Aura One Sleepcover bug: battery drain (&other minor issues)

[franklekens]

Initially I had the Aura One without sleepcover. I noticed that when I put it down, it sometimes seemed to wake up spontaneously, more or less at random. Someone here suggested this was due to the "automatically sleep & wake up" feature being turned on, which is intended for use with the sleepcover. This proved correct: when I turned it off, the spontaneous awakenings no longer occurred.

Now I have a sleepcover, so I switched this feature back on. Within a day my battery was drained overnight. What gives? I switched the sleepcover function off: battery life was normal again. I switched it back on: once more the battery was drained overnight.

What seems to happen is that the sleepcover function is too sensitive or is just plain off. So the device may power off if you close the sleepcover, but the slightest touch (e.g. if you're carrying the device around) or maybe the vicinity of metal or another magnet may set it off, and the device wakes up while the cover is closed. Because I've opened it to find menu's (e.g. for font size) opened that I definitely hadn't opened myself. Unless I've started sleepwalking since I have this device.

(You may say: well don't keep other magnets in the vicinity! Or don't walk with the device when it wants to sleep! But my AuraHD never had this problem. That sleepcover worked just fine.)

I wonder if it's related that the touchscreen is often wrong. E.g. if I press the reading speed &c symbol, often the screen thinks I've pressed the rightmost symbol (for annotations &c). Often when I press the little lamp, the device thinks I've pressed the wifi symbol.

Would this be something they can fix with better firmware, or is it a hardware limitation?

Basically now the sleepcover is useless. I keep it only because it offers some protection and makes it easier to hold the device with one hand (at least with my right hand, not with my left, obviously).

Anybody else notice the same problem?

I really love the device for its screen size, for which there seem few alternatives. (Also it's my first device with a flush screen, which is nice.)
But really that sleep cover ought to work better. It's annoying to still have to switch it on and off manually all the time.

[frostschutz]

The battery drain is a firmeware bug that occurs sporadically without exact known cause.

Basically the device pretends to be asleep (shows sleep screen and everything) but actually does not sleep and drains the battery instead.

For a hyperactive magnet sensor or touchscreen going into the wrong direction, I'd assume this is a hardware problem, but you never know what strange things the firmware does...

[robko]

I've seen a few posts with similar comments on the sleep cover. I remember back when sleep covers first came out on the older devices and initially they had a similar problem. IIRC there was eventually a firmware update that turned down the sensitivity. You are likely correct when you're carrying it around that the sleep cover is getting moved enough to wake the device.

[ballfresno]

Originally Posted by franklekens

Now I have a sleepcover, so I switched this feature back on. Within a day my battery was drained overnight. What gives? I switched the sleepcover function off: battery life was normal again. I switched it back on: once more the battery was drained overnight.
[...]
Anybody else notice the same problem?

I have the same problem. The sleep cover, with the automatic sleep/wakeup setting, causes very random behaviour (menus, page changes, in either direction but usually backwards). I've turned off the automatic sleeping mode and am having no problems now, especially in terms of battery drain, although it does make having the sleep cover kind of pointless.

But I remain very happy with my purchase as the size of the screen is perfect (for me).

[emilov]

My workaround is to put the device to sleep manually using the switch on the back, wait a sec for it to actually sleep, and then close the cover. This is not how it was intended to work (the kindle PW2 never had this issue with its cover) but it gets the job done till (if) this get fixed with a firmware update.

For me the cover's job is to protect the device first and everything else second so this isn't so bad. While it is slightly annoying it does not diminish the reading experience which on the KA1 is quite awesome.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by emilov

My workaround is to put the device to sleep manually using the switch on the back, wait a sec for it to actually sleep, and then close the cover. This is not how it was intended to work (the kindle PW2 never had this issue with its cover) but it gets the job done till (if) this get fixed with a firmware update.

For me the cover's job is to protect the device first and everything else second so this isn't so bad. While it is slightly annoying it does not diminish the reading experience which on the KA1 is quite awesome.

I've only had my sleepcover for a day but I do have the PeriodicAutoSync off in the configuration file and I did not see a large battery drop overnight. I'll keep an eye on this over the next few days.

[emilov]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I've only had my sleepcover for a day but I do have the PeriodicAutoSync off in the configuration file and I did not see a large battery drop overnight. I'll keep an eye on this over the next few days.

This is a different issue: the battery drain sync issue is what most ONE owners complain about (even if they have no cover). That one is due to a bug in the sync which tries to do so repeatedly even with wifi off. The fix (for me) was to disable that sync manually (I do keep wifi off as well) in the config file directly (as it is now, you can't do that in the UI, the checkbox returns to "checked" once you leave the settings page).

The issue with the cover is that it sometimes wakes up the device during the night and the latter won't sleep again which, depending on how strong your backlight is set to, drains the battery. It would also wake up the device (very seldom) when you move it, touch it, or set it on a metallic surface (magnets) (all while the cover is on and you wouldn't expect the device to be awakened).

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by emilov

This is a different issue: the battery drain sync issue is what most ONE owners complain about (even if they have no cover). That one is due to a bug in the sync which tries to do so repeatedly even with wifi off. The fix (for me) was to disable that sync manually (I do keep wifi off as well) in the config file directly (as it is now, you can't do that in the UI, the checkbox returns to "checked" once you leave the settings page).

The issue with the cover is that it sometimes wakes up the device during the night and the latter won't sleep again which, depending on how strong your backlight is set to, drains the battery. It would also wake up the device (very seldom) when you move it, touch it, or set it on a metallic surface (magnets) (all while the cover is on and you wouldn't expect the device to be awakened).

Given that I've had the sleepcover for about 30 hours, as yet, I have not noticed any unexpected battery drain. After reading some of the messages, I tried opening the cover slightly so the KA1 woke up but it promptly went back to sleep in 5 minutes. I placed it on a flat piece of sheet metal (not magnetic itself but affected by a magnet -- the top edge of the front cover stuck to it with enthusiasm) and it did not seem to have any effect on the sleep cover's operation when I placed the KA1 with the back of the cover on the sheet. As for placing it on a magnetic surface? I tried that with some rare earth magnets I have around and yes, the KA1 would wake up -- OTOH, one of those magnets will allow me to pick up ~2.7kgs according to the manufacturer's spec sheet. They're about 55mmX10mmX4mm and were intended for holding name badges in place.

My KA1's magnet seems to located pretty much centered on the sensor unlike my original H2O cover which had issues with the magnet not being properly located so I had to shove the top edge of the front cover down 3-4mm to get the H2O to go to sleep reliably but Chapters happily exchanged that cover for one that worked.

[Question Mark]

I've had my sleepcover for well over a week now. Haven't experienced any undue battery drain, and I haven't charged my KA1 in over a week as I've recently been too busy to do much reading. I have, however, been checking the battery level each day to monitor the situation. I have also been carrying my KA1 around with me each day in my backpack where it gets a fair bit of jostling about.

I have, however, experienced page flips a time or two after closing the sleepcover. I am now careful to keep my fingers on the edges of the device when closing the cover, and not to touch the front of the cover for a couple of seconds after it has closed. Since following this regime, I haven't experienced any more problems with unintended page flips when closing the sleepcover.

Although I wish the PDF experience were a bit better, I'm very pleased with both my KA1 and the sleepcover.

[franklekens]

Originally Posted by emilov

My workaround is to put the device to sleep manually using the switch on the back, wait a sec for it to actually sleep, and then close the cover. This is not how it was intended to work (the kindle PW2 never had this issue with its cover) but it gets the job done till (if) this get fixed with a firmware update.

For me the cover's job is to protect the device first and everything else second so this isn't so bad. While it is slightly annoying it does not diminish the reading experience which on the KA1 is quite awesome.

That's a good tip, I'm trying it out now. Seems to work. Thanks.

[GypsyJon]

I have a KA1 with battery drain problems too. I keep WiFi turned off and have no disabled the Sleep Cover function.

We will see. Very disappointed at this time. My PocketBook Pro 903 can go several months without charging.