Stock Android 4.3 'Android OS' permanent wakelock

andrewf403 · Aug 4, 2013

Looking at some XDA and Reddit posts, small set of users (my Nexus 4 including, unfortunately) experiencing some sort of bug with stock not rooted Android 4.3 after OTA on all range of Nexus devices.

The bug is Android OS holding device awake all the time and not letting it into deep sleep. It looks like it has not huge impact on battery life, but still it is abnormal. Rebooting devices, for me, curing this, but only for a day or two, after a few days wakelock makes its come back.

Unfortunately WakeLock Detector does not show who is guilty, looks like it is in the kernel. I just have bought BetterBatteryStats, and will look at its data tomorrow. What WLD does show is that my Nexus 4 had 0:00 of deep sleep today:

Here is what Android's battary stats looks like:

And here is what is should look like and does look like on my 2012 Nexus 7, that is unaffected by this. And stats looks the same for a few days after I reboot my Nexus 4, before wakelock occurs again:

I have to assume that it has nothing to do with connectivity, because same thing happens even if I disable wifi and mobile data entirely.

Here is a list of topics about the same issue I could found, but they only have questions, not answers.

Android Police's review of 2013 Nexus 7: http://cdn.androidpolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/nexusae0_Screenshot_2013-08-02-16-14-17.png
XDA thread about another Nexus 4: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2388072
Reddit thread about Nexus 4: http://www.reddit.com/r/nexus4/comments/1jk7bz/android_43_android_os_battery_issues/
Reddit thread about 2012 Nexus 7: http://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus7/comments/1jnoqu/2012_has_anyone_else_had_similar_problems_since/
UPD: one more thread about 2013 Nexus 7 http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2394813
UPD: one more Nexus 4 thread http://www.reddit.com/r/nexus4/comments/1kck8k/android_os_is_consuming_a_lot_of_battery/

Unfortunately, I also do not have any answers (yet). The purpose of this post is gather all the info I've found in one place, and maybe rise the awareness about this.

Update:

Ok. I had BetterBatteryStats on my phone for 30 minutes, and this whole 30 minutes PowerManagerService held wakelock itself. So, it safe to assume that it is an offender.

mlj11 · Aug 6, 2013

Hi, I saw your reply on this thread.

I read some speculation somewhere that the wakelocks might be caused by the device continually trying to poll for location, and apparently this behaviour could be corrected by the latest version of Google Play Services v3.2.25. I don't see the wakelocks now after upgrading to it earlier today, however this could also be because I rebooted my phone... Nevertheless I'm still not getting great screen-on time, just about 3.5 hours compared to other people's 5+ hours.

What's your version of the app? If you don't have 3.2.25 you can either download it directly (Android Police has put up a copy of the apk, but it might not be a Nexus 4-specific one) or download a more recent version of Play Store and wait for it to update Google Play Services automatically.

I'll report back here if I notice any more changes in my phone.

andrewf403 · Aug 6, 2013

mlj11 said:
Hi, I saw your reply on this thread.

I read some speculation somewhere that the wakelocks might be caused by the device continually trying to poll for location, and apparently this behaviour could be corrected by the latest version of Google Play Services v3.2.25. I don't see the wakelocks now after upgrading to it earlier today, however this could also be because I rebooted my phone... Nevertheless I'm still not getting great screen-on time, just about 3.5 hours compared to other people's 5+ hours.

What's your version of the app? If you don't have 3.2.25 you can either download it directly (Android Police has put up a copy of the apk, but it might not be a Nexus 4-specific one) or download a more recent version of Play Store and wait for it to update Google Play Services automatically.

I'll report back here if I notice any more changes in my phone.

Location related wakelock are reflected in Android System and Google Services in the Android's battery stats, and as NLP (and some others) in the BetterBatteryStats. They account for about 1 hour of awake in a day. And they actually DO something.

This wakelock unfortunately does not show in Partial Wakelocks statistics in BetterBatteryStats, so I think it occurs somewhere deep in kernel.

If you use Google Now, or some other location based apps like Aviate, 3.5 hours of screen time is great. I do not turn off Wi-Fi, even when it is not available, use Google Now (without location history). 3 hours of screen on is what I expecting as a best case scenario.

Unfortunately, at days then 'Android OS' wakelock happens it nowhere near 3 hours.

mlj11 · Aug 6, 2013

So you're saying that location polling only affects "Android System" and "Google Services" wakelocks. Ok, I didn't know that.

But I did note that my "Android OS" wakelocks have now stopped. Although I cannot say whether the update to Google Play Services / Google Play Store had anything to do with it, or whether it was simply because I rebooted my phone. Do you know for sure that Play Services has no effect in this respect?

And yes, I do use Google Now and also Field Trip.

In any case, I'm also noticing that my battery drains at a much faster rate (as compared to 4.2.2) when I have my phone turned on.

Galaxo60 · Aug 7, 2013

andrewf403 said:
Location related wakelock are reflected in Android System and Google Services in the Android's battery stats, and as NLP (and some others) in the BetterBatteryStats. They account for about 1 hour of awake in a day. And they actually DO something.

This wakelock unfortunately does not show in Partial Wakelocks statistics in BetterBatteryStats, so I think it occurs somewhere deep in kernel.

If you use Google Now, or some other location based apps like Aviate, 3.5 hours of screen time is great. I do not turn off Wi-Fi, even when it is not available, use Google Now (without location history). 3 hours of screen on is what I expecting as a best case scenario.

Unfortunately, at days then 'Android OS' wakelock happens it nowhere near 3 hours.

mlj11 said:
So you're saying that location polling only affects "Android System" and "Google Services" wakelocks. Ok, I didn't know that.

But I did note that my "Android OS" wakelocks have now stopped. Although I cannot say whether the update to Google Play Services / Google Play Store had anything to do with it, or whether it was simply because I rebooted my phone. Do you know for sure that Play Services has no effect in this respect?

And yes, I do use Google Now and also Field Trip.

In any case, I'm also noticing that my battery drains at a much faster rate (as compared to 4.2.2) when I have my phone turned on.

Possible answer here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=44361765

Hope it helps.

:good:

andrewf403 · Aug 8, 2013

Galaxo60 said:
Possible answer here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=44361765

Hope it helps.

:good:

It'll help with Google Services drain, I think. Anyway Google Play Services just updated for me (with Android Device Manager), hope it'll fix Android OS drain too. Hope is not high, though )

flintdragon · Aug 8, 2013

I've recently have this issue as well with "Android OS". Luckily I can still make it through the day easily but annoyed this kind of stuff still happens. I got the latest Google Play Services yesterday and still have this issue today after a full charge. Will reboot and see what happens I guess.

steven676 · Aug 8, 2013

flintdragon said:
I've recently have this issue as well with "Android OS". Luckily I can still make it through the day easily but annoyed this kind of stuff still happens. I got the latest Google Play Services yesterday and still have this issue today after a full charge. Will reboot and see what happens I guess.

I've been seeing this on my Galaxy Nexus with AOSP 4.3 as well. It looks like this patch might be relevant: https://github.com/CyanogenMod/andr...mmit/e6771c41e8ae905a616f3fd369d0eacfcd2003b9

andrewf403 · Aug 8, 2013

steven676 said:
I've been seeing this on my Galaxy Nexus with AOSP 4.3 as well. It looks like this patch might be relevant: https://github.com/CyanogenMod/andr...mmit/e6771c41e8ae905a616f3fd369d0eacfcd2003b9

It looks relevant indeed. Although, I would not call the drain "rapid". I'm now looking close to my device statistics and try to pinpoint exact moment this lock occurs to find the cause.

If it is indeed caused by concurrent condition in PowerManagerService there is not much to do, but flash another, patched, ROM. But I eager to stay on stock.

morgante · Aug 9, 2013

Also seeing this with my Nexus 4. Reboot doesn't do much at all for me.

nosch · Aug 9, 2013

I was having the same problem with Android OS keeping my nexus 4 awake. It turns out the problem was using a wireless charger. If I wirelessly charged overnight my phone would never go into deep sleep when I took it off the charger. I went back to using the usb charger and the problem has gone away. I don't know if you are wirelessly charging but it did the trick for me.

xramonz · Aug 10, 2013

nosch said:
I was having the same problem with Android OS keeping my nexus 4 awake. It turns out the problem was using a wireless charger. If I wirelessly charged overnight my phone would never go into deep sleep when I took it off the charger. I went back to using the usb charger and the problem has gone away. I don't know if you are wirelessly charging but it did the trick for me.

confirm exactly the same trouble.
usb charger solves this problem for a while

andrewf403 · Aug 10, 2013

nosch said:
I was having the same problem with Android OS keeping my nexus 4 awake. It turns out the problem was using a wireless charger. If I wirelessly charged overnight my phone would never go into deep sleep when I took it off the charger. I went back to using the usb charger and the problem has gone away. I don't know if you are wirelessly charging but it did the trick for me.

It's documented problem about wireless charger https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/mobile/c4HRzEUNmFk/geRlvQRtSPoJ
Looks like it was there since 4.2.2 and nobody cared to patch this in 4.3.

Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with my case. I do not own a wireless charger and the name of the wake lock is different. When it is related to charger it is PowerManagerService.WirelessChargerDetector keeps device from sleep. In my case it is less specific PowerManagerService.Wakelocks

max4wdc · Aug 10, 2013

I have this issue i think maybe going back to 4.2.2

zerohunk · Aug 11, 2013

I have the same problem of android os keeping phone awake on my nexus 4 .. I cant go back to 4.2.2 coz i face notification delay prob on 4.2.2 so i am stuck up with battery drain on 4.3

.. all os updates seem to have some or the other bug! really annoyed ... maybe i should have sticked to my htc one x+ .. atleast it dint hav any probs as such

Calebz · Aug 11, 2013

zerohunk said:
I have the same problem of android os keeping phone awake on my nexus 4 .. I cant go back to 4.2.2 coz i face notification delay prob on 4.2.2 so i am stuck up with battery drain on 4.3 .. all os updates seem to have some or the other bug! really annoyed ... maybe i should have sticked to my htc one x+ .. atleast it dint hav any probs as such

I have been having the same issue . I finally dealt with it last night after flashing multiple ROMs and kernels. I went back to OTA 4.3/rooted/twrp and flashed from the updated .84 modem back to the previous .48 modem. Went back to only losing ~4% overnight. The problem appears to be the qualcomm modem driver. Additionally, I am mostly seeing this problem from people outside the US.

Heritz · Aug 12, 2013

Calebz said:
I have been having the same issue . I finally dealt with it last night after flashing multiple ROMs and kernels. I went back to OTA 4.3/rooted/twrp and flashed from the updated .84 modem back to the previous .48 modem. Went back to only losing ~4% overnight. The problem appears to be the qualcomm modem driver. Additionally, I am mostly seeing this problem from people outside the US.

What I also tried, that didn't work at all, was stopping all running services during an Android OS wakelock. Even with all the services stopped and the RAM cleared, the wakelock didn't stop at all. So, it means the drain comes directly from the OS/drivers/etc, not any running app. In fact, after 2 factory resets, 1 reflash and keeping my phone completely stock for days, the Android OS wakelock kept occurring. Even if you don't sign-in into your Google account, the wakelock will still be there eventually draining all your battery.

I will have to give the old modem a shot.

andrewf403 · Aug 14, 2013

So, somewhere here, on XDA, I read suggestion to clear cache (Settings -> Storage -> Tap on 'Cache' and then 'Yes') and then reboot.

I did this on Friday and to date wakelock did not return. I do not know did this really help. May be it was just a coincidence, or maybe this nasty wakelock will return, but this procedure is easy and harmless, so maybe it is worth to give it a shot.

jong31 · Aug 18, 2013

Same Problem

I just got my nexus 4 a week ago and I have been having this problem ever since I got it. It seems to be an issue for me no matter what rom/kernel/radio I flash. I've also tried complete factory image flashes of 4.2.2 and 4.3 with radio and it has no effect on this issue. I am very discouraged because I love this phone other than that problem.

sofratuzu · Aug 19, 2013

andrewf403 said:
So, somewhere here, on XDA, I read suggestion to clear cache (Settings -> Storage -> Tap on 'Cache' and then 'Yes') and then reboot.

I did this on Friday and to date wakelock did not return. I do not know did this really help. May be it was just a coincidence, or maybe this nasty wakelock will return, but this procedure is easy and harmless, so maybe it is worth to give it a shot.

Nothing else on the forums worked for me so as a last chance, i tried this solution and it worked. Well, sort of. I did this last friday and afterwards android OS battery usage dropped from around 25% to 8%. Also in Wakelock Detector, i saw that my CPU was no longer awake all the time. But unfortunately, as of this morning, problem reappeared. I tried to erase cache again but it didn't work.

Is this happened to you as well?

Stock Android 4.3 'Android OS' permanent wakelock

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