Help a n00b - runaway process - General Questions and Answers

Folks I am at the end of my rope and not sure what to do about this problem. I switched off iphone several months ago and don't know a lot about the inner workings of Android.
I have a runaway process on the phone that I can't pinpoint. Usage pegs at or near 100% and the battery starts to drain ferociously. A reboot sometimes clears it up sometimes not. Temporarily and usually for a day or two at most. Then suddenly the problem pops back up.
I've removed all the apps I loaded onto the phone. I've scanned it for viruses. Reset to factory and restored. Tried another phone. This behavior keeps happening to me on Android 7 or 8. Have reproduced the issue on a Nexus 6p, Mate 9, and Pixel XL.
I really need to figure out WHAT exact process is responsible for the problem. I don't know how to do that since Google has apparently made it harder after version 7 and you can't just run a simple task manager app to figure this out.
Any input would be appreciated. TIA

Eh nobody?
I found an app called system panel 2 and it appears that it may work however the phone has to be rooted. On the mate 9 that is a relatively complex process.
That the only option to figure this out? Google making it so I can't see running processes has really made this a gigantic pain in the butt. Is there some way I can open a support ticket with them?

Related

Galaxy Tab continually pauses during gameplay

Guys,
I have a very weird problem that started a couple of days back with my Galaxy Tab.
I was running a game (game name does not matter as the problem happens in all games) when all of a sudden the 'Pause' screen came into effect.
After hitting any key to continue it played for around a further 20 seconds then it happened again... and again... and so on.
Some games simply pause whilst others will flip back to the reload the game screen then flip to the press continue to play screen.
Whatever it is it only effects games.
I have tried several reboots and looked at all my recently installed/updated Applications but can not ascertain what is causing the issue.
Further, whilst browsing through my installed Apps using the App 'System Panel' (to see if I could locate the offending App) I also noticed when I scrolled down through my installed Apps every few seconds the list would jump back to the beginning of the list.
No matter how many times I scrolled down after a few seconds it repeatedly jumped back to the beginning.
After about a minute or so it stopped doing this.
It's almost as if something is paging the system every so many seconds ~ which may also explain why when playing games it drops the game into Pause mode.
Anyway, the Galaxy Tab is a stock Tab unaltered. It is not rooted nor had a ROM change.
At this stage I do not wish to update the ROM nor perform a factory reset.
As a surgeon you investigate the cause of the problem and not simply give the patient a tablet to mask the pain and send them on their way..... I wish to do the same with the Tab, find out what is causing the problem and not just do a system reset.
Any ideas ladies & gentlemen?
Same problem
I have the same problem on my stock ROM tab.
It's nerve wrecking to reinstall everything again.
Killerpint said:
I have the same problem on my stock ROM tab.
It's nerve wrecking to reinstall everything again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the OP that reported this I feel for you.
I have no idea what caused the problem nor do Samsung.
All I can say is I switched the phone off one night because it was playing up that bad and used my Galaxy S that evening.
The following morning I switched the phone back on again and mysteriously the problem simply vanished.
All I can think is whatever was causing the problem must have been memory resident.
Killing the phone for a long period must have cleared the issue.
I have not come back and reported it is fixed yet as I want to do further tests just to make sure it has gone but more importantly try to find out what caused it in the first place.
In a way although I do feel for you I also am pleased someone else has the problem.
This proves it is not a totally isolated case and may crop up again.
The tests I am currently trying are with the external SD card.
Do you have an external SD card and did/does the problem happen only with games installed to the card?
I have found that all but one of the games were installed in this way.
The one game not installed to SD that when run pauses behaves in a slightly different manner in that it does not pause every 20 seconds or so but every 1 minute or so.
I am beginning to think the problem may be something to do with timing, memory and the external SD card.

[Q] Is my phone being remotely accessed?

I have no idea what's going on here... a few days back I noticed when I put my phone down, and picked it back up maybe less than a minute later, Google contacts would be open that I hadn't opened (specifically often to one person -- who I know is totally computer illiterate), or Google Search app was open... a few times if I'd left my web bowers open when I'd unlock my phone weird Google searches would be new tabs on my phone. I forgot about it for a few days because nothing strange happened.
To night took the cake... I put my phone down and a few minutes later heard a noise from it. I don't know what the weird noise was, but I checked my phone (it had been on silent!). I looked at it and about 5 tabs were open on my phone. One for Xbox 720 (I think this has been the random search result on more than on occasion), one for some actress I'd never heard of, some random other stuff... all on my Dolphin HD web browser listed on as a search on Google (no websites actually opened) ... a few of them when I pressed the back button actually had a page or two previous of weird searches. ALL OF THEM, the first Google page lead back to was a search for remote desktop protocol. Which... really, why would someone be searching that on Google if that's what they're doing on my phone (and on every tab they've opened)? This is really weird.
Another thing I notice is when I check the marketplace after this, the Go keyboards voice program is the last thing viewed (not installed). I've never viewed this on my own.
Currently, I've turned off my 3G... and actually, it still seemed to be working even unchecked, so I went in airplane mode. Ok, and even IN airplane mode, I just opened my phone and Dolphin web browser has like 10 web pages open but not loaded, and my Google Search was also open... and in its history has type Xbox 720. Uh... I've never used Google Search app before. Also my emoji side of the keyboard was activated.
I'm using LG G2X, rooted, flashed Weapon. Never any problems like this until very recently. The only recent apps I've downloaded (only about 3 in the last month) are all highly reviewed with thousands of downloads... I don't download random stuff onto my phone either.
Everything seems related to Google Search app, emoji, or the Go keyboard, along with trying to automatically search the same Google-related stuff on my web browsers. I don't get it.
How do I STOP this (hopefully without resetting the phone)? It's really unsettling.
remove dolphin hd ....
its probably a bug since remote handling a phone requires atleast a net connection
Sent from my Xperia U using Tapatalk 2
What mobile anty virus have you got if you don't mind me asking
Sent from my Scroll Pocket using XDA Premium HD app
---------- Post added at 02:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------
Check your applications permissions thay sumtims have bad ones that you don't want hope all go's well
Sent from my Scroll Pocket using XDA Premium HD app
The Dolphin browser hasn't been updated pretty much... ever. So I don't understand how it would be the problem, it's the same as ever. I don't have apps automatically update. Do you really think it's the web browser? Isn't it odd that it was fine as my main browser for like a year and then went crazy? Plus it was fine for about 24 hours and then went all weird for like 30 minutes straight.
The weird noise I mentioned that got me to look at the phone was really freaky too, it sounded like a high pitched child's laugh, only lasting about a second...
I use AVG. I scanned my phone after this... it mentioned malware in an app I've had forever (some word search game) so I deleted it. That was it.
Also, while maybe unrelated as I don't always go into my settings, I felt some things were checked/unchecked that I wouldn't have had... like "view keys" when typing out passwords and I had "use wireless" and "use GSP satellites" (battery drainer unless needed, right?)...
Anyway, I've just used AVG and deleted just about every app I don't use.
But I can't delete Google Search, and it seems to be the weird one. When I press back after all this weird stuff, it often leads to Google Search, and it has its drop box open, and the only two things searched for are Xbox 720 and n. Just the letter n. I've never ever searched for either of these things.
I'd suggest you disable Go keyboard (preferably remove it for now). See if there is any issues from that point onwards.
It sounds like your phone might be possessed. You might take it to your local church.
All kidding aside, why not format /scard and restore from backup or flash a new ROM?
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I have just disabled the keyboard... but while checking running services on the AVG and closing what I didn't want, I also checked in settings under running applications... I noticed I had two Android systems running... which, I'm pretty sure shouldn't be happening?
One of them had been up for 30-something hours, the other only 6. About the time everything happened, I'd say. It says it was started by VpnServiceBinder (no idea what or where that is) and that the process is called com.android.server.vpn:remote
Two Google Maps were also running for the same lengths of time.
I ended to process on both of the 6 hour ones, without any any system failures...
So... yes... help?
I don't want to restore the phone, seems like a LOT of work... I'm not that tech savvy, either.
Okay. You should do this: root your phone, install App Quarantine and give it SU permissions. Then freeze all apps that are not system apps, Install an antivirus (I like Avast), then start enabling them one by one as you give them some time in between to check for one when enabled causes the 'seizures' and off course you have your culprit.
Otherwise, flash your phone with a custom ROM. There are many detailed guides here on XDA. Good luck with that.
AW: [Q] Is my phone being remotely accessed?
Karala said:
I have just disabled the keyboard... but while checking running services on the AVG and closing what I didn't want, I also checked in settings under running applications... I noticed I had two Android systems running... which, I'm pretty sure shouldn't be happening?
One of them had been up for 30-something hours, the other only 6. About the time everything happened, I'd say. It says it was started by VpnServiceBinder (no idea what or where that is) and that the process is called com.android.server.vpn:remote
Two Google Maps were also running for the same lengths of time.
I ended to process on both of the 6 hour ones, without any any system failures...
So... yes... help?
I don't want to restore the phone, seems like a LOT of work... I'm not that tech savvy, either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The happens sometimes, it's a really random and rare bug. After a reboot there should be only one process. But the vpn remote is not a good sign. The best would be to start with a clean system, but if it's a lot of work for you, you could backup your stuff (only what's really needed) reflash the rom and back up the essential parts and hope.
Sent from my Nexus 7
Do you have some sort of voice activation program going? This happened to me way back when windows xp was new. I'd be sitting at the computer talking to friends while jibberish would appear in Google search. Freaked me out.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
Are you on a Wi-Fi connection?
Wifi protector may help you. It will tell you if anyone is on your Wifi.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Well, I'm back to say it's still going on. Usually, only at night, like 1-2 AM. Not every night, but sometimes back to back nights. The things it does don't seem like what an actual person might do.
Three nights ago I turned my phone on and instead of getting the lock screen I got the app that plays songs and it was blaring a song in my face. The next night, the same song just started playing, super loud despite silence being on, all by itself a few minutes after I put the phone down. Did I mention the freaky things usually start pretty soon after I put the phone down at night? Last night I heard the sound of a button on my phone dial being pressed (but there was no number actually pressed). When I long pressed my phone after this to see what's running I've got (none of this I opened):Google Search (always without fail this is open; it no longer has typed anything into the search though, it's just open), Phone (pretty much always open too), Apps 2 SD (this isn't normally open), Android keyboard settings (nothing looks different), Settings, Bag It (that stupid little game), and Dolphin web browser (last night it had a new tab open and nothing typed in it, the night before it had randomly looked up an acronym and I'm not sure what it stood for.
To answer a few of the previous questions:
I don't have a voice system opening, and when this stuff happens it's dead quiet... and I don't have wifi on because it drains the battery.
I suppose I may have to reflash my phone or something, which to me is almost more trouble than it's worth especially since I don't know if it'll help... as far as I know I've removed pretty much everything now, and anything left I've had for ages without issue until rather suddenly a few months back... and still am having problems, but it doesn't seem like anyone here really knows what's going on. I've never heard anyone mention things like this online.
Am I the only one ever with a "possessed" phone?
I think I'm just going to turn my phone off at night. What a hassle.
Karala said:
Well, I'm back to say it's still going on. Usually, only at night, like 1-2 AM. Not every night, but sometimes back to back nights. The things it does don't seem like what an actual person might do.
Three nights ago I turned my phone on and instead of getting the lock screen I got the app that plays songs and it was blaring a song in my face. The next night, the same song just started playing, super loud despite silence being on, all by itself a few minutes after I put the phone down. Did I mention the freaky things usually start pretty soon after I put the phone down at night? Last night I heard the sound of a button on my phone dial being pressed (but there was no number actually pressed). When I long pressed my phone after this to see what's running I've got (none of this I opened):Google Search (always without fail this is open; it no longer has typed anything into the search though, it's just open), Phone (pretty much always open too), Apps 2 SD (this isn't normally open), Android keyboard settings (nothing looks different), Settings, Bag It (that stupid little game), and Dolphin web browser (last night it had a new tab open and nothing typed in it, the night before it had randomly looked up an acronym and I'm not sure what it stood for.
To answer a few of the previous questions:
I don't have a voice system opening, and when this stuff happens it's dead quiet... and I don't have wifi on because it drains the battery.
I suppose I may have to reflash my phone or something, which to me is almost more trouble than it's worth especially since I don't know if it'll help... as far as I know I've removed pretty much everything now, and anything left I've had for ages without issue until rather suddenly a few months back... and still am having problems, but it doesn't seem like anyone here really knows what's going on. I've never heard anyone mention things like this online.
Am I the only one ever with a "possessed" phone?
I think I'm just going to turn my phone off at night. What a hassle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One word "haunted phone" wash that sucka in holy water
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
Karala said:
Well, I'm back to say it's still going on. Usually, only at night, like 1-2 AM. Not every night, but sometimes back to back nights. The things it does don't seem like what an actual person might do.
Three nights ago I turned my phone on and instead of getting the lock screen I got the app that plays songs and it was blaring a song in my face. The next night, the same song just started playing, super loud despite silence being on, all by itself a few minutes after I put the phone down. Did I mention the freaky things usually start pretty soon after I put the phone down at night? Last night I heard the sound of a button on my phone dial being pressed (but there was no number actually pressed). When I long pressed my phone after this to see what's running I've got (none of this I opened):Google Search (always without fail this is open; it no longer has typed anything into the search though, it's just open), Phone (pretty much always open too), Apps 2 SD (this isn't normally open), Android keyboard settings (nothing looks different), Settings, Bag It (that stupid little game), and Dolphin web browser (last night it had a new tab open and nothing typed in it, the night before it had randomly looked up an acronym and I'm not sure what it stood for.
To answer a few of the previous questions:
I don't have a voice system opening, and when this stuff happens it's dead quiet... and I don't have wifi on because it drains the battery.
I suppose I may have to reflash my phone or something, which to me is almost more trouble than it's worth especially since I don't know if it'll help... as far as I know I've removed pretty much everything now, and anything left I've had for ages without issue until rather suddenly a few months back... and still am having problems, but it doesn't seem like anyone here really knows what's going on. I've never heard anyone mention things like this online.
Am I the only one ever with a "possessed" phone?
I think I'm just going to turn my phone off at night. What a hassle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to get an adb bugcheck, then analyse it with the Sony automatic analyser that pal szasz made.
I agree with the guys who says its haunted.
Get a priest to perform a exorcism on it! Kind of freaky, but i would perform a clean rom install also.
I would negotiate with it. If that dosent work then search the filesystem for freaky stuff. If that dosent work then do a factory reset. If that dosent work then flash a new ROM. If that dosent work then get a new phone and get rid of the old one for good!
And if your new phone does the same thing, or, your old one comes back to haunt you then you have three options:
1) Deal with it. You're efforts are without meaning. Someone or something is terribly wrong, and it is way beyond your reach.
2) If you try to show someone (who you dont really know, and it wont act up when they are around) then go see a doctor, or phycologist. Someone might still be messing with you though (problably a good hacker, or person you spend alot of time with, most likley smart too).
3) If people know it, and, you are %100 sure nobody is trying to screw with your head then you, or, your phone is cursed. Go see a prophet, pastor, bishop, etc. Just not anyone who is anti-relegious, becuse they will just make it worse :/
Please thank if this helped you, or, found it comical in any way.
I'd just re flash stock. Will take only a few minutes - hardly any trouble. Even backing things up you're looking at less than an hour. No reason not to.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
How doi i stop it and get my phone back so it is just me useing it
My phone is doing the same thing. The bad part is that I have the LG XStyle which hasn't been able to be rooted yet. What do you guys think my options would be being I can't root phone. I also have noticed that if I start trying to work it out if I type in certain key words it kicks me offline. If you guys got any ideas it would be appreciated.

[Q] How do I diagnose this occasional 5 second lag?

I have spent 10 hours searching for the solution, I finally have to just ask.
I have a Galaxy S1, its rooted and flashed with android 4.0 ICS. Its android version 4.0.3, ICS Passion v13.1
Anyways, I very often experience a major lag when waking my phone. I pick it up, the lock screen comes up, but is unresponsive. Sometimes just for 2 seconds, other times it can last up to 10 seconds.
I've leaned my apps down. I've used all sorts of diagnosis apps to try and figure out what's slowing it down with no luck. I recently got Catlog viewer (although don't really know how to use it much, but haven't seen anything obvious on there).
How do I figure this out? I'm used to things like this happening on windows where its simple to just pull up the task manager, see that some program is being a cpu hog or something, and terminating that process. On android however I haven't yet found any way to be able to diagnose what is happening at that point in time.

Testing Nexus 5 memory?

Is there a tool or way to test the Nexus 5 sdcard memory?
For the last six months I've had problems with my rooted Nexus 5 (stock kitkat) suddenly running very slow. After a lot of time trying to figure out why, I determined the following.
1. Slowdown happens when an app is writing something to the sdcard.
2. Is not a particular app. Can be any app.
3. When it happens all 4 CPU cores are running close to full blast.
4. Battery usage shows "android os" is 50% of the usage.
5. Task killers do not solve the problem.
6. Reboot restores things to normal for a while.
So I now wonder if there's something wrong with the built in memory but don't know how to test it.
Is there a way to test the Nexus 5 message? It is very frustrating to talk 2-3 pictures and then have the 4th one make everything grind to a stop. Right now, typing this is a pain because every letter takes its time to appear. I know rebooting will solve it but I should not have to.
sounds like you get a process(es) that get "stuck". also, when this happens, have you ever checked if your google stuff is syncing or " stuck"? sometimes badly written apps can cause this to happen as well.
simms22 said:
sounds like you get a process(es) that get "stuck". also, when this happens, have you ever checked if your google stuff is syncing or " stuck"? sometimes badly written apps can cause this to happen as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you are right but I don't know how to find the faulty process. I "think" I first noticed it after the google camera update, but I used settings /apps/ to uninstall the camera update without improvement. I think camera showed the problem because it has to save the image to memory sdcard.
I don't sync and have sync turned off everywhere and on all apps. Sometimes Google play shows up as the prominent battery user even though I don't have it update apps automatically. But it is primarily android os that is the bad guy.
One of the things I had tried when the problem first started was to restore an earlier nandroid backup, but the problem continued, so I restored the most recent nandroid I had done before the earlier restore.
Recent screenshot.
I was on the browser and Tapatalk for a while. But not on play store.
Not frozen now when taking this screenshot.
You need to get gsam, or BBS or wakelock detector and see what one of those says. The stock battery screen is pretty much useless to find a battery problem.
But I'm guessing all your issues are tired to one bad app as said above.
Get a battery app I suggested, run a full charge down with it running.... And comb thru all of it and see if anything pops out.
kj2112 said:
You need to get gsam, or BBS or wakelock detector and see what one of those says. The stock battery screen is pretty much useless to find a battery problem.
But I'm guessing all your issues are tired to one bad app as said above.
Get a battery app I suggested, run a full charge down with it running.... And comb thru all of it and see if anything pops out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already did that. I have gsam and wakelock detector installed but my knowledge of Android is very limited and they have not helped me so far except to confirm I have a problem. I wonder if there is a way to see the dates I installed various apps. That way I could uninstall in the order they were installed.
Here are various screenshots. The list of active processes goes down several pages.
My guess... It's an app that hadn't been updated since kit kat has been out, and it's spamming location services.
Just a guess.
Check in gsam for times waking device, held awake time and kernel wakelock. (You need gsam root companion from play store installed as well.). These are all found in gsam app screen by clicking the drop down at the top. See if anything looks bad on any of those.
---------- Post added at 05:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:17 PM ----------
Oh, and obviously, whatever tick tick is, is killing your battery. If it accesses location.... that's my bet for the culprit.
Thank you all for the advice. Obviously I've tried various things. TickTick is a todo list app. Quite nice actually. Anyway I had suspected it might be a problem and have uninstalled it (several times) with no improvement.
Finally, I seem to be making some headway. Don't know which of these two did it (if the improvement lasts.....).
1. There were 3-4 apps I had avoided updating because I didn't like the updated versions (maps, Hangouts which I don't use, Firefox, etc). So I now gave up and clicked on "update all".
2. I disabled the module gravitybox and rebooted.
So far things have returned to normal. My CPU cores are back to low levels.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If things continue well after a while I will reactivate gravitybox. I'm holding my breath!
After a full 15 minutes of normal behavior (unbelievable!), I took my courage in hand, reactivated gravitybox. Used my usual apps without the previous freezing recurring (so far). If this continues - and it seems to - it might suggest you don't update GAPPS (I think it was Hangouts) only at your peril.
Such a difference having an uncrippled phone!
After a while the slowdowns returned. Any suggestions?

Messed up Android 11 v3.0 upgrade last night on AT&T

Last night, my Note 20 Ultra got the Android 11 v3 upgrade, and it messed up so many things I can't believe anybody would call that an "upgrade".
First, the option to hide the front camera hole in Settings / Full screen apps is GONE, and now that hole is not only back, but since there is no more bevel, it's extremely difficult again to swipe down on an Otterbox case because of the slightly protruding edge protecting the screen.
Second, the alarm sounds have been changed. Having a couple dozen alarms active makes it a hassle to change everything again.
Third, the photo editing software now has added shadow buttons shifting the saturation button farther to the right out of the default space, therefore requiring scrolling. I believe this can be customized, but why not add these 2 new lesser used options to the right from the get going ?
Fourth, looking at pictures in the gallery now shows a thumbnail scroll at the bottom which interferes with basic button functions, especially video playing control.
I've only noticed a few other minor changes today, like changes in the location of various options, but these are the most irritating so far.
I hope the next upgrade will at least bring back the option to hide the camera hole again for those who need it.
Nothing like an AT&T update... which is why I never let updates run.
If you like the OS and it's fast/stable, leave it be.
A reload is probably needed, at the least clear the system cache.
Major firmware upgrades are going to require a lot of time and learning even if they're good OS's. Just the nature of the beast.
blackhawk said:
Nothing like an AT&T update... which is why I never let updates run.
If you like the OS and it's fast/stable, leave it be.
A reload is probably needed, at the least clear the system cache.
Major firmware upgrades are going to require a lot of time and learning even if they're good OS's. Just the nature of the beast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never had a problem before, and I cleared the system cache just in case, but the phone is working fine.
I am fine learning new features and virtually all OS changes, but I don't see how removing the option to disable full screen can be an improvement.
Is there any way to restore the OS to a previous version without wiping out data and apps ? It's very difficult to swipe down 20 times a day now that the fullscreen can't be disabled.
maxpat98607 said:
I never had a problem before, and I cleared the system cache just in case, but the phone is working fine.
I am fine learning new features and virtually all OS changes, but I don't see how removing the option to disable full screen can be an improvement.
Is there any way to restore the OS to a previous version without wiping out data and apps ? It's very difficult to swipe down 20 times a day now that the fullscreen can't be disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never update near the end of the phone's life cycle. That when the worst things tend to happen and some are deliberately done... thanks AT&T Feel the wuv...
If you want to flash back you'll need to reload.
A reload is a good idea even if you don't and I rarely advocate reloading.
I use my SD card as the data drive. Nothing critical is on the OS drive. I back all my user apps and system app updates with ApkExport. I can fully reload with little or internet and no PC in about 2 hrs. At that point it's about 95% complete.
Starting experimenting with Smart Switch backup; the above timeframe is without Smart Switch restoring settings (time will tell). Make frequent backups to it.
Take advantage of the tools you have available and be ready to reload at any time. Forced reloads are rare but can happen at any time.
Being prepared makes them a lot less time consuming, painful and eliminates most data loss.
After spending over a year getting to know Pie and how to optimize this 10+ variant, I refuse to "upgrade" this fast, stable and secure* platform that I like. It be a waste of time and in my opinion Q is inferior to Pie.
You on the other hand started on Q so up is the only way to go; that may be a better route for you.
You probably will find solutions for your current issues but it's a time consuming process.
Just the nature of the beast.
Play with it... Android's are fun to play with
*as secure as you make it or not.
Goggle is one fat slob of a big sister... don't trust her. AT&T is even worse.

Categories

Resources