Database Info

Just for PDA use?

has anyone every cooked a custom ROM for the wizard for PDA use only? Most kitchens tend to include all the phone-related files, since obviously it would be used as a phone/pda.
I just recently upgraded to the Wing for $50, so I figured I can still get a LOT of life out of the ol' Wizard with WM6 on it. Was just wondering what would be a good ROM to maximize the inbuilt space for PDA-use only progs. (it does function well for simple portable gaming and mp3/video player) Of course auto-updating programs wouldn't be useful, since the phone wouldn't have a sim card to use to connect to gprs/edge...
[update] perhaps this is a very nonsensical thread...since rethinking the whole situation, the wizard isn't a phone that can free up space, because you dedicated less space to the rom...(i think the hermes was one that was referred to with that capability)...[/update]

monkey_knight said:
has anyone every cooked a custom ROM for the wizard for PDA use only? Most kitchens tend to include all the phone-related files, since obviously it would be used as a phone/pda.
I just recently upgraded to the Wing for $50, so I figured I can still get a LOT of life out of the ol' Wizard with WM6 on it. Was just wondering what would be a good ROM to maximize the inbuilt space for PDA-use only progs. (it does function well for simple portable gaming and mp3/video player) Of course auto-updating programs wouldn't be useful, since the phone wouldn't have a sim card to use to connect to gprs/edge...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do not be fooled by new touch releases, then...
it is waste of space and idea loss.
start from...xplore 1.1 then you will have...overall sight of wizard potential.
then, you will find kitchen...
then add tcpmp + plugins(0.81 + wise plugs),
then try gsplayer and DO NOT touch...touch.
golden era's dead,imo.
(you may kick me...but NOT in head)..plz.

yeah i figured touch would be a waste of space, but in general, have you or anyone ever built a custom rom, removing all the phone app related files? i think it took a few megs or so in the sys folder, if i remember correctly. Probably wouldn't hinder the use of the phone as a pda??

ahh, i figured out, what you need...
soft is not whole thing; if you want to get some space..., it may be good idea to remove:
- stk service,
- second one,
- radio/phone drivers,
- camera driver(~3 mb mem more, and >3-4.5 mb rom space more),
- wlive, if you aren't slave of the BIG one,
- optimise caches,
- do NOT try to use roms/kitchen roms with 8-10 pos kaiser ****(connmgr...)..
- if you do not need bt, wifi, you may want to remove its drivers too(drivers, files, and reg), you may try to kill whole connmgr in such case(deletion of whole thing in kitchen, hklm/init, files, etc),
- if you do not need java - remove midlet thing,
- remove mms,
- theres MUCH more to do...then(and i mean it).
you may take a look what potential have old roms for custom(i mean CUSTOM) build...
http://mobione.pl/forum/index.php/topic,663.0.html
despite using(rarely) phone module...
i can guarantee, that wizard will be MUCH better than you saw in that post with disabled phone module, just there's no possibility, that will be slower, than this.
i can say ,that wiz may have ~40-41 mb mem free, and whole storage free after such cuts.
then, you may use double_ofour's kitchen to make whatever you want to do....only thing is to find GOOD base rom, or good EDITABLE flash ROM(i mean RGU dumpable). xplore1.1 is good base for experiments, but mr.frazz's and double_ofour's roms are best for such things(i mean old ones, at last..). 1413 is most useful, imo.
----
sorry, masters of roms edit..it is just like i see weak wiz... it does not need new, 400mhz+ soft.
it is wizard.
sorry for bad english....
[update]
after your [update] i think it was not neccesary what i said.......
...
good luck, where is that new iphone skin, then...

lol...i think i'm gonna try to cook a rom without all those drivers anyway...perhaps keep the wifi aspect...just so that i can use it as a tablet-pc-like device around the house...surf the internet or im for free...well...assuming that it all works without the use of a simcard...since it's really not going to be dialing out anywhere. if so...cooking the roms without all that excess will supposedly free stuff up, since there'd be less files in /windows directory...it'll free up some ram, so that i could run the ol' gba/nes emulators...so...it might be worthwhile to cook something very bare...just for those needs...and removing the phone files...does free up a few files...and definitely that extra space...which could then be used to implement some basic files for definitely convenience...

just think why i am keeping >34 mb mem free possibility(yes, 32 mb gba translated to english mother 3 rom......).
simpliest thing is to use xplore 1.1, core kitchen(old one), remove camera drivers(hklm/drivers builtin /camera , cameradriver).
nothin more..
you may just remove poutlook, wifiinit, and other useless thing from /winodws/startup, and use wise(i mean wise) cache management( sd card =128 kb, cache mirror 128 kb, sound cache stripped to 256 kb,, glyphcache to 131072, and that's all....
you may get 36-38 mb mem free w that method w/o problem.
whatever you gonna do, good luck....

WCELOAD.exe during customization

Hi,
I am using in my ROM the normal process to start the customization after burning the ROM.
File \OEM\OperatorPKG\mxipupdate_zzPIED_101.provxml:
<wap-provisioningdoc>
<characteristic type="Registry">
<characteristic type="HKLM\Comm" >
<parm name="AutoRunCFG" value="\windows\config_operator.txt" datatype="string" />
<parm name="AutoRun" value="\windows\AutoRun.exe" datatype="string" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>
In my config_operator.txt I am installing some CABs - which works fine.
My idea was to delete all CABs after installation automatically. For that reason I have changed a *.rgu under \SYS\Shell:
from
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cabfile\Shell\Open\Command]
@="wceload.exe \"%1\" /delete 1"
to
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cabfile\Shell\Open\Command]
@="wceload.exe \"%1\" /nodelete"
In normal cases @="wceload.exe \"%1\" /delete 1" makes sure the a CAB will be deleted after installation.
If I install a CAB after customization the CAB is gone - so far so good - means the entry in the registry is fine.
Unfortunately, during the customization (which works fine) the CABs are still under \windows. It seems that the above change does not work with customization.
Question:
Does the autorun process (during the customization) after burning a ROM also using the wceload.exe to install a CAB ?
Regards
kuzco1

I was going to ask a very similar question, but I think I'll just bump yours instead

'Burn' the ROM
Yes, really like it rather than 'flash'.
If u want the cab deleted after autorun, just remove the read-only attributes & vice-versa. (if cabs in SD)
/nodelete switch wont work as it still delete the cab if the cab is not with read-only attr.
i think autorun doesnt use wceload but let the experts confirm it first. Just my guess.

So you want to delete a file from the ROM during customization (wont work) or off the MicroSD (would work), however I don't think I would include something from the SD in the customization XML I would use an auto installer first.
Thanks

Wait, I'm sorry, but it looks like you've changed the registry to NOT delete the .cab

mbarvian said:
Wait, I'm sorry, but it looks like you've changed the registry to NOT delete the .cab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh...yeah I think he got those switched.
But, the point is.. when you cook a ROM, everything in that ROM gets flashed to the read-only part of your device's memory. It can't be deleted...through any (normal) means.
This is one of the reasons some people like lite-ROMS...because ROMs that have alot of stuff in them just can't have their contents manually deleted.
With the Kasier memory map at least there is no way to do this.
As suggested, you could have those CABs on the storage card, but that wouldn't be advised as those might not be present.

bengalih said:
Heh...yeah I think he got those switched.
But, the point is.. when you cook a ROM, everything in that ROM gets flashed to the read-only part of your device's memory. It can't be deleted...through any (normal) means.
This is one of the reasons some people like lite-ROMS...because ROMs that have alot of stuff in them just can't have their contents manually deleted.
With the Kasier memory map at least there is no way to do this.
As suggested, you could have those CABs on the storage card, but that wouldn't be advised as those might not be present.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks for that useful info bengalih
hmm, so I guess the best thing to do would be either cook it in, or go for a light approach. However, if going with the light approach, wouldn't the device perform worse than if the .cabs were cooked in an OEM package?

mbarvian said:
OK thanks for that useful info bengalih
hmm, so I guess the best thing to do would be either cook it in, or go for a light approach. However, if going with the light approach, wouldn't the device perform worse than if the .cabs were cooked in an OEM package?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know... the memory in the Kaiser is the same type, and is just separated into the read-only portion (where the ROM is flashed to), and the writable portion (where you can install content into).
This has been mentioned many times, and I don't think anyone has gotten any more conclusive than I had in some earlier threads about memory types on the kasier.
So, no... if you install App1.exe by cooking into your ROM, vs. installing it afterwards, there shouldn't be a difference in the speed. Obviously, if you install it to your storage card it will be slower.
I have always been a proponent of lighter ROMS, the reason being is not that I don't want a lot of stuff...I generally do load a lot.. But, the problem is it can't be removed.
So, if you cook in an app into your ROM, and that app is then updated you have to install the updated versoin without removing the original (which is cooked in and read-only). To make it worse, quite a few apps install things in the \Windows directory and won't even allow you to upgrade because it can't overwrite itself (or be installed to an alternate location).
My advice, especially if cooking for yourself is to cook in any core apps that are unlikely to get updated (like Office, basic games, etc.). Just cook in the files (e.g OEM packages) and not the CABs themselves.
Any other apps that you see as needing updates I would install separately, unless you want to be recooking the ROM every time you want to update them.

bengalih said:
As far as I know... the memory in the Kaiser is the same type, and is just separated into the read-only portion (where the ROM is flashed to), and the writable portion (where you can install content into).
This has been mentioned many times, and I don't think anyone has gotten any more conclusive than I had in some earlier threads about memory types on the kasier.
So, no... if you install App1.exe by cooking into your ROM, vs. installing it afterwards, there shouldn't be a difference in the speed. Obviously, if you install it to your storage card it will be slower.
I have always been a proponent of lighter ROMS, the reason being is not that I don't want a lot of stuff...I generally do load a lot.. But, the problem is it can't be removed.
So, if you cook in an app into your ROM, and that app is then updated you have to install the updated versoin without removing the original (which is cooked in and read-only). To make it worse, quite a few apps install things in the \Windows directory and won't even allow you to upgrade because it can't overwrite itself (or be installed to an alternate location).
My advice, especially if cooking for yourself is to cook in any core apps that are unlikely to get updated (like Office, basic games, etc.). Just cook in the files (e.g OEM packages) and not the CABs themselves.
Any other apps that you see as needing updates I would install separately, unless you want to be recooking the ROM every time you want to update them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow, another good post
that is basically what I am trying to accomplish. I have my registry tweaks, files that don't get updated (Office, etc.) cooked in, but for some reason I cannot change the look of the dialer (I wanted to use poorlyduck's diamond dialer) by converting it to an OEM package with Ervius' Package Creator. Same with the comm manager skin. Therfore, I have resorted to installing these two through their default cabinet files during initial customization.
also, here's some very nice posts by duttythroy in the diamond rom development concerning this topic:
duttythroy said:
Just a tip, A clean rom is very good if you going to stick with what you got in the rom and possible a few otther apps by cabs, If your going to installed the same apps which are in a full rom then the clean rom with those apps in will make you lose valuable storage space rather than them cooked in and sometimes device will start to feel sluggish but it all depends on how many cabs youre going to re-install.
TIps , there are certain apps which are cooked in doesnt take up any storage space but if install by cab you will then use up valuable space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
duttythroy said:
bascally there some programs which ar cooked in for e.g Remote desktop, If cook this in its 1.45mb I think, I will only use up only about .45mb and save 1mb of storage space, If i install this by cab I would use up all of the 1.45mb storage space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

mbarvian said:
wow, another good post
....
also, here's some very nice posts by duttythroy in the diamond rom development concerning this topic:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well dutty is by far a better cook than I... I'll stick to the scripting. I understand the basics of cooking...I just don't have the temperment for it.
However, I don't fully agree with all those points. I think his conclusions are correct, but I don't think the reasoning behind them are.
First off with space. Windows machines (be they PCs or WM devices) are basically made up of two things. File system and Registry (the registry just being a special file on the system). If I remove 2MB worth of an app from a ROM before I cook it, and then create a .CAB that contains those 2MB of files, the same amount of space is going to be taken up.
I have ripped quite a few apps to compile CABS from ROMs, and I know this to be the case.
So, in theory there is no reason why an app that is cooked into the phone would take up any less space than a .CAB. The only additional thing that the .CAB would create is a registry entry that the .CAB is installed.
In practice however, dutty may be correct. Because it is very difficult to figure out where everything is and strip it properly from a ROM. So, you might think you ripped out App1, but in reality you left a couple of extra files in the Windows directory, or a few registry keys, etc. Generally if there is a space discepancy beyond a very small amount (a couple reg entries perhaps) then the cook doing the cleaning or the person packaging the CAB probably weren't as thorough as they could be.
Another possibility is that some apps that may reside in the windows directory on a loaded ROM share some common files. If you attempt to install this via CAB to a separate directory, you may need to duplicate some files. But again, this is how you go about the work, so if done right and clean the space difference should be negligible.
The other point regarding speed of cooked in vs. installed. I don't think things are going to get sluggish one way or the other. Again, this is in theory. In practice, cooks often mess things up when they are in there tinkering with a ROM. If I rip out AppA and make a CAB out of it and then say the CAB performs sluggishly whereas it was fine when it was cooked in...well then the CAB probably was ripped wrong!
This is very much not an science but an art (sometimes to my dismay!). And there definitely isn't alot of controlled scientific basis for alot of what floats around out here.
Again, in practice many of these issues happen, so I think dutty's points are valid...but I think they can be avoided with precision work.
EDIT: I suppose some greater space savings could be had if the cooked in apps had some sort of memory compression. Although as far as I know this doesn't exist on the Kaiser. And, even if they were saving space due to compression in the memory, that would only serve to decrease performance (higher compression = slower performance).

bengalih said:
So, in theory there is no reason why an app that is cooked into the phone would take up any less space than a .CAB. The only additional thing that the .CAB would create is a registry entry that the .CAB is installed.
In practice however, dutty may be correct. Because it is very difficult to figure out where everything is and strip it properly from a ROM. So, you might think you ripped out App1, but in reality you left a couple of extra files in the Windows directory, or a few registry keys, etc. Generally if there is a space discepancy beyond a very small amount (a couple reg entries perhaps) then the cook doing the cleaning or the person packaging the CAB probably weren't as thorough as they could be.
Another possibility is that some apps that may reside in the windows directory on a loaded ROM share some common files. If you attempt to install this via CAB to a separate directory, you may need to duplicate some files. But again, this is how you go about the work, so if done right and clean the space difference should be negligible.
The other poing regarding speed of cooked in vs. installed. I don't think things are going to get sluggish one way or the other. Again, this is in theory. In practice, cooks often mess things up when they are in there tinkering with a ROM. If I rip out AppA and make a CAB out of it and then say the CAB performs sluggishly whereas it was fine when it was cooked in...well then the CAB probably was ripped wrong!
This is very much not an science but an art (sometimes to my dismay!). And there definitely isn't alot of controlled scientific basis for alot of what floats around out here.
Again, in practice many of these issues happen, so I think dutty's points are valid...but I think they can be avoided with precision work.
EDIT: I suppose some greater space savings could be had if the cooked in apps had some sort of memory compression. Although as far as I know this doesn't exist on the Kaiser. And, even if they were saving space due to compression in the memory, that would only serve to decrease performance (higher compression = slower performance).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can't argue with this post

mbarvian said:
Wait, I'm sorry, but it looks like you've changed the registry to NOT delete the .cab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi,
yes you are right .. I have done the other wy. My fault in my first post. I have changed /nodelete to /delete.
But anyway, I understood that it is not possible to delete cabs during customization.
Many thanks to all
kuzco1

Free RAM issue!

hi there...am a big fan of the vox....but the problem that i face after say 2-3 days of continuous use is the memory leak. it has abt 22 mb free when i soft reset, but after this time, has less than 10 mb remaining. i shut down programs regularly, use the hibernate function on smart toolkit, and i use sk tools lite to use the memory free function. could anyone solve this problem? i read somewhere that a rom upgrade may solve this issue. tried the htc website, it says the rom upgrade is not suitable for my device. can someone help? someone like dr. martin gonzo or frauhottellmann? r u there? my device details are below
CE OS 5.2.1236
Radio 4.1.13.41_02.88.90
ril version 2.002
Pls tell me which ROM is the most stable, if i need to update any thing else too that is available on this forum/ I have photo contacts pro v 5.05 andfacade 1.4.10 running in the background.
Oh i forgot. I use smart toolkit too
The ROM is 5.2.1236.17741
I would prefer a light ROM, as I dont use word mobile. I have documents to go instead.

scanman1 said:
hi there...am a big........
I would prefer a light ROM, as I dont use word mobile. I have documents to go instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try fireburned's Clean ROM or fraun's Lite ROM, both of them are super fast and super stable .

Backup - some doubts
thanx.....downloaded it, will it work and install with my vox as per the details ive mentioned above?
my second query....im not too particular abt my messages and stuff, and ive just synchronised the data on my mobile to outlook ( contacts, tasks and appointments )....is this enough or must i properly back up everything else? pls lemme know. as ive never flashed a rom before.
also, will flashing a new rom delete the stuff on my storage card?

scanman1 said:
thanx.....downloaded it, will it work and install with my vox as per the details ive mentioned above?
my second query....im not too particular abt my messages and stuff, and ive just synchronised the data on my mobile to outlook ( contacts, tasks and appointments )....is this enough or must i properly back up everything else? pls lemme know. as ive never flashed a rom before.
also, will flashing a new rom delete the stuff on my storage card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search for PIM backup, that is a software which back up all your PIM information to Storage card, or whatever folder you wish. No flashing will not delete anything from the storage card. But be sure that you are not using Encryption on the SD Card.

thats ok...i have sprite backup with my phone. will have to reinstall it though/
my question is....is a fullback up necessary or will an outlook sync be enough? when i reconnect after the flash, active sync will set up a partnership again right? will that delete all the outlook data stored on my comp or will my comp refill the pim data back on to my device? thats what i want to know.
also, will the new rom significantly alter my battery life? am a doctor, and it may not be possible for me to keep charging my mobile when i am on rounds and so on

one more doubt, addicted2xda. will flashing one of these custom roms solve the memory leak issue? its driving me crazy. cant go 3 days without doing a hard reset. and how much will teh free memory be with say, fireburned lite rom?

Well after a couple of days you will of course have less RAM available. You always have to close apps in the task manager and use some RAM-free-up app! I use the function of sktools lite!

frauhottelmann said:
Well after a couple of days you will of course have less RAM available. You always have to close apps in the task manager and use some RAM-free-up app! I use the function of sktools lite!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes boss...i use sk tools lite too. but it doesnt make too significant a difference, with the end result that after say 3-4 days, memory dips to less than 8 MB, and voila! my phone hangs!
am now trying out fireburned's lite rom, seems good for now. lets see! any further ideas to minimise the ram leak?

Use the taskmanager - as frauhottelman said already - to identify the processes that grow over time. You can use the built-in, just change the view to "process" and sort by memory. WMPlayer or Audiomanager are memory hogs from my experience.
For debugging you may also want to execute "devicehealth.exe". This will create a decent summary of memory consumption to the root (or card-root). You may have to search for it (in the forum or or the web). It is a tiny tool from the SDK afaik.

tobbbie said:
Use the taskmanager - as frauhottelman said already - to identify the processes that grow over time. You can use the built-in, just change the view to "process" and sort by memory. WMPlayer or Audiomanager are memory hogs from my experience.
For debugging you may also want to execute "devicehealth.exe". This will create a decent summary of memory consumption to the root (or card-root). You may have to search for it (in the forum or or the web). It is a tiny tool from the SDK afaik.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have been using fireburned's rom, seems pretty stable. however, after doing a sync with active sync, the memory which was say 17 mb, dips to 14 mb or less. any hibernate function or say, the task manager or even the sk tools function brings it back to only about 15 mb or a little marginally higher. the more times i use activesync, the same problem occurs. say i use it three times, the memory lands up around 12 mb, after all programs have been shut down. and after using the hibernate function on smart toolkit. any ideas? did a search and found that it s a process called gwes.exe which hogs memory mostly. but this is guess is a system process and cant be shut down i suppose. any suggestions? ur take on this, frauhottellmann?

Still problem not solved!
hmm..tried using the ram free function on sktools. seems to actually decrease the amount of ram available!!! and with each use of active sync, the available ram decreases sharply. my wife has an imate spl, and the amount of ram remains constant around 25MB even after 10 days....anyone have any ideas? have read somewhere that it is a problem peculiar to vox. the problem with decreasing ram is, after 3-4 days, the dialler starts malfunctioning. i am able to make out the calls ringing, but no way i can pick itup. max, i can cut the call. it registers as a missed call....any body with any ideas out there? any way to cut the ram leak?
one more doubt,,,the old sk tools had an optimize wizard. the latest one seems to be lacking this feature. is there anyway that the active sync filesystem can be made read-only ?

Pretty strange. Are you using any third party software that may be causing the problem? Also note that after using activesync, it doesn't shutdown on its own. You have to manually shut it down to release the memory. Further try using the default home screen, instead of the sliding panel which comes with new 6.1 ROMs.
Because I normally have more than 20 MB free . No matter how long I have kept my device on.
Or better still, just reboot the device before going to bed .

yeah. i use photocontacts pro and smart toolkit in addition to microsoft voice command. and is it a good idea to keep rebooting the device daily? i thought the rom upgrade was supposed to fix that!and i love the sliding panels. the default homescreeen sucks

scanman1 said:
yeah. i use photocontacts pro and smart toolkit in addition to microsoft voice command. and is it a good idea to keep rebooting the device daily? i thought the rom upgrade was supposed to fix that!and i love the sliding panels. the default homescreeen sucks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sliding panel really drains the battery like hell. Its not a problem if you reboot your ROM daily. I flash my device (both), well almost once a week atleast . So that requires rebooting as well. I really don't know whats wrong, but I never had the RAM issue, try fireburned Clean ROM or fraun's lite ROM for a change and see if you find any difference

I have same problem with my htc vox

Rom optimization idea

I'm no developer, scripter, or any type of person with a thorough understanding of software but I will try to offer a suggestion to those who wish to give me the time of day.
After flashing countless ROMs looking for the fastest and most simple platform to use everyday I have discovered a few things that might help if people agree with me or not. After loading every ROM and first booting... I realize that Advanced Task Manager shows the available system memory at less than half and i haven't even started running apps or installing programs yet. Processes start when the phone boots up that are running in background (asleep but still using system resources) and i believe that a fair percentage of them are not required by the everyday user.
Why is Alarm Clock running in the background when i haven't started it? Why is Email client running and i haven't setup exchange or an email account? Messaging, Maps, Settings, Gallery, these all start up without being physically executed and are using resources. If there is a reason for them to be there like not being able to receive SMS if Messaging is not running, then that is fine and im an idiot... But if there is no need to startup the application from boot then why do it?
My second point is when packages are installed as the ROM is flashed, they cant be uninstalled right? well what if we didnt want tethering apps and facebook apps and proprietary software (Moto apps)? Most of these are available in the market and if not, a 5 min Google search will find an .apk on the net anyway.
So how about a bare bones install with the essentials and nothing else? Youtube, Phone, Messaging, Gmail, Contacts, MT Browser , Maps, Calculator... then anything else can be added at the users will.
If anyone else has something to say... or prove me wrong, then please elaborate.

If you delete the alarm clock task, you're likely to sleep into the morning as the alarm won't go off in the morning. Mail is probably needed for pop3 checks (I rely on my google account).
Anyway, I usualy remove the apps widgets from the ZIP which I don't need prior to flashing, resulting in a liter ROM and less processes which I don't need running in background.
I also used to add the apps I use (ASTRO...) directly into /system/app prior to flashing, putting them to the system partition and ... at this point I am not sure.... this leaves one with more space (internal memory) accessible for apps from market (if you do not use APP2SD). I stopped however doing so, as this makes ROM upgrading painful, as you do have to prepare each .zip before flash.
With regard to operating memory you preferably use either Taskkiller or have your systems autokill file optimized as many ROMS do (CursorSense). Refer to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622666

I'm not Linux-guy but I know that Android does this to put those programs in memory ASAP because those are usually the first few apps many people use once they boot up their phone -- meaning those apps, when opened, will quickly open and run faster.
Remember, Linux is made to handle all those opened apps and resources; "Unused RAM is useless RAM".

hol17 said:
I'm not Linux-guy but I know that Android does this to put those programs in memory ASAP because those are usually the first few apps many people use once they boot up their phone -- meaning those apps, when opened, will quickly open and run faster.
Remember, Linux is made to handle all those opened apps and resources; "Unused RAM is useless RAM".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct!!
People have to stop comparing Android (linux) with WinMo devices, they handle RAM completely different.

dione1200 said:
Correct!!
People have to stop comparing Android (linux) with WinMo devices, they handle RAM completely different.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, true.... and well known. However Linux was developped for servers and not mobile phones.
Launching an application into free RAM is slower than pulling it from a suspended state. So much is true.
But first having to free up up RAM (by killing tasks) before launching the application into the freed up RAM is certainly slower than launching into free RAM. Probably that's why guys are tweaking around, as noted in the link of my post above. Also in my opinion the default settings are not optimal, that's why I use tweaked settings. Probably that depends on how you use your phone.
But I agree. Coming from Windows the whole LINUX concept is a f**** nightmare. There are thousands of different methods (Cache/Compcache/ Ext Cache)...
So it's good to have an expert around. Could you please enlight me, whether the system partition is of fixed size or size is been alocated during flashing. In other words, is the Userdata size fixed or depending on the system size? .... and is there a benefit of putting apps to the /system/app as they will go to system parition and I will have more internal storage available?
Thanks in advance.

feicher said:
So it's good to have an expert around. Could you please enlight me, whether the system partition is of fixed size or size is been alocated during flashing. In other words, is the Userdata size fixed or depending on the system size? .... and is there a benefit of putting apps to the /system/app as they will go to system parition and I will have more internal storage available?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Android Device is divided Into partitions -> (Device memory)
1. Hboot (spl)
2. Radio
3. Data (Where u store ur data apps / passwords / other thing)
4. Cache (temp)
5. System (system dump)
6. Boot (to start the device)
so on
Now partition of memory card is important becoz
1. EXT2/3/4 More Amount of Data Section -> if device memory is less
2. Swap -> To fast up the system
*I m Not best Explaination giving person but i think this is understandable language in which i hav written

I think I side with the OP on this one, I would rather have a rom with less in it and then choose to install Amazon MP3 or whatever by myself. Generally speaking you could argue less apps = better performance, as there will be less happening in the background. That said, I have included Facebook in my rom.
However Linux was developped for servers and not mobile phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really true, Linux is just the kernel and can be ported to anything, it's been in embedded small devices for years and not just installed on servers.

ahmgsk said:
Your Android Device is divided Into partitions -> (Device memory)
1. Hboot (spl)
2. Radio
3. Data (Where u store ur data apps / passwords / other thing)
4. Cache (temp)
5. System (system dump)
6. Boot (to start the device)
so on
Now partition of memory card is important becoz
1. EXT2/3/4 More Amount of Data Section -> if device memory is less
2. Swap -> To fast up the system
*I m Not best Explaination giving person but i think this is understandable language in which i hav written
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for the feedback! Most appreciated and helps me to improve my general understanding . I find it really hard to come by information, that is not absolutely basic or high level expert.
Thanks again.

Ive got a clock radio that wakes me up... if i have lagging issues with my phone what i do is use advanced task manager to stop all processes im not using (alarm clock, maps, messaging, email, etc) and everything runs fast again.
No use in reboot cause all the apps start again from boot.
ive tried removing zips from rom before flashing... when i goto upgrade the update stops cause of the missing files > incomplete manifest. is this cause you have to re-zip and sign it?

You can either do that and re-sign the zip file.
OR you could just close this thread and use adb to remove things that you dont want from the ROMs.
PS. root explorer also works wonders.

feicher said:
If you delete the alarm clock task, you're likely to sleep into the morning as the alarm won't go off in the morning. Mail is probably needed for pop3 checks (I rely on my google account).
Anyway, I usualy remove the apps widgets from the ZIP which I don't need prior to flashing, resulting in a liter ROM and less processes which I don't need running in background.
I also used to add the apps I use (ASTRO...) directly into /system/app prior to flashing, putting them to the system partition and ... at this point I am not sure.... this leaves one with more space (internal memory) accessible for apps from market (if you do not use APP2SD). I stopped however doing so, as this makes ROM upgrading painful, as you do have to prepare each .zip before flash.
With regard to operating memory you preferably use either Taskkiller or have your systems autokill file optimized as many ROMS do (CursorSense). Refer to http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622666
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i try to remove an app from a ZIP it wont let me flash the ROM. even when i replace an app with a newer version renaming it to match the one im replacing, it still doesnt work. what do i have to edit in order to allow the update to go through?

You need to sign the zip file again. Google signing ROMs, its the first thing that pops up.

(Guide) A complete maintenance guide to pretty much any android phone

INTRODUCTION
This is a guide made ​​to with help from Xperia X10 users and developers for Xperia X10 users enjoyment but most of the tips contained here are suitable for any phone running Android. The tips contained here focus on WHAT to do to improve the performance of your phone and not HOW to do it, after all, once you know what must be done is to find simple tutorials on how to take these actions.
For some of the tips contained in this guide I assumed that you have just installed a new ROM or formatted / bought your phone recently and have root access but even without these prerequisites this guide can still be useful to most users.
It’s important to say that although most of the tips some are quite basic, some require a little more work and deal with the more delicate parts of your phone, they should be made ​​at your own risk. These more advanced tips often use very specific terminology which you can find more about on XDA Developers or even Google.
Finally I would like to remind that even machines that are made ​​within a few standards can operate in different ways: some phones take better advantage of certain adjustments and settings and not others so it’s impossible to guarantee one hundred percent efficiency for all of you but still I that you make good use of this guide.
Sincerely,
Guilherme "XOT" Oliveira
- Install a good ROM and a good Kernel
Official ROMs are good but custom ROMs are usually faster and in many cases as stable as official ROMs. This is because ROMs are released and thereafter rarely change, custom ROMs are already made by developers who are constantly improving their job to get the most out of your phone. It's very important to research before installing a new ROM, searching always for the one that meets your expectations and relates well with your device since the same ROM can work very well on my x10 but not as well on x10 my brother’s for example.
The same goes for Kernels, but with Kernels take extra care to make sure that the Kernel is compatible with your desired ROM and your phone.
- Keep clean your caches
Caches are good to keep certain information and have access to these faster but with these files and information some "garbage" is stored .
The solutions to this can be pretty basic or advanced, the most basic way is to enter your Application Manager (Settings> Applications> Manage Applications) and clear the cache for each application. It is important to clear the cache only and not application data as these may be important such as the files that resemble your progress in a game. Already the most advanced solution is to clear the Dalvik Cache and Cache Partition through your recovery.
Both solutions don’t need to be made ​​with daily frequency, for example I usually clean my caches every 45 days or when I feel that the phone is getting slow.
- Make a full, but clean, backup
Full backups (full system backup) like those made ​​by recovery or nandroid are great to store complete setups but when they are done with “dirty” files in the the phone’s memory restoring these files may worsen rather than help the situation of your device .
Ideally, do a full backup after completely configure your phone (configure your account, set your homescreens, install the required applications, etc.) but before using it for real.
That way if your phone starts getting slow and nothing works to reverse the situation you can easily go back to your “original” settings without the hassle of customizing everything in its way again.
- Do not touch the CPU / GPU the first day
Like people, phones also take a while to adapt to a new environment, or in our case new ROMs, so during the first 24 hours of use is important to use the settings of CPU and GPU that came with the ROM, no overclock, undervolt and things like that.
Another important step in the process of adaptation to the new ROM is really using and exploring the device in this very first day so it "get used" to the change. Do not mind the battery consumption, that should stabilize after a few days.
It’s also iimportant to remember that some ROMs already comes with overclock, undervolt and improvements in battery usage. In this case there is no problem in using these settings from the first minute because if they are there since the installation of the ROM, it is because they are part of the default settings already programmed and develop on this particular ROM and it will work better this way.
- Use the maximum your battery
Batteries seem to last less and less as time goes on, in part this is because your battery is uncalibrated and there are ways to fix it.
I will not talk much on this subject because it is very easy to find guides that teach you how to calibrate your battery so I’ll just recommend that you take a look at them.
- Applications: less is more
Having millions of apps is the glory and the doom of smartphones, the glory because you can do everything on your device and doom because of the following reasons:
As a computer your phone also slows down the as it becomes full and in most cases you can blame it on the number of apps that you have installed on it. So try to leave installed only the applications you actually use and uninstall the ones that you no longer use so you can have more free memory and consequently a faster device.
Some applications can not be uninstalled because they are system applications; in order to remove those apps you are going to need uninstallers that have root access (ex: RootUninstaller) which are capable of removing these applications but before taking such a measure is necessary to look for a safelist (a list of applications that can be removed without causing system problems).
Keeping a low number of applications but doing so by installing and uninstalling new apps every day also usually let the machine slower so if you find an application for a specific function that fits your needs you should stay with it instead of testing another 10 before returning to it.
PS: A good way to avoid testing several applications before finding the right one is reading reviews and comments before making your choice.
- Repair defective applications
Often the phone is working fine but a certain application or function is not, which can cause slowdowns and FCs (force close); depending on the situation there is not much to do but some of these solutions may take care of the problem:
The first thing to do is to uninstall and reinstall the apps via Play Store to make sure that the problem was not caused by a corrupted file when you downloaded the application, if the problem persists there are some more advanced alternatives: in the advanced settings of your recovery select fix permissions, this function should make sure that every application has the necessary permissions to work properly.
- Keep some free space
Full memory is often a problem on any device, especially in older phones like ours, after all the more files the longer it takes read all these files if it is necessary, so the tip is this: the more free space the better.
This step seems a little redundant since we already talked about having the smallest possible number of applications but this time we are also talking about other files. Anything occupying space on your phone is "bad"; too many photos, songs, text documents, etc.. can make the phone slower and lets be honest, you do not need to carry 150 photos of your last weekend with you all the time.
A solution to this problem is simple, try to keep the memory of your phone as free as possible by eliminating caches, unused files and moving applications to the SD card (Settings> Applications> Manage Applications> choose the application and select Move to SD card or use apps like Link2SD); your SD card should also be kept clean by eliminating unused files and traces left by already uninstalled applications, such traces are sometimes hard to find and applications like SD Maid can help you eliminate much of this "junk".
- Avoid keeping some applications running all the time
It’s very common to close an application and assume that it stopped running on the system but this is not always the case because it actually still cached in the memory of the device, Android makes it to be faster on reopening it later and often the system itself definitively closes the application automatically but that’s not always the case.
Firstly it is important to prevent certain applications from even opening and to do this we use apps known as Startup Managers, there are several options in the Play Store but I particularly like Autostarts. Once inside your Startup Manager you can choose which applications will be opened as the system is started or any action is taken (for example changing the state of your Wi-Fi); the ideal is to minimize the number of self-starting applications, leaving only the truly necessary ones without forgetting to be very careful to avoid stopping system applications because if they are unable to open themselves it can cause instability. Another way to prevent applications from opening or stay on cache all the time is to disable automatic updates of apps such as email clients and social networks but this is a more personal matter that varies from user to user, just remember that the more constant the updates are, the more time these applications will be running in the background and more power (CPU and battery) will be consumed.
Now that we’ve already took care of the self opening apps it’s time to find out when you really need an app to be closed for sure.
It's easy to know when to quit an application completely but it is necessary to first understand a basic concept about the system: applications and processes cached in memory are not always a bad thing, in fact as stated at the beginning of the topic they are a good thing because the application should open faster when launched again (hence the use of Task Killers usually worsens more than help if not done properly) but if you use an application to view the weather every morning and will only use it again the next morning this application can be closed without problems.
In our current official version of Android (2.3) already have a task manager that can be used to do this action (Settings> Applications> Running services > select the desired process and press Stop) but if you want a more advanced option there are several Task Managers that monitor processes and can be used to close them too.
PS: Again about the Task Killers: although its use is discouraged for the day-to-day because of the reasons already explained, if you plan on haevy gaming they can be the great saviors since these games need a lot of free memory to run without lags.
- SMS: clean your inbox
Message apps, both native and third-party tend to take quite some time to open if you have many messages on your mobile because everytime you run your message app it needs to load a large list of conversations, so cleaning your inbox periodically helps performance, the same goes for call log.
A tip for those who want to clear the messages inbox and call log without losing your information is backing up with applications like SMS BackUp + that emails you both your conversations and call logs, all within a specific marker so they won’t end up messing the inbox of your email or if your intention is to save only one or two most important message the native client and most ones available at Play Store have the option of forwarding SMS, simply by holding your finger over until the action menu opens up.
- Give your device a break
Like conventional systems for computers, Android also collects information in its memory and despite the “dumping information system” some of it is left in cache , which ends up requiring more processing on your device.
To end this there is a very simple solution: give a rest to the phone. Once a day or when you feel like the machine is running slow give it a reboot or shut down and leave it off for a minute or two before restarting, it should get rid of the cache and it can boost the speed of the phone, but attention: restart the machine and making it open up various apps on boot has no point so keep your boot clean (see related topic).
- About some specific applications:
Task killers (that goes for any app of this kind) are good for a heavy gaming experience (eg: GTA, Dead Space, Asphalt...) because those games need a lot of free RAM but for everyday use is preferable to don't use task killers and keep some of the apps in the cache so they open faster when they are requested again.
Deep sleep is an important part of the ROM performance when it comes to battery usage, applications like CPU Spy can check if this function is working correctly or No-frills CPU Control which in addition to monitoring provides the ability to adjust the frequencies and governors you want to use in your phone.
Chainfire3D is an useful app to change the way your GPU will work and customize it to gain performance or quality , notice that these values ​​tend to be inversely proportional.
Try always to use the lightest possible applications, it helps in memory. I for one think the galleries and music players of almost all default ROMs are too heavy and prefer apps like QuikPic and UberMusic.
Finally I would like to thank: XDA Users: Oodie, x10forevers, Vasishta Reddy, DiKeJ, 9Lukas5, FeraVolt, alzbac, Websites: lifehacker.com, limitlessdroid.com , doctor-android.com, androidcentral.com for helping with the tips on this guide and say that if you have a tip that is not in this guide feel free to share with us!
PS: I'm sorry if I made some grammar mistakes, English is not my first language and this is a pretty big article.

thanks...nice one..

Dude I screwed my music thing on x10 . Please help . Tried flashing xperia s music player . Now music icon has dissapeared . N power button seem to reboot all the time . Will updating binary files of xrec n then flashing again help ?
Please tel . Desperately.
Rooted x10 2.3.3 stock Rom
Sent from my X10i using xda premium

theMoiz94 said:
Dude I screwed my music thing on x10 . Please help . Tried flashing xperia s music player . Now music icon has dissapeared . N power button seem to reboot all the time . Will updating binary files of xrec n then flashing again help ?
Please tel . Desperately.
Rooted x10 2.3.3 stock Rom
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey dude, I don't really know how to help you because I haven't had any similar problems but I'm pretty sure that you should try the basics: clear caches (dalvik included) and fix permissions.
Since I'm not a developer I can't really help you with the binary files but try reaching your ROM's developer and he might help you
I hope you get your phone fixed

Dude u sure that I should clear off dalvik cache ? I tried fixing permission but still nothing . The power button rebooting the phone is more irritating than not having a default music PLAYER . Im asking in this forum but havent got the solution yet :'(
Sent from my X10i using xda premium

Excellent post Buddy . Hope you update the thread with other power users opinions & Tips .
Thanks.
Oodie.

theMoiz94 said:
Dude u sure that I should clear off dalvik cache ? I tried fixing permission but still nothing . The power button rebooting the phone is more irritating than not having a default music PLAYER . Im asking in this forum but havent got the solution yet :'(
Sent from my X10i using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that the only people that can help you are the ones on your device's specific forum man, try creating a topic there
Sorry but I really don't know what to do to fix your phone

Some of the tips are a complete waste of time and utter crap (mostly those related to keeping RAM usage low and task killers [EDIT: actually, you contradict yourself on these points], giving the device time to "adapt" to the environment -seriously?- and going for the lighter apps -this obviously applies if you have an outdated device, but it's not a rule).
EDIT: Forgot to say that the rest is good.

GermainZ said:
Some of the tips are a complete waste of time and utter crap (mostly those related to keeping RAM usage low and task killers [EDIT: actually, you contradict yourself on these points], giving the device time to "adapt" to the environment -seriously?- and going for the lighter apps -this obviously applies if you have an outdated device, but it's not a rule).
EDIT: Forgot to say that the rest is good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said the guide was wrote based on Xperia X10 user experience so it is kind of an old device.
About the RAM management you won't have any issues with a top device with a lot of free RAM but in our case (old device users) we have about 256mb or less RAM to work with so keeping it well managed is essential if you want your device to run smooth.
The adaptation thing seems like BS but it's not, because your device need to create/edit some files as its being used and that's what this part of the article really means. For example your battery writes a log about its own capacities (making a long story short by recalibrating your battery all you do basically is reset this log)
Thanks for the feedback, hope you found something usefull

GuilhermeXOT said:
As I said the guide was wrote based on Xperia X10 user experience so it is kind of an old device.
About the RAM management you won't have any issues with a top device with a lot of free RAM but in our case (old device users) we have about 256mb or less RAM to work with so keeping it well managed is essential if you want your device to run smooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not essential. It's actually bad.
The lifehacker website seems to be down, so I'm giving you a link to this article instead (the article itself links to three more detailed articles; one of them is the lifehacker article I wanted to link; do read them): http://androidandme.com/2011/11/app...lers-still-dont-give-you-better-battery-life/
EDIT: Regarding the battery, draining the battery (to 0% or close) is actually bad for lithium based batteries and should be avoided. A discharge to 15% is usually enough.

GermainZ said:
No, it's not essential. It's actually bad.
The lifehacker website seems to be down, so I'm giving you a link to this article instead (the article itself links to three more detailed articles; one of them is the lifehacker article I wanted to link; do read them): http://androidandme.com/2011/11/app...lers-still-dont-give-you-better-battery-life/
EDIT: Regarding the battery, draining the battery (to 0% or close) is actually bad for lithium based batteries and should be avoided. A discharge to 15% is usually enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get your point and I also talk about the same thing as the article in the guide: "the use of Task Killers usually worsens more than help if not done properly" , I just didn't elaborated on this very much.
Now, what I'm saying is that if you are a day-to-day user you don't need a task killer and it's recommended ONLY for a gaming experience, aka heavy games like GTA, Dead Space, etc...
"Task killers (that goes for any app of this kind) are good for a gaming experience but for everyday use is preferable to keep some of the apps in the cache so they open faster when they are requested again."
I'm not a task killer fan myself but if you check any gaming rom (DikeJ's for x10 is a good example) you can see that the developers try to maximize the free RAM because those heavy games use a lot of it.
So in order to avoid this kind of confusion I'll edit the article to solve this misunderstanding thx for the heads up

GuilhermeXOT said:
I get your point and I also talk about the same thing as the article in the guide: "the use of Task Killers usually worsens more than help if not done properly" , I just didn't elaborated on this very much.
Now, what I'm saying is that if you are a day-to-day user you don't need a task killer and it's recommended ONLY for a gaming experience, aka heavy games like GTA, Dead Space, etc...
"Task killers (that goes for any app of this kind) are good for a gaming experience but for everyday use is preferable to keep some of the apps in the cache so they open faster when they are requested again."
I'm not a task killer fan myself but if you check any gaming rom (DikeJ's for x10 is a good example) you can see that the developers try to maximize the free RAM because those heavy games use a lot of it.
So in order to avoid this kind of confusion I'll edit the article to solve this misunderstanding thx for the heads up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, thanks for that

Buddy, that guide is awesome written, excellent work. And big thanks for credits - I'm very proud that I could help in that "project" ^^. It's should hit XDA Blog . Cheers .

DiKeJ said:
Buddy, that guide is awesome written, excellent work. And big thanks for credits - I'm very proud that I could help in that "project" ^^. It's should hit XDA Blog . Cheers .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm the one who have to thank you
People please share your ideas so we can make this guide better!