CPU usage never goes below 30%, why?

[Psythik]

I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out why my CPU usage is so high. I'm losing about 10% battery every 20 minutes so I can never be too far away from an outlet. The phone constantly stutters, especially when scrolling through anything.

I downloaded a usage monitor app but it isn't helping at all. Apparently the CPU hogging app is hidden! See for yourself:



Exchanged my S III for a new one but it also has the same problem. I've uninstalled all unnecessary apps and removed every widget from my home screens but that didn't fix the problem. Even after a fresh reboot the CPU still hovers around 10-20%, with constant spikes into the 50s.

I'm new to Android but this doesn't seem normal at all. Help!

EDIT: Here's a list of the few apps I've installed. Lookout claims they're all safe:
http://imgur.com/a/cbWJG

 

[smooth4lyfe]

Get this app called "Advanced Task Manager" , and it can auto close some apps and processes u don't need that are running in the background...

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 Boyyyyyy!

 

[Life-Is-Good]

You may have a "kworker" or other system/kernel process issue.

Try checking the CPU usage of system processes with your usage monitor app or with an app like Watchdog or System Tuner.

For more info try Googling the Internet for "kworker load"

 

[Psythik]

Watchdog is giving me the same results as Usage Timelines: system processes using almost 0 CPU, but user processes always hovering around 30-40%. Then when I look at the list of running processes, the numbers don't add up to the usage I'm actually getting. Your Google suggestion didn't help much.

 

[funkylogik]

least youre grateful for the advice given though man....

..this isnt samsung customer care

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[smooth4lyfe]

I can tell you that if you used "Advanced Task Manager", you could auto close Dropbox because that doesnt have to be constantly running in the background, so thats 6% off right there
And what is "Security Storage"?

Your WiFi calling (The icon with the blue telephone on ur notification bar) could also be taking some CPU, do u need that running all the time?

 

[funkylogik]

again you have more patience than me bro
suppose it could help some other users in future.
good guy

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[smooth4lyfe]

again you have more patience than me bro
suppose it could help some other users in future.
good guy

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

Lol I'm pretty good at brushing off rudeness and ignorance...ignorance is meant to be ignored

 

[funkylogik]

very true mate lol. ur a better man than me though

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[smooth4lyfe]

very true mate lol. ur a better man than me though

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

I can tell u though I would not hesitate to whoop some ass if I had to though lol I'm more chill though

 

[Life-Is-Good]

Watchdog is giving me the same results as Usage Timelines: system processes using almost 0 CPU, but user processes always hovering around 30-40%. Then when I look at the list of running processes, the numbers don't add up to the usage I'm actually getting. Your Google suggestion didn't help much.

Very strange.

What do you see if you do a "top' in a terminal emulator?

-Load a terminal emulator app
-Enter "top -m 5 -n 1" without the quotes to display the top 5 processes one time. You should see information including the percent usage, fg or bg (foreground/background), the app user ID or "system", and the process name

something like:


User 10%, System 4%, IOW 1%, IRQ 0%
User 57 + Nice 4 + Sys 26 + Idle 515 + IOW 7 + IRQ 0 + SIRQ 0 = 609

PID PR CPU% S #THR VSS RSS PCY UID Name

378 0 6% S 84 382000K 50824K fg system system_server

28426 0 1% S 16 281080K 31244K bg app_202 com.mobidia.android.mdm:remote

29809 0 1% R 1 1072K 452K fg app_175 top

25442 0 1% S 9 271668K 26312K bg app_202 com.mobidia.android.mdm

164 1 0% S 11 75200K 35588K fg system /system/bin/surfaceflinger

 

[Psythik]

I can tell you that if you used "Advanced Task Manager", you could auto close Dropbox because that doesnt have to be constantly running in the background, so thats 6% off right there
And what is "Security Storage"?

Your WiFi calling (The icon with the blue telephone on ur notification bar) could also be taking some CPU, do u need that running all the time?

I have Dropbox set to only sync when I'm on WiFi, and when I'm on WiFi the phone is plugged into the charger anyway. Same goes for WiFi calling (service is terrible here so I need it). I have no idea what "Security Storage" is.

Very strange.

What do you see if you do a "top' in a terminal emulator?

-Load a terminal emulator app
-Enter "top -m 5 -n 1" without the quotes to display the top 5 processes one time. You should see information including the percent usage, fg or bg (foreground/background), the app user ID or "system", and the process name

As you can see, those top five add up to 27% CPU usage alone. Whatever this "system_server" is appears to be the culprit (well, that and "Security Storage"). So now what?

And yes, I am appreciative of the help you guys are giving me; SΛMSUNG & T-Mobile's solution are to exchange the phone, but like I said I've already done that! THANK YOU x1000 for your suggestions.

 

[Life-Is-Good]

It's odd that top shows only 13% being used by User, not 44%. Top and the monitor apps should all be showing the same data provided by the kernel.

Of the 13% app_166 (the terminal emulator) was using 5% in the foreground which is reasonable, and LiveClock was using 5% in the background which sounds kinda high but shouldn't be a problem.

Have you powered the phone all the way off and back on?

High data usage may be what's draining your battery. An app like "My Data Manager" should show what is going on with data usage (in My Data Manager check "My Data Apps" on the second screen).

 

[Life-Is-Good]

. . . High data usage may be what's draining your battery. An app like "My Data Manager" should show what is going on with data usage (in My Data Manager check "My Data Apps" on the second screen).

Or you can go into Data Usage in the Settings on your phone and see a timeline graph of data usage and totals for each app. Click on an app to see its timeline and a breakdown of foreground and background.

 

[Psythik]

Ah, the classic "have you tried turning it off and on again" line. Takes me back to my I.T. support days.

I've decided to test your theory by taking it easy on the web browsing and app downloading for a little bit; CPU usage has gone down to a more reasonable 3-8% but I'll have to do some more tests to make sure the two are actually correlated. Looks like I'm gonna have to invest in a high capacity battery. This one looks like a good choice save for the fact that it's gonna turn my phone into a fatass and thus my case won't fit anymore. Hopefully someone will make a 4000+ mAh battery that doesn't increase the thickness of the phone.

Well thanks for the help, people. I guess I'll just have to get used to owning a phone that doesn't hold a charge for an entire day.

 

[Life-Is-Good]

In the past my phones would overheat and I'd find the CPU pegged high over 90%. The culprit was always the stock Android browser, even if I wasn't using the browser. I switched to using the Maxthon browser and never again have had a high CPU usage problem. But web browsing with Maxthon still heats my phone and drains my battery.

Have you considered using one of those external battery booster packs?

 

[GSDer]

That 'Security storage' process is very puzzling - is your phone encrypted? Or do you have encryption enabled for your SDCard?
I hate to suggest a factory reset, but it may be worthwhile doing that and then checking your CPU usage before loading a bunch of stuff. Then just monitor your stats as you load applications - it's something that you've loaded or enabled because this isn't the default behaviour of this device.
Edit: BTW, the next time you need to list the applications you have installed you may want to consider https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ls?id=com.mattlary.shareMyApps&token=RcmmRn3Q - it's much more straightforward than a bunch of screenshots.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Psythik]

After doing some more testing it turns out that Dolphin was the culprit. I gave Chrome a try and it was the same story. Opera Mobile was nice but too outdated. Finally I gave Firefox a try and it's been smooth sailing ever since. Funny how FF and Chrome have switched roles in terms of performance compared to their PC counterparts!

Lookout was contributing a great amount too. I'll have to find another device recovery solution. Anybody have a suggestion?

Still have no idea what the security_storage thing was about but it doesn't seem to be an issue anymore. I'd love to use encryption but I like my pattern unlock too much.

 

[funkylogik]

Android Lost is pretty good and uses no battery mate

global s3, UK. Ask me anything and ill reply even if its just an intelligent (or stupid) guess

 

[GSDer]

Bizarre - I have:
Chrome: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.android.chrome
Dolphin Browser: http://market.android.com/details?id=mobi.mgeek.TunnyBrowser
Dolphin Jetpack: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.dolphin.browser.engine
Firefox: http://market.android.com/details?id=org.mozilla.firefox
Opera Mobile: http://market.android.com/details?id=com.opera.browser
xScope Pro: http://market.android.com/details?id=sui.mRelease
installed (plus the stock browser) and I randomly use all of them and haven't noticed any problems like that.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk 2