Hi all.
Long time Locus Pro user and upgraded to 2.7.2 as 2.6.x seemed to be causing Locus crashes.
Anyway, used Locus to log for about 3 hours yesterday and it crashed again.
The main problem I had though was Locus seemed to completely drain my battery. This is strange because no other versions of Locus have ever given me battery troubles before but for some reason, yesterday it really did run down my battery quite severely.
I'll put a few photos on here to show the battery use as I'm sure something isnt right with that amount of power drain.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
UKlocusfan
hmm, there was a problem a few weeks ago, but for today I can´t confirm this. I used Locus version 2.7.2 this morning for 2 hours with my Defy and SGS2. Both phones used less than 20% accu (within the two hours) for track recording and a few controls on the way. But perhaps I can test it tomorrow again.
I would propose to reinstall locus?
Hi jusc, thanks for the reoky,
I actually did reinstall Locus this morning and went out logging for another few hours but the same thing happened - my battery was just depleting before my eyes.
I've used Locus enough to know that its never affected the battery like this before.
I dont know how or why I am seeing this big difference in battery use by Locus :-(
Is anyone else mentioning this menion?
Thanks again jusc :-)
Hi,
no, no one reported such problem for quite a long time. May you please in menu > settings > misc, store your current preferences and send me this? I'll firstly check what non-default settings are you using,
second: what most CPU heavy features are you using? Map rotation, vector maps, track record, GPS, lot of POI's on map together with POI alert? ...
Hi menion,
Thanks of the reply - I appreciate it.
I have just pm'd you the preferences file.
The features I was running are as follows: Map rotation, vector map, GPS on, track record, 1 POI showing on map, compass screen to guide to the POI.
I was walking and geocaching at the same time. For the majority of the time the phone screen was off but Locus was logging my route. Every so often I would take the phone out and check the compass screen for the distance to the geocache. Thats about it really.
Just to let you know how bad the draining affected me... I have an Android Wildfire S but use an extended 2200mah battery. Previously - I have been able to log with Locus for about 5 hours and doing the exact same as I did that day. After a full day of regular use and those 5 hours of Locus use included...in the evening the battery would be at around 20% left. On this particular day I posted about though, the battery was down by about 20% just from the few hours of running Locus. That is when I decided to check how much power Locus had actually used as per the screenshots above.
Anyway, I will send the file over now and look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks once again for the message :-)
*PROBLEM:- tried to pm you the file but no matter what extension I use... .pref .jpg .txt .gpx .zip it wont let me attach the file to a private message to you. :-(
Hi,
there is maybe some limit on attachment on PM for people that don't have too much posts ... suggest to use
locus@asamm.com. There you may be sure, that I don't forget. I'm marking all emails and till they're not responsed, mark remain :)
anyway, send me your settings please on email. I'll check it immediately
till then, try to think if something change since your usage before. ROM of your phone for example? 3 hours to drain battery is possible anyway. Vector maps + GPS ON + rotation => battery killer, really! Disable map rotation and you'll see big difference. When map rotate, Locus needs to render around 50% more map. Vector map itself require quite a log of CPU and in this case even more. Also map rotation require to have enable internal sensors, so even more power required. Just small info ...
ah and last note: don't trust to this battery meter in Android. I had quite a lot of bad experiences with values it provide. Suggest to use any more trustful program from market
HI Menion and thanks so much for the reply again.
I have just emailed the file to you.
I am still unsure why the battery drain is so much as those are the setting I have always used although I have carefully read your reply and have changed a few things in order to test it in the next few days. I do like my offline vector map of England and so have left that as my default map although I have now turned map rotation off. I do need to keep GPS on as it will be logging my walks but I am hoping the map rotation being turned off will help alot... maybe the heavy CPU usage is also to blame for the crash I experienced in 2.7.2 also.
Anyway, I agree the battery indicator in android is poor and I use something called battery solo widget although I will search the market for a more in depth battery readout app.
Well, I hope the emailed file came through to you ok and hopefully there is something in there that may help me out. In the meantime I will disable map rotation and see how that goes. :-)
Thank you once again Menion.
Just for better general understanding on my side (all questions without GPS, compass, POI alert) and not directly related to UKlocusfan's problem:
- Shouldn't map rotation and vector map usage only affect battery if screen is on?
- Do tracks and POIs on screen affect battery while screen is off?
- How does running Locus as a service
- during screen off affect battery?
- during screen on but Locus not in foreground affect battery?
all your questions are quite simple and you may check it by your own. I'm of course trying to keep locus do some actions on background as less as possible. So when you disable screen, sensors for ration are disabled, GPS is checking if really needed etc. So there is no one answer on "is locus drain battery when screen off ..." because it depend what you do. If you have enabled Navigation, then Locus do other stuff on background, then when you record track ..
And thanks, for the email, I'm going to check it ...
tommi62,
Those are questions I had too.
I completely understand what Menion is saying about large vector maps rotating and using alot of battery, but in my case the maps was only on screen for around 10 minutes out of the 3 hours I was logging... the rest of the time I was using compass to guide to a POI.
With that considered, I wouldnt have thought there would have been much drain on the battery as the screen was off most of the time anyway and therefore I would have thought the only battery consumption would have been for Locus actually running, and also the GPS logging the route with the screen off.
I messed around with running Locus as a service yesterday as I had experienced another crash - but I am unsure to actually try it whilst out walking in case it does require most battery power on a contact level.
Menion:
Thanks so much indeed... I hope the email got to you ok. :-)
Quote from: "menion"all your questions are quite simple and you may check it by your own
Menion, reason for my questions was not to make you upset, I just made observations few times (but also in the last days) somehow similar to what UkLocusFan reports.
Of course I didn't record a track or had navigation or anything else active thing running but nevertheless ps tool (actually used by https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... pumonitor4 (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pavel.ugo.cpumonitor4)) reported a cpu load of several percent (I do not recall the exact number) for Locus continuously while it was just "waiting" in the background (hold there with the recently introduced background service). When I opened Locus and closed it again (still "waiting" due to the service) the cpu load for Locus disappeared though I didn't touch anything in Locus.
I would prefer to tell you a concrete scenario under which this cpu load occurs but I'm currently not able to reproduce it.
In the case I observe this again: could a catlog file help?
tommi, to make me upset, you have to work much more harder, so don't worry (if it's even possible).
Anyway, everything is possible. To handle all these screen on/off, rotate, foreground, background, running these services, these features need GPS always, these only sometimes, these need rotation, some settings into this ... too much possibilities! So I'm saying, that it's of course possible, that any combination may cause troubles.
I just imported your settings UKlocusfan, and there is only one settings that should cause troubles I think. Check Locus in the field with disabled "Always screen On". This settings, require "Wake lock". And wake lock mean, that it try to keep your phone wake up :). It may drain battery if it's incorrectly implemented and maybe in your android version, it may cause troubles. Just to check ...
No I got the cpu load by Locus in the background again, compared to my previous test which didn't cause cpu load after putting Locus to background I got now a cpu load between 3-11%. The only thing I did in Locus was shifting the map around a bit before I put it to background again...
Screenshot Locus: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vupvsuclxdkj0 ... .54.15.png (https://www.dropbox.com/s/vupvsuclxdkj0sg/2012-11-05%2019.54.15.png)
Screenshot CPU load: https://www.dropbox.com/s/65gblg1y9ghgj ... .45.48.png (https://www.dropbox.com/s/65gblg1y9ghgjyo/2012-11-05%2019.45.48.png)
Unfortunately catlog doesn't work anymore as before, I think this has come with the JB update.
I'm not really sure why the cpu load of system process is also high but maybe this is an effect caused by cpu monitoring tool.
hmm if locus use some CPU, then there have to be some activity. Btw. you run both Locus versions at once? It's highly NOT recommended. Both will access your data databases at once and it may cause troubles. And not only here but will all stored data on card that are used
Quote from: "menion"hmm if locus use some CPU, then there have to be some activity. Btw. you run both Locus versions at once? It's highly NOT recommended. Both will access your data databases at once and it may cause troubles. And not only here but will all stored data on card that are used
In general I'm aware that concurrent use isn't useful due to concurrent write access to databases but I guess it's not the problem here as both apps are only used as viewer.
Do you think the cpu load comes from concurrent use?
I saw this behaviour also with Locus Pro stand alone.
nono, it have nothing to do with it. I just personally do not want to risk to run both at once.
anyway CPU usage when no action is running is really weird. Have to check it also ...
Quote from: "menion"anyway CPU usage when no action is running is really weird. Have to check it also ...
Thanks, it was not easy to convince you as I see no clear conditions under which it happens and so I had to be so insistent :). Sorry for that, it's not meant against you.
Thanks so much Menion,
So I understand your reasonings for turning off 'always screen on'. I set this as I thought that is what was needed for when using Locus to navigate whilst driving?
So if I turn this off,when I am in the car and navigating with LocusPro - the screen will stay on and not time out?
edit
Actually Menion, I just checked and the 'always screen on' is now set to be always on but is set to Only When GPS On.
If I set it to Only When Guiding then that would be the same surely?
So is it your suggestion I leave it as System Settings or will that cause the screen to sleep whilst I am using it in car?
Thanks alot.
Quote from: "UKlocusfan"Thanks so much Menion,
So I understand your reasonings for turning off 'always screen on'. I set this as I thought that is what was needed for when using Locus to navigate whilst driving?
So if I turn this off,when I am in the car and navigating with LocusPro - the screen will stay on and not time out?
There is a special setting for navigation: "Only when guiding – the screen remains lit up only when guiding/navigation feature is running" on this page: http://docs.locusmap.eu/doku.php/manual:settings:global (http://docs.locusmap.eu/doku.php/manual:settings:global).
I use this setting successfully: screen stays on while navigation but not if I have GPS on e.g. to record a track.
@UKlocusfan, Menion: Was the reason for the battery drain found in the setting "always screen on" (though I guess the screen was switched off manually)?
For my case this is not the explanation: In Locus Free it is set to "System settings" and in Locus Pro it is set to "Only when guiding".
Excellent, thank you tommi62.
I have changed the setting know after yours and Menions great advice.
Unfortunately though, I dont think it will change the battery drain problem simply because when I am walking and geocaching I use the 'guiding' function and so when the phone is sleeping in my pocket - it is still guiding and therefore presumably using the same amount of power as the 'only when GPS on' setting.
I have however turned map rotation off so I really hope something umproves with this battery usage thing.
Thanks again jusc, Menion and tommi62 :-)
(UPDATE)
with the greatest of respect tommi62 I wouldnt have thought running 2 versions was not a good idea at all - especially when trying to diagnose a problem.
In answer to your question, lets say for example I use Locus for 1 hour. During that 1 hour it will be logging my walk. For about 10 - 20 minutes in total the screen will actually be on as I check how far I am from my geocache POI but that is usally done via the compass screen and I hardly ever use the map whether rotating or not. Throughout all of the 1 hour Locus is probably guiding for about 50 minutes in total.
So - in summing up... Locus is mainly in my pocket with the screen manually switched off.
ah I just wanted to say, that every settings different then "System defaults" use android "Wake lock" and this may cause higher CPU usage. That's all ... it was just a suggestion what to check if you want to play with it.
anyway guys to summarize it. I'm trying in all cases, to be CPU and battery usage as low as possible. Anyway as mainly tommi already noticed, Locus isn't perfect so it's for sure possible that some combination may not works perfectly. Anyway these problems are really hard to identify from a table, so if you notice that some settings affect battery consumption more then expected, I'll gladly check it
"Alyway screen on" was just a small suggestion, that may deserve to check, nothing more
Quote from: "menion"ah I just wanted to say, that every settings different then "System defaults" use android "Wake lock" and this may cause higher CPU usage.
Once again one of my beloved questions :): Does this mean if setting is "Only during guiding" that the wakelock is used always or only during guiding? (I hope the latter but I'm not sure from your comment)
Quote from: "menion"Anyway these problems are really hard to identify from a table, so if you notice that some settings affect battery consumption more then expected, I'll gladly check it
You can be sure :mrgreen: .
However there seems to exist a problem though I use "battery friendly" settings, at least this is my assumption.
Quote from: "tommi62"Quote from: "menion"ah I just wanted to say, that every settings different then "System defaults" use android "Wake lock" and this may cause higher CPU usage.
Once again one of my beloved questions :): Does this mean if setting is "Only during guiding" that the wakelock is used always or only during guiding? (I hope the latter but I'm not sure from your comment)
second for sure, that's why this settings exists :)
Well I am on system defaults but there is something funny going on. Never had an empty battery at 14.00 hours. Some playing in the morning (setting my rec profiles etc) and then 1 1/2 hour of recording while I was guiding left me at 60%. Ok, that looked quite normal. Then at home some news reading and surfing with browser and two hours later I was at 5%!!
I will play on to try and get more meaningfull comments. Feels like Locus is not really switching off.
Interesting post Henk.
I havent had chance to test Locus out in the field yet for a few hours but did want to mention that I am pretty sure my case is nothing to do with Locus not switching off.
The drain for me is when Locus is being used.
I have used it on and off for a very short while today and it does seem to be switching off completely when I exit properly as the battery use is only 3% as I would expect from very very minimal light short use.
I am not sure if Locus running as a service is what is keeping it running on your phone as I'm not sure what the running as a service does - but have a check to see if you have that setting enabled maybe?
Quote from: "Henk van der Spek"Well I am on system defaults but there is something funny going on. Never had an empty battery at 14.00 hours. Some playing in the morning (setting my rec profiles etc) and then 1 1/2 hour of recording while I was guiding left me at 60%. Ok, that looked quite normal. Then at home some news reading and surfing with browser and two hours later I was at 5%!!
I will play on to try and get more meaningfull comments. Feels like Locus is not really switching off.
What do you see in system/settings/battery (akku) of your phone? Is Locus using much power?
[attachment=0:39yddhu8]accu.jpg[/attachment:39yddhu8] Accu screen is from yesterday. The browsers use and other stuff never showed up anymore, that surprised me most, but, as said, I will give it another try soon.
Next was last night: Battery on 90%; Locus started and guiding set (beep at 50m) , silent and GPS on; phone on table. This morning 15% left after a good six hours. Again feels like more power consumption (mind you, the past is all from memory and not from taking notes etc).
I´m not sure if I understand you correctly. Do you use "GPS on" inhouse? Without GPS signal or very weak signal I had this behaviour in the past too.
I forgot to disable GPS and next mornig after 10 hours the phone was "dead".
Agreed jusc,
Using GPS indoors is not good for any battery I dont think regardless of using Locus or any other program.
May I suggest that a real test of what Locus is doing Henk is a good few hours use outdoors.
I will schedule another outdoor test but I can confirm that Locus with GPS off does not really consume anything.
Last evening and night I had (for close to 12 hours) Locus on with GPS disabled but synching of email, twitter and news on and I used 20% of my battery. Which is normal for me.
Locus did not even show up in the batt stats. Cpuspy tells me 15% deep sleep and 77% on lowest is 300 mHz.
Hey Guys,
For finding out more detailed info about your battery draining, please have a look at "Better Battery Stats".
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... tterystats (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asksven.betterbatterystats)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=1179809 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809)
And unfortunatly CatLog needs ROOT access on Android 4.1 and above... read more here:
http://nolanlawson.com/2012/09/02/catlo ... en-source/ (http://nolanlawson.com/2012/09/02/catlog-jives-with-jelly-bean-goes-open-source/)
Cheers, berkley
This one can be closed.
I will keep an eye on it, but in the mean time I am on 2.7.3 and Android 2.2
Not possible to reproduce my earlier findings on 2.7.2 and Eclair 2.1
Yesterday a two hour recording took 10% of my battery, which is good.
Quote from: "Henk van der Spek"This one can be closed.
I will keep an eye on it, but in the mean time I am on 2.7.3 and Android 2.2
It was not only you who reported a problem here.
To be honest, currently I can't reproduce the problem on my phone, too.
But on the other hand I have no indication why the problem should be gone.
Sorry Tommi62, I am not the TS and I used the wrong phrases. And I will for sure keep an eye on this topic and on my battery stats in my new setting.
I hope that not only you too will "keep eye on ..." :). If there is such problem, it's quite serious and have to be solved. Any suspicion is welcome!
After a few weeks of testing I can confirm the following...
I used Locus for 4 hours yesterday without map rotation, without hardly any guiding and with the screen not on very often and it still used alot of battery. I had airplain mode turned on, screen brightness less than 40% and everything else was off and after logging using an extended battery for just under 4 hours I was down to 19% from a full battery.
I can honestly say I have used many Locus releases in the past but do think this one is heavy on the battery for some reason - especially since I have everything turned off and set everything up to preserve as much battery as possible. :(
By reading the posts (especially the one of Henk where he writes about 5% left), I remember that I had some strange "powerdraining" a few weeks ago when I used one other of my three batteries: the batterymeter went down in a short time and remained on 5% for a few hours! The overall time seemed to be ok, but the battery draining curve seemd weired. Now with my "standard" battery the curve is ok again. Could have something to do with Androids batterystats (maybe even with different batteries or batterypacks).
If someone with the draining issue could run Locus furthermore till 0%, maybe a new idea of whats happening could be achieved?
Just did that today.
Phone died after 13 hours. The last 10% lasted longer than I am used to (could be a Android 2.2 thing; I updated a week ago).
Can't show the usage stats anymore since I had to hook it up. Locus took about 70% of the usage.
Screen on: 4 hours
Locus on: about 12 hours; GPS on 2 hours; active guiding 50 minutes. After the guiding at home I switched GPS off but I did not switch off Locus. Locus (or the system) asks: Locus has not been used for 45 minutes, do you want to switch it off, which I did not.
Sleeping Locus definitely has zero % in cpu-usage.
Now I probably have to do the same tomorrow :ugeek: but then also switch Locus off after the guiding.
Ok, I did the same on tuesday:
1 hour Locus without GPS; doing settings etc
1 hour active guiding
Total time screen on: 5 hours
After 15 hours phonetime I had 15% battery left; Locus being in the stats for 50% consumption.
On wednesday (babysitting) no Locus.
Screen time 4 1/2 hours
After 16 1/2 hours I had 30% battery left.
I will leave it at this till december for a couple of planned full day hikes with Locus guiding me for more than 8 hours a day. But I think that will be no problem. I regard my first findings with 2.7.3 as incidents. All looks normal now.