Searching for GSM signal?

[phalcon]

I'm not sure if this has been posted here yet, but I found this interesting. A friend of mine is a member of the EVO Facebook group and sent me to a link which reads as follows:
"For those of you having battery issues I found a way to DRAMATICALLY improve the battery life.
First things first, go into Settings> About Phone> Battery> Battery Use> Cell Standby. Assuming your phone has been on, or off the charger for ~10 minutes, it should show Time Without Signal at around 50%.

Next thing, press HOME, and bring up the dialer. Dial *#*#4636#*#* (Do not press "Call"). After a second, it should bring up the "Testing" menu.

Go into Phone Information, press MENU, and tap "select radio band." You should experience a Force Close, don't panic, this was supposed to happen. Scrolling down shows that the preferred network type is GSM auto (prl).

What this means is that even though you are connected to a CDMA network, your phone is trying to find a GSM network, preventing the radio from sleeping, and causing excessive battery drain.

Remedy this by tapping GSM auto (prl), and changing it to CDMA auto (prl).


Now your done, your TWS should drop dramatically, and you should experience much better battery life!

Note: You need to do this every time you reboot."

I've changed it on my phone just now, and the service still works as normal. I guess we'll see if the battery life increases. If this works and with overclock widget I should be getting some crazy battery life now!

 

[ekt8750]

That is a great find. One would think the factory default for a CDMA phone would be set for CDMA prl but I guess I need to stop using logic.

 

[camdz]

I get "The process com.android.phone has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again."

This happens as soon as I select radio band.

 

[coolguy949]

That's normal

 

[camdz]

That's normal

Then how would I get to the option to change GSM auto to CDMA auto?

 

[coolguy949]

After you select the option, it will force close. Give it several seconds and the menu will pop up. You'll see GSM is set by default. switch it to CDMA auto (PRL) and hit the back button all the way back your dialer.

Rebooting will wipe out the setting.

 

[camdz]

After you select the option, it will force close. Give it several seconds and the menu will pop up. You'll see GSM is set by default. switch it to CDMA auto (PRL) and hit the back button all the way back your dialer.

Rebooting will wipe out the setting.

Ah, thanks! I guess I should have tried scrolling down.

 

[mark0695]

ive rebooted and it still has stayed on cdma

 

[coolguy949]

ive rebooted and it still has stayed on cdma

It shows the same when you click "select radio band" in the menu?

 

[mark0695]

It shows the same when you click "select radio band" in the menu?

correct. cdmal prl is staying the same even after multiple reboots

 

[coolguy949]

Are you rooted?

 

[mark0695]

Are you rooted?

no not at all. havent even tried to root

 

[coolguy949]

Very interesting. Mine doesn't stick. Now i'm thinking it's never actually applying a change because I haven't noticed any better battery life.

 

[mark0695]

Very interesting. Mine doesn't stick. Now i'm thinking it's never actually applying a change because I haven't noticed any better battery life.

i havent notice anything better battery wise either but it was worth a shot

 

[phalcon]

i havent notice anything better battery wise either but it was worth a shot

I only posted this a few hours ago, so it's really a bit early to tell if this actually does any good. I won't know for sure until tomorrow around this time what the outcome is.

Edit: Also, you'll know if it's working if your "Time without a signal" percentage decreases after a few hours use (make sure it's not plugged in).

 

[mark0695]

I only posted this a few hours ago, so it's really a bit early to tell if this actually does any good. I won't know for sure until tomorrow around this time what the outcome is.

Edit: Also, you'll know if it's working if your "Time without a signal" percentage decreases after a few hours use (make sure it's not plugged in).

i did this yesterday morning or afternoon from someone elses post that linked to xda. also my down time was 0 in the first place so i probably wont see any difference

 

[Mabster]

You can also download the app "NETWORK" so you don't have to do the whole *#*#blah part. It takes you directly to the phone info page.

 

[phalcon]

i did this yesterday morning or afternoon from someone elses post that linked to xda. also my down time was 0 in the first place so i probably wont see any difference

Ahh, my bad. I'm hoping to see a difference, though with overclockwidget running I've already seen a significant increase in battery life. Just figured I'd give this a try. Couldn't hurt. The friend who showed me the link had a TWS of 88%, but he gets a really crappy signal in his apartment. Gonna ask him later tonight if that percentage has changed any.

 

[sitlet]

I'm pretty sure this phone doesn't have a GSM radio, so it's not really searching for a gsm signal.

 

[phalcon]

I'm pretty sure this phone doesn't have a GSM radio, so it's not really searching for a gsm signal.

Do CDMA and GSM use different radios? I thought they just used different frequencies and protocols and that the type of radio was irrelevant.

 

[FLEMTP]

hmm i checked that out.. time without a signal is 8%. Phone has been off the charger 14hrs 10 min since unplugged...battery is at 51%... id say im doing pretty good without the change you suggested.

 

[phalcon]

hmm i checked that out.. time without a signal is 8%. Phone has been off the charger 14hrs 10 min since unplugged...battery is at 51%... id say im doing pretty good without the change you suggested.

One thing I've noticed about all of these "solutions" for how to improve battery life is that they're all pretty evenly split among those who swear there is an improvement after they've applied fix "X" and those that swear that fix "X" doesn't work at all. I think given the variations of how we all use our phones, apps we have installed and numerous other factors we'll never really come to a consensus on whether fix "X" will improve your battery life. Frankly, I'm just the sort that likes to tinker and see what happens. As with all posts offering suggestions on how to improve one's battery life this one carries a big YMMV.

 

[Roadblock]

Here is what I can throw in about this.

I snagged the app "Network" and changed my phone from "GSM auto (PRL)" to "CDMA auto (PRL)" and idle usage is WAY WAY down.

Taken from another post I made in another thread...

I took my phone off the charger at 10am this morning and I've been using it on and off all day to send texts, Youtubed a couple video's made a 30+ minute call and a few other odds and ends. Normally I would have had to charge my phone again at least once threw out the day but I've NOT put it back on the charge since 10am and I was still at 83% power when I left work at 5pm.

I'm at 53% power now, it's 11:20pm, I've watched more Youtube, made 3 15 minute'ish calls texted about 10 times and played a game for about 20 minutes.

I would have had my phone on the charger a 3rd time for a hour or so by now doing all this so its gotta be helping.

My phone was bleeding about 10~15% power per hour'ish or so just sitting in my pocket before this. I could take my phone off the charger and at 10am and by lunch at 2~3pm, I was lucky to have 50+% power left if that if I only checked my texts or email maybe once or twice without calls.

That was at 11:20pm, it's exactly 3:31am and the phone has STILL not been on the charger. I'm currently at 49%. It's only lost 4% power in 4 hours.

*Update*

Also, the Android System was always at the top of my battery usage menu prior to this, now it's like the forth thing down. To me that appears as though it's sleeping right now.

 

[Roadblock]

Here is what I can throw in about this.

I snagged the app "Network" and changed my phone from "GSM auto (PRL)" to "CDMA auto (PRL)" and idle usage is WAY WAY down.

Taken from another post I made in another thread...

I took my phone off the charger at 10am this morning and I've been using it on and off all day to send texts, Youtubed a couple video's made a 30+ minute call and a few other odds and ends. Normally I would have had to charge my phone again at least once threw out the day but I've NOT put it back on the charge since 10am and I was still at 83% power when I left work at 5pm.

I'm at 53% power now, it's 11:20pm, I've watched more Youtube, made 3 15 minute'ish calls texted about 10 times and played a game for about 20 minutes.

I would have had my phone on the charger a 3rd time for a hour or so by now doing all this so its gotta be helping.

My phone was bleeding about 10~15% power per hour'ish or so just sitting in my pocket before this. I could take my phone off the charger and at 10am and by lunch at 2~3pm, I was lucky to have 50+% power left if that if I only checked my texts or email maybe once or twice without calls.

The 53%, that was at 11:20pm, it's exactly 3:31am and the phone has STILL not been on the charger. I'm currently at 49%. It's only lost 4% power in 4 hours.

*Update*

Also, the Android System was always at the top of my battery usage menu prior to this, now it's like the forth thing down. To me that appears as though it's sleeping right now.

Someone else basically just told me I was full of crap and HTC would NEVER let there phones out like this. Not sure what to say but ummmmm yeah, it's working for me.

 

[dohmai]

Question about the GSM to CDMA switch...

I get through the menu/switch radio band/force close.. then can switch to CDMA auto prl in the dropbox...

But then when I exit to home or back button and go through process again to 'check' if the change has taken place (settings/switch radio band/force close) .. it shows up as GSM auto prl again..

Is this supposed to happen, or am I somehow not 'confirming' my switch to CDMA.. and how can I do that? I've just been going 'back' to home screen.

Also where can I view Time without signal statistics?

Thanks