Improving/troubleshooting battery life

[tisti]

Since I recently found out a few culprits that were waking up my phone from sleep and they were not so obvious as to what they were here's a quick list of apps I have on the phone and it sleeps properly.

48 hours after the last charge and I am at 65%! Overnight it drops by only 1-2%!

The application that was waking my phone was TasKiller! I have since removed it.

DO NOT USE THE POUCH THAT CAME WITH THE PHONE! IT PRESSES ON THE CAMERA BUTTON AND KEEPS THE PHONE FROM SLEEPING!



//////////// How to see if your phone is getting interupted from sleep ///////////////

1. 1. Install spare parts
2. 2. Turn the phone off
3. 3. Turn the phone on
4. 4. Wait for the phone to fully boot (do not kill any applications)
5. 5. Lock the phone and wait 20 minutes
6. 1. 5.0 After you have waited 20 minutes unlock the phone
   2. 5.1 Go into spare parts
   3. 5.2 Click on "Battery history"
   4. 5.3 Click on "Running" and write down the time it spent without sleeping
   5. 5.4 Go to home screen and lock phone
   6. 5.5 Wait 20 minutes
   7. 5.6 Unlock and go back into spare parts
   8. 5.7 battery history
   9. 5.8 Click on Running and compare the current value with the previous! IT SHOULD NOT BE MUCH GREATER! For example: if it was 10 minutes before it should not be more than ~13 minutes after. If it is, you have something that is waking your phone from sleep!
      

My config:

Using Galaxo from HDBlog.it forums (without the hero theme). DID A FACTORY RESET!

Everything is on stock settings expect for these:

///////////////////////////Settings menu///////////////////////////////

Settings -> Wireless controls -> Mobile networks
Use only 2G networks: ON
Data roaming : ON

Settings -> Sound & Display
Auto backlight: ON

Settings -> Applications settings
Unknown sources: ON

Settings -> Applications settings -> Developments
USB Debuging: ON
Allow mock locations: ON



///////////////////////////Galaxo Configuration///////////////////////////


Compcache: Off
Cpu sampling: Eco
SSH server: off
Renice: ON
Provisionned: ON



/////////////////////////// ADB ///////////////////////////

Thanks to kam187 and his thread on tweaks

Copy paste from the thread!

# Remount read/write
adb remount

# open shell
adb shell

# go to apps directory
cd /data/app_s

# delete QuickDroid (if you want to)
rm QuickDroid.apk

# delete NPS sync (it doesn't work so why run it!)
rm wssyncmlnps.apk

# disable drexe (this gets baseband info for NPS. Who needs it!)
mv /system/bin/drexe /system/bin/drexe.off

# disable npsmobex (this handles auth with nps)
mv /system/bin/npsmobex /system/bin/npsmobex.off


///////////////////////////INSTALLED APPS///////////////////////////

Installed programs I have installed(that do NOT screw with sleeping):

Exported by aTrackDog at 21:09:10 2009/11/04

Abduction! World Attack,1.21 //quite addicting.
Backup,4.1.1 //ROOT APPLICATION!
Bebbled,1.10 //lovely game
Better Keyboard,3.3 //I DO NOT USE IT
Blockx 3D,1.2.2 // broken/slow 3D
Layar,2.2.1 // not of much use in Slovenia, but still nice app
Pinball,1.1.0 //meh
Radiant,1.0 // fun
reddit is fun,0.7.12 //better than using a browser
Scan2PDF Mobile,1.1.3 //meh, crashes
SpacePhysics,1.5.2 //game, slow as crap
Album Art Grabber,1.1.1 //as the name says :]
aTrackDog,2.55 //lovely app update tracker
Chess,2.0.5 //chess
DoggCatcher,1.1.892 // podcast manager
FarmFrenzy,1.1.0 // farm game, quite fun
MyBackup Pro,2.0.3 // backup for sms,mms, contacts, dialer history
NubiNews,5.7 //fixed rss reader
RepliGo Reader,1.0.1 // uh, forgot what this is
Spare parts ,1.5 Only //HAVE THIS! Essential to see if the phone is waking up.

Spin Cube Lite,1.1 //rubics cube
Totemo,1.10 //a lovely game
WifiScan,2.0.7 //wardrive app, collects wifi spots and adds them to a google maps overlay
Wireless Tether for Root Users,1.60-GalaxyEdition //teether
WiSyncPlus,1.4.11 //a freaking awesome app
3banana,1.10 //meh
ACV,1.3.2 // comic viewer
AdFree,0.3.1 //ROOT APPLICATION! Removes ads from websites
AK Notepad,1.9.3b //best notepad app IMO
Aldiko,1.2.2 //uh, forgot what this is
AndFTP,1.0 //FTP server/client
AppManager Pro,1.2 //appmanager, don't really need it
Astrid,2.9.2 //game
ASTRO,2.0.2 //filemanager
Barcode Scanner,3.0 //uh, barcode scanner
Camera Pro,2.8 //camera replacement app
Prime //game
Countdown Alarm,1.0.8 //countdown timer
Glowing Pear,1.0.0 //flashlight app
Google Sky Map,1.2.1 //skymaps
GPS Status,3.0.3 //GPS status, I think it is broken for galaxy at version 3 :\
Graviturn,1.03 //game
Graviturn Extended,2.00 //game
Handcent Sms,2.9.12 //messaging replacement app
Hungry!,1.2.8 //shopping list
Iconic Memory,1.3.0 //memory game
Labyrinth,1.3 //game
Listen,1.0.3.1 //google podcast manager
Lucid,1.2 //game
MarketEnabler,3.0.2 beta //enables you to buy apps
Meridian,16.4 //mediaplayer
Mileage,2.2.1 //mileage statistics
Mon€ytor,1.0 //where did my money go? ;o
Mother TED,1.2.0 // TED.com streamer
My Tracks,1.0.6 //GPS jogging/biking tracker
Ringdroid,2.1 //awesome app
Rings Extended,1.1 //make a ringtone from a MP3
ScummVM,0.14.0svn //emulator for old adventure games
Solitaire,1.12.1 //game
WallSwitch,1.5.2 //switches wallpapers every 2 days for me
Wapedia,1.5.2 //wiki
Wifi Analyzer,2.0 //wifi scanner
Wifi Helper,1.1.1 //ROOT APP! Use it to connect to enterprise wifi networks
YouTube Downloader,2.2.1 //youtube downloader
カラトレ!~Hakobo Style~,1.2.1 //game

 

[Xenon]

You sure seem to pack a lot of applications on your phone!

RepliGo Reader,1.0.1 // uh, forgot what this is

It's an excellent (perhaps the best?) reader for PDF and some
other formats. How did you get it? Last time I looked only a paid
version was avaliable, with paid apps not available in Slovenia.

Pozdrav iz Hrvatske

 

[tisti]

MarketEnabler enables paid market everywhere

Lep pozdrav iz Slovenije

Edit:
You need to run MarketEnabler everytime you boot up your phone. And it requires ROOT!

 

[spottyelephant]

Why is it that no good games seem to work on the galaxy - bloxx3d, space physics, speedforge. The moment it's not cartoon graphics the phone decides it's too complicated!

 

[tisti]

Why is it that no good games seem to work on the galaxy - bloxx3d, space physics, speedforge. The moment it's not cartoon graphics the phone decides it's too complicated!

It's a bug in the firmware. Samsung afaik shrunk the usable ram for the GPU.

In the G8 firmware it was fine. Since then it is broken. Hopefully it will be fixed in the next Hdblog firmware release that drakaz is working on He is doing some crafty magic.

 

[MichaelW]

The application that was waking my phone was TasKiller! I have since removed it.

I found that too. Were you using the widget? I believe it's that part of it that keeps waking the phone.

I'm now using Advanced Task Manager, not free though.

 

[tisti]

I found that too. Were you using the widget? I believe it's that part of it that keeps waking the phone.

I'm now using Advanced Task Manager, not free though.

I was using it yea. Considering I have been using it for the last 30 days... I'd rather not keep it on my system at all. ;-;


70 hours in and at 59% battery life. I love this phone now. All I need now is a multitouch enabled HTC keyboard.

 

[spottyelephant]

I was using it yea. Considering I have been using it for the last 30 days... I'd rather not keep it on my system at all. ;-;


70 hours in and at 59% battery life. I love this phone now. All I need now is a multitouch enabled HTC keyboard.

Wow. Couple Q's:

What firmware you on?
What widgets are you running?
What sort of daily use would you typically do?

That's all the questions i have actually. Thought i'd more!

 

[tisti]

I'll add all that to the primary post then.

I said I'm using Galaxo.

-Its a custom build of II5 firmware.
-I no longer have any widgets. Will be much more careful with them in the future.
-A few calls daily, some wifi here and there, maybe some teetering.

 

[spottyelephant]

I'll add all that to the primary post then.

I said I'm using Galaxo.

-Its a custom build of II5 firmware.
-I no longer have any widgets. Will be much more careful with them in the future.
-A few calls daily, some wifi here and there, maybe some teetering.

Ah. Rite.

- I'm too much of a ***** to attempt a custom Rom at the moment (especially since a lot of stuff doesnt even work with the official samsung firmware!)
- I use widgets. (You wouldnt say "I have a boot in my car, but i dont use it cuz i don't want to use too much petrol"! Widgets are there to be used ).
- I would use my phone a lot more than that.

So perhaps my battery is as muscley as yours after all. I just make it sweat a bit more!

edit: those **'s represent another word for a cat!

 

[tisti]

Ah. Rite.

- I'm too much of a ***** to attempt a custom Rom at the moment (especially since a lot of stuff doesnt even work with the official samsung firmware!)
- I use widgets. (You wouldnt say "I have a boot in my car, but i dont use it cuz i don't want to use too much petrol"! Widgets are there to be used ).
- I would use my phone a lot more than that.

So perhaps my battery is as muscley as yours after all. I just make it sweat a bit more!

edit: those **'s represent another word for a cat!

Eh, you have a nice FAQ about custom roms anyway. And if you do it on a laptop there is almost nothing that can go wrong anyhow.


You can quickly check if your battery is draining properly with the first instructions in the OP. And if your battery drains more than a few % overnight while you do not use it, something is waking up your phone.

 

[spottyelephant]

Eh, you have a nice FAQ about custom roms anyway. And if you do it on a laptop there is almost nothing that can go wrong anyhow.


You can quickly check if your battery is draining properly with the first instructions in the OP. And if your battery drains more than a few % overnight while you do not use it, something is waking up your phone.

Ye that faq is excellent, I reckon on I'm gonna check ou galaxo rom.
As for the widgets ull prolb dump twitter cuz to he honest I dont really use it!

My phone sleeps fine, but I think I'm just a pretty heavy users

Edit: did a lot of mistypes there!

 

[Xenon]

I was using it yea. Considering I have been using it for the last 30 days... I'd rather not keep it on my system at all. ;-;


70 hours in and at 59% battery life. I love this phone now. All I need now is a multitouch enabled HTC keyboard.

No offense, but I tested battery life extensively on a system with almost
no applications and widgets and 70 hours is just about the maximum.
I find it hard to believe your 59% figure. I don't think it's realistic... possibly
an error in the battery meter.

 

[tisti]

No offense, but I tested battery life extensively on a system with almost
no applications and widgets and 70 hours is just about the maximum.
I find it hard to believe your 59% figure. I don't think it's realistic... possibly
an error in the battery meter.

Non taken. I'm just trying to help out fellow galaxy users improve their battery life since I went from ~28 hours to 70+.
Battery life can change with different firmwares. What version did you test it with?
And more so, did you use the device at all while testing? Because I sure did use mine


Current status:
Battery level 17%
Running for approximately 70+ hours.

Had a bit of a music session Could also be that the battery meter is showing a proper percentage now.
Will see what tomorrow will bring. If it stays above 10% when I wake up I'll be a happy camper. I'll also report on what time it shutdowns on me.

 

[pegasus21]

What I've found is that with apn or background data disabled, your phone would use about 8% a day assuming you don't have calls or text.

Somehow with the apn and background data enabled, the phone doesn't sleep as much since you can feel the battery is warmer.

 

[MichaelW]

No offense, but I tested battery life extensively on a system with almost
no applications and widgets and 70 hours is just about the maximum.
I find it hard to believe your 59% figure. I don't think it's realistic... possibly
an error in the battery meter.

Well mine must be faulty too then. I had over 100 hours out of my phone last week and the battery was at 30% (I then charged it up over night as I knew I would be out all day the next day and didn't want to risk it running out).

That was with one or two short calls a day, a few texts, downloading and trying out a few apps from the market, and even a bit of wifi usage too.

 

[spottyelephant]

Compcache: Off
Cpu sampling: Eco
SSH server: off
Renice: ON
Provisionned: ON

Can you explain what these do please? I currently have:

Compcache: On, disk size:25600
Cpu sampling: Perf
SSH server: off
Renice: ON
Provisionned: ON

Thanks

 

[tisti]

Can you explain what these do please? I currently have:

Compcache: On, disk size:25600
Cpu sampling: Perf
SSH server: off
Renice: ON
Provisionned: ON

Thanks

Compcache - this creates a virtual compressed RAM swap partition. It takes programs in RAM, compresses them, and then stores them back into the RAM (that 25600 number tells the compcache to use 25MB of ram for itself!). I'd recommend you don't go above 12MB. Better yet, turn it off, phone is much less "laggy".
Cpu sampling: - determines the clock speed of the CPU. I have mine set on Mix, haven't tested performance over the 3 settings though.
SSH server - remote login over WIFI, leave on off unless you know what your doing
Renice - sorts out service/application priorities, gives a nice boost. Leave On.
Provisionned - this one I haven't checked.

 

[spottyelephant]

Compcache - this creates a virtual compressed RAM swap partition. It takes programs in RAM, compresses them, and then stores them back into the RAM (that 25600 number tells the compcache to use 25MB of ram for itself!). I'd recommend you don't go above 12MB. Better yet, turn it off, phone is much less "laggy".
Cpu sampling: - determines the clock speed of the CPU. I have mine set on Mix, haven't tested performance over the 3 settings though.
SSH server - remote login over WIFI, leave on off unless you know what your doing
Renice - sorts out service/application priorities, gives a nice boost. Leave On.
Provisionned - this one I haven't checked.

Ah the names make sense now. Think ill just copy ur setup tho!

 

[hazboun]

Mine barely makes it through 36 hours with very lite usage and no widgets running!

Running the carriers baseband II1, I installed "Power Manager" to monitor the batter level, "Advanced Task Killer" -the free version- to kill ALL running apps, and "APNdroid" to even turn off 3G. I loose 15%-20% overnight!

I noticed using the Task Killer an application called "Moxier Mail" provided with this ROM (actually it's a set of apps like contacts, mail, sync, calendar etc...) runs occasionally w/o being called! not sure if it cased this drain though.

I got really interested in updating the firmware after reading your post, and after reading this post (http://androidforums.com/samsung-i7500/13692-how-odin-galexo-rom-s.html).
My questions are:

1. If I update the firmware and baseband and use a custom ROM like Galax0, would that improve my battery drain?
2. If updated, would I loose applications provided by my carrier (i.e. GPS Navigator) for good or is there a way to back them up and install them on the new ROM?
3. Would I be able to sim-free my device and use any carrier's sim card on it?
4. Can I backup my factory ROM for recovery later on?

I would also appreciate any help understanding what happens when you install the custom ROM (compared to a factory ROM or carrier's)...

 

[Rastaman-FB]

are you still using the pouch case

 

[hazboun]

I was just reading your post on a different thread about the case and camera button being pressed....so yes i was using it till 5 min ago . Batter now is 59% and i'm going to test it overnight and hope it wont loose more than 1-2%

In fact, you can hear the camera button being clicked if you slowly slide the phone into the case!

 

[Rastaman-FB]

I was just reading your post on a different thread about the case and camera button being pressed....so yes i was using it till 5 min ago . Batter now is 59% and i'm going to test it overnight and hope it wont loose more than 1-2%

In fact, you can hear the camera button being clicked if you slowly slide the phone into the case!

you will lose some over night but not nearly as much, it should still be alive in the morning

i get 2 days out of mine with no background data and no auto sync

 

[hazboun]

Confirmed! last night I only lost 2% going from 59% to 57% over ~7hr with the same settings i had always

I'm testing it today after a full charge and it's now at 99% after ~6hr with few calls and some GPS and WIFI. Still need to figure our this Moxier Mail that keeps running in the background for no reason...

Rastaman: you are my man

 

[Rastaman-FB]

good news, amazing what that camera button does eh