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Root Harmonia battery life expectations?

sushifor5

sushifor5

Android Enthusiast
I've long read that Harmonia provides excellent battery life, which was one reason I chose it as my first custom ROM...my stock battery life was awful, to the degree that my OV was running out of juice unbeknownst to me and shutting down, even after 8 hours and NOT being used...

So, I'm trying to read and decipher what kind of battery life I should expect on Harmonia. I know apps make a difference on battery life, as does phone use habits. Can anyone give me a range of hours that I should expect to see (in general)?

I have android assistant, but never used a task killer (had read they weren't a good idea). What things might I control to improve my battery life? Do I need to change some app settings (like what is running on start up, running constantly in background, etc)? Would love input. TIA!
 
I'm not sure about the newest version, but with the right CPU speeds you should get a day, day and a half.
 
What are the right cpu speeds?

sorry, i just saw your recommendation in my other thread about looking at the harmonia thread to read about cpu...i've been perusing it, trying to understand it....
 
Most custom ROM'S the sweet spot is right around 768MHz Max and 480MHz min.
I not sure if the newest Harmonia version is capable of that max speed.
Try it and if it auto reboots back down one CPU setting. One other thing,when playing with the CPU speeds don't use the apply at boot setting. This way if the speeds a little to high and it reboots,it won't stay in a boot loop which is a pain to get it out of. I know because I did it.

EDIT: Just read bigsupersquids post. I think he explained it better.
 
I'm looking at LeslieAnn's Harmonia details and she says:

CPU set to interactive, max speed is 864 (requires an overclock utility to exceed stock speeds)

and in my other thread, squid says 480/787 ...

I have no idea what that stuff means yet, LOL, but am in the process of reading about overclocking and underclocking so that I can learn and resist asking needless questions of you patient people!! LOL :)

So far, I think I get that you go high for speed and go low to save battery...the rest is still beyond my ken. ;)
 
Actually this is not the case with these custom ROM'S. Yes the more you overclock the smother your phone might get and smoother games will play. If you go to high you will start having problems with force closures and reboots, and the battery getting too hot.
If you go real low you would think that you would get better battery life. Not so.
The tested and proven sweet spot for the best battery off charge times and the coolest battery temperatures are right around 768MHz max-480MHz min.
The minimum is were the phone idles so too high of a min will cause the battery to drain faster and run hotter. HEAT IS THE ENEMY OF ALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES.

My sweet spot with the BACKside is 787MHz-480MHz. When I go to bed I make sure everything is turned off but the phone is left on(screen off). If I go to bed with the battery at 100%, when I wake up the battery is at 100%. That's after a good 8 hours of sleep.
If I stay on the internet I can get 5-6 hours on a battery charge. This is better than the laptop I had.
 
AndyOpie150 said:
Actually this is not the case with these custom ROM'S. Yes the more you overclock the smother your phone might get and smoother games will play. If you go to high you will start having problems with force closures and reboots, and the battery getting too hot.
If you go real low you would think that you would get better battery life. Not so.
The tested and proven sweet spot for the best battery off charge times and the coolest battery temperatures are right around 768MHz max-480MHz min.
The minimum is were the phone idles so too high of a min will cause the battery to drain faster and run hotter. HEAT IS THE ENEMY OF ALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES.

My sweet spot with the BACKside is 787MHz-480MHz. When I go to bed I make sure everything is turned off but the phone is left on(screen off). If I go to bed with the battery at 100%, when I wake up the battery is at 100%. That's after a good 8 hours of sleep.
If I stay on the internet I can get 5-6 hours on a battery charge. This is better than the laptop I had.
Click to expand...


That's great info, thanks!

Question: when you say at night you turned everything off, not phone, yes screen, how do you do that?

Thx again!

Ps...i already noticed better battery b/c my phone has been on for 12ish hrs so far & has 50% battery.
 
I use widgets to control all functions that I don't want to have to access by digging into the settings.
I turn off auto sync,WiFi,Bluetooth, Data connection, and GPS. Then turn off screen. I can still receive calls but the phone goes into a deep sleep mode. I only turn these functions on when I need them to conserve power. I also manage my screen brightness to just what is needed to see the screen clearly.
 
Good tips, Andy.

My normal operation with my phone is to keep off the bluetooth, wifi, autosync and gps...i just keep the 3G connection active...I don't need the others normally (no wifi here anyway, LOL).

When you say you turn screen off, are you doing something in a setting to do so? I just tap the power button and my screen goes to sleep, but maybe that's not what you mean?

Thx!!
 
OK, CPU clocking speed question...can't find this info out by doing google search, LOL...

1) How do I know where my CPU speed is currently clocked? some way to see that on my phone?

2) ben, do you have a CPU speed recommendation for using adobe flash on the OV? i'm going to look at trying to install flash today/tonight. Which reminds me of a question...when i do the download/install of the apk you showed me, how does that show up on my phone? will it be an app i need to turn on or will it just become part of the software and run in the background? i don't know if i even know what i'm talking about, LOL!!
 
Yes, I just turn screen off by tapping power button. Sorry. Sometimes I have a tendency to state the obvious because I'm used to dealing with new members that don't know anything about there phones.
Sorry.
 
Don't apologize, not a problem... I just ask so many questions to be thorough so I feel I understand things before trying them...your description made sense to me. Thanks!
 
In case benslgdroid doesn't get back to you before the desire to install Adobe over takes you. Download apk and move to root of sd card. Tap on it and an option to install(along with a couple of other options)will appear.
You can delete the apk from the sd card or move it to a folder once Adobe has installed. I leave my phone at 787-480. You will have to experiment with governors to see which works the best with the ROM, Browser,and Adobe.
 
I run at 844 but can also run at 805. I wouldn't start at 844 as I've learned it seems to be a rarity to run that high. Start at 787 like Andy says. Also CPU is stock at 600 max 280 min
 
Adobe acts as a plug in for your browser, just like on your Mac. Any speed where your phone runs smooth ought to do the trick. For example, I'm running at 787/480 and flash videos run fine. I don't play flash games, I can't comment on that.
 
brotherswing said:
Adobe acts as a plug in for your browser, just like on your Mac. Any speed where your phone runs smooth ought to do the trick. For example, I'm running at 787/480 and flash videos run fine. I don't play flash games, I can't comment on that.
Click to expand...


I don't game, just want videos, so I appreciate the feedback!
 
sushifor5 said:
I've long read that Harmonia provides excellent battery life, which was one reason I chose it as my first custom ROM...my stock battery life was awful, to the degree that my OV was running out of juice unbeknownst to me and shutting down, even after 8 hours and NOT being used...
Click to expand...

No one can really predict your battery life due to the variables, however, as you already saw, battery life is much improved over stock and you should have no trouble making it through the day. This should be the case with most roms, Harmonia is just a little better. The stock rom really is pathetic. Granted, roms, especially Harmonia, do have some extra tweaks that help, but the stock rom's included apps are just murder on battery life.

Here is how bad the stock rom really is.
Harmonia at 600mhz is equal to the stock rom running at 800. The stock rom needs to run at 950mhz to keep up with Harmonia at 748mhz. Even with that speed, Harmonia nearly doubles the battery life. It's all about efficiency, and the stock rom just isn't.



AndyOpie150 gave a good description of the overclock. The 480 minimum has been settled on as pretty much the best all around setting, start there for any OV rom. For high, the general rule is 2 steps below where your phone is stable. If it runs perfect or only has a very rare FC, use 748 as your max. The reason being is errors may still be happening but not severe enough to cause an FC. The phone still has to deal with them and dropping down a little allows it to avoid that. Most phones are good at 748, but some need a notch lower. Very few can truly run at 806 100% problem free.
 
Nailed it. Also be aware, not all ROMs use the same method of overclocking. If you aren't sure for your ROM, ask it's dev. I didn't know this until very recently, and come to find out my phone had been running at a fraction of it's potential for the past four months. I had never noticed, because that was still better than stock. After I learned this valuable lesson, my phone is zipping right along where is used to bog down and lag. Makes me fall in love with my OV all over again!
 
Thanks everyone...I'm understanding the clocking issue a bit more after reading your input here and also some articles online...but, I'm still unclear on how to set up my "No Frills CPU" app settings...I did read the developers description of governor and I/O, but I'm sorry, I don't get it...

You all are my go to people and you explain things really well, so can someone give me a brief "dummy" explanation of governor and I/O and advise what settings I should be using and why?

As always, TIA!!!!
 
I/O settings is a little deep into Terra Incognito for a simple explanation (at least from me). The governors, on the other hand, I can explain. Governors are built into the kernel at the time it is compiled (think Ikea but with software). They are options that need to be selected at the time it's "put together". Therefore the kernel in your ROM determines what governors you have available to use. The job of the governors is to manage the CPU (speed, voltage, etc.) You CPU has a clock speed, and a multiplier. The clock (a tiny crystal in the CPU core) is the heartbeat of the system. The multiplier determines the actual processing speed. For example, a chip with a 75mhz clock and a multiplier of 4 would run at 300mhz. The governors handle how the chip switches between multipliers, and when.

I think this is right, if anybody has more light to shed...?
 
That was a pretty good explanation of how the governor works.
Any idea as to which on would be best for sushifor5's needs. It sounds like she is more into multitasking and streaming videos, than playing games.
I've used noop before when I was experimenting with a kernel tweak script, but deadline seemed to work on Harmonia just fine(my perspective only) as far as the scheduler is concerned.

Sushifor5.
As far as the rest goes, just touch the grey box next to the min and max and scroll to the speed you want and select.
I like interactive for multitasking, but something else might fit your needs better. This means you will actually have to experiment.
As long as you never check the apply at boot box you will be ok. Once you get everything were you want it(and it's working with no random reboots) then you can check it if you want.
I personally don't because I'm constantly experimenting with one thing or the other.
 
I use BACKside, so I couldn't really give an opinion for Harmonia. I use smartASS, but I don't even know if that is an option for her.
 
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