Heltec v4 power draw regression on v1.12 across firmware types

[aqua]

[I know this is a known issue, at least in several communities and dev groups (Cascadia/PNW folk were digging into it and may already have a fix), but I'm not seeing an issue or fixes committed in the main MC repo, so making the report here.]

v1.12.0 introduced a significant current draw regression on esp32-based Heltec v4 units across multiple firmware types. Repeater idle current draw went from about 47mA to 72mA @ 3.7V to 72mA @ 3.7V (38mA in light sleep if powersaving is enabled). Companion idle draw is up from 0.66w to 0.82w @ 5.1V (had to use a USB-based meter for that one instead of an inline ammeter, so less precise). This does not appear to have broken light sleep, it's just that the draw is higher in both states.

My testing suggests that the Xiao S3 (the only other esp32 board I had readily available) is not affected.

[themelisx]

[I know this is a known issue, at least in several communities and dev groups (Cascadia/PNW folk were digging into it and may already have a fix), but I'm not seeing an issue or fixes committed in the main MC repo, so making the report here.]

v1.12.0 introduced a significant current draw regression on esp32-based Heltec v4 units across multiple firmware types. Repeater idle current draw went from about 47mA to 72mA @ 3.7V to 72mA @ 3.7V (38mA in light sleep if powersaving is enabled). Companion idle draw is up from 0.66w to 0.82w @ 5.1V (had to use a USB-based meter for that one instead of an inline ammeter, so less precise). This does not appear to have broken light sleep, it's just that the draw is higher in both states.

My testing suggests that the Xiao S3 (the only other esp32 board I had readily available) is not affected.

Kevin Lê Vĩnh Đạt says in MeshCore official facebook group:
Issue Fixed. This is due to OLED fails to cut off power for Heltec v4..
Back to 10-11mA for Heltec v4
Hope to have a PR to patch this issue soon.

[beachmiles]

There is a quickfix here for the powersaving bug on 1.12 and also includes the awesome RX boost patch.
#1398

[wesselah]

Does that new pr also fixes the power problems on a companion because now my companion is drainend empty in one day which was almost 2 days

[IoTThinks]

My PR to fix this issue here.
#1569

May be tomorrow, I will precompile bin files for Heltec v4 with the PR.
Of course, you can compile using the above PR.

[IoTThinks]

@aqua Please try the hotfixes
https://github.com/IoTThinks/EasySkyMesh/tree/main/firmware/MeshCore-v1.12.0-HotFixes

[aqua]

If that build is based on PR#1569, it does indeed appear to address the power draw regression in and out of sleep. I've not compared to #1570 or #1608.