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3G Drops & Standby Battery Drain (Solutions)
- Thread starter Ziflin
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- lg optimus v
Is it safe to say that I don't have this TWS bug?
Yes 0% time without signal means you're good, and you have some damn good battery life there, too. Over a day and still at 50%? Dang. You do seem to have a snail problem, tho.
Petrah
Psychotic Female
Yes 0% time without signal means you're good, and you have some damn good battery life there, too. Over a day and still at 50%? Dang. You do seem to have a snail problem, tho.
LOL! I got that wall for my lockscreen from the HD Wallpaper app (in the Abstract Category section). It was so bright and cute that I had to use it hehe.
I've found three things that have helped with my battery life. I keep the screen brightness all the way down, and at night when I go to bed I disable GPS and Auto Synching.
I should also probably point out that my cell doesn't get heavy usage. Since I work from home, my land line gets the most use, and my kids mostly text me on the cell. I think it's safe to say that I don't need a cell phone... but I love gadgets so I got one lol.
It is cute; I was just teasin'. I have no idea what my battery problem is 'cause I keep my screen all the way down, too, my GPS is always off... I keep auto sync on when I go to bed tho, but it's on the charger, so that's not an issue. I probably just use it way more than I think I do, lol. It's really not that bad- at 14-16 hours it's usually down to 30% maybe 40% on a good day. Yours just struck me- I might be able to get that if I didn't touch my phone at all for the 24 hours, but we all know that's never going to happen. 
syav
Well-Known Member
Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]
Just wanted to say Thank You to digitaljeannie and Leslie Ann for the tip. Rebooting and airplane trick works. I was at 55% Cell Standby, now at 33% and 0% TWS.
I had terrible battery life. I got an app called Juice Defender 5 days ago and now my battery lasts over 24 hours, even with WiFi and Bluetooth on.
wifi isn't a huge battery drain like some people might suggest
when i'm on 3G for a decent chunk of my day (on days when i work for example) i could probably pull about 24 hours before the phone would shut itself off (i never let it go that far)
if i stay at home most of the time and leave it on wifi and not really use the phone much (emails, the occasional twitter and facebook check... yeah i prefer to do that on my phone instead of my computer... funny how that is) i can be at 57% after 1 day 10 hours 4 minutes 57 seconds
when i'm on 3G for a decent chunk of my day (on days when i work for example) i could probably pull about 24 hours before the phone would shut itself off (i never let it go that far)
if i stay at home most of the time and leave it on wifi and not really use the phone much (emails, the occasional twitter and facebook check... yeah i prefer to do that on my phone instead of my computer... funny how that is) i can be at 57% after 1 day 10 hours 4 minutes 57 seconds
LASJayhawk
Lurker
I just got one of these 2 says ago. Loaded some apps i wanted through wifi and went out on the town. 2 apps (weatherbug and skype) would not work on 3G and in an area of questionable service, the battery was dead in 4 hours. Got up this AM and verified that my time without signal was 50% and my 2 apps still did not work 3G.
I did the toggle thing as AmishFury has recommend in several threads and my time without as gone to 0% AND weatherbug and Skype now work on 3G
It seems more than just the battery doesn't like the searching for signal thing.
BTW the wifi will not work on a router if the ssid is not set to broadcast, the phone thinks there is no signal. I think the phone is looking at the signal strength at the time of the ssid broadcast, so no ssid no signal. LG is aware of this bug in all optimus v handsets:
LG Optimus - Wifi disconnects when SSID broadcast is turned off - LG Forum
But FWIW, I don't think the blame for these problems are with Virgin/Sprint, most are LG's bugs. And LG response seems to be create a trouble ticket, then shred it
I did the toggle thing as AmishFury has recommend in several threads and my time without as gone to 0% AND weatherbug and Skype now work on 3G
It seems more than just the battery doesn't like the searching for signal thing.BTW the wifi will not work on a router if the ssid is not set to broadcast, the phone thinks there is no signal. I think the phone is looking at the signal strength at the time of the ssid broadcast, so no ssid no signal. LG is aware of this bug in all optimus v handsets:
LG Optimus - Wifi disconnects when SSID broadcast is turned off - LG Forum
But FWIW, I don't think the blame for these problems are with Virgin/Sprint, most are LG's bugs. And LG response seems to be create a trouble ticket, then shred it
Petrah
Psychotic Female
But FWIW, I don't think the blame for these problems are with Virgin/Sprint, most are LG's bugs. And LG response seems to be create a trouble ticket, then shred it
The TWS bug is not limited to the LG. Other brands also suffer from it (Google search, the info is out there), which leads me to believe it could quite possibly be an OS issue.
tcat007
Android Expert
I've been happy with my Optimus battery life, usually have to charge twice a week. I get no cell signal at home, so I switch to airplane mode when I get home.
I tried installing "AutoAP" yesterday to see if I could automate the process. Airplane mode was on when I was using WiFi, and appeared to be on when I turned WiFi off. Woke up this AM and battery had gone from 50% to 4% in 8 hours! (usually drops no more than 1% in 10 hrs in airplane mode).
I looked at "Cell Standby" and it was 88% with 100% time without a signal! (this is normally like 50% with 0-1% time without a signal). Airplane mode light was still on, so I uninstalled AutoAP, hopefully I'm back to "normal". Just thought I'd post this to point out battery savings apps can CAUSE much worse battery issues. I assume some of these apps do their own thing ignoring system indicators.
I tried installing "AutoAP" yesterday to see if I could automate the process. Airplane mode was on when I was using WiFi, and appeared to be on when I turned WiFi off. Woke up this AM and battery had gone from 50% to 4% in 8 hours! (usually drops no more than 1% in 10 hrs in airplane mode).
I looked at "Cell Standby" and it was 88% with 100% time without a signal! (this is normally like 50% with 0-1% time without a signal). Airplane mode light was still on, so I uninstalled AutoAP, hopefully I'm back to "normal". Just thought I'd post this to point out battery savings apps can CAUSE much worse battery issues. I assume some of these apps do their own thing ignoring system indicators.
Petrah
Psychotic Female
If you're tapping on the Cell Standby entry and you do not see "Time without signal" after your phone has been sitting idle for awhile... this is a good thing.
After plenty of charges, the battery seem to reach it's maximum potential.
I have mine for over 2 months now and the battery lasts longer. I heard that never let the battery drain all the way, so I make sure when it gives me the recharge signal, I recharge.
Sometimes I forget to do the quick airplane mode but it does not seem to really drain the battery that much with the 50% tws glitch.
3G is turned off all the time. wifi or 3G is only turned on when I need it.
Running videos (like the youtube app) and playing high demand graphics games will use lots of battery.
When sitting idle (absolutely no activity) for more than 7 hours since last plugged, battery status was 99%. I was pleasantly shocked.
I have mine for over 2 months now and the battery lasts longer. I heard that never let the battery drain all the way, so I make sure when it gives me the recharge signal, I recharge.
Sometimes I forget to do the quick airplane mode but it does not seem to really drain the battery that much with the 50% tws glitch.
3G is turned off all the time. wifi or 3G is only turned on when I need it.
Running videos (like the youtube app) and playing high demand graphics games will use lots of battery.
When sitting idle (absolutely no activity) for more than 7 hours since last plugged, battery status was 99%. I was pleasantly shocked.
This is a long thread, and this may have been discussed already, but there is a workaround to the battery drain issue that doesn't involve hidden menus. Just disable all wireless data when you aren't using it (obviously not ideal for those wanting email notifications on the road).
The setting is here: Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks > Data Enabled
I used Any Cut to create a shortcut for this. It was listed under "Network Settings" for some reason.
I keep WiFi enabled without much drain. WiFi is what I use 95% of the time anyway. I reserve 3G mostly for phonebook and navigation stuff. Battery life seems waaaay up.
The setting is here: Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks > Data Enabled
I used Any Cut to create a shortcut for this. It was listed under "Network Settings" for some reason.
I keep WiFi enabled without much drain. WiFi is what I use 95% of the time anyway. I reserve 3G mostly for phonebook and navigation stuff. Battery life seems waaaay up.
I wanted to chime in on this, as a new Optimum V owner. I charged up the phone last night, and have it unplugged since 7:30am this morning. It's now 2:10pm, and I have 70% battery left. Everything (software and settings) is stock out of the box. I've disabled WIFI and GPS, except for a few minutes where I tested those features. I made a 15 minute bluetooth call this morning, then turned bluetooth off after having it on for about 30 minutes. in addition, I made about 10 minutes worth of calls.
Around lunch, I spent about 25 minutes downloading over 3G from the android market. My "time without signal" averaged around 60-75% throughout the day as I was checking the status. I'm not sure that's completely inaccurate, because my house is a dead zone, and my office building gets no service either - just too solid. My commute this morning, and when I went out for lunch I got full signal strength. Transitions were instant and smooth, from no service, to full service as soon as I walked in/out of the doors.
Given this is a pretty average day, I'm pretty happy with the battery life. I presume it'll take me well into the evening, which is when I'd plug it in overnight. Seems quite average for phones of this type.
I did the airplane mode switch this morning - based on this thread (was just doing some research before I got the phone), but I don't think it had the "desired" effect, since the time without signal had no difference.
Tomorrow I'll restart the phone in the morning and take it through the day without the airplane switch, and I'll post back if I notice a difference.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the phone, and wanted to pass the note here in case some folks were worried about it's performance.
Around lunch, I spent about 25 minutes downloading over 3G from the android market. My "time without signal" averaged around 60-75% throughout the day as I was checking the status. I'm not sure that's completely inaccurate, because my house is a dead zone, and my office building gets no service either - just too solid. My commute this morning, and when I went out for lunch I got full signal strength. Transitions were instant and smooth, from no service, to full service as soon as I walked in/out of the doors.
Given this is a pretty average day, I'm pretty happy with the battery life. I presume it'll take me well into the evening, which is when I'd plug it in overnight. Seems quite average for phones of this type.
I did the airplane mode switch this morning - based on this thread (was just doing some research before I got the phone), but I don't think it had the "desired" effect, since the time without signal had no difference.
Tomorrow I'll restart the phone in the morning and take it through the day without the airplane switch, and I'll post back if I notice a difference.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the phone, and wanted to pass the note here in case some folks were worried about it's performance.
OK, here is a hypothesis to explain all of this. There are multiple parts to it. (More evidence here.)
1) The "Time Without Signal" bug is likely *cosmetic only* meaning it has no effect on battery life. 0% is reported as 50%, 4% is reported as 54%, and so on. When the phone boots up it doesn't properly initialize this meter, which is why both the Testing menu and Airplane mode fix it. Anything that will stop and start the radio should do it. This also explains why Airplane mode doesn't always fix it for some people--The meter starts running immediately after you unplug your phone from the charger. After you unplug the phone from the charger it keeps reporting 50% (in reality, 0%) over and over again, and if you wait too long to do the Airplane mode trick it takes longer for the displayed number to approach 0. So if you toggle Airplane mode to fix the meter, be sure to follow that up by plugging in the charger and then unplugging it. This will reset the stats. Note: This also appears to affect the Cell Standby meter. So you may think this "fix" causes you to use less battery, but in reality it's just fixing the battery use display for Cell Standby.
2) The battery drain is not due to any bug, but rather to having a poor 3G connection, which causes the phone to ramp up the signal, which in turn causes it to be hot and eat up your battery. The partial solution is to turn off 3G when you don't need it, but a weak voice signal still contributes to this as well I'm sure. Since signals fluxuate so wildly across the country this explains why people get such different results with battery life.
3) It's possible that, as speculated earlier in the thread, messing with hidden settings could cause a reconnection issue. Better to be safe than sorry I suppose. I don't think it has anything to do with the "Time Without Signal" meter though.
To people who claim that the Airplane mode trick increased battery life (toggling it off then on I mean, not just leaving it off): Did you turn off wireless data? Have you been in an area with stronger reception? Either of these are more likely sources of battery savings.
There is a way to test all this, but I for one do not wish to take the time to do it. Set up a controlled scenario:
1) Turn 3G on
2) Charge battery to 100%
3) Reboot phone (no airplane trick)
4) Place phone in secure position and do not move it (corner of your desk perhaps)
5) Return after X hours of standby, write down battery %
6) Charge battery back to 100%
7) Reboot phone
8) Turn airplane mode on, then off
9) Place phone in same position as before and do not move it
10) Return after X hours of standby, write down battery %
11) Compare battery performance with and without the airplane trick
1) The "Time Without Signal" bug is likely *cosmetic only* meaning it has no effect on battery life. 0% is reported as 50%, 4% is reported as 54%, and so on. When the phone boots up it doesn't properly initialize this meter, which is why both the Testing menu and Airplane mode fix it. Anything that will stop and start the radio should do it. This also explains why Airplane mode doesn't always fix it for some people--The meter starts running immediately after you unplug your phone from the charger. After you unplug the phone from the charger it keeps reporting 50% (in reality, 0%) over and over again, and if you wait too long to do the Airplane mode trick it takes longer for the displayed number to approach 0. So if you toggle Airplane mode to fix the meter, be sure to follow that up by plugging in the charger and then unplugging it. This will reset the stats. Note: This also appears to affect the Cell Standby meter. So you may think this "fix" causes you to use less battery, but in reality it's just fixing the battery use display for Cell Standby.
2) The battery drain is not due to any bug, but rather to having a poor 3G connection, which causes the phone to ramp up the signal, which in turn causes it to be hot and eat up your battery. The partial solution is to turn off 3G when you don't need it, but a weak voice signal still contributes to this as well I'm sure. Since signals fluxuate so wildly across the country this explains why people get such different results with battery life.
3) It's possible that, as speculated earlier in the thread, messing with hidden settings could cause a reconnection issue. Better to be safe than sorry I suppose. I don't think it has anything to do with the "Time Without Signal" meter though.
To people who claim that the Airplane mode trick increased battery life (toggling it off then on I mean, not just leaving it off): Did you turn off wireless data? Have you been in an area with stronger reception? Either of these are more likely sources of battery savings.
There is a way to test all this, but I for one do not wish to take the time to do it. Set up a controlled scenario:
1) Turn 3G on
2) Charge battery to 100%
3) Reboot phone (no airplane trick)
4) Place phone in secure position and do not move it (corner of your desk perhaps)
5) Return after X hours of standby, write down battery %
6) Charge battery back to 100%
7) Reboot phone
8) Turn airplane mode on, then off
9) Place phone in same position as before and do not move it
10) Return after X hours of standby, write down battery %
11) Compare battery performance with and without the airplane trick
You will need to plug and unplug the phone to see the difference. This will reset the battery stats.
Restarting the phone re-triggers the bug to occur
Just charge it normally (don't reboot it) and I'll bet your Time Without Signal will be much smaller at the end of the day. I'm pretty sure this is all just cosmetic though.No change - still around 60-70% twos
Restarting the phone re-triggers the bug to occur
I'm not so sure, I can believe that I'm on average 75% without a signal, since I spend most of my time at work (no/very low signal) or at home (no/ very low signal)
Could it be that this number isn't a problem? Do all the folks here with high numbers actually HAVE good signal most of the time? Virgin can be pretty spotty in some parts of the country, perhaps folks are just in a dead zone a lot and don't realize it? Just guessing.
Either way - I've used my phone a bit more today, played some games - did some emailing, and I've got a little bit less battery than I did at this time yesterday, but that's to be expected with the usage.
Overall, display bug or not - I'm pretty happy with the phone, and definitely the monthly value.
LASJayhawk
Lurker
X=7 hours, without airplane trick battery is at 29%
with airplane trick, battery is at 86%
this is sitting on my dresser from 7am to 2pm on consecutive days.
Airplane mode was off on the second try, right? 70% gone in 7 hours is very strange.
BTW the 50% bug occasionally rears its head (for me) even after doing the Airplane trick. If it does indeed affect battery, maybe it only affects people with 3G enabled. I keep it disabled most of the time.
So, a followup hypothesis: Perhaps when the "Data Enabled" setting initializes the 3G service it re-triggers the bug (inconsistently, perhaps?). I need to do some experimenting of my own.
LASJayhawk
Lurker
yes airplane mode was off the 2nd time.
every time this phone as gone into battery vampire mode the tws is 50%
since I removed Skype. (with skype my battery life was horrid, but I could cook lunch on the phone.
I *think* it is searching for some unknown cell tower and is running the transmitter at high power trying to get a reply. Alas, my spectrum analyzer is broke so I cant confirm that, but I can say when my tws is at 50% my battery life is less than 1/2 day, even without use.
my 3G is always on if that helps your research
every time this phone as gone into battery vampire mode
the tws is 50%since I removed Skype. (with skype my battery life was horrid, but I could cook lunch on the phone.
I *think* it is searching for some unknown cell tower and is running the transmitter at high power trying to get a reply. Alas, my spectrum analyzer is broke so I cant confirm that, but I can say when my tws is at 50% my battery life is less than 1/2 day, even without use.
my 3G is always on if that helps your research
Quit messin' around and just root your phone and run CPU Master for free or SetCPU for a lousy $2 and do some research and just play around with it.
On a side note, I also personally like the widget (stock with phone, or from Optimize Toolbox app? can't remember...) that has buttons on it to turn off GPS/wifi/bluetooth/sync but that alone doesn't do nearly enough. In combination with CPU Master set to "120/480 conservative" works great for extending my battery to absurd amounts. I lost 1% while I slept for 8 hours unplugged. I heard somebody say before it actually might work better raising my baseline frequency of my processor up from 120 back to 240 but whatever. Here's a you-tube video on how to root your optimus v:
Root lg optimus v phone from virgin mobile - YouTube
You might have to install drivers for your LG, but just follow the instructions in the video link beneath the video for that.
Go further after rooting and Get way better results and actually flash a recovery onto your phone and install a ROM/kernel which will get WAYY more out of your phone than the Stock Froyo you're using will get.
Here's a guide, straight from androidforums, that will take you all the way through rooting and installing a custom ROM, which I HIGHLY recommended for any android user: [Guide] How to install a custom recovery and rom - Android Forums
Also, you can tap into the full Sprint network from the pathetic Virgin Mobile network that uses only some of what Sprint offers using some fairly simple methods. But I'm pretty sure its illegal so... go find it yourself.
On a side note, I also personally like the widget (stock with phone, or from Optimize Toolbox app? can't remember...) that has buttons on it to turn off GPS/wifi/bluetooth/sync but that alone doesn't do nearly enough. In combination with CPU Master set to "120/480 conservative" works great for extending my battery to absurd amounts. I lost 1% while I slept for 8 hours unplugged. I heard somebody say before it actually might work better raising my baseline frequency of my processor up from 120 back to 240 but whatever. Here's a you-tube video on how to root your optimus v:
Root lg optimus v phone from virgin mobile - YouTube
You might have to install drivers for your LG, but just follow the instructions in the video link beneath the video for that.
Go further after rooting and Get way better results and actually flash a recovery onto your phone and install a ROM/kernel which will get WAYY more out of your phone than the Stock Froyo you're using will get.
Here's a guide, straight from androidforums, that will take you all the way through rooting and installing a custom ROM, which I HIGHLY recommended for any android user: [Guide] How to install a custom recovery and rom - Android Forums
Also, you can tap into the full Sprint network from the pathetic Virgin Mobile network that uses only some of what Sprint offers using some fairly simple methods. But I'm pretty sure its illegal so... go find it yourself.
RumblesUbamba
Newbie
not everybody knows how or wants to root a phone. all we want is simple advice.
Is it possible that the rom I am running (harmonia) is making my battery worse? I feel like after rooting and flashing the rom, the battery has gone bad :/. It goes to 70% after 4 hours of NO use (8-12 because I am working nonstop)
Upon checking the battery status, it says 50% of the battery is gone due to cell standby, with another 50% being gone due to phone idle.
Upon checking the battery status, it says 50% of the battery is gone due to cell standby, with another 50% being gone due to phone idle.
I doubt a ROM can ruin a battery, but software could potentially cause it to drain faster (OR report the battery life wrong). Restoring to a pre-root state might be a good experiment in your case. Sounds like you got problems.