Help: Resuming Google Plus

Irish Stones

Hi, I have a problem with my smartphone, a Sony Xperia P.
About four weeks ago I had the insane idea to tell my phone to backup all the photo to the cloud of Google Photo. I had 450+ photos in the phone, so it drained all the battery along with my internet credit, 1 GB/month, and of course it didn't finish the job.
It was the beginning of the month, so I have been with no data for the whole month.
Today was the first day of the new month, the internet credit had been restored, the application resumed the backup. Luckily the battery was a bit low and the phone shut down before another disaster was made. The data trafic was 460 MB already when the phone turned off.
I charged the phone and when it was ready I turned it on and realized that the whole process had restarted.
In a clumsy attempt to stop the process I terminated Google Plus (the culprit for the massive data drain), but as a consequence all the applications related to Google (GMaps, Chrome, YouTube, etc) didn't work anymore. And WhatsApp as well. As a matter of fact it seems that the whole phone is not working anymore, even the basic phone.
I switched off and on the phone many times, but to no avail. The message I get is that Google Plus has been terminated abruptly.
I managed to get into the Google Photo menu and now it's set in a way that it only runs the backup in Wi-Fi mode.
Is there a way to resume the service? Thanks!!!

daytob

have you tried forcing a reboot? you will lose everything but at least you should have a phone that works. and if you have saved everything you should be ok

BionicRasher

I would imagine if you reboot the phone and go to settings and accounts and just log in to your Google account again it should work.
Set Google+ to only backup on WiFi

Irish Stones

No, I haven't tried and my last backup of the phone is not so recent, so I'd like to try another way before losing part of the content, like the WhatsApp conversations, or the last contacts I saved since January (when I did my last backup)

Irish Stones

BionicRasher wrote: »

I would imagine if you reboot the phone and go to settings and accounts and just log in to your Google account again it should work.
Set Google+ to only backup on WiFi

I went to the "settings" menu, then down to "accounts" I don't find any Google account, I see WhatsApp, DropBox and my email accounts, nothing else.
Thank you!

BionicRasher

Irish Stones wrote: »

I went to the "settings" menu, then down to "accounts" I don't find any Google account, I see WhatsApp, DropBox and my email accounts, nothing else.
Thank you!

Then it looks like you have just removed your Google account from the device.
Add your Google account in settings - accounts and it should work again.
No need for any full resets or anything drastic. Your Google account will run all your YouTube and chrome etc and it will restore all your settings and data associated with it.

same ol sh1te

Google plus has opens to only sync on Wi-Fi and only sync when charging

Irish Stones

BionicRasher wrote: »

Then it looks like you have just removed your Google account from the device.
Add your Google account in settings - accounts and it should work again.
No need for any full resets or anything drastic. Your Google account will run all your YouTube and chrome etc and it will restore all your settings and data associated with it.

Alright, in my accounts there's no trace of Google Plus, so I tried to add it, but the phone says that an account already exists in the device.
Last night the phone went back to normal operation, so I had the chance to run a full back-up of everything is inside the phone.
Today the phone is locked again, I am tempted to reset it and see if the situation improves.

BionicRasher

Irish Stones wrote: »

Alright, in my accounts there's no trace of Google Plus, so I tried to add it, but the phone says that an account already exists in the device.
Last night the phone went back to normal operation, so I had the chance to run a full back-up of everything is inside the phone.
Today the phone is locked again, I am tempted to reset it and see if the situation improves.

There is no Google Plus account you just need to add your Google account. That links to all your Google services including Google+

Irish Stones

BionicRasher wrote: »

There is no Google Plus account you just need to add your Google account. That links to all your Google services including Google+

Yes, you're right, I used the wrong words
In settings-->accounts I click on Add Account, among the many choises there's a Google icon, it asks me whether I want an existing account or a new account. I already have a Google account on the web, so I chose the existing one, it asks me for my email and password, and I type in the credentials for my account on the web and it says that the account is already present on the device.

If the phone is switched off for more than two hours it works fine for some time, then it gets nuts again

BionicRasher

Irish Stones wrote: »

Yes, you're right, I used the wrong words
In settings-->accounts I click on Add Account, among the many choises there's a Google icon, it asks me whether I want an existing account or a new account. I already have a Google account on the web, so I chose the existing one, it asks me for my email and password, and I type in the credentials for my account on the web and it says that the account is already present on the device.

If the phone is switched off for more than two hours it works fine for some time, then it gets nuts again

In that case I would do a factory reset - in the 2 hours it is working you should be able to ensure all your stuff is backed up. If you need to backup SMS etc there are apps in the Play Store for that.
I would then go about doing a reset of the phone and see if that helps

Irish Stones

BionicRasher wrote: »

In that case I would do a factory reset - in the 2 hours it is working you should be able to ensure all your stuff is backed up. If you need to backup SMS etc there are apps in the Play Store for that.
I would then go about doing a reset of the phone and see if that helps

I just did it, a factory reset, the phone is now working with the original o.s., that was Ginger Bread. Later on I will upgrade it, as soon as I can connect it to the PC with the backup.
I think it should have saved all the sms conversation as well.
Weirdly all the photos are still stored into the phone
Thank you, I'll let you know if I'm able to restore the contacts and the rest.

same ol sh1te

Irish Stones wrote: »

Weirdly all the photos are still stored into the phone

Me thinks you have them on a memory card or already saved to the cloud

Irish Stones

same ol sh1te wrote: »

Me thinks you have them on a memory card or already saved to the cloud

My phone does not have a memory card, all the memory is embedded, I can't expand it.
The photos are in the phone because I can browse them with the default app, I'm not using the web.

Now I was going to update the phone to the last version of the o.s., but there's an error that I can't solve and every suggestion from Sony PC Companion (the software to interface the phone with the PC) is useless...

EDIT: I had to update the Sony software on the PC via the Sony website because the application wouldn't update from its own page though I was prompted to do that!
So, after many attempts the phone is updated as well, but it doesn't works on the internet and I don't know why. Data trafic is enabled, the provider is correct, but nothing works.
Next step is throwing the smartphone out of the window!!!

Irish Stones

Irish Stones wrote: »

So, after many attempts the phone is updated as well, but it doesn't works on the internet and I don't know why. Data trafic is enabled, the provider is correct, but nothing works.
Next step is throwing the smartphone out of the window!!!

Solved!
I took the phone to a phone shop linked to my provider and they set up the APN and now it's almost alright.
Unfortunately I had to update my phone to the latest version of Android and now the battery lasts the blink of an eye

advertsfox

Irish Stones wrote: »

Solved!
I took the phone to a phone shop linked to my provider and they set up the APN and now it's almost alright.
Unfortunately I had to update my phone to the latest version of Android and now the battery lasts the blink of an eye

Disable Google Now / Search - it can be a really battery drain in 4.4.

Irish Stones

advertsfox wrote: »

Disable Google Now / Search - it can be a really battery drain in 4.4.

For my phone the latest version of Android is 4.1.2 (ICS).
At the moment Google Now is off already.
The battery is in Stamina mode, and the modes "low battery" and "location based wi-fi" are off.
Thank you!

advertsfox

Irish Stones wrote: »

For my phone the latest version of Android is 4.1.2 (ICS).
At the moment Google Now is off already.
The battery is in Stamina mode, and the modes "low battery" and "location based wi-fi" are off.
Thank you!

Check your battery stats and see what's using the most percentage and under Android OS, what is the keep awake time? Is it close / similar to Screen on time?

Irish Stones

advertsfox wrote: »

Check your battery stats and see what's using the most percentage and under Android OS, what is the keep awake time? Is it close / similar to Screen on time?

Weirdly enough the highest percentage of battery (50%) is drained by the display (screen) itself that is mostly off.
Then there are the standby mode (17%) and the phone mode (11%). Android system drains 8% only, Android OS 3%.
The display (or screen on) time is 1h 06 min, Android OS is 7m 50s.

same ol sh1te

Irish Stones wrote: »

Weirdly enough the highest percentage of battery (50%) is drained by the display (screen) itself that is mostly off.
Then there are the standby mode (17%) and the phone mode (11%). Android system drains 8% only, Android OS 3%.
The display (or screen on) time is 1h 06 min, Android OS is 7m 50s.

That seems normal. The biggest killer is always the screen. You should keep the brightness as low as you can possibly bear and only turn up when absolutely needed. There's also an app called Lux that does a much better job of the auto setting
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux

Irish Stones

same ol sh1te wrote: »

That seems normal. The biggest killer is always the screen. You should keep the brightness as low as you can possibly bear and only turn up when absolutely needed. There's also an app called Lux that does a much better job of the auto setting
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vito.lux

Alright, but this didn't happen when the OS was JB.
With the same settings and usage I could charge the phone every three days, now it lasts much less than 24h.
I'd rather go back to JB if I could.

advertsfox

Irish Stones wrote: »

Weirdly enough the highest percentage of battery (50%) is drained by the display (screen) itself that is mostly off.
Then there are the standby mode (17%) and the phone mode (11%). Android system drains 8% only, Android OS 3%.
The display (or screen on) time is 1h 06 min, Android OS is 7m 50s.

Agree with above, all good results. The Android OS Keep Awake time should always match or be slightly above the screen on time (but not too much). Screen on time is always going to be the most usage for obvious reasons but it's important to keep the brightness levels set to a low value (about 30%) or use the automatic sensors. As well as this, keep your screen timeout set to no more that 1 minute.

same ol sh1te

Irish Stones wrote: »

Alright, but this didn't happen when the OS was JB.
With the same settings and usage I could charge the phone every three days, now it lasts much less than 24h.
I'd rather go back to JB if I could.

Give it a few days. I'm someone who regularly flashes phones, it's well known that battery stats take a few days to settle after a Rom flash or major update. Just drain it completely a few times over the next few days, it'll settle

Irish Stones

advertsfox wrote: »

Agree with above, all good results. The Android OS Keep Awake time should always match or be slightly above the screen on time (but not too much).

Yes, but in my case the screen uses 1 hour and 6 minutes and the OS only 8 minutes, so it seems than it's the other way round

advertsfox wrote: »

Screen on time is always going to be the most usage for obvious reasons but it's important to keep the brightness levels set to a low value (about 30%) or use the automatic sensors. As well as this, keep your screen timeout set to no more that 1 minute.

The timeout is 30 seconds, but usually I turn it off with the power button when not in use and the brightness is automatic. No animated backgrounds, only a default Xperia image, a green wave.

Irish Stones

same ol sh1te wrote: »

Give it a few days. I'm someone who regularly flashes phones, it's well known that battery stats take a few days to settle after a Rom flash or major update. Just drain it completely a few times over the next few days, it'll settle

Thanks! I'll give it a try for a week or so, then I'll let you know

advertsfox

Irish Stones wrote: »

Yes, but in my case the screen uses 1 hour and 6 minutes and the OS only 8 minutes, so it seems than it's the other way round

CPU time or Keep Awake (under Android OS)? See below?

Irish Stones

advertsfox wrote: »

CPU time or Keep Awake (under Android OS)? See below?

In my phone I only have the CPU total, currently at 9m 30s.
The "keep awake" is not present.

Irish Stones

Irish Stones wrote: »

Thanks! I'll give it a try for a week or so, then I'll let you know

Alright, I gave it much more than a week time, and I have to say that things have settled for good and everything is working fine... well, almost everything.
Since I have updated to the latest available OS which is JB, I have noticed that the weather widgets are never up to date, but I have to browse them in order to "wake them up" and get the current situation.
The typing of messages in WhatsApp and during the classic text messages has got slower. I mean, when I type in a full stop I expect that all the letters would get capital, but this happens with one or two seconds delay.
And sometimes the battery level is not very accurate. This morning for instance, it was reading 56%, but when I accessed the menu the phone switched off automatically. I turned it on again and saw that the battery was below 20%, and a few minutes later it was 35% again.
No major advantages from having this last OS, though.
Thanks for your precious help!