Develop Bugs

Data connection keeps turning on?

the Data connection is turning on on a regular basis and I can't find any scheduled tasks set up to access the Internet, but some rogue program is? any ideas any one and/or any way I get find out what is causing this.

I have the same problem.. And I'm a little bit tired!
I wrote on this thread with no answer: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=529622
I have a flat data plane but I don't like that PDA face things on his own initiative!!

me neither, I'm in charge - not my new toy! Lets hope someone helps us out this time round.

I had the same problem. In my case the 2 apps connecting to the net were Google Maps and Funambol.

itm said:
I had the same problem. In my case the 2 apps connecting to the net were Google Maps and Funambol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I don't use funambol.. And anyway: there are no program in task manamager! So: something is going wrong with manila..

I had the same 'problem', but my brother suggested to turn it off and on again. It did work as far as I could see.
I think it may be google maps causing this, but I'm not sure (and don't really care, since this 'solution' worked).

Any number of added apps can be doing this (Worldmate live is a bad one for example) or any apps still running and not shut down.
Obvious things to check first are:
Do you have automatic email check set?
Have you disabled auto-update in weather and stock quotes?

This drives me crazy too, afaik I have turned off everything yet it keeps turning on... A fix would be highly appreciated!

its the activesync...
turn it off, i mean, delete the settings and you'll be fine. activesync triggers automatic data sync, hence turning on the data connection

I use ActiveSync and don't have this problem. If it was ActiveSync, why would it cause the problem for some and not others ?

itm said:
2 apps connecting to the net were Google Maps and Funambol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well.. I tested all day.. And I can say that I solved the problem!!!
I think that last time I closed gmaps.. I answered in a bad way to the question about updating Glatitude..
So: Gmaps seemed close but it was updating my position on the net!!!
When i opened gmaps i could see my avatar in the map.. So i understand that it was still online..
So.. I think I've solved!
Anyway we need a "netstat" on pocket pc...
Thank you for your advices.

Glad you worked it out.
I put this in the developers forum a while back. Maybe someone smarter than me will work out a solution to this sort of problem:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=530634

As with the poster here. You will have an application that you have inadvertently set to autoupdate. The only thorough solution is to go through every program on your phone and check each setting meticulously. Alternatively. Back up your personal data and hard reset. Then reinstall your apps one by one, testing for an hour after each one. Eventually, you will find the offending app and can work on finding the setting in it to stop it connecting to the net.

Hi all,
the thing is there are dozen possibilities: activesync, alle gps-stuff, all auto-updates. So instead off looking up all these settings, you could also use the nodata.cab - works fine (phone need to be unlocked!)
greetz to all
Kjoere

thanks for all the posts, haven't checked for a while. I have checked everything and noting is set to auto update so very strange and annoying. Will try the nodata.cab - if I can find it?

DJ Palmis said:
Anyway we need a "netstat" on pocket pc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at "TaskManager 3.1" that has a Netstat tab
Tom

download Modaco Nodata

frogfoot said:
Look at "TaskManager 3.1" that has a Netstat tab
Tom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! That is very interesting.

It also can be the build-in Facebook app in Contacts in manila. It has feature to automaticly update in 2 hours. At least, I had mine turned on as default.

The only reliable and "ultimate" solution is really Modaco NoData as mentioned above.
On the other hand not taking third party apps in count, basic traffic of HTC device is nothing to be scared of. Updates for weather, stocks and A-GPS are just few bytes in size... Obviously, GMaps, mail autocheck, Messenger etc. are different story, but none of these are started on their own... BTW, ActiveSync has nothing to do with Internet with one exception - Exchange mail sync, if you have any.
What you have to understand, is behaviour of the active data indicator (small G, E or H next to signal strength). If it's there does not mean, that any data are transferred at the moment. It just indicates opened data slot with current brodcasting tower in the cell. It could stay opened for hours after trasfer even just of few bytes. It closes usually only for two reasons - your phone switches to another cell (and has no reason to open data slot again) or the tower is busy and closes inactive slots to gain more capacity.
Except few rare cases in some coutries you're charged only for data transferred, not for time of the connection and therefore it doesn't matter. In Europe from 1st of July (some new EU limit) one Mb shouldn't cost more than 50 cents and with these basic updates you will NEVER reach it in one month...
Obviously, roaming is another story, but in settings of the standard services you can limit updates just for your country.

ASK: How to keep "Data Connection", OFF!!!!!!!!!!

How in the crap to i keep this dam phone from switching this on by its dam self? Im sick and tired of it flipping it on whenever a program wants to talk to the Internet or whatever, and Doesnt tell me, ask, me or what ever. I just checked my account and the %$&^#%^& has already used nearly half a MB of data. So, how can i force it, when i turn OFF the Data connections, to STAY OFF until i go back, and turn it back on manually?
Also, Since when does the GPS use data? WTF?

probably using A-GPS ??
anyway, download and install nodata, perfect for your situation

Have you tried the tiny and useful app no-data?
http://www.apptodate.org/nodata.cab

somethingdope said:
probably using A-GPS ??
anyway, download and install nodata, perfect for your situation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may have been, i turned it off. I didnt think Agps would use Data, only look for towers, which i thought the dam phones did anyway.
I haven't tried nodata, but ill give it a shot. (long as it doesnt kill my wi-fi)

I think he meant quickGPS, where the phone downloads the gps satellites' information for a faster lock. This does require a connection so it's logical the phone'd be trying to connect. But from what I understand it only needs to download the lists once in a while, not every time you check your position. I even read somewhere that the lists it downloads are good for seven days, which would mean it'd try to connect once a week if that info is correct.

Hi!
It can be the Facebook app, build in the manila. Try to go People -> More -> Actualisation and Events -> Settings and turn off the automatic actualisation of state. I had mine turned on as default.
It also can be a Google maps or any other application that have feature to automaticaly connect to the net.
Hope it will help.
Sry for my english.

Sorry, forgot to report back. Nodata seems to have solved the issue. Sucks it was nessessary. You would think if you turned off Data in the phone settings, it would stay off.
Thanks guys.

Unvoluntary big internet donwnloads

I live in Bolivia, my cellular provider is Tigo.
I own and HTC Touch pro2 (AT&T HTC Tilt2) and I had this problem: Involuntary internet connections happen in my phone, my cellular provider has billed me 16 MB for internet navigation in a single day. Their explanation is that probably phone has connected in background using an application. I know the touch flo interface connects to download e-mail headers and weather reports, but I find difficult that this application can use 16MB What can be happening?
As I said all the 16MB were downloaded in a single day and the last 3MB in 5 minutes after downloading internet connection.
Besides the default applications I have just installed pocket e-sword, a bible reader that does not connect to Internet
Is there an application that downloads this quantity of information?
If so, how can I disable it?
Is there any way to see which is the server where my cell connected and what it was doing?
Is there any way to set up my phone with a max download data amount?
The solution that the cell provider gave me momentanially is to disable my internet conection, but that is not exactly what I want.
Thanks on advance.
Igor

Well if you are using Sense, it downloads weather if you dont have it set not to. You might also want to disable the "Get my location at anytime" feature, because it may use AGPS. But I really dont know what else would cause this other than the fact that it is Windows, and it loves its TCP/IP. but the best thing to do would be to use MoDaco - No data to disable the data connections, then when you want to use them just turn them back on.

Thank you
What's MODACO???
How do I disable "Get my location at anytime" ???

Modaco is another website with a forum.
Not sure if this is the latest version, but a quick google of this site turned up the Modaco No Data cab attached to this thread.
btw, you could use something like the SPB GPRS monitor to keep an eye on when internet connections are being made, and how much data is being down/uploaded. If you check task manager when you see a connection being made, perhaps we can trace where the data is being requested. I believe there is a demo version available of this program. I've not yet got a TP2, but can at least confirm that this monitor works fine on a TyTn II. You'll need to tell it which connection to monitor. Battery Status plugin for the today screen should apparently also do the trick.
If you ever get really desperate, you could always use WiFi at home to test without involving spending more, and use your PC to sniff the packets, check for what IP addresses and types of data are being requested. There maybe an app to do this directly on your phone, but I've not looked.

[Q] Data turns on by itself

Hi,
I suddenly developed an issue a few weeks ago where the data connection will, apparently randomly, turn itself on. I haven't ever been lucky enough to catch it right when the data comes on, and when I check task manager I don't see any applications running to cause it. I am thinking I either inherited a virus at some point, or an application that is attempting to update itself or something. But I haven't installed anything for months so it could be any old program. I checked scheduled tasks but don't see anything there.
I have done 'the usual' of making sure weather, stocks, email are not causing it.
What I am wondering is if there is an application out there that will log my activity so I can see what services or applications ran that day.
Many thanks in advance for any help or ideas.

Check to see if AGPS is on -- I've noticed with some GPS apps (CoPilot Live, Google Maps) that if AGPS is on, turning on the GPS will initiate a data connection. If that's the issue, turning AGPS off should take care of it.

Thanks for the AGPS suggestion. I do use QuickGPS, but have it set to prompt, not to auto download (but it does start a data connection when I do use it, and it doesn't turn it off when it's done). So, I don't think that's the problem in my case, but I appreciate the reply.

[Q] Use data only when I ask for it, not behind my back

I have all sorts of auto-sync, auto-update etc. features switched OFF. My mail, contacts, and calendar only sync when I tap on sync, I've disabled auto-updating in every app on my phone, I've unchecked "auto system update", "background data" is switched off, etcetera. To cut a long story short: every available setting that disables automatic use of data has been applied.
But when I booted my Defy and left it sitting idle for a while it still downloaded almost a megabyte of data, even though I didn't touch my phone at all.
So I made a backup with Titanium and MyBackup Root, reset my phone to factory state, went into the settings again to disable all user-configurable ways of automatic data use, and rebooted.
And then my phone auto-downloaded 0.7 MB for reasons unknown.
I don't care about a bit of data when I'm in my home network where I have an unlimited data plan, but if I would have been roaming abroad this unsollicited data could have cost me 10 euros or more. International data roaming is horribly expensive.
I could use the sledgehammer approach and disable data completely to avoid unwanted data roaming charges, but this would also disable data traffic that I'm willing to pay for (like manually checking my mail). So I need something more sophisticated than a sledgehammer.
Tools available:
1) DroidWall
2) Titanium (with the "freeze" option)
3) AdFree
Question: which apps and services should I block/freeze to ensure that my phone only uses data when I tell it to, and to make sure that it never ever downloads a single byte of data behind my back?
If DroidWall, Titanium, and AdFree are not enough, which other apps give me full control over which apps and services can use data?

Give juicedefender a try
Sent from my MB611 using XDA Premium App

ApnDroid, but kills all data by rewriting APNs. I use it all the time. You can still use wifi, text and call and, if you choose, use MMS. Otherwise...?

I'm curious as to what is taking your data. When I disable the data connections, I don't use a single byte of data. Even with data enabled but background data disabled, I don't use any data.
I know you asked for an app to kill the data...but I think it's best if you can find the culprit...sounds like either your deactivation of the data isn't working, or you have some nasty app that could be overriding the setting and still downloading data (I'm thinking the first)...
For starters, which rom are you using?

Juice Defender and ApnDroid are both sledgehammers that switch data 100% on or 100% off.
I'm looking an app that let's me control data per individual app and service, so that when I fire up my email program it can download my mail without letting other apps/services hitch a ride on the open data connection.
@darule_2011:
I don't believe something nasty is eating up my data, because my phone is hungry for data even after a factory reset without any 3rd party apps installed.
I'm using firmware version 2.1-update1, which came with the phone straight out of the box. I doubt Motorola would have pre-installed malware, unless we count Motoblur as malware.
On my old Nokia, each and every app could only go online after asking me for permission first. No permission, then no data. Not even a single byte. And it was up to me to choose between "ask me once" or "ask me every time."
Is there an app that forces Android to do the same?

rogier666 said:
Juice Defender and ApnDroid are both sledgehammers that switch data 100% on or 100% off.
I'm looking an app that let's me control data per individual app and service, so that when I fire up my email program it can download my mail without letting other apps/services hitch a ride on the open data connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understood. Can't see how that can work. If your data is on, everything that wants it is going to jump on it.

darule_2011 said:
sounds like either your deactivation of the data isn't working, or you have some nasty app that could be overriding the setting and still downloading data (I'm thinking the first)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there an app that logs which app connects when and to what? The data meter in Android's built-in data manager is completely useless, and DroidStats counts the amount of data used but doesn't tell which app was using it.

Droidwall has a log function for blocked apps.
Sent from my MB525

I told DroidWall to block internet access for "MotoBlur Services" (I don't even have a MotoBlur account), and now the amount of unsollicited traffic is down to about 40 kb in the 30 minutes since rebooting my phone.
So it looks like I found the stowaway. Motorola tries to keep my phone hungry for data even though I never signed up for MotoBlur.
DroidWall's log told me it blocked some unsollicited packets from GO Launcher EX, so at least my firewall is doing its job. (Why would a launcher need to go online if you don't enable anything internet-related in its settings?)
Unfortunately DroidWall only logs what it blocks. It doesn't log traffic that it allows, so I can only guess about those 40 kb. Maybe even an unused data connection needs to talk a bit to stay alive?

You may also use AutoStarts to disable applications running automatically on background when specific events happen.

DroidStats has the possibility to watch for which app consumes data. Not only total amount. It is integrated in the donation-addon

There's an app to tell which programs and services been using data and how much, and it's on your phone already. It's way more informative than the disfunctional data meter in the data manager menu.
Dial *#*#4636#*#* (the 4636 part spells "info" on the dialpad) to launch an app called "Testing." Then hit "battery history->network usage->total since boot." It doesn't count the bytes of data that are pingponged back and forth to keep an idle connection alive, but it monitors everything else.
You can make a shortcut to "Testing" with Any Cut.
First offender: MotoBlur. Even without a MotoBlur account and every possible autosync option disabled the MotoBlur Service eats data. I blocked it with DroidWall so now it doesn't phone home anymore.
Second offender: GO Launcher EX. I also blocked it with DroidWall, because a launcher doesn't have to talk to the world outside my phone.
Third offender: An all-in-one package that's shared by GMail Storage, Google Apps, Google Search, Google Settings Provider, Google Talk Service, Google Talk Storage, and com.google.android.syncadapters.contacts. Doesn't matter if you tell your settings menus not to call Google behind your back, 'cos Big Brother doesn't listen unless you ram the message home.
Fourth offender: WinAmp. Play an mp3 from your local SD card and WinAmp still tries to go online to do things, even with scrobbling etc disabled. It probably sends out usage statistics without asking for permission first.
Fifth offender: NQmobile Anti-virus. Even if you disable all automatic connections in the settings the program phones home anyway. Most of the traffic is outgoing, so apparently it's collecting hundreds of kilobytes worth of usage statistics, even if you're not installing new apps or doing manual scans. A day of launching offline apps can easily make NQ burn a full megabyte of data where it shouldn't have been using any.
Sixth, seventh, etc. offenders: apps that go online for the sole purpose of downloading ads. All DroidWalled, of course. I'm not gonna pay international data charges to see the junk from AdMob.
I've firewalled MotoBlur, GO Launcher EX and the Google package away from the web and everything on my phone still works. Even Google Search can live without the all-in-one service, because it sends the search queries to the web browser. I guess it only needs to go online for web suggestions, which I don't use anyway. The Google Talk app is dead, but I never use it because fring and Nimbuzz are much better and they only go online after I tell them to do so. But just leave it to Google to make GoogleTalk dependent on a piece of code that phones home even when you're not using GoogleTalk.
But DroidWall is not a convenient way to tame NQmobile (NetQin), because then I'd have to manually unblock it everytime I want to update the virus database. Is there another antivirus app that only goes online when I tell it to instead of calling home on its own?

ABC_Universal said:
You may also use AutoStarts to disable applications running automatically on background when specific events happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They'll probably just restart and in the end you will slow down your phone and drain your battery as you go through the kill-restart cycle.

scrannel said:
They'll probably just restart and in the end you will slow down your phone and drain your battery as you go through the kill-restart cycle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Freezing 'em with Titanium makes more sense.
But those are all workarounds, not solutions. As Android matures we should get an option to control the data behaviour of each and every app in full detail. If other operating systems can do it, why shouldn't Android be able to do the same?
If you think about it, it's totally ridiculous that you need to root your phone and jump through hoops to make sure that your phone bill doesn't explode when you set foot across the border. Didn't the inventors of Android ever hear of international data roaming rates?

Thanks for the useful info. I use Go Launcher too. I wondered how they moneterised their apps - probably collecting/selling usage stats.
Is roaming data being used even without the option checked?

When the G1 came out those of us who travel soon found out that certain apps would over-ride the option to prevent data roaming, thus programs like apndroid.

rogier666 said:
If other operating systems can do it, why shouldn't Android be able to do the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because that's not how it's designed to operate.
Pu simply, you've picked the wrong OS for your needs.
That's hardly Google's fault.

rogier666 said:
Is there another antivirus app that only goes online when I tell it to instead of calling home on its own?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Lookout - that's what I use and it only updates when you allow it too (at least mine does).
What do you think about flashing a blurless rom? There is a barebones rom in the dev section (haven't tried that one yet), this will allow you to add back in apps that only you want...this might do the trick. I'm using Pays rom and loving it.

Thanx darule_. Lookout indeed doesn't phone home behind my back, even with automatic scanning enabled and a couple of new apps scanned.
Over two hours since last boot and not a single app has squeezed a byte through my open data connection without my permission. Looks like I've got Android tamed and fit to travel.

All I can say is, all the contemporary smartphone OS use background data stupendously.
Shut down data roaming if you don't want a hefty bill.