Wifi Icon keeps turning to white and orange within seconds - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all,
I am getting a strange issue with my Google Play services and GCM_Reconnect wakelock.
My wifi icon keeps changing from white to orange within seconds and this creates lots of GCM_Reconnect wakelocks and eats my battery too much.
I tried to go deeper to see what exactly it's happening but other than watching few connecting and disconnected errors I couldn't find any relative helpful information to sort it out and searching didn't provide me any info about this specific issue too. I tried google as well as xda too.
If I disable my wifi, my phone is fine and these wakelocks doesn't occur anymore but as soon as I activate my wifi, these wakelocks come back and wifi icons start going from white to orange and white and then orange thus showing how aggressively my phone connects and disconnects with google servers.
I couldn't find a reason to this or how to sort it out, any help is greatly appreciated.
PS. I have removed every kind of restriction through Privacy guard but no positive result.
Thank you.

how did you get to the screen that shows the "Ping, Connect, Disconnect, Events"?

I'll explain something but you have to apply it to your situation.
These apps you can get that protect privacy, control wakelocks, control network aspects of apps, startups, processes etc etc that people claim to save battery are all, to put it in a reasonable term, crap.
They do exactly what they say they do but one thing that is never explained is that android is its own entity and will do what it does regardless of what anyone tells it to do, or not do.
An example of this would be, you run an app that changes the running status of another app. The problem is that android will always run the closed app and the app that was used to close the app will always use wakelocks to determine if the app is running or not. If it IS running the app closes it, android picks this up and runs it again so the app wakelocks and finds the app is running so closes it again. Rinse and repeat, you have a war going on in your phone!.
Android will automatically close unnecessary apps and apps you dont use or need over time. But it will ALWAYS FILL THE RAM WITH APPS. Android is natured for that.
So the be all and end all is to get rid of the apps that attempt to control your device as they are the ones responsible for the battery issues by causing app wars on your phone.
Beamed in by telepathy.

Related

[Q] phone process priority

Is it possible to raise the process priority for the phone app? I've noticed that when the processor is under heavy load and I try to place a call it can take up to a minute between pressing the call button and the call to actually go through. Since this is a phone, after all, I would like the phone parts to take priority over whatever app happens to be hogging the processor at the moment. Can this be done?
Possible, probably not worth the trouble.
I've only discovered one tool that will change process priority, it is part of the SDK, which leads me to believe the process priority it written into the Java script for the program, the list of applicable code I found here. There is a somewhat easier alternative which I believe will help you with your desired end result, use the free Market app AutoKiller Memory Optimizer. It allows to control at what level of available memory the system will automatically kill a process based on the process class. The developer page has sufficiently detailed information about what each class is and there are varoius default settings as well it is fully customizable.
It seems that Autokiller Memory Optimizer came with my ROM (KaosFroyo). Any suggestions on what the optimal settings are? I see the listings on the developer website, but it seems like most people are just using the defaults (or maybe what the ROM set).
Which ROM are you on? It doesn't lag making calls on XTRSense. It is slightly overclocked and runs good.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App
KaosFroyo. I have had this lag with every ROM I've tried.
Define what you mean by a heavy load and what you are doing to make it work hard. Our phones aren't high end at all and although it does run faster on these ROMs, it still can be choked.
Sent from my Eris using XDA App
Any process that slows the phone down. Installing a new app is a common culprit. I often don't know what it's doing because it's doing it in the background.
I am more than aware of the phone's limitations, but I think that, given that it is a phone, the phone's processor scheduler should ensure that the parts that make it function as a phone get highest priority, even to the point of totally stopping other processes.
One other thing I've noticed is that the lag is often correlated with the data indicator being active. I know that on CDMA the data connection can't be active during a call, so could it be waiting for the data connection to turn off? Is there a way to make this happen faster? For some reason this happens even when the phone is on wifi, but I'm not clear on whether the 3G connection is turned off when the phone is on wifi.
shoofy123 said:
Any process that slows the phone down. Installing a new app is a common culprit. I often don't know what it's doing because it's doing it in the background.
I am more than aware of the phone's limitations, but I think that, given that it is a phone, the phone's processor scheduler should ensure that the parts that make it function as a phone get highest priority, even to the point of totally stopping other processes.
One other thing I've noticed is that the lag is often correlated with the data indicator being active. I know that on CDMA the data connection can't be active during a call, so could it be waiting for the data connection to turn off? Is there a way to make this happen faster? For some reason this happens even when the phone is on wifi, but I'm not clear on whether the 3G connection is turned off when the phone is on wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use Systempanel to see what processes are running. In my case Youtube, Maps, Google search, Pandora, and Shazam randomly start backup processes. I downloaded Autokiller to see if it keeps them ended. The only concern I have is I want to be reasonably sure it wont end the alarm process.
The thing is I don't particularly care about these processes running. Given the limited resources of the phone I think it is a fruitless task to try to keep it from ever getting slow and still enjoy all of the awesomeness of Android. I just want the actual calling parts to be able to take top priority no matter how slow the rest of the phone is running, just like most desktop OSes give the mouse high priority.

[Q] GPS Icon in the Notification Area even when it is off

Hey guys, I don;t really use GPS on my Galaxy Player 4'', but I have notices that it will all the sudden display the GPS icon in the notification area even when it is off. I have disabled GPS and the "Use wireless networks" option, but the icon will appear at least once a day and won't disappear until I reboot the device. It just keeps blinking over and over until I reboot the device.
I have noticed it drains my battery way to quick when that icon appears (uses about 10% when the deviced is locked), which is crazy because it uses about (2%) battery power when it is locked during the night and the player does not shows that GPS icon in the notification area. I have killed pretty much every single application I have been able to kill to find out what app is trying to use GPS, but the icon won't go away no matter what process I kill. I use juicedefender and it has really improve my battery life, but when that icon appears, my device still will waste about 10% battery power even when it is locked with no apps running. Cannot explained why this is happening.
Has any of you had this problem?
Thank you
Try reseting to factory default, my batttery life on galaxy 4.0 is incredible.
I've had the same problem on my 5.0. I figured out it was an app that was constantly trying to get a gps signal. Simply going into the app and the exiting out seems to solve it however. It still happens but going into the app and exiting out helps. I would try to figure out which app is constantly trying to connect and if you don't use it very frequently uninstall it.
Dampfire said:
I've had the same problem on my 5.0. I figured out it was an app that was constantly trying to get a gps signal. Simply going into the app and the exiting out seems to solve it however. It still happens but going into the app and exiting out helps. I would try to figure out which app is constantly trying to connect and if you don't use it very frequently uninstall it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Difficult to pinpoint this app.
Do anybody know any way to log what app is using (or trying to use) GPS?
I noticed this happening today. I have my notification bar hidden, so not sure how often this happens. I could make it go away by turning on GPS and GPS Test, then back off. I checked for apps that might be trying to find a location in running services, killed a couple "maybes", but the icon kept blinking. Only app I installed today was Simple Calendar Widget, but didn't see anything in it's options that would be pinging location...
I have Power Tudor that shows how much juice apps are using while you monitor them, the only app there that looked like it could be was something like "system_1025" or something like that.... nothing I could find to stop it.
Dampfire said:
I've had the same problem on my 5.0. I figured out it was an app that was constantly trying to get a gps signal. Simply going into the app and the exiting out seems to solve it however. It still happens but going into the app and exiting out helps. I would try to figure out which app is constantly trying to connect and if you don't use it very frequently uninstall it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tcat007 said:
I noticed this happening today. I have my notification bar hidden, so not sure how often this happens. I could make it go away by turning on GPS and GPS Test, then back off. I checked for apps that might be trying to find a location in running services, killed a couple "maybes", but the icon kept blinking. Only app I installed today was Simple Calendar Widget, but didn't see anything in it's options that would be pinging location...
I have Power Tudor that shows how much juice apps are using while you monitor them, the only app there that looked like it could be was something like "system_1025" or something like that.... nothing I could find to stop it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also use Simple Calendar Widget, but I don't think it's the reason.
Did you use Samsung Dive recently? I did, in order to test the ring, lock and location service provided from within Dive. The service running on device tries to establish a GPS connection even if GPS is disabled. I didn't make a location trace, only a simple location test.
After reboot GPS icon do not show up any more ...
Looks like Google Latitude might be the culprit. Try opening it and signing out of that service. Also go into "Settings" --> "Location and security" and uncheck "Use Sensor Aiding". Once I turned those off the GPS Notification went away.
What does sensor aiding do anyway? Sure doesn't help the Compass!
I had the same issue with my HTC ONE M8 I did the same process as you. Went into my settings found my battery usage and saw what was draining my battery. It was groupon. So I force stopped the app and the GPS notification went away.

Sudden Battery Drainage

I understand all these battery drain issues that the prime has been having but haven't actually had them, until now. I used to lose about 2-3% overnight but suddenly I am losing around 15% because it won't sleep. I go into the battery setting and it shows it been awake the whole time. Now I am sure if I looked around I may find a fix but it just seems a bit odd that it has just suddenly occurred. And its not a wifi drainage issue as I usually put it to sleep at power saving mode and wifi off. Just asking why?
Thanks,
I think it could be the Asus weather widget which I had set at 1 hour refresh rate.
if this just recently occured out the blue, likely a rougue app or something you recently installed. an app running in background or sync is likely the culprit.
Just put Skype on it but that's not signed in most of the time
every android tablet and phone i have does this occasionally, and those occasions are when i either play video or music. some of these media players employ a wakelock that will not disable after you put your device to sleep. sometimes a reboot will work, sometimes not. most of the times the reboot keeps it from draining. even force quitting all my media apps wouldn't work.
so basically i reboot every time i use any type media player so i don't get the drain - netflix doesn't require it, dice and just about every music player does. i'm not sure it this may be your problem, but it may be a possible solution.
I find that making sure to check the last two settings under Asus Customized Settings helps this. I was waking up in the morning to find my dock dead everyday before I checked those two settings. The only down side is when I turn the screen on and wake it up, it takes about 5-10 seconds to connect to the wifi. No biggie.
Use better battery stats and see what is causing it. I have read that skype does drain battery pretty bad. And even if you're not connected it still runs in the background at start up. Another app I would recommend is Autostarts. It allows you to disable apps at start up. I know system tuner is free and has the same functionality but I find Autostarts better. With ST, you just disable the app at start up, with Autostarts you can disable it at start up, shutdown(which some apps fire when the tab is being shut down and other system events), also other events. Like some apps fire up when you get a text, or when your connection changes etc.. I just think Autostarts has more options.
Also dev Entropy has a thread in the GS2 forums about know battery drainers. Some of it applies specifically to the GS2 but there are a bunch of general battery killers listed
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1308030
If you go to setting and battery it should show you which is using the most battery. The first one on top. If its android system, you can click on it and it will show you a list of whats been using your battery which may point you to the culprit. In my case, media was the only thing in the list. And I know if an SDcard is inside my dock it will drain battery. So after removing it the drainage went away. Havent had the drain issue since. Again yours might be different so check the battery usage.
Thanks for the feedback guys, the first thing i am gonna do is charge it up after it fell flat right up to 100% then try some suggestions. I am thinking a reboot could help it.

GPS constantly working

Hello all!
Since yesterday, when I updated the firmware of my phone, the GPS icon has been shown constantly in the notification bar. It did not use to happen before. I am afraid it might be draining more battery than needed but I don't want to turn off GPS completely as I wanted it to be "ready to use" whenever I need to use, for example, Google Maps.
Is there something I can do? How can I control which app's might be using GPS connection in every moment?
Thank you!
+1
Every once in a while I see the GPS icon light up for a couple of seconds without apparent reason. I have no auto geo locating widget or so running, which might be an obvious guess.
Edit: just noticed I had weather information enabled on the lock screen so that may be the cause.

[Q] Screen dims, but won't turn off (intermittent)

Hi, I'm running CM7.2 nightlies on an LG P999 (Canadian version of the G2x). Over the past few weeks, I've had issues where the screen will dim as it approaches the display timeout, but never turn off completely. This is intermittent, and I have yet to notice a consistent pattern. I've been searching to try to find a cause but with no luck so far. I am familiar with using BetterBatteryStats and thelike to track down issues with wakelocks and not going to sleep, but i don't know what to use/look for in this instance (ie how to identify apps that might block the screen from shutting down). Any suggestions?
Tv
tvisforme said:
Hi, I'm running CM7.2 nightlies on an LG P999 (Canadian version of the G2x). Over the past few weeks, I've had issues where the screen will dim as it approaches the display timeout, but never turn off completely. This is intermittent, and I have yet to notice a consistent pattern. I've been searching to try to find a cause but with no luck so far. I am familiar with using BetterBatteryStats and thelike to track down issues with wakelocks and not going to sleep, but i don't know what to use/look for in this instance (ie how to identify apps that might block the screen from shutting down). Any suggestions?
Tv
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend using a logcat app to try and narrow down your problems, the recently featured | AIOlog - All in One Android Logger v0.3 is an excellent tool for this job, and if you would prefer to use an app for your phone try CatLog - Logcat Reader. Now as far as what to look for look for things in the logcat that refer to package's (I.E com.android.phone) and wake-locks or changes in power states. For example if you see that a package when in use is causing a wake-lock or keeps changing the power state (It may for example be preventing the display from completely shutting off because it thinks your still using the app and thus should keep the screen on), you know that may be the culprit. If you can narrow down a list of suspected apps carefully disable or uninstall them one at a time (Be very careful if it's a system app, make a backup first), and see if this fixes your problem. Let me know if you need any help troubleshooting !

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