1. Andrew4life's Avatar
    So for the second time since I bought the playbook, my battery completely drained itself while in standby.
    On Sunday morning I used my playbook and put it into standby. It definitely had at least 20-30% because when I started using my playbook yesterday morning, it was around 50% and I only used it for about an hour for playing a game. I'm pretty sure I put the playbook to standby before putting it away. This morning ( less than 24 hours later), I tried turning on my playbook and the LED stayed a solid red for a few seconds, followed by 5 blinking white/green. I didn't know what it meant, but searching online, I found out that the battery was completely drained.

    This also happened another time when the playbook would not turn on even though I only left it on standby for a few hours. (used in the morning, should have had plenty of battery life left, dead by the evening).

    Anyone know if this is a software bug, or if I'm supposed to close my programs when I put it to standby? It shouldn't drain more than a percent per hour. And from what I've seen, it'll drain closer to 1% every 2 hours

    Just as a reference, Bluetooth Off, Wifi On, already agreed to Video Chat EULA
    01-23-12 08:01 PM
  2. rotorwrench's Avatar
    By your description, it sounds as though this has happened no more than two or three time. Is this right? As far as apps running in the background, is your PB set to Showcase mode? I don't know the full effect on the battery of running apps in standby, but I do know that BT and wifi on shouldn't affect your battery much at all. Today was a rare day that I may have less than an hour on my PB, off charge since 7am, wifi and BT on all day and I'm currently at 97%, 12hrs later.
    jafobabe likes this.
    01-23-12 08:18 PM
  3. anindoc's Avatar
    So for the second time since I bought the playbook, my battery completely drained itself while in standby.
    On Sunday morning I used my playbook and put it into standby. It definitely had at least 20-30% because when I started using my playbook yesterday morning, it was around 50% and I only used it for about an hour for playing a game. I'm pretty sure I put the playbook to standby before putting it away. This morning ( less than 24 hours later), I tried turning on my playbook and the LED stayed a solid red for a few seconds, followed by 5 blinking white/green. I didn't know what it meant, but searching online, I found out that the battery was completely drained.

    This also happened another time when the playbook would not turn on even though I only left it on standby for a few hours. (used in the morning, should have had plenty of battery life left, dead by the evening).

    Anyone know if this is a software bug, or if I'm supposed to close my programs when I put it to standby? It shouldn't drain more than a percent per hour. And from what I've seen, it'll drain closer to 1% every 2 hours

    Just as a reference, Bluetooth Off, Wifi On, already agreed to Video Chat EULA
    I do not doubt what you are saying, but I would ask you to make 'sure' of what percentage you are leaving your battery on when going to standby. I say this because in your post it seems that you weren't 100% sure on the status of battery charge when you put in standby. I suggest you keep a close eye the next time around and repost to let us know

    Now to the problem at hand. It is very much possible that you did see a dramatic drop in battery life in standby mode. I would suggest that you "quit" all applications, do not have them even in the background (running or not). After you are sure every app is quit, put your PB on standby and see how it behaves in standby. Some apps will drain the battery pretty fast, thats not unusual- specially games. When we play some games, the PB tends to heat up very fast, and the heat might cause a faster battery drain even after the game is quit. So, it is highly possible you saw a bigger drain in the battery life after quitting your game at 20-30% left.

    You can simply run a few tests by yourself. Put your PB at standby at 50% and see how it does and then have it at 100% and then have it go in standby. This will give a much clearer picture on the issue.

    Good luck
    jafobabe and cntrydncr223 like this.
    01-23-12 08:28 PM
  4. rmah's Avatar
    Did you by chance transfer any files over wifi? That could be the culprit, although it wouldn't be able to account for your latter scenario.

    I've had it in standby with a movie paused for ~10 hours and it only drained 2%.
    01-23-12 09:05 PM
  5. Drashak's Avatar
    happen to me a few time when i've try'd os2.0, battery was loosing approx 10% per hour after restart.. I've roll'd back to stable version and security wipe the unit. Dunno what happen but it fix my draining battery problem.

    Good luck..!
    Last edited by Drashak; 01-23-12 at 09:23 PM.
    01-23-12 09:21 PM
  6. peter9477's Avatar
    While you shouldn't have to close any apps when you go into standby, some native (i.e. written with the Native SDK) apps are not yet written properly and will drain significant amounts of energy even in standby. Some games from Electronic Arts (e.g. Bejeweled 2 and SimCity) are culprits, and I'm sure there are others.

    I believe all AIR and WebWorks apps written to date are likely just fine, since their Standby behaviour is controlled at the framework level. The AIR apps can override it when appropriate (as both of mine do) but few developers use that ability so far.

    To the OP, if you're motivated to identify just what's going on, my Battery Guru app will surely be of help. See my signature or search in App World...
    jafobabe likes this.
    01-23-12 09:39 PM
  7. artemis17's Avatar
    Your playbook will drain in standby mode. Standby mode will keep Bluetooth and wifi radios on you will drain at a little less rate but till it will drain pretty fast so just turn it off if your not using for a extended period of time.
    01-24-12 12:56 AM
  8. Andrew4life's Avatar
    Yeah, this is only the second time it happened.
    In the case of this weekend, I was playing Modern Combat 2 and put the playbook to standby without closing the app. Maybe that was why?
    No, I was not transferring anything over Wifi.
    I might not be sure exactly much power it had this time, but I'm certain it had more than 20% which is more than enough for it to be on standby for less than 24 hours (20 hours to be more exact).

    However, the first time it happened, I know for sure the battery was almost full when I put it to standby.
    Now that I think of it, I remember why I was so alarmed the first time. The first time it was pretty much full in the morning, and in the afternoon I noticed that not only would the playbook not turn on, the playbook was warm to the touch. (even though it would have supposedly been on standby)

    Boo, battery guru isn't a free app.
    Maybe if it happens again, I'll get the app.
    01-24-12 08:24 PM
  9. ralfyguy's Avatar
    When I put mine in standby mode it loses about 2% in four hours. That is with wifi in and all apps closed.
    01-24-12 08:28 PM
  10. peter9477's Avatar
    In the case of this weekend, I was playing Modern Combat 2 and put the playbook to standby without closing the app. Maybe that was why?
    Absolutely possible. A number of the new "native" games, possibly just those built with Marmalade, do not properly freeze when they are inactive, even when the PlayBook is in standby.

    You can clearly see they result in over 500mW of drain in standby, where the PlayBook normally uses only 50mW even if numerous non-broken apps have been launched.

    For example, if you have 30% battery and leave, say, SimCity loaded with the PlayBook in standby, it will have drained completely after 9.5h. Sounds like it could be what you experienced. Easy enough to check too... this particular issue isn't intermittent.
    01-24-12 09:34 PM
  11. djnshores's Avatar
    The same thing happens with my cellphones, iPod, Kindle Fire, cameras, and cordless tools. Anything with a battery drains even when not in use.

    The worst offenders are leaving wi-fi and bluetooth on. Also "push" apps that send reminders in standby drain the battery quickly.
    01-24-12 09:44 PM
  12. kjic13's Avatar
    I'm sorry if this has been answered elsewhere already but if I'm watching a video on the net late at night, fall asleep, and let the video continue running, my PB tends to wake up early in the morning with significant-tp-full drain on the battery. Note the PB is not plugged in while this is happening.

    What I expect to happen is I fall asleep, video eventually ends (keep in mind I'm watching, say, youtube on fullscreen mode), and PB goes into standby mode in the amount of time dictated in Settings->Screen->Battery->Standby Time-out.

    What I think happens is everything except the last step. Am I wrong in assuming this? Also note I have the PB set to Showcase mode with Demo Mode off. Is it maybe that I'm watching the video in fullscreen? I know if I watch the video in its entirety and don't fall asleep it'll eat only a couple percentage points of battery life. That leads me to believe something stays running all night and/or my PB isn't going into standby (which I assume "sleeps" all apps) properly.

    Sorry if this is a hijack but I find it strange. I woke up this morning to a totally drained PB when going to sleep earlier with a near-50% charge and no other apps running but the browser on youtube.
    Last edited by kjic13; 01-24-12 at 10:08 PM.
    01-24-12 10:05 PM
  13. diegonei's Avatar
    I don't even turn my PB off anymore. Someone (jafobabe maybe?) pointed out to using AirPlane mode+standby and I hardly lose 2% overnight since then.

    On the video issue, make sure that the player or site does allow the sleep timer to kick in. You see, some people find it annouing to have the screen go black while watching a movie, so that could be your issue right there.
    jafobabe likes this.
    01-24-12 10:43 PM
  14. mhw100's Avatar
    i'm a bit concerned too. Just got another 64 and this one has drained 14% over the last 2hours of standby. I'm thinking of returning it as my prevlous device did drained nothing like this.
    01-25-12 01:32 AM
  15. cntrydncr223's Avatar
    While you shouldn't have to close any apps when you go into standby, some native (i.e. written with the Native SDK) apps are not yet written properly and will drain significant amounts of energy even in standby. Some games from Electronic Arts (e.g. Bejeweled 2 and SimCity) are culprits, and I'm sure there are others.

    I believe all AIR and WebWorks apps written to date are likely just fine, since their Standby behaviour is controlled at the framework level. The AIR apps can override it when appropriate (as both of mine do) but few developers use that ability so far.

    To the OP, if you're motivated to identify just what's going on, my Battery Guru app will surely be of help. See my signature or search in App World...
    Sorry but I can't seem to get the guru to read anything. Is there a trick setting I missed? TIA
    8230 likes this.
    01-25-12 02:09 AM
  16. enzo07i's Avatar
    for battery drain problems, do security wipe, this will solve your problem,
    01-25-12 03:19 AM
  17. Blkacesvf41's Avatar
    Yeah, this is only the second time it happened.
    In the case of this weekend, I was playing Modern Combat 2 and put the playbook to standby without closing the app. Maybe that was why?
    No, I was not transferring anything over Wifi.
    I might not be sure exactly much power it had this time, but I'm certain it had more than 20% which is more than enough for it to be on standby for less than 24 hours (20 hours to be more exact).

    However, the first time it happened, I know for sure the battery was almost full when I put it to standby.
    Now that I think of it, I remember why I was so alarmed the first time. The first time it was pretty much full in the morning, and in the afternoon I noticed that not only would the playbook not turn on, the playbook was warm to the touch. (even though it would have supposedly been on standby)

    Boo, battery guru isn't a free app.
    Maybe if it happens again, I'll get the app.
    I've always wonder about this standby feature. Do you have to push the power button to take it out of standby? I always just let my PB go to sleep, after I close all apps of course. This way it is a minimal battery usage. For instance, last night my battery was at 53% and this morning is down to only 51%.
    01-25-12 06:08 AM
  18. peter9477's Avatar
    Sorry but I can't seem to get the guru to read anything. Is there a trick setting I missed? TIA
    Can't read anything? That's never happened before... do you mean the screen is blank, or it won't launch, or everything shows up like in the screenshots in App World except the numbers are all zero? (None of these symptoms has been reported so I'm assuming it's something else entirely.) Also try launching it after a fresh restart, before doing anything else, in case there's some unrelated issue interfering.

    Feel free to contact my in a PM with more details, including your OS version, or in an email using the support address listed in Battery Guru's App World entry.
    01-25-12 07:25 AM
  19. dimm0k's Avatar
    I don't even turn my PB off anymore. Someone (jafobabe maybe?) pointed out to using AirPlane mode+standby and I hardly lose 2% overnight since then.

    On the video issue, make sure that the player or site does allow the sleep timer to kick in. You see, some people find it annouing to have the screen go black while watching a movie, so that could be your issue right there.
    Wish airplane mode toggle was actually in the wi-fi icon... instead you have to swipe down, select the gear and then go to airplane mode, turn off.
    01-25-12 09:22 AM
  20. peter9477's Avatar
    Wish airplane mode toggle was actually in the wi-fi icon... instead you have to swipe down, select the gear and then go to airplane mode, turn off.
    But four quick taps is sufficient to shut off both Bluetooth and WiFi so you could just do that instead of airplane mode. Only two taps if you don't use Bluetooth...
    jafobabe, rotorwrench and dimm0k like this.
    01-25-12 10:11 AM
  21. Andrew4life's Avatar
    So I just tested it out last night. I opened Modern Combat 2 and then put the playbook on standby. It had 72% at 7pm. I checked 2 hours later and it was down to 69%. I checked this morning at 7am and it was down to 51%. So in only 12 hours, it lost about 21%.
    So it makes sense that my battery completely drained last time given it had around 20-30%.


    Doing another standby test tonight to confirm that it was the app causing the increase in power usage. Going to close all apps and put it to standby. As of 8pm, it's at 93%. I'll report back on the results tomorrow.
    01-26-12 08:29 PM
  22. mhw100's Avatar
    I think I'm going to get mine replaced. Seems to drain too quickly in standby but the final straw today was I brought it out of standby and it was a 10%. Looked at one webpage and put it back into standby. 15 minutes later it was completely dead and couldn't be revived!!!!

    Absolutely no apps loaded other than the stock ones. Screen at 50%, wifi, bt on. Battery Guru says the health is 100% but for the battery fall off a cliff like that there is no way it can be right.
    01-28-12 12:32 AM
  23. alnamvet68's Avatar
    Battery drainage in standby mode is typically 2% per hour. Since you say you had about 30% or so, then it would be expected that you run out of juice in the time frame you left it alone.
    jafobabe likes this.
    01-28-12 12:35 AM
  24. mhw100's Avatar
    Battery drainage in standby mode is typically 2% per hour. Since you say you had about 30% or so, then it would be expected that you run out of juice in the time frame you left it alone.
    but it dropped 10% in 15min.
    01-28-12 01:10 AM
  25. alnamvet68's Avatar
    but it dropped 10% in 15min.
    So you're saying your PB gets about 2 hours of battery time in standby, and probably a whole lot less with use? Is it that way now, and for how long has this been an issue?
    01-28-12 01:18 AM
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