Power Hero 1.17 & the fast drain option (Glen Phenomenon)

[DanIsHere]

With the Power Hero 1.17 beta came a "fast drain" option as a start to diagnose and stop the Treo 680 "Glen Phenomenon" as discussed in the links below.

We have to help each other on this one because I don't own a Treo 680 for which this problem is unique (Other devices with fast drain? - This may explain it http://wiki.hobbyistsoftware.com/wiki/Power_hero_issues#The_Power_Hero_Auto-Off_options_aren.27t_working).

The feature in PH 1.17 (Power Saver button -> Miscellaneous tab, available only on the 680) is pretty simple. When the following things are true

- Phone is on
- Not on a phone call
- Unplugged
- Screen off, specifically in the REM Sleep or Sleep state

Every 2 minutes PH checks the power usage over the past 2 minutes and if over the mA value you specify PH power cycles the phone. Already I can tell this strategy isn't going to work because a) the GP is not as big of a power drainer as I originally thought, and b) apps that do things on schedules, such as check email, throw off this simple logic.

For the next release I think I add an option to log your power usage every 5 minutes. This option would be independent of power cycling the phone and I'll enable it for all devices. By doing this I think we can all gain some knowledge by having these entries along side the other PH entries and hopefully we'll see a pattern stand out.

Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Links

Glen's post http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=135642&page=5

"Possible New PH feature ?" http://mytreo.net/forum/index.php/topic,58746.0.html

"Rapid and prolonged battery drain induced by GSM activity. The Glen Phenomenon." http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=138460&highlight=glen

[Ben]

Every 5 minutes should be more than enough UNLESS one is in a signal handicapped area. I can state that my 700P and Centro do not  have this problem and we are in an area where part of the place is in a weak signal location. Ben

[palmerl]

Greetings,

The drain that I have experienced is much greater than the 35ma stated as the "GP"

When it is in progress the Treo actually feels warm to the touch and is what initially alerted me.
I am sure that is more than 35ma over normal drain.  And as I stated previously the % drop is huge.

I think the log idea is great, with enough people maybe it can be sorted out.

Incidently, I have the "phone cycle" set to 125ma and it hasn't gone over that since installed.
I don't have a lot of background stuff going on.

Regards,
Larry

[calendar]

Greetings!

For the next release I think I add an option to log your power usage every 5 minutes.

Great! Please do. :-)
This should be really helpful.
I am able to reliably reproduce the fast drain issue (TGP), so we should be able to gather some data.

Ciao!

[Breadheater]

I have a Centro and have experienced a fast drain phenomenon on a handful of occasions.  During these times, the battery actually feels warm.  I have no idea what the cause is, or how to reproduce it.

Under normal circumstances (Network and Infrared off, others on, screen at 50%), Power Hero reports a drain of 160-200mA.  During the fast drain condition, the network is on and I see a sustained 400-500mA drain.  It's almost like the network won't idle.  Disconnecting the network (temporarily?) fixes it.

Any chance the Glen settings will be able to monitor and do something about my issue?

[DanIsHere]

Greetings!

Great! Please do. :-)
This should be really helpful.
I am able to reliably reproduce the fast drain issue (TGP), so we should be able to gather some data.

Ciao!

Testing it now. I agree it should be really useful...wish I added it sooner. It should be in beta by the end of this week.

Dan

[DanIsHere]

I have a Centro and have experienced a fast drain phenomenon on a handful of occasions.  During these times, the battery actually feels warm.  I have no idea what the cause is, or how to reproduce it.

Under normal circumstances (Network and Infrared off, others on, screen at 50%), Power Hero reports a drain of 160-200mA.  During the fast drain condition, the network is on and I see a sustained 400-500mA drain.  It's almost like the network won't idle.  Disconnecting the network (temporarily?) fixes it.

Any chance the Glen settings will be able to monitor and do something about my issue?

Yikes, that's really high! I don't think you're experiencing the GP effect as it is a 680 specific problem. That's how I understand it at least. This thread http://mytreo.net/forum/index.php/topic,59008.0.html mentioned that the Sprint Beta Email app causes a fast drain. Are you using it?

Dan

[Breadheater]

I remember seeing some articles about that email app.  But, unfortunately, no, I'm not using it.  So far, it's a mystery.  If ever I figure this out, I'll post it here.

[LeszekW]

Hi,

if I need to write down PIN after phone ON is no chance to use this option?

[DavidEBSmith]

Yikes, that's really high! I don't think you're experiencing the GP effect as it is a 680 specific problem. That's how I understand it at least.

I dunno if it's the so-called GP effect, but I've seen a couple of rapid power drains on my 755p.

The last time, I had been using Google Maps, and left the network connected. No calls (so it wasn't from letting the call disconnect and not hitting the red button like the GP people believe to be), no email checks, no Bluetooth, no infrared, but within a couple of hours, it was down about 20% in battery level and the battery was warm. The buttons were real laggy and the key lights were flickery. I did a soft reset and that cured the lag problem, and a few hours later, there was only about a 2% drop in battery level. Interestingly, BatteryGraph showed a extremely long ON period for that day.

I've seen the rapid power drains maybe twice on other occasions. One time, I was using Google Maps, and about 6 hours later, the battery was completely dead. Another time, I just happened to notice that the battery was extremely warm and BatteryGraph was dropping almost as I watched. I have no idea what led up to that one, but at that time I did have the Sprint Email app installed (I've since removed it).

The only non-ROM app hooked into the REMq notification is AudioGateway. The times I've seen the power drains, Bluetooth has been off, so I don't think that's where the problem is. Something is preventing it from sleeping, but who knows what.

[DanIsHere]

I remember seeing some articles about that email app.  But, unfortunately, no, I'm not using it.  So far, it's a mystery.  If ever I figure this out, I'll post it here.

Okay. Next beta of PH will include an option to log drain rate every 5 minutes. The entries are mixed in with the other PH log entries, so I'm hopeful this will help all of us diagnose problems like this.

Dan

[DanIsHere]

Hi,

if I need to write down PIN after phone ON is no chance to use this option?

We'll see. I ordered a 680 today so I hopefully can reproduce the GP effect. I don't know how this feature will end up because I don't think it works very well today. Maybe I can find a different way of stopping the GP.

Dan

[tymeRock]

i have a 755p, i don't know if this will help with the battery drain but what i notice on my 755 is when i had install Astraware games like Astraware Solitaire and Astraware Casino my battery drain a lot faster without me playing the games.

[Treo Musketeers]

Hi Dan,

While I cannot attest to the Glenn Effect on the 680, I can state that all models of Treo, including the Centro have had issues with rapid loss of battery power.  While I believe the Glenn Effect is probably caused by something unique, I would ask that you not ignore the rest of us, who don't have a 680.  It would be nice to have an application that can not only detect rapid battery loss, but also identify the cause, and possibly quarantine the app (if caused by an app) that causes it, until attention can be given to it.  I love Power Hero, but I don't believe that it goes far enough in its uses, at least not in this regard.  Thanks.

Stu

[DanIsHere]

i have a 755p, i don't know if this will help with the battery drain but what i notice on my 755 is when i had install Astraware games like Astraware Solitaire and Astraware Casino my battery drain a lot faster without me playing the games.

Okay, strange that a game would cause faster drain. If you have PH check the log for "Sleep" entries. I don't want to point the finger at Astraware without proof but maybe their apps keep your Treo in REM sleep.

Dan