Help S4 battery drain and slow charge issue

[TitaniumTbag]

Please help

I have had my S4 for several months now and have never had an issue with it until my glorious kit kat update

After doing some research I have found countless others with the same problem

I would like to try and get this issue resolved once and for all

I have eliminated the charger as being the problem. I have done a reboot and cleared the cache

I am now trying to follow suggestions removing anitvirus apps and battery apps but am unable to remove avira anitvirus as I am unable to clear it from my device administrators the deactivate button simply does nothing

I am beginning to think that the problem does not lie with installed apps but really to do with the new update?

Please help

 

[ironass]

Please help

I have had my S4 for several months now and have never had an issue with it until my glorious kit kat update

After doing some research I have found countless others with the same problem

I would like to try and get this issue resolved once and for all

I have eliminated the charger as being the problem. I have done a reboot and cleared the cache

I am now trying to follow suggestions removing anitvirus apps and battery apps but am unable to remove avira anitvirus as I am unable to clear it from my device administrators the deactivate button simply does nothing

I am beginning to think that the problem does not lie with installed apps but really to do with the new update?

Please help

Hello and welcome to Android Forums TitaniumTbag!

Thank you for your post.

There are currently 23 different models of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and over 1,000 different stock Samsung firmware versions, worldwide, covering 3 different Android platforms. Not all issues will affect all models or firmware releases and your answers to the following questions will help in the forum's answers to your specific query.

#1 Could you post your Model number and Android version...

To locate these, go to...

Settings > More > About device > Model number and Android version

This will give you the model of Samsung Galaxy S4 that you have and which Android version you are on.


#2. Your current Firmware, (not just Baseband), version .

To locate your current firmware version, go to the stock, Samsung, dial pad and type in...

*#1234#

This will give you your, "Version", details in full, usually 3 lines of information, AP: CP: CSC:, which may all be relevant.

*** If code *#1234# has been disabled on your firmware, you can download and install, free from the Play Store, Phone Info and it will give you, under Firmware Info... PDA, Baseband, CSC, versions.


#3. Also helpful would be your carrier, (service provider), location, (UK, India, Russia, USA, etc: ), and if your phone is rooted or not and running a custom ROM, (give details).


Thanks. The above helps us to help you and hopefully someone will be able to reply to you shortly.


For more information, see, http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/760098-23-galaxy-s4-models-know-yours.html#post6099681

(Tip: You can go to the green bar at the top of this forum and click on, "User CP", which will take you to your User Control Panel and then select, "Edit your details", under the heading, "Your profile", on the left hand side. Here you can fill in your model and firmware under, "Current devices", in, "Additional Information". This ensures that your device details are shown under your user name on the left, in every post you make. You can update this as often as you like and will help other users immediately identify your current phone and firmware details.)

 

[sreum]

Do factory reset. ....... test out the phone after that with out reinstalling apps. Then install them one at a time. More then likely is an 3rd party app causing the quick drain issue. And I had the slow charge issue my self. Solution to mine was power down the phone let it sit for 5 mins and power back on. Once in a while it will still charge slow though.

 

[TitaniumTbag]

S4 GT-I9500 Android 4.4.2
AP: I9500XXUFNB4
CP: I9500XXUFNC1
CSC: I9500OJVFNC1
Carrier: Vodafone SA (Vodacom)
Country: South Africa
Unrooted

 

[TitaniumTbag]

I have over 100 apps and do not want to do a factory reset and install 100 apps one by one to find a possible faulty app which may not even be there.
Perhaps there should be an app that searches for faulty apps and informs you which ones are draining power.
I do not want to possibly loose all my contacts saved passwords and all collected data
I have not installed any new apps since the draining started occuring.
I have taken the battery out for 30min and recharged.

 

[EarlyMon]

Check out "GSam Battery Monitor"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm

Check out "Helium - App Sync and Backup"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.backup

 

[TitaniumTbag]

thanks I have installed GSam battery monitor and will continue to monitor the battery to see what i can find out

Not going to use the helium product since I have no intention of doing a backup to do a factory reset. Id rather find the root of the problem than destroy all my collected data in the hopes of trying to solve a problem by doing a generalised repair especially since i have read so many forums where this step has made no difference to the battery draining problem

 

[EarlyMon]

Yeah.

Here's the thing about a factory data reset.

It cleans all junk files (that you can do with Clean Master) and those don't affect power.

It also cleans your main cache and the Dalvik cache.

Android = real time embedded Linux + Dalvik virtual machine + apps that run in the Dalvik and use Linux services

(Unless you've transitioned to the new ART replacement for Dalvik, still in beta.)

Dalvik is a stack engine, it uses a cache to operate, just like your browser, and also just like your browser, that can get screwed up. That can affect power. You can also clear it without a factory data reset.

Then comes the tricky bit.

You've probably noticed that when you bring up your dialer you have access to your contacts and from there to email, sms, etc.

That's pervasive in Android and none of it is hard-coded (or you couldn't choose replacement apps).

Apps signal one another with systems called intents and defaults. And rather than do all of the complex connectivity every time you run, that's set during app installs and uninstalls into a lookup called the Dalvik cache.

If that's screwed up, you will often get weird bugs that make no sense (English turns into Spanish on your keyboard when you use the microphone for something else, that happened to me) and those bugs can definitely eat power.

Unless you are rooted, the only way to clear the Dalvik cache is by a factory data reset.

Rooters know to clear it at the first sign of trouble and with every operating system change.

Manufacturers and carriers send out changes and NEVER clear the Dalvik cache. I've complained to them in writing, it's only less than a half dozen extra statements in update instructions that number in the hundreds or even thousands but they just don't.

What you have is probably an app problem you can find.

But please don't be persuaded about what a factory data reset can do based on a vote of opinions.

If your Dalvik cache gets scrambled and you're not rooted, your three choices are to live with a screwed up phone and chase snake oil solutions, factory data reset, or the other popular choice, give up and buy a new phone. There are no other choices.

Now you have the facts, how you use them is up to you.

And btw - really? Seriously no backup plan?

Phones get lost, stolen, dropped or just die from bad silicon every day, and some get scrambled by a power surge during charging.

And that's not even counting what a great idea a backup is for when a developer hands out an update you hate, or your carrier hands you an update that scrambles your Dalvik.

It's your phone, it's your decision.

I have too much invested in my apps and critical data to take chances but that's just me.

Best luck with finding the app, GSam is really good for that.

 

[TitaniumTbag]

Thanks for your feedback

I have rebooted the phone ion safe mode and cleared the cache this did not help the situation

I do have a backup plan but directly with google i have never needed to use a third party backup app because everytime i sign in to google play with my account on a new device my apps are automatically re-installed hence the reason for not wanting to install a third party backup plan

the rest of the data such as my photos and emails notes and music and videos I backup on my external hdd as there is too much data to do this over the air +- 70gig

I have started cleaning up my applications folder and updating several apps I notice now that my battery charge is going a lot quicker and lasts a lot longer

I wander if perhaps it had something to do with one of these apps that were recently updated

I am continuing to monitor the battery issue and will report back

 

[sreum]

Great possibility that it was one of those apps. And the S4 has multiple backups, samsung backup, Google backup, SIM backup, play store backup, then there are the 3rd party apps to. But just between the first 4 backups I mentioned, a factory reset will not cause you to lose anything really. Accept some time to reinstall the apps. Good luck with it though.

 

[TitaniumTbag]

what about my predictive text history passwords cached web pages? will i still keep this data too if I do a factory reset?

 

[Hadron]

Only if you back them up.

 

[ironass]

S4 GT-I9500 Android 4.4.2
AP: I9500XXUFNB4
CP: I9500XXUFNC1
CSC: I9500OJVFNC1
Carrier: Vodafone SA (Vodacom)
Country: South Africa
Unrooted

OK. So you are on the latest release for CSC code OJV on Vodafone SA. I concur with EarlyMon's excellent post, above, regarding a Factory Data Reset. There is an Update Problems - Dummies Guide that outlines the steps for this in its post #2. Hopefully, this should sort you out.

 

[itzxdatboiixniz]

i'm not sure if it's just me or anyone else was having the problem. but i just bought an at&t samsung galaxy s4 and noticed that when i charge my battery, its taking forever to charge but the battery doesn't really drain as fast unless i am on it....any help or ideas?