Battery is dead after idle for few hours.

[maclac]

Another question for the experts.
I cannot figure out why Axim gives me a warning about low battery and goes into sleep mode. This happens every morning if I do not dock overnight. Also happens if I just leave on desk and do not use all day. There do not appear to be any programs in the "running program" mode. Any ideas? My battery is charged every day and within a few idle hours it is extremely low.

[JakeRich]

Originally posted by maclac
Another question for the experts.
I cannot figure out why Axim gives me a warning about low battery and goes into sleep mode. This happens every morning if I do not dock overnight. Also happens if I just leave on desk and do not use all day. There do not appear to be any programs in the "running program" mode. Any ideas? My battery is charged every day and within a few idle hours it is extremely low.

Ok, a few things to check:

1. By "Idle" do you mean on or off? If you are not using the Ax, turn it off. It's still technically on, because you can't turn them fully off, but in the "off" condition it draws much less power.
2. How bright is the screen? A bright screen draws a LOT of power. If you must have it "on" turn the screen brightness all the way down when you aren't using it.
3. If you think you are turning it off, are you really? Read page 12 of the User's Guide for the two functions of the Power Button. To turn off takes a quick click. A longer press dims the screen completely, but leaves it running. To tell the difference, look at the screen under a bright light. If you can still see the screen when it's "off" it's not off. Some folks were holding the power button down until the screen darkened, thinking they were turning it off. In fact they were not, just dimming the screen.

[commoved]

If your Ax is really off (previous post), maybe the battery just can't hold a charge. This sometimes happens to lithium batteries if they are fully dischanged, especially if they stay discharged for a while.

It's also possible your battery charger is defective. It might stop charging the battery before the battery is charged.

Let us know what you find out.

[Raynne413]

Also remember that the PPC turns itself on at midnight. It will turn itself back off UNLESS you have programs running in the background. If you have a program running, it thinks you are doing something, and it will stay on, running your battery down in the process.

[maclac]

Some answers;
1) By "idle", I do mean I have shut it off for the night and just sitting in the case. I have started checking to see if it is really off.
2) I had brightness set at 100%. I have now cut back to about 60%. I will try that. Thank you.
3) I was not aware of the 2 levels of "off". But checking it I think I am turning it off, with a short click.
4) I switch between a pair of batteries. I think both are fully charged. I find it interesting from a previous post about life of battery life. My "Battery Bar" tells me I have between 2 hrs. 45 mins. to 3 hrs. of life after a full charge. Does this not seem low?
5) Why does a PPC turn itself on at midnight? I had never heard of this before.

[Mike C]

Battery Pack time remaining is not to be trusted, believed, looked at, considered, or understood. It doesn't work.

It's supposed to be adaptive, and refine it's estimate with repeated use, but it does not.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Raynne413
Also remember that the PPC turns itself on at midnight.

I didn't notice this. Is this a bug?

Cheers.

[JakeRich]

No, it's not a bug that it turns on at midnight. It's a feature! It apparently checks for the day's appointments, alarms, etc. After that quick check it's supposed to go back to sleep, but if you have something that makes it think it's doing something, it won't do that. Media Player is one culprit that holds it open, I understand some of the battery checkers also hold it open. This "feature" was first noted when the PocketPC version first came out, and it affects all PocketPCs not just Axims.

Also, you mentioned a case. Make sure the case isn't pressing on any buttons or the screen and turning the unit on that way. I know most of these you've probably tried, but it's happened before! :D

[JmE]

Originally posted by JakeRich
No, it's not a bug that it turns on at midnight. It's a feature! It apparently checks for the day's appointments, alarms, etc. After that quick check it's supposed to go back to sleep, but if you have something that makes it think it's doing something, it won't do that. Media Player is one culprit that holds it open, I understand some of the battery checkers also hold it open. This "feature" was first noted when the PocketPC version first came out, and it affects all PocketPCs not just Axims.

Is there a program that closes all aplications (except ActiveSYnc) with one click?

-JmE-

[JakeRich]

Wisbar, Icbar both have that function.

[Raynne413]

PocketFacelift also has this ability, along with cascading menus, and easy use of different themes.

[falgun]

I have many times been up past 12 doing some work, and have never seen my Axim turn on. the axim is always next to my keyboard so i would of noticed if it would of turned un so that is wierdooooooooooo

I also found that if there was some kind of event or alarm set and it was set to flash light it seemed to drain the battery overnight too. I was also having an ActiveSync problem that was keeping the light (power button) lit all night. It is very hard to see and of course in the case you wouldn't see it at all. btw... still having as problems.

[gorby]

Yup, my Axim turns itself on at midnight as it suppose to and then goes back to sleep. My iPaq did the same thing too.

[aja8888]

Yup, my Axim turns itself on at midnight as it suppose to and then goes back to sleep. My iPaq did the same thing too.

Ditto!;)