Rapid Battery Drain - Help!

[rantain]

Sorry I didn't update this thread. I no longer have the DNA, instead of spending time trying to fix it I just went ahead and switched to T-Mobile and got an LG G3. Loving it so far. The DNA was a great phone but the battery drain issue made me replace it.

 

[swiggidy]

I started having this problem in mid December. My phone would not charge via computer USB so I thought I was hosed. When I left work I discovered it would charge on a wall adapter (higher current) albeit more slowly.

I ordered the OEM battery, I didn't get a chance to replace it until last week (was living off a portable battery recharger). I'm close to 2 years old, and usually order new batteries around then to extend the phone's life. I followed the iFixit instructions (and had ordered their kit for a previous phone repair). It took about 90 min to disassemble and reassemble.

Anyway, that didn't fix the problem so I stumbled on this thread. I followed rantain's advise and cleared the maps. I think it was a different thread that I can't find now, they suggested removing your google sync account from your phone, clearing the data, restarting, and re-connecting. Both of these helped some but didn't totally fix the problem.

Someone else mentioned powering down the phone, letting it rest for ~5 min and restarting. They said it took several attempts then things were back to normal. This sounds super hackey, but I have been doing this intermittently over the last week, and yesterday my power drain/hot battery stopped!

Cliff Notes:
This is not related to a bad battery
- If your battery is old, replacing it is a viable option, just be patient
There are a bunch of hack type steps, but something fixed it
Use GSM battery monitor. If your kernal and/or media-server usage is high these steps should help

Good luck all

 

[swiggidy]

I can not post the link, but found the resetting google account info. It is for Galaxy S4, so the steps are not exactly the same, but the idea works. Google the following, it is post #4.

"google services draining battery" androidcentral

 

[MMask]

I believe this has something to do with a new update. I remember seeing an update recently about December perhaps for my Droid DNA, since then its not been the same. Eats through battery life very fast and doesn't charge like it used to.

To charge my phone now it HAS to be plugged into a socket, or use an external battery pack. I used to be able to charge it using a computer, or my cars usb port. But while it says it is charging when hooked up to those. It doesn't charge at all, it drains just about as quickly as it would without it hooked up to anything.

Here is another thing even when the phone is turned off. If I have it plugged into a computer via usb to charge. It still wont charge even if it is off. The screen says its charging but if I check back 5 min later, instead of it going up a percentage it will be lower than it was a moment ago.

It worked completely fine up until a couple months ago, I don't see my battery dying that fast over the course of a day or so especially right after an update, so I don't think its a battery I think its an update issue.

Something else I noticed is that I no longer have the option to choose what I do with the phone after plugging it into a computer. It used to give me the option of picking between using it to transfer files or something else and whatever, and an option to just use it to charge the phone and do nothing else. When I would choose to charge the phone option it would charge relatively well and quickly. Now that I don't have that option it doesn't charge at all.

Does anyone have any solution to this or did Verizon/HTC frag the phone on purpose? Is there a way to get the computer charging options back onto the phone? I tried to look for an app to do it but couldn't find one.

 

[swiggidy]

This problem came back to me over the weekend. I've been digging around more and there is a bug report opened over two years ago, google the following:

android issue 37298

There is a bug, that may or may not be acknowledged by the dev team. Apparently the mediaserver will get stuck scanning files, for any number of reasons. (Someone in that thread mentioned clearing the map cache, because it creates a ton of files to store map data, that worked for one person above, and me below).

I tried a bunch of things again this time. What finally fixed the problem this time was clearing the maps cache (after trying the account reset, and clearing the cache of a bunch of other apps, and trying to free up some space).

MMask, I also noticed that; the phone would not charge even while off. This time it would continuously drain power from the battery even when powered down!

One maybe helpful step for people, if I turned off the mobile data, then turned the phone off and back on it would be consuming power normally. As soon as I turned the mobile data back on however, mediaserver usage would be high again, and never be resolved.

 

[MMask]

I fixed the problem. At least mine anyway. I was digging through battery usage on my phone and saw that my watch was eating a lot of my battery usage on my phone *I have a Bluetooth watch connected to it* anyway apparently one of the apps on my watch was using up a lot of the power. It was specifically an app for maps on my watch. I removed the app from my watch and phone. I also disabled the gps location service on my phone. Ever since doing that I am now able to charge my phone with a computer and my car although it charges a little slowly it still will charge.

I have had the watch for a while though and the charging was fine till recently with an update. So I do feel that the update messed something up, and for me it seemed the location service was part of the issue.

 

[trade67]

I'm in the same boat with everybody: mediaserver and kernel collectively taking up about 85% of battery usage most of the time, phone runs very warm with some noticable slowdown due to these processes always running. Sometimes restarts seem to help, but I did two hard resets: first not erasing the data and the second with full data wipe. Phone would run fine for about a week after the resets (2-3% per hour in idle), then back to the battery-sucking mode (~25% per hour in idle).

It's just very frustrating that there is nothing wrong with the hardware, the phone still flies through most tasks, but the firmware is now making it almost impossible to walk away from a charger.

 

[BadDogRudy]

I gained this problem after some sneaky Verizon update. It updated automatically and I just barely caught a glimpse of the update complete message. My guess is that it's to get you to buy a new phone.

Anyway... I think I figured it out. Boot your phone into safe mode. Do this by turning your DNA off then hold the volume up / down buttons and power button. I don't know the exact process. Safe mode disabled all third party apps as well as some Verizon and Google processes I believe. After a few hours I rebooted and it seems to have fixed it. Only Bern one day so time will tell.

Day two. Battery life is much better. Media server still showing up, but it's down to 3% from 26%.

 

[dhjordan]

I have the same problem. Mediaserver and kernal using all the battery, keeping core 4 running all the time. Phone is hot. Battery gets used up a percent every minute or two while in use. Started early to mid December. Very strange the problem went away for two days back in December but came back. I factory reset last Thursday and that fixed the problem but only for 4 days. I'm on stock software.

 

[BadDogRudy]

Have you tried safe mode? I tried a lot of methods. Safe mode has definitely worked far better than anything else.

Update. I powered my phone off , just because, and media server returns with a vengeance. Booted back into safe mode and then rebooted. Media server still sucking. Booted back into safe mode. While in safe mode battery life is incredible. Lose 1% about every10 minutes of use.

 

[MMask]

Very sneaky Verizon! This should be illegal.

By the way I reenabled GPS back and its back to killing everything but now no matter what I do I cant get it to stop the draining again as I had before even with the cache thing. How can I find out what is running hard on my phone such as kernel etc.

 

[trade67]

Yes, it seems all known remedies are only temporary and get undone once the mediaserver starts up again. The problem is that it is an OS-level built-in process, and I don't think you'd be able to diagnose it any better even if you are rooted, since you'll just see a lot of wakelocks from mediaserver keeping the phone awake all the time.

I doubt we'll get another maintenance update and unfortunately will have to start looking for a new device if this doesn't improve.

 

[dennis246]

Not sure I fully understand, if the last update caused this wouldn't all DNA's be affected. Mine is 22 months old and the battery life is close to the day I bought it.

I'm not doubting what people are saying, just that it is strange that some phones are affected while others are not.

 

[BadDogRudy]

Since safe mode seems to fix the problem, I believe it's related to an app. It may be a Verizon installed app that cannot be deleted or a process that cannot be stopped.

I have had success reducing media server to only 2-3% by booting into safe mode for several hours, then restarting my phone. I hope someone else tries this to confirm it.

 

[trade67]

My phone is running as hot in safe mode as outside of it.

 

[BadDogRudy]

Are you sure your in safe mode? Your screen will show it in the lower left corner and most of your apps will be hidden. If your phone is still hot it's probably a hardware problem you have.

 

[MMask]

Okay so today while playing around trying to fix the issue my phone started getting very hot. Turned it off for a bit to let it cool down. But now I Cant access the main camera. It refuses to turn on or use the lights in the back of it. I downloaded a couple other camera apps and they wont use the main camera either they just shut down or say I don't have it. I cleared the camera caches and data. Still nothing.

Have not tried factory reset as I hate doing those. It seems most ppl online think that it might be fried. What do you all think? think the overheating toasted the main camera now?

 

[MMask]

Not sure I fully understand, if the last update caused this wouldn't all DNA's be affected. Mine is 22 months old and the battery life is close to the day I bought it.

I'm not doubting what people are saying, just that it is strange that some phones are affected while others are not.

Once you hit the 2 year mark it might be sent to your phone.

 

[BadDogRudy]

I had the camera problem once on my old x. If you have a corrupt image file this can happen. You need to find the file and delete it. Try safe mode also, in case an app is killing it.

 

[MMask]

Where would I find the file? I tried safe mode. Same thing