Help Battery Life Test - Android OS

[keatre]

Massive post incoming.

So Stigy, does this mean we should keep WiFi on at all times, even when it isn't connected? I have been so used to keeping it off when not in use that it has just become second nature. What I'm asking is, will the WiFi stopgap work if WiFi isn't connected and simply on?

and

I don't have detailed analysis to back this up, just my anecdotal observation from last night. I had wifi enabled but was well out of range of the WAP in my folks' house, and my battery dropped about 7% over night. I'm curious if keeping wifi on avoids this, too, though. Great question.

Good question, I'll try to answer both in one swoop. Basically, you can think of it as an If > Then > Else algorithm .

If Wifi can connect Then 'disconnect' EVDO/LTE
Else Connect EVDO/LTE

If you can maintain a WiFi connection, you can stop the mobile data driver from firing. This is what the test is for - its the easiest way I can get a normal user to recreate the 'fix'.

Thanks. I have not yet rooted. I reported my 29% drainage last night in the other thread, I don't think I mentioned that WiFi was on the entire time.

So, it wifi is suppose to help with the OS drainage, then I would think I would not have loss so much last night while I slept.

Thanks for posting here. I usually always check both forums but am sticking here for the time being.

WiFi isn't the fix - the fix is causing the mobile data to not activate. See above comment. If you want a more indepth process to run, let me know.

I don't think Wifi On is a solution. Wifi was on the other morning when I had my most significant drain of 30% in less than 2 hours with the phone idle almost the whole time.

Like I said, WiFi is not the solution - it just helping me fire off processes that need to run. Please keep in mind, AndroidOS is what I'm looking at here -NOT- battery drain. Please report any AndroidOS process waketimes.

Just thinking out loud here but wouldn't it wake up every time the phone syncs? Maybe someone having high usage should shut off syncing and see what happens. Even things like the weather apps almost all of us use constantly sync to keep the weather up to date.

What we really need to see is the usage from a GN with no apps, email or anything that will sync.

I've done something similiar to this on my personal device. Currently at 1 day, 22 hrs at around 60% battery (and still, that had wakelocks). Syncx are not the issue, but rather the step before the issue.

Think of it as a step-by-step.
Syncs need a connection(1) -> Search for connection(2) -> Mobile Data connection found(3) -> Bug fires(4)
I'm trying to skip to step 3, basically.

-

Sorry if this doesnt make a lot of sense, but I'm trying to translate to as high understanding as possible. Please donate all your thanks to Stigy, as hes the guy who's kept me informed on AF. I'm monitoring a thread elsewhere, so my replies will be a bit slow here. Apologies.

 

[Airmaxx23]

Just thinking out loud here but wouldn't it wake up every time the phone syncs? Maybe someone having high usage should shut off syncing and see what happens. Even things like the weather apps almost all of us use constantly sync to keep the weather up to date.

What we really need to see is the usage from a GN with no apps, email or anything that will sync.

I have my syncing turned off all the time and still have very high Android OS readings.

I'm going to try to leave my WiFi turned on (even though I can't get WiFi right now) and see how it goes. I turned up the wifi.supplicant_scan_interval in the build.prop from 15 seconds to 180 seconds so that the phone isn't searching for WiFi as often.

 

[keatre]

I have my syncing turned off all the time and still have very high Android OS readings.

I'm going to try to leave my WiFi turned on (even though I can't get WiFi right now) and see how it goes. I turned up the wifi.supplicant_scan_interval in the build.prop from 15 seconds to 180 seconds so that the phone isn't searching for WiFi as often.

I dont think this will work, but let me know what you find - I'm wrong quite a bit, so... I've tried on a dummy ssid, and its still front-loading a crap ton of commands.

 

[Stigy]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help so far -- glad we can all work together to get this figured out and a huge thanks to keatre for keeping me in the loop and developing an (alpha) kernel to try and fix the issue.

 

[ska.t73]

Thanks keatre, I get what you are trying to do here. I will try to get you some readings tonight from home.

 

[eddieruko]

TEST RESULTS

1. Start Battery %: 73% (Cleared battery stats)
2. Test Duration: 66 minutes
3. Finish Battery %: 69%
4. Screenshot upload malfunction (i'm on the site on a PC... why am i having issues uploading screenshots to AF?)

• 69% Discharging
• 1h 8m on battery
• Phone Idle 27%
• Screen 26%
• Cell Standby 23%
• Android OS 16%
• Wifi 4%
• Android System 4%

 

[yawdapaah]

I'm going to run the test again tonight. Has anyone looked at the kmsg log? Seems like NFC is hold a Wake lock even when disabled.

 

[keatre]

I'm going to run the test again tonight. Has anyone looked at the kmsg log? Seems like NFC is hold a Wake lock even when disabled.

I saw that. Although it's not eating into the awake times, its still troubling. I have that queued to look at with someone on another forum, but at the present moment its on my back burner.

Feel free to dive in and let me know what you find.

 

[mistermojorizi]

1st thing i did was turn nfc off in the settings, last night i was playing around with airdroid and lo and behold I see the NFC service active. I force stopped it and disabled it. for the last 7 hours of screen off, there was only 35 mins of awake time. Before it used to be more like 2-3 hours of keep awake for the same time period.

 

[keatre]

1st thing i did was turn nfc off in the settings, last night i was playing around with airdroid and lo and behold I see the NFC service active. I force stopped it and disabled it. for the last 7 hours of screen off, there was only 35 mins of awake time. Before it used to be more like 2-3 hours of keep awake for the same time period.

Although I would agree thats true - I've seen NFC on and awake times in the teens. You'd need further testing to really pinpoint what the exact cause of your awake times are.

But that's definitely a good thing to try if anyone else wants to report back. You'd need to be on WiFi or Airplane mode though, as we've already discovered two mobile data devices running next to each other have wildly varying awake times.

 

[crankerchick]

I'm not sure if this helps but I'm seeing my phone be awake a good long time so I did the first of my 3 planned tests last night. Last night I rebooted my phone, turned off my mobile data connection, charged to 100%, disabled light flow, and unplugged my device over night. In 7h19m14s my Android OS accounted for 17% of battery discharge and the Keep Awake time was a mere 7m36s. My battery depleted just 12%.

Tonight I was going to do the test with mobile data enabled but syncing turned off and lightflow turned off but I suppose I can do it as in the original post instead (with WiFi on). I expect to see similar results. The next night I will do it with my mobile data connected to LTE but syncing off still. I expect to see ridiculous high awake time.

I'm not a developer, but it does look like something with having mobile data on is what is causing this. I'm tempted to return my Nexus for another (and another and another) until I get one that doesn't suffer from this since there are some devices not showing the problem. I just worry about returns and getting a phone with something else wrong with it instead.

 

[Jersey Tom]

I'm tempted to return my Nexus for another (and another and another) until I get one that doesn't suffer from this since there are some devices not showing the problem.

Not sure I'd take this approach. There are some USERS not showing the problem. For several days I had no issue with this.. then it cropped up one morning.. seemingly went away after. Just got extended battery so I'm feeling that out as well.

Point is I think it is more to do with some combination of software and use profiles more than a hardware-specific issue that would be remedied with a new handset.

 

[sperho]

I'm beginning to strongly suspect LightFlow as the culprit of high Android OS usages. Before I installed it the other day, Android OS was NEVER the major user of the battery. Now that I have it installed and configured to monitor 8 different notifications, Android OS is now the largest user of battery. Hmmmm....

 

[byrds8]

Its funny how fast the battery drains down during use. I dont think I have ever seen a device being used to play X game or use X program and drain down percentage points at a whack even if it was just a few minutes of use. Ive played several different games or just browsed the internet for 3-5min and it drop 2-5% depending. Even the TB never dropped like that and it was known for horrid battery life.

 

[sperho]

1st thing i did was turn nfc off in the settings, last night i was playing around with airdroid and lo and behold I see the NFC service active. I force stopped it and disabled it. for the last 7 hours of screen off, there was only 35 mins of awake time. Before it used to be more like 2-3 hours of keep awake for the same time period.

Vewy intawesting. I also turned my NFC off when I first set the phone up and now it's magically on again as well. Wah?? Turned off now. Again. Must.Kill.Ghost.In.The.Machine.

edit: I just remembered that I installed an extended battery several days ago and several days after I received the phone (read: new NFC antenna) and I now wonder if that's what kicked the NFC back on...

 

[adjuster11]

In order to maximize battery life, should you operate the phone on wifi when parked at your house for the day?

Even at night when it's supposed to be sleeping?

 

[BzB]

In order to maximize battery life, should you operate the phone on wifi when parked at your house for the day?

Even at night when it's supposed to be sleeping?

yes. wifi is a huge battery saver vs 4g. in the simplest terms think about how close your phone is to the wifi router vs how close it is to the cellular tower. the amount of power it takes to keep a 4g connection to the closest tower is going to be more than the amount power it takes for your phone to keep a wifi connection to the router in your home.

in my experience keeping your phone connected via wifi whenever available can be the difference between your battery lasting most of the day and it lasting only a few hours. especially if you you have any background syncing enabled.

 

[Telexen]

in the simplest terms think about how close your phone is to the wifi router vs how close it is to the cellular tower. the amount of power it takes to keep a 4g connection to the closest tower is going to be more than the amount power it takes for your phone to keep a wifi connection to the router in your home.

lol...

Because your phone has to reach out and grab the signal from the tower!

Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Jeffruby]

guys, just jumping in now.....read a lot here...but not all...forgive me if it is repetitive.

Over at androidcentral is similar thread.

We have all decided to disable google plus AND block background data on fb and google plus (i know its already disabled).

before doing this..my awake time almost matched my battery time...and i was down to 20-40% after 6 hours.

since doing this 2 days ago....i have made 18 hours + with 20% remaining! and my awake time is only a tiny bit more than my screen on time! at one point had phone off for 3 hours and my awake time was a minute!

 

[porcelain]

I haven't had time to try this test yet, but I wanted to share this because I was pretty surprised to see this when I woke up this morning.

I fell asleep last night with the phone on the charger. Woke up early this morning, unplugged the phone, went back to sleep. I woke up again maybe two hours later. Battery dropped to 86% and my Android OS usage was at 80%. Keep awake time was an hour and a half.

Since then, I've been awake and using the phone and the Android OS usage has been steadily dropping. But I thought that was strange because usually Android OS is in the 30% range for me.

 

[Jeffruby]

everyone gives % used stats....they are useless.

if your battery goes from 100%-99%....telling us that the os took up 75% is useless as 75% of 1% is nothing.

all of those percentages always = 100%.

better stats are:

battery time:
awake time:

imho

 

[Romparoo]

guys, just jumping in now.....read a lot here...but not all...forgive me if it is repetitive.

Over at androidcentral is similar thread.

We have all decided to disable google plus AND block background data on fb and google plus (i know its already disabled).

before doing this..my awake time almost matched my battery time...and i was down to 20-40% after 6 hours.

since doing this 2 days ago....i have made 18 hours + with 20% remaining! and my awake time is only a tiny bit more than my screen on time! at one point had phone off for 3 hours and my awake time was a minute!

Ok I did this.

I think there must be a bug in reporting, a reboot might help me. I am at work and can not post my screen shot until I get home tonight or tomorrow.

Under battery, the only thing listed is Android OS and is at 101%. When I click on that it reads:

CPU total (here's the shocker) 247d 17h 54m 41s
Keep awake 26m 14s

I have no clue as to why it says my CPU has been running for 247 days

As for battery, I am at 89% in 2h28m. Listened to music in the car, did some email, some picture text, text, took pictures.

 

[streetfish]

guys, just jumping in now.....read a lot here...but not all...forgive me if it is repetitive.

Over at androidcentral is similar thread.

We have all decided to disable google plus AND block background data on fb and google plus (i know its already disabled).

before doing this..my awake time almost matched my battery time...and i was down to 20-40% after 6 hours.

since doing this 2 days ago....i have made 18 hours + with 20% remaining! and my awake time is only a tiny bit more than my screen on time! at one point had phone off for 3 hours and my awake time was a minute!

how do you block background data on facebook?

for google+ I just go to under accounts and sync, and uncheck right?

 

[Romparoo]

Ok I did this.

I think there must be a bug in reporting, a reboot might help me. I am at work and can not post my screen shot until I get home tonight or tomorrow.

Under battery, the only thing listed is Android OS and is at 101%. When I click on that it reads:

CPU total (here's the shocker) 247d 17h 54m 41s
Keep awake 26m 14s

I have no clue as to why it says my CPU has been running for 247 days

As for battery, I am at 89% in 2h28m. Listened to music in the car, did some email, some picture text, text, took pictures.

After a power off and then back on I am still showing the same numbers.

I have unblocked Facebook and Google+ and will see if this begins to lower my Android OS issue.

 

[keatre]

It's not Google+ or Facebook. Both are simply the step before the real issue occurs. See my above post.

The 'bug' is mobile data. Any questions, feel free to post.