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

[John P]

Attack issues, not each other!

Thanks pastafarian, I certainly do agree with this statement.

Although, as the relevant members posts have now been completely erased, it is now not clear to new readers of this thread who the labeled, 'attacks' were made by.

Therefore I would just like to clarify that they were not made by me and I hope it does not deter anybody from helping me with my issue.


FAO. Moderators
If I may, without intending to disdain your current rules, as rules are rules. I have an idea/suggestion to make as a possible improvement for you to consider:
Rather than just erasing posts entirely, perhaps just delete the offending text and replace by the words - 'Text removed, Inappropriate content' or 'Text removed, content against forum rules' or suchlike.
Then, that way, even if the entire text (not the actual post) is removed, people currently following the thread or new readers can fill in the blanks of what happened, and by whom, without actually being able to read what was said.

 

[wolflet27]

from the looks from the bbs, multi_pdp definitely point to network usage by some app. without root, you are not able to access the network pane of bbs. i suggest u trying turning off auto sync overnight and see whether the drain persists. if it doesn't, we start tackling the syncing apps one by one. but i have a nagging feeling its the email app.

 

[John P]

from the looks from the bbs, multi_pdp definitely point to network usage by some app. without root, you are not able to access the network pane of bbs. i suggest u trying turning off auto sync overnight and see whether the drain persists. if it doesn't, we start tackling the syncing apps one by one. but i have a nagging feeling its the email app.

Thanks wolflet27, I will do the test as you say with auto sync turned off and see what happens.

What does auto sync actually sync? Will it stop emails coming through or is it just to stop apps from syncing that run in the background?

 

[John P]

Don't worry, just answered my own question... my emails are still coming through with auto sync off

John

 

[SubTerran]

So i exchanged my phone yesterday, charged it to 100%, still all factory settings, left over night tonight, went from 70% to 15% in 8 hours

I wonder if I can just wipe samsumg software package clean on it and install the android all by itself, as I am about to give up on galaxy S3. love the phone but cannot stand this idle evening battery drain.

 

[bigchiefw]

John, instead of disabling auto sync, go into accounts and sync and just disable the one email account from syncing at all. If it still drains, disable a different one. If you saw my post on the first page this was the problem I had. I'm now getting 48 hours+ in standby after resetting up my hotmail account.

Try and narrow it down to one thing first, then you can try and fix it.

 

[SubTerran]

i think i found my culprit... the LTE network! I always suspected Telus had shitty 4G, Joh,
go into your settings --> more settings --> mobile networks --> Network Mode - and switch to GSM/HSPA (Auto Mode).
Then see how your phone performs from then on. I switched it over last night just to see if I'd see a difference, 2% battery loss in 8 hours of inactivity. I am hoping it lasts, I think this is what must have been causing it. Looking at the battery graph, the drain was usually highest when it was green (ie connected to 4G), meaning spending a lot more battery power maintaining it than needed. 2G/3G variant offers you the same great phone, but with 80% more battery lol.

 

[anna_p]

Thanks for this thread John. I'm having the same issue. I did a factory reset and didnt install any apps to see if that made a difference and it did not. Its something that comes with the phone. Its driving me nuts as my battery life honestly sucks.

Hope someone can find a solution

 

[SubTerran]

Thanks for this thread John. I'm having the same issue. I did a factory reset and didnt install any apps to see if that made a difference and it did not. Its something that comes with the phone. Its driving me nuts as my battery life honestly sucks.

Hope someone can find a solution

have you tried what I just mentioned above your post? not letting the phone use LTE network.

 

[scrabbley]

I just started getting rubbish battery in standby again on Sat night. Last night the phone was at 100%, looked at it this morning and it was at 43%. The only thing I've done to the phone since Friday is install CarHome Ultra, so that must be the problem. Looking at BBS though, I have a number of different wakelocks that I had stopped getting before installing the app; multipdp, battery-monitor, l2_hsic, secril_fd were all much longer than they had been before. My phone also hadn't been in a deep sleep at all. So it looks like that one app is affecting all of these things, apparently it is constantly monitoring the phone's sensors even in the background. So for other people with the battery problem, it could be an app that uses the phone's sensors that isn't quitting properly. Or a setting on the phone which is constantly monitoring sensors.

For the people who have done factory resets and have installed no other apps, then I think it must be a network related problem or you have a dodgy battery. My boyfriend has an S3 and has left the phone settings pretty much on default and he gets excellent standby battery drain, even with twitter/facebook/emails syncing all day.

 

[Angelwings68]

I am having the same issues however it is not the standby it is showing on mine Android system is draining the power on mine..So frustrating!!! This is when it is not being used can be in excess of 50% of the power drain and sometimes more...Help!!

 

[wolflet27]

I just started getting rubbish battery in standby again on Sat night. Last night the phone was at 100%, looked at it this morning and it was at 43%. The only thing I've done to the phone since Friday is install CarHome Ultra, so that must be the problem. Looking at BBS though, I have a number of different wakelocks that I had stopped getting before installing the app; multipdp, battery-monitor, l2_hsic, secril_fd were all much longer than they had been before. My phone also hadn't been in a deep sleep at all. So it looks like that one app is affecting all of these things, apparently it is constantly monitoring the phone's sensors even in the background. So for other people with the battery problem, it could be an app that uses the phone's sensors that isn't quitting properly. Or a setting on the phone which is constantly monitoring sensors.

For the people who have done factory resets and have installed no other apps, then I think it must be a network related problem or you have a dodgy battery. My boyfriend has an S3 and has left the phone settings pretty much on default and he gets excellent standby battery drain, even with twitter/facebook/emails syncing all day.

multipdp is network use, secril_fd is fast dormancy, battery monitor could be bbs itself (known to have higher wakelocks if you're using the widget), l2_hsic some says is caused by the wifi (i personally tried the method recommended but didn't work for me, you can give it a try by going into wifi settings -> advanced (at the bottom) -> set keep wifi on during sleep to never

unfortunately, u cannot know what is using the network in multipdp without root. neither can you disable fast dormancy without root

 

[scrabbley]

multipdp is network use, secril_fd is fast dormancy, battery monitor could be bbs itself (known to have higher wakelocks if you're using the widget), l2_hsic some says is caused by the wifi

I know, but these were all lower when I didn't have CarHome Ultra installed. Now I have uninstalled it and my battery is much better and the list of wakelocks has gone back to how it was before. So I'm thinking either this one app can affect all of those wakelocks, or BBS is reporting them wrongly.

I'm going to try it again systematically when I have time and record the BBS output, both with the app installed/not installed and with data on/off.

The only two times I have had terrible battery on this phone have been when apps (Chrome and CarHome Ultra) have been accessing the phone's sensors in the background. So I thought maybe this could be a cause for other people, although not everybody since some haven't installed any apps and others have done factory resets etc.

 

[anna_p]

have you tried what I just mentioned above your post? not letting the phone use LTE network.

Yes, thats the first thing I did. I also leave it in powersaving mode at all times

 

[John P]

Hi all, thanks for all of your help so far. I haven't posted for a while but I have been checking up on the thread to try out suggestions. I have tried numerous things and still cannot find the issue. Each time I try something I have to test it overnight, as a fair and comprehensive test, hence the reason this is going on for so long.

In response to some of your posts I will answer them all here, not intentionally short, but just a quick answer to each, just to show that I am reading all posts and trying out your suggestions/advice.

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

Thanks for this information DrMorph.
1) Trouble is if I set background sync to Never in K9 mail, I do not get any of my emails so this is no good for me, although I did try it and my battery still drained
2) Thanks for this link, I have gone through the list and disabled many of the ones I can but my battery still drains

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

A good suggestion as I do have my phone in a case, but I have taken it out to test and battery still drains

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

Yes I suppose this is a possibility, as I haven't yet tried a new battery but I don't particularly want to buy one. I may yet go back to the shop to ask them.

from the looks from the bbs, multi_pdp definitely point to network usage by some app. without root, you are not able to access the network pane of bbs. i suggest u trying turning off auto sync overnight and see whether the drain persists. if it doesn't, we start tackling the syncing apps one by one. but i have a nagging feeling its the email app.

I had the same hunch as you regarding the email app wolflet, but I have literally turned everything off through sync and in apps then force stopped apps, I have deleted apps, done a restore etc etc and it still drains

So i exchanged my phone yesterday, charged it to 100%, still all factory settings, left over night tonight, went from 70% to 15% in 8 hours

I wonder if I can just wipe samsumg software package clean on it and install the android all by itself, as I am about to give up on galaxy S3. love the phone but cannot stand this idle evening battery drain.

Thanks for this information SubTerran, my next port of call was actually to seek a replacement, but from your experience and others I have read it doesn't seem to help the matter. I have also reset to factory settings with no joy, Battery still drains

John, instead of disabling auto sync, go into accounts and sync and just disable the one email account from syncing at all. If it still drains, disable a different one. If you saw my post on the first page this was the problem I had. I'm now getting 48 hours+ in standby after resetting up my hotmail account.

Try and narrow it down to one thing first, then you can try and fix it.

Thanks bigchief, When I go into accounts and sync I only have one account in the that is syncing, which is my gmail account. The other two emails I have are AOL imap accounts are are just installed via K9 mail. Nevertheless I have tried disabling auto-sync, and have completely removed email accounts from the phone with no luck. Battery still drains

i think i found my culprit... the LTE network! I always suspected Telus had shitty 4G, Joh,
go into your settings --> more settings --> mobile networks --> Network Mode - and switch to GSM/HSPA (Auto Mode).
Then see how your phone performs from then on. I switched it over last night just to see if I'd see a difference, 2% battery loss in 8 hours of inactivity. I am hoping it lasts, I think this is what must have been causing it. Looking at the battery graph, the drain was usually highest when it was green (ie connected to 4G), meaning spending a lot more battery power maintaining it than needed. 2G/3G variant offers you the same great phone, but with 80% more battery lol.

SubTerran, thanks for this information, I was all excited when I read this thinking 'This is it!', but unfortunately here in the UK we do not have 4G/LTE as yet so when I go into this part of the menu I do not have the same options as you. I have tried both of the two options I have in there (cant remember what they are off the top of my head) but unfortunately, battery still drains

Thanks for this thread John. I'm having the same issue. I did a factory reset and didnt install any apps to see if that made a difference and it did not. Its something that comes with the phone. Its driving me nuts as my battery life honestly sucks.

Hope someone can find a solution

Thanks anna_p, in a strange way, its nice to know that there are others experiencing the same problems as me. Like you, I have also tries a factory to no avail. Battery still drains

For the people who have done factory resets and have installed no other apps, then I think it must be a network related problem or you have a dodgy battery. My boyfriend has an S3 and has left the phone settings pretty much on default and he gets excellent standby battery drain, even with twitter/facebook/emails syncing all day.

Thanks scrabbley, I think my only option now is to go back to the shop for help/replacement battery/replacement phone. I have been trying so many different things out, I have pages of information I have recorded/written down, I have folders full of screen shots and betterbatterstats, statistics.

I just do not no what else I can try now, has anybody anymore suggestions before I go back to the shop and start the ball rolling for a replacement battery/GS3?

Thanks again, John

 

[SubTerran]

hey everyone,
just an update, ever since i turned off my LTE, its been a week now, phone now lasts on avg 2.5-3 days until needing a recharge, which to me is amazing. Since I dont browse all that much on my phone without wifi, loss of 4G had zero impact on how I use my phone.
I am having JuiceDefender Plus running in the background, and Advanced Task Killer set to kill everything but messaging, itself & juice defender every half hr.

hopefully you can all figure out your solutions, Joh, sorry to hear that 4G wasnt your culprit, wonder if its then 3G network as well? But in that case, I dont see any way out of that

 

[Ches111]

Do you have a Live Wallpaper running? Such as Windy Weather or the Animated Weather application? Both Windy Weather and Animated Weather do near constant data dips even though they are told not to. Just a thought. I turned on the CPU monitor on my S3 and found these to be using cycles. They may have been the culprit for me (keeping for deep sleep).

 

[Ches111]

Also do you see mediaserver in your list of services using much? If so you may follow this thread for the eris:

http://androidforums.com/eris-support-troubleshooting/217747-mediaserver-using-battery.html

Just reaching now but trying to help

 

[John P]

Do you have a Live Wallpaper running? Such as Windy Weather or the Animated Weather application? Both Windy Weather and Animated Weather do near constant data dips even though they are told not to. Just a thought. I turned on the CPU monitor on my S3 and found these to be using cycles. They may have been the culprit for me (keeping for deep sleep).

Thanks for your replies Ches111, I don't have a live wallpaper running no, I changed the stock wallpaper for just a picture of a little green android robot thing lol, its not live though. I also changed the lock screen background for just a basic photo in the hope it may help.

Also do you see mediaserver in your list of services using much? If so you may follow this thread for the eris:

http://androidforums.com/eris-support-troubleshooting/217747-mediaserver-using-battery.html

Just reaching now but trying to help

I appreciate that, I don't have media server no, as far as I can see anyway, I sometimes have one called 'Media', but that appears to have gone now. I have however already deleted all my photos, music etc.

In the battery section, I have:
Cell standby, Device Idle. Android System and Android OS. (No screen usage as I'm not using it at all during testing)

My exhaustive list of running apps include:
Settings, Software update, Factory mode, MapServiceSamsung, BroadcomMEMsService, Google Services, Maps.


I have obviously been reading other threads in the hope of picking up a vital bit of information and I downloaded an app that somebody mentioned called 'GSam Battery Monitor'.
After a test with this, it gives me the following information;

Phone Radio - 94.9%
Phone 0.2%
Android System - 1.4%
Screen - 2.9%
Kernel - 0.3%
System (*wakelock*) - 0.3%

All that, and the BBS stats, and all the tests I have done, with combinations of various/all apps removed, sync on/off, no emails, case off, upstairs, downstairs, at work, in factory state etc etc etc etc etc (probably hundreds by now lol) seems normal to me, apart from the massive standout of phone radio.

Then when I click on Phone radio within the 'GSam Battery Monitor' app to see more information it says I had (on a scale of 1-5, 5 being high) a 5) signal for 99% of the time, and the other 1% was a 4. So I clearly have a good signal, but the cell radio seems to be the problem?

This goes back a full circle, to the cell radio issue and false reporting, but other than the false reporting is there actually a cell radio issue on some phones?
I guess only Samsung can answer that, and maybe that is the 'fix' they said they were aware of and working on (copy of which can be seen in my original post).


I think I will have to either:
A) Contact the store I purchased from and try a new battery/GS3.
B) Seek a refund.
C) Hold out, and wait indefinitely for a fix from Samsung, Three, a forum member or whoever/wherever the problem lay (If there will ever be a fix, who knows)

I'm still more than happy to try any suggestions people have, but I must admit I am, slowly losing hope :hmmmm:.

Thanks, John

 

[John P]

*Possible Breakthrough*

Just as I was getting disheartened, I went through all my running applications yesterday trying to find out exactly what they were doing, and I think I have made a breakthrough.
I won't jinx it just yet, by saying its fixed, as it may have been just a lucky night lastnight, but I will continue to test for the next few nights and update with my results.


Anyway last nights battery drain results; With GPS on, Mobile Data on, Power saving on, Sync on, Bluetooth off, Wi-Fi off.

I charged it up, not fully, but took it off charge at 22:55. = 89%
Left it all night without touching it, until 07:55 this morning = 81%

So that's only an 8% drop in 9 hours of standby - 0.89% per hour = Excellent


So what I did:
Firstly, it is the only time I have ran the test without the battery fully charged. This time it was on 89% to begin with.
Secondly, I went systematically through my list of running applications, and force stopped (Couldn't delete as they were pre-installed on the phone) the following Samsung applications;

1) Samsung Apps - This is the Samsung app store, I also removed my account from the phone, so it doesn't exist in 'Accounts & sync'.
2) Samsung Backup - Not too sure, but presumably a backup method that I don't use as stopping it has had no effect on the phone.
3) Samsung cloud data relay - Not too sure, but presumably a cloud storage method that I don't use as stopping it has had no effect on the phone.
4) Samsung Push service - This is to notify you of updates for Samsung Apps installed on your device via the Samsung App Store

That's it, so basically most of the Samsung pre-installed stuff.
S-voice is still working.


The apps I still have constantly running, in the running tab of applications are;

Settings
Software Update
MAPServiceSamsung
BroadcomMEMsService
Google Services

There are a few apps that seem to turn on and off either randomly or when I use certain apps, but appear not to be draining the battery;

Factory Test
Factory Mode
Secphone
MapServiceSamsung
Video Player
Maps
DSMLawmo


As I say, this is not a definite fix, but it does look promising as this is the first time since I bought the phone that my battery hasn't excessively drained when Ive tested it overnight.
I will of course keep testing over the next few nights and keep the thread updated. Fingers crossed it continues to behave.

Thanks to everybody for all your help so far.

John

 

[Jeepmaster]

Oh yeah I find setting background process limit to 4 under Developer options also help battery life.

 

[John P]

Oh yeah I find setting background process limit to 4 under Developer options also help battery life.

How many does the background processes 'Standard limit' allow?

 

[John P]

Ok, a little update a few weeks on from finding the problem.
My battery has been absolutely brilliant, both whilst in use and in standby mode.

It was a combination of the Samsung apps draining a lot of battery, see post #70, and an app called 'APP Lock' which would cause in the region of 101435 wakelocks in a 9 hour sleep period.

My battery drain in standby mode has gone from a terrible drop of;
6-8% per hour (so 54-72% over a nine hour standby period)
To 0.5-0.8% per hour (4.5-7.2% over the same nine hour standby period).

That is a huge difference! Considering all the tests were done in the same place on my bedside cabinet with a strong signal.


I have included some screenshots of my latest full battery cycle below, it shows my very light weekend usage. These were my settings >
I always kept data turned on, I didnt use wi-fi at all, Screen brightness was on auto, sync was always enabled, gps always enabled, power saving always enabled, notifications enabled.
I only have a few widgets running, shazam, assistive light, sound toggle, handcent sms.

Thanks to everybody who helped me, I'm now very happy indeed with my GS3 .
Hopefully others with battery problems can read through this thread and utilise the same advice and methods I have been given and used, to hopefully help diagnose their battery issues too.

John

 

[Jeepmaster]

Wow John that is great. You don't use you phone much huh!

 

[John P]

Wow John that is great. You don't use you phone much huh!

Thanks Jeepmaster, I'm well chuffed its fixed

Your right, it gets a well deserved rest at weekends with only very light usage.

It gets a bit of a screen usage beasting during the week though, so it earns its weekend break ha