Dealing With Rapid Battery Drain

[aquafrogstuff]

Hello. Like many of you, I have the update from hell on my SP2 and suffer the same rapid battery drain issue that's splattered on various online forums. It's not uncommon to pull my SP2 out of my bag with the cooling fans going full ball and the device feeling hot. Apparently there's an issue with drivers for the 'USB' touch keyboard. I often find, after shutting the SP2 down, that it will restart itself (I don't know why). I charge the tablet at night after shutting it down (yes, not sleep or hibernation), it's not uncommon to get up in the morning and find the machine on. I'm already starting to see gradual decline in the battery full charge as reported by the powercfg /batteryreport.

Like many, I'm waiting for our friends at Redmund to release the much awaited update for what is otherwise a fantastic tablet.

Was wondering if anyone has utilized a third party application to monitor and shut down the tablet by referencing predefined temperature thresholds so the SP2 shuts down well before its does so under extreme heat (which its done at least once). Or perhaps there's another method of preventing system restart after shut down unless the power button on the tablet is pressed.

Any thoughts/feedback much appreciated.

 

[jnjroach]

The new Firmware that was released on Friday and went out to the larger user base yesterday fixes the Battery and Sleep Issues. Check you Windows Update and see if the Firmware is available for your machine.

 

[SteveBorough]

The new Firmware that was released on Friday and went out to the larger user base yesterday fixes the Battery and Sleep Issues. Check you Windows Update and see if the Firmware is available for your machine.

Sleep and Hibernation has been fixed from what I can see but my device (brand new replacement) still idles at 30+% CPU usage (System and System Interrupts processes) causing the fans to kick in, device gets hot and battery drains quickly. Unacceptable!

 

[jnjroach]

Sleep and Hibernation has been fixed from what I can see but my device (brand new replacement) still idles at 30+% CPU usage (System and System Interrupts processes) causing the fans to kick in, device gets hot and battery drains quickly. Unacceptable!

When did you receive your new machine Steve? I know that the first couple of days of any install and/or refresh(reset) the machine does the indexing and optimization which can cause what you are describing this can take longer if you have a Micro-SD card inserted. Also, prior to the October Firmware there was a bug with the PCI Express that set it to Off, it is worth a look. If it has done this past the first 48-72 hours I would do reset or RMA

 

[eelpout]

The new Firmware that was released on Friday and went out to the larger user base yesterday fixes the Battery and Sleep Issues.

While it does fix one aspect of the sleep issue, waking, some of us still have a problem with our SP2's not going to sleep when idle. Which seems to be tied to the radio and power management.

 

[jnjroach]

While it does fix one aspect of the sleep issue, waking, some of us still have a problem with our SP2's not going to sleep when idle. Which seems to be tied to the radio and power management.

Is that with the default options selected with the Power Options with no changes to the Wireless Stack?

 

[eelpout]

Is that with the default options selected with the Power Options with no changes to the Wireless Stack?

Yep. One can get around it by turning off Wi-Fi, then it will sleep on its own when idle. I've also found that falling back to a previous version of the Marvell Avastar driver (from last August) allows Wi-Fi to remain on. But, that version only permits idle sleep if Bluetooth is off.

It all worked great before the Jan. 14 update. That broke power management (for me) somehow.

 

[jnjroach]

Weird....the December Update had Wireless Updates.

 

[jrapdx]

Weird....the December Update had Wireless Updates.

The SP2 holds a lot of mysteries...

I received the Jan FW update just this morning. My SP2 was newer than the Dec10FW. So far, appears everything is working, sleep behavior is as expected. Battery indicator shows diminishing % remaining, with varying estimates of remaining time.

One thing I've done is disable shutting off WiFi adapter for power savings. I'd found that WiFi connections were constantly disrupted when on battery power, and disabling the option prevented (most) disconnections. Doesn't seem to have adverse effects that I've noticed.

 

[jackh]

When did you receive your new machine Steve? I know that the first couple of days of any install and/or refresh(reset) the machine does the indexing and optimization which can cause what you are describing this can take longer if you have a Micro-SD card inserted. Also, prior to the October Firmware there was a bug with the PCI Express that set it to Off, it is worth a look. If it has done this past the first 48-72 hours I would do reset or RMA

Jeff what do you mean about bug with PCI Express being set to OFF? What should it be set to AND what exactly does PCI EXPRESS do?

Thanks
Jack

 

[eelpout]

Jeff what do you mean about bug with PCI Express being set to OFF? What should it be set to AND what exactly does PCI EXPRESS do?

Thanks
Jack

My guess is he's referring to the Link State Power Management found in the current Power plan settings. You'll find it under the advanced settings in Power Options. PCI Express->Link State Power Management. Set it to Maximum Power Savings.

 

[jackh]

My guess is he's referring to the Link State Power Management found in the current Power plan settings. You'll find it under the advanced settings in Power Options. PCI Express->Link State Power Management. Set it to Maximum Power Savings.

What does setting it to MAX POWER SAVINGS accomplish?
Thanks Again
Jack