Galaxy S II 2.3.6 update kills battery life

SoCal949User · ‎12-29-2011

I am really disappointed with both AT&T and Samsung for releasing this official update and then not even admitting that they have a problem. My battery life was cut in half immediately after I received the official 2.3.6 update. Even when the phone is on standby it will now barely last 12 hours. Prior to the update I only had to charge it every other day. Has anyone been able to get AT&T to admit that the 2.3.6 ROM is the problem or have you all been told the phone/battery needs to be replaced?

nyes1nps · ‎12-29-2011

I've noticed the same thing... ever since the update, the battery life has tanked. I'm lucky to get 10-12 hours in standby. I have tried various different things to extend the battery life, but nothing has had any significant impact on improving battery life.

I haven't had the patience to open a problem report with AT&T yet...

Steffen - Palm Springs - CA

SoCal949User · ‎12-30-2011

I have been home for the holiday period so I have had my Wifi turned on this whole time. Yesterday I turned off the WiFi and now have a totally different battery use to report. With WiFi off and very little use of the phone my battery is now at 80% after 24 hours with Android 2.3.6

kyrax13 · ‎12-30-2011

You guys should had rooted a custom rom...

Entropy512 · ‎12-31-2011

BCM4330 (wifi/Bluetooth) support in UCKK6 is completely and totally screwed up.

Bluetooth HID is completely and totally broken

There are LOTS of router compatibility problems that didn't exist before

Last but not least, a wacky proprietary feature of the wifi chipset that I have never seen do anything useful goes nuts and fires wakeup interrupts as fast as once a second. The feature is called Bluetooth AMP (Alternative MAC and PHY) which apparently tries to route Bluetooth over Wifi. I've never seen any evidence of this feature operating properly, only of it going insane and waking up the phone all the time.

Leaks for the Samsung Infuse (which have the same wifi chipset) have the same problem.

To confirm you are having the same problem, read http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1308030 and perform the Wireshark capture step when you are experiencing drain. In the capture, look for stuff like this:

      1 0.000000    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
      2 1.230671    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
      3 2.457567    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
      4 3.688167    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
      5 4.915498    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
      8 6.145554    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     10 7.374758    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     11 8.603045    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     12 9.832158    9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     15 11.061042   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     16 12.289468   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     19 13.518508   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     20 14.746922   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     22 15.976068   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     25 17.204985   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     26 18.433658   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     27 19.662156   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     28 20.890973   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     29 22.120120   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     30 23.144282   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     31 24.168026   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     32 25.396524   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     33 26.625761   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     35 27.854481   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     36 29.083182   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     37 30.310235   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     38 32.367309   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     39 32.747929   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II
     40 34.402309   9a:0c:82:63:72:56     SamsungE_63:72:56     0x886c   74     Ethernet II

If you see packets like this (with a slightly different MAC address) once every second, you're experiencing the same problem.

SoCal949User · ‎12-31-2011

Thanks Entropy512. That explains exactly what I am seeing.

pmt1209 · ‎01-01-2012

@kyrax13 wrote:
You guys should had rooted a custom rom...

This is true for this and many more reasons but rooting isn't for everyone so most have to live with AT&T/Samsung updates which can be quite painful.. I stated when I bought this phone back in October i wouldn't root or mess with this phone but finally went this route looking for better battery life and now wish I did it back in October lol.. As good as this phone is stock its absolutely INCREDIBLE after rooting and putting one of the many truly polished roms that are available. After trying almost all the ones available the one I found I like the best has made my battery life much better, the phone is much quicker (no more lag) and for all the customability the stock OS gives the possibilities with a custom ROM is almost infinite.. What really surprised me is the dedication the developers over at the "root" forum have for their custom ROMs, fixes and changes come to us sometimes within minutes..

roblco · ‎01-01-2012

I'm having the same issue. However, I'm giving them (AT&T and Samsung) the benefit of the doubt. Some people's phone got better after a few recharges or recycles. After reading that some people actually got "better" battery life after upgrade, I have a suspicion that they "picked" a few users to be the beta testers of whatever "feature". I am predicting that after a few days (without) monkeying around with anything, it will stop doing what it's doing when wifi is on.

Otherwise, "yes" I will root the phone and install a custom rom - suggestions welcomed.

kyrax13 · ‎01-01-2012

@pmt1209 wrote:
@kyrax13 wrote:
You guys should had rooted a custom rom...
This is true for this and many more reasons but rooting isn't for everyone so most have to live with AT&T/Samsung updates which can be quite painful.. I stated when I bought this phone back in October i wouldn't root or mess with this phone but finally went this route looking for better battery life and now wish I did it back in October lol.. As good as this phone is stock its absolutely INCREDIBLE after rooting and putting one of the many truly polished roms that are available. After trying almost all the ones available the one I found I like the best has made my battery life much better, the phone is much quicker (no more lag) and for all the customability the stock OS gives the possibilities with a custom ROM is almost infinite.. What really surprised me is the dedication the developers over at the "root" forum have for their custom ROMs, fixes and changes come to us sometimes within minutes..

What do you mean rooting isn't for everyone? Not everyone can have access to a home computer and their phone at the same time?

Also what rom/kernel are you using?

roblco · ‎01-01-2012

I did my part!

Pearl: Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?

Visitor: My battery drains very quickly when on wifi after upgrading it to 2.3.6.

Pearl: I am sorry to hear that.

Pearl: I understand that the battery is draining quickly after updating to 2.3.6. Am I correct?

Visitor: well.. I am not the only one. I have read from multiple forums and people are having this issue

Visitor: yes

Pearl: Thank you for the confirmation.

Pearl: May I know the model number of your phone ? You can find the model number beneath the phone's battery which generally starts with SGH, SCH or SPH .

Visitor: I777

Pearl: Thank you for the information.

Pearl: Are the GPS, bluetooth turned off when not in use?

Visitor: yes.

Pearl: Have you performed a soft reset on the phone and check for the result?

Visitor: by soft reset, you mean power down, remove the battery and restart? Yes.

Pearl: Thank you for the information.

Pearl: As you have tried all the troubleshooting steps and the issue persists, we can try factory reset on the phone. Factory reset will delete all the settings, applications and data saved on the phone.

Pearl: Shall I provide you the steps to reset the phone?

Visitor: By the way, we don't have to fix it at this moment. I just need someone in Samsung to monitor the forums and propose and solution. People have tried different things and I don't want to do it if it is to no avail.

Visitor: that's including the master reset.

Pearl: Sure, I will forward this issue to the higher department who will check the issue and try to resolve it.

Pearl: Yes, factory reset is master reset.

Pearl: It will delete all the data saved on the phone and restores the phone to factory defaults.

Visitor: exactly. and I prefer not to re-install everything.

Visitor: If it's a real solution I would do it. However, this was already done by some and it didn't help.

Pearl: I apologize for the inconvenience caused.

Visitor: Can you get your QA department figure out what's really wrong and send me a real fix?

Visitor: As I said, it doesn't have to be fixed now. It can survive a day, so I can deal with it for now.

Pearl: Our team will search for the resolution and when it is available it will be posted in the Samsung website.

Visitor: great! thank you!

dapheel · ‎01-10-2012

I called Samsung Support and they helped me to change the wifi sleep policy from "never" to "when screen turns off". This resulted in using up less than 10% of my battery last night from 11PM to 7AM.

Action Taken:
1. Settings
2. Wireless and Network
3. Wifi Settings
4. Click Menu Button (next to Home Button) and Select Advanced
5. Select Wi-Fi sleep policy
6. Change it from "Never" to either "Never when plugged in" or "When Screen turns off".
7. One person reported success rebooting their phone after making these changes. For me I did not have to reboot.

I also thought that this may increase my hspa+ data usage, but when i checked my history it's hardly noticeable compared to before update to 2.3.6, after update to 2.3.6, and finally to this recent update to wifi sleep policy.

Entropy512 · ‎01-11-2012

It's a poor bandaid for the problem - best battery life is on properly functioning wifi.

efitzpat123 · ‎01-13-2012

Yes, this fix worked for me. I inserted pictures of my phone's battery useage before (notice how much the Andiroid OS used) and after changing Wi-Fi to "When Screen turns off" Before After

jackal2001 · ‎01-17-2012

I am also having this same problem. 2.3.6 and with wifi on and using apps like ATT Smart WiFi, juicedefender, etc my phone was dead in 5hrs at 50% leaving it sit on my desk at night not even touching it. Juicedefender was set to only check apps every 30 minutes, otherwise disable wireless connection.

Problem is when wifi is enabled for a short time either by an app or coming out of standby the Android OS will eventually get to over 90% battery usage and kills the phone.

I uninstalled ATT smart wifi, juicedefender, and disabled Gmail syncing. Also GPS is disabled(which I never have on anyway). Bluetooth is on. I DISABLED WiFi on the phone, powered it off and back on with at 100% battery.

Its been 5hours and android OS is at 24% and battery is at 98%.

Seems to be a serious problem with WiFi and Android OS killing the battery. I really wish you could have an option (in the OS) to search for wifi signals instead of having the phone constantly do it.

I just got off a chat with Samsung and it was useless. They said there was something wrong with my phone and I should send it in for service. I'm not doing that.
I guess I'll have to call Samsung next.

Entropy512 · ‎01-18-2012

As discussed before - there is a firmware bug in UCKK6. It has nothing to do with "searching for signals" - the wifi/Bluetooth chip (Wifi and BT are implemented using a single combo chip that does both) just plain goes into a wacky state and starts firing interrupts related to an esoteric feature of the chip no one actually uses.

Helpful Links