HH1/HH3: Very poor signal hammers battery?

[Guest Geronymous]

I know a number of people have reported fast battery drain with HH1/HH3, while others (myself included) have found it absolutely fine.

Now, this weekend I have been in an area of very weak reception, with barely a sniff of 2G and 3G. In these circumstances, the battery has been depleted super-fast.

Is this something others have seen?

P

Paul, can you confirm that your battery life is back to what it was before last weekend? Or is it still bad for some reason?

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Fine today now i'm back in good coverage!

P

[Guest dtwoiski]

I reflashed to the XXHG5 radio and my battery is way better now...

[]'s

DT

Edited September 2, 2008 by dtwoiski

[Guest Fizz_daz]

flyby did you go back to g5 radio and did it help?

[Guest Fizz_daz]

just going back to xxhg5 radio and I'll let you know the results...

[Guest IZIIZI]

Hey guys,

I have: PDA: i900DXHH1 and PHONE i900XXHG5 (is the phone the radio?)

Basically I leave my phone after sending a text and my phone turns screen off as it should. I come back to the phone and the back of the phone is hot and my battery has been emptied.

I used to be able to spend a whole day using my phone and come back with 70% battery. Whats odd is I only changed the PDA rom not the radio. Its always been G5.

Any help appreciated.

Also its plugged in and supposed to be charging and its not because what ever the fault is with the rom its draining so quickly the battery doesnt have a chance to charge! Have to turn it of and on again to stop the back from getting hot etc. Might just take it back tomorrow to orange and see if they will replace!

Edited September 2, 2008 by IZIIZI

[Guest GSeeker2]

Thanks Paul(you are my true MVP!) and Modaco for the wonderful sources!

I flashed to H3 Phone(with H1 PDA), and i found the H3 radio is just GREAT!

I did a full charge at 23:00 PM, and then i played some MP3s, browsed the web via WiFi for 10 mins, sent some files from my PC to the phone via WiFi, and went sleep.

I woke up at 7:30 AM this morning, browsed the web via WiFi for 10 mins to read some news(playing MP3 synchronously), and found Omnia with 99% battery LEFT! This is unbelievable!

Another good thing is with the H3 Radio, my phone signal is very strong, always FULL(4 bars)! Withe G5 radio, it was just 3 bars in most of the time.

Haven't tested the GPS, because i don't use it.

Am i lucky? Or the H3 radio is a gift from Samsung?

EDIT: Ooops! NOT SO LUCKY I'M AFRAID! See my post below for details.

Edited September 3, 2008 by GSeeker2

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

I think the fact you have good reception is why you have such good battery life?

P

[Guest GSeeker2]

I think the fact you have good reception is why you have such good battery life?

P

I must give a unfortunate correction to my last post.

Yes, the phone signal is very good, always 4 bars. And i tested the GPS, and it's very fast too!

But the battery life seems not as good as i thought.

Got up at 7:30 AM with 99% battery left, and at 9:00AM it dropped to 80% WITHOUT doing anything! Just idel!

12:30 PM-->60% left(just idel)

16:00 PM-->40% left(play one song and surf the internet for 10 mins via WiFi, test GPS for 10 mins, send 1 SMS, 5 mins phone calls)

I think i will have to charge it again tonight, the battery will only last for 24 hours at most.

Is this normal? Shoud i go back to the G5 radio/H1 PDA?

Thanks!

BTW, I'm sorry about my terrible English, guys!

[Guest chesterfield]

Hi,

I know little about the various firmwares, mine is : PDA: i900XXHG5/MSHG1, PHONE : i900XXHG5

I fully charged mine last night, at home overnight it has good wifi, and good phone reception (orange).

This morning, it has lost one bar, down to about 90%.

At work I have zero signal (orange). I have disabled wifi and phone (using the samsung 2 today screen). sat at my desk with no signal, the phone has now dropped to 50%, and its not even 10am - less than 11 hours since the phone was removed from charge.

this is idle too, no calls, no browsing, no nothing - just checking on the battery every now and then.

This is quite a joke. My wifes phone (also samsung, one of those pink things) drains when in work here too without a signal.

I have another phone - sony erricson (k850i I think), also on orange, but that one does not drain at all when in the same place as this i900. No phone signal does not appear to drain the sony, but it is hammering the i900.

Any suggested fixes yet?

Would perhaps setting the network expicitly and turning off roaming do the trick? May do a couple of tests in this standard mode and see what happens.

Im in no rush to use the phone, so can test idle battery life times and post up.

[Guest Geronymous]

I think I may have found something...

Currently on HH1/HH3, coming from HH1/HG5 and previously HG3/HG3 (as it was delivered from Singapore). On a certain moment I noticed that the battery was draining very quickly, and the phone was heating up considerably around the middle area, back side. Charging was also an issue (took very long). Still happening until today.

Thinking back I remember that on a certain moment I DISABLED HSDPA (Settings/Connections/HSDPA) preventively as I had read that HSDPA would make your battery drain quicker, and I normally don't have a big problem with lower download speeds.

Could THAT be the cause of the unusual battery drain of many users including myself? I am not sure yet, but since I re-enabled HSDPA this morning (3 hours ago), I have made a couple of calls, downloaded a few emails and still at 100%... and the phone is not heating up anymore!

Maybe something for other people to look into as well?

Will report later today... hopefully confirming positively! :D

Edited September 3, 2008 by Geronymous

[Guest chesterfield]

Went to HSPDA and got the error message (could not connect to network).

Tried several times and then it did open, but there was no check in any option, disabled or enabled.

I think this is to do with me disabling the phone connection from the today screen (samsung 2). Re-enabled the phone option from there, went back to HSPDA and all is working fine. But the battery is still draining very quickly.

I have push email configured, but the phone gets no signal in the office, perhaps the phone constantly trying to register for push is draining the power?

[Guest chesterfield]

Went to HSPDA and got the error message (could not connect to network).

Tried several times and then it did open, but there was no check in any option, disabled or enabled.

I think this is to do with me disabling the phone connection from the today screen (samsung 2). Re-enabled the phone option from there, went back to HSPDA and all is working fine. But the battery is still draining very quickly.

I have push email configured, but the phone gets no signal in the office, perhaps the phone constantly trying to register for push is draining the power?

Update, with "phone" turned back on - (samsung 2 today screen) the phone gets a VERY weak and intermittent G signal, which is used to update email - I can see its done an update. So the phone must be constantly searching for a network while in this building, causing a rapid battery drain from what I can see.

For a phone that states such a large battery life, having it now at less than 50% after less than 12 hours with no call/web or email usage is not good at all.

[Guest Geronymous]

I have push email configured, but the phone gets no signal in the office, perhaps the phone constantly trying to register for push is draining the power?

Independently of ROMs and settings, I can imagine that using push email in combination with a weak signal will definitely contribute to drain your battery much faster than otherwise...

[Guest chesterfield]

Looks like a policy of having the phones docked at work for me then.

However, I suppose if I installed a wireless network in the office, the phone could use that connection to connect to exchange server whilst in the office building. But then Id get drain from having wi-fi constantly enabled.

There is no real reason that the phone should not be docked while in the office - that way when I leave the building I will be taking an up to date exchange mailbox with me, so I would not be required to run a manual send/receive by the time I get to the car!

I think a test of how the phone performs when away from the office will be best, as in the office it can be docked to rule out any power consumption issues.

[Guest 1Mack]

I think it may be something to do with reception and the area you are in. I am in Afgahnistan and I get more bars and better battery life here with G5 :D . So a little experimenting may be required. Also someone needs to seduce a holder of the whole H1 radio to do a dump I have been scanning other blogs and I saw someone before who said that they got the total H1 ROM from a friend who worked at Samsung but I cannot find his post again yet :D

[Guest Fizz_daz]

fingers crossed.. back on g5 and not showing drastic drops...

however the intersting point about heating up... my phone, when idle, for no apparant reason will do the same thing when dropping rapidly of heataing up around the middle of the back.. there is nothing running, no tasks burning up memory and i'm in a signal.. very odd all this..

it seems like there is no set pattern to this yet so keep trying to find the problem folks... to summerise.

started on on XXHG5 pda and radio.. rubbish...

then DXHH1 PDA and radio... rubish

then HH3 radio... rubbish

now G5 radio.. better.... at the moment...

[Guest Geronymous]

I think I may have found something...

Currently on HH1/HH3, coming from HH1/HG5 and previously HG3/HG3 (as it was delivered from Singapore). On a certain moment I noticed that the battery was draining very quickly, and the phone was heating up considerably around the middle area, back side. Charging was also an issue (took very long). Still happening until today.

Thinking back I remember that on a certain moment I DISABLED HSDPA (Settings/Connections/HSDPA) preventively as I had read that HSDPA would make your battery drain quicker, and I normally don't have a big problem with lower download speeds.

Could THAT be the cause of the unusual battery drain of many users including myself? I am not sure yet, but since I re-enabled HSDPA this morning (3 hours ago), I have made a couple of calls, downloaded a few emails and still at 100%... and the phone is not heating up anymore!

Maybe something for other people to look into as well?

Will report later today... hopefully confirming positively! :D

3 hours later... level just tropped to 90% after some more downloading of emails... looks fine to me! I am in an area where I get 3G and sometimes 3G+ (H) signal now that I reenabled HSDPA. I confirm still NO HEATING since this morning! :D :angry: :(

I will switch back to HSDPA disabled and see what happens... will report later.

[Guest GSeeker2]

fingers crossed.. back on g5 and not showing drastic drops...

however the intersting point about heating up... my phone, when idle, for no apparant reason will do the same thing when dropping rapidly of heataing up around the middle of the back.. there is nothing running, no tasks burning up memory and i'm in a signal.. very odd all this..

it seems like there is no set pattern to this yet so keep trying to find the problem folks... to summerise.

started on on XXHG5 pda and radio.. rubbish...

then DXHH1 PDA and radio... rubish

then HH3 radio... rubbish

now G5 radio.. better.... at the moment...

Hi Fizz, is there any G5 radio available separately? I mean a radio rom only, not combine a PDA part.

Because i've installed all the apps i need, and don't want to reflash the PDA.

Thanks!

[Guest GSeeker2]

3 hours later... level just tropped to 90% after some more downloading of emails... looks fine to me! I am in an area where I get 3G and sometimes 3G+ (H) signal now that I reenabled HSDPA. I confirm still NO HEATING since this morning! :D :D :angry:

I will switch back to HSDPA disabled and see what happens... will report later.

Good job! Thanks!

I'll test this after my next full charge, though im in a country with 3G networks.

[Guest 1Mack]

Hi Fizz, is there any G5 radio available separately? I mean a radio rom only, not combine a PDA part.

Because i've installed all the apps i need, and don't want to reflash the PDA.

Thanks!

I do not remember where the link is for the G5 radio but it is in a 6.37mb rar file and I can shoot it to you if you like. Just PM me with where to send :D .

[Guest GSeeker2]

I do not remember where the link is for the G5 radio but it is in a 6.37mb rar file and I can shoot it to you if you like. Just PM me with where to send :D .

Thanks a ton! But i've found it on page 1. :D

I tried to send you a PM, but it seems failed.

EDIT: Thank you! I've got your PM and G5 radio!

Edited September 3, 2008 by GSeeker2

[Guest Geronymous]

3 hours later... level just tropped to 90% after some more downloading of emails... looks fine to me! I am in an area where I get 3G and sometimes 3G+ (H) signal now that I reenabled HSDPA. I confirm still NO HEATING since this morning! :D :D :angry:

I will switch back to HSDPA disabled and see what happens... will report later.

Not sure 100%, but it seems that my battery performance is just better now... Seems that the HSPDA status is not even relevant maybe, but it could be that switching it (which also requires a soft reset or restart) improved things!

So if anyone with a dreadful battery wants to try, just switch your HSDPA setting a couple of times and see if it works for you!

[Guest flyby]

flyby did you go back to g5 radio and did it help?

After reading all the posts, seems like there are 2 groups after HH1/HH3 upgrade. one with normal battery life, the other with poor battery life.

So we can conclude that

1) HH1/HH3 rom does work

2) But it does not work for everyone.

3) We dunno the cause of the problem with the battery drain.

I'm back on G4/G4 now. HH1/HH3 gave me MAX 24 hours of battery life. G4/G4 gives me MIN 30 hours.

HH1 does have its perks but battery life is more important to me. Staying tuned to see if we can find the root of the batt drain problem.

[Guest GSeeker2]

After reading all the posts, seems like there are 2 groups after HH1/HH3 upgrade. one with normal battery life, the other with poor battery life.

So we can conclude that

1) HH1/HH3 rom does work

2) But it does not work for everyone.

3) We dunno the cause of the problem with the battery drain.

I'm back on G4/G4 now. HH1/HH3 gave me MAX 24 hours of battery life. G4/G4 gives me MIN 30 hours.

HH1 does have its perks but battery life is more important to me. Staying tuned to see if we can find the root of the batt drain problem.

Thanks for your tests!

I'm on H1/H3 and yes the baterry life is worse, it lasts only 24(or 26) hours for me. Now i'm thinking about flashing back to G4-official and see what will happen.