Extended Rom, BatteryStatus, Battery Life

[edhaas]

Ok, I have been reading a lot about bad battery life using BatteryStatus, and wanted to let people know some observations I've made which might be helpful.

1) BatteryStatus is a nice program, but it's erratic. It has to be watched. Especially after a reset, or after recharging, you need to be careful that it's actually doing what you want it to. For example, if you use cpuscalar, it will turn off when you set the cpu speed and vice versa, especially if you access the settings from the Today screen. I recommend using the 1.x versions as you can monitor cpu utilization, and can see if the cpu speed is going up or down based on your settings.

2) On that subject, use cpu utilization and not battery load as your primary indicator. If you're getting above 10% cpu load "at rest", something is probably not right with your setup. Which leads me to ...

3) I have discovered that if one wipes the extended rom, you will have high cpu utilization rates (I got 20% at idle with the x-plore rom, vs 1-4% clean, with an extended rom) Apparently there is some process which checks for the Autostart.exe file in extended rom, and keeps checking if it does not find it. This can't be good for battery life.

Hope this helps someone,

[vippie]

3) I have discovered that if one wipes the extended rom, you will have high cpu utilization rates (I got 20% at idle with the x-plore rom, vs 1-4% clean, with an extended rom) Apparently there is some process which checks for the Autostart.exe file in extended rom, and keeps checking if it does not find it. This can't be good for battery life.

True! Also found that this was causing the high CPU load. Maybe people experiencing fast battery drop are having this problem.

[nothin]

DUDE! my problems lead me to SAME conclusion! i mean ext rom wiping leads to 29-32% cpu utilisation and up to 340 mA DRAIN!
im glad that someone told same thing!

your observation seems to be true.and very useful.
yes,omg,yes, it will be nice day!

btw...xplore doesnt have ext rom.. i think, so it must be other one..

[WizeMan]

DUDE! my problems lead me to SAME conclusion! i mean ext rom wiping leads to 29-32% cpu utilisation and up to 340 mA DRAIN!
im glad that someone told same thing!

your observation seems to be true.and very useful.
yes,omg,yes, it will be nice day!

btw...xplore doesnt have ext rom.. i think, so it must be other one..

So what can we do who have the Xplore 1.1 Rom?

[anichillus]

So what can we do who have the Xplore 1.1 Rom?

I think that they mean : Don't mess with the ExtRom ...

[mfrazzz]

So what can we do who have the Xplore 1.1 Rom?
If you flash an official rom before a custom rom, you know you will have an extended rom left over from the official. When I was on NotTooSmart's rom, I checked out the extended rom area and saw all the T-Mo extended stuff was still there from when I flashed the TMo 2.26 Official.

The point is, don't go and delete everything in extended rom as that will cause issues.

[papamopps]

If you flash an official rom before a custom rom, you know you will have an extended rom left over from the official. When I was on NotTooSmart's rom, I checked out the extended rom area and saw all the T-Mo extended stuff was still there from when I flashed the TMo 2.26 Official.

The point is, don't go and delete everything in extended rom as that will cause issues.

Why?? After I had installed Xplore 1.0 and just had teh extended_rom from faria - I just flashed an own cooked extended_rom and I still had it after flashing Xplore 1.1. No problems. Now I have deleted everything in my extended_rom and it is empty. I even could unlock it and use it right from fileexplorer. But it doesn´t make sence when using total commander.

[mfrazzz]

Why?? After I had installed Xplore 1.0 and just had teh extended_rom from faria - I just flashed an own cooked extended_rom and I still had it after flashing Xplore 1.1. No problems. Now I have deleted everything in my extended_rom and it is empty. I even could unlock it and use it right from fileexplorer. But it doesn´t make sence when using total commander.
Read point #3 in the OP. Maybe the problem only comes after a hard reset, but you can have issues by removing the extended rom. If you replace it with your own cooked one, then you are fine (if its setup correctly to work like a regular one).

I have no direct experience with this, just have seen this in other posts and now this one.

[papamopps]

Read point #3 in the OP. Maybe the problem only comes after a hard reset, but you can have issues by removing the extended rom. If you replace it with your own cooked one, then you are fine (if its setup correctly to work like a regular one).

I have no direct experience with this, just have seen this in other posts and now this one.

It only works for me as "trouble-space" Just collecting important setup cab. And when I have done a hardreset I just enter extended_rom with TC and install teh cabs.

[nothin]

I think that they mean : Don't mess with the ExtRom ...

You know, i think we "could" mess with EXTrom...but totalcommander method seems to make thing f up... i always get messy names, sizes, if i am trying to copy sometihng there....
is it locked or what...IDEAL thing, anichillus, would be making CLEAN ROM, as clean ,as it can be, then cook SOME extroms to make people happy AT LAST :D....

rethink it, its method for makin everyone happy...(or not..?).

Strange, i have 42 mA idle, but battery still drops...maybe i just must discharge to max, then recharge... not sure 'bout it...

Xplore is just awesome, waiting for 2.0, but for gods sake, make it clean... :D

btw, with wizard's love ROM flashing method i have THAT extROM, when i flash xplore, so its rather useless(what is in that extrom inside), but that 35% CPU usage is gone... plz give some links to FLASHABLE ext ROMS here plz...

[papamopps]

Y

plz give some links to FLASHABLE ext ROMS here plz...

I used this an extended_rom including this apps. I can post if wanted.

[nothin]

thanks, m8, i just used wizards love ext rom, and aborted autorun.exe after flashing x-plore..safe...at last.

[edhaas]

I'm glad this has helped some people:)

I think what many of you are describing is the best way: Downgrade to a rom that includes an extended rom, then upgrade to x-plore, and abort the extended rom installation by soft reset at the "installing customizations" screen.

If you are sophisticated enough to be able to design and flash your own extended rom as per Faria's sticky in the upgrading section, that should work too. Then you could let the customizations run.

Resist the temptation to delete the extended rom with total commander because you're not using it. (Unless you just want to prove it to yourself, and don't mind reflashing and reinstalling!)

[nothin]

i am reconsidering making ext rom on my own.. but geez.. i must stop FLASHING for some time lol :)

any thing made by tottal commander on ext rom lead to battery problems - 30-35% cpu usage ALL the time etc...

[danik_iceman]

I'm glad this has helped some people:)

I think what many of you are describing is the best way: Downgrade to a rom that includes an extended rom, then upgrade to x-plore, and abort the extended rom installation by soft reset at the "installing customizations" screen.

Do you think it is safe to abort the extened rom installation by softresesting?

[edhaas]

Do you think it is safe to abort the extened rom installation by softresesting?

Sure, I do it all the time. In fact I recommend it unless you WANT the customizations and programs loaded in there to run. It saves memory and avoids conflicts between rom upgrades/changes. Some rom cookers do put things in there which they would like people to try and those should be considered as part of their package. Others take a viewpoint of putting everything they feel is important into the "Rom" itself. (i.e. x-plore) However, it is always "safe" to abort the extended rom loading, you just may have to do some customizations yourself. (Carrier settings, dial skins, stuff like that) Try it both ways and see what you prefer.

[anichillus]

I too experienced just now some problems when messing with the extended rom.

Why the f** this thing happens ?

The only thing I did was to unlock the extended rom from the rgu's so it would be directly accessible without any other program, simple, with file explorer
First time it started, it was ok, I could browse the Extended Rom, no problems. I did a soft reset, and after that the Extended Rom changet it's name to Extended Rom2 and nothing was to be seen in it. After another soft reset, I could see files, but it was giberish ... and boom, the cpu stable at 20% ...

I need to fix this. My rom doesn't has the extended rom in the windows dir so G4 can use it and also seems easy for me to place cabs

The battery drain/Cpu usage issue anyway, i solved it. The first time I did this :)
I flashed the TMob 2.26 and after that I flashed again my rom(meantime I removed the settings unlock for ext rom). Now it's working great again.

Any thoughts ?

[anichillus]

Sure, I do it all the time. In fact I recommend it unless you WANT the customizations and programs loaded in there to run. It saves memory and avoids conflicts between rom upgrades/changes. Some rom cookers do put things in there which they would like people to try and those should be considered as part of their package. Others take a viewpoint of putting everything they feel is important into the "Rom" itself. (i.e. x-plore) However, it is always "safe" to abort the extended rom loading, you just may have to do some customizations yourself. (Carrier settings, dial skins, stuff like that) Try it both ways and see what you prefer.

Sorry for the double post,
Man, not every customisation should be aborted...not wise at all
You can skip those who you know for sure that do not affect the stability of your rom...those that don['t mess with registry and fixes.
I for example have put some fixes in the "ext rom" (the one in windows) with some important fixes.

[edhaas]

No problem with the double reply. My experience is that the extended rom unlocker are not true unlockers, in that the extended rom cannot be written to reliably except by flashing. But you can delete files from them, or more likely corrupt files in them by trying. If you do attempt to write to the extended rom "on the fly", it will look like it has worked until you do a soft reset. Probably the files go into a temporary storage memory although I haven't researched it deeply. I think your extended_rom2 problem has to do with the "real" extended rom being corrupted, and inaccessable. If I remember, the device then creates another on the sd card or something like that. (There is a thread in the upgrade section about the extended rom unlocker where this stuff is discussed).
As far as skipping the customizations, I agree that if the cooker has placed settings, etc in there they should be run. However, many cooks leave the extended rom alone, which can cause confusion when say a T-Mobile rom is initially there, and the T-Mobile customizations get run on top of the custom rom, (or Cingular, or whatever) unless that is what the owner wants. It might be helpful if the chef is explicit about it during the initial posting of the download link.

[stmasi]

Has anyone tried the new build yet? I just noticed it about a week ago.

I was using...

Ver. 1.04.201 beta3 build 0178

The new one is...

Ver. 1.04.201 beta3 build 0182 (http://www.chi-tai.info/download/tdl80567157/BatteryStatusExt.1.04.CAB)

It has increased the battery life for me and is more accurate at updating the battery strength as well.

Thanx.

[nothin]

link is not working...

btw, my battery drain seems to be gone, yesterday i lost 30% of NRG, today... ~25%...

[edhaas]

OK, I am bumping this thread at the request of a rom chef as his thread is getting hijacked with extended_rom issues. I hope this information is helpful for you.

PS Also had a request to make it "sticky"?

[nothin]

Do you think it is safe to abort the extened rom installation by softresesting?

concluding: yup, but BEFORE it starts.

[anichillus]

concluding: yup, but BEFORE it starts.

Also that depends on what rom you're using... mabe the customisation has some important fixes or needed reg settings...

[nothin]

Also that depends on what rom you're using... mabe the customisation has some important fixes or needed reg settings...

all right, but one thing confuses me...

OLD ext rom with i.e. old reg fix cabs and fresh flashed i.e. xplore, Faria's etc. and autorun not interrupted.

May be harmful...

i forgot one thing.. xplore 1.1 had clean autorun config = >NUL. great idea for safe method..forgot about it.

[edhaas]

Another confusing thing (especially for newbies), is redirecting the autorun sequence to the \windows directory. This makes the startup sequence look as though it is using the extended rom, when it is actually not. I think this is what Anichillus does. In this case the startup sequence should not be interrupted.

However, even though the extended_rom is not being used it is still important that it not be corrupted by other means, or overwritten to be "blank".

[anichillus]

all right, but one thing confuses me...

OLD ext rom with i.e. old reg fix cabs and fresh flashed i.e. xplore, Faria's etc. and autorun not interrupted.

May be harmful...

i forgot one thing.. xplore 1.1 had clean autorun config = >NUL. great idea for safe method..forgot about it.


Because in a good ROM, the it won't load up sh** .. I mean that if you have an old EXT rom and flash my core fore example, the customisation won't run the old Extended Rom, but the one I configured...and that's in \Windows.
So no need to cancel...ever..

How do I explain this ... hmm
well
Standard it's like this :
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm]
"TurnRadioFlag"=dword:0
"AutoRunType"=dword:0
"AutoRunCFG"="\\Extended_ROM\\config.txt"
"AutoRun"="\\Extended_ROM\\autorun.exe"

So this would start customisation from the Extended_Rom.
But mine looks like this :

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm]
"TurnRadioFlag"=dword:0
"AutoRunType"=dword:0
"AutoRunCFG"="\\Windows\\config.txt"
"AutoRun"="\\Windows\\autorun.exe"

So it doesn't touch the real extended rom. ;)

[nothin]

Because in a good ROM, the it won't load up sh** .. I mean that if you have an old EXT rom and flash my core fore example, the customisation won't run the old Extended Rom, but the one I configured...and that's in \Windows.
So no need to cancel...ever..

How do I explain this ... hmm
well
Standard it's like this :
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm]
"TurnRadioFlag"=dword:0
"AutoRunType"=dword:0
"AutoRunCFG"="\\Extended_ROM\\config.txt"
"AutoRun"="\\Extended_ROM\\autorun.exe"

Sio this would start customisation from the Extended_Rom.
But mine looks like this :

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm]
"TurnRadioFlag"=dword:0
"AutoRunType"=dword:0
"AutoRunCFG"="\\Windows\\config.txt"
"AutoRun"="\\Windows\\autorun.exe"

So it doesn't touch the real extended rom. ;)

i realized that while writing prev. post.. just good idea.
But 2.0 beta did autorun from wizard love's ext., heh.

[cuboosh]

ok so im going to flash 2.26 tmob rom and soft-reset b4 that ext rom can install then im going to flash core 2.0 fixed and let the ext_rom install since its actually in \windows\ ...does this sound right?

[anichillus]

ok so im going to flash 2.26 tmob rom and soft-reset b4 that ext rom can install then im going to flash core 2.0 fixed and let the ext_rom install since its actually in \windows\ ...does this sound right?

yup, that should fix if any battery problems

[edhaas]

ok so im going to flash 2.26 tmob rom and soft-reset b4 that ext rom can install then im going to flash core 2.0 fixed and let the ext_rom install since its actually in \windows\ ...does this sound right?

Hi Jacob, I read on the other thread this didn't quite work. Try this: re-flash the 2.26 t-mobile rom. Let the customizations run. Load batterystatus. check the load. should be less than 4% at idle. If you're ok, now flash the Core rom. I am assuming you have a G3?

[cuboosh]

yea im on a g3. im going to let the battery drain all the way on 2.0n and then do a full charge and see if nething changes.. i hate to keep flashing back to tmob and then this again ive done it like twice today already!

[Zack84a]

Has anyone tried the new build yet? I just noticed it about a week ago.

I was using...

Ver. 1.04.201 beta3 build 0178

The new one is...

Ver. 1.04.201 beta3 build 0182

It has increased the battery life for me and is more accurate at updating the battery strength as well.

Thanx.

--edit--
This build does have a bit different setup.... not sure how it effects the use, but there is an obvious change from 0178 on how to set up the over clocking

build is now to 1095

haven't fully tested yet.... but just giving people the heads up

http://www.chi-tai.info/cs_BatteryStatus_XDA_Neo_WM5_iM_cs.htm

Zack

--edit--
This build does have a bit different setup.... not sure how it effects the use, but there is an obvious change from 0178 on how to set up the over clocking

[rajivshastri]

From my experience, if you access even a perfectly healthy ExtRom with TC, CPU usage jumps up and so does battery drain. It comes down only after a soft reset.

Resist the temptation... thats what works for me...