a samsung, but Anker) - no difference
Tried several different charges, and charging via computer
Have wiped battery stats several times (and done complete resets/formats of everything in between swapping roms)
Phone used to always top out at 95% when charging - but now will go up to 100%
This behavior started up when I was on vacation - a few hours after landing in SLC, UT. I do recall a sudden crash / reboot of the phone before the problems started - but I have gotten random reboots in the past. Was running ICS at the time. I thought maybe a poor signal was to blame, but again, the battery would drain even when the phone was powered off (or in airplane mode.)
I'm not sure what else I can/should do - short of calling Samsung. I'd think if it were a hardware issue, it would fail to charge completely. Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Sounds like something external is draining the battery. I've seen many cases with a magnet on them drain the battery very quickly, or possibly excessive heat. If not i would say it's some kind of hardware problem.
Does not sound like android chewing it up.
Harbb said:
Sounds like something external is draining the battery. I've seen many cases with a magnet on them drain the battery very quickly, or possibly excessive heat. If not i would say it's some kind of hardware problem.
Does not sound like android chewing it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have a case on it - just a screen protector. The battery does tend to run in the mid 90s fahrenheit (according to battery status apps.. though I think I have seen it as high as the low 100s (maybe 102?) - but I figured that was normal.
Another weird behavior I should mention: sometimes when I power off and on while charging, it will cause the battery percentage to jump considerably. Right now, two consecutive on-off-on cycles (within the span of 3 minutes) caused the battery percentage to jump from 36% to 44% to 57%.
Heats normal. Not sure what it could be to be honest. Maybe grab a can of compressed air and spray around the back, maybe dust causing a short or something.
Harbb said:
Heats normal. Not sure what it could be to be honest. Maybe grab a can of compressed air and spray around the back, maybe dust causing a short or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, will try that
Sent it back to Samsung for "repair". As I suspected, all they incompetently did was re-flash 2.3.4 and say "passed all functional testing". Phone is still hosed and completely useless as-is.
(Fully charged, overnight - less than 8 hours - went down to 17%, with no apps running, no google accounts, no sync, no background anything, no screen time, no wifi, in airplane mode)
Samsung really is hopeless. Going to try again with them? Whatever you decide, best of luck. Hope it works out for you.
what is the mv reading when the phone is fully charged? Fully charged should be around 4200mv
Harbb said:
Samsung really is hopeless. Going to try again with them? Whatever you decide, best of luck. Hope it works out for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trying again, but not optimistic. I talked to about 4 total "customer support" people today.. at least got them to "upgrade" me to 2-day shipping for sending back and forth instead of the normal ups ground.
It is so foreign to me - coming from Apple where, under warranty, they'll pretty much swap problematic devices out for new ones _in store_ on a dime. I pretty much begged Samsung to just send me a refurb unit to replace it with but they said thats "not their policy."
noobiekins said:
what is the mv reading when the phone is fully charged? Fully charged should be around 4200mv
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have it with me (send it back for round number two) but I am fairly certain that is around what it was reading.
The thing would even burn through battery when powered off, if the battery was still left in. Taking the battery out = no drop. It has to be something hardware.

Battery life is plunging from 80% to zero

Hey all,
About three weeks ago I had a strange problem. I noticed that in two straight charge cycles, my battery life plummeted from about 80% to zero in just a few hours. I'm not sure what the issue was. I hadn't changed settings, installed new apps, etc. My first screenshot shows an example of what happened. 4G and data were off during the entire time.
Since then, things have been okay. I typically get 3 days standby with 4G on and light use, or 4 days with 4G off. That's mostly standby with maybe an hour or so of talking and minimal use.
After those strange battery plummets, I installed and used GSam Battery Monitor to get more details about what processes were running on my phone in case I noticed the sharp drop happening again. Everything had been fine for over two weeks, with me getting expected battery life before this issue and not experiencing any odd, sudden drops (maybe 5 or 6 charge cycles). This lends me to conclude that my battery's charge capacity is okay, and calibration also shouldn't be an issue.
However, the problem arose once again a couple days ago. Went from 75% to nothing in just a few hours. 4G was off during that time. The third and fourth screenshots show the same issue. Charged my phone, and this morning the same thing happened yet again. At about 90% the plummet began, and within an hour or so I was at 75%. At this point I took screenshots of Android's battery status, and I also did the same for GSam to show what apps and processes were running. The phone's temperature seemed fine.
The GSam screenshots taken when the phone was at 75% and dropping are in the next post, since I'm limited to four images in this one. I have no idea what's causing this massive, sudden battery drain. The only thing I can think of is that I've done Verizon's OTA updates, but otherwise pretty much all my settings, apps, and usage are the same. Plus, for two weeks I had normal battery behavior, so I'm completely baffled.
I also know that cell standby is incorrectly reported in the GS3 battery screen, and I'm getting a good signal where I live so that shouldn't be a problem. I forgot to get screen time for the first case (first two images), but it shouldn't be more than 10-15 min there since most of the charge was lost due to the freak plummet.
If anyone may have an idea of what's going on, or if there are some tools/tests I may use to figure this out, I'd really appreciate it. I turned off my phone after taking the screenshots at 75%, so if I need to turn it on and check something for you I can probably do that. Thanks a lot.
FYI, here are GSam screenshots from when the battery was in the process of plummeting this morning.
i think you built in battery status settings are off. i barely get 12 hrs with medium use, so what i think it happens is that the battery monitor is not showing the proper discharge, and then all of a sudden it catches up to the discharge rate.
are you on stock rom, rooted, unlocked bootloader?
wizzardeel said:
i think you built in battery status settings are off. i barely get 12 hrs with medium use, so what i think it happens is that the battery monitor is not showing the proper discharge, and then all of a sudden it catches up to the discharge rate.
are you on stock rom, rooted, unlocked bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am stock rom. No rooting, no unlocking.
These plunges are definitely an anomaly. Truly, with me barely using the phone and turning off mobile data, I get a few days of standby. I've had the phone since July, and the aberration in battery behavior has been the steep plunges I've shown.
In between these instance of steep plunges, I've had normal use. I really don't think it's an issue of calibration. Please believe me when I say that my normal, light use during the past four months gets me anywhere from 3-5 days with me barely using the phone. When I say barely using it, I mean not even touching it for an entire day if nobody calls me. But now, a sudden plunge in battery life is happening at 80% with no apparent reason.
I think it might be some kind of software or hardware glitch, but it's impossible for this to be normal given the battery life I typically get. Just looking at that steep drop, it's crazy and just happens out of nowhere.
But please trust me when I say that these sudden plunges that have happened a total of 4 or 5 times, causing the battery to drain completely in a few hours when I'm not touching it, are quite a drastic aberration from the normal standby life I get. Something is definitely wrong here, I just don't know what.
And one more thing to add is that after this sudden plunge and rapid drain, charging the battery still takes the normal time it does when I'm not having this issue. That is, about 2.5-3 hours to reach a full charge (and I charge with the phone 'off'). The battery is being completely drained. But this happened twice, then didn't happen for maybe 5-6 charge cycles, then happened again twice.
Before the first instance, I remember an OTA Verizon update around 10/5. My phone was okay for 2-3 charge cycles after that. Then two rapid drains. Then 5-6 normal cycles. Then two more rapid drains. There was a second Verizon OTA update somewhere in there but I can't remember.
and you said it only started once you did the OTA update from verizon right? well you could either try to go back to the stock verizon rom pre-update and see what happens there, or contact verizon and let them know what happens with the new OTA update. they could replace your phone, or it could be a bug of the new OTA update. i am on stock rom and rooted and deleted the apk that kept on trying to push the update. just unlocked by bootloader and so far my battery life has improved compared to previous locked bootloader.
i would take it to a verizon store and show them. They might give you a new battery.
I may have to do that. I'm just not really sure what the issue is.
- The battery can still hold a full charge.
- Based on running services, nothing is causing high CPU usage.
- The sudden plummet almost seems kind of random.
- Since there have been normal charge cycles, it's not an issue of calibration.
I'm not sure if this is a hardware issue or software issue. I'm trying to wrap my brain around what could cause the battery to drain so suddenly and sharply. Could the charge somehow be "leaking"? But in that case I'd expect it to happen all the time. If there's an underlying software issue, is there any other tool I might be able to use to figure it out?
Does the phone get hot?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
jhoutz said:
Does the phone get hot?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not from what I can tell. Note that the first couple plummet drains were overnight.
But today I caught it before noon. The phone wasn't hot, and the GSam screenshots show no CPU stress.
Maybe you can do a factory reset and se if that helps. They will probably do one if you bring it to verizon anyways. It sure sound like a hardware problem. You'd think if the processors are working that hard that the phone would get hot, I know mine gets pretty hot sometimes under heavy use.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Thing is, all indications show the CPU isn't working hard, and the phone wasn't hot.
I'm stumped.
This is a noobish question, but I presume the only way to go back to stock is to factory reset? One thing I might wait for is the Jelly Bean update, presuming this random drain holds off until then.
But yea, I dread going into VZW because they're just going to try to pass this off onto me doing something wrong, or me not knowing how to calibrate the battery, etc. The information I've provided in my OP and in the screenshots would fly over their heads. Maybe I can just do an online chat and tell VZ to send me another battery?
The only other thing I can think of is that sometime before these plummets happened, I went online to MyVerizon and turned off the Backup Assistant for movies/music/etc. so I wouldn't get all those notifications. I don't think this could be the issue, since the plummet happens when data is off. Plus, GSam would show that Backup Assistant is hogging the CPU or forcing a signal.
I doubt swapping batteries will fix it, though. I'm thinking my internal hardware might have a serious problem.
inm8num2 said:
Thing is, all indications show the CPU isn't working hard, and the phone wasn't hot.
I'm stumped.
This is a noobish question, but I presume the only way to go back to stock is to factory reset? One thing I might wait for is the Jelly Bean update, presuming this random drain holds off until then.
But yea, I dread going into VZW because they're just going to try to pass this off onto me doing something wrong, or me not knowing how to calibrate the battery, etc. The information I've provided in my OP and in the screenshots would fly over their heads. Maybe I can just do an online chat and tell VZ to send me another battery?
The only other thing I can think of is that sometime before these plummets happened, I went online to MyVerizon and turned off the Backup Assistant for movies/music/etc. so I wouldn't get all those notifications. I don't think this could be the issue, since the plummet happens when data is off. Plus, GSam would show that Backup Assistant is hogging the CPU or forcing a signal.
I doubt swapping batteries will fix it, though. I'm thinking my internal hardware might have a serious problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before the update, was everything normal?
Is the update with the HE base/baseband?
It probably isn't a hardware problem, just a bad base.
I've noticed after updating my GS3 to the HE base and the battery life was just horrid.
It's said that the new HE baseband uses up more battery also
emckai said:
Before the update, was everything normal?
Is the update with the HE base/baseband?
It probably isn't a hardware problem, just a bad base.
I've noticed after updating my GS3 to the HE base and the battery life was just horrid.
It's said that the new HE baseband uses up more battery also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "HE" base/baseband.
But yea, this problem didn't come up until after an OTA update.
Check your baseband version under Settings -> About and paste it here
Sent from my rooted Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII
It's I535VRLHE
Kernel version: 3.0.8-1092717
Build number IMM76D.I535VRALHE
I turned on the phone and within 10 min or so the battery life went down by 2-3% without me doing anything. As a test I've put it into Airplane mode, and it's decreased by about 2% in 45 min.
Now I'm wondering if I have a faulty antenna or something.
Yup ive had it drain 90% overnight many times for no reason. Called verizon and my new battery should be here today.
1+ day on battery and only 11 minutes of screen time?!?
inm8num2 said:
It's I535VRLHE
Kernel version: 3.0.8-1092717
Build number IMM76D.I535VRALHE
I turned on the phone and within 10 min or so the battery life went down by 2-3% without me doing anything. As a test I've put it into Airplane mode, and it's decreased by about 2% in 45 min.
Now I'm wondering if I have a faulty antenna or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HE is the baseband version and the build number. For example I have: Android Version: 4.0.4
Baseband: I535VRLG7
Build: IM76D.I535VRALG7
which is the version before the update.
Like everybody else said, call Verizon or go to a store and let them know about the battery issues and they should send you a new one. Or even call Samsung and tell them you bought an S3 through Verizon and you are having battery hardware issues.
sonser said:
1+ day on battery and only 11 minutes of screen time?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, no calls made or received during that time. No data being used.
So, wasn't really using the phone during that time...

Battery Issue

Actually, I spoke too soon.
So, my battery is playing funny. It stayed at 100% battery for 8 hours unplugged, then drained itself to 43% (over the course of 4 or so hours)... and shut off at that point. The battery voltage is reported as being 6mV.
Running CM10 latest. Any thoughts?
And most importantly - are there any safety concerns given that the battery voltage is being reported incorrectly by the OS?
small bump due to edit of first post.
Accophox said:
small bump due to edit of first post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try a factory reset and don't forget to backup your stuff. There should be no safety issue, its either the OS or the battery is dying.
Three weeks ago I had it not charge past 86% -- a wipe of the battery stats seemed to have fixed, for I haven't seen it since. (There's no way to tell if it actually did anything, but it doesn't hurt to try either.) As far as safety goes, well, it might get a bit warm, but it won't burn down your house.
Welp, small update. Haven't had the time to do much regarding tablet until now. It's now turning off when the battery reads ~55% percent. So my 55% is 0% (it'll fail to turn on). So I guess my battery is dying in the machine. Which sucks. Cause it's no more than 4 months old at this point. And warranty is out of the question, no squaretrade in Canada - and the bootloader is unlocked.
I can tell you one company that I'm not buying another tablet from, ever. Hardware issue, but cause the software is modified... (yadda yadda yadda - I know, I unlocked it... but still, this is clearly a hardware problem and probably would have happened anyway given that my workload remains the same).
Accophox said:
Welp, small update. Haven't had the time to do much regarding tablet until now. It's now turning off when the battery reads ~55% percent. So my 55% is 0% (it'll fail to turn on). So I guess my battery is dying in the machine. Which sucks. Cause it's no more than 4 months old at this point. And warranty is out of the question, no squaretrade in Canada - and the bootloader is unlocked.
I can tell you one company that I'm not buying another tablet from, ever. Hardware issue, but cause the software is modified... (yadda yadda yadda - I know, I unlocked it... but still, this is clearly a hardware problem and probably would have happened anyway given that my workload remains the same).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have your tried wiping the battery stats under Recovery? I had this with my SGS2, but the battery life in itself was quite good. Wiping the stats made my SGS2 read the battery's data anew and fixed the issue of funny percentages being reported (it also kept recharging out of nowhere, which is a hint in itself that something has gone awry with the calibration).
MartyHulskemper said:
Have your tried wiping the battery stats under Recovery? I had this with my SGS2, but the battery life in itself was quite good. Wiping the stats made my SGS2 read the battery's data anew and fixed the issue of funny percentages being reported (it also kept recharging out of nowhere, which is a hint in itself that something has gone awry with the calibration).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Already tried clearing battery stats and doing the full discharge/recharge routine. As I said - it's reporting the incorrect battery voltage... 8mV, which is physically *impossible* for a lithium-ion cell. I'm inclined to believe that my battery is more or less shot. After 4 months.
Accophox said:
Nope. Already tried clearing battery stats and doing the full discharge/recharge routine. As I said - it's reporting the incorrect battery voltage... 8mV, which is physically *impossible* for a lithium-ion cell. I'm inclined to believe that my battery is more or less shot. After 4 months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a shame. I was hoping the issue would be with the stats... Guess your battery indeed is dead as a dodo, and you'd better off contacting ASUS for a replacement. I just want to add it is not necessarily their 'fault' -- batteries do die every once in a while, and although I agree that four months is way too quickly, sometimes things like this just slip by, even with good QC (which I do nto pretend ASUS to have, mind you ).
MartyHulskemper said:
That's a shame. I was hoping the issue would be with the stats... Guess your battery indeed is dead as a dodo, and you'd better off contacting ASUS for a replacement. I just want to add it is not necessarily their 'fault' -- batteries do die every once in a while, and although I agree that four months is way too quickly, sometimes things like this just slip by, even with good QC (which I do nto pretend ASUS to have, mind you ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Given it has an unlocked bootloader, Asus will be charging me probably the cost of a new tablet. Overall, I think I'm more or less done with 10" tablets. Nexus 7 is good for the road, and a lightweight laptop will do more for me than a new 10" tablet, even if the cost is higher.
Just wanted to report similar behavior in my tablet.
It stays at 100% after a full charge for like 30 minutes during gaming usage. It used to start dropping from 100% at 8200mv but now doesn't start dropping until 8000mv.
it shuts down at 15%, so it pretty much feels like I have a +10-15% offset.
Using CleanRom inheritance and clemsyns kernel, but after reading this thread and http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=35345450 i feel that this is a sign that my battery is going to kick the bucket in the near future. My tablet is also about 4 months old.
Going to try the usual steps, reflash, return to stock, different rom, factory reset, etc., but I have little hope.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T

[Q] Battery Problens!!

Ive had my htc one x for maybe 5-6 months which is almost the longest ive ever been on one phone and i love(d) it, but its always been doing something very strange and aggravating that seems to be getting worse. Battery drain has always been a problem for me with this phone but ehh i can deal with it, but once my phone gets down to about 14% which is does often because of the draining it starts acting real funny with its power and sometimes goes from 14 down to 5 in an instant literally out of no where and as soon as i plug up itll go right back to 13, or itll shut down entirely at 14% but i can just cut it back on, or itll shut down in the middle of me doing something and i have to charge it for about 5-10 minutes before itll even come back on. The latter happened last night btw. No matter what combination of roms/kernels i try this always seems to be a problem. I really cant deal with this anymore and its to the point where i wanna throw my phone into a wall and just buy another one, which im seriously thinking about doing at this point. If such thing has happened to anyone before or you have insight on this can you please help before i just give up hope completely.
What you have described is normal for our device. Remember that the battery percentage is just an estimate of your actual charge. In addition, you find your phone shutting off around the lower percentages as a result of the device attempting to prevent damage to the battery. That is what the HOXl was designed to do.
Sent from my One X using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
KungFuCracka94 said:
What you have described is normal for our device. Remember that the battery percentage is just an estimate of your actual charge. In addition, you find your phone shutting off around the lower percentages as a result of the device attempting to prevent damage to the battery. That is what the HOXl was designed to do.
Sent from my One X using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last night when it did it, as it has before, i was still on 21%.... thats not normal. And this isnt my first android nor first htc, never happened before. Even on my aunts old one s it didnt happen
Do you allow full charges after these "forced shutdowns" occur? This should cause your battery to recalibrate.
Sent from my One X using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
NexusS4gFreak said:
Last night when it did it, as it has before, i was still on 21%.... thats not normal. And this isnt my first android nor first htc, never happened before. Even on my aunts old one s it didnt happen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery behavior on this phone has been interesting. I have the battery last over two weeks on airplane mode and I've had the battery last just a couple of hours with just a stock setup. There are so many factors that play into this. I work in an area with very little to no signal reception and my battery life goes crazy and the phone can get really hot while I'm there so I've seen the best and worst.
What I do to counteract this bad behavior:
1. Charge prior to 40% (I've had the phone go from 40% to zero instantly before)
2. Consider your signal reception and either try out different radios or use airplane mode to reduce erratic battery drain
3. Install a 3rd party app like batterycalibration (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nema.batterycalibration&hl=en) and use that when things get hairy (I calibrate every two weeks or so and that does the trick for me.
My phone has been like this since I pulled it out of the box. With a little management, it is just fine. You have seen it before but I'll say it again, you have to get through a few charge cycles when flashing a new Rom to get back to normal.
Hope this helps. It works for me and I work in a cell phone reception hell.
NexusS4gFreak said:
Ive had my htc one x for maybe 5-6 months which is almost the longest ive ever been on one phone and i love(d) it, but its always been doing something very strange and aggravating that seems to be getting worse. Battery drain has always been a problem for me with this phone but ehh i can deal with it, but once my phone gets down to about 14% which is does often because of the draining it starts acting real funny with its power and sometimes goes from 14 down to 5 in an instant literally out of no where and as soon as i plug up itll go right back to 13, or itll shut down entirely at 14% but i can just cut it back on, or itll shut down in the middle of me doing something and i have to charge it for about 5-10 minutes before itll even come back on. The latter happened last night btw. No matter what combination of roms/kernels i try this always seems to be a problem. I really cant deal with this anymore and its to the point where i wanna throw my phone into a wall and just buy another one, which im seriously thinking about doing at this point. If such thing has happened to anyone before or you have insight on this can you please help before i just give up hope completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When a new ROM or kernel is flashed you need to let battery settle for at least 48hrs before you get super worried about battery. If possible during that time let device fully discharge then charge up to 100. Please use a battery monitoring app and then see what's causing the issues. With proper config hoxl will get good battery life. There is always the chance its hardware issue but doubtful as battery prolly would of completely failed by now. Also check your screen brightness settings. Hope this helps
Senseless Power Unlocked
For example
Senseless Power Unlocked
Madcat8686 said:
The battery behavior on this phone has been interesting. I have the battery last over two weeks on airplane mode and I've had the battery last just a couple of hours with just a stock setup. There are so many factors that play into this. I work in an area with very little to no signal reception and my battery life goes crazy and the phone can get really hot while I'm there so I've seen the best and worst.
What I do to counteract this bad behavior:
1. Charge prior to 40% (I've had the phone go from 40% to zero instantly before)
2. Consider your signal reception and either try out different radios or use airplane mode to reduce erratic battery drain
3. Install a 3rd party app like batterycalibration (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nema.batterycalibration&hl=en) and use that when things get hairy (I calibrate every two weeks or so and that does the trick for me.
My phone has been like this since I pulled it out of the box. With a little management, it is just fine. You have seen it before but I'll say it again, you have to get through a few charge cycles when flashing a new Rom to get back to normal.
Hope this helps. It works for me and I work in a cell phone reception hell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive done all three methods youve mentioned before and still same thing. Also im on 3/4 bars with lte 90% of the time so no reception issues here. And with my current setup ive been running it for about 2 weeks.
DESERT.TECH said:
When a new ROM or kernel is flashed you need to let battery settle for at least 48hrs before you get super worried about battery. If possible during that time let device fully discharge then charge up to 100. Please use a battery monitoring app and then see what's causing the issues. With proper config hoxl will get good battery life. There is always the chance its hardware issue but doubtful as battery prolly would of completely failed by now. Also check your screen brightness settings. Hope this helps
Senseless Power Unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive always let the rom settle in and i constantly maintain the brightness on around mid level (mirror screen protector so i cant go too low) but its not just one rom or a few, its with every rom i flash ad that consists of most roms available for this device
The battery behaviour you described is completely normal if you understand how a battery of this type works, and if you understand how the software (especially the display of battery percentage) works in conjunction with it.
Sent from my Evita
timmaaa said:
The battery behaviour you described is completely normal if you understand how a battery of this type works, and if you understand how the software (especially the display of battery percentage) works in conjunction with it.
Sent from my Evita
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So youre telling me having the phone get to 22% and instantly drop to zero and power down is normal? Makes no sense at all. Also i cant get it to charge too 100% for anything. So if theres no fix to this, anybody want a one x with a troublesome battery?
What I'm saying is the battery percentage displayed by the software is never exact, it's only an estimate based on the voltage level of your battery. Your battery sounds like its long term life (capacity) has been decreased over time and possibly bad treatment (allowing the device to discharge too much too many times).
Sent from my Evita
NexusS4gFreak said:
So youre telling me having the phone get to 22% and instantly drop to zero and power down is normal? Makes no sense at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on what you define as "normal". Such behavior is certainly not unheard of (although you particular collection of symptoms may point to a more serious issue, which I'll get to later). Couple things you have to remember: the battery meter is far from accurate. Being off by 10% or more is not unusual (completely normal). So jumping from 5 to 13% as you mentioned is not out of the question. The battery voltage is not actually jumping around, just the % battery number that the phone is assigning to various voltage readings. Reading errors happen, and if a jump is noticed, its just the meter correcting itself.
Which brings us to the other point that should be kept in mind: the battery % is not a "real" measurement. Its just a number assigned to various voltages to give the average person a sense of how much battery is left. Its a completely fabricated and artificial measure that just gives some relative sense of when a user should charge their battery. Phone makers just decided to use a system that average people would understand, like the fuel gauge on a car. Zero doesn't really mean zero (or anywhere close), but reporting in voltages would make no sense for most folks. Also, as we all well know, just because (for example) it took you 12 hours to drain the phone to 50%, does not necessarily mean the phone will last another 12 hours to drain the remaining 50%. It all depends on what you are doing with the phone during that time. Which leaves the question: What does the % battery really mean? Really, not a heck of a lot.
On the other hand, the battery failing to charge to 100% is troublesome, as is the apparent frequency of the meter drops and the fact that the issue remains after various ROM flashes. Leads me to believe there may be some hardware issue going on.
The short answer: IMO while some of the individual symptoms are not unusual, the seeming frequency (you haven't exactly quantified this, but it seems relative frequent just based on your descriptions) may suggest a larger issue, but its not certain.
Thanks it explained a lot but it happened again today, went to the store with ~36% on the meter and walked out, haven't touched it at all, phone was completely dead. Tried to charge and it went to 6% and stopped charging, all signs showed it was charging but it was stuck on 6. Then it started climbing again and reached about 16% and actually started losing charge while on the charger. Switched over to my portable battery charger i just got and it held the charge at about 5% for ~30 minutes, which is what it was when i plugged it in and started to charge, then it stopped againand during the whole process the phone was getting very hot. Yea im getting a new phone :/

[Q] Battery % going up without charging

Hey fellas.
So, for a long time now I've noticed this weird behavior of the battery % going up without ever recharging the phone for awhile.
I've seen this happening with plenty of ROMs and kernels over time, and I can't figure out why.
Attached image is the very recent one, which finally made me open a thread regarding this problem... usually it spikes by small percentage upwards, but take a look at around 3/4 of the graph (~2 am), it basically "charged" itself from like 6% to almost 20%!
Now let's be honest, if the phone just lies down on the table without me using it for awhile, there's no problem really.
The real problem might probably be with constant using, I could totally drain the phones battery to 0% while obviously "in real life" it has a lot more juice to give??
For years I kept reading battery related threads, and how calibrating them helps, and how calibration actually does nothing. Everyone keeps changing their minds.
What should I do?
Thanks?
tl;dr soz
p.s. currently running on Cataclysm 5.1 Beta and ElementalX 2.11
Battery stats are purely estimation via calculations, there is no way to calculate the exact physical percentage remaining.
When it detects it has been calculated incorrectly, it readjusts itself slowly, so it looks like it's going up. Really, only the displayed value is going up—the actual charge obviously is not.
Elluel said:
Battery stats are purely estimation via calculations, there is no way to calculate the exact physical percentage remaining.
When it detects it has been calculated incorrectly, it readjusts itself slowly, so it looks like it's going up. Really, only the displayed value is going up—the actual charge obviously is not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But dude, nothing of what you said answers my question at all -
I was asking Why it happens (what causes it to make such huge changes? faulty battery, faulty motherboard?), and What do I do to prevent it?
I didn't ask how does the % estimation system works, mainly because it's obvious?
And as I already said, I don't really have a problem with this happening while the phone is idle on the table let's say, the real problem is with real-time constant use (like surfing a lot, doing work stuff, playing) when I use it for a long time and the phone just turns off since it didn't have the time to re-evaluate its real battery status.
To make it simple, the phone doesn't realize it has more juice to give before it turns off on a non stop usage.
Back to my main question then -
How do I fix that?
Thanks.
NuclearBastard said:
But dude, nothing of what you said answers my question at all -
I was asking Why it happens (what causes it to make such huge changes? faulty battery, faulty motherboard?), and What do I do to prevent it?
I didn't ask how does the % estimation system works, mainly because it's obvious?
And as I already said, I don't really have a problem with this happening while the phone is idle on the table let's say, the real problem is with real-time constant use (like surfing a lot, doing work stuff, playing) when I use it for a long time and the phone just turns off since it didn't have the time to re-evaluate its real battery status.
To make it simple, the phone doesn't realize it has more juice to give before it turns off on a non stop usage.
Back to my main question then -
How do I fix that?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did answer your question: "When it detects it has been calculated incorrectly, it readjusts itself slowly, so it looks like it's going up."
It simply calculated it wrong, so it's adjusting itself. There is nothing wrong with any of your hardware nor software.
It is not a problem, and therefore it requires no fix.
NuclearBastard said:
What should I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's good news. You can forget about where you put your wallcharger.
Elluel said:
I did answer your question: "When it detects it has been calculated incorrectly, it readjusts itself slowly, so it looks like it's going up."
It simply calculated it wrong, so it's adjusting itself. There is nothing wrong with any of your hardware nor software.
It is not a problem, and therefore it requires no fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh man. you're totally not catching my drift.
I realize WHY the percentage is going up, what I don't understand is WHAT causes it to eventually misread the actual mA that's left.
And again I say - ofcourse it's a problem. and OFCOURSE that something is going wrong.
Take it to a more extreme scenario - I could use the phone non stop from 100% to 0, only to truly figure out eventually that the battery has atleast 30-60 minutes left in it.
The phone misreads the actual amount of power it still has. even if it only corrects itself by +1% it's still a problem.
Clearly that's not the case, when you see I got a +~11% in about an hour. it's a much worse problem. An easy ~20 minutes of use before the phone shuts itself down, WASTED.
NuclearBastard said:
Oh man. you're totally not catching my drift.
I realize WHY the percentage is going up, what I don't understand is WHAT causes it to eventually misread the actual mA that's left.
And again I say - ofcourse it's a problem. and OFCOURSE that something is going wrong.
Take it to a more extreme scenario - I could use the phone non stop from 100% to 0, only to truly figure out eventually that the battery has atleast 30-60 minutes left in it.
The phone misreads the actual amount of power it still has. even if it only corrects itself by +1% it's still a problem.
Clearly that's not the case, when you see I got a +~11% in about an hour. it's a much worse problem. An easy ~20 minutes of use before the phone shuts itself down, WASTED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What causes it to misread/recalculate could be one of many things.
For example:
Lets say the defined average battery usage calculation for when data is on is a value of "10 per minute" (for explanation purposes).
If you had a terrible data signal, it would use more battery, and if you had a perfect signal, it would use a bit less.
Lets say you had an absolutely perfect signal, that actually really only used 5 per minute. The calculation would then be incorrect as the device realistically used up less battery than calculated, possibly causing it to readjust itself after a while.
Of course the above is just an example, and it could apply to many other things together (screen, CPU, GPU, signal, WiFi, usage, GPS, etc). This happens on every single device and there is no way around it. If anything, it is causing you to get MORE usage out of your battery, not less, since it is increasing the percentage value as per recalculation. If it did not recalculate, and your device realistically used less battery than the calculation thinks, then your device would shut off earlier, no?
This also applies vice versa: if your device used MORE battery than calculated, it will drop the percentage when recalculating to make sure it shuts off before the battery would be damaged or even completely dead/unusable/un-rechargeable by being physically drained to 0%. Your device is also purposefully shutting itself off a slight bit prematurely to prevent this (this is also why you should not constantly attempt to turn on the phone when it shuts off at "0%").

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