Battery drain

[MonkeyStrut]

Hi --

I'm using MMW 4.1.11.1783 (gold) to sync the 200 Go SD card of my Galaxy S7 edge using MMA 1.1.3.0554 (Pro).

I understand that when some new files are imported into the phone that the Android Media Server has to run and scan all the files, which is long and uses a lot of battery. But this is how it should work if I understood correctly, so let's say that that's fine.

My issue comes from the fact that when listening to music using MMA, it drains a lot of battery too. When I check what are the apps/services using battery, both MMA and Media Server are consuming a lot. Is this a normal behavior?

My searching the web, I've seen this topic: http://geeknizer.com/fix-android-media- ... ery-drain/ and tried to avoid my Media Server related battery drain putting a .nomedia file in the folder where all my music stands (which is not the default folder, but a folder I created on my SD card). The new problem was that I lost all my MedaMonkey-related meta-data (all the ratings for instance, which are important to me). I thus had to delete all files to rescan to re-sync all files again (which is still going on as it is a very long process). Obviously, I did not put again the .nomedia file in my folder.

(I've found related topics in the forum but that were very old [>2 years ago] so Ib thought it was wise to open a new thread. For instance here: http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewto ... 21&t=71268)

thanks

[MonkeyStrut]

Anyone with an idea of why the media server is using so much battery when listening to music with MMA?

thx

[MonkeyStrut]

If I disable the package com.android.providers.media, will I lose my MM ratings? Even if I switch off and on the phone?

(my media server and scanner is consuming way too much battery! I can't continue like that)

[rivorson]

MMA relies on the Android Media Server for now so disabling it would presumably stop MMA from showing any tracks. It shouldn't be using much battery power though so there could be something wrong with it. You could try uninstalling any updates to it, disabling it, and then enabling it to see if it still uses so much battery.

If that doesn't work then maybe it's having trouble with a specific file or set of files. You could try deleting all of your music again and see if it still uses a lot of battery power with no media to index. If the battery usage goes down then sync a few files at a time, such as just the few tracks that you know you'll play over the next day, and see when the battery usage gets bad again.

As a last resort you could do a factory reset on the phone. If the problem is with the software then that should fix it, but it does mean setting the phone up completely again.

[MonkeyStrut]

My music files are in my SanDisk 200 Go Ultra MicroSDXC card. I have around 20,000 files (mp3 -- all encoded myself).

When I realized I had this battery drain. I first put a .nomedia file into my music folder in my SD card but I lost all MM-related tag info by doing that. I had thus ro re-sync all my files. I first reformatted my SD card. Then, as syncing takes very long, I did it (and I'm still doing it) in alphabetical order, 800 files per 800 files, when I can, maximum once per day (I still have close to 2,000 files to go).

Each time I add new files, the media service is running, which I kind of understand, it indexes files, and I'm OK if that uses battery.

My issue is twofold:

1) If I reboot my phone (e.g. for an update) all files are scanned again and I lose all my battery in a few hours. I would love to disable media scanner at start up!

2) And more importantly, even when the whole database is already built, everytime I listen to music, the media service is running and uses more battery than MMA itself. I don't understand this behavior. And this happens even when few files are there (in the first days of my sync) .

Because of the huge task/time it takes to sync all my files, I'd like to try to find out what to do (if any solution) without having to remove all my files and resync again.

Would "uninstalling any updates to it, disabling it, and then enabling it" will lead to a loss of all my ratings? (hence to a need to resync all again?). If there would be a way to save the whole MMA synced database, I would be happy to reset my phone, or whatever, but going through the whole sync process once again scares me quite a bit.

[rivorson]

Yes, disabling media server would mean having to sync again. It is also not guaranteed to fix the problem so I understand why you wouldn't want to do that.

The only other suggestion I can think of is to take the SD card out and see if you get the same battery drain with storing music on the phone's internal storage, but I assume that would also mean syncing everything again when you put the SD card back in.

The developers are already planning to get rid of the reliance on the android media server which should solve your problem, but I haven't seen any indication of when that's going to happen.

[MonkeyStrut]

Well, if that's a serious plan. I'll wait I think. At least until I 'm getting too nervous about this battery issue.

thx

[bhiefer]

It really shouldn't drain your battery while playing.

When you go to library do you see there the circle icon in corner indicating ongoing background operation?

Could you please send use log when battery usage is high? Please go to About dialog->Send logs and post log id here.

[MonkeyStrut]

After a while, after a sync, the circle disappears, so I guess this is the normal behavior.

I am currently syncing now so cannot play music, and it will take long. I'll play some music tomorrow, after a full charge and when the database would have been updated (no circle anymore) and then send a log.