Urgent - KK upgrade makes screen keep processor awake !

[AM_SOS]

Hi all !

This is my first post, and I am writing because the battery consumption of my brand new Moto G is getting out of hand.

It's not even been a week since I got it (shipped with KK 4.3). Initial impressions with the usual basic apps (flashlight, gmail and other updates, notes, an office suite etc.) were very positive. I noted with some surprise that the processor seemed to be mostly in the off state (going by the Awake bar in the battery stats). All this promised a very good battery life (I am also a light user and go easy on the internet).

WIthin a couple of days I made the update to KK 4.4.2 which went off smoothly. Before making the update I had taken the precaution of performing a factory reset using the menu option. All apps were reinstalled and everything was running as smoothly as before. I then used migrate to transfer sms, phonebook, and pictures from my old samsung phone.

However, the upgrade seems to have messed up the processor and battery relationship. As you can see from the screenshots here the screen is consuming the maximum battery power. Note that this has come about despite the screen brightness being set at less than 20 % most of the time. I played around and tried to disable any extraneous apps to see if they were somehow leading to this problem. However, I was always seeing in the batt stats graph that the bars for the screen and the processor awake were moving together. In other words, DESPITE low screen brightness, the screen was consuming most power because it was KEEPING the PROCESSOR on ALL the time!

Eventually when this didn't work I factory reset the phone again and this time did not install any apps. However, the problem persists and I am now wondering if I need to take it in to the Motorola service centre.

I am attaching screenshots of the battery stats here taken a few minutes ago.

Other than this alarming issue the phone is working like a dream!

Over to the community!

Many thanks!

 

[Thom]

It came with 4.3 (Jelly Bean) and you updated to 4.4 (Kit Kat).

The Factory Data Reset that you did before the update was a waste of time.

It is HIGHLY recommended that you always to a Factory Data Reset after a major system upgrade like Jelly Bean to Kit Kat. Do it when it most convenient instead of when your back is to the wall. Probability is that you will eventually do it.

You did the Factory Data Reset after the update to Kit Kat and have this problem.

You could try running in Safe Mode (disabling all apps you added without uninstalling them) and if it goes away then it is caused by an app that you added.

If you would stake your life on the fact that you have not installed ANY apps and are having the problem ... if it was mine ... I would be standing in the carrier's store to get it evaluated/replaced.

... Thom

 

[AM_SOS]

Thanks for the quick reply Thom!

Are you saying that I am facing this problem because I waited a little before doing the factory reset after installing KK 4.4.2 ?

I did indeed install the usual light apps right after and used the phone for a day. But I soon realised that the processor was constantly on (as long as the screen was on). I then did another factory reset and then did not install any apps (not even the chrome update).

Even then the battery consumption is quite high. It's obvious that this is because every time the screen comes on, the processor starts up too (doesn't matter even if the phone is lying unused but lit). The processor switches off soon as the backlight switches off and the phone goes to standby.

Note that I have used the screen at 20 % brightness for most of the time !

Also note that before the upgrade it even when I was using chrome, the "awake" section in the battery graph would rarely show any activity.

Would it work if I tried reinstalling KK again or do I need to have the technician check it out?

Thanks!

 

[breadnatty08]

I don't see any problems. Screen generally consumes the most amount of battery to begin with. I've not noticed any issues with mine since upgrading to KK; battery life is pretty great before/after.

 

[AM_SOS]

Thanks breadnatty08,
I see what you mean. But I l've just gone ahead and am using my phone normally now
i.e. brightness at 20 pc or so, emailing on chrome and a few other sites, text msg, and about 10 mins of calls.
I notice straightaway that the battery drain is much higher than what it used to be before the upgrade.
The moment I took it off the charger and sent some msgs I could see the battery drop down to 97 pc really fast.
Wondering if someone can say something about the battery consumption rates of 4.3 and 4.4.2 ?

 

[unnamedny]

switch it to ARM compiler. Its in Developer options. Few apps might now work but battery should improve dramatically. There might be some apps conflicting with KitKat.

 

[Thom]

I don't see any problems. Screen generally consumes the most amount of battery to begin with. I've not noticed any issues with mine since upgrading to KK; battery life is pretty great before/after.

Thanks ... I was tired ... yes pretty normal.

This is down 20% after 7+ hours. If linear it would go 36 hours (1.5 days) at this rate. After it "settles in" it will go longer.

... Thom

 

[breadnatty08]

switch it to ARM compiler. Its in Developer options. Few apps might now work but battery should improve dramatically. There might be some apps conflicting with KitKat.

Forgot this is something I HAVE done after the update just for kicks. Can't say it's a huge improvement in opening apps (as it was "intended" to be).
To the OP, give it a shot; it takes a bit of time to transfer from Dalvik, but may be worth it. If you need help on making the change, shout!

 

[Ubercharrge]

If you JUST upgraded it might take the battery a couple of days before it calibrates to its correct state. The only thing i find strange is that, should you downgrade back to Jellybean after upgrading to KitKat, your battery percentage goes back to 100% even though you were at about ~30-60% on KitKat.

 

[AM_SOS]

Thanks all for your replies!
I have come across the bit about switching over to ART, but I am keeping that for the future. I just want to be satisfied first that the upgrade I made has not messed up the phone etc.

On the subject of battery percentages I also remembered something that I had neglected to mention earlier. While upgrading I had the phone plugged in and must have had it at the mid way mark when I finished the upgrade.

Right afterwards despite having left the phone sufficient time to charge fully I was surprised to find that the battery showed only 51 pc.

I have since put in 2 more charge discharge cycles am there are some signs that the backup may improve.

In any case I thought I would share this with you in light of the comment about shifting back snd forth between KK and JB.

Thanks!

PS - I had assumed that it's not possible to go back to an earlier version after a firmware update. But looks like that it is indeed possible ???

 

[unnamedny]

It should be possible, you neeed to check over xda forums, they have far more resources on that. Myself I don't want to go back to JB I have 2 devices on Kk noe and only issue i had so far is Flash player.