How to Dramatically Improve Nook Color Battery Life by Disabling Android Cell Standby Service [Tip]!

by Jawwad in Android, Guides, Mobile, Tips&Tricks | 13 comments


battery | How to Dramatically Improve Nook Color Battery Life by Disabling Android Cell Standby Service [Tip]!As you know Nook Color from Barnes & Noble by it’s very nature is a colorful EBook reader and by no means a smartphone! Although, it is true that it is based on the Android 2.1. However, for some strange reason on the Nook Color there is a mysterious service that continues to run in the background called Cell Standby Service. This service is basically meant to be used on the Android based smartphones (or other telephony devices such as some tablets). As on those phone this service continues to run even if the phone is in standby mode while all other process are disabled. This is desirable because primary purpose of this service is to allow to receive phone calls, SMS etc. even if the phone is in idle/standby condition. For the reasons mentioned above this service is major source of battery consumption of Android based devices. However, in the case of Nook Color there is absolutely no reason to let this continue to run in the background as Nook Color lacks the even basic required hardware to work as mobile phone! Here, we let you know the process that can be followed to disable this service and dramatically increase your battery life. In case, for some reason later you want to enable this service you can do that too!

Before you proceed any further make sure that your Nook Color is rooted and has ADB access enabled.

How to Disable the Service?

Download this attached file, and extract the contents of the zip file. Then run the ‘removecellstandby.bat’ file to to disable Cell Standby Service.

How to Enable the Service?

Download this attached file, and extract the contents of the zip file. Then run the ‘Installcellstandby.bat’ file to to enable Cell Standby Service.

[Source]

Tagged as: android, battery life, guides, mobile, nook, nook color, Tips&Tricks

You Might Like:



Get Free Email Updates

Inspired Geek is your primary source for latest tech news, guides and articles on Windows software, games, Apple and Android devices.


  • Get extensive coverage on latest tech news.
  • Exclusive guides on rooting, jailbreaking and unlocking mobile devices.
  • Useful apps and tips&tricks for your iOS and Android devices.
  • Exlclusive Top Countdowns for the best software.

This post was written by...

for Inspired Geek.

Hi! We are trying our best to make this spot most interesting and useful for discovering news, articles, tips & tricks and bringing you the latest in Computer, Mobile and Internet technology areas. Please support our efforts by giving your feedback, subscribing to Inspired Geek RSS (Link on top & bottom of the page), by promoting us on social websites (Facebook, Digg, Twitter, StumbleUpon etc.) or any other way you might feel convenient. Thanks for your support!

  • Pingback: How to Enable Extra Hidden Settings on Your Nook Color – Auto Mount, Manage Applications, Battery Use, Usage statistics, SD Card Storage etc. [Guide] | Inspired Geek

  • A Griffin

    That’s “idle”, not “idol”.

    • http://www.inspiredgeek.com/ Jawwad

      Thanks Griffin. Fixed!

      • nookie nana

        Hi There
        Thank you so much for your great work. I was wondering if this will work for me. I boot CM7 7.0.0 from an SD card. Works fabulously….so if you have time appreciate knowing if this will work for me.

        • http://www.inspiredgeek.com/ Jawwad

          I think you don’t need it if you are on CM7.

  • a

    get your facts straight, disabling it has no effect on battery life.

  • BobC

    Will this fix work now that NC is now on Andriod 2.2?

  • rich scales

    so by “no means a smart phone” you mean what exactly? I mean its obvious its not a phone………….but it ceertainly IS not JUST an ereader………..its an android tablet, and incredible value.
    the only thing i find it CANT do……..is make calls and take pics………..so the “phone” part, ok it cant do………but everything else? the thing is awesome.
    and booting from the card………….best idea this genereration of tech.!!!
    play netflix = yes
    run android 2.3 = yes (I have it on mine) (stable honeycomb is on the way)
    android apps and games = yes (pretty much everything ive loaded it played flawlessly,
    AND smoothly.
    including “giro” movement games)
    android office type apps = yes
    widgets and business apps = yes
    mp3 and music = yes
    movies (mp4 etc) = yes
    comic books (using android apps such as comica etc) = yes
    browsing the web with a full browser = yes (dolphin, opera, skyfire etc all work great)
    email = yes (gmail is intergrated with android market,)
    ebuddy messenger = yes
    overclocking = yes (925 is very safe and stable……..and for the most part 1.1k is)

    bear in mind the nookcolor has the same cpu and gpu as a droid x

    NOOKcolor full specs:

    •PCB: Foxconn ML1 S 94V-0
    •CPU Processor: ARM Cortex A8-based Ti OMAP 3621 @ 800 MHz (same processor as Droid 2 and Droid X)
    •GPU Processor: PowerVR SGX530 Graphics Rendering: Open GLES1.1/2.0 Hardware Scaling: 854×480 scaled to 1024×600 Video Formats: .3GP, .MP4, .3G2 ** Video Codecs: H.263, H.264, MPEG-4, ON2 VP7 ** Image Formats: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP ** (same GPU as Droid 2 and Droid X)

    •RAM: 512MB Hynix H8MBX00U0MER-0EM MCM (Stacked Chips 2x256MB each die mDDR)
    •Internal Flash: 8GB Sandisk SDIN4C1-8g
    •Removable Flash: 32GB via microSDHC
    •Radio: Chip ID Ti wl1271 (kernel reports wl1273) Chip supports bluetooth transmit/recieve and fm radio functions through the same antenna, but is not enabled in software drivers. Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n Security: WEP/WPA/WPA2/802.1x Mode: Infrastructure
    •Display: 7″ 1024×600 IPS Display w\VividView Cypress Semiconductor TTSP Gen 3 (TMA340) Touchscreen , kernel driver , reference LG Display LD070WS1 (SL)(02) LED Backlight Pixels per Inch: 169 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Colors: 16 Million Viewing Angle: 178° (same as HTC 7 Surround and HTC 7 Mozart)
    •Audio: Ti TLV320DAC3100 Codec 3.5mm Headset Jack (TRS 3-Pole) – no mic input Single Rear Speaker PWM Headphone Amp Headphone Detection Mic Amp and ADC (Mic input not available) Audio Formats: .3GP, .3G2, .MP4, .AMR, .MP3, .MID, .XMF, .MXMF, .RTTL, .OTA, .IMY, .WAV, .OGG, .ACC ** Audio Codecs: ACC, ACC+, AMR, MP3, MIDI, LPCM **
    •Power Management: Texas Instruments TPS65921 PMIC Integrated Power Management IC with 3 DC/DC’s, 4 LDO’s, USB HS Transceiver
    •Battery: “Barnes & Noble” labeled 3.7V 4000mAh 14.8Wh Li-ion battery Battery Life: ~8 hours
    •Physical Specifications Dimensions: 8.1″ (205mm) L x 5″ (127mm) W x 0.48″ (12.2mm) D Weight: ~15.8oz (~422g)
    •Micro-B USB 2.0 High-Speed
    •Accelerometer
    •Input Virtual QWERTY Keyboard On-Screen Soft-Keys ** ‘n’ Home button Power\Lock button Volume Up\Down buttons
    runs gingerbread GREAT!
    aside from a phone and a camera…………it does everything you want it to…………and pretty much flawlessly, CM7 works superb (bear in mind, dont use a “nightly” if you use netflix………….just use the “stable” version, it should play netflix fine at the correct speed)

    some people consider an HTC hero a smartphone…….consider the retail standard cpu and gpu of the NC!! its a no brainer

  • Nelson Highley

    As a retired engineer, it seems to me that disabling the “Cell Standby Service” will probably accomplish nothing to extend battery life. The reason is that there are no “cellphone” components within the Nook Color. Even if the service is running, there is nothing for it in the hardware to turn on. The only penalty to running this service is that is might slow down the NC a little.

    Running scripts on your Nook Color may be fun but there is quite a risk involved since B&N is not going to be inclined to honor any warranties if you do and brick your NC in the process.

  • Ellen Schwartz

    Running NC with CM7, I just ran the display that shows what has been using my battery *Settings–>About Tablet–>Battery Use. It was 77% attributable to the Android OS, 10% Phone Idle, 7% Cell Standby, and 7% Display. If I can turn off Phone Idle and Cell Standby on my “never will be a phone”, I can save 17% of the drain. And if I can figure out what i left on last night that drained the battery completely (ouch), I can reduce the 77% OS by half or more, to the point where the phone drain is even more significant.

  • Mateo

    This has been demonstrably proven to have effect on battery life whatsoever.

    Check xda nook forum if you reality feel like getting into the details, but basically our retired engineer above has it right. there are no components to receive voltage, hence no drain. the usage report its just a stock response from the system.

  • Pingback: Extending Your Nook Color Battery Life

  • Daniel

    placebo, no effect

Previous post:

Next post:

wordpress counter