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Im trying out a theory. I running JAC Hero 2.3 and wanna try running the swapfile on the /data partition. I moved app_s over to /system/sd and used swapper app to create the swapfile but android doesnt seem to use it. when i run free It says Total/used/free are all 0 but the swap file is 34 meg. I tried putting it in a sub folder and chown root.root on the folder before setting up and still no luck. Anyone have any ideas why it wont work on /data or how to get it to work on /data?
Once you run swapper go into the setting and change the location of your swap file from /sdcard/swapfile.swp to /system/sd/swap.swp ( see sxfx post[url]
you don't want to do that. Swapping involves a lot of writing and erasing, it'll wear out your internal chip and you'll start experiencing reduced capacity, write cycles for nand are even less than for flash memory!
jubeh said:
you don't want to do that. Swapping involves a lot of writing and erasing, it'll wear out your internal chip and you'll start experiencing reduced capacity, write cycles for nand are even less than for flash memory!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not to mention, swapon as implemented (on every build i've tried) doesn't work on a swapfile stored on a yaffs2 partition
jubeh said:
you don't want to do that. Swapping involves a lot of writing and erasing, it'll wear out your internal chip and you'll start experiencing reduced capacity, write cycles for nand are even less than for flash memory!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually /sdcard/ is your fat32 portion of your sd card, /system/sd/ is the ext2/3 of your sd card.
Also I have done a bunch of research on this write/read fiasco just because of android.
And even if you set a swap file to your SD sure it will shorten your life of the card but it will still last you at least 2 years.
I have been using USB devices on linux as swap locations forever now and I still have thumb drives that have been used and abused for months and months as a swap place and they are still pulling strong.
As for the internal chip, Im not sure what you mean by that?
Even if you could put swap on the internal flash, its not going to be faster.
Putting swap on the internal flash will make things slower as the internal flash is about 3 to 5 times slower than a class 6 sdcard.
you're comparing using a flash drive for swap in a full blown computer that probably has around 1-4gb of ram, the swap file is hardly ever touched, unless you're running a lot of applications at a time. Dream has only 90 mb available to dalvik, and rosie is a big fat... lady... plus linux/dalvik manage memory in a different way, so files are often dropped to swap and they dont stay there for long (maybe in a 256 swap, but not in a 32 mb one).
the OP also is talking about moving his swap to his internal storage (chip, nand, whatever), as he thinks it's having no effect working from the sd card. Personally, i think that both a2sd and swapper are flawed. They're overcompensating for an os that was not meant to run on that device, and the real work should be in porting (as in developing, not just file-swapping as most "devs" do here) a launcher app that we can feel comfortable with running on a stock android system with stock (or slightly improved) libraries and that we can call comparable to rosie. Just look at ahome or dxtop or openhome, they're good, solid, great looking home replacements that work as well or better than rosie, but they run out of the stock libraries. I wonder why nobody has made a free, open source home replacement app yet
jubeh said:
you're comparing using a flash drive for swap in a full blown computer that probably has around 1-4gb of ram, the swap file is hardly ever touched, unless you're running a lot of applications at a time. Dream has only 90 mb available to dalvik, and rosie is a big fat... lady... plus linux/dalvik manage memory in a different way, so files are often dropped to swap and they dont stay there for long (maybe in a 256 swap, but not in a 32 mb one).
the OP also is talking about moving his swap to his internal storage (chip, nand, whatever), as he thinks it's having no effect working from the sd card. Personally, i think that both a2sd and swapper are flawed. They're overcompensating for an os that was not meant to run on that device, and the real work should be in porting (as in developing, not just file-swapping as most "devs" do here) a launcher app that we can feel comfortable with running on a stock android system with stock (or slightly improved) libraries and that we can call comparable to rosie. Just look at ahome or dxtop or openhome, they're good, solid, great looking home replacements that work as well or better than rosie, but they run out of the stock libraries. I wonder why nobody has made a free, open source home replacement app yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You make a very good point about computer having 1-4gigs of ram and not needing a swap file.
Honestly I almost never run a swap file on a computer that has more then 1gig of ram.
Plus90% of the time when I do run a swap file is when Im running a live distro of linux of a cd, but also 90% of the time I run the distro from the flash drive instead of cd cause its much faster.
So now imagine how many reads/writes I abuse that flash drive with by running a full OS on it.
Also I don't understand how a2sd or swapper is flawed? Just because they do their job? I mean it's not really our fault that they made the G1 with a little less memory spaces then we would like it to have.
But that's exactly why we have tools like swapper and a2sd. Plus no one is really forced to run these roms on the G1 phone and those of us that do realize that we have to take extra steps in creating tools to help it.
And that's not only true for the G1 but anywhere in the computer world these days.
dwang said:
Even if you could put swap on the internal flash, its not going to be faster.
Putting swap on the internal flash will make things slower as the internal flash is about 3 to 5 times slower than a class 6 sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to spread swap over the sd and internal storage if possible -- should make paging a lot less evident if priorities are set up properly.
dwang said:
Even if you could put swap on the internal flash, its not going to be faster.
Putting swap on the internal flash will make things slower as the internal flash is about 3 to 5 times slower than a class 6 sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
internal memory is faster. class 6 guarantees 6mbs read/write times but doesnt mean the bus can support those times. if you run a test copying something to /system/sd and to /data you will see /data is faster. as for those saying it will degrade the internal memory, that is not the case being the flash memory inside is designed to have much much much more read/write cycles. Think about it in a stock G1, this is where dalvik-cache is writen to as well as email, sms, user settings, cache for browser and uTube. Do not confuse internal flash memory to sd card flash memory
Are you sure about that? This guy has some test results and it indicates that a class 6 sdcard is much faster than the internal flash.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4059520&postcount=15
MonkySlap said:
internal memory is faster. class 6 guarantees 6mbs read/write times but doesnt mean the bus can support those times. if you run a test copying something to /system/sd and to /data you will see /data is faster. as for those saying it will degrade the internal memory, that is not the case being the flash memory inside is designed to have much much much more read/write cycles. Think about it in a stock G1, this is where dalvik-cache is writen to as well as email, sms, user settings, cache for browser and uTube. Do not confuse internal flash memory to sd card flash memory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dwang said:
Are you sure about that? This guy has some test results and it indicates that a class 6 sdcard is much faster than the internal flash.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4059520&postcount=15
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting. Going to have to try that test out. I just noticed when xfering stuff to /data it was faster then to /system/sd. If it is then touche my friend.....touche
Hi,
I was browsing the dev forum for the lag fix and I was wondering if anyone had any first hand experience using it on the Epic? I searched and didn't find anything substantial in this forum.
Thanks,
Tonythetigger said:
Hi,
I was browsing the dev forum for the lag fix and I was wondering if anyone had any first hand experience using it on the Epic? I searched and didn't find anything substantial in this forum.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not needed. Have you seen your Epic lag? If so, return it.
Well, it lags a little when I try to open barcode reader or the camera? I thought there was discussion on how the Epic would still receive a benefit from the lagfix..
Actually you can pretty easily make it lag. Take two pictures at full res and then go through gallery and attah them to gmail. Send. If you are not on wifi the phone litterally is paralyzed until its finished.
Those chose pooly on the formating
So has anyone used the lagfix?
I believe or partitions are different. That would most likely brick your device if used. I'm fqairly certain we could do the same for our devices but that's going to take time. Working recovery > that atm.
Aridon said:
Actually you can pretty easily make it lag. Take two pictures at full res and then go through gallery and attah them to gmail. Send. If you are not on wifi the phone litterally is paralyzed until its finished.
Those chose pooly on the formating
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well thats not fix with a LagFix. Thats a bug. It happens attaching it to anything. MMS, Gmail, Email, Facebook. Its a known bug.
Well my quadrant benchmark is 1k, shouldn't it be capable of going up to 2k?
I believe the lagfix will actually work, and may even help. I don't have an epic, so I can't test it at all.
Anyway, the I9000 has 8gb or 16gb internal memory. 2gb of that is dedicated to /data (data is where all your apps and their data go).
The epic has 2gb? 1gb? -- some amount of fast internal memory dedicated to /data.
Both the I9000 and your epic use the RFS filesystem, which appears to be very poor.
What the OCLF apk does is make a loopback EXT2 partition in your RFS filesystem, and then uses symlinks to make android put the apps/data inside the EXT2 partition. This should work fine on your epic, especially if you have 2gb of program memory! If you have less than 1gb it may be a problem though.
Feel free to try it out if you have rooted your device! (The I9000 root won't work on the Epic)
RyanZA said:
I believe the lagfix will actually work, and may even help. I don't have an epic, so I can't test it at all.
Anyway, the I9000 has 8gb or 16gb internal memory. 2gb of that is dedicated to /data (data is where all your apps and their data go).
The epic has 2gb? 1gb? -- some amount of fast internal memory dedicated to /data.
Both the I9000 and your epic use the RFS filesystem, which appears to be very poor.
What the OCLF apk does is make a loopback EXT2 partition in your RFS filesystem, and then uses symlinks to make android put the apps/data inside the EXT2 partition. This should work fine on your epic, especially if you have 2gb of program memory! If you have less than 1gb it may be a problem though.
Feel free to try it out if you have rooted your device! (The I9000 root won't work on the Epic)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its 1Gb. But its not completely empty.
Also, I'm willing to test it. Do you have a link for the download?
Well the Epic has 512 ram and 512 rom, Froyo is supposed to allow the phone to use the SD card as install room for apps.
Would the lagfix run there?
Here is the link to the app: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=760571
Fixter said:
Its 1Gb. But its not completely empty.
Also, I'm willing to test it. Do you have a link for the download?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's on the market.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.rc.QuickFixLagFix
1GB... and yeah its obviously not empty, it has all your stuff in it!
Anyway with 1GB is might be a bit tight, as that would leave only 500mb or so for apps.
Make a backup before you test it though, since I think you're the first person to test it on the Epic. It should refuse to run if there is anything wrong though.
So if the phone can use the SD card for /data would the fix have more space there? Or would we just get more space to install and run apps
RyanZA said:
It's on the market.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.rc.QuickFixLagFix
1GB... and yeah its obviously not empty, it has all your stuff in it!
Anyway with 1GB is might be a bit tight, as that would leave only 500mb or so for apps.
Make a backup before you test it though, since I think you're the first person to test it on the Epic. It should refuse to run if there is anything wrong though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says Unavailable.
Tonythetigger said:
Well the Epic has 512 ram and 512 rom, Froyo is supposed to allow the phone to use the SD card as install room for apps.
Would the lagfix run there?
Here is the link to the app: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=760571
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
512MB is going to be too little.
You can actually get around this with a fast SD card though! If you know how to use gparted, you can make a 2GB or so EXT2/3 partition on your SD card, and then copy your data across to that, and use symlinks to point Android there. With the Epics fast NAND though, this shouldn't be necessary for speed - but it might be really nice for you guys if you want to install a lot of apps!
EDIT: You can follow mimocan's tutorial here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=724251
Just don't use EXT4 since your kernel won't support it. There is a way to dynamically load the EXT4 kernel module though, if anybody is interested.
RyanZA said:
512MB is going to be too little.
You can actually get around this with a fast SD card though! If you know how to use gparted, you can make a 2GB or so EXT2/3 partition on your SD card, and then copy your data across to that, and use symlinks to point Android there. With the Epics fast NAND though, this shouldn't be necessary for speed - but it might be really nice for you guys if you want to install a lot of apps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats weird.. On the Samsung Specsheet is says 1Gb. I saw it not 30 minutes ago.
EDIT: User Memory 1GB (not all is usable for customer use/downloads)
DAMN IT! I'm sure Touchwiz is using the other 500Mb.
Here's a link to the dev page, you can download the app directly from there: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=760571
lag fix?
SDcard-using lag fix is obviously unnecessary for Epic 4G.
The reason why Epic has a small NAND chip is that it uses a different type of NAND, called "OneNAND." OneNAND is much much faster than normal NAND or moviNAND (which other Galaxy S's use).
This is why Epic users don't experience "lag" which exists in Vibrant or Captivate.
But we can still make Epic faster, by getting rid of Samsung's rfs file system (which obviously makes Vibrant/Captivate slower) and mounting ext3/4 or other faster file system.
Then we need:
1) patching kernel or adding module to support ext3/4/nilfs2/yaffs2/ubifs/btrfs/etc/whatever we want.
(ext2 is supported by the stock kernel I think. However, unlike SD card and moviNAND which have own hardware wear-leveling algorithms in their controllers, OneNAND does not has it, so I'm not sure if ext2 (which does not support journaling/log) is okay to use.)
2) backing up the partitions which we want to change the file system from rfs
(such as: /data/data, /data/app, /data/dalvik-cache, etc, whatever)
and finally formatting it to what we want, and mount it.
3) kernel or script that automatically mounts as the file system we want.
4) a genius who can do this. (It is obviously not me.)
This is done for Captivate in XDA forum, and also for Galaxy S M110S in a Korean forum.
chocoberry said:
SDcard-using lag fix is obviously unnecessary for Epic 4G.
The reason why Epic has a small NAND chip is that it uses a different type of NAND, called "OneNAND." OneNAND is much much faster than normal NAND or moviNAND (which other Galaxy S's use).
This is why Epic users don't experience "lag" which exists in Vibrant or Captivate.
But we can still make Epic faster, by getting rid of Samsung's rfs file system (which obviously makes Vibrant/Captivate slower) and mounting ext3/4 or other faster file system.
Then we need:
1) patching kernel or adding module to support ext3/4/nilfs2/yaffs2/ubifs/btrfs/etc/whatever we want.
(ext2 is supported by the stock kernel I think. However, unlike SD card and moviNAND which have own hardware wear-leveling algorithms in their controllers, OneNAND does not has it, so I'm not sure if ext2 (which does not support journaling/log) is okay to use.)
2) backing up the partitions which we want to change the file system from rfs
(such as: /data/data, /data/app, /data/dalvik-cache, etc, whatever)
and finally formatting it to what we want, and mount it.
3) kernel or script that automatically mounts as the file system we want.
4) a genius who can do this. (It is obviously not me.)
This is done for Captivate in XDA forum, and also for Galaxy S M110S in a Korean forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the explanation. Now lets wait for the genius.
Ok first off hope everyone had a great holiday (or Christmas, as the case may be )
I have come to realize that alot of my issues may/may not have been caused by factors outside my phone or the rom I was attempting to install and use. I will give myself credit tho in that in all but one case I have managed to follow instructions to a "T" and have not experienced many/any of the issues that others have. Anyways, I got a new wireless router, and also a class 10 SD card. Some of my earlier connectivity issues are very rare now, and camera issues seem to be minimal also (assuming that the issue there was write speed to the card).
So I've really come to like a few of the roms, in particular one I'm liking right now VERY MUCH is MIUI 1.11.9. What a nicely put together package that is. I would really really like to stay with it.
However, it's huge. With that and two apps (Gmail and Facebook), I'm lucky if I have 14 mb left over. Obviously, this causes crashes and reboots left right and center. Camera usage is almost impossible. But, I'm willing to admit, the problem is likely my fault, because I have not done anything to manipulate swap/ext/etc on my sd card. I have the phone, and I have a formatted 16 gb class 10 sd card.
I've looked through 10 pages of threads and to be honest I'm finding it hard to know where to begin. I'm convinced, however, that if I can learn what swap ext/ext2/ext3 do, and how to create/use them..and whatever else, that MIUI and probably a few of the other roms will be amazing for me.
So is someone bored over the holidays here and can help either point me in the right direction of a Guide to do this, or maybe even write a bit about it for me? Assume I know nothing about how to create a swap, an ext, link2sd, any of it. I don't know how to use terminal emulator, modify or execute scripts...but I can learn!!
I realize that I'm asking for info that is probably obtainable by reading numerous other threads..but I can't find anything truly comphrensive..it's too bad threads couldn't be "stickied"...this subject seems crucial to me in order to get some of these roms to run ok. Many of them operate the same way: they take up 100 mb or so, and they don't allow for easy moving of apps to the SD card.
Anyways many thanks in advance if you can help. I'm sure there's a few others who could probably use a refresher in this also.
I'm learning alot about this and hope to update this thread with my own tips for how to do this in the coming days.
That is, if anyone is interested. If so, hit me with a msg.
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
internal upgrade?
can someone tell me how to upgrade the internal memory because im getting very low in phone memory.. are there any solutions like using the 1GB for the internal memory of my 8GB card?
Well, you cant physically expand the memory but you can virtually via an extended primary partition and an app like link2sd.
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
Hey acrobat69
I am pretty much the same boat as you. I have tried a bunch of ROMs, and I am still on 6.3 rc3 now.. went back and tweeked after learning some things and this is the least buggy for me at the moment.
I also do not use swap at the moment.. but this is also something that those in the know here on the Xt720 forums have debated.. how useful is it???
I would love to try swap.. or any other tips you might have.. so I at least will be listening.
I would like to get FM radio working on 6.3 rc3 too.. no luck so far.
I have found that when you overclock.. some speeds and Vsel work better in some roms.. or applications.
I saw one fellow who was running 800/48vsel - overall nice and great for battery usage.. but camera would not work at 48vsel.. would crash it .. running several highpower apps like wifi tether and gps at the same time would crash a low vsel set phone..
SO I know there are many factors that you can tune to make a rom work best for you.
James
When I get back to my PC, ill type something up on this for you as well as archer's other thread similar to this Q.
FYI, FM radio works since 6.3.0 RC4. Well at least as much as FM radio "works" on any of the non-stock-based ROMs at the moment-- volume control is difficult/problematic.
I think 6.3.6 is a good choice if you don't mind disabling the hardware button lights. And if it does bother you, I can make a patch that puts the lights back as the were in RC3 (but would disable notification leds).
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using xda premium
Ok so to answer a few of the above questions, I'll try to break it up into sections. Ext2/3/4, Swap and basic memory management.
Ext partitions: since our XT's are so low on memory, a fair while back some scripts were created to make it so that when you downloaded an app, it went into your ext partition and not to the internal. Remember that this was when we had 2.1 and Froyo was only a dream. As you know Froyo has the native App2sd function where you can move most of the app's data/function to your SD card via the .androidsecure folder on your card. Since this was not a function on 2.1 we needed a bypass. This was done by creating a EXT partition on your SDCard to bypass/hijack the installation process and "force" the apps to install to the SDCard rather than the meager internal memory. Since the grand old days, we have evolved that function from app2sd to app2ext where now the /cache can be moved over to the partition as well, in addition to apps like Link2sd with one-click UI to do it for you.
This is how to do it.
1 Make sure your ROM supports app2ext-it should be in that ROMs OP.
2 You need to use GParted or Minitool Partition Wizard to create your Ext2/3 partitions (do not create an Ext4 with either of these b/c they won't work correctly, most ROMs don't support it and you can convert it from 2/3 to 4 in MZ's open recovery).
3 You have a 16gb card and are asking what size should I make my partitions. They need to be in this order-FAT/EXT/SWAP from L->R. FAT is what it sounds like. It is your biggest sized one (and make it Primary/Bootable in your partition wizard). Your Ext is going to be up to you on the size. I usually recommend 350-450mb. Anything bigger is really wasted space. In fact, I chorgle to myself when I see people with 1gb Ext partitions b/c your average size app is usually about 7-12mb (with something like Angry Birds at a meaty 18mb). Remember that 1gb=1024mb. 12mb vs 1024mb-see what I am saying here?
4 So now you have your partitions set up. How do you activate it. You flash your ROM and let it settle down. Get ROOT and open a file manager and go to the ROOT. You will see a folder labeled SD-ext. Open this folder and make another folder called App (not Apps-no S) or if you are using Link2sd, you would put a folder called Link2sd (not LinkS2sd-again no S). Reboot and BAM!!!once it boots up, all your apps that you had will be in there and any new ones will be installed there saving you tons of internal space.
I'll cover Swap tomorrow b/c I am tired of typing for now but here is a thread on some unknown types of memory management that you can do on your own.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted to make it as general as possible so that it wasn't too technical.
Woodrube thank you very much for that, indeed very helpful and to the point. Ill hit you with a thanks when back on my laptop.
James: debates nothwithstanding, I can't see how its possible to install one of these Roms and actually use it...and any decent number of apps with stability, without using the extended partition. I have not had any success until I learned how to do this. Therefore, were absolutely not going to debate it, just do it!
To Woodrubes excellent instructions I will add these tips, learned from Mio7's advice and trial and error:
- do any partitioning before you install your new rom, and do it via a card reader inserted into your computer, not by plugging the phone into the computer via usb.
- do not make the second partition fat. In some threads people said it worked however it never works for me. Create the second partition as ext2 , then go to open recovery and convert it to ext3
- use root explorer to create the folder in sd-ext as Woodrube advised. Make sure root explorer is in R/W mode not R/O or you wont be allowed to
- install Link2sd first of any program. It's when you're running link2sd it seems that you can't create the link for certain applications check the market to see if to the downloadable version then uninstall the app from the phone and reinstall it yourself then when you go back into linksd youll be able to create a link. I'm still experimenting with just how much I can rip out of the system and then reinstall myself so as to be able to move over to the sd card. Btw if the rom app manager wont let you uninstall, use the uninstall function in link2sd. It works, even tho it says "Failed" when done.
See the signature at the bottom of my thread that should be all you need to know about whether not the advice in this thread is good because I'm posting from my phone and I'm using voice to text
Next up I'm going to try installing other roms like MIUI or 7.1 to see you what ones this can be used on. I will post my successes and failures in this thread
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
With regard to milestone overclock settings I'm currently running 900 and 60 and have achieved general stability with no crashes during picture taking or video recording
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
Mio: Nooo don't disable LED its great the way it is. Who needs those backlights anyways the keys are far enough away to not need a light to tell my thumbs where to go by now
Sent from my Milestone XT720 using XDA App
Hi:
I am a newbie, but I've learned a lot about things using this site and others. Thank you!
I have a rooted LG Volt, which of course has the odious KitKat restrictions on putting apps on SD cards. I've read about mini-tools and have Link2SD (premium, so I can link everything to the SD), but haven't tried it out yet because I wanted to ask some questions first. For reference, I have a 16g (class?) 10 SD card, which I've verified is legit using an app (forgot name).
1) Is there a maximum size for the second (ext) partition? I've read 2g, but other sites have said that there are now no restrictions. 2g is quite small for me since the Volt has very little internal memory, and I download a ton of apps; I don't use as much data. Ideally, I'd like to go half and half (approx. 8/8g data/app partition).
2) If it is limited to 2g, is there any workaround that doesn't require a ton of knowledge? I read something about changing system apps to user apps, but would this work--and is there a noob-friendly walk through?
3) Is there a preferred ext partition type? Again, I've read varied opinions; most say that ext2 is optimal, but others say ext4 might work better with Link2SD.
4) Is there any advantage to using a swap file? Again, varied opinions, but it seems mostly beneficial in terms of speed, and not to a degree that it matters.
I have other questions regarding partition alignment (found a calculator, so I think I can figure out how to optimize the partitions) and will probably have more in the future, but I would really love answers (or else links to answers) about these issues.
Thanks in advance!
anoukaimee said:
Hi:
I am a newbie, but I've learned a lot about things using this site and others. Thank you!
I have a rooted LG Volt, which of course has the odious KitKat restrictions on putting apps on SD cards. I've read about mini-tools and have Link2SD (premium, so I can link everything to the SD), but haven't tried it out yet because I wanted to ask some questions first. For reference, I have a 16g (class?) 10 SD card, which I've verified is legit using an app (forgot name).
1) Is there a maximum size for the second (ext) partition? I've read 2g, but other sites have said that there are now no restrictions. 2g is quite small for me since the Volt has very little internal memory, and I download a ton of apps; I don't use as much data. Ideally, I'd like to go half and half (approx. 8/8g data/app partition).
2) If it is limited to 2g, is there any workaround that doesn't require a ton of knowledge? I read something about changing system apps to user apps, but would this work--and is there a noob-friendly walk through?
3) Is there a preferred ext partition type? Again, I've read varied opinions; most say that ext2 is optimal, but others say ext4 might work better with Link2SD.
4) Is there any advantage to using a swap file? Again, varied opinions, but it seems mostly beneficial in terms of speed, and not to a degree that it matters.
I have other questions regarding partition alignment (found a calculator, so I think I can figure out how to optimize the partitions) and will probably have more in the future, but I would really love answers (or else links to answers) about these issues.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, you haven't told us what are you trying to do. If you are just trying to get a few questions anwsered just say so.
From what I see you are trying to use Link2SD because of the kitkat sd card restriction?
Note: Apps can't detect if an SD card is fake. It will just test how fast it is and guess if it's fast engough for it's class
You can remove the KitKat SD restriction with this app: SDFix
1) Yes, there is a restriction but it depends on how it's formated: on ext2 and 3 the limit is 35184 GB on a single partition and ext4 has a max limit of 1152921500 GB.
2) It's not limited to 2GB. Changing system apps to user and user to system is useless and should not be done if you don't know what exactly and why you are doing it. Don't let root fool you. Deleting system apps will NOT give you more free space for all the games.
3) Depends on support. If your phone supports ext4 (and it does) use that if not use lower such as ext3 then 2 and so on.
4) Look at this as a glass and some water. Water is memory to be put in ram and the glass is the ram your phone has.
The more water you put in it, the less space there is. And when it's full it will overflow, and your phone will freeze or reboot.
What swap does is when the water overflows in the glass (the ram gets full), the water (memory) that overflows goes to a swap file instead of it just getting lost and the phone getting frozen.
But remember, any SD card is MUCH SLOWER that RAM and using swap will not give any preformacne improvments.
The swap sould be factory set anyways and it also uses a lot of storage.
You REALLY shouldn't mess with the partitions.
You could break your phone forever.
What I recommend using is FolderMount and GL2SD. FolderMount is exactly like Link2SD, but you don't need to do any fancy partitioning. And GL2SD works great too, the only downside is that you have to run the apps (you moved to SD) from within the app.
Thank you!
Wonderful, clear answers! Yes, just trying to figure out "what to do" so I can add more apps to the Volt in the easiest manner possible. Apologize for not being clearer about that.
Just some follow-up questions:
1) will the app cited above (nextapp) allow me to move apps to the sd, or just data? Never having had an android other than this one with the dread KitKat, I don't know how it typically works after a KitKat fix. So should I format the entire sd card as FAT32 or ext4 (is the latter even possible)? And where will the data that I do have be saved if I don't partition the card? All on the one partition?
2. RE: FolderMount and GL2SD: that sounds great. The one concern that I have is that Link2SD's support (I THINK that's where I found this) said that the problem with putting an app on an sd card versus linking it is that if you take the sd card out, all of the apps will be gone. Is that just incorrect?
Thanks again! Very helpful.
TL;DR Ramexpander set at 4gb swap file makes all the difference for this tablet
A little background: I've been modifying my phones since the galaxy nexus. I've tried greenify, amplify, debloating, kernels, overclocking, cleaning, l-speed, etc. I like to run a lot of apps, and all of my phones and devices, including the Nexus 6p (until the Pixel XL) lagged. RamExpander has been the solution every time, and the fire hd is no different. This one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.swapit.expander.de&hl=en .
Use the free version here to check if your device is compatible: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.roehsoft.meminfo&hl=en but I know a rooted 2017 Hd 10 running 5.6 is compatible.
Maybe your device runs perfectly already and/or you're using less apps. That's great! But I have seen a few threads about trying to optimize performance. IF your device lags, this app will make an immediate night and day difference.
I'll give it a try
I have L Speed and Greenify installed on all of my rooted Android devices. Could you please explain to us how RAMEXPANDER is better than L Speed/Greenify? I'm curious. I'll do anything to optimize these Fire HDs even more. I rooted them and installed Google everything on them so my parents don't have to deal with the Fire OS.
Is Ram Expander really worth $10? I wanted to try it and found an APK. The damned thing was contaminated with neverending ads appearing every 10 seconds... I had to uninstall and run Malwarebytes to get the tablet working fine again. I assume the "real" paid version has no crappy ads?
---------- Post added at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 AM ----------
bakshi said:
I have L Speed and Greenify installed on all of my rooted Android devices. Could you please explain to us how RAMEXPANDER is better than L Speed/Greenify? I'm curious. I'll do anything to optimize these Fire HDs even more. I rooted them and installed Google everything on them so my parents don't have to deal with the Fire OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know Greenify already and use it on my tablets and cell phones. But it's the 1st time ever I hear about L Speed. Is it complicated to set up?
The 2GB memory is pretty limited, and disabling some Amazon services and avoiding apps that remain persistent in memory is highly recommended. I installed the official Google app to get Google Assistant, but found that it used too much ram. I recommended installing system monitor and monitoring the active processes, sorted by ram usage, to identify bloated user apps.
bakshi said:
I have L Speed and Greenify installed on all of my rooted Android devices. Could you please explain to us how RAMEXPANDER is better than L Speed/Greenify? I'm curious. I'll do anything to optimize these Fire HDs even more. I rooted them and installed Google everything on them so my parents don't have to deal with the Fire OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so what ram expander does is it's just a super easy way to setup a swap file (space on the internal sd card that will be used as RAM). Why is it better than all the other stuff I've tried? It's empirical, not logical. That is to say, every phone that's lagged, if RAMEXPANDER is compatible, I've installed and it's made a huge difference in performance, every single time. I've messed around with a lot of optimization tools beforehand and results have been mixed. I can improve battery life usually, but the phone will still lag, with those tools and with all the apps i run. Also, each tool is just more strain on the system.
metaleloi666 said:
Is Ram Expander really worth $10? I wanted to try it and found an APK. The damned thing was contaminated with neverending ads appearing every 10 seconds... I had to uninstall and run Malwarebytes to get the tablet working fine again. I assume the "real" paid version has no crappy ads?
---------- Post added at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 AM ----------
I know Greenify already and use it on my tablets and cell phones. But it's the 1st time ever I hear about L Speed. Is it complicated to set up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never seen an add in the app. You got a bad APK.
An alternative, I've found, though less intuitive is an app called apps2sd. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.pricealert.apps2sd&hl=en
It's a little less intuitive, but basically when you open the app, you get a bunch of tools to choose from. If you choose the SWAP menu, you can create a SWAP Partition on the /data partition. 4gb has been working amazingly for me. Then go to settings and check the "apply swap on boot" (after you test it for a while, and you're happy and everything's stable).
L-speed has a lot of options. It's got a few profiles, but I'm not sure that they actually work. With some messing around you can get a little improvement here and there (or maybe it's placebo). Sometimes an update of L-speed will bootloop your device, but I only use it on devices I have an nandroid ready to go on.
SWAP, through ram expander or apps2sd, makes a night and day difference compared to any other tool I've tried.
Does Ram Expander starts automatically at each reboot or it has to be started manually each time?
mistermojorizin said:
so what ram expander does is it's just a super easy way to setup a swap file (space on the internal sd card that will be used as RAM). Why is it better than all the other stuff I've tried? It's empirical, not logical. That is to say, every phone that's lagged, if RAMEXPANDER is compatible, I've installed and it's made a huge difference in performance, every single time. I've messed around with a lot of optimization tools beforehand and results have been mixed. I can improve battery life usually, but the phone will still lag, with those tools and with all the apps i run. Also, each tool is just more strain on the system.
I've never seen an add in the app. You got a bad APK.
An alternative, I've found, though less intuitive is an app called apps2sd. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.pricealert.apps2sd&hl=en
It's a little less intuitive, but basically when you open the app, you get a bunch of tools to choose from. If you choose the SWAP menu, you can create a SWAP Partition on the /data partition. 4gb has been working amazingly for me. Then go to settings and check the "apply swap on boot" (after you test it for a while, and you're happy and everything's stable).
L-speed has a lot of options. It's got a few profiles, but I'm not sure that they actually work. With some messing around you can get a little improvement here and there (or maybe it's placebo). Sometimes an update of L-speed will bootloop your device, but I only use it on devices I have an nandroid ready to go on.
SWAP, through ram expander or apps2sd, makes a night and day difference compared to any other tool I've tried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. Just did this with app2sd and working great!
metaleloi666 said:
Does Ram Expander starts automatically at each reboot or it has to be started manually each time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has an auto start feature
metaleloi666 said:
Is Ram Expander really worth $10? I wanted to try it and found an APK. The damned thing was contaminated with neverending ads appearing every 10 seconds... I had to uninstall and run Malwarebytes to get the tablet working fine again. I assume the "real" paid version has no crappy ads?
Here is a link for the premium: https://uplod.cc/4ogqacud4av9
If that doesn't work, check this link out: https://apk4free.net/roehsoft-ram-expander/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I keep trying to install this (the Google Play store version of ROEHSOFT RAM Expander) on a Fire HD10 with root via Kingoroot. I'm trying to install the swap disk on the SD card, and I'm getting an error message:
You have a Limited Kernel
Kernel Swapspace Limit detected! please reduce the Swapfile Size lower 1GB! and try again!
This happens no matter what size I pick for the swap file on the SD card.
If I try to use the same company's "test" app (MemoryInfo-SwapCheck), I get this error message:
Path Error
This Path is not usable for Swap!
I can verify that both apps are successfully creating the swap file on the SD card (swapfile.swp or swaptestf.swp, depending on which app I'm using).
I've tried both systems 5.5.0.0 and 5.6.0.1 and I get the same error message on either. I've tried installing it on a completely fresh install of both, with only Kingoroot, SuperSU, Google Play, and RAM Expander installed (in that order). I've also tried swapping out SD cards, and get the same error on both.
This software does work properly if I install the swap file on internal memory, but I'd prefer not to do that, since I can't replace the internal memory if I wear it out.
The weird thing is, I could swear it was working properly before (a couple of weeks ago), but nothing is getting this to work now. It's possible I was mistaken and had accidentally chosen the internal memory, but I don't think so.
Anyone have any clue about what's going on?
GamerOfRassilon said:
I keep trying to install this (the Google Play store version of ROEHSOFT RAM Expander) on a Fire HD10 with root via Kingoroot. I'm trying to install the swap disk on the SD card, and I'm getting an error message...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To respond to myself (in case anyone else has this problem in the future):
For some reason, this software doesn't work if you set the path to /storage/sdcard1 (It will create the swap file, but then it gives the error message I described).
Instead, you have to use:
/mnt/media_rw/sdcard1
Then it works totally fine.
Also, if it's useful (and saves anyone else time), here are the values that each option of this software generates on the HD10:
multitasking
SwpFile = 3000MB
Swappiness = 100
MinFreeKB = 54MB
DriveCache(KB) = 4096
balanced
SwpFile = 3000MB
Swappiness = 100
MinFreeKB = 62MB
DriveCache(KB) = 8192
gamers
SwpFile = 3000MB
Swappiness = 100
MinFreeKB = 62MB
DriveCache(KB) = 16384
net gamers
SwpFile = 3000MB
Swappiness = 100
MinFreeKB = 4MB
DriveCache(KB) = 1024
I have no idea what those options mean or do, but I went with "balanced" (since it seemed pretty middle of the road) but with SwpFile set to 4000MB instead of 3000MB.
Ramexpander etc.
I've paid for and been using RAMExpander for awhile now. It's a good app, and worth the money. That being said, App2SD is also an incredibly useful app, Pro or no. L-Speed is great as well. One thing to note, from what I've researched, editing your zram is also helpful as it compresses items in memory to free up space, and it is prioritized over Swap. Using the two in conjunction (having a zram file (250-500 MB seems to do the trick but you could probably go lower) and a decent sized swap file(mine is 8GB but I suspect this is massive overkill and 4 would work)) has left me with little to no lag, especially when paired with L-Speed's other exceptional tweaks. Jade Empire and Kotor run with 0 lag at top graphical settings.
Hope this helped clear up any questions.
Edit: If you use App2SD's partition manager you can set yourself up with a partition dedicated exclusively to Swap, then in Ramexpander change swap location to this partition in the settings. Ramexpander tops you out at 4GB, doing this is a good way to increase that threshold.
mistermojorizin said:
so what ram expander does is it's just a super easy way to setup a swap file (space on the internal sd card that will be used as RAM). Why is it better than all the other stuff I've tried? It's empirical, not logical. That is to say, every phone that's lagged, if RAMEXPANDER is compatible, I've installed and it's made a huge difference in performance, every single time. I've messed around with a lot of optimization tools beforehand and results have been mixed. I can improve battery life usually, but the phone will still lag, with those tools and with all the apps i run. Also, each tool is just more strain on the system.
I've never seen an add in the app. You got a bad APK.
An alternative, I've found, though less intuitive is an app called apps2sd. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.pricealert.apps2sd&hl=en
It's a little less intuitive, but basically when you open the app, you get a bunch of tools to choose from. If you choose the SWAP menu, you can create a SWAP Partition on the /data partition. 4gb has been working amazingly for me. Then go to settings and check the "apply swap on boot" (after you test it for a while, and you're happy and everything's stable).
L-speed has a lot of options. It's got a few profiles, but I'm not sure that they actually work. With some messing around you can get a little improvement here and there (or maybe it's placebo). Sometimes an update of L-speed will bootloop your device, but I only use it on devices I have an nandroid ready to go on.
SWAP, through ram expander or apps2sd, makes a night and day difference compared to any other tool I've tried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blaiser47 said:
Thanks for this. Just did this with app2sd and working great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you set it up?
I swaped it on Sd card on my j7 & it became to freeze & became super slow...
What about using BK Disabler?
ThisCrimsonDiscordia said:
I've paid for and been using RAMExpander for awhile now. It's a good app, and worth the money. That being said, App2SD is also an incredibly useful app, Pro or no. L-Speed is great as well. One thing to note, from what I've researched, editing your zram is also helpful as it compresses items in memory to free up space, and it is prioritized over Swap. Using the two in conjunction (having a zram file (250-500 MB seems to do the trick but you could probably go lower) and a decent sized swap file(mine is 8GB but I suspect this is massive overkill and 4 would work)) has left me with little to no lag, especially when paired with L-Speed's other exceptional tweaks. Jade Empire and Kotor run with 0 lag at top graphical settings.
Hope this helped clear up any questions.
Edit: If you use App2SD's partition manager you can set yourself up with a partition dedicated exclusively to Swap, then in Ramexpander change swap location to this partition in the settings. Ramexpander tops you out at 4GB, doing this is a good way to increase that threshold.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just out of curiosity, what are your L Speed settings?
I went with App2SD and L-Speed after reading this thread, and wow, it's practically a different experience, a different tablet. If you aren't doing something similar you're purposefully using a tablet that is gimped.
Here are the settings I went with:
App2SD swap is set to 4GB and placed in /data.
L-Speed has everything turned on as it would when first installed.
RAM Manager is set to balanced, seems like more than enough and I don't want to be plugged in frequently.
zRAM Optimization is set to on.
I then went back to swap settings and set the zRAM to priority 0 and /data set to 1.
Turned improved scrolling on.
Everything else was left as is, for now.
I can't believe this is the same tablet I was using a week ago.
No need for Greenify with this combination.
What size should i set the swap partition to?
Since the swap will be on the sd card, should I go with the Samsung MicroSDXC EVO Plus which has 100/60 read/write rates or the Samsung PRO Endurance which has better reliability (designed for continuous writes) in the long run but only 100/30 read/write?
lanbladez said:
What size should i set the swap partition to?
Since the swap will be on the sd card, should I go with the Samsung MicroSDXC EVO Plus which has 100/60 read/write rates or the Samsung PRO Endurance which has better reliability (designed for continuous writes) in the long run but only 100/30 read/write?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could probably get away with 2GB, honestly. In which case, I'd really suggest putting it on internal in /data.
Just one less I/O delay (even if seemingly trivial, will cause lag) to deal with.
If you're going with putting the swap on an SD rather than internal, definitely the fastest SD you can use. :fingers-crossed:
If you must put it on the SD, at the least create a zram "swap" on internal, it only has to be ~150-300MB.