"Android System" have lots of apps - cause of battery drain?

[anon(220176)]

My TB is running stock ROM and rooted and it has dismal battery. I have been monitoring the "Battery use details" religiously and I noted that "Android System" is always the 2nd highest usage (Display is 1st highest, but that's a given)

Clicking on "Android System", I see the following packages:

- HTC Checkin Service
- Upgrade Setup
- BrcmBluetoothServices
- Google Backup Transport
- Android System
- Account & sync
- HTC Widget Download Manager
- Settings Storage
- com.android.qxdmlog
- Setup
- Settings
- Clock
- HTC Function Test Program 1.00g
- VPN Services
- Network Location

For the ones I color-coded in BLUE, I understand that it's needed, such as "Account & Sync", which is used for my Exchange push email.

However, for the ones I color-coded in RED, I DON'T understand what is this for. For example:
- What is "Setup" used for? Is this the "Setup" widget? Can I remove the .apk or .odx safely?
- What the heck is "HTC Function Test Program 1.00g"?

Using the Watchdog app, I noticed that Android Systems uses about 37 minutes of CPU time, when the phone has been off the charger for 59 minutes!

So for the red ones are the ones I THINK may cause the battery drain.

Any ideas?

 

[Cyber Warrior]

HTC Checkin Service- Not positive... but I think it's what the phone uses to check your sync and data options... example, if you have email set to sync every hour.

Upgrade Setup- checks for carrier/phone updates and installs them.

Google Backup Transport- it's used by Google to back up your apps to the cloud. If you have to do a factory reset or ever switch phones... your apps are linked to your Google/Gmail address.

HTC Widget Download Manager- lets you download HTC widgets to the phone.

com.android.qxdmlog- Collects and keeps a written log of your system and apps for viewing, debugging, development, etc..

Setup- Used for setting up accounts on your phone... your setup wizard.

HTC Function Test Program 1.00g- Testing service for keeping your phone functioning/working properly.

 

[anon(220176)]

Thanks for the info, Cyber Warrior. Is it possible that I remove some of these services (or apps?):

Google Backup Transport- it's used by Google to back up your apps to the cloud. If you have to do a factory reset or ever switch phones... your apps are linked to your Google/Gmail address.
I don't use this at all. My Google email will be on Google's servers and the Google will know which apps I purchased since it's linked to my account.

HTC Widget Download Manager- lets you download HTC widgets to the phone.
I don't download any Widgets from HTC

Setup- Used for setting up accounts on your phone... your setup wizard.
Since I am done with the Setup, I'd love to remove this.

The reason I want to remove some of these, or at least troubleshoot these services/apps, is because I noticed Android Systems causes 50% CPU usage almost half the time my phone is off the charger and these causes battery drain.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

Thanks for the info, Cyber Warrior. Is it possible that I remove some of these services (or apps?):

Google Backup Transport- it's used by Google to back up your apps to the cloud. If you have to do a factory reset or ever switch phones... your apps are linked to your Google/Gmail address.
I don't use this at all. My Google email will be on Google's servers and the Google will know which apps I purchased since it's linked to my account.

You would need it... this is the service that links your apps to the account. I guess if you really wanted to, you could just use Titanium Backup or MyBackup for your apps and delete it... but if it were me I wouldn't take any chances. If you do delete it, try freezing it first with Titanium and see if it messes with your market.

HTC Widget Download Manager- lets you download HTC widgets to the phone.
I don't download any Widgets from HTC

You could definitely delete this.

Setup- Used for setting up accounts on your phone... your setup wizard.
Since I am done with the Setup, I'd love to remove this.

Again... if it were me, I wouldn't delete this. Even though your accounts are already set up, you never know if you might run into a problem one day and need to reset the account.

In the end, the choice is yours. The only thing I would get rid of is the HTC widget manager. Before messing with any of the others... freeze them first to see if they have any negative impact on the phone before deleting them. Also double check the "Bloatware that is safe to remove" thread in the ROM & Hack section and make sure that they are on the list of removable apps.

 

[paulmike3]

I've had crazy problems with Android System draining battery.

Install an app like OSMonitor that can monitor CPU, and you'll find that Android System (specifically the system_server process) is using all available CPU at 100%, nonstop.

Since the LTE outage, I haven't been able to run 4G without system_server going and staying at 100%, even after reboots, etc. I've had keep my phone in 3G. I'm pretty sure something with the network changed and some of our phones aren't playing well since then.

Hopefully the radio update, whenever that comes, will fix this.

 

[anon(220176)]

For those who obtained the OTA updates, could you check if your "Android System" process is still spiking?

You can use"Watchdog CPU Lite" from the Marketplace to check for this.

 

[paulmike3]

For those who obtained the OTA updates, could you check if your "Android System" process is still spiking?

You can use"Watchdog CPU Lite" from the Marketplace to check for this.

Yep, still doing it for me. :\

It was fine all day yesterday, but started almost exactly at noon EST today. 4 reboots now, and it's still going crazy (Android System (ie., system_server)@ 90-100% CPU).

I've searched the internet high and low and can't find anything with details on how to dig deeper into what's calling system_server.