# sdcard process consuming 53% of battery



## kaman (Apr 8, 2013)

Sorry for the re-post, but I realized that my reply to the earlier thread was in the wrong location, and figured it would be better to start a new thread since the other poster had apparently resolved his issue. Also in searching, I could not get back to my earlier post.

I was searching for help with this issue and happened across this thread. My daughter is having this exact same issue, and I was hoping you could help point me in the right direction. She is running a Galaxy S3 with the stock ROM. Everything was running OK until just a few days ago. Now, GSAM is reporting the system (sdcard) process is suddenly consuming over 50% of her battery! She hasn't updated any apps in the last few days, so we are realy scratching our heads as to what might have changed.

In other forums I've seen hints that it may have something to do with media search, but she doesn't have much in the way of media on the phone, and hasn't added any lately. Someone else mentioned the possiblity of a corrupted file that the search may be getting hung up on. If so, how do we find it? Does anyone know of a good file system utility that we can scan her drive with to determine file and FAT integrity? She does not have an external SD card in the phone at the moment, so I cannot remove the card and check it in another system. What ever I do must be done via the phone directly.

I have searched for such a utility, but so far have come up empty. Any ideas would be welcome, as this has rendered her phone almost useless. It will completly drain the battery in just a few hours.


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## bbolton_98 (Jul 22, 2011)

Is either phone unlocked and rooted?
If so there is a very easy way to fix your problem. 
Pm me or reply here I'll check later.

See the Galaxy sIII shine via SynergyRom


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## kaman (Apr 8, 2013)

No, we didn't want to void the warranty, so hadn't rooted or loaded a different ROM yet. Everything was running fine until 2 or 3 days ago, then suddenly started sucking battery and she looked at GSAM an noticed the sdcard process taking a huge amount. I'm guessing that it is actually some other process that is causing the issue, but sdcard is paying the price.

Any ideas are welcome. Thanks.


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## bbolton_98 (Jul 22, 2011)

I don't know if an update was sent to your device and failed to install but that sounds like the culprit.

There is a problem with the file sys that when a file is being updated and something happens it creates a infinite folder or file. The best way to fix this that I know of is SynergyRom has a toolbox built into the installer that will repair or replacement the folder or file. The only way if on stock is probably to do a factory reset. That doesn't mean it will work, it depends on what and where the problem is actually at. If not then you can odin back the complete device. I recommend reading up on odin and having it ready as option B and backup all you can to external sdcard then factory reset. 
Once finished sign back in with google acct and do the ota (check for updates).
Don't put all you "stuff" back on for a day or so to see if all is working properly. If not odin is one of the best setups out there to repair everything. It is the factory files "back to new in box". 
Hope you get it working, and when you want to see how amazing it really is read up on SynergyRoms and Anthrax kernels. I have been able to extend the useful life of my devices for years because of "custom roms". I still have 2 t-bolts, Inc, Rezound, Bionic all in service today. Not counting my s3. If I can help in any way Please let me know. 

See the Galaxy sIII shine via SynergyRom


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## kaman (Apr 8, 2013)

So, just to give a quick update. We haven't fixed the issue yet, but we did stop the battery drain by disabling the download service. Doing so kills the Play Store, so in order to install or update anything she has to enable downloads, do whatever she needs quickly, then disable it again before it sucks her battery dry. Even in this short a period of time the SDCard service will become the number one battery consumer!

Obviously she has a damaged file entry that is causing the downloads service fits. She has not had time to do a factory reset on the phone yet, and was really hoping to find an easier solution. I had a thought, and maybe you can tell me if this is a dumb idea. Depending upon where the damaged file is, I was thinking that I could connect the phone to my computer (Windows 7) and connect the internal storage as a USB storage drive in Windows. Then run a chkdsk from windows and repair any errors that it finds. What do you think, is this reasonable? I would have preferred to run something directly on the phone, but I have searched hi and low and have not been able to find anything.

Your thoughts are welcome, and thanks for all the help so far.


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## bbolton_98 (Jul 22, 2011)

You might be able to clear cache and data for downloads.

go to settings/application manager/ then scroll across to all / find download/ clear cache * then reboot if works good if not do it again and clear data also. There are two downloads one will have clear cache grayed out don't worry about that one just do the other.

See the Galaxy sIII shine via SynergyRom


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