S3 Battery Drain Thread - 1) False Cell Standby report 2) Standby Drain

[scrabbley]

Well seems as all the fingers are pointing towards K9 mail, I have got rid of that and have downloaded maildroid instead so will test that out tonight and see if the drain has improved at all.

If anyone can think of any other possible reasons from looking at the BBS screen shots, please let me know.

John

I went through this with my s3 a few weeks ago, even with Wifi and mobile data turned off I was losing 40% battery at night. Do you have chrome installed? There is a bug in that which drains battery, you can fix it by going to chrome settings/developer options and turning off tilt to scroll. I also used better battery stats and found out that a lot of my Wakelocks in standby were to do with mobile data, something to do with a system that Vodafone doesn't support so the phone is constantly requesting something from the network. Try turning off mobile data and see if that's the problem. Once I fixed chrome and turn off mobile data when the screen is off then I get 3% drain overnight!

 

[wolflet27]

u talking about fast dormancy? if its fast dormancy, u should see a secril_fd wakelock in bbs

 

[Easilyamused]

the high cell standby seems to be a misreporting problem with the software which falsely reports excessively high battery usage during standby. try to use betterbatterystats and see which apps are misbehaving and keeping your phone up

Seriously?

 

[John P]

the high cell standby seems to be a misreporting problem with the software which falsely reports excessively high battery usage during standby. try to use betterbatterystats and see which apps are misbehaving and keeping your phone up

Hi, thanks for the reply, have you read the whole of the OP, and the rest of the thread though? I am aware of the false report and I have posted lots of screenshots from BBS.

I went through this with my s3 a few weeks ago, even with Wifi and mobile data turned off I was losing 40% battery at night. Do you have chrome installed? There is a bug in that which drains battery, you can fix it by going to chrome settings/developer options and turning off tilt to scroll. I also used better battery stats and found out that a lot of my Wakelocks in standby were to do with mobile data, something to do with a system that Vodafone doesn't support so the phone is constantly requesting something from the network. Try turning off mobile data and see if that's the problem. Once I fixed chrome and turn off mobile data when the screen is off then I get 3% drain overnight!

Hi scrabbley, thanks for the information. I had read about chrome problems but I dont and have never have chrome installed. My screenshots of BBS seem to point towards K9 but im not sure if it could be something else? I already have tilt to scroll etc and all motion controls and haptic feedback turned off all the time.

Regarding the data, its interesting you say that its something vodafone didn't support, I am on three network so I wonder if that's an issue.

Although I don't want to turn mobile data off to overcome the problem because although turning it off would not be a problem overnight, I am only using the overnight test as an example because its easier to diagnose when the phone is in the same place unused, where I no it has a constant strong signal.
The battery drains every time its in standby mode, including throughout the day so I cant really turn data off it would defeat the object for me of having a smart phone like the GS3.

John

 

[John P]

u talking about fast dormancy? if its fast dormancy, u should see a secril_fd wakelock in bbs

Hi wolflet27, did you say that in response to me talking about k9 mail? If so there is a "secril_fd-interface" on the kernel wakelock in BBS.
Although its down the list a bit and doesn't appear like a main culprit, maybe you wouldn't mind having a look at the screenshots on posts #14 & #22 please and see what you think?

To be honest all these codes and numbers etc etc are getting on my nerves , I have no idea what they mean and when I google them, nobody else seems to no either.

Not sure what to try next to fix it though

 

[bigchiefw]

I think I've fixed my problem. When i was turning the screen on from standby I kept noticing the 3G/H icon in use - now I only have 2 sync accounts, gmail and the inbuilt exchange which is linked to my hotmail.

Browsing through the data usage graph, I realised that the exchange service was using approx 600k-1mb per day in data. Except for the last 3 days in which it has used 12mb, 15mb and 19mb. Constant drip of data coming in = battery drain.

Disabled sync for that one account, went out for an hour and the battery dropped only 1%. Now to try and work out WHY it's doing this. I've not changed any options, its set to 3 days worth of synced emails only, push email and nothing I can see would explain why it is burning through 20x the data it should each day.

 

[bigchiefw]

Well, I've deleted my hotmail account and set up a new one using the exchange again.

So far, it seems to be behaving again. Very odd!

 

[scrabbley]

u talking about fast dormancy? if its fast dormancy, u should see a secril_fd wakelock in bbs

Yep, thanks, couldn't remember what it was called. After I fixed Chrome the suspend_backoff wakelock all but disappeared and the secril_fd was at the top of the list so I looked it up and fast dormancy seems to be the problem.

 

[scrabbley]

The data thing is the fast dormancy mentioned above, it is probably what is causing the secril_fd wakelock. Your others, I'm not sure if it isn't caused by Chrome, perhaps you have another app that is monitoring motion sensors like Chrome was?

 

[wolflet27]

The data thing is the fast dormancy mentioned above, it is probably what is causing the secril_fd wakelock. Your others, I'm not sure if it isn't caused by Chrome, perhaps you have another app that is monitoring motion sensors like Chrome was?

Unfortunately, the only way to disable fast dormancy on the s3 is thru rooting

 

[John P]

Ok, further to the previous BBS results in post #14 & #22 seemingly pointing the finger towards K9 mail, I got rid of k9 yesterday and installed maildroid instead. Here are the results, with no screen time what so ever.

Still a terrible drain of 6.05% per hour.

Somebody pleeeease help lol

 

[Metfanant]

Ok, further to the previous BBS results in post #14 & #22 seemingly pointing the finger towards K9 mail, I got rid of k9 yesterday and installed maildroid instead. Here are the results, with no screen time what so ever.

Still a terrible drain of 6.05% per hour.

Somebody pleeeease help lol

Spoiler

ok, well obviously this is the problem here...you phone has been unplugged for 9hrs 13mins...and has been "awake" 8hrs 9mins of that...this is obviously bad...and shows that is likely not any sort of hardware issue with the phone...its software

Spoiler

now here is the juicy details...

multipdp is simply something pulling data...impossible to pin down exactly what process is causing it...but its def from something pulling/pushing data or syncing...

secril_fd-interface is an issue with fast dormancy...its designed to save battery life, but only if your carrier supports it...

so...who is your carrier?...did you buy they phone directly from them? or did you buy an unlocked version?

suspend_backoff ive seen associated with Google Chrome...do you have Chrome installed? if so there are a couple things to try...

 

[sean76]

@ OP....Yup same problem here all over again with my phone dropping upwards of 50-60% while just sitting on my night stand overnight. This happen on my 1st unit a few weeks ago, and then out of nowhere 4 nights ago started with my replacement unit. I went through that BS with Better Battery Stats and dealing with all this nonsense with wakelocks, and codes, etc. I've honestly had it! I've had countless countless phones over the last several years between Blackberry, iPhones, l and Android phones and honestly have never ever had to deal with something like this. And if I hear one more person saying its just a false reporting thing I'm going to loose it....its real, its not a reporting issue, its a real life bug and Samsung ain't doing jack about it. I'm not rooted, nor am I rooting, I just want my phone back to normal and not have to wake up to a completely dead phone. Does anyone have a fix for this??

If there is no fix in sight, then I guess the best fix is a hard reset and to stick this thing on eBay and get rid of it. Shame because other then this issue, the phone is awesome.

 

[John P]

ok, well obviously this is the problem here...you phone has been unplugged for 9hrs 13mins...and has been "awake" 8hrs 9mins of that...this is obviously bad...and shows that is likely not any sort of hardware issue with the phone...its software

I agree with you Metfanant that it is most likely the software I would just love to find out what, but I will be the first to admit I do not have the knowledge to find what the issue is that's why I'm asking for help.
I have previously bought phones and just used them, so I no my way around a smartphone but not enough about the in's and out's to be able to diagnose a problem like this so your help is much appreciated.

now here is the juicy details...

multipdp is simply something pulling data...impossible to pin down exactly what process is causing it...but its def from something pulling/pushing data or syncing...

secril_fd-interface is an issue with fast dormancy...its designed to save battery life, but only if your carrier supports it...

so...who is your carrier?...did you buy they phone directly from them? or did you buy an unlocked version?

suspend_backoff ive seen associated with Google Chrome...do you have Chrome installed? if so there are a couple things to try...

My carrier is 3. (Three UK). Yes I bought my phone direct from them, and it is branded with their logo on startup and locked to their network.

I was aware of a Chrome issue from reading other threads and from my conversation with another member in post #29, but I have not got Chrome installed.

I have looked up multipdp and secril_fd-interface/fast dormancy and found the descriptions you describe, but other than the information on BBS I'm not sure what else I can do to find more detailed information about the specific cause. Without that information I just cant see how I can fix it, I seem to be going around in circles. If what Samsung told me is correct in post #1, I could be waiting months for them to release a fix, then even longer for my carrier to pass it or do whatever they do to it

Have you any ideas on what else I could try?

John

 

[scrabbley]

You seem to have different things causing your phone to stay awake in standby. Tonight you could try turning off wifi and mobile data and sync, to see if there is a problem with apps using sensors on the phone rather than data. If the phone is still not going into deep sleep for very long then there is a problem with an apps settings. At least that might narrow down one of the problems. The wakelocks caused by data syncing might be trickier to fix, how about leaving the phone on Wifi overnight and turning off mobile data to see if it is an app syncing problem or a network related problem?

 

[sean76]

You seem to have different things causing your phone to stay awake in standby. Tonight you could try turning off wifi and mobile data and sync, to see if there is a problem with apps using sensors on the phone rather than data. If the phone is still not going into deep sleep for very long then there is a problem with an apps settings. At least that might narrow down one of the problems. The wakelocks caused by data syncing might be trickier to fix, how about leaving the phone on Wifi overnight and turning off mobile data to see if it is an app syncing problem or a network related problem?

Tried all of that...its as if someone is secretly taking my phone while I'm sleeping and using it for 3 hours straight until it just dies, and then putting it back on my nightstand...lmaoo!

 

[John P]

secril_fd-interface is an issue with fast dormancy...its designed to save battery life, but only if your carrier supports it...

Just reading through again and highlighting what you said about whether my carrier supports fast dormancy.
That sounds interesting, how would I know if Three UK support it or not? I could contact them but I'm sure they would not admit to being the cause of the problem, and I suspect most of their staff in store/on the phone or online helpdesk would have no idea what I'm talking about and just tell me anything.

Is there a definitive way to find out whether or not this is supported?

 

[sean76]

I agree with you Metfanant that it is most likely the software I would just love to find out what, but I will be the first to admit I do not have the knowledge to find what the issue is that's why I'm asking for help.
I have previously bought phones and just used them, so I no my way around a smartphone but not enough about the in's and out's to be able to diagnose a problem like this so your help is much appreciated.



My carrier is 3. (Three UK). Yes I bought my phone direct from them, and it is branded with their logo on startup and locked to their network.

I was aware of a Chrome issue from reading other threads and from my conversation with another member in post #29, but I have not got Chrome installed.

I have looked up multipdp and secril_fd-interface/fast dormancy and found the descriptions you describe, but other than the information on BBS I'm not sure what else I can do to find more detailed information about the specific cause. Without that information I just cant see how I can fix it, I seem to be going around in circles. If what Samsung told me is correct in post #1, I could be waiting months for them to release a fix, then even longer for my carrier to pass it or do whatever they do to it

Have you any ideas on what else I could try?

John

John was your phone behaving like this from the get go out of the box? And have you tried a hard reset?

I tried the hard reset on my previous S3 and it didn't solve anything whatsoever, curious to see if you've tried that route.

Also my new device that I got a few weeks ago was perfect out of the box, from the 1st night until about 4 nights ago not a single speed bump. Then out of nowhere I started experiencing the same problem as you all over again. My phone is about 3 weeks old and from the get go until now I haven't had one issue like this arise. I also haven't downloaded any new apps? Seems to be a great mystery as to what is causing this.

 

[John P]

John was your phone behaving like this from the get go out of the box? And have you tried a hard reset?

I tried the hard reset on my previous S3 and it didn't solve anything whatsoever, curious to see if you've tried that route.

Also my new device that I got a few weeks ago was perfect out of the box, from the 1st night until about 4 nights ago I started experiencing the same problem as you. My phone is about 3 weeks old and from the get go until now I haven't had one issue like this arise. I also haven't downloaded any new apps? Seems to be a great mystery as to what is causing this.

Hi Sean, yes my phone was like this immediately, I perhaps should have complained to my carrier before the 14day returns thing, but I opted to keep the phone as I really like every other feature and contacted Samsung for help instead.
I have reset it yes and done the test on the phone in a factory state so to speak, and it does still drain excessively.
To me, on my phone, it does seem to be the cell radio that is causing the actual drain, as the only way I can stop it draining is by setting it to flight mode.
I no people say that there is a miscalculation in the cell standby usage stats which is a fair point. But even with my phone restored to factory settings, no apps installed the battery still drains.

Out of interest does yours drain in flight mode?

 

[sean76]

Hi Sean, yes my phone was like this immediately, I perhaps should have complained to my carrier before the 14day returns thing, but I opted to keep the phone as I really like every other feature and contacted Samsung for help instead.
I have reset it yes and done the test on the phone in a factory state so to speak, and it does still drain excessively.
To me, on my phone, it does seem to be the cell radio that is causing the actual drain, as the only way I can stop it draining is by setting it to flight mode.
I no people say that there is a miscalculation in the cell standby usage stats which is a fair point. But even with my phone restored to factory settings, no apps installed the battery still drains.

Out of interest does yours drain in flight mode?

I haven't tried Airplane mode yet, but I will say that this seems to be a problem that arises only when my phone is off for long periods of time, like 3-5 hours without the screen being on. Initially I thought it may be a wifi issue, so I tried going the evening with wifi completely shut down, same issue. I also tried messing with the settings within wifi, same issue. I'm really thinking its a problem caused by one of these wakelocks, which honestly even though I've owned tons of phones, I'm not to familiar with that side of the tech involving the phone. I'm at the end of my rope because this is a very annoying issue to be dealing with.

 

[sean76]

me again? yeah the guy going out of his way to investigate the wake locks for the OP!?...

ya know what Mr. Longstanding member...return your phone...good riddance...good luck with me every trying to help you because obviously you know oh so much about the device...

you said your phone behaved perfectly out of the box and then a few weeks in it started...i find it very hard to believe in a few weeks you didn't install any apps that could be causing the problem...but you're the expert right?...

go find help somewhere else...im done with you people that refuse to logically look at a situation and just want to pass blame onto someone else...

i apologize to the OP but im done here

OK bud, take care! Either way, no I haven't downloaded any new apps the last few weeks Mr know it all. Your answer to helping the issue within another thread was...

If your phone is draining during the evening hours while your sleeping just plug it in to the charger and forget about it over night. See my man, that's not a solution to fixing the issue, that's masking the problem. You have a wonderful habit of attacking the people posting and not the issue at hand. But either way, no harm done...take care man.

 

[DrMorph]

Hi JP,

I joined this forum specifically to comment on this issue.

my S3 used to be great and the phone used to last near enough 2 days and I started having battery drain issues a couple of weeks ago. I assumed it was something to do with the fact that I had dropped it in the bath (phone still worked fine btw) !!

However, my battery usage went from two days to about 1 day. After reading various threads I did two things to my phone yesterday:

1) Set background sync to "Never" in K9 mail under Settings -> Network -> Background Sync.
2) I disabled some services on my phone as described on the following thread. forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-galaxy-s-iii/202816-safe-disbable.html]Safe to Disbable - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

From a full charge yesterday evening my phone is now at 77% charge after 12.5 hours with a few phone calls and checking texts etc, but not a huge amount of use. So 23% battery used seems to be a big improvement.

I'm going to keep monitoring the phone to see how it goes but for now I see a definite improvement.

 

[aldo82]

For some reason Three UK are miles behind on updates and we have only had 1 so far. I keep pestering them on the Three blog but so far to no avail. I'm sure battery life and stability has been improved in the newer firmware versions but on Three we just can't access it unless we flash generic firmware (tricky to do if you only own a mac)


One thing to note, do you put your phone in a pouch type case? I bought a Sena ultra slim leather pouch and noticed horrendous awake time and poor battery life. I narrowed it down to the case pinching the volume buttons which for some reason kept the phone awake despite the screen being off. Needless to say the case was returebed

 

[pastafarian]

Attack issues, not each other!

 

[Jeepmaster]

Could it be faulty battery? Just shooting in the dark.