[EVO 4G Original Development] nYdGeo:
SBC info

With most current development moving on to newer phones, I very much appreciate the folks that do still dev for our old Evo 4G's. I have one of the 003 hardware revisions that just get crappy battery life no matter what, but I've just learned to live with it (extended battery & chargers everywhere). I did notice long ago, back when Froyo was the shiznit, that SBC kernels helped more than would seem logical, and I'm very glad to see it available in a current, GB Sense kernel.

Now to share some of the SBC wisdom that was shared with me by the kernel devs of that time period:

1. When using an SBC kernel, any and all forms of battery calibration are now moot. The trickle charging of an SBC kernel does that better over one night than is possible using any normal calibration method.

2. Everyone suggested installing Battery Monitor Widget, which I have been doing for over a year. I leave the bottom and top values at default (current battery charge % & current mA charge), but remove the battery image in the middle and have that displaying the current battery voltage (mV).

Note: if you have an extended, higher capacity battery (1700 - 3500 mAh), be sure to go into the settings for the Battery Monitor Widget and change the battery capacity from the default 1500mAh to the value of your battery.

3. Charge the battery until it has been showing a consistent charge rate ranging from 2mA - 6mA. Now, leaving the phone plugged in, reboot into recovery and wipe the battery stats. Boot the phone back up, let it charge until it's at the same rate as before, and you're done.

None of this information is new, secret, or of my own creation. I just hoped to create a simple post that would provide usable info about using SBC kernels. There are a couple of possible or at least theoretical caveats to using an SBC kernel so I'll share those as well.

1. There are L-Ion battery experts that say that doing this will shorten the life of the battery. This may be true, but based on the increase in daily, usable battery life I saw using these kernels, if it killed my battery every 6-months I'd still use them. However, the fact is that I'm still using the same extended battery that I purchased as soon as they were available, so I've not experience any dramatic shortening of battery life.

2. Some of these same battery experts say that using SBC kernels can be a safety hazard, and that they can make the batteries catch fire or explode. I might have bought into this were it not for the fact that every L-Ion battery has a protective circuit built into it to prevent this from occurring. Also, in all of these claims I've as yet to ever see a name of someone that this occurred to, nor seen a single post by someone that had this occur.

There were a few instances long ago of android phone batteries exploding; in one case the user was actually killed. However, in each of the cases that I read about, there were three things in common. First, all of these phones were from the same manufacturer. Second, the users were using the phone while plugged into the chargers. Third, and pay close attention here...none of these folks were using SBC kernels. SBC kernels didn't even exist yet.

If anyone has any additional and/or corrective related information, I welcome it. The more accurate the information we all have is the better off we all are.

Thank you for your time.