yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus Transformer TF701] marcmarshall:
I was very excited to get the new update last night and check out kitkat. Unfortunately I jumped in before considering the inability to write to external storage. Now I have my unrooted completely stock TF701 with crippled storage capability. This is a big problem for me. On top of that it looks like folks are having a problem rooting with this update.

So what is the best work around (if any) and how do I get there?

Thanks
[Asus Transformer TF701] myeepad:
Go get and flash the rooted stock rom from sbdags, he added a few more very useful apps to it too.

For writing to external storage, go download the free SDfix:Kitkat Writable MicroSD from Play Store.
[Asus Transformer TF701] marcmarshall:
What took you so long ;) Thanks for that! Today's project. Could not be happier :)

---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:56 AM ----------

I need to unlock for that but the ASUS site says the unlock tool only works for Jellybean :(
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
UPDATE on power issue:

Well, maybe I spoke too soon. After applying the FULL update over my existing OTA update and running the tablet all night then charging to full and watching Netflix for 4 hours and then letting the tablet sleep (with wifi on and email app running) for 4.5 hours the tablet was drained to 15%. With 4.3 I would still have over 50% because there was virtually no drain when sleeping.

GSam shows battery drain as:

33.7% Screen

1.4% Wifi

31.8% Kernel (Android OS)

14.1% Netflix

11.1% System (mediaserver)

5.1% Android System

everything else less than 1%.

Average battery drain per hour 8.6% total. Still terrible considering it was SLEEPING for more than half the time!

Would like to try sdbags rom next, but no way to unlock with KitKat. Is there a way to revert to 4.3?! Will placing the official 4.3 firmware on my internal storage work?
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
Thanks for keeping us updated. I will try some of the recommendations tonight (cold boot, force full re-install, cold boot and factory reset, etc) and let you know how it goes. Basically, all my personal stuff is on the cloud now and re-installing apps is easy, so I don't mind resetting...

Oh, bummer. I think you can force downgrade as you did for your force full install...Asus should update their tool though...
[Asus Transformer TF701] berndblb:
Yes, that's how it has worked on previous stock firmware versions on the TF700 and TF300. The downgrade process always was the same as upgrade with one notable exception. I think it was from ICS .26 to ICS .30. Once upgraded to .30 or later JB versions you could not downgrade to pre-.30 firmware. Some major change to the bootloader I believe it was....

Try it and let us know if it works. It will just fail if the BL doesn't allow it.

Have you tried the Unlock Tool provided on their website? It may still work. The ICS unlock tool worked on JB firmware just fine. Again: nothing can go wrong. It's just an app and will either work or not.

Not to pour salt into your wounds, but here's my last update:

Ran the tablet down to 46% last night (dock batt empty), put it to sleep.

It had 2% drain in 10 hours of sleep.

This is with no power saving options from Settings active, wifi always on, Google location services turned off but DS Battery Saver module active and set to "aggressive".

I will test different configurations (Google location service turned on, DS Battery module disabled etc) in the coming days.
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
As I posted in my very first message on this forum that is the first thing I tried after I realized the battery drain after directly OTA updating. :(
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
Well, I have to try that at least. Seems some on us don't have this battery draining issues. Also, Google Now and location service are both enabled on mine. After that, I will send an email to Asus through their client portal and see what they have to say about this issue.
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
Tried placing the 4.3 firmware on the internal but after accessing RCK it says 'upgrading' for a few seconds then FAILED with android on its' back.

Surprisingly, the Unlock Tool worked! Anyone who tries this please be aware the unlock tool WIPES the tablet. I knew this going in, though.

Before I try sdbags rom I'm running GSam Battery Monitor on the fully wiped tablet just to see how the sleep mode usage compares to when I had all of my apps installed...
[Asus Transformer TF701] hoshiadam:
I have been having the power draw issues and think it may be related to the battery charging from the keyboard. When going from a full charge, it does not initiate charging of the main battery when the power drops. Disconnecting the keyboard and reconnecting it will, but I think the power draw is still higher, as it doesn't charge as much.

Additionally, I seemed to be getting a lower battery draw when the keyboard was disconnected.
[Asus Transformer TF701] talion777:
I don't seem to have the battery drain issues but I do have the flickering screen issues. The flickering for me only seems to happen when I'm plugged in. The move to KitKat seems to have toasted any Flash compatibility I had though. I tried the Dolphin browser /Jetpack workaround on that and had only hit or miss success.

---------- Post added at 02:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 PM ----------

Thanks. Will have to wait for the next exploit, I guess.
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
Well, I have been through the cold boot / re-install / factory reset process and, so far, it did not help :crying: Still, the Kernel (Android OS) is taking up to 60% battery when my tablet is idle/close... It went from 90% to 30% in about 8-9 hours without using it...
[Asus Transformer TF701] gg777:
I had battery drain problem for a week. reset factory didn't help.

Finally I found a solution, now I have the battery drop only 1% overnight, which is very good.

Go to settings / Power management / Power Consumption Table

in the left upper menu choose "keep awake" you find a list of apps, choose them individually

on the bottom of page check "prevent the device from keeping awake"

Reboot
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
Nice, thanks! Will try that as soon as possible!
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
Going into the Keep Awake section shows me only AquaMail (my email client) for a total of 8 minutes in over 9 hours of sleep time. Everything else is under 20 seconds total. This is not my issue, especially when I have battery drain regardless of running this app.

UPDATE on my battery drain issue:

So I Unlocked, Rooted, and installed sbdag's modified 4.4.2 ROM. Charged to 100% then left it sleep for 9 hours and 20 minutes. It still drained to 32% in that time draining an average of 7.3% per hour.

GSam Battery Monitor shows battery usage:

Screen 0.4%

Wifi 3.6%

Kernel (Android OS) 68.3%

Android System 9.5 %

GSam Battery Monitor 3.1%

Google Services 3.0%

Asus Launcher 2.2%

System (ndroid.systemui) 2.0%

Phone 1.5%

Aquamail 1.0%

Everything else under 1%.

Still just as bad as before. I'm thinking of just flashing Cyanogenmod 11 with KitKat 4.4.4 to see if that fixes it.
[Asus Transformer TF701] talion777:
Didn't have the battery drain issue at first, but I do now, dropping almost 70% in 12 hours inactive. The odd thing is that when I look at the power consumption it all seems to drain from whatever app I used last. It was Facebook two nights ago and last night it was History Eraser using 57% of the power, which is crazy, given the nature of the app. It's like the system is keeping the last app open and the power flows out through the hole created by it, like a leaky air mattress.
[Asus Transformer TF701] Sleeepy2:
Sorry, first thing I thought of
[Asus Transformer TF701] talion777:
I don't hate. I've learned to vent all of my frustrations not on people, but on inanimate objects. Like my tablet. :D
[Asus Transformer TF701] Sleeepy2:
I couldn't find one that said let the power flow through you and I was to lazy to make one ?
[Asus Transformer TF701] beady_uk:
Hi,

I had done towelroot on 4.3 and have done the OTA to 4.4.2 so i have lost root and towelroot no longer works. but...

I have an app (sky go) which is reporting that it will not run on a rooted device so maybe there is still some files inside the tablet left over from rooting. is there anyway to restore root using these left over files or is this just a PITA that i have to do a full system image install to over write these files to enable me to use that sky go app again.

Any suggestions?
[Asus Transformer TF701] sbdags:
It's probably left the su binary in /system/bin, /system/xbin, and possibly an edited script in /system/etc

Did you use voodoo ota root keeper.

Without root you can't use them. However try installing superuser or SuperSU from the market to see if they can do it.

Otherwise you could just unlock and be done with it..... ;)
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
Update on battery drain issue:

I changed 2 things last night before I let my tablet sleep directly after charging to full.

1) I removed all widgets from my home screen.

2) I restarted the tablet and only started GSAM before I put it to sleep again.

The results:

After 8 Hours the tablet went from FULL to 98%, using only 2%!

2.4% Screen

81.0% Wifi

8.4% Kernel (Android OS)

3.6% Android System

1.5% AquaMail

1.1% System (ndroid.systemui)

0.6% GSAM Battery Monitor

Everything else was under 0.5%.

After some searching on the net I found tons of bug reports for 4.4.2 from reported by various brands. The main issues in 4.4.2 cited by Google themselves were with Skype and Google Play Services causing some crazy battery draw (and potentially any app that accesses the camera) and an issue with apps not restarting properly when 'killed' or swiped away in the Recent Apps window. Their suggestions in those cases were to uninstall Skype/Camera apps and to uninstall updates to Google Play Services, however that latter would cripple many existing apps. It is also recommended not to use any app killer or to swipe away recent apps unless absolutely necessary.

One of the widgets I had on my home screen was, in-fact, the Tasks widget. I used it AND the Recent Tasks window religiously to kill tasks to free ram for the next task I was about to run. This may also have been part of my problem and why others have not experienced it.

I'm going to run the tablet today with my normal use without killing tasks or using recent apps to close them and see how that fairs.
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
I'm glad you find out a possible fix for your battery issues. I also been OK with the "keep awake" thing. Been through the night (7 hours) and lost only 1% (without wifi on)! I have also been googling around I find out that "wlan_rx_wake" was the wakelock that seems to cause problems. There is a lot of threads (like this one) that suggests to put a static IP, and I did this morning. I will see tonight how it goes.

I'll get rid of the task manager widget also, thanks :)
[Asus Transformer TF701] talion777:
Yesterday went into the power management screen and did the "prevent the device from keeping awake" thing on all the open apps. I charged the device to 100% for both keyboard and tablet. Closed the tab in standby but did not power off, and left it from 11pm to 8:30am today. The result was that the keyboard was completely drained to 0% and the tablet was donwn to 54%, so essentially 75% of the power was consumed while in standby overnight. I went into power management again and for the third straight night the device indicated that the main drain of power came from different utilities, this time coming principally from the media storage and system UI.

Of course, the assumption here is that the battery widget is reading correctly too. I would download another battery widget to try, but I'm unaware of one that reads both the keyboard and the tab apart from the stock widget. Anybody know of one? Is it possible that the upgrade only causes the battery measurement widget to misbehave? I don't have either the equipment or the expertise to measure the actual flow of electricity.
[Asus Transformer TF701] thugdrummer1:
KitKat OTA forced me to finally root

I was considering doing it eventually, but hadn't found a need. But with the update I started getting PO'ed. For example, every time I logged into the Facebook app (which I need to do less often), a window popped up saying

AsusSocialNetworkService would like to access your public profile, friend list, custom friend list, NewsFeed, personal description, birthday, events, groups, hometown, interests, likes, location, notes, photos, relationships, status updates, videos and work history as well as your friends' personal descriptions, birthdays, hometowns, interests, likes, locations, notes, photos, relationships, status updates, videos and work histories….​

Hell no! Yet, there was no way to disable the app, nor tell it to quit asking. Root plus Titanium Backup's Freeze option to the rescue.

My next step will probably be to add DroidWall or the equivalent.

Thanks to IPdunwell for the root guide. Now I need to decide if I want to stick w/ KitKat, flash an earlier stock ROM or go custom.
[Asus Transformer TF701] cecilyen:
I thought voodoo root keeper only worked for android version below 4.3?

Cecil
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
It does, but he DID use it during 4.3 and which means it probably left the su binary in /system/bin, /system/xbin, and possibly an edited script in /system/etc, as sbdags said. Many apps that check for root will return a false positive if these changes still exist in the system folder.
[Asus Transformer TF701] doom_71:
Before upgrading Cromi-x to sdbags rooted 4.4.2 rom i used voodoo rootkeeper. It worked perfectly. After installing the update and rebooting i used voodoo to restore root and, voila.... Everything is working perfectly.
[Asus Transformer TF701] berndblb:
That doesn't say much... Both of those roms are rooted out of the box ;)

You can save yourself the rouble of using rootkeeper next time.
[Asus Transformer TF701] doom_71:
When i was reading your reply I thought how silly I have been. Off course it was rooted out of the box [emoji43]
[Asus Transformer TF701] thugdrummer1:
I've been wondering that myself. Anyone?
[Asus Transformer TF701] marcmarshall:
I'm guessing it clears memory
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
Well, back to square one for me... not sure what is causing it this time, but it is worse then before. I am talking with asus support at the moment, but they have not helped much so far... I guess, I will have to install a custom ROM really soon... ! :eek:
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
I don't have conclusive results just yet but what has worked for me to fix the battery drain is the following:

1) Remove all widgets from home screens

2) Restart Tablet

3) DO NOT use task killers, memory cleaners or swipe away apps from the Recent Apps button.

I'm now adding back widgets one at a time and watching the drain to possibly eliminate that step, which would mean task killing is entirely what causes the issue for me.
[Asus Transformer TF701] marcmarshall:
Do you get the battery drain when the tablet is not docked?
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
I appreciate the help/suggestions, but I don't think it is an acceptable solution in any cases since I did not have to do all this before this update. I am using basically all the same apps/widgets as before... Either something change drastically in 4.4, or there are issues with the update itself / android OS.. I don't beleive it is hardware. I just want to use my tablet without having to leave it plugged in when not using it...

Btw, I don't have the dock.
[Asus Transformer TF701] marcmarshall:
I downloaded the OTA and then installed Sdbags rooted stock so could write to external storage again. I have almost no battery drain. It's seems better than ever actually. I have always kept mine in ultra power saving mode because I do not want notifications during the night on it.
[Asus Transformer TF701] gg777:
Did you unlock bootloader and install cwm before installing sdbags firmware?

please let me know
[Asus Transformer TF701] marcmarshall:
Yes, exactly what I did. The old unlock app worked fine even though I had already installed the kitKat ota
[Asus Transformer TF701] marcmarshall:
Fyi the unlock app will factory reset but that might be a good thing for you
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
All right, this is it, I'm going on the dark side! :cool: Still having battery draining issues, my last score is 100% to 45% in 6 hrs without using it... I can't stay like this! So, what's my best option here? I wan't to stay on 4.4 and have a stable ROM.. I guess I gonna give sbdags's modded ROM a spin...
[Asus Transformer TF701] marcmarshall:
Go for it. I'm only losing 2 or 3% overnight for about 8 hours
[Asus Transformer TF701] malos1984:
got my tab back from asus after 9 weeks.

seems the 4.4.2 is not out in jp yet.

tablet still resets all the time no apps loaded think i give up on this tab and move else where.

Anyway can you still copy files to the memory card such as video files and music files and play through a player.

I`m not interested in installing apps on my mem cards.

Only use office apps and a few games such as final fantasy not these DL for free in app crap **** you see flooding the mobile market.
[Asus Transformer TF701] berndblb:
What did they do? did they reflash the firmware? If not, why not do it yourself before you move on?

I do not understand the rest of your post - sorry.
[Asus Transformer TF701] malos1984:
replaced hinge replace board reset software.

I have factory reset updated etc and no i`m not interested in rooting

It`s been to them 3 times and they have had it in their possession for a total of 27 weeks since i bought it in nov.

It`S gone it shall serve as a movie player in the car.

Memory card permissions changed. can i copy music and movies to it and play them or is that restricted in 4.4.2

IF not i will remember not to update when it releases in japan.
[Asus Transformer TF701] berndblb:
Jeez - sounds as if you got a lemon!

I meant reflashing the official Asus firmware. Factory reset does not make any changes to the system. It just wipes user installed stuff. Reflashing replaces everything. Worth a shot IMO.

KitKat permissions:

Stock apps (those that come with the tablet) can still read/write anywhere.

3rd party apps can read from anywhere, but can only write to folders they own on external cards.

So any video player can play files from your external cards.
[Asus Transformer TF701] jms_uk:
For what its worth, I was getting crazy battery drain even overnight with Tasker turning off wifi, disabling sync etc.. on a hunch I disabled the 'Ok Google' voice detection and Viola! Of course YMMV :)
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
I've disabled that and other stock apps that I would never use but that didn't solve my drain issue.

What has solved my battery drain issue:

The solution seems to be

not

swiping away Recent Apps and

not

using the built in Task Manager widget to kill apps. Doing this my battery was holding a charge great while sleeping using 0% in over 6.5 hours with wifi on! To further test this theory last night before I put the tablet to sleep I charged it to full and then opened the Recent Apps and swiped away everything. After 5.5 hours the battery now displays 60% which is 7.3% drain per hour while sleeping!

Battery usage:

1.6% Screen

3.7% Wifi

68.6% Kernel (Android OS)

9.9% Android System

2.6% System (ndroid.systemui)

2.5% Google Play services

1.8% GSam Battery Monitor

1.6% Phone (why do tablets use this anyhow?)

Conclusions so far:

It appears the issue is directly related to

swiping away Recent Apps

, so far! Next I will Cold Boot and run it through my normal daily usage then try using the built in Task Manager widget to kill apps and see if that causes the same drain issue or not.
[Asus Transformer TF701] jms_uk:
If swiping away recent apps is the issue, that's a real PITA... I read your earlier post about it, but went for disabling "OK Google" hotword detection and so far.. it's worked, but time will tell, especially as the battery drain was over night when the tablet wasn't in use (I'm sure I would've swiped away recent apps at somepoint prior to doing that) but with the hot word detection off and no excessive battery drain I'm pretty sure I would've still been swiping away apps then too
[Asus Transformer TF701] Technojo:
Back on track!

I' glad I did... I lost 0% in 6-7 hrs !!! Yes, 0% lol. This time around, after I flashed, I did not setup any of the Asus Apps (WebStorage, Do it now, What's next, Meteo widget...) and I'm not completely done setting up my stuff, but mostly, everything is there. Location is ON, OK google is On, Smart Saving is On. One thing I've noticed this morning, is that the Wifi was Off when I waked up my tablet, so, it seems that the Smart Saving app is working as intended now.

On a side note, Terminal App is crashing every times I open it. This is one of the few apps that sbdabs put on his modded rom. I don't really care for that, just saying heh :)

---------- Post added at 09:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 AM ----------

I do swap away recent apps often.. and so far, it did not have any impacts but I'll keep an eye on that...
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
I've had the Google Search app Frozen (using Android Tuner) since directly after I noticed the battery drain issue. Perhaps your method of disabling it was different than mine?

Also, this article explains a bug in Android 4.4.2 that can be triggered by swiping away apps in the Recent Apps window and also can trigger by running your memory low. It makes me wonder why Asus chose this version of Kitkat...
[Asus Transformer TF701] jms_uk:
Yeah, I didn't freeze it or anything, just went into the voice search settings and disabled it from there
[Asus Transformer TF701] malos1984:
don`T link your asus account wither that thing connects to asus server every 20 mins and drains the frak out of your tab.

I don`t even know what it does but i was silly enough to register it ages ago and when checking logs it was the single biggest wake and keep from sleep app.
[Asus Transformer TF701] TrekMD:
So, not swiping the recent apps helps with the battery drain? I'll have to give that a try. I had one night with no battery drain and I don't remember if that is what I had done. I sure hope they fix this issue.
[Asus Transformer TF701] Ashrealms:
In a second test of swiping away apps I notice 0% drain, however the article about the 4.4.2 Recent Apps swiping bug did say that it

CAN

be triggered by swiping away apps, not that it will always be triggered. This might explain the mixed bag of results from everyone including my now 2 tests. I would suggest not swiping away recent apps at all. If a battery drain is still happening after stopping that practice then we look elsewhere.

Also, I just tried using the Task Manager widget to kill apps and had 0% drain in 2.5 hours which indicates that might be a safe way to end apps as an alternative.
[Asus Transformer TF701] TrekMD:
I restarted my tablet and have not done any swiping away of apps and so far the drain has been like it was before the update. I've set the Task Manager widget on the homescreen also to test that out.
[Asus Transformer TF701] jms_uk:
Still no drain and I've done the odd swipe away... I know that doesn't help, but its worth sharing the update
[Asus Transformer TF701] Sleeepy2:
I am just curious as to why you swipe away an app or use the Task Manager widget at all.

The only time I ever swipe away an app is if I want to reopen the app fresh because of an issue.

The way Android is designed you should never need to kill an app and there is no benefit of doing this.

Having free RAM isn't a good thing, RAM is designed to be used and if an app requires more then is currently available the Android system will close apps automatically to free up some more. Having free RAM is like buying a sports card and never taking it out of second gear.