Removing the sd card might help with battery life

**moonoverparma00** · 07-25-2012, 03:46 PM

I found that removing the SD card is helping with the high 'android os' percentage. I saw this over on xda and tried it and it seems to work. My percentage has dropped to 18% from around 50% and its been holding there for about 3 to 4 hours now. Only question is, can I put it back in or not?
Thanks to nim6us for figuring this out.

Update: almost 6pm and now its down to 13% (android os)

Update: 7am next day....this all of a sudden does not work. Android os up to 56%

**foogle** · 07-25-2012, 04:31 PM

I don't think I can live without the SD card. I wonder if we need to do that same trick to reformat the SD Card using the phone again this time to improve battery.

**moonoverparma00** · 07-25-2012, 04:47 PM

OK, dumb question here...how do you save things to the SD card? Everything on my phone is going to the internal card.

**GiantJay** · 07-25-2012, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by moonoverparma00

OK, dumb question here...how do you save things to the SD card? Everything on my phone is going to the internal card.

Go to settings, applications, choose the app and press move to sd card. But not all can be transferred.

Sent from my Epic 4g Touch

**vidroid** · 07-25-2012, 09:13 PM

Originally Posted by GiantJay

Go to settings, applications, choose the app and press move to sd card.

Even for apps that give you this option, they may not be transferred to the external SD. See this thread.

**moonoverparma00** · 07-26-2012, 06:01 AM

Thanks, I understand the apps part, but what about music and pics?

**Murphy5111** · 07-26-2012, 06:15 AM

Originally Posted by moonoverparma00

Thanks, I understand the apps part, but what about music and pics?

It's an option under settings. For the camera, go to settings in the camera app and scroll towards the bottom. Change storage from phone to sd card.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

**moonoverparma00** · 07-26-2012, 08:15 AM

Thanks

**matt3166** · 07-26-2012, 12:09 PM

I agree with the SD card being the problem.
I took it out last night, took all my pics etc off, formatted it to the phone and reset the phone. Re-added my pics and music.
This morning everything seems to be running great (see pics)

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

**moonoverparma00** · 07-26-2012, 01:17 PM

Mine was fine but now the android os % is back up again. It goes up and then down then up again. I figure it out.

**Murphy5111** · 07-26-2012, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by matt3166

I agree with the SD card being the problem.
I took it out last night, took all my pics etc off, formatted it to the phone and reset the phone. Re-added my pics and music.
This morning everything seems to be running great (see pics)

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

I'm just going to try to unmount the sd card and leave my phone on overnight. Before ICS, my phone would lose 5-7% over 7 hours with wifi on. Now I lose about 25%.

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**Tyndall** · 07-26-2012, 10:01 PM

We are literally clutching at straws.......

**Murphy5111** · 07-27-2012, 06:34 AM

Originally Posted by Tyndall

We are literally clutching at straws.......

Yep. Down to 78% and awake time sporadically. That was after 8 hours of just sitting there. Shouldn't have lost as than 10% not 22%

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**packhntr** · 07-27-2012, 08:55 AM

Removing the sd card might help with battery life

HOW?????

**Murphy5111** · 07-27-2012, 08:57 AM

So I just called sprint and they gave me the option of bringing my phone to a repair center or speaking with a tech. I spoke to a tech who told me that they are getting a ton of calls with battery issues. She said that it was the majority of calls they were getting. The strange thing is that she told me the fix was to take it to a repair center and to have them replace the battery. I asked her If they would be doing something to the software or do anything else and she said all they would do is replace the battery and that would fix the problem. I don't see how that's possible but I will visit a repair center next week and see what happens. Anyone else have this experience?

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**packhntr** · 07-27-2012, 09:34 AM

Replace the battery??? My ****. That won't fix a thing. The OEM battery does not have any sort of chip or anything in it. It's just a battery. I have an aftermarket high capacity battery and am having the same issue. MORONS!!!!!!

**Murphy5111** · 07-27-2012, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by packhntr

Replace the battery??? My ****. That won't fix a thing. The OEM battery does not have any sort of chip or anything in it. It's just a battery. I have an aftermarket high capacity battery and am having the same issue. MORONS!!!!!!

I know. I kept asking. She made it sound like that was the fix they were suggesting for everyone. I'm sure it depends on who you talk to but at least I know that is what the person I spoke to is telling people. Figure I'll go get my new battery while I wait patiently for a software fix. Ha.

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**packhntr** · 07-27-2012, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by Murphy5111

I know. I kept asking. She made it sound like that was the fix they were suggesting for everyone. I'm sure it depends on who you talk to but at least I know that is what the person I spoke to is telling people. Figure I'll go get my new battery while I wait patiently for a software fix. Ha.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

Smart man!

**Murphy5111** · 07-28-2012, 11:58 AM

So lo and behold, according to sprint's battery test, my battery needs to be replaced. One of the techs said it's probably a combination of ice cream sandwich causing problems and a battery that is almost a year old not holding a charge like it should. The good news is that it's under warranty. The bad news is that dealing with samsung is a pain in the ****. They will replace the battery but I need to send in the old one first. Even the supervisor wouldn't budge. It's the dumbest thing I ever heard. I even told them to charge me for the battery and reverse the charge once I send in the old one and the wouldn't do it. So I'm going to buy a new one from amazon for $15, and then send in to have the bad one replaced. They said it could take 3-5 days for them to get it, 3-5 to diagnose and 3-5 to send a new one. What a stupid policy.

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**Cobravision** · 07-28-2012, 08:05 PM

The easiest test to check if there's a problem with your battery is the spin test. Lay it flat on a table and spin it. If it doesn't do anything it's probably good. But if it does spin, it means it's bulging in the middle, which is a sign the battery is damaged and will not hold a proper charge. I had one like that - it would lock up the phone, and after a battery pull, it would drop from 70% to under 6%. It spun like a top.

**Rockdog97** · 07-28-2012, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by packhntr

Removing the sd card might help with battery life

HOW?????

I have not idea, but after i pulled the SD card out, and ran CPUSpy, it showed a decrease it battery usage/CPU MHz.. it also showed that the phone would deep sleep longer, thus I think somehow the SD card was causing apps to run in the background??? dunno...

**jeff1974w** · 07-29-2012, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by moonoverparma00

I found that removing the SD card is helping with the high 'android os' percentage. I saw this over on xda and tried it and it seems to work. My percentage has dropped to 18% from around 50% and its been holding there for about 3 to 4 hours now. Only question is, can I put it back in or not?
Thanks to nim6us for figuring this out.

Update: almost 6pm and now its down to 13% (android os)

Update: 7am next day....this all of a sudden does not work. Android os up to 56%

I just wanted to add my 2 cents in here. I had the E4GT until friday when sprint let me swap out for the galaxy nexus.

Like you, my Android OS was running at 50%to60%+++

Since im now using the Galaxy Nexus my Android OS (after running all day off the charger) was at [HL]4%[/HL] and the highest battery hog was the screen (out of the box setting) [HL]61%[/HL]

This is all on 4.0.4

hope this information will help

**Rockdog97** · 07-30-2012, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by jeff1974w

I just wanted to add my 2 cents in here. I had the E4GT until friday when sprint let me swap out for the galaxy nexus.

Like you, my Android OS was running at 50%to60%+++

Since im now using the Galaxy Nexus my Android OS (after running all day off the charger) was at [HL]4%[/HL] and the highest battery hog was the screen (out of the box setting) [HL]61%[/HL]

This is all on 4.0.4

hope this information will help

Not really helpful, as it's a different phone, etc. not really related to this phone/sd card removal. But hey, enjoy your Nexus...

Now if you take out your SD card and compare it with the E4G...

**blakerandy** · 07-30-2012, 05:00 PM

FWIW I took out my external sd card and that didn't help the battery.

I then did a reformat on it from the phone. I've been unplugged for 24 hours and I'm at 74% battery remaining.

**lololovestech** · 07-30-2012, 05:20 PM

I freaked out after upgrading to ICS b/c the battery life went bonkers. Initially Sprint offered me a replacement phone, but called back and told me the request was "rejected." Didn't know that such a thing could happen - in the past, when I was with Verizon, if they told me they would replace the handset, it would be shipped overnight. Imagine my surprise when my replacement phone never showed up. I didn't want to rollback to GB b/c I really like some of the features of ICS. Here's what I did...if it's any help to anyone. For starters, after reading every post I could find, I:

1. Cleared cache internally via an cache cleaner app as well as manually cleaning each app's cache.
2. Did 2 factory resets (the second one just for kicks). I did NOT back up my data. After the reset a notification appears that says something along the lines of "software upgrade completed." Please don't quote me on the exact wording but I saw the notification both times.*
3. Cleared cache through the boot menu (volume up + power).
4. Set Wi-Fi to NEVER stay on during sleep. Find this setting under the advanced menu in Wi-Fi. I think this one is a major player.*
5. Fiddled with screen settings, timed out screen in 15 seconds, set touch key lights to turn off after 1.5 secs, and turned OFF motion controls. My haptic feedback is on. And my screen is set to auto brightness.
6.Did some battery pulls and cycling. Turn off phone, plug in charger, charge til 100% (blue LED appears). While charger is still plugged in, remove battery for approximately 5 minutes. Unplug and replace battery. I did this twice after running down the battery until the phone just about turned off. This might have also been a big factor.*
7. Installed Juice Defender.
8. Moved all my photos/music onto my desktop computer from my SD card and formatted the card. This erased all the data from previous apps that might have been interfering. I didn't bother removing the card. Placed all pics/music back onto SD. I do not keep apps on my SD card any longer. There is plenty of USB storage within the phone to hold apps (with previous phones this was not the case). I happen to think this was an important step.*
9. BATTERY SUCCESS
10. Went to Sprint store anyway. Had battery tested. It was "marginal" so Sprint replaced with their own aftermarket varietal. Extra points.*

So far, I love ICS and the battery is good/decent, but not exceptional. I can make it through a full workday and commute home. I'm at 67% after 6h 44m 31s on battery. I can live with that.

*Significant steps?