[paco87]

I have a jailbroken 3GS with the new bootrom using iOS 4.1 . My baseband is 05.14.02 . Though I don't have the version at hand right now, I have an older baseband that is supposed to be unlockable saved in Cydia. The carrier is AT&T so it is not unlocked nor hacktivated. However, since the account's main phone is a BlackBerry, I used unlockit.co.nz to change the APN and be able to have data access.

My problem is that the battery drain since the jailbreak has been nothing short of ridiculous. I have tried downgrading the mobilesubstrate, unistalled SBSettings, installed Auto3G and almost everything else I have seen in the various jailbreak forums, bricking my phone once or twice in the process, but to no avail. Also, I do the obvious, like turning off notifications, location services, bluetooth, etc and other things that weren't causing problems before the jailbreak. At first I thought that the unlockit.co.nz was the culprit but I have a friend with the same phone and almost the same set up as me, except he is not using the unlockit program, yet he has the same battery drain. To my knowledge, the only thing I still have to try is a custom firmware but since I don't even know what that will do, I'm not even sure I want to go ahead.

My JB apps are the following:

Activator
AptBackUp
Barrel
biteSMS
Five Icon Dock
iBlacklist
iFile
Infinifolders
iSH S H it
MobileTerminal
Multifl0w
Notifier+
PdaNet
Recent/CallLog Delete
Safari Download Manager
SBSettings
3G Unrestrictor

plus all the stuff Cydia installs whenever you download something.

All these apps, plus the few I got from the App Store, are always turned off unless I need to use them. I don't have Winterboard, themes, Redsn0w, Ultrasn0w or any of the sn0ws nor the phone is unlocked but I would like to do it since I travel abroad approximately every two months

To clarify things, I have two phones because the iPhone was a gift from my father. It belonged to him but he ended up preferring BlackBerries and T-Mobile so I got the 3GS. I really like the iPhone and would like to use it daily but I need something that won't die on me during the day since it is not only my toy but most importantly, my work phone.

I apologize for the lengthy post but I am trying to provide as many details as possible and give you all a good picture of what the situation is to see whether something can be done.

[jdavis530]

Roughly how old is the 3Gs it self?

[paco87]

Roughly how old is the 3Gs it self?

I think it was purchased in March, so a little less than a year. I got it in August and jailbroke first with jailbreak me and when iOS 4.1 came out, jailbroke again with limera1n. I don't think this should matter but it is a 16GB.

[jdavis530]

Wow, so its still fairly newer, so it cant be the battery itself.

[jdavis530]

The only other thing I could suggest is to contact Apple and maybe getting it swapped out. I know this would be a pain, since you are jailbroken and all, but might be your only solution.

[paco87]

The only other thing I could suggest is to contact Apple and maybe getting it swapped out. I know this would be a pain, since you are jailbroken and all, but might be your only solution.

I thought of that but about three weeks ago I restored the phone and used it for a week without jailbreaking. The battery lasted on average a little bit over a day with moderate to heavy usage of both voice and data. So, happy as a clam, I jailbroke once again and the battery drain made itself present. Now it doesn't last more than 8 to 9 hours, if that. It even drains when the phone is in standby. I was prepared to see a bit of drain after the jailbreak but 1/3 of the battery life as compared to what it is before JB'ing is too much. Or too little...

[Pocobear]

I would try removing PdaNet and 3G Unrestrictor , and maybe Notifier plus and bitsms, and see what happens. Sounds like something is doing a lot of pushing of data, or using 3g instead of WiFi. Use SBSetting and get the SBToggles for these apps, if there is one, and turn them off, one by one, in SBsettings.

[paco87]

I would try removing PdaNet and 3G Unrestrictor , and maybe Notifier plus and bitsms, and see what happens. Sounds like something is doing a lot of pushing of data, or using 3g instead of WiFi. Use SBSetting and get the SBToggles for these apps, if there is one, and turn them off, one by one, in SBsettings.

I'll try that, although I rarely use PdaNet and 3G Unrestrictor. Hell, I'll try anything. One thing is that, due to the drain issue, I am still using the BB more than the iPhone so most of the time it is on WiFi rather than 3G and the drain keeps on happening, no matter what. Pretty annoying, I have to say.

So far, it looks like I'll have to restore as a new phone and set up everything from scratch.

[Allyson Kazmucha]

Have you tried completely draining down to about 10% or lower and then recharging completely? I'd do this about 3 times after jailbreaking. Sometimes your battery needs to be recalibrated after making changes to mobilesubstrate (which jailbreaking does).

Try uninstalling notifier and safari download manager. just a hunch on those 2

[paco87]

Have you tried completely draining down to about 10% or lower and then recharging completely? I'd do this about 3 times after jailbreaking. Sometimes your battery needs to be recalibrated after making changes to mobilesubstrate (which jailbreaking does).

Try uninstalling notifier and safari download manager. just a hunch on those 2

Already tried the battery draining and recharging too. As a matter of fact, I do it once a week using Battery Doctor but haven't seen any improvement. Regarding Notifier and Safari DM, they are fairly new. Specifically, I installed the DM to download an older mobilesubstrate directly to the phone and installed it using iFile. As you may imagine the downgrade had zero impact on the battery drain.

Anyway, thanks to all for your ideas. Keep 'em coming, something has to work.

[c0rinne]

Why don't you try removing all unnecessary jailbreak apps (keeping the jailbreak of course) and adding them one by one every day?

[Massie]

Definitely try uninstalling Barrel; I've heard in more than a few forums that it causes serious battery issues.

[paco87]

Definitely try uninstalling Barrel; I've heard in more than a few forums that it causes serious battery issues.

Massie: I installed Barrel not more than a month ago but the problem began before that. Besides, as I mentioned before, I have a friend with the same problem but he doesn't have Barrel. I might end up doing what Corrine suggests or even restoring as a new phone, though I'm dreading that option.

Can anyone tell me whether using a custom firmware will help? Are there considerable advantages or disadvantages to doing this? And just another question, what should be the average battery life with jailbreak compared to a stock phone?

This is kind of disappointing, specially after using SBSettings and all the toggles aimed to disable unnecessary services when not in use.

[paco87]

Last night I restored my phone as a new phone, re-JB, installed back all my Cydia apps one by one, let the battery die and recharged it, all to find out that the drain is still there . That leads me to think that it's the JB itself or an app/combination of apps. Maybe tomorrow I'll uninstall them all and begin to install them back one or two per day to find out which one (if any) is causing the problem. In the meantime, if someone has a new idea, please feel free to chime in.

I have two questions:

1. Since my data plan is not for an iPhone but for a BlackBerry, I am using the unlockit.co.nz hack (or whatever it is) to change the APN settings and have data access. However, by using that hack, I'm unable to check the internet tethering and disable it so it doesn't takes its toll on the battery. The question is: is there a way to change the APN settings without using unlockit.co.nz so I can see whether the internet tethering is working "overtime"?

2. I backed up the phone before restoring it but since I restored it as new, I haven't been able to get back the pics and text messages I had saved. So, how or where do I find the back up file so I can retrieve what I want to put back on the phone?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Pocobear]

JB apps aren't the only apps that can cause battery drain. I had an update to DataMan that caused huge battery drain, deleted it and drain gone, but no one else seemed to have the drain with DataMan. What I'm thinking is that some App Store apps may have a conflict with the JB, but be OK when not jailbroken. Or the upgrade could have had a slight corruption, not enough to keep it from working, but enough to cause the drain. Just some thoughts to consider. So don't rule out standard ,non-jailbroken, apps as a source of the problem.

[nillam1]

I've owned many 3GS iPhones & loved each off them, yes the battery in all of them has been my only complaint. Un-jailbroken is obviously better cuz then it's in Blackberry land, where it feels boring & saves lots of energy acting as a paper weight. Sort of like a 10 MPH speed limiting governer, on a 200 MPH capable Corvette ZR1! Auto3G is good but you can also try "Screendimmer" for brightness control & I like "Pluggedin" from Cydia to launch Battery Doctor Pro, everytime I plug in. I've turned the trickle to the maximum of 120 minutes & full cycle charge as much as possible. Still the battery is nothing to brag about, so I bought another 3GS & like a big dork I carry one in each pocket, LOL! This way I can swap my sim back & forth every night to let one rest when I'm sleeping. Another break, for those 3GS battery blues is to go on eBay & buy like 4 or more juicepaks. The Bluestorm 1800mAh juicepaks are just as good as the 1200mAh Mophie juicepaks, @ around $20 each they are well worth it. Throw a couple charged juicepaks in ur backpak or lunchbag each morning & enjoy ur turbocharged, jailbroken, battery-sucking, very-capable & extremely enjoyable beast! Despite it's sorry ***, wimpy battery. Also on eBay buy a bunch of wall chargers, charge cables & 12v chargers so u can plug in anywhere u r. I laugh when my brother brags about not charging his "W"ackberry for days, then I throw in my mandatory one liner "considering u only use ur Blackberry for texting & phone calls. It better last for day's, without charging!" On eBay I've seen 1600mAh replacement batteries for 3GS, if they fit this might be a bit of boost. Considering one of my iPhones spent the first 6 months of it's life on the old Blackra1n tethered JB, where I did not power the phone off for months on end. I'm dying to crack that sucker open in mid January 2011, when the warranty runs out! I'm gonna swap out the original battery with one of those 1600mAh replacements, if it's possible. I can update u if ur interested, let me know K. PEACE OUT!!!

[nillam1]

I also just found "BatteryDetective" from Cydia, it's supposed to monitor which apps are draining ur battery most. I just bought it today, so when I figure out how or if it work's I will report back. It sound's promising but I'll need a couple days to make my own determination. At $1.99, it's worth the try! Later.

[nillam1]

Massie: I installed Barrel not more than a month ago but the problem began before that. Besides, as I mentioned before, I have a friend with the same problem but he doesn't have Barrel. I might end up doing what Corrine suggests or even restoring as a new phone, though I'm dreading that option.

Can anyone tell me whether using a custom firmware will help? Are there considerable advantages or disadvantages to doing this? And just another question, what should be the average battery life with jailbreak compared to a stock phone?

This is kind of disappointing, specially after using SBSettings and all the toggles aimed to disable unnecessary services when not in use.

Any of u guy's used "SBScheduler" for the one touch SBSettings profiles? Is it worth $3.99? After I figure out "BatteryDetective," I'm sure that different SBS schedules or profiles will help battery. IDC about the cost, as long as it's somewhat effective & not to complicated. Any thoughts or experience good or bad, about SBScheduler?

[paco87]

Any of u guy's used "SBScheduler" for the one touch SBSettings profiles? Is it worth $3.99? After I figure out "BatteryDetective," I'm sure that different SBS schedules or profiles will help battery. IDC about the cost, as long as it's somewhat effective & not to complicated. Any thoughts or experience good or bad, about SBScheduler?

Nillam1, I'll check the BatteryDetective right now but if you keep me posted on your findings, I'll appreciate it. The battery issue is the only thing keeping me from leaving BlackBerry. I know it's a little bit boring compared to the iPhone but I really need to know that the charge will last through the day. To illustrate the situation, yesterday I was using the iPhone non-stop for about an hour to plan a Christmas dinner with some friends and, at the end of that hour, the phone had lost 20% of the charge. No open apps, no GPS, no nothing, just talking. In contrast, I have been pounding the BB today since 7:00 am. Now it's 6:30 pm and I'm still at 58%. Now, I know that not all phones are equal and I can comfortably live with a faster battery drain that what I get from my BB but not at the cost not JB'ing or not using the phone for other than talking.

[kellyp513]

Are you noticing a lot of data usage? I know your phone isn't unlocked, but if you see a lot of data usage you may want to try Push Doctor. My unlocked 3gs was constantly using data to download proper push certificates, and Push Doctor fixed the problem. I had absolutely horrendous battery life before trying this fix, and now my battery life is really good.

It may be worth a try.

[paco87]

Are you noticing a lot of data usage? I know your phone isn't unlocked, but if you see a lot of data usage you may want to try Push Doctor. My unlocked 3gs was constantly using data to download proper push certificates, and Push Doctor fixed the problem. I had absolutely horrendous battery life before trying this fix, and now my battery life is really good.

It may be worth a try.

@Kelly, following your suggestion, I added the NERV repo to my Cydia sources and downloaded Push Doctor but I keep getting a "Half-Installed Package" notice and can't use PD. I don't know how many times I had deleted PD plus all of its package components (one by one) and the repo. After that, I reinstall everything again, only to get the same message. Any idea?

[kellyp513]

I didn't have any problems with installation and everything worked on the first try. I did read of others having to install a few times to get it working, but you've already tried that. Maybe you can search for push doctor installation problems and find some help on why it's not installing for you.

I noticed that you said you're using unlockit.co.nz to change APN settings so that you can use data since your data plan is for a blackberry. I'm on t-mobile with a blackberry plan and I only needed to change settings so that mms would work. Maybe your APN settings are causing a problem?

Sorry you've having this problem. I know how annoying the battery drain thing is. Until I found push doctor, I had to keep data off until I needed to use it. Are you noticing big data usage even when you're not using the phone? If you are, trying turning data off and see if your battery life improves. If it does, then I bet you are having the same issue as I was.

[nillam1]

Nillam1, I'll check the BatteryDetective right now but if you keep me posted on your findings, I'll appreciate it. The battery issue is the only thing keeping me from leaving BlackBerry. I know it's a little bit boring compared to the iPhone but I really need to know that the charge will last through the day. To illustrate the situation, yesterday I was using the iPhone non-stop for about an hour to plan a Christmas dinner with some friends and, at the end of that hour, the phone had lost 20% of the charge. No open apps, no GPS, no nothing, just talking. In contrast, I have been pounding the BB today since 7:00 am. Now it's 6:30 pm and I'm still at 58%. Now, I know that not all phones are equal and I can comfortably live with a faster battery drain that what I get from my BB but not at the cost not JB'ing or not using the phone for other than talking.

Battery Detective is very good & well worth the money. It can analyze each app individually & gives very detailed info about the battery. Here's some screen shots instead of typing away.

Attachment 7657

Attachment 7658

Attachment 7659

[paco87]

I didn't have any problems with installation and everything worked on the first try. I did read of others having to install a few times to get it working, but you've already tried that. Maybe you can search for push doctor installation problems and find some help on why it's not installing for you.

I noticed that you said you're using unlockit.co.nz to change APN settings so that you can use data since your data plan is for a blackberry. I'm on t-mobile with a blackberry plan and I only needed to change settings so that mms would work. Maybe your APN settings are causing a problem?

Sorry you've having this problem. I know how annoying the battery drain thing is. Until I found push doctor, I had to keep data off until I needed to use it. Are you noticing big data usage even when you're not using the phone? If you are, trying turning data off and see if your battery life improves. If it does, then I bet you are having the same issue as I was.

@kelly, I was finally able to download Push Doctor but I don't see it listed in Settings nor there is an icon. Should I assume that the app just works in the background? If so, I haven't noticed anything different regarding the battery drain.

[kellyp513]

Yes, it works in the background - the only thing I did after the installation was restart the phone, and my battery problem was solved. My problem was due to data constantly being used to download proper push certificates. Push Doctor fixed that issue, so data usage went back to normal and my battery drain problem ended.

It sounds as though your problem isn't data related. My suggestion would be to turn data off for about an hour and see if it makes any difference in the battery drain - that way you should know for sure whether data usage has anything to do with it.