[HowTo] Alternate way of saving battery when using 4G/LTE

Mario.CH · 28 May 2021, 16:57

Hello c4pp4,
thanks for your work on the topic of battery saving.
I did the test on my Sony Xperia X (F5121). The device switches to G2 as promised. However, when the device wakes up, it does not switch back to LTE.
Unfortunately for me, my network provider no longer supports G2, so I have no connection to the antenna, i.e. "The subscriber is currently unavailable".:beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes:
Now I want to remove the script or the changes I made.
Is that possible?
And how do I do that?
Could you support me.
Greetings Mario

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domubpkm · 28 May 2021, 17:10

To do that, i deleted the script (lte-battery-saver) and the upstart session job (lte-battery-saver.conf) and rebooted the smartphone.

c4pp4 · 28 May 2021, 18:57

@mario-ch Hello,
what kind of connections are available in your case? I can help you to tweak the script for your needs.

Anyway to take back the changes, remove both files:

rm /home/phablet/lte-battery-saver
rm /home/phablet/.config/upstart/lte-battery-saver.conf

Mario.CH · 28 May 2021, 19:09

@c4pp4 As it seems, or rather I think 3G would work.

c4pp4 · 28 May 2021, 19:31

@mario-ch You mean switch to 3G when display is off and switch back to 4G when on?

Mario.CH · 28 May 2021, 19:35

@c4pp4 yep, that's exactly what i mean.

c4pp4 · 28 May 2021, 19:59

@mario-ch Ok give me some time, I will test it on my xperia x and let you know.

BTW you can try it on your own when you replace "gsm" with "umts".

c4pp4 · 4 Jun 2021, 20:55

@mario-ch In case of Xperia X (maybe it's related to Halium 7.1) we have to set it to "lte" option instead of "any", so the script for your needs (3G<->4G) is here:

#!/bin/bash

interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties
member=PropertiesChanged

dbus-monitor --session "type=signal,interface='${interface}',member='${member}'" |
while read -r line; do
        if [[ ${line} == *"com.canonical.UnityGreeter"* ]]; then
                read && read && read -r line
                if [[ ${line} == *"IsActive"* ]]; then
                        read -r line
                        [[ ${line} == *"true"* ]] && /usr/share/ofono/scripts/set-tech-preference /ril_0 umts 1>/dev/null
                        [[ ${line} == *"false"* ]] && /usr/share/ofono/scripts/set-tech-preference /ril_0 lte 1>/dev/null
                fi
        fi
done

domubpkm · 29 May 2021, 18:29

@jezek said in [HowTo] Alternate way of saving battery when using 4G/LTE:

which handles all the trouble when receiving MMS while cellular data is off

Hello. You done a huge work..! congratulations.

Does it mean that the main purpose of the work is that MMS could be received normally with cellular data OFF ?

Keneda · 29 May 2021, 20:15

@domubpkm said in [HowTo] Alternate way of saving battery when using 4G/LTE:

Does it mean that the main purpose of the work is that MMS could be received normally with cellular data OFF ?

No the purpose is to not loose MMS in any cases and being able to download them when data is back on.
You can't receive MMS without data on, no software tweak can change this.
See there if not already done for full story : https://forums.ubports.com/topic/5100/the-mms-lost-story

domubpkm · 29 May 2021, 20:45

It's not a story, it's a ''bible'' (which I hadn't read) like the amount of work (and surely headaches) put in by @jezek .. Yes, the aim is, rather, to have a delayed download (or to be able to delay downloading the MMS) when the cellular data is reactivated which is great. In short, the idea is to ensure that the MMS is not lost. I think it's more exact.

....and this would be good as it would allow the cellular data to be turned off to save battery power and turned back on when needed to download the MMS.

Mario.CH · 4 Jun 2021, 20:55

@c4pp4
Hello c4pp4,
so, my device has been running with this customization for almost a week now.
Still, I can't say yet if it causes any improvement in battery life.
But for sure I can confirm that it does not contribute to any degradation.
Thank you again.

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c4pp4 · 5 Jun 2021, 15:56

@mario-ch Maybe there is no such difference between G3 and G4 consumption.

Keneda · 5 Jun 2021, 18:54

@c4pp4
I don't use the script but i can tell you that there is a big difference on my phone in battery consumption between 3G and 4G.

TotalRando · 19 Jun 2021, 22:31

@c4pp4 Ok, so just to confirm (because I have already messed up Anbox and will probably have to reinstall anyway just for that), this script defaults to 3G/4G? So it won't go back to 2G? Because that's what I want. It annoys me to have to switch back to 3G/4G every time I turn my phone back on (2G is virtually unusable where I live but if the phone sleeps too long, it's back on 2G.) I only need the last script from before the "note for the further investigation" part? Just copy into a Seabass, save script and run in terminal?

NOTE: I don't care about battery consumption-- my phone is plugged in a lot-- but I do like my calls crystal clear when I dial without having to be like "ugh, it's on 2G again". Also, I can't get MMS on 2G but on 3G/4G, works fine.

c4pp4 · 19 Jun 2021, 23:12

@totalrando use the walkthrough from the first post, just change variables to:

primary_preference="lte"
saving_preference="umts"

davedanger · 3 Sept 2021, 23:03

Script works good running in the terminal but doesn't seem to work when put in upstart

c4pp4 · 4 Sept 2021, 07:57

@davedanger What version of UT? There is a regression when using 2G now.

davedanger · 4 Sept 2021, 17:17

@c4pp4 I'm using OS Ubuntu 16.04 (2021-09-02/2) on a Pixel 3a

c4pp4 · 4 Sept 2021, 19:05

@davedanger I think it's Halium 9 device therefore it can be affected by https://github.com/ubports/ubuntu-touch/issues/1816

Would you be more specific what you mean by "doesn't seem to work when put in upstart"?