Help Phone Has Slowed Dramatically

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

BTG, I got it from the market in maybe July or August. It's Factory Reset Mate, and tonight when I read your post I find that it's no longer on the market. If someone could tell me how to post a copy out of my phone, I'd be glad to do it. (The phone isn't rooted.) When I got it I was running AVG and since have changed to Lookout and both scanned it and deemed it "safe".

Strange how they remove different apps.
I've seen it before, but I'm not sure what there reasoning is.
I've been trying to get ahold of BetterKeyboard forever,
but the Market removed it and all I can find is a paid version on Amazon.
Wish someone would offer up a registration key or something like that.
Guess I'm outa luck on these 2.
Awe well...break out the pen and paper.

I also run an app called Watchdog Lite that sounds an alert when an app is "misbehaving", defined as chewing up more than 50% processor. It trips when Lookout is doing its weekly scan. Interestingly, it has also tripped several times since Sunday when the home process was trying to melt the processor down.

I think I'll try Watchdog out for sure, as I'm now most likely
going to be forced into a hard reset.
Now my phone is really burning through the battery for no reason at all.
I could normally charge it every other day because I'm a pretty light user,
but now I'm having to charge it EVERYDAY, and almost had to charge it TWICE yesterday.
Something in there has to be F'd up.
Maybe some sort of malware twas attached to something else.
I didn't start having the battery problem until I had installed the apps for
THIS FORUM and DROID FORUM.
I uninstalled both so I don't know for certain who the culprit was,
but it was THIS FORUM'S app that was constantly using an ass load of RAM
for no reason at all, even when the app was not in use.

 

[runsondiesel]

Well I think I found the home screen lag culprit. In the g'z gear settings is one called G Switch (g spot?) that enables switching tools by shaking. Today I remembered that I turned that on. Turned it off and now there's no home screen lag. It also boots up without crashing if I touch it.

Thanks for the tip on GO launcher. No snap out menu and its obnoxious noise. Plus all the customization. THANKS!

I also found Opera Link. I had Opera on my laptop, but don't use it so now I can sync the bookmarks on the commando to the pc. Excellent!

Please post the performance of the 1800 battery when you get a feel for it.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Well I think I found the home screen lag culprit. In the g'z gear settings is one called G Switch (g spot?) that enables switching tools by shaking. Today I remembered that I turned that on. Turned it off and now there's no home screen lag. It also boots up without crashing if I touch it.

Thanks for the tip on GO launcher. No snap out menu and its obnoxious noise. Plus all the customization. THANKS!

I also found Opera Link. I had Opera on my laptop, but don't use it so now I can sync the bookmarks on the commando to the pc. Excellent!

Please post the performance of the 1800 battery when you get a feel for it.

Gspot....

Glad you found your lagging problem, I haven't yet.
I tried out WatchDog, thanks btw.
It beeped at me today and said the Android Home something or another
had misbehaved.
Well...NO SH*T!
It's obviousley telling me what I already know and that's about it,
BUT - It's also showing me that nothing else is causing the problem.
(at least nothing IT is finding anyways)
I also used AVG, everything was cool there too.
The only thing left to do IS a hard reset imo.

About the Mugen battery:
You might want to keep your money in your pocket just a bit longer.
So far I'm not impressed with this thing at all.
I'm DEFINITELY NOT getting the good week long results that Eltee posted.
(at least not yet)
I charged it up yesterday afternoon, barley used the phone at all
yesterday or last night, then used the phone as I normally would today.
My battery is at 19% right now.
Not much of an improvement if you ask me.
ESPECIALLY not for $50!

I also understand that the battery needs to be cycled
a few times before it will hold maximum charge.
That said...I'll report back on the matter in probably about a week.
If nothing changes, I would call it a waste of money.
At least it would be too me.

I think Cebreze had posted some good results with his,
but I can't remember quite what he said.
You may want to ask him because I don't want to misspeak on his behalf.
Nonetheless, I know he's not getting a week out of 1 charge either.
I'm not implying that Eltee was lying in his post whatsoever,
I just think that it really matters on how we each use our phones,
and what all we have or don't have running.
He said he was a pretty light user.
I consider myself to be a light user as well,
that's why I probably expected more out of this thing.
Maybe I use this thing more than I thought.
The 1 thing for me that I'm sure uses more juice is how I browse the web.
I would say that 80% of my web use is being used over various WI-FI
networks.
I know that sucks more power than just using the standard 3G.
How much more.....who knows????

 

[cbreze]

Please post the performance of the 1800 battery when you get a feel for it.

Here's my take on the battery. By the numbers it's only 340mAh larger capacity. that's 18% more juice per charge. With the oem I would usually need to park it on the cradle off and on as I come and go thru out the day. Did I really need to do it that much? Probably not, but I have a couple cradles and it was easy when they were handy.
I'd much prefer to just charge over nite and be done with it till the next nite, so I'd be good all day. I can do that with the 1800. No worries, so the peace of mind for me was worth the price.
If eltee could go around a week, he is truely a very light user. I would not have even worried about battery life at all if I were he and saved my money.
Having come from a previous phone with the same scenerio and upping to an 1800 I pretty much knew what I was getting into. I'd be able to go a whole day on a single charge and no worries. Thats exactly what I got, so I'm very pleased and feel I got something good for my cash.
So Bottom line for anybody asking themselves whether or not should they get the bigger battery,,,,, Do I want to pay $45 for 18% more juice? If that deal sounds good then go for it. I'm happy with mine and I knew going in it was an 18% increase and that's just what I needed to get me by on a single daily charge. I have only charged it fully twice now so it may even get a bit better over the next week or so as batteries usually do.

 

[cbreze]

The 1 thing for me that I'm sure uses more juice is how I browse the web.
I would say that 80% of my web use is being used over various WI-FI
networks.
I know that sucks more power than just using the standard 3G.
How much more.....who knows????

I'm not an authority at all regarding wifi and how much juice it uses, but I've read a lot and what I hear from alot of folks is that their own experiences with wifi is to leave it on all the time because it takes less power than 3G. Yeah, I know this sounds whacked out, but tons of people swear by this, so before you dismiss it as BS, maybe take another look at it. Possibly something else you have going on is eating into your power reserves. Just sayin'...
FWIW, I only use wifi when 3G isn't available, simply because I think 3G is as fast or faster than most wifi's. The typical coffee shop wifi is slower than snot running downhill. Used to be wifi was quick, not so much anymore.

 

[bduemig]

I'm not an authority at all regarding wifi and how much juice it uses, but I've read a lot and what I hear from alot of folks is that their own experiences with wifi is to leave it on all the time because it takes less power than 3G. Yeah, I know this sounds whacked out, but tons of people swear by this, so before you dismiss it as BS, maybe take another look at it. Possibly something else you have going on is eating into your power reserves. Just sayin'...
FWIW, I only use wifi when 3G isn't available, simply because I think 3G is as fast or faster than most wifi's. The typical coffee shop wifi is slower than snot running downhill. Used to be wifi was quick, not so much anymore.

I have found just the opposite. With wifi on, I have to charge almost every night. Without it, it would be about every other or every third night (I never wait that long though).

 

[cbreze]

I have found just the opposite. With wifi on, I have to charge almost every night. Without it, it would be about every other or every third night (I never wait that long though).

Yeah, I know , I've always been kind of skeptical as to claims people make. It's not only individual usage that comes into play, but also the type of device and platform one is using. Bottom line re wifi for me tho is it's not that fast compared to 3G and 4G probably beats it everytime. Of course if one needs to save data usage then wifi makes great sense. For charging frequency, just get me thru one full day on a single charge and I'm very satisfied.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

I'm not an authority at all regarding wifi and how much juice it uses, but I've read a lot and what I hear from alot of folks is that their own experiences with wifi is to leave it on all the time because it takes less power than 3G. Yeah, I know this sounds whacked out, but tons of people swear by this, so before you dismiss it as BS, maybe take another look at it. Possibly something else you have going on is eating into your power reserves. Just sayin'...
FWIW, I only use wifi when 3G isn't available, simply because I think 3G is as fast or faster than most wifi's. The typical coffee shop wifi is slower than snot running downhill. Used to be wifi was quick, not so much anymore.

Honestly I do think that's BS,
because that's the way I've been using my devise for a while now.
I know I was getting more time when I was just using the 3G.

I'm glad you said that (along with bduemig's statement)
because it's now got me thinking more about that end of things.
I can't say for certain yet, but if I remember correctly, when I
started having these battery issues IS right around the same time
that I started leaving my WIFI on constantly.
I didn't think much about it then because that's also the same time
period that the phone started acting up and lagging.
I thought the battery was being sucked dry due to something
I installed and had running as well.
Those apps are gone now,
and I'm still having the battery issue.
The constant WIFI could very well be the battery problem.
There's only one way to find out.
I'm going to shut that off tonight and tomorrow and see how it goes.
The only reason that I use it IS because it really cuts down on my data usage.
...and I agree 100% that 3G is just as fast as what I've been using.
Possibly a tad faster.
I don't have a very fast connection though.
High Speed yes....but still nothing to rave about.

I'm also going to go ahead a do a hard reset tonight because
I still can't locate what's causing the phone to lag.
Leaving it on did help some, but didn't correct the problem.
Something has to be jacked up in there somewhere.
Hopefully the reset will solve the problem.
We'll see.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

On another subject:
Has anyone had problems transferring contacts with this
devise via BT to a vehicle system?

I have a Pioneer HU in mine with the BT adapter for hands free use.
Both my Envy Touch and my Casio G'zone Rock transferred contacts
just fine and work flawlessly with it.
The Commando doesn't.
I contacted Verizon a while back about this and a tech walked me
through some ass backwards BS on backing up the contacts to the
SD card first, then doing the transfer, then putting back on the phone.
Yeah...doing it that way finally sent them over, BUT they ended up
being in RANDOM order on my HU.
That's obviously useless because it would take you forever to find
the contact that you want to call.
Since then I erased it and wanted to start fresh in hopes of getting them transferred correctly,
but I still haven't found a way.

Pioneer was no help either.
They said it's a problem with the phone of course.
Which it very well may be...but still no help.

 

[runsondiesel]

I'm afraid I can't help you with the BT problem (that's bluetooth, not Blacktooth) . My hands free is factory installed Honda. After I paired it with the commando, I initiated the contacts transfer from the Honda system and it did its thing from there.

On the battery idea, I'm good with charging every night. I did that with my Casio Rock, even though it would go a day and a half. I'd just like to make it to night on the day's charge. One difference is I didn't play BubbleBlast and Angry Birds on the Rock. Nor did I do near as much web surfing and emailing because the browser (Opera Mini) and email app were capability limited. Those who can use this phone and go multiple days must use it WAY less than I do. My usage stats range ~250 texts a month, 300 voice mins and 1.8 to 2.2 gb of data. I also spend most days in a low signal area.

I'm no electrical engineer, but it would make sense to me that if wifi is the stronger signal that it would be less of a drain on the battery than 3G. I use the 3G pretty much exclusively because I prefer to have my connections not go through my employer's network/wifi. I also bought the Commando outright (I wasn't due for an upgrade) just before the tiered data came in so that I kept unlimited data. My upgrade became available 4 days after the tiered data went into effect. Nothing that money can't solve, right?

-David

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

I'm afraid I can't help you with the BT problem (that's bluetooth, not Blacktooth) .

Maybe that's what is wrong....
I'm using Blacktooth with Bluetooth.
Still can't get it transferring correctly.
Its very aggravating when a basic phone can do things better than a "smart" phone.

(I wasn't due for an upgrade) just before the tiered data came in so that I kept unlimited data. My upgrade became available 4 days after the tiered data went into effect. Nothing that money can't solve, right?

Man...that would really piss me off too.
I can't believe you actually shelled out the 5 bones for this thing.
You must have really wanted this phone David.
I can't judge though.
I paid full retail for the Rock.
Only reason was because they were just doing away with them
and replacing it with the Ravine.
I didn't like the Ravine AT ALL.
I still think they went a step backwards with that model,
but that's just me.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

I did the factory reset.
It took care of the lag altogether.
Now we'll see if it comes back with the apps that I install.

So far I only have Apps2SD, Astro, Launcher Pro and Go Keyboard in there
and things are running fine.
I went to install my favorite messaging app (handcent)
and found that the market removed it.
Jerks.
I was able to download the APK from thier website, but
I'm still trying to locate a copy of the "darkness" skin.
If anyone has the file, or knows where I can get it, gimme a shout.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

Never mind...I found it.
Here are the links just in case anyone else is looking for them:

Handcent sms HomePage --sms plus software for android

Handcent SMS Skin(Darkness).apk - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download

 

[yugostud1]

I had the same problem and tried fixing it via the solutions presented but got nowhere fast. Then I went into Manage Applications, All tab, and found the application "Home". I cleared the data and it seemed that fixed it!!

Now when you do this and then push home to go home it will give you a couple of errors and I chose "Force Close" twice. Then it will revert back to the stock crappy scattered layout like when I first got it from Verizon. All you gotta do then is re-make your home layout shortcuts, widgets and all (Important thing is if you had the "Memo" widget with stuff written in it; it will delete it all so make sure you back this up somehow).

This way you don't have to mess around with factory reset and lose all your data. I just hate that there are no options to prevent this (I think the home system file just gets tossed around in the ram and the phone has a hard time fetching it when you go back to the home screen).

These things are computers, allow me to work on them like computers!!!

 

[kb0nly]

Texting a lot??

I know when i get a few threads around the 200 mark and it starts dumping older messages to keep going the phone will slow to a crawl. Deleting all the threads clears it up and phone speeds right back up.

 

[BLACKTOOTHGRIN]

I had the same problem and tried fixing it via the solutions presented but got nowhere fast. Then I went into Manage Applications, All tab, and found the application "Home". I cleared the data and it seemed that fixed it!!

Now when you do this and then push home to go home it will give you a couple of errors and I chose "Force Close" twice. Then it will revert back to the stock crappy scattered layout like when I first got it from Verizon. All you gotta do then is re-make your home layout shortcuts, widgets and all (Important thing is if you had the "Memo" widget with stuff written in it; it will delete it all so make sure you back this up somehow).

This way you don't have to mess around with factory reset and lose all your data. I just hate that there are no options to prevent this (I think the home system file just gets tossed around in the ram and the phone has a hard time fetching it when you go back to the home screen).

These things are computers, allow me to work on them like computers!!!

Nice find man.
That's alot quicker than doing a hard reset.
Has doing that caused any other errors that you have found?

I've been lucky so far after the reset with devise speed.
Hope it continues, but it ever starts screwing up like it did before,
I'll give this a shot.

 

[yugostud1]

Nice find man.
That's alot quicker than doing a hard reset.
Has doing that caused any other errors that you have found?

I've been lucky so far after the reset with devise speed.
Hope it continues, but it ever starts screwing up like it did before,
I'll give this a shot.

No errors so far, I also don't know if this is ok to do with a phone that you purchased elsewhere (not Verizon).

Phone is running good so far, knock on wood.

 

[tikibeast]

Texting a lot??

I know when i get a few threads around the 200 mark and it starts dumping older messages to keep going the phone will slow to a crawl. Deleting all the threads clears it up and phone speeds right back up.

This very well may be one of my problems, I'm not big on talking but I'll text all day long so I tend to have a large number of threads going, fortunately the home reset seems to have solved my slow problem.