Battery drain with new update

[ricktat]

I have had to reboot maybe 5 times in the last 3 months when data would stop connecting after I left Wi Fi. I could turn on/off airplane mode or on/off wi fi and it would still show an empty spot for data.

Like I said 5 times in 3 months. I only remembered this because it did it again yesterday.

 

[sing1981]

i live chat with AT&T tonight and i was told my warranty is gone because i use a different charger other than samsung ...... what should i do .V.

 

[jonmc1]

I got the 2.3.6 update and just like many others my battery life immediately turned worse. It's going down 3%-5% per hour just sitting on my desk but used to only use 1%. I used to only have to charge every other day. I usually turn it off at night. Now if I start to 100% at 7:00am by 5pm it's down to 40% most days. I tried letting my battery completely discharge two days ago in the hope that recalibrating it would help. It seemed to help for only one day. I'm going to try leaving the wifi off for a few days and see if that helps. I'd rather have the AP Mobile bug back (which killed battery and data use) as I at least knew how to work around it. In another week I might be willing to risk doing the "root" flash back to 2.3.4 if ATT/Samsung aren't going to release a fix for it.

Update: 1/14/2012 - It's definitely the wifi. I've kept wifi off and battery usage has been great. It's the wifi wakeup bug someone mentioned.

 

[alfandroidcat]

Just to add a data point, with WiFi turned off except when I actually need it, and with only occasional use, my battery run time on 2.3.6 appears to be pretty much as it was on 2.3.4, a couple of days or more to the 20% level. With 2.3.6 and with WiFi on (same use pattern), I get around 10-16 hours to that same level.

One variable in all of our measurements would be cell signal strength, especially when WiFi is off or unavailable. A weaker cell signal means higher power output from our phone. I don't know what portion of the total power that would normally be, but at this moment my phone says "cell standby" is at 11% for the first day of the current discharge cycle. I've been at home most of the day and the cell signal runs around 2-3 bars on H+.

 

[Tarnlight]

Possible Solution Found:
Yesterday, on Android forums, there was a post by dapheel who had gotten a possible fix from Samsung support. It is this:
Action Taken:
1. Settings
2. Wireless and Network
3. Wifi Settings
4. Click Menu Button (next to Home Button) and Select Advanced
5. Select Wi-Fi sleep policy
6. Change it from "Never" to either "Never when plugged in" or "When Screen turns off".

I tried it last night. I used the "When screen turns off" option. I also found that the settings change wouldn't take effect until after the phone was rebooted. For me, at least, the problem has been solved. I did also notice that it seemed to take a few minutes, or so, for the wifi to disengage even when the screen goes off. No big deal, however.

 

[mviglesias57]

Is there a way to make the update notification go away? I'm getting tired of seeing it, and I'm not installing it until the bug is fixed.

My phone stopped nagging me to install the update. I wonder if AT&T pulled it due to the complaints?

 

[Onanda]

Possible Solution Found:
Yesterday, on Android forums, there was a post by dapheel who had gotten a possible fix from Samsung support. It is this:
Action Taken:
1. Settings
2. Wireless and Network
3. Wifi Settings
4. Click Menu Button (next to Home Button) and Select Advanced
5. Select Wi-Fi sleep policy
6. Change it from "Never" to either "Never when plugged in" or "When Screen turns off".

I tried it last night. I used the "When screen turns off" option. I also found that the settings change wouldn't take effect until after the phone was rebooted. For me, at least, the problem has been solved. I did also notice that it seemed to take a few minutes, or so, for the wifi to disengage even when the screen goes off. No big deal, however.

Of course, depending on your usage that may help. But for me, that would only mean that syncing with Outlook, getting email notifications, etc while in my pocket would eat up my data plan instead of using the available wi-fi conx.

So, that wouldn't even have been a consideration much less a possible solution.

Back on 2.3.4 and now at 2 days 9 hours on this charge and battery is at 61%. This seems even better than before the fiasco.

 

[Entropy]

Of course, depending on your usage that may help. But for me, that would only mean that syncing with Outlook, getting email notifications, etc while in my pocket would eat up my data plan instead of using the available wi-fi conx.

So, that wouldn't even have been a consideration much less a possible solution.

Back on 2.3.4 and now at 2 days 9 hours on this charge and battery is at 61%. This seems even better than before the fiasco.

In a properly working system, routing all data over wifi by keeping the wifi chip always-on should use significantly less battery than using the radio for data.

The BCM4330's standby drain is very low - other than its tendency to start firing weird 1 Hz wakeup interrupts that kill the battery by keeping the phone's CPU awake in UCKK6, it is very good in terms of power consumption.

 

[alfandroidcat]

My phone stopped nagging me to install the update. I wonder if AT&T pulled it due to the complaints?

My wife's identical GSII, running 2.3.4 as purchased, just got DM notice to update. I assume it is still the 2.3.6. I have her WiFi turned off and the update won't proceed without the WiFi until I find out which version. How does one know before update process what version is being pushed?

 

[ijip]

i have no idea but after my phone reset to go start the update process, it started back up saying the update was cancelled. so i think att maybe pulling the update

 

[Rytherix]

is there any update to this?
I put unnamed on my phone a few days ago and the battery life seems to have improved. But I am seeing Android OS creep back into the batt usage, and it start to decrease.

 

[anon(522161)]

I put unnamed on my phone a few days ago and the battery life seems to have improved. But I am seeing Android OS creep back into the batt usage, and it start to decrease.

You didn't say which version you got installed. For me trying both the latest 2.2.1 and older 1.3.2, the old one worked better battery wise. I get about day and a half on one charge now, similar to my stock 2.3.4 usage stats. HTH.

 

[Onanda]

After putting 2.3.4 back on my phone, I'm back to 4 days + on battery and I have NO power saving features turned on. I have it on sync with Exchange server for my work email. Now I am within range of WiFi 98% of the time, so that is probably a big factor.

 

[Yovee]

i live chat with AT&T tonight and i was told my warranty is gone because i use a different charger other than samsung ...... what should i do .V.

You can tell them that denying your warranty for that reason is a violation of U.S. federal law, the Magnuson?Moss Warranty Act, unless they can specifically demonstrate that the use of a different charger damaged your phone.

 

[Onanda]

i live chat with AT&T tonight and i was told my warranty is gone because i use a different charger other than samsung ...... what should i do .V.

First - why would you tell them?
Second - it shouldn't matter since the cable that comes with it isn't a dedicated charger, only a USB cable that you can plug into ANY USB port. When you connect to the computer to sync it charges the phone.

Sounds more like an excuse

 

[Rytherix]

After putting 2.3.4 back on my phone, I'm back to 4 days + on battery and I have NO power saving features turned on. I have it on sync with Exchange server for my work email. Now I am within range of WiFi 98% of the time, so that is probably a big factor.

ok, thats honestly amazing and I feel like you are lying lol.
So can you link me to what version of unnamed or mod you put on, because as you can see from the screenshot I am using the unnamed that brings me to 2.3.4 and I am getting no where near the battery performance you are.

The first screenshot I uploaded is my performance right after putting unnamed on my phone a few days ago.
The next is my performance now, see how after only 13 hours I am down to 23%
The last screenshot is my version and all that good stuff

 

[Entropy]

ok, thats honestly amazing and I feel like you are lying lol.
So can you link me to what version of unnamed or mod you put on, because as you can see from the screenshot I am using the unnamed that brings me to 2.3.4 and I am getting no where near the battery performance you are.

The first screenshot I uploaded is my performance right after putting unnamed on my phone a few days ago.
The next is my performance now, see how after only 13 hours I am down to 23%
The last screenshot is my version and all that good stuff

Some app you installed appears to be holding massive wakelocks - note how often you have "awake" without "screen on" in the first graph.

In your second shot, there seems to be some heavy drain associated with wifi being on, which is NOT normal behavior in UCKH7. Is there any chance you updated kernels to the latest Daily Driver release? If so, that would be more confirmation that I've got a power management regression connected to wifi in the 1/2/2012 release. (A power management issue somewhere is why I haven't released anything since 1/2...)

 

[Rytherix]

Some app you installed appears to be holding massive wakelocks - note how often you have "awake" without "screen on" in the first graph.

In your second shot, there seems to be some heavy drain associated with wifi being on, which is NOT normal behavior in UCKH7. Is there any chance you updated kernels to the latest Daily Driver release? If so, that would be more confirmation that I've got a power management regression connected to wifi in the 1/2/2012 release. (A power management issue somewhere is why I haven't released anything since 1/2...)

There is only one possible app I can think of that will drain power when I am on wifi, which is WinAmp because I have wireless sync on. I am gonna turn that off and if I see any difference I will let you guys know.

 

[Entropy]

There is only one possible app I can think of that will drain power when I am on wifi, which is WinAmp because I have wireless sync on. I am gonna turn that off and if I see any difference I will let you guys know.

Did you happen to change kernels between the first screenshot and the second?

 

[tneil]

Some app you installed appears to be holding massive wakelocks - note how often you have "awake" without "screen on" in the first graph.

In your second shot, there seems to be some heavy drain associated with wifi being on, which is NOT normal behavior in UCKH7. Is there any chance you updated kernels to the latest Daily Driver release? If so, that would be more confirmation that I've got a power management regression connected to wifi in the 1/2/2012 release. (A power management issue somewhere is why I haven't released anything since 1/2...)

Entropy512,
I've been reading your post and want to say THANKS for all you do!!!

Here's a screen shot to help you with your power management regression assessment. I'm on your Stock (Root) UCKH7 and your latest Daily Driver.

Thanks,
tneil