Do I Have a Dead Battery?

[Acreo Aeneas]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Have you tried removing the SD card when you get ready to stop reading for the night?

That's the thing (as I said multiple times above), I'm not using a SD card. All my ebooks are loaded directly onto my PP. The SD card slot is completely empty.

I left a voicemail with Astak on Sunday night, but still haven't heard back yet (was about getting a copy of the old firmware). It's rather a moot point if I get a response now, since someone else above provided a link to older FW.

-----

Since I couldn't find the older FW over the weekend, I decided to reflash the latest firmware. Been reading regularly since Sunday and so far it seems to be okay. I'm crossing my fingers. But if it doesn't work, then I'll reflash to the previous FW.

[Acreo Aeneas]

Now I'm 90% sure the "battery drain" that was supposed to be fixed with the latest FW is NOT fixed. Reflashing to the latest did not help. After about 3-4 days, battery shows as drained again.

I'm downloading the Dec 9, 2009 FW and going to flash back. I'm going to miss the new zoom levels and the MM/DD/YYYY date format.

I'll report back if my battery drain problem goes away.

Update:

Successfully flashed back to December FW. Battery shows up as half-full, which seems normal to me (rather than empty). Going to let it charge overnight. Probably report back in a few days.

[Acreo Aeneas]

Well, it's been some 4 days since I flashed back to the December FW. I haven't had the battery drain on me at all. I'm now sure the supposed battery drain problem that was supposedly fixed in the April 2nd FW was not totally fixed.

I decided to go back and read about the battery drain problem and from what I could find in the forums, it seems the issue cropped up in firmware releases before the Dec '09 FW as well. In those firmwares, it seems the battery drained during lockscreen because some process was left running when the user locked the screen. I'm figuring some process is perhaps turned on and runs during the lockscreen in the April 2nd FW? That's the only explanation I can think of for the battery draining so quickly on me.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Well, it's been some 4 days since I flashed back to the December FW. I haven't had the battery drain on me at all. I'm now sure the supposed battery drain problem that was supposedly fixed in the April 2nd FW was not totally fixed.

I decided to go back and read about the battery drain problem and from what I could find in the forums, it seems the issue cropped up in firmware releases before the Dec '09 FW as well. In those firmwares, it seems the battery drained during lockscreen because some process was left running when the user locked the screen. I'm figuring some process is perhaps turned on and runs during the lockscreen in the April 2nd FW? That's the only explanation I can think of for the battery draining so quickly on me.

Dear Acreo Aeneus:

I am copying your entire post and sending it to our tech people so they realize that the factory obviously did NOT fix the problem. I apologize for this and I am glad you found the solution. This battery issue with the firmware upgrades seems to be "the snake of 7 heads" and each one comes back to bite me.

[Acreo Aeneas]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear Acreo Aeneus:

I am copying your entire post and sending it to our tech people so they realize that the factory obviously did NOT fix the problem. I apologize for this and I am glad you found the solution. This battery issue with the firmware upgrades seems to be "the snake of 7 heads" and each one comes back to bite me.

Thanks Rob. Hopefully they'll debug the problem so the next FW won't have a battery drain issue when the screen is locked.

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Thanks Rob. Hopefully they'll debug the problem so the next FW won't have a battery drain issue when the screen is locked.

Dear Acreo:

I fully agree. The factory and Astak need to do better than release firmware upgrades that are tainted with battery drain problems. I have notified my people and I am trying to get the coooperation of the factory to fix thios and still have the April upgrade potent.

I do not profess yet to have an answer; but this is NOT at all good and I know we need to do better.

WHY can I not get this to go smooth?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Dear Acreo:

I fully agree. The factory and Astak need to do better than release firmware upgrades that are tainted with battery drain problems. I have notified my people and I am trying to get the coooperation of the factory to fix thios and still have the April upgrade potent.

I do not profess yet to have an answer; but this is NOT at all good and I know we need to do better.

WHY can I not get this to go smooth?

It would seem it is not a simple problem. I have burned all the releases and am currently using the April one. I do not see an battery problem with the April release. There is something else going on for those that see this problem but I do not know what it is.

Dale

[Acreo Aeneas]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

It would seem it is not a simple problem. I have burned all the releases and am currently using the April one. I do not see an battery problem with the April release. There is something else going on for those that see this problem but I do not know what it is.

Dale

Well, I tried everything and the only explanation I can come up with is that the April FW includes something that drains my battery over the course of a day or days.

So far, it's been 5/6 days on the Dec '09 FW and battery still reads full even after another 100 pages of reading at zoom level 3. Otherwise, I have no explanation for exactly the cause of my battery drain since it's not like I have a "task manager" on hand that I can bring up to stare at when I leave my device on lockscreen.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Well, I tried everything and the only explanation I can come up with is that the April FW includes something that drains my battery over the course of a day or days.

So far, it's been 5/6 days on the Dec '09 FW and battery still reads full even after another 100 pages of reading at zoom level 3. Otherwise, I have no explanation for exactly the cause of my battery drain since it's not like I have a "task manager" on hand that I can bring up to stare at when I leave my device on lockscreen.

Perhaps it is related to one or two formats. What formats do you use? Do you have the same problem if the SD card is removed? Any other things that are habits for you in your reading? Special things you do perhaps?

Dale

[Acreo Aeneas]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Perhaps it is related to one or two formats. What formats do you use? Do you have the same problem if the SD card is removed? Any other things that are habits for you in your reading? Special things you do perhaps?

Dale

Last time I'll say this: I am not using a SD card. I have no SD card in the slot. In fact, the slot is empty. All my ebooks are loaded onto the device itself (usually using Calibre).

As for formats, the whole I had this issue, I was only reading ePUBs. No other format.

There's nothing weird or so about my reading habits. I normally lie or sit in bed reading with the light on. Then as I get sleepy, I bookmark the page, lock the screen, gently put the PP on my bedside desk, and then I fall asleep. Some nights I won't read. Other nights, I'll stay up for a couple hours reading.

As the weather gets nicer out, I tend to bring my PP along on my morning commutes to class.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

[B]

There's nothing weird or so about my reading habits. I normally lie or sit in bed reading with the light on. Then as I get sleepy, I bookmark the page, lock the screen, gently put the PP on my bedside desk, and then I fall asleep. Some nights I won't read. Other nights, I'll stay up for a couple hours reading.

Do yo have a Cat ?
Mine love to sleep on lumpy things

The new kittens think the strap on my PEz is a great toy (it is very hard to read when your PEz keep jerking around ).

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Last time I'll say this: I am not using a SD card. I have no SD card in the slot. In fact, the slot is empty. All my ebooks are loaded onto the device itself (usually using Calibre).

As for formats, the whole I had this issue, I was only reading ePUBs. No other format.

There's nothing weird or so about my reading habits. I normally lie or sit in bed reading with the light on. Then as I get sleepy, I bookmark the page, lock the screen, gently put the PP on my bedside desk, and then I fall asleep. Some nights I won't read. Other nights, I'll stay up for a couple hours reading.

As the weather gets nicer out, I tend to bring my PP along on my morning commutes to class.

Dear Acreo Aeneus:

I know, I know. I have asked about the SD card, Dale asked, others asked. Please realize we are only trying to help and I do not blame you for hating to repeat yourself.

The fact is that Dale is incredibly good technically. I had the pleasure of being with him often at the last CES. His mind is lightyears ahead of mine. The questions he is asking are being asked because he really wants to help and he knows he can. With your patience, you will find Dale is amazing and warrants repetition.

Please take a deep breath and let Dale get you back to reading!!

We do care about you!

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Last time I'll say this: I am not using a SD card. I have no SD card in the slot. In fact, the slot is empty. All my ebooks are loaded onto the device itself (usually using Calibre).

As for formats, the whole I had this issue, I was only reading ePUBs. No other format.

There's nothing weird or so about my reading habits. I normally lie or sit in bed reading with the light on. Then as I get sleepy, I bookmark the page, lock the screen, gently put the PP on my bedside desk, and then I fall asleep. Some nights I won't read. Other nights, I'll stay up for a couple hours reading.

As the weather gets nicer out, I tend to bring my PP along on my morning commutes to class.

Sorry for the repeat question. As a moderator here I look at hundreds of threads every day. It is sometimes hard to keep them all straight. It doesn't look like you are doing anything different so I am at a loss as to why it might be losing its battery power. it is strange.

Dale

[Acreo Aeneas]

Originally Posted by Robertb

The fact is that Dale is incredibly good technically. I had the pleasure of being with him often at the last CES. His mind is lightyears ahead of mine. The questions he is asking are being asked because he really wants to help and he knows he can. With your patience, you will find Dale is amazing and warrants repetition.

Lightyears you say? Hmm...I think that's a sign you're getting old.

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Sorry for the repeat question. As a moderator here I look at hundreds of threads every day. It is sometimes hard to keep them all straight. It doesn't look like you are doing anything different so I am at a loss as to why it might be losing its battery power. it is strange.

Dale

Didn't mean to sound angry, but I practically had to repeat that on every reply in the thread and after a point, it gets extremely annoying.


@Robert,

Is there a chance I can beta test the next FW whenever it is the factory releases one?

[Gena01]

Hi,

Just to add to this thread. I have updated my wife's Astak a few weeks ago to the April firmware and now the battery barely lasts towards the end of the day. She tends to lock the device and tends to read quite a bit of epub and fb2 (cool reader 3). I tried both types of chargers (usb+pc, wall charger) and charging over night (6+ hours). I am considering falling back to Dec 2009 firmware which is what I got the device with and trying that again. It was fine before the upgrade. I am using an SD card. It's the same card that came with the ebook reader.

I'll try to post an update once I manage to flash her reader to previous firmware. I'll give it a few days to see how the battery life goes.

Thank you,

Gena01