Help Killing Tasks Dosen't work

[king_dinki]

Hi There,
I just bought a HTC Desire HD last week (locked on Orange UK so got it unlocked) and trying to get familiar with the OS (Android) and the phone. I have problems in managing tasks to preserve battery usage that seems to be a big problem at the moment as the battery just runs out in a day no matter how minimal is the usage during the day...

I have installed the "Free Advanced Task Manager" app and it shows me the list of tasks running in background at a given time. I have set the preference to - "Kill App via details (slower)" so each time I click on force stop to stop it. However, I notice that even after selecting force stop, the application may disappear from the list of running apps screen but when I go to the battery usage window (Setting->about->phone), it's still shown as occupying a %age of the battery. Even if I keep refreshing the battery usage page, it never disappears until I re-start the phone. There's no particular app as such and at random they may appear in battery usage list even when force stopped so how to get rid of them unless the task manager app has a defect...

My second question is about system startup tasks. Whenever I re-boot my phone, I see a number of tasks that automatically appear in the running list (specially like orange apps that I don't want). I read on the fourm that I will have to root the phone in order to get rid of those but in the meantime, is there a configuration where I can control which tasks to launch at startup and remove these ?

 

[El Presidente]

With Android 2.1 and up, you don't need a task killer, it does more harm than good. There are a number of links I can post (if you like) which can give evidence that task killers are not needed. More recent versions of Android are designed in such a way as to manage their own tasks/apps, without the need for 3rd Party interference. Just because you see an app held in RAM, doesn't mean it's using any battery. In most circumstances, only when an app starts using CPU does it eat away at the battery. Unless it's been badly written. Regarding the Orange apps you get on startup, Android will close them automatically if it doesn't need them so they're fine to leave as is.

Is there any app in particular causing you problems?

Whilst the Lithium Ion battery in the phone has no memory, it takes a while to settle, so if your phone is only a week or so old, don't worry about it, it will get better. It's not a brilliant battery by any stretch of the imagination, but with clever usage, it's easy to get at least 36 hours out of it. How frequently are your accounts set to sync? That can have an impact on battery performance.

Also, which version of Android are you running? 2.2 or 2.2.1.

Finally, yes to get rid of the Orange Apps, you'd need to root and as far as I'm aware, there is no way to get rid of these. You can try installing a stock HTC ROM on your handset, but that obviously voids any warranty.

 

[D-U-R-X]

With Android 2.1 and up, you don't need a task killer, it does more harm than good. There are a number of links I can post (if you like) which can give evidence that task killers are not needed. More recent versions of Android are designed in such a way as to manage their own tasks/apps, without the need for 3rd Party interference. Just because you see an app held in RAM, doesn't mean it's using any battery. In most circumstances, only when an app starts using CPU does it eat away at the battery. Unless it's been badly written. Regarding the Orange apps you get on startup, Android will close them automatically if it doesn't need them so they're fine to leave as is.

Everything I've seen on the internet has been people saying EXACTLY the same thing, which is why I chose not to bother with a Task Killer app... I have got something similar though AutoKiller Memory Optimizer (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.rs.autokiller&feature=search_result) - this works by setting minimum's for the Android OS... it's NOT a task killer - you need a rooted phone for this though.

Finally, yes to get rid of the Orange Apps, you'd need to root and as far as I'm aware, there is no way to get rid of these. You can try installing a stock HTC ROM on your handset, but that obviously voids any warranty.

I believe that, if you do root your phone, then you can get rid of Orange bloatware from your phone... it may be one of the options from Titanium Backup (or it might be on one of the other apps that I've seen/used recently - not sure at the moment and haven't got my phone to hand to check it.

Alternatively, as El Presidente said, if you install a custom ROM/stock HTC ROM on your phone, thenit will get rid of them, but it would void any warranty.

Hope that helps!

 

[king_dinki]

With Android 2.1 and up, you don't need a task killer, it does more harm than good. There are a number of links I can post (if you like) which can give evidence that task killers are not needed. More recent versions of Android are designed in such a way as to manage their own tasks/apps, without the need for 3rd Party interference. Just because you see an app held in RAM, doesn't mean it's using any battery. In most circumstances, only when an app starts using CPU does it eat away at the battery. Unless it's been badly written. Regarding the Orange apps you get on startup, Android will close them automatically if it doesn't need them so they're fine to leave as is.

Is there any app in particular causing you problems?

Whilst the Lithium Ion battery in the phone has no memory, it takes a while to settle, so if your phone is only a week or so old, don't worry about it, it will get better. It's not a brilliant battery by any stretch of the imagination, but with clever usage, it's easy to get at least 36 hours out of it. How frequently are your accounts set to sync? That can have an impact on battery performance.

Also, which version of Android are you running? 2.2 or 2.2.1.

Finally, yes to get rid of the Orange Apps, you'd need to root and as far as I'm aware, there is no way to get rid of these. You can try installing a stock HTC ROM on your handset, but that obviously voids any warranty.

thanks for your response:
I see 2.2.1 under about phone..

My battery usage when checked by selecting Settings>about>phone>battery>Battery use, it's always showing apps that's not shown as running in the task manager. And Display is always shown as using 60% or more of the battery consumption even when the phone is just woken up from the sleep mode. If I keep refreshing this battery info page then, it goes up to 75% or so. I have never seen the battery usage going below 50% so is it normal ?

Also, can you point me to a reliable link that I can use to step by step root my phone. As I bought it from ebay (sealed in orange pack) but no bill from orange so believe I wont becovered under warranty anway ?

Any risks in rooting the phone ( I read bricking) but if I take proper backup (hopefully listed in the link to root), then Im safe ?

Thanks for your responses...

 

[El Presidente]

You should be covered under warranty via HTC, regardless of no bill from Orange, but if you brick you could always play dumb

I've never rooted, but if you're using Android 2.2.1, before doing so, you'd need to create what's called a Goldcard, and then install an unbranded Android 2.2 on your handset.

If you click here, that will show you how to downgrade, with an external link showing you how to create a goldcard.

I trust the guys over at XDA, but cannot confirm the validity of the external link so someone else who's used it might want to confirm the procedure is correct before you go ahead and do anything.

And yes, display will most likely always be the biggest battery hog so that's nothing to worry about.

 

[D-U-R-X]

You should be covered under warranty via HTC, regardless of no bill from Orange, but if you brick you could always play dumb

I've never rooted, but if you're using Android 2.2.1, before doing so, you'd need to create what's called a Goldcard, and then install an unbranded Android 2.2 on your handset.

If you click here, that will show you how to downgrade, with an external link showing you how to create a goldcard.

I trust the guys over at XDA, but cannot confirm the validity of the external link so someone else who's used it might want to confirm the procedure is correct before you go ahead and do anything.

And yes, display will most likely always be the biggest battery hog so that's nothing to worry about.

That looks like the guide I followed to downgrade... the downgrading/rooting process was pretty straight forward... the part that caused me issues was creating a goldcard. If you need any info, just give me a shout!!

 

[king_dinki]

Thanks.

But following those steps on the provided link of XDA developers, I don't see the step that actually first takes a copy/backup of my existing ROM so in case there's an error during upgrade/downgrade, I can restore back to my Orange ROM or Im missing something here, sorry newbee android...

I suppose the Goldcard will allow me to switch to any other carriers ROM (T-mobiloe etc) but I dont want any branding so what's the most commonly used generic ROM and is it available for 2.2 version that's second latest from 2.3 that is gingerbed (which I read has issues) ?

Thanks

 

[El Presidente]

Thanks.

But following those steps on the provided link of XDA developers, I don't see the step that actually first takes a copy/backup of my existing ROM so in case there's an error during upgrade/downgrade, I can restore back to my Orange ROM or Im missing something here, sorry newbee android...

I suppose the Goldcard will allow me to switch to any other carriers ROM (T-mobiloe etc) but I dont want any branding so what's the most commonly used generic ROM and is it available for 2.2 version that's second latest from 2.3 that is gingerbed (which I read has issues) ?

Thanks

The majority of stuff, (contacts etc) are backed up to the google account you used to setup your handset. You can check this by accessing the contacts section of your gmail account via a PC, if the numbers there correspond to your phone book, you're sorted. Likewise, apps you have installed via the market should automatically come with you as the'yre tied to your google account. Again, you can check online here. All pics, vids etc. are on the SD Card and if you're gonna create a gold card, you'd need a new SD Card to do so anyway, so the one currently in your handset should be safe.

Once you've downgraded and rooted, you're free to install any ROM you wish. There are a list of some here, both branded and unbranded. If you're looking for unofficial ROMs, try out this link here. They contain additional tweak/apps that don't come as standard.

I've installed the official 2.3 and I've had a few minor issues with it, but nothing major that would stop me from telling people not to bother. Everyone else has a different opinion though.

 

[king_dinki]

The majority of stuff, (contacts etc) are backed up to the google account you used to setup your handset. You can check this by accessing the contacts section of your gmail account via a PC, if the numbers there correspond to your phone book, you're sorted. Likewise, apps you have installed via the market should automatically come with you as the'yre tied to your google account. Again, you can check online here. All pics, vids etc. are on the SD Card and if you're gonna create a gold card, you'd need a new SD Card to do so anyway, so the one currently in your handset should be safe.

Once you've downgraded and rooted, you're free to install any ROM you wish. There are a list of some here, both branded and unbranded. If you're looking for unofficial ROMs, try out this link here. They contain additional tweak/apps that don't come as standard.

I've installed the official 2.3 and I've had a few minor issues with it, but nothing major that would stop me from telling people not to bother. Everyone else has a different opinion though.

Thanks so that means that I won't end up risking my phone to a bricked state if (at all) something accidently goes wrong during the rooting process and all other stuff is recoverable with methods you state above..

I originally thought that backup as in I create a image (using GHOST) for my laptop's hard disk so if it crashes some day, I can bring it back to factory setting with the ghost image of the HDD like as is clone when bought the laptop. I was hoping something of that sort before starting the rooting process..

Will try rooting tonight and let you know the outcome...

 

[El Presidente]

Thanks so that means that I won't end up risking my phone to a bricked state if (at all) something accidently goes wrong during the rooting process and all other stuff is recoverable with methods you state above..

I originally thought that backup as in I create a image (using GHOST) for my laptop's hard disk so if it crashes some day, I can bring it back to factory setting with the ghost image of the HDD like as is clone when bought the laptop. I was hoping something of that sort before starting the rooting process..

Will try rooting tonight and let you know the outcome...

No, sorry if my post was misleading, that was just a case of backing up your data. If you brick your handset, as far as I'm aware, the only option to get it sorted is to play dumb and send it back to HTC to see if they can/will repair. There may or may not be a charge involved for that. It all depends on whether or not they believe you too.

It is quite hard to brick HTC handsets apparently. However, I would do A LOT more reading on the matter rather than just going ahead and doing it.

 

[Xyro]

To clarify, a 'bricked' phone means it shows absolutely no sign of life. Only HTC can recover those. That's only possible to do by flashing radios or bootloaders - not something you should be (or need to be) flashing right now.

If the phone turns on but won't get past the booting screen however, that's pretty easy to fix.

It is possible to create images of the phone's internal memory as you describe, but that isn't available without going a bit further than just rooting the phone. I recommend you keep an official firmware installation file (RUU) handy, as that can restore your phone to stock. We have links to a lot of them in this thread.

EDIT: There was a bug recently when it came to partitioning sdcards, something that can be done via the phone, that also bricked the phone. None of this will mean much to you at this point, but you want to make sure that you're running the most recent recovery image if you ever decide to partition the sdcard.

 

[El Presidente]

To clarify, a 'bricked' phone means it shows absolutely no sign of life. Only HTC can recover those. That's only possible to do by flashing radios or bootloaders - not something you should be (or need to be) flashing right now.

If the phone turns on but won't get past the booting screen however, that's pretty easy to fix.

So from what you've said there, for all intents and purposes, it's virtually impossible to brick the handset by downgrading, rooting and installing an alternative ROM? Sorry if that's an obvious question, but as I'm 75-25 against doing it to my phone, I've never really read up on it to any great depth. That makes installing a non stock ROM seem all the more attractive now....

EDIT: There was a bug recently when it came to partitioning sdcards, something that can be done via the phone, that also bricked the phone. None of this will mean much to you at this point, but you want to make sure that you're running the most recent recovery image if you ever decide to partition the sdcard.

None of the methods above require you to partition the SD Card?

 

[Xyro]

So from what you've said there, for all intents and purposes, it's virtually impossible to brick the handset by downgrading, rooting and installing an alternative ROM? Sorry if that's an obvious question, but as I'm 75-25 against doing it to my phone, I've never really read up on it to any great depth. That makes installing a non stock ROM seem all the more attractive now....

Downgrading is just installing an official ROM. That's not to say there's no risk in it, but there's no more risk than there was when you did the OTA update.

Once you get to rooting, it depends what you try to do. If you mess up a rom install, the worst that happens is the phone gets stuck whilst booting and that can be fixed by reflashing/restoring a backup. It's radios you have to be careful with. Now, I've flashed them lots of times on this and my previous phone, but if you lose power during the process you will likely brick the phone. Most of the time however you can stick with the radio you have now and it will be fine.

None of the methods above require you to partition the SD Card?

I know, I almost didn't mention it, but I felt I shouldn't leave it out since I listed ways to brick the device. (I might be a bit paranoid ever since I didn't think to tell a close friend and he bricked his DHD that way).

 

[El Presidente]

Downgrading is just installing an official ROM. That's not to say there's no risk in it, but there's no more risk than there was when you did the OTA update.

Good to know

Once you get to rooting, it depends what you try to do. If you mess up a rom install, the worst that happens is the phone gets stuck whilst booting and that can be fixed by reflashing/restoring a backup. It's radios you have to be careful with. Now, I've flashed them lots of times on this and my previous phone, but if you lose power during the process you will likely brick the phone. Most of the time however you can stick with the radio you have now and it will be fine.

I've no intention to mess about with Radios etc and up until reading your post, I'd no intention of messing about with alternative ROMS either. I've mentioned before, I flashed JJ9 on to my GF's handset, but the procedure for that seems less complicated than the methods I've touched on for the DHD. Also, the DHD performs excellently out of the box, and an unmodded OSF is quite frankly rubbish so I've not seen the point. I suppose the main reason is also the DHD is a much more expensive brick.

It's certainly something I'm going to pay a bit more attention to now, SetCPU is an app that's interested me for a while.....

I know, I almost didn't mention it, but I felt I shouldn't leave it out since I listed ways to brick the device. (I might be a bit paranoid ever since I didn't think to tell a close friend and he bricked his DHD that way).

Ouch

And OP, apologies for slightly hijacking your thread.

 

[king_dinki]

OK Im having problems following the instructions. The order of events seems to be the problem.

Following steps on [GUIDE] How to downgrade 1.7x/1.8x/2.x to 1.32.405.6 - xda-developers I have downloaded the file PD98IMG.zip from the mirror location URL provided.

I can open it and extract all files on my computer. so far so good.

Now I switch to the link How To Make Gold Card for HTC Desire HD to create a gold card. I again successfully create the card by editing the Hex value of the SD card with that returned me on an email from the site that took my mmc2 CID value as input. Now, when I try to copy the ZIP file (as per instructions) on the root folder of the SD card, windows complaints that the disk is not formated, do you want to format it now ? I suppose this is for obvious reasons as I edited the Hex value of the SD card as per instructions so windows can't access it. How should I copy the ZIP file on it then.

Second issue, the instructions talk about executing the adb.exe from the downgrade folder.. where is the downgrade folder? If I assume that the downgrade folder is the folder where the downloaded ZIP file has been extracted then I don'[t see that folder structure in it as expected in the instructions. For e.g. /data/local/tmp/psneuter

The files I see in the downloaded PD98IMG.zip file are below and no folder structure whatsoever:

android-info.txt
boot.img
hboot_7230_0.85.0007_101011.nb0
radio.img
rcdata.img
recovery.img
splash1.nb0
splash2.nb0
system.img
tp_ACE_SYN3KT0108.img
tp_ACE_SYN3KW020B.img
tp_atmel224_20aa.img
tp_atmelc12_20aa.img
userdata.img

Any ideas please ?

 

[Xyro]

The first thing I notice is that you shouldn't be extracting PD98IMG.zip - you just put it on your sdcard as is.

I know when I made my goldcard (a long time ago), mine was showing up as needing to be formatted too. I think all you can do is try again and make sure you're doing everything perfectly.

As for the downgrade folder, that's attached at the bottom of the XDA post. You'll need to register an account there to download it.

 

[Xyro]

Also worth noting is that you don't open adb.exe as you would a normal file.

Lets say you take your downgrade folder and put it on your desktop (C:\Users\YOURNAME\Desktop\Downgrade), you'll need to open up command prompt and enter this:

cd /Users/YOURNAME/Desktop/Downgrade

Then enter the commands as given in the thread.

 

[king_dinki]

The first thing I notice is that you shouldn't be extracting PD98IMG.zip - you just put it on your sdcard as is.

I know when I made my goldcard (a long time ago), mine was showing up as needing to be formatted too. I think all you can do is try again and make sure you're doing everything perfectly.

As for the downgrade folder, that's attached at the bottom of the XDA post. You'll need to register an account there to download it.

Thanks, I have now reached to the step when I can boot the phone and get the following messages when started with the low Vol key pressed.
SD Checking...
Loading... [PD98DIAG.zip]
No image!
Loading... [pd98DIAG.NBH]
no image or wrong image!
PD98IMG.zip

It then ends up saying
CID Incorrect!
Update Fail!
Press <Power> to reboot.

I can access the card well on PC and it's a 2GB card.. any ideas ? the link [GUIDE] How to downgrade 1.7x/1.8x/2.x to 1.32.405.6 - xda-developers to create the gold card states under troubleshooting that:

- "CID mismatch/CID incorrect"? Your device is branded. Just make a Goldcard, put the PD98IMG.zip to the card again and go to the bootloader.

But how many times? I already tried 3 times but end up with the same error ?

 

[D-U-R-X]

Thanks, I have now reached to the step when I can boot the phone and get the following messages when started with the low Vol key pressed.
SD Checking...
Loading... [PD98DIAG.zip]
No image!
Loading... [pd98DIAG.NBH]
no image or wrong image!
PD98IMG.zip

It then ends up saying
CID Incorrect!
Update Fail!
Press <Power> to reboot.

I can access the card well on PC and it's a 2GB card.. any ideas ? the link [GUIDE] How to downgrade 1.7x/1.8x/2.x to 1.32.405.6 - xda-developers to create the gold card states under troubleshooting that:

- "CID mismatch/CID incorrect"? Your device is branded. Just make a Goldcard, put the PD98IMG.zip to the card again and go to the bootloader.

But how many times? I already tried 3 times but end up with the same error ?

king_dinki - I had the same problems when creating a goldcard.

It's worth noting that not all SD cards work as goldcards... I bought a 2gb SD card specially to make a goldcard, but it didn't work. I ended up using the 8gb one that came with the phone as a goldcard - I copied everything off the SD card in to a folder on my desktop, created and used the goldcard to do the downgrade and then, once complete, formatted the SD card again and copied everything back on to it, as if it had never been a goldcard!

I followed the steps on a couple of websites EXACTLY as they were written/in the videos, but it would not work... I then did the following:

Download "goldcardhelper" (https://market.android.com/details?...enther.android.goldcard&feature=search_result) from the market - this will give you the MMC2 number (already in reverse) so that you can put it in the website to get the goldcard image emailed to you.

Download "goldcard tool" ([PC Application] GoldCardTool - Android @ MoDaCo) for your PC - this will create a goldcard with an SD card, while it is in your phone. I think the tool is actually for the Desire, not the Desire HD... where it says to put the MMC1 number, ignore that and just put the MMC2 number... it worked fine for me!!

Once you have the goldcard sorted, the downgrade and then rooting, is pretty straight forward.

Let me know if this helps/solves your issues!


Edit - if you want to have a look at the issues I was having, see my thread about this issue (http://androidforums.com/desire-hd-...0-dhd-downgrading-before-rooting-problem.html)

 

[king_dinki]

I think the tool is actually for the Desire, not the Desire HD...

But I have a desire HD so can't use this tool then ?

 

[D-U-R-X]

But I have a desire HD so can't use this tool then ?

As I said (the next part of that sentence), it does not matter... you simply put the MMC2 number in where it asks for MMC1! It worked fine for me and I have the DHD, not the Desire!

 

[king_dinki]

As I said (the next part of that sentence), it does not matter... you simply put the MMC2 number in where it asks for MMC1! It worked fine for me and I have the DHD, not the Desire!

Oops, missed that .. Will try it out today from home and will confirm..

Download "goldcardhelper" (https://market.android.com/details?id=name.starnberger.guenther.android.goldc ard&feature=search_result) from the market - this will give you the MMC2 number (already in reverse) so that you can put it in the website to get the goldcard image emailed to you.!

As I have already done the above and it didn't work, I will try the second option that you state by downloading the goldcard PC tool to createa a gold card.

 

[D-U-R-X]

Oops, missed that .. Will try it out today from home and will confirm..

Not to worry... let me know how you get on!!

As I have already done the above and it didn't work, I will try the second option that you state by downloading the goldcard PC tool to createa a gold card.

I had used HEX Edittor to make the goldcard, but it just didn't work - perhaps using the goldcard tool and the goldcard helper will sort your problem (did for me)!!



Edit - Just re-read what you have said... the goldcard helper gives you the reverse MMC2 number you need to then put in the goldcard tool for your PC... When I used the HEX method of creating the goldcard, it didn't work - when I put the number in to the goldcard tool, it did!

 

[king_dinki]

Not to worry... let me know how you get on!!




I had used HEX Edittor to make the goldcard, but it just didn't work - perhaps using the goldcard tool and the goldcard helper will sort your problem (did for me)!!



Edit - Just re-read what you have said... the goldcard helper gives you the reverse MMC2 number you need to then put in the goldcard tool for your PC... When I used the HEX method of creating the goldcard, it didn't work - when I put the number in to the goldcard tool, it did!

 

[Xyro]

I didn't realise that program works with MMC2 - handy.