Additional Insight into Random Shutdowns

[Jack45]

From a poster at XDA:

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I work at an AT&T device support center and we deal with nothing but warranty issues with all AT&T phones. I have noticed a trend with the captivates and I wanted to pass some info along to all of you. 80% of the captivates we get into our Device support center are unavoidable (more on that in a minute) power down issues, 15% are advance task killer related which is fixed by educating and uninstalling, and the remaining 5% are speaker related which is sometimes easily fixed.

I did some research and made some calls to samsung and some internal AT&T contacts as well as some other fellow Device support center associates and I have found the issue with the power down. It is a flaw in the power savings display settings and screen time out. My sources state that eclair on the captivate is causing this issue and that it will be addressed with an upcoming OTA push coming late december. I have also heard that this OTA may come bundled with Froyo which is a very likely scenario. Hold on, a fix is coming.

DO NOT RUN Advance Task Killer period. It does nothing but cause problems for the phone on eclair. Google recognized this and added a task managment solution built into froyo that works much better and won't cause random BS. If you think you know how to run ATK then you probably don't so read up on exactly what it does. Just remember people, when you boot up the phone, it starts most of these services because they are essential to the phone operating properly... imagine that. Don't try to be smarter than the phone. You are not going to save battery by removing processes out of memory. Period. Let them run. If you wanna save alot of battery, turn your display off automatic and run at a lower brightness level and turn your 3G radio off when not using data. Its that simple.

BTW... Just to qualify myself a bit. I am samsung certified and I am running a Captivate on the Leaked froyo, rooted, sideloaded, overclocked to 1.2ghz, verizon market fingerprint build.prop mod, LCD density mod = 210, startup sound mod, battery percentage in task bar.

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[compscidev]

sounds good more reason to be pissed about no froyo

 

[Kelmar]

Great info, thanks for sharing!!!

Do you have a link to that thread by chance?

 

[Jack45]

Captivate Random Shut Downs Solved (kinda) - xda-developers

 

[CrimsonPride]

sounds good more reason to be pissed about no froyo

well if froyo was out now there wouldnt be a fix. another good reason froyo isnt out yet

 

[Jack45]

This sentence...

"It is a flaw in the power savings display settings and screen time out."

...supports my previously-posted theory that if you've been affected by random shutdowns, uncheck power saving mode and place the screen timeout delay at 30 minutes. Turn the phone on and off using the power button, lest the device confuse sleep with coma.

 

[compscidev]

hmmm i guess it could be a good thing their holding off on 2.2 they are fixing these bugs!

 

[compscidev]

i got bad luck i guess, started randomly shutting down !

 

[AKA_Rizzo]

This sentence...

"It is a flaw in the power savings display settings and screen time out."

...supports my previously-posted theory that if you've been affected by random shutdowns, uncheck power saving mode and place the screen timeout delay at 30 minutes. Turn the phone on and off using the power button, lest the device confuse sleep with coma.

I have never enabled PSM and I get shut downs.

And notably they're always at 35% battery too.

I do not have ATK either.

I do have Launcher Pro though.

 

[compscidev]

try turning off launcher pro it might fix it

 

[Jack45]

I do have Launcher Pro though.

Extracted from my post of 10/26 - different thread:

I've been very careful not to point a finger at a particular app as a cause of random shutdowns (other than aggressive user settings within SetCPU), but you've served as a catalyst. Before I continue, let me say that I believe there is more than one culprit responsible for shutdowns and that most are caused by a non-app related issue(s).

I've had my third device for 2-1/2 months. No shutdowns whatsover...until I installed LauncherPro last week. Then they started. I removed LauncherPro and - back to normal. I hereby declare an official suspicion that LauncherPro is one of the causes of random shutdowns. Before you react, I understand that many use LauncherPro with no problems. Great. I'm not saying that the app itself is poorly coded, but rather offering that it may begin a chain reaction that causes random shutdowns in some devices. I have not taken this declaration lightly. I waited a long time before openly stating my theory.

 

[AKA_Rizzo]

Extracted from my post of 10/26 - different thread:

I've been very careful not to point a finger at a particular app as a cause of random shutdowns (other than aggressive user settings within SetCPU), but you've served as a catalyst. Before I continue, let me say that I believe there is more than one culprit responsible for shutdowns and that most are caused by a non-app related issue(s).

I've had my third device for 2-1/2 months. No shutdowns whatsover...until I installed LauncherPro last week. Then they started. I removed LauncherPro and - back to normal. I hereby declare an official suspicion that LauncherPro is one of the causes of random shutdowns. Before you react, I understand that many use LauncherPro with no problems. Great. I'm not saying that the app itself is poorly coded, but rather offering that it may begin a chain reaction that causes random shutdowns in some devices. I have not taken this declaration lightly. I waited a long time before openly stating my theory.

So what about the guy from ATT saying it's not an App and blames 2.1 or What about people with completely stock phones having the same issues or what about the entire Galaxy S line having the problem ?

It's not an app,Don't get their hopes up.

 

[Jack45]

So what about the guy from ATT saying it's not an App and blames 2.1 or What about people with completely stock phones having the same issues or what about the entire Galaxy S line having the problem ?

It's not an app,Don't get their hopes up.

First, where has he written that it's not app-related? An OS problem does not unto itself exclude third-party apps that can exacerbate the situation. His comments are not exclusionary. Additionally, I've written several times that:

1. It's not native app-related.
2. Aggressive settings within SetCPU can cause shutdowns.
3. My personal experience (and that of some others) has been that LauncherPro could very well be a culprit in specific device environments.

Have a good day.

 

[pkoutoul]

FWIW, I've had my Cappy for about 6 weeks and have never had a random shutdown.

Been using Launcher Pro from the start and have power saving mode enabled. However, I do have a long screen timeout value and almost never let it switch off the screen because I make it a habit to do so manually. Also, I have no task killer installed because I am convinced they are unnecessary.

 

[AKA_Rizzo]

This post is for the people who have not kept up with this thread, and with others on other forums.

1. It is not a user-software issue. It has nothing to do with what apps you install.
2. It has nothing to do with rooting / lagfix etc. Many people (including myself with stock rogers) have this problem, even after factory resets.
3. The lockscreen does not matter. Again, it is not a software issue.
4. A new battery does not fix the problem.
5. Cleaning the battery contacts does not fix the problem. It may increase battery life (or not), and it may fix another similar problem, but not this one.
6. Reported in revisions as late as 1009 in US and 10.10 in Canada (I am not sure if the US and Canada share the same revisions, and can easily imagine Samsung increasing the revision number for Canada, effectively making 10.10 actually 1009) If you have a later revision and have this problem, please let me know.
7. Return the phone if you can.
8. If you cannot return the phone, CaptivateKeepAlive is your best option.
9. Samsung may or may not be aware of the problem (officially anyways), and they may or may not have fixed it in later revisions. If someone has evidence of either of these claims, please provide it.


So thats where we are now.

Possible Problem:
1. There is a fundamental software problem, such as a component which monitors the battery level. Such problem may be able to be fixed with an update, or with 2.2, on the other hand it may not.

2. There is a hardware problem somewhere in the device.However, it is not the battery itself. If this is the case, the only solution is to get a newer phone without the problem (once they fix it).

So hopefully with some clarity from Samsung we can determine what the issue is, and what the best course of action is. I plan to phone them tonight myself, and will update once I have done so.If you have more information, please post it, however please be aware that we have systematically reduced the possible causes, so asking if people all have angrybirds installed and if that is the issue, or if everyone charges the phone at night, is pointless.

Thanks, and hopefully this helps everyone.

Captivate random shuts down - Page 65 - xda-developers

 

[Aerodrifting]

From a poster at XDA:

DO NOT RUN Advance Task Killer period. It does nothing but cause problems for the phone on eclair. Google recognized this and added a task managment solution built into froyo that works much better and won't cause random BS. If you think you know how to run ATK then you probably don't so read up on exactly what it does. Just remember people, when you boot up the phone, it starts most of these services because they are essential to the phone operating properly... imagine that.Don't try to be smarter than the phone. You are not going to save battery by removing processes out of memory. Period. Let them run. If you wanna save alot of battery, turn your display off automatic and run at a lower brightness level and turn your 3G radio off when not using data. Its that simple.

BTW... Just to qualify myself a bit. I am samsung certified and I am running a Captivate on the Leaked froyo, rooted, sideloaded, overclocked to 1.2ghz, verizon market fingerprint build.prop mod, LCD density mod = 210, startup sound mod, battery percentage in task bar.

I know this might sound rude, but whoever posted the message above is clearly not as knowledgeable as he thinks he is. He maybe a Samsung certified but he doesn't know shit about computers from the bolded part. Why am I talking about computers? Because Your smart phone is a mini computer and runs like one.

Let's start with ATK. ATK is the best program out there, it's a must have just like how every windows computer has something called Task manager. When you boot up the phone, most of the services are NOT necessary for phone to operate properly. Don't believe me? Check the ATK see what's running when phone start up (just name a few):
AT&T hots spots
instant messaging
quickoffice
youtube
AT&T navigator
AT&T radio
MobiTV
Mobile banking
AT&T maps

Why the heck do I want those running on my phone when I have nothing to do with them? If I want to use any of those programs I'd start them myself instead of having them running 24/7 on my back ground limit the amount of memory I can use for other applications.

I might not be as smart as the guy who design the phone, but I am clearly smarter than the jerk who put all the junkwares on my beloved phone and thought I could live with that.

When there are activate programs running on the back ground, they keep the memory charged, and that uses battery power. Easy way to prove that, when your computer memory is loaded either from applications / memory test, the memory module grows hot. What does that mean? It's using more power than it would on idle. Free up my memory not only makes other programs run smoother also saves battery on idle.

It pisses me off when there are clueless idiots posting crap and try to sound professional about it.

 

[Jack45]

Although the content of the original post isn't mine, yes, your post is rude. It's one thing to challenge data, and yet another to denigrate the individual while using foul language in a failed, adolescent attempt to strengthen your case. It dilutes your argument and, as a result, casts doubt as to your post's objectivity. That said, the Android operating system is not the Windows operating system.

Task killers - CapFAQ

 

[Aerodrifting]

Although the content of the original post isn't mine, yes, your post is rude. It's one thing to challenge data, and yet another to denigrate the individual while using foul language in a failed, adolescent attempt to strengthen your case. It dilutes your argument and, as a result, casts doubt as to your post's objectivity. That said, the Android operating system is not the Windows operating system.

Task killers - CapFAQ

At least I left my arguments and solid evidence that the OP is incorrect on various things, yet you contributed nothing in your last post but bash my post deliberately with rhetoric. Hypocrite?

The link you provided does not apply to the captivate at all. ATK will not list any of the following process below:

• TwLauncher
• BadgeProvider (not sure what this does, but it always come back up immediately)
• Settings
• LogsProvider
• SNS
• Clock
• Swype (or whatever keyboard you prefer)

ATK doesn't attack the useful backrunning service either, as far as I Know, not on Captivate. In fact there is no way for ATK to kill those service since they are not even showed under ATK list. This could be due to ATK update or the article you provided is extremely outdated.

Suggest you do more research before you spread out wrong information again, thanks.

 

[s.m.knipe]

I take exception to the statements in this thread. 1st there is some confusion between theoretical facts and experimental facts in the OP's (quoted, apparently) statements, and 2nd nothing is ever exactly black-and-white.

What about the real-world experience of individuals (including myself) that have seen at least a 33% increase in battery life just by monitoring and ending non-essential processes (such as those listed above)? It is one thing to voice opinions and quote development theory (which is the root of this issue, the anti-ATK is merited in that it is the way Android SHOULD work based on how it was written), but real data and experience can't be refuted by theories. EVER.

Now does that mean that I am saying that ATK's etc are all fine and everyone should start using them? No. Never set it up auto-end anything unless you know exactly which processes the phone needs and can set them up on an "exclude" list, and just because a process is undesirable does not mean that it is not necessary. Case in point, a year and a half ago, many of us were having issues with the Market and push notifications in Gmail on CyanogenMod and could not figure out why- turns out that "Talk" (Google's chat app) begins a necessary service that Market and Gmail and all other Google apps needed to run correctly. Cyanogen had thought Talk to be less important (just by looking at the code- again with the Theory vs. Experimentation- and it wasn't his fault, by the code it shouldn't have been like that but it was), and so he relegated it to a lesser priority. I still do not use auto-end because I do not yet know all of the processes the Captivate needs to run.

As with everything real, the issue will never be as simple as "don't use/download _______" [repeat ad nauseum...] Does the ATK app(s) cause random shutdowns? Possibly, but they have tangible benefits in the lag and battery life departments that make balanced, educated use worthwhile.

Also, I would recommend Advanced Task Manager over ATK, I have used both and while ATM can be more dangerous because it does list EVERYTHING and you can end EVERYTHING whether you should or not, the ability to see everything provides greater control and can provide for more surgical process management... In my opinion at least, although I admit I haven't used ATK in over a year, maybe it has improved...

 

[OfTheDamned]

Simple policy here folks, if you can't be polite and keep the conversation civil then do not post. There is no reason at all to attack another member or be rude.

Since the subject of ATKs came up in this thread I invite you to read the link in my signature. If you want more reading matterial on the subject, I'd be happy to post it.

 

[bigal77]

hello, I have a rogers captivate, 1 shutdown in first 25 days, then 8 in past 3 days.

Cap alive works, but EATS my battery so not a solution for me. I read someone that enabled GSM only on his networks, and has gotten no shutdowns. I have done the same after my last shutdown today at noon.

It is now midnight, and I have had NO shutdowns. Not conclusive yet, but i will keep GSM only option and that may solve it. It is not a proper solution, as dual mode I assume means faster internet speeds and fewer dropped calls, but perhaps the problem lies in the automatic network? I have had a few dropped calls, and random shutdowns, never overnight, during the day on standby only.
I will follow up.
I am using launcher pro, but Ive had since day 1, and had 24 good days. I will get replacement on Monday, and will keep testing on my current phone. Please try this as well and report on here.

 

[bigal77]

and if it was launcherpro,,,wouldnt it happen on all phones using it, not just galaxy s? Also, how does that explain all the people getting shutdowns with stock and no launcher pro??

 

[sremick]

Since the subject of ATKs came up in this thread I invite you to read the link in my signature.

A good read, and one of the links referred and linked to in the CapFAQ page that was mentioned.

 

[xspeedy]

How does one run GSM only with a stock Captivate? I don't have the option where I would expect it.

I have the random shutdowns as well. I have tried CKA, but still does it in the low 80% battery space. Changed CKA to run until 80% to see if it helps. I'm out of my return window so I would have to request a warranty swap.

I'm patiently waiting on Froyo and/or a fix. If one doesnt come by the end of the year, I'm doing warranty swaps until I have a working unit.

 

[wkornf]

Im now on my 4th captivate between me and my girlfriend. Hers worked fine for a couple months and just now began shutting off on its own. My phone started shutting off almost immediately after getting it.

Just to make it clear, this is my 4th captivate to do the resets. Ive tried everything even running it with absolutely no applications installed. Nothing has changed on my girlfriends phone in weeks yet just started doing the resets a couple days ago. These phones are certainly broken.