The Effect of a ROM on a Battery

BigRedGonzo · #1 (**permalink**) 07-08-2009, 08:00 AM

Is it possible for a ROM change to affect battery life?

I have been using JMartin72's WM6.5 ROMs, which are great BTW and thanks to JMartin72 for all of his work. They are all pretty much identical in content. I back up my stuff with spb Back-Up and do the ROM upgrade and then restore using the ROM Upgrade function. Since the last upgrade to 21301, I have noticed that my phone will be warm sometimes and the battery which will usually last a day and a half or so between charges will drain to nothing over the span of just a few hours. Can the ROM, having the same content as the last version, actually cause a battery drain?

**drewcam888** · #2 (**permalink**) 07-08-2009, 08:30 AM

Yes it can. But I think you should hard reset but not install your backup. Try to reinstall all the info and see if it is still there. More than likely you have a program running to much probably.

BigRedGonzo · #3 (**permalink**) 07-08-2009, 08:43 AM

That is exactly what I am doing right now. Thanks for the quick response.

u8myfoood · #4 (**permalink**) 07-10-2009, 01:16 AM

Minor tweaks can also offer a major difference in battery life consumption. Even if it is a slight tweak to something that involves RAM usage for an app or processing power, it can suck away a TINY BIT or a lot of power, depending on the tweak, also i think drew is probably right, it might just be an app that is not seen in the regular task manager that is forcing the processor to run more than usual. And unless you are the one who created the ROM yourself, dont count on the two version of the rom to be similar, even the slightest change can have a huge impact...

BigRedGonzo · #5 (**permalink**) 07-10-2009, 07:43 AM

Thanks for all the help. I opted to go back to the Stock Alltel 6.1 ROM without customizations. I flashed a different WM6.5 ROM (not JMartin72's) and let it run for a few hours and didn't see any negative battery affects. I then reflashed the latest JMartin72 WM6.5 (build 213001) and didn't notice any negative battery affects. Then I started reinstalling stuff. At this point, I stepped back and looked at my usage. I really didn't have any need for WM6.5, I like it and it looks nice and works well, but I am addicted to Mobile Shell 3 so it really doesn't matter what ROM is running in the background. I dug up the latest Alltel Stock WM6.1 ROM and reflashed to it. I really can't detect any speed differences between it and WM6.5 and the memory is a bit lower, but I still go most of the day with 15-16MB free. With WM6.5, I was running between 18 and 20MB free. Anyway, the 6.5 itch is still there, but the flash/reflash/upgrade thing is consuming me so I'll run stock for a while until I can't stand it any more.

Thanks for all the information.