If like me after installing Lollipop you're experiencing a bad battery drain and the WiFi showing an exclamation mark dropping the connections these should be your solutions!
BETTER BATTERY DRAIN (it needs root):
Lollipop added in the Xperia M2 the compressed virtual memory, also known as zram. It is a feature that I personally like (I implemented it in the kernel for my crappy low range/low memory/low quality Samsung phone I had previously) as long as it works as it must. At the cost of little CPU time One can benefit from few hundreds megabytes of more usable RAM. Unfortunately in Lollipop it seems bugged, since the zram makes the process kswapd0 in constant I/O Wait (about 40%), which degrades the max performances but worst of all keeps at least two cores running at 1190MHz, draining the battery. One can see it with the "busybox top" command (busybox is installable in /data/local/tmp by anyone - no root needed):
Well, the trick is simple: disable the zram and the iowait has gone. To disable it as root one needs to execute
At any time. But it is obviously suggested to put the command in a script in /etc/init.d (just add it at the end of /etc/init.d/00stop_ric). And this is how the idle and iowait times are now:
WIFI DROPPING CONNECTIONS SHOWING AN EXCLAMATION MARK:
If you see an exclamation mark on the right of the WiFi status icon it means that Lollipop considers the WiFi signal to be too weak (even if it shows full level) and drops the WiFi connection. It should switch to 3G/4G but that didn't happen to me. This is apparently due to some incompatibility between the new drivers and some routers and/or their configurations. Originally this option was optional in KK, now it is enabled by default. The good news is that as regular users (non root) we can still switch it off. From a terminal emulator app or via "adb shell" (google to know how to install and play with the latter) simply type:
and reboot. To re-enable it give the command:
To check the current state (I'd suggest to do it before setting it. It should report 1) type:
I did it myself (it was disconnecting every few minutes) and since then my WiFi is working as usual.
GOOGLE SEARCH BAR ANIMATIONS AND VOICE SEARCH (requires root):
In the Xperia Home we can now have the Google search bar (to hide it just "swipe in" two fingers in the screen as when we add widgets and touch the hide button on the right of the bar. Which is my most favorite solution). The ugly thing is that when touching the bar Google Now opens with no animation. Also the option to enable "voice search" from any screen isn't available anymore. An user suggested that changing (as root) to "false" the value
in /system/buil.prop. Always make a backup of build.prop file before modifying it!!
I tested it myself and the option to have voice search did appear indeed. I didn't see any changes in the animations, though.
LITTLE ICONS IN XPERIA HOME:
If like me you have been shocked by the new huge icons in the Xperia Home, so much that you were already thinking about switching the home launcher, don't fret: the small icons are still there!! Simply "swipe in" two fingers in the screen and together with the ability of adding widgets, changing themes and else on the bottom right there is the new "Home Settings". Click on it and you get the option to have the new rotating Xperia Home and.. yes, the smaller lovely icons back!
I hope this helps. If you have any other suggestion/solution, please write about them in the thread and I will add them in the main post. Also this is not a thread about getting help, use the forum for it. Still questions about the mentioned tips are welcome
BETTER BATTERY DRAIN (it needs root):
Lollipop added in the Xperia M2 the compressed virtual memory, also known as zram. It is a feature that I personally like (I implemented it in the kernel for my crappy low range/low memory/low quality Samsung phone I had previously) as long as it works as it must. At the cost of little CPU time One can benefit from few hundreds megabytes of more usable RAM. Unfortunately in Lollipop it seems bugged, since the zram makes the process kswapd0 in constant I/O Wait (about 40%), which degrades the max performances but worst of all keeps at least two cores running at 1190MHz, draining the battery. One can see it with the "busybox top" command (busybox is installable in /data/local/tmp by anyone - no root needed):
Code:
Mem: 733016K used, 152060K free, 0K shrd, 40788K buff, 180220K cached
CPU: 1.2% usr 7.4% sys 0.0% nic 47.3% idle 43.8% io 0.0% irq 0.0% sirqCode:
swapoff /dev/block/zram0Code:
Mem: 780028K used, 105048K free, 1000K shrd, 2284K buff, 149080K cached
CPU: 3.9% usr 4.9% sys 0.0% nic 91.0% idle 0.0% io 0.0% irq 0.0% sirqIf you see an exclamation mark on the right of the WiFi status icon it means that Lollipop considers the WiFi signal to be too weak (even if it shows full level) and drops the WiFi connection. It should switch to 3G/4G but that didn't happen to me. This is apparently due to some incompatibility between the new drivers and some routers and/or their configurations. Originally this option was optional in KK, now it is enabled by default. The good news is that as regular users (non root) we can still switch it off. From a terminal emulator app or via "adb shell" (google to know how to install and play with the latter) simply type:
Code:
settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 0Code:
settings put global captive_portal_detection_enabled 1Code:
settings get global captive_portal_detection_enabledGOOGLE SEARCH BAR ANIMATIONS AND VOICE SEARCH (requires root):
In the Xperia Home we can now have the Google search bar (to hide it just "swipe in" two fingers in the screen as when we add widgets and touch the hide button on the right of the bar. Which is my most favorite solution). The ugly thing is that when touching the bar Google Now opens with no animation. Also the option to enable "voice search" from any screen isn't available anymore. An user suggested that changing (as root) to "false" the value
Code:
ro.config.low_ram=trueI tested it myself and the option to have voice search did appear indeed. I didn't see any changes in the animations, though.
LITTLE ICONS IN XPERIA HOME:
If like me you have been shocked by the new huge icons in the Xperia Home, so much that you were already thinking about switching the home launcher, don't fret: the small icons are still there!! Simply "swipe in" two fingers in the screen and together with the ability of adding widgets, changing themes and else on the bottom right there is the new "Home Settings". Click on it and you get the option to have the new rotating Xperia Home and.. yes, the smaller lovely icons back!
I hope this helps. If you have any other suggestion/solution, please write about them in the thread and I will add them in the main post. Also this is not a thread about getting help, use the forum for it. Still questions about the mentioned tips are welcome
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