Root 4 problems I still can't solve after 6 months

[Roymus]

It's been a great six months with my Evo. I've rooted, flashed 4 or 5 ROMs, probably 10 or 15 kernels, and installed hundreds of apps (not all at once). I've finally reached my happy place running Azrael 4.0 with netarchy's 4.3.2 SBC no havs kernel, and I use Tasker to control the various radios based on the phone state so I'm finally getting the battery life I need. But, all is not well...there are still my Big Four issues that I can't solve. Maybe some of you can shed some light on these...they're too much for me. Thanks to all who have helped me get this far!

1. Screen Lockups - This happens less frequently now than it used to, but the dreaded lockup still rears its ugly head on occasion...usually when I'm showing off too! I'll take out the phone and it will refuse to wake up...or the touchscreen will refuse to respond. Sometimes hitting the Power button a few times will restore it, but more often I have to reboot the phone using volume up/down and power...on occasion I still have to pull the battery. I am overclocking, but I'm unwilling to give it up...it does make a difference. Honestly, I'd be happy if I could just figure out what's causing the lockup, even if there's nothing that can be done...is there any kind of perfmon type app (a la Dr. Watson for PC's) that can write system data into a log file or something? This one drives me nuts...it's the one thing that I envy about the iPhone, say what you want but they don't just decide to stop working!

2. Random Overheating/CPU Pegging - I believe these two are related, but they may be separate. My phone will heat up for no apparent reason on occasion, or will become sluggish...usually when I check the CPU, it's pegging at 100%. I check the app usage using System Panel and all looks ok...the only solution is a restart. When the phone's temp rises past 105% or so, it's usually toast...it'll go into a boot cycle or otherwise melt down, and I have to shut down. I've noticed this seems to happen mostly in the car while talking...maybe it has something to do with constantly switching cell towers, but fer Chrissake it's a mobile phone...shouldn't it be able to handle this?

3. Stock Browser Won't Load Pages All The Way - This one really drives me nuts, and it happens WAY too often. I'll have a solid 4G connection, fire up one of my bookmarks, and the page will load ALMOST all the way...you can see the background, maybe a few links, but then it stops. Usually this is a 3G/4G context, but it can happen with wireless too. Stopping and refreshing may kick start it, but usually not...more often I have to restart (occasionally I can get away with just killing the browser using System Panel). Could this be a problem with the stock browser...if so, what would be a good alternative to try (i.e., Dolphin or Opera)?

4. 4G Scan Not Working - I know this is a chronic problem for many, fortunately it's rarer for me...but occasionally 4G will go into an interminable Scanning... state. When this happens, usually only a restart will do the trick. Of my Big Four, this one I can live with...but I'd sure like to know what's going on. Is it a function of my ROM (Azrael)? Kernel (Netarchy)? Something else?

Thanks again...this forum is one of the best reasons to go with Evo besides the phone itself!

 

[Mr. Ed]

1. what are you overclocking too? you may need to scale it back a little
2. same question...same solution
3. Are you using ad free by chance? you may need to update your hosts (i uninstalled it)
4. when mine does this I can usually turn 4g off...then turn it back on and it works. I have never had to reboot. there is a thread on xda with some possible fixes....[GUIDE - YMMV] Connect to 4G sooner & stay on longer - xda-developers

 

[akazabam]

1) Overclocking probably wouldn't cause the phone to not wake up, but aggressive underclocking can. Do you have a screen-off profile in setcpu? If so, what is it set to? To answer your question about a log, though, you can set up adb. When the issue happens connect your phone to your computer, then, assuming the phone is recognized, use adb to run logcat. That might give you some indication as to what's going on. Something a little more simple that you might try is to just call your phone, and see if that wakes it up.

2) Are you using any setcpu profiles? How about the collin_ph battery tweak. Those can be big offenders more so than *just* overclocking. Also, use OS Monitor when it happens to see what is running hot. You can sort processes by load.

3 and 4) Mr. Ed suggested what I would have. Start with that.

 

[Roymus]

Good tips, thanks. Why did you uninstall AdFree? I have long suspected it might be causing problems, but I do like the fact that it works as advertised.

I overclock to 1190, have been doing so for a while. I suppose I can scale back, but it will be hard to associate that with any improvement as lockups are rare...but it's worth a try.

I use System Panel, as I said it really doesn't tell me anything when CPU is pegging...other than it is (in other words, there's no "rogue app" that I can see). I can try OS Monitor but I'm hesitant to run more monitors as they too eat up memory...but I will if you think it will help.

I like the tip of calling the phone if it locks to see if that will wake it up...I have a work Blackberry, may try that next time there's a lockup.

The 4G problem doesn't allow me to turn it off or on...it's stuck in "Scanning" mode. Again, this is rare.

 

[akazabam]

How do you know the CPU is pegged if you don't see anything in System Panel? Either it or OS Monitor would show if something was.

As for 4g, does it only get stuck when you turn it on, or does it just randomly happen?

 

[Mr. Ed]

I had issues with page loads..updating the host file would fix it for a day or two...then it would lock up again. It got to a point that on 4g..not matter what I did web pages would not load. I read somewhere online that uninstalling addfree would fix it. uninstalled adfree and the pages immediately loaded again. haven't used it since.

when using setcpu your processor speed fluctuates...if kept too long at 1190 it can cause overheating which in turn causes other issues as well.

what is your underclock speed set at and what governor do you use.

try something like 300ish 1152 and a screen off (if you have one) of 300ish

the noticeable difference between 1152 and 1190 is very minimal..I doubt you will even notice...and I think it will eliminate some of your issues.

as for 4g...after 10 minutes of scanning it should default to a rest mode (assuming your software is up to date) when it does this you get the "4g antenna is on" message in notifications. You should be able to get back in and try connecting again. It really sounds like some of the settings for wimax may be wacky. Use that thread I posted above to check them.

are you running the latest 3.70 update or a rom based on it? radios prl and profile are up to date etc?

 

[akazabam]

Wait, are you saying CPU *load* is pegged (100% of the CPU is being used) or are you saying *scaling* is pegged (CPU frequency is constantly at the max)? There's a huge difference between the two, and how you determine what is causing it.

 

[Roymus]

Guys, thanks again...this is immensely valuable to me. Here are some answers (not in order):

CPU pegged issue: I can tell by going into System Panel and looking at the pie chart which is showing 100% (or near enough). What I meant is I can't tell by looking at the active apps which one is causing the issue...they all look normal, no "rogue" apps. I really think these monitors don't tell the whole story with what's going on with the CPU.

I'm underclocked at 245 and overclocked to 1190. Based on your responses, I've changed that to UC 384 and OC 1152. You're right, the performance difference should be negligible, we'll see how it does. I use the smartass governor, it seems to give the best performance. I'm not using any profiles.

4G issue...you're right, I should let it search longer before restarting (sometimes you're just over it).

 

[evomattnc]

ever try a governor other than smartass? ive heard of issues with that and setcpu from a couple people, not sure why just heard it...try on demand maybe?

 

[Roymus]

I've tried all the governors (on demand, conservative, smartass, the other ones I can't remember)...seems to work the best with smartass, but honestly that assessment is based on Quadrant scores (always higher with smartass), and subjective feel. If I could trace any of these issues to the smartass governor, I would avoid it, but I really can't...phone has misbehaved using all governors.

 

[akazabam]

Try OS monitor - sort by load, and see if anything is running hot. It could just be an issue with System monitor. As long as you close OS monitor when you're done, it's not going to do anything in the background.

 

[luigic81]

edit n/m

 

[Xtremedays]

I have used the smartass governor on all of the kernels I have used from Netarchy and now Savage with no issues. I believe the problems arise when you try and use profiles with smartass. If you run it without profiles but let it control itself based on its defaut settings you should be good.

 

[luigic81]

I have used the smartass governor on all of the kernels I have used from Netarchy and now Savage with no issues. I believe the problems arise when you try and use profiles with smartass. If you run it without profiles but let it control itself based on its defaut settings you should be good.

Have you tried the savaged zen scaling option? thats what i'm using, supposed to be an improved smartass governor

 

[TheEngineer]

I have tried so many ROMs and kernels and decided that Sprint Lover's with either the stock kernel or netarchy CFS just plain works. I hate having to deal with odd issues.

 

[Dreamliner]

1. Fresh ROM
2. Fresh ROM
3. Fresh ROM
4. Fresh ROM

I have tried Azrael, MikFroyo, , Myn Warm, Cyanogen and I always go back to Fresh. I've NEVER had a stability related issue, never ever not once. I had apps crashing and random reboots in both Azrael and MikFroyo; Cyanogen is a weird Android b@stard child that I couldn't get used to.

I am running the Fresh ROM with Netarchy and I couldn't be happier. Stable and snappy; zero stability issues.

Geek For Me – Sprint Evo 4g & CDMA Hero Home of Fresh ROM and CDMA Android Development

 

[catty666]

Got the latest Fresh and it's working very nicely. Thanks for the recommendation.