Problem with Battery-Samsung Wave

sn

Hello guys,

I bought my new Samsung wave phone last week from O2.Needless to say that the phone is sleek and works awesomely well.Havnt seen any major problems with this phone yet and the new Bada OS seems to kick ass :P

But i have been noticing that the Battery life really sucks to the core.1st couple of days it was dropping considerably and i thought it was mainly due to its high CPU usage as i have been using WI-fi and playing lots of games and videos.
But last couple of days it has been really bad and i noticed that even though i have swithed off my WI-fi and reduced the brightness i need to recharge this phone after 8 hours of standby(didnt even receive/made any calls)..
Can i call O2 and make a complaint?I didnt take the phone on contract but just bought this phone from O2 as i had a 100 euro voucher and i am a pay as you go customer...

Has anyone experienced the same ?

Please advice!

Thanks.

t0mm13b

Firstly, turn off GPS that is switched on by default - and that sucks up big time!... Secondly, if you don't use Wifi, disable it, turn down the volume and screen brightness..
Thirdly, you should let the battery run completely flat until the handset powers itself off, charge it up, do that at least three times...

Look, you only got the handset for a week... give it a chance... I am a happy Wave user myself... I can get 5 or 6 days out of it...

t0mm13b

sn wrote: »

Hello guys,

I bought my new Samsung wave phone last week from O2.Needless to say that the phone is sleek and works awesomely well.Havnt seen any major problems with this phone yet and the new Bada OS seems to kick ass :P

But i have been noticing that the Battery life really sucks to the core.1st couple of days it was dropping considerably and i thought it was mainly due to its high CPU usage as i have been using WI-fi and playing lots of games and videos.
But last couple of days it has been really bad and i noticed that even though i have swithed off my WI-fi and reduced the brightness i need to recharge this phone after 8 hours of standby(didnt even receive/made any calls)..
Can i call O2 and make a complaint?I didnt take the phone on contract but just bought this phone from O2 as i had a 100 euro voucher and i am a pay as you go customer...

Has anyone experienced the same ?

Please advice!

Thanks.

t0mm13b wrote: »

Firstly, turn off GPS that is switched on by default - and that sucks up big time!... Secondly, if you don't use Wifi, disable it, turn down the volume and screen brightness..
Thirdly, you should let the battery run completely flat until the handset powers itself off, charge it up, do that at least three times...

Look, you only got the handset for a week... give it a chance... I am a happy Wave user myself... I can get 5 or 6 days out of it...

BTW to follow on from my previous posting - what firmware are you running as a matter of interest, it would be helpful if you could post the results here and I will be able to guide you.. dial *#1234# on your handset and post it here...

sn

thanks for ur suggestion "t0mm13b"..
It seems that you are right ...many have reported battery issues like these earlier and it seems that performance has imporoved over time..
And moreover, i was of the impresion that GPS was actually turned off as the tast manager didnt show the status that it was running..This seems to be a fualt in Samsung Wave as per the below review
http://forumuk.samsungmobile.com/PostsList.aspx?ForumPostID=207575

I had to go and disable this setting manually and could see a noticeable difference in the CPU usage.

Another thing which i have noticed was that my network was always in 3G band and sometimes it was hooking into 2G(EDGE) band...and the reason behind this was the network selection mode was set to automatic by default.I have now manually set the network to 2G band now hoping that this will help to consume less battery...

I will review my findings again for next couple of days before calling it quits :P

Cheerzzz

valdigre

Have a look at this as well: http://www.samsungwaveforum.com/samsung-wave-troubleshooting/magic-code-for-longer-battery-life-%28recommend-for-all-who-own-a-wave%29/msg2370/

If you still get bad battery life, I would recommend flashing to a unbranded firmware, even from Kies using the method here: http://www.samsungfirmwareworld.com/unlock-all-updates-for-all-waves-by-kies-t524.html

My battery was lasting me 1 day on 3 network, no matter what I was doing but basically it would deplete itself in 24 hours even on standby.
I debranded and installed F1 firmware, now I have F8 from Kies and I get 3 days of medium usage.

sn

<SW VER>
S8500BWJE8
<CSC VER>
S8500O2IJEB

I guess "S8500BWJE8" is the firmware version.
Maybe i will have to check whether i have to do a firmware upgrade using the software "Kies"??what do u recommend?

Thanks

t0mm13b

That firmware is quite old!!! J is 2010, E is May, 8 is the revision, FYI I am using
<SW VER>
S8500XXJF8
<CSC VER>
S8500OXAJF6

It was quoted on this site that it was the best firmware... longer battery life etc..

Whatever you do, do not even think of upgrading the firmware with unofficial versions floating around on the internet as they have not been fully tested...XXJF8 is the official one from Samsung Kies...

Kies (sucks I know) but it does a neat job in doing the upgrade and retains all settings incl. contacts etc... the unofficial route of upgrading as I mentioned, destroys all that...

Report back here if you run into problems...

Good luck with the update!

t0mm13b

valdigre wrote: »

Have a look at this as well: http://www.samsungwaveforum.com/samsung-wave-troubleshooting/magic-code-for-longer-battery-life-%28recommend-for-all-who-own-a-wave%29/msg2370/

If you still get bad battery life, I would recommend flashing to a unbranded firmware, even from Kies using the method here: http://www.samsungfirmwareworld.com/unlock-all-updates-for-all-waves-by-kies-t524.html

My battery was lasting me 1 day on 3 network, no matter what I was doing but basically it would deplete itself in 24 hours even on standby.
I debranded and installed F1 firmware, now I have F8 from Kies and I get 3 days of medium usage.

I do not recommend using multiuploader and unofficial firmware - despite what is said about it, they are UNTESTED! (I work with someone who is a Samsung Partner!)

What happens is the mixing and matching of the firmware from previous versions can cause instability and weird issues such as blue screens, lines showing up on screen when the battery runs low, use it at your own risk, the memory offsets used for loading the unofficial firmwares via multiuploader are slightly different to what Kies uses... hence weird "issues" that are reported elsewhere... By the way, you have to think about it - JF8 is not available on the unofficial sites... but JF7 is... it's a big clue as to regards the firmware used officially....

In fact, you could end up voiding the warranty of the handset by doing that!

in the long run, stick with using Samsung Kies, (registry hacks and all that to trick Kies simply do not work.... no!)

XXJF8 by far is the best I've seen...

sn

Point noted guys

Will try it tonight with Kies and will let you guys know the result..
hope my battery will have a better life now

Cheerzzz

valdigre

I do not recommend flashing to those "unofficial" firmwares as well.

I am not sure if the registry hack is enough or you have to flash your phone to F1 first, to that registry hack works with Kies.
It is possible, that the only thing that has to be changed is the registry entry but I haven't tried, I flashed to F1 using multiupload tool myself, than I updated to F4 and then F8 using Kies.

I laugh when people say that they have the latest and greatest H1 firmware, but for example most of the apps do not work on it

t0mm13b

@valdigre: Good on ya mate! and the fools who do go down that road - to quote "I pity the poor foo" LOL

sn

Installed the latest version of Kies 1.5.1.10074_2 and connected the device and tried to update the firmware version...but it says firmware cannot be updated...

Guys would you be able to please advice me on how to go about this ?
Checked in some of the forums and it says that i wouldnt be able to upgrade the firmware version if i am locked to the Operator(in my case O2)...

valdigre

Just follow the details of the registry hack I told you.

Unfortunately it seems, YOU HAVE TO flash to the F1 firmware using multiupload. Don't be afraid, it is quite simple and in 99% cases everything goes ok, if you follow the instructions.

When you update to F1 it should be fine to update firmware through Kies using the registry hack.

Good luck!

t0mm13b

Oh dear! O2 has the friggin thing locked.... you could try this code... first to check and post back the results.... dial *#7465625# is the network and simlock on?

these need to be unlocked first.... remember flashing/updating WILL not work with network lock on... (note don't flash it if it is network locked - you will brick your handset if they are locked!!!!!)..

Have a look at this forum to trick Kies into performing a upgrade (confirm the lock status above first!!!)

valdigre

t0mm13b wrote: »

Oh dear! O2 has the friggin thing locked.... you could try this code... first to check and post back the results.... dial *#7465625# is the network and simlock on?

these need to be unlocked first.... remember flashing/updating WILL not work with network lock on... (note don't flash it if it is network locked - you will brick your handset if they are locked!!!!!)..

Have a look at this forum to trick Kies into performing a upgrade (confirm the lock status above first!!!)

This is completely not true, my Wave is locked to 3 and I haven't bricked it when i flashed it to F1 month ago. I bricked it while doing the update to F4 using multiupload, but it was because me doing it wrong.
Flashing to F1 is safe, many users with locked phones reported no problems.

That is, unless my phone is "special"

Other solution is to not only change the Product code in registry, but also changing the firmware version values in registry as well. If you put, that you already have F1 this way you will fool Kies in thinking, that you already have F1 flashed to your phone.

Try this option first, I suppose.

sn

thanks again both of you for your remarks...

I tried with the code which t0mm13b had said and the following is what it said

[off] Network Lock
[off] Subset Lock
[off] SP Lock
[off] CP Lock

So i presume my phone is not locked to the network..Makes sense because mine is not a contract phone ....

So i will try the other option like Flashing as you guys suggested this evening..

Cheers

valdigre

Wait...

Before you try flashing to F1, follow the registry hack tutorial me and tom gave you. It says to change those things:

HIDSWVER: S8500XXJF1/S8500OXCJEC
ProductCode: GT-S8500BAATPH
SoftwareRevision: S8500XXJF1/S8500OXCJEC

If you change your registy settings to different product code to one given above (not necessarily the one above, can be something different) and softwarerevision and Hidswver to values above, you will probaby be able to update your phone through Kies WITHOUT having to flash it first to F1.

Try that first.

EDIT: You might wait for newest firmware to show up in the upcomming days, so that you don't have to update twice to the latest one: http://www.samsung-firmwares.com/apps/blog/show/4595300-bada-1-0-2-over-kies-eu

sn

thanks 'valdigre' for ur inputs...

However, before doing anything i just want to make sure whether there are really any risk involved in doing the registry hack? Well,obviously we are not changing anything on the phone and we are just trying to trick Kies here to do the correct upgrade...but i am still kind of concerned as i am a bit scared here :P

i will use exacly the same HIDSWVER and software revision as you posted above but would you also be able to tell me what is the exact product code i am supposed to use just to be on the safer side

As per the turorial it says to use either of
3IE = IRELAND
VDI = IRELAND
which one of those did you guys use??

Thanks again!

JOCookie

Hey sn,

I got a Wave last week to, and the battery would die after less than a day. So i found on a site a code you enter into the phone and it turns the settings for fast internet and HD off, if you type *#8740# in the keypad a message will pop up saying "AP UART MODE ENABLED" - this helps to keep the battery, i charged mine up monday and its only down 20% power now, so in over a day and a half it only went down 20%! if you type *#8740# in again, it will say "CP UART MODE ENABLED", this puts it back to faster internet and HD. but this eats battery. also you can turn 3G of as there is no real need for it if your not using it.

Also a little trick for closing open apps, press and hold the menu button for a couple of seconds and it will display all apps that are open, its handy as the music player seems to always be open when i do this. Hope this helps!

valdigre

sn wrote: »

thanks 'valdigre' for ur inputs...

However, before doing anything i just want to make sure whether there are really any risk involved in doing the registry hack? Well,obviously we are not changing anything on the phone and we are just trying to trick Kies here to do the correct upgrade...but i am still kind of concerned as i am a bit scared here :P

i will use exacly the same HIDSWVER and software revision as you posted above but would you also be able to tell me what is the exact product code i am supposed to use just to be on the safer side

As per the turorial it says to use either of
3IE = IRELAND
VDI = IRELAND
which one of those did you guys use??

Thanks again!

Don't use any of those codes, 3ie is 3 ireland and VDI is vodafone ireland = branded product codes :P

We need unbranded code.

I am using Polish Product Code, which is: GT-S8500BAAXEO

You can use for example UK code: GT-S8500BAAXEU
German code: GT-S8500BAAXEG
Italian code: GT-S8500BAAXET

Doesn't matter what product code you choose from those above, they all will have English and work fine.

If you are interested in other European product codes, have a look in here: http://www.samsungfirmwareworld.com/samsung-official-letter-code-t16.html and search for codes ending with XE*, like the ones above I gave you. Those are unbranded product codes.

Good luck and BTW, changing those values in registry will not brake your phone.

harryd66

valdigre wrote: »

Wait...

Before you try flashing to F1, follow the registry hack tutorial me and tom gave you. It says to change those things:

HIDSWVER: S8500XXJF1/S8500OXCJEC
ProductCode: GT-S8500BAATPH
SoftwareRevision: S8500XXJF1/S8500OXCJEC

If you change your registy settings to different product code to one given above (not necessarily the one above, can be something different) and softwarerevision and Hidswver to values above, you will probaby be able to update your phone through Kies WITHOUT having to flash it first to F1.

Try that first.

EDIT: You might wait for newest firmware to show up in the upcomming days, so that you don't have to update twice to the latest one: http://www.samsung-firmwares.com/apps/blog/show/4595300-bada-1-0-2-over-kies-eu

Followed all your great advice and successfully updated my Vodafone locked wave to firmware version JF8. Everything working perfectly with one exception: I no longer have an application shortcut icon for the Web Browser. I can still surf but I have to go into settings to get the browser to open. Any ideas on how to get the link back? I like the Bada OS but if it has one major failing, it is it's lack of flexibility with regard to creating shortcuts and links. Any help would be appreciated.

valdigre

You can't get the widget back, it was custom shortcut made by Vodafone.

Search for Widget link creator for wave. It lets you create widget shortcuts to any www page you want. When you click on it, you will have a browser opened with a page, that the widget is leading to - might solve your problem

harryd66

valdigre wrote: »

You can't get the widget back, it was custom shortcut made by Vodafone.

Search for Widget link creator for wave. It lets you create widget shortcuts to any www page you want. When you click on it, you will have a browser opened with a page, that the widget is leading to - might solve your problem

Valdigre!!! U are d man. That solves the problem perfectly. It's the "dogs bollocks". Thanks a million.

harryd66

Just a quick follow up on the results of my firmware upgrade. My primary reason for the upgrade was the dismal battery life of the Wave, even with minimal use. Have to say that the new firmware has gone a long way towards solving the problem, giving me about 3 tmes the battery life. Love my Wave now!

Its not that hard to do, and it's worth it.

ilovespudss

Just completed the firmware upgrade and im feeling a bit underwhelmed to be honest. Not sure what I was expecting but is it just better battery life or are there other perks to newer firmware??

Thanks for the advice lads much appreciated