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APPS2SD Performance - Noob

Hey all! New to Android (but not cooked roms - winmo mostly). Have noticed that my MT3G is running REALLY SLOW fairly frequently (despite killing apps quite a bit). I'm running Cyanogen's 4.2.2 with APP2SD (ext3 partition). I believe APP2SD may be the culprit but I am not sure. Need a bit of help understanding how this works? Does it create a swapfile + storage for apps, or is it storage only? Any help is appreciated!

do you have a class 8 micro sd card? and do you also have the 32mb linux swap partition along with the ext3?

It is not a class 8, I think it is a class 6 if I am not mistaken I can check (possibly a 4 but definitely not less than 4). The swapfile partition, it is an ext3.

musclendabx said:
Hey all! New to Android (but not cooked roms - winmo mostly). Have noticed that my MT3G is running REALLY SLOW fairly frequently (despite killing apps quite a bit). I'm running Cyanogen's 4.2.2 with APP2SD (ext3 partition). I believe APP2SD may be the culprit but I am not sure. Need a bit of help understanding how this works? Does it create a swapfile + storage for apps, or is it storage only? Any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You really don't need a2sd on the mt3g since it has plenty of internal memory. However, a2sd shouldn't be the cause of your slowdown as a class 6 sdcard is faster than the internal flash.
If you're looking for speed, you may want to try my ROM, which doesn't use a2sd for the mt3g by default, and is pretty much the fastest android ROM on the planet.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=566676

dwang said:
You really don't need a2sd on the mt3g since it has plenty of internal memory. However, a2sd shouldn't be the cause of your slowdown as a class 6 sdcard is faster than the internal flash.
If you're looking for speed, you may want to try my ROM, which doesn't use a2sd for the mt3g by default, and is pretty much the fastest android ROM on the planet.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=566676
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or.......
If you like the Hero/Sense UI.......

dwang said:
You really don't need a2sd on the mt3g since it has plenty of internal memory. However, a2sd shouldn't be the cause of your slowdown as a class 6 sdcard is faster than the internal flash.
If you're looking for speed, you may want to try my ROM, which doesn't use a2sd for the mt3g by default, and is pretty much the fastest android ROM on the planet.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=566676
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all thanks Dwang for cooking that rom *very appreciated*.
AFA the SD card, I checked and could not tell, it could be a class 2 actually (it is the stock card that came with it, and the only thing on it is a large C with a 2 inside of it so I am assuming it is a class 2). So maybe that is the culprit (my Gold Card is actually a class 6).
If a class 6 (or class 8) is faster than the internal memory, would I benefit from having a swap file on a faster card rather than running off the internal memory?
I was tempted to use the Sense UI roms but I was reading than they are considerably slower. Don't care about eye candy as much as speed and functionality. Based on that would the sense UI still be useful to me?
Again, thanks so much for this Dwang (and for those who have taken the time to reply)

musclendabx said:
First of all thanks Dwang for cooking that rom *very appreciated*.
If a class 6 (or class 8) is faster than the internal memory, would I benefit from having a swap file on a faster card rather than running off the internal memory?
Again, thanks so much for this Dwang (and for those who have taken the time to reply)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are using my ROM, then it doesn't implement swap on the sdcard. It implements compcache which is a compressed swap in RAM (this is not internal flash, two different things). In my testing I have found it faster than using a swap partition on the sdcard (others may disagree).

eViL D: said:
or.......
If you like the Hero/Sense UI.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or, looks like the Evil deed just got rejected by noob... Dwang wins once again, yeah!

In all fairness eViL was just giving me other options and I wasn't too clear about preferring speed (I mist say the eye candy on the sense UI is soooo tempting but given the issues that I am having right now with my apps2sd, i'm a little shy to go that way). So before the noob gets dissed, figure I would set the record straight... now let the flaming wars begin... LOL

can Vodoo Lag Fix be Ported for us? - Post from the I9000

Great idea Chainfire.
When a user first decided to use a modified/custom/different firmware on their Samsung Galaxy S, they usually go through these steps:
1. Flash with Odin/Kies
2. Flash update.zip for root
3. Flash other update.zip (GPS fix, battery mod, etc) as necessary
4. Do a lag fix.
It took me a few hours and reading through countless posts to see the pro's and con's for each lag fix.
I will try to go through them as succintly as possible, and if anyone needs more explanation you can either click the link or do a search.
Feel free to correct me, this is how I see the lagfix as when I applied and tested it
Before starting, here is the internal structure of non volatile memory (where data persist after reboots) in Samsung Galaxy S:
- 128MB of very fast NAND (some people incorrectly called this ROM)
- 16/8GB of internal SD with 2GB set aside for application installs (this is why you see your internal SD as either 13+ or 5+ remaining, the 2GB shows up as Internal Phone storage)
- your micro SD card (external SD)
The lag is due to the inefficiency of the file system used in the 2GB (/data) partition for applications, stalling a lot of the read/write operation. You can search this for further reading if you want to.
Lag fixes
- MoDaCo's lagfix: Better than stock on old F/Ws but about the same as JM1/2/5 and JP1/2/3
This lagfix uses the 128MB very fast NAND to store your applications instead.
Pro: very very fast applications opening/switching performance
Cons: You are limited to 128MB of apps including built in apps .
- Mimocan's lagfix: Significant improvements in performance which can also be benchmarked. Requires an external SDcard formatted partly in fat and partly ext3 or ext4.
This moves the /data files into the ext3/ext4 partition on an external microSD card
Pros: very fast, lots of storage space for apps
Cons: You will be unable to unmount your external SD card when the phone is on, and you need an external SD card for this to work
- OneClick Lagfix by RyanZA: Based on mimocan but using the internal SD card. Results are better than with basic mimocan and it is a lot easier to install.
This creates a file inside the 2GB partition that is mounted as /data.
Pros: very fast, lots of storage space for apps, easy to install and undo, available in the market.
Cons: if you install too many apps you won't be able to roll back the lag fix unless you delete some apps. Superseded by RyanZA lag fix 2.3 beta
Erroneous free space on Internal Phone storage (/data)
There are still stalls when installing apps, and when accessing android applications database
- CFLagFix by Chainfire: Based on mimocan, approximately the same as RyanZA's fix.
pretty much the same as OneClick Lagfix.
look above for Pros
Cons: There are still stalls when installing apps, and when accessing android applications database
-Voodoo lag fix by supercurio: a new class of total lag fix
Instead of creating a file inside the rfs partition and mounting it as /data/data, the voodoo lag fix updates the kernel so that the the 2GB partition is using ext4 instead or rfs. This gives the best possible lag fix.
Pros: fast, smooth, across everything you do. The way galaxy s should have been in the first place. The best and most consistent lag fix with no remaining lag left that is caused by rfs.
Support with other kernel mods are starting to show: backlight mod, OC/UV kernel
Cons: Incompatible with clockworkmod recovery
I am now using voodoo lagfix beta 4 only
http://project-voodoo.org/
Love the Vodoo color would like to try this as well...they are getting OUTRAGIOUS numbers in quadrant!

1deviant said:
Great idea Chainfire.
When a user first decided to use a modified/custom/different firmware on their Samsung Galaxy S, they usually go through these steps:
1. Flash with Odin/Kies
2. Flash update.zip for root
3. Flash other update.zip (GPS fix, battery mod, etc) as necessary
4. Do a lag fix.
It took me a few hours and reading through countless posts to see the pro's and con's for each lag fix.
I will try to go through them as succintly as possible, and if anyone needs more explanation you can either click the link or do a search.
Feel free to correct me, this is how I see the lagfix as when I applied and tested it
Before starting, here is the internal structure of non volatile memory (where data persist after reboots) in Samsung Galaxy S:
- 128MB of very fast NAND (some people incorrectly called this ROM)
- 16/8GB of internal SD with 2GB set aside for application installs (this is why you see your internal SD as either 13+ or 5+ remaining, the 2GB shows up as Internal Phone storage)
- your micro SD card (external SD)
The lag is due to the inefficiency of the file system used in the 2GB (/data) partition for applications, stalling a lot of the read/write operation. You can search this for further reading if you want to.
Lag fixes
- MoDaCo's lagfix: Better than stock on old F/Ws but about the same as JM1/2/5 and JP1/2/3
This lagfix uses the 128MB very fast NAND to store your applications instead.
Pro: very very fast applications opening/switching performance
Cons: You are limited to 128MB of apps including built in apps .
- Mimocan's lagfix: Significant improvements in performance which can also be benchmarked. Requires an external SDcard formatted partly in fat and partly ext3 or ext4.
This moves the /data files into the ext3/ext4 partition on an external microSD card
Pros: very fast, lots of storage space for apps
Cons: You will be unable to unmount your external SD card when the phone is on, and you need an external SD card for this to work
- OneClick Lagfix by RyanZA: Based on mimocan but using the internal SD card. Results are better than with basic mimocan and it is a lot easier to install.
This creates a file inside the 2GB partition that is mounted as /data.
Pros: very fast, lots of storage space for apps, easy to install and undo, available in the market.
Cons: if you install too many apps you won't be able to roll back the lag fix unless you delete some apps. Superseded by RyanZA lag fix 2.3 beta
Erroneous free space on Internal Phone storage (/data)
There are still stalls when installing apps, and when accessing android applications database
- CFLagFix by Chainfire: Based on mimocan, approximately the same as RyanZA's fix.
pretty much the same as OneClick Lagfix.
look above for Pros
Cons: There are still stalls when installing apps, and when accessing android applications database
-Voodoo lag fix by supercurio: a new class of total lag fix
Instead of creating a file inside the rfs partition and mounting it as /data/data, the voodoo lag fix updates the kernel so that the the 2GB partition is using ext4 instead or rfs. This gives the best possible lag fix.
Pros: fast, smooth, across everything you do. The way galaxy s should have been in the first place. The best and most consistent lag fix with no remaining lag left that is caused by rfs.
Support with other kernel mods are starting to show: backlight mod, OC/UV kernel
Cons: Incompatible with clockworkmod recovery
I am now using voodoo lagfix beta 4 only
http://project-voodoo.org/
Love the Vodoo color would like to try this as well...they are getting OUTRAGIOUS numbers in quadrant!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe we have diffrent ext partitions than on the other galaxy s variants.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

the epic doesn't need a lag fix. the quadrant numbers are due to a flaw in quadrant. the lag fix isn't really providing that much better performance (except fixing the lag for phones that need it), quadrant just blows the score out of proportion. Cyanogen was able to tailor an exploit to show this happens on any phone: http://briefmobile.com/cyanogen-demonstrates-quadrants-flaws
as for voodoo color, I don't believe there is a general port yet, but it is built-in to the MixUp kernel.

dwyw42 said:
the epic doesn't need a lag fix. the quadrant numbers are due to a flaw in quadrant. the lag fix isn't really providing that much better performance (except fixing the lag for phones that need it), quadrant just blows the score out of proportion. Cyanogen was able to tailor an exploit to show this happens on any phone: http://briefmobile.com/cyanogen-demonstrates-quadrants-flaws
as for voodoo color, I don't believe there is a general port yet, but it is built-in to the MixUp kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the mixup kernel w/vodoo and love it! I just saw this NFO and wanted a more educated explaination...now I have it!
Forever looking to run faster, just one of my many flaws..never satisfied.
Do love my Epic!!!

Its included in the boss rom and GenuisDogs kernels

Wait a minute? Are you saying that its possible for the voodoo lag fix to be ported to the Epic 4g and thus making this fast phone faster? Am I reading correctly? (I saw on his page that they are planning to work on te Epic as well)

We do not need the lag fix. The lag fix will not make our phone any faster.

voodoo cons: needs more battery than oclf or chainfire's fix
my experience is, that voodoo is less smooth (less means a bit less but its great too - not laggy)

Eazail70x7 said:
Wait a minute? Are you saying that its possible for the voodoo lag fix to be ported to the Epic 4g and thus making this fast phone faster? Am I reading correctly? (I saw on his page that they are planning to work on te Epic as well)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I talked to Supercurio about me porting it before, but we came to the conclusion that it's unnecessary. We don't use the same NAND chips as the other phones, so we don't have to deal with all the lag **** except what's introduced with RFS. And changing from RFS breaks clockworkmod, so I am avoiding it.

All this is nice,but why is nobody talkin about a fix to use whole 512mb of ram instead 324mb?I had MTS3GS with 600mhz cpu and 512 ram and I hate to admit but it was faster than my Epic even with Sence.If someone could come up with a fix to use whole 512mb instead of 324mb then this phone would fly,this is the only thing that hinders this phone.Rest of the ram is used for cache(ramdisk).
What needs to be done is whole 512mb used for ram and fast NAND used for cache.324mb ram is not sufficient to run android smoothly.

lviv73 said:
All this is nice,but why is nobody talkin about a fix to use whole 512mb of ram instead 324mb?I had MTS3GS with 600mhz cpu and 512 ram and I hate to admit but it was faster than my Epic even with Sence.If someone could come up with a fix to use whole 512mb instead of 324mb then this phone would fly,this is the only thing that hinders this phone.Rest of the ram is used for cache(ramdisk).
What needs to be done is whole 512mb used for ram and fast NAND used for cache.324mb ram is not sufficient to run android smoothly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to decide if you are trolling this thread or if you recently suffered head trauma. Those are the two most likely things that I can imagine would cause someone to say the MTS3GS is anywhere near as fast as the epic.

richse said:
I'm trying to decide if you are trolling this thread or if you recently suffered head trauma. Those are the two most likely things that I can imagine would cause someone to say the MTS3GS is anywhere near as fast as the epic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
B,talk to ur moms like that fagit,i had mytouch slide and it was just as fast if not faster with haf of cpu power.

lviv73 said:
B,talk to ur moms like that fagit,i had mytouch slide and it was just as fast if not faster with haf of cpu power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could someone translate this from "stupid" into english so I can read it and possibly respond?

Lol I'm having a difficult time myself.....is it really faster than the epic? Unlike some people, I don't post nonsense that I know nothing about...I would rather ask first and try and get a correct answer
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

specialk0324 said:
Lol I'm having a difficult time myself.....is it really faster than the epic? Unlike some people, I don't post nonsense that I know nothing about...I would rather ask first and try and get a correct answer
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah man,mytouch slide was the fastest phone I ever owned(with 2.1),i think that having 512mb ram is better than having 1ghz cpu.If Epic used 512MB it would most likely be even faster.
Which I tried explaining to the last dude before that ***** came at me wrong without a reason,but its the intenet what can you do,lol.

Just to squash any kind of confusion in this thread...
In no way is the Mytouch Slide faster than the Epic 4G.
/thread

infamousjax said:
Just to squash any kind of confusion in this thread...
In no way is the Mytouch Slide faster than the Epic 4G.
/thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to tmobile and use one with stock 2.1 its just as fast as epic.I dont know what they did to that underpowered phone but its fast.It might not be as fast watching videos,loadind games,etc.But android system itself is fast and more snappy then Epic,i compared the two,gotta be extra ram.

Don't take this the wrong way....but if it didn't load games or play movies as fast, doesn't that at least in part make the epic faster?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

infamousjax said:
Just to squash any kind of confusion in this thread...
In no way is the Mytouch Slide faster than the Epic 4G.
/thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 agreed, there is no way.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

help with limitations of ext partitions on sd card

hey well i was hoping if anyone can help me with this i would be most gratefull ive installed a couple roms before s-off ect ive downloaded the files for StarBurst rom and i no how to install
but when it comes to apps2sd+ or data2ext mostly what ive seen are people saying choose whatever partition size you like but then to contradict it usually later on pages into the forum you find the same people saying only format it with 2gb no more then that or other amounts or different swap file sizes
so i guess what im asking is there a set limit to how much different roms can use for the ext partition without it affecting performance obviously if people suggest a certain filesize and no more it would make me think theres a pros cons basis to exceeding certain ext filesizes i have looked around for an answer i never find a direct one addressing this
i have a sandisk 32gb micro sd so if i wanted a 5 gb ext or 10 gb i have more then enough space to do so
thanks for any help in this matter

Demonic Wraith said:
hey well i was hoping if anyone can help me with this i would be most gratefull ive installed a couple roms before s-off ect ive downloaded the files for StarBurst rom and i no how to install
but when it comes to apps2sd+ or data2ext mostly what ive seen are people saying choose whatever partition size you like but then to contradict it usually later on pages into the forum you find the same people saying only format it with 2gb no more then that or other amounts or different swap file sizes
so i guess what im asking is there a set limit to how much different roms can use for the ext partition without it affecting performance obviously if people suggest a certain filesize and no more it would make me think theres a pros cons basis to exceeding certain ext filesizes i have looked around for an answer i never find a direct one addressing this
i have a sandisk 32gb micro sd so if i wanted a 5 gb ext or 10 gb i have more then enough space to do so
thanks for any help in this matter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think there are talking about internal sd card with ext (linux fs partitons) but not about ext (external sd card) with fat32 and ext file system ...
and cherry on the cake ... ext4 partition on external sd card can't be use by android :

[Q] RAM

Is there a way to use memory in ur sdcard as ram for ur phone, so i can increase the performance. i think u can, so if u now how to can u post a link?
And i am using MikRunny rom

B RAD G 296 said:
Is there a way to use memory in ur sdcard as ram for ur phone, so i can increase the performance. i think u can, so if u now how to can u post a link?
And i am using MikRunny rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IIRC, there is a mod to use either a partition or a file on your MicroSD card for SWAP space... which is basically where programs that normally reside in ram would go when not in use... think its one by sparksco...
however, I dont see hardly any kernels with it built in these days... its a GOD SEND on my HD2 and Hero... Id love to use SWAP partition on all my devices...
hope someone more knowledgeable about whats out will reply

First this is the wrong thread for questions and answers.
And yes we have a few kernals that allow swap. But the rom as well needs to have that available from what I recall. Think cm uses 128 max though. I know there is a miui rom that uses swap here too. Does come in handy. You will need to reformat your sd card for swap if your going to use it. There is also ext3 and 4 and that acts like available storage space for your phone. I would only use 1-1.5 gb for that though. Some of these big games only want to go on your sd card.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

One of our biggest supporters of swap has actually decided it's not such a good idea.
And it does not speed things up. It slows things down. Even with a class 10 sd card.

VICODAN said:
One of our biggest supporters of swap has actually decided it's not such a good idea.
And it does not speed things up. It slows things down. Even with a class 10 sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what that makes no sense how does it slow down

B RAD G 296 said:
what that makes no sense how does it slow down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using swap for quite some time and it seemed to work really well for awhile and then started to cause my phone a lot of lock-ups after awhile. I think it was just eating up my sdcard too much. And it has been proven that swap wears on your sdcard quite a bit. I don't think it's worth it. There's a script made by Darkky that patches memory leaks in roms that seems to work good. I include these in a lot of roms and my memory always stays above 80mb.

WARNING: LONG WINDED POST... read at your own risk...
VICODAN said:
One of our biggest supporters of swap has actually decided it's not such a good idea.
And it does not speed things up. It slows things down. Even with a class 10 sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What people fail to understand is that SWAP or fake ram is INHERENTLY IOPS sensitive... that being said, NONE of the Class 10 MicroSD cards have had ANYWHERE NEAR good enough IOPS for SWAP intensive operations... On my HD2 I went through testing 10 MicroSD cards of different Class's and sizes to find out which gave me the best performance while using SWAP and what gave me the best IOPS, Sadly, out of them all, only a Class 4 and Class 6, where anywhere decent enough to be good enough to function as SWAP devices... I mean 4 other ones worked... but you could tell with these 2....
B RAD G 296 said:
what that makes no sense how does it slow down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It makes perfect sense... lets take game files from an SSD and transfer them to a HDD... while RAM and MicroSD both use NAND/Flash memory, its still a medium transfer as well! ERGO if you have a crappy IOPS MicroSD card, your going to notice slowdowns and wait times while things in RAM are swapped out to SWAP and vice versa... I guess the best comparison is using the SLEEP function on Windows 7 VS the Hibernation function...
sparksco said:
I was using swap for quite some time and it seemed to work really well for awhile and then started to cause my phone a lot of lock-ups after awhile. I think it was just eating up my sdcard too much. And it has been proven that swap wears on your sdcard quite a bit. I don't think it's worth it. There's a script made by Darkky that patches memory leaks in roms that seems to work good. I include these in a lot of roms and my memory always stays above 80mb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah SWAP eats the CRAP out of your MicroSD card... proven fact... HOWEVER, if your like me, 8GB and 16GB cards are rather cheep these days, I totally dont mind spending $10-30 every 6~ months buying a new MicroSD card if it keeps my OLD device speedy... (pun intended)
I got a link around here that I posted somewhere with like 4-6 different MicroSD test run results... will edit this post and link it later...
Oh, and yeah, this belongs in Q&A... but I cant blame you... its a legacy device... and I only visit the Android development section for any device I use... :X
EDIT1: "halrulez" my HD2 running on the NIGHTLY CM7 builds has ZERO problems using/utilizing my 1GB SWAP partition... its all kernel/romsetup based...
EDIT2: some things I thought I should point out after I re-read my own post... in the Windows Sleep V Hibernation statement, when in Sleep, the RAM is kept on, and thus requires no loading time, in Hibernation, RAM is stored on the HDD/SSD and must be transferred back onto RAM before it will boot... I also forgot that I backup my MicroSD's contents with Dropbox and Box software, as well as backup's that are performed whenever I plugin my Phone or MicroSD to my desktop or laptop...

There are apps like juwe11's ram app, rom toolbox has a memory settings, script manager in combination with v6 supercharger script (which I highly recommend, as it helps prevent sense reloads), auto killer memory, etc. Each phone has a "brain" of it's own. My phone likes v6 or auto killer memory, but other phones like juwe11's ramscript/app. Trial and error. Good luck, and post your results if you want to.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

Hammerfest said:
WARNING: LONG WINDED POST... read at your own risk...
What people fail to understand is that SWAP or fake ram is INHERENTLY IOPS sensitive... that being said, NONE of the Class 10 MicroSD cards have had ANYWHERE NEAR good enough IOPS for SWAP intensive operations... On my HD2 I went through testing 10 MicroSD cards of different Class's and sizes to find out which gave me the best performance while using SWAP and what gave me the best IOPS, Sadly, out of them all, only a Class 4 and Class 6, where anywhere decent enough to be good enough to function as SWAP devices... I mean 4 other ones worked... but you could tell with these 2....
It makes perfect sense... lets take game files from an SSD and transfer them to a HDD... while RAM and MicroSD both use NAND/Flash memory, its still a medium transfer as well! ERGO if you have a crappy IOPS MicroSD card, your going to notice slowdowns and wait times while things in RAM are swapped out to SWAP and vice versa... I guess the best comparison is using the SLEEP function on Windows 7 VS the Hibernation function...
yeah SWAP eats the CRAP out of your MicroSD card... proven fact... HOWEVER, if your like me, 8GB and 16GB cards are rather cheep these days, I totally dont mind spending $10-30 every 6~ months buying a new MicroSD card if it keeps my OLD device speedy... (pun intended)
I got a link around here that I posted somewhere with like 4-6 different MicroSD test run results... will edit this post and link it later...
Oh, and yeah, this belongs in Q&A... but I cant blame you... its a legacy device... and I only visit the Android development section for any device I use... :X
EDIT1: "halrulez" my HD2 running on the NIGHTLY CM7 builds has ZERO problems using/utilizing my 1GB SWAP partition... its all kernel/romsetup based...
EDIT2: some things I thought I should point out after I re-read my own post... in the Windows Sleep V Hibernation statement, when in Sleep, the RAM is kept on, and thus requires no loading time, in Hibernation, RAM is stored on the HDD/SSD and must be transferred back onto RAM before it will boot... I also forgot that I backup my MicroSD's contents with Dropbox and Box software, as well as backup's that are performed whenever I plugin my Phone or MicroSD to my desktop or laptop...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really doesn't get explained any better than this.

Hammerfest said:
WARNING: LONG WINDED POST... read at your own risk...
What people fail to understand is that SWAP or fake ram is INHERENTLY IOPS sensitive... that being said, NONE of the Class 10 MicroSD cards have had ANYWHERE NEAR good enough IOPS for SWAP intensive operations... On my HD2 I went through testing 10 MicroSD cards of different Class's and sizes to find out which gave me the best performance while using SWAP and what gave me the best IOPS, Sadly, out of them all, only a Class 4 and Class 6, where anywhere decent enough to be good enough to function as SWAP devices... I mean 4 other ones worked... but you could tell with these 2....
It makes perfect sense... lets take game files from an SSD and transfer them to a HDD... while RAM and MicroSD both use NAND/Flash memory, its still a medium transfer as well! ERGO if you have a crappy IOPS MicroSD card, your going to notice slowdowns and wait times while things in RAM are swapped out to SWAP and vice versa... I guess the best comparison is using the SLEEP function on Windows 7 VS the Hibernation function...
yeah SWAP eats the CRAP out of your MicroSD card... proven fact... HOWEVER, if your like me, 8GB and 16GB cards are rather cheep these days, I totally dont mind spending $10-30 every 6~ months buying a new MicroSD card if it keeps my OLD device speedy... (pun intended)
I got a link around here that I posted somewhere with like 4-6 different MicroSD test run results... will edit this post and link it later...
Oh, and yeah, this belongs in Q&A... but I cant blame you... its a legacy device... and I only visit the Android development section for any device I use... :X
EDIT1: "halrulez" my HD2 running on the NIGHTLY CM7 builds has ZERO problems using/utilizing my 1GB SWAP partition... its all kernel/romsetup based...
EDIT2: some things I thought I should point out after I re-read my own post... in the Windows Sleep V Hibernation statement, when in Sleep, the RAM is kept on, and thus requires no loading time, in Hibernation, RAM is stored on the HDD/SSD and must be transferred back onto RAM before it will boot... I also forgot that I backup my MicroSD's contents with Dropbox and Box software, as well as backup's that are performed whenever I plugin my Phone or MicroSD to my desktop or laptop...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a good explaintion. But personally I don't want to be the guy that releases a rom with swap already in it and get the guilt of someone's sdcard breaking. As drob311 said there's apps and other ways of making it work and my rom/kernel does still support these other ways of using it.

sparksco said:
That is a good explaintion. But personally I don't want to be the guy that releases a rom with swap already in it and get the guilt of someone's sdcard breaking. As drob311 said there's apps and other ways of making it work and my rom/kernel does still support these other ways of using it.
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Click to collapse
you do know that you can enable SWAP in a rom, but make it contained to SWAP PARTITION only? ergo if they made a SWAP partition on their MicroSD card... hence you have zero liability if said card breaks... you have to have SOME knowledge to repartition a MicroSD card properly for a SWAP partition
BTW, I fully support enabling it that way, it also leads the way to making the script for SWAP file vs partition easier because the ROM is ready for it, its just not enabled unless someone inserts the custom script OR has the proper partition for SWAP!

Hammerfest said:
you do know that you can enable SWAP in a rom, but make it contained to SWAP PARTITION only? ergo if they made a SWAP partition on their MicroSD card... hence you have zero liability if said card breaks... you have to have SOME knowledge to repartition a MicroSD card properly for a SWAP partition
BTW, I fully support enabling it that way, it also leads the way to making the script for SWAP file vs partition easier because the ROM is ready for it, its just not enabled unless someone inserts the custom script OR has the proper partition for SWAP!
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Yes I know. I already had a swap script for swap partition for cm7 but you need a custom cmparts.apk since cm decided to disable all swap on their roms. Plus I didn't really feel like repartitioning my sdcard once it started acting up. I'll probably just make a seperate add-on to flash over the roms for it if people want it.

sparksco said:
Yes I know. I already had a swap script for swap partition for cm7 but you need a custom cmparts.apk since cm decided to disable all swap on their roms. Plus I didn't really feel like repartitioning my sdcard once it started acting up. I'll probably just make a seperate add-on to flash over the roms for it if people want it.
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im cool with that
actually, if someone can get YES/NO in CWM like on my HD2 you can put it all in the rom and they can choose right at the get-go
that being said, you can still use the custom cmparts.apk even w/o using swap partition... not that big of a conflict since if you have SWAP partition it works if not its disabled... only the functionality is present... and you dont have to maintain a separate script/package/whatever...
also, if your SDCard is acting up, use the SDCard formatter do a full format, then use HD low level format tool... or if you bought HDD Regenerator like me, its easy to find the health of your SD Media... but thats a moot matter... and im done talking for the night i think... (well the night ends in 3min... :X )
~

You can actually use compcache with out swapping to sd. But any swap introduces latency so it negates most gains achieved. So more apps might not get killed off as quick allowing them to reopen faster but forground apps suffer from the latency and compression.
http://code.google.com/p/compcache/
Sent from my PG06100 using xda premium

zenulator said:
You can actually use compcache with out swapping to sd. But any swap introduces latency so it negates most gains achieved. So more apps might not get killed off as quick allowing them to reopen faster but forground apps suffer from the latency and compression.
http://code.google.com/p/compcache/
Sent from my PG06100 using xda premium
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AFAICT non of our kernels support compcache. It's a patch you have to apply to the kernel itself in order to make it work.
http://code.google.com/p/compcache/wiki/Patches

THANK YOU
ok i would like to say thanks for ur help.
AND I NO THAT IT IS THE WRONG THREAD FOR ME TO POST THIS BUT THIS PHONE IS NOT THAT BIG AND NO ONE LOOK IN GENERAL FORUMS FOR THIS ONE. SO I PUT IT WHERE I WOULD GET THE MOST ANSWERS. BUT THANKS AGAIN

B RAD G 296 said:
ok i would like to say thanks for ur help.
AND I NO THAT IT IS THE WRONG THREAD FOR ME TO POST THIS BUT THIS PHONE IS NOT THAT BIG AND NO ONE LOOK IN GENERAL FORUMS FOR THIS ONE. SO I PUT IT WHERE I WOULD GET THE MOST ANSWERS. BUT THANKS AGAIN
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I actually understand the reasoning.... hell I forget about general and q&a sometimes
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk

strapped365 said:
I actually understand the reasoning.... hell I forget about general and q&a sometimes
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk
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willful ignorance... I flat out ignore the general and Q&A sections... unless I have a question not directly related to a rom...
@Sparksco... none out support compcache... that blows arse... I am glad then that I still use my HeroC (with compcache, you can DEFINITELY feel a SPEED UP rather then down ) as my home Read/Music/Browse device... well that and its extended battery and more responsive touch screen... (yes, i know, new update fix's this.. but I aint tried it yet)... Id beg you to include it in your next kernel/rom... but your deadset on not (its like 2WayCallRecording and No2WayCallRecording Kernels for my HD2... lol!)

Hammerfest said:
willful ignorance... I flat out ignore the general and Q&A sections... unless I have a question not directly related to a rom...
@Sparksco... none out support compcache... that blows arse... I am glad then that I still use my HeroC (with compcache, you can DEFINITELY feel a SPEED UP rather then down ) as my home Read/Music/Browse device... well that and its extended battery and more responsive touch screen... (yes, i know, new update fix's this.. but I aint tried it yet)... Id beg you to include it in your next kernel/rom... but your deadset on not (its like 2WayCallRecording and No2WayCallRecording Kernels for my HD2... lol!)
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Thanks for all the insight and I have taken allot in from this whole discussion.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

I was told in a thread that 128 was Max on swap but I'm always willing to try new things. I did come from my old Heroc was a great phone to first start of on, till it took a crap on me.,lol meaning my mother in law threw it in the washing machine. Then my son threw my wifes in the toilet. Was great because of the best buy protection. Loved the old device but the shift is like night and day. Don't really use the keyboard. what is all I would need to do to use more swap? I haven't had any lock UPS what so ever. Class 4 8GB btw.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

Swap(virtual ram) space?

Before anyone rages at me, I have done a google search and an xda search.
I was wondering if it was possible to use the SD card as a virtual ram or swap space as some may call it. I tend to open tons of apps and games on my g2x and it quickly fills the 200mb ish ram that is available(this excludes OS and essential sys apps.) It would be super nice if i could partition off maybe 1-4gb as swap space and be able to open tons of games and other applications without ever needing to close them.
My G2X specs if it matters.
Cyanogenmod 7 latest nightly
faux kernel version 50
overclocked to 1.4ghz with a slight undervolt.
32GB SD card class 10
Edit: After further research on this, I have found a solution. An application called Swapper for Root or Swapper 2 will create a swap file on the sd card and do exactly this.

You don't want to. Sd cards are slow and it adds a lot of stress on it, decreasing the lifespan.
Am I the only one unable to use up a half gig of ram?
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app

I've enabled 700mb of swap on mine and I don't see a lot of slow down. Only slow down I've encountered is with my sphere page changing effect but even so its it barley noticeable but this is probably because of the class 10 sd card.
Current stats on my ram usage according to terminal free command.
mem: total - 381972 used - 367880 free - 14092
swap: total - 716792 used - 126688 free - 590104
with ~123MB being used and with very minimal lag, I think its worth it for the way I use my phone.

That is awesome man. never even thought of that idea. please let us know how it works out after a week or so.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app

I've been using Swapper 2 along with SD -Booster for a coupe weeks now. And I am only running a 16gb class 4 card, but I do notice a difference in how the phone runs with multiple or RAM hungry apps, and now I find I don't need to use a task killer anymore to resolve lag issues.
I am using:
CM7 Hellfire Phoenix 2.2
Faux 049 kernel
OC usually 1200 with no UV
JIT compiler and Compcache RAM disabled
VM Heap Size 64mb
Swapper 2 set @ 200mb @boot
SD Booster set to 2048kb cache
Few other tweaks. Phone is fast and stable. And I use it heavily from streaming video from my private server on my home network, to gaming tons of HD games. And several of the games I have edited the XML file to unlock Tegra 3 graphics options. I play Dead Trigger on the Ultra High settings and those are for Tegra 3 chipsets and the phone doesn't skip a beat.
hey, my first post!

I wonder if there's any advantage of using emmc over your sdcard? Since it's internal shouldn't it be faster and less harmful?

buru898 said:
I wonder if there's any advantage of using emmc over your sdcard? Since it's internal shouldn't it be faster and less harmful?
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There is definite differences between using your internal sd and external. But that depends on the class and read/write speads of your external. As far as swap goes, I do not think there would be much difference either ways since the linux/android kernel is built to keep ram space cleared when it needs it. I am constantly building ics/gb/jb on my linux machine with 8gb of ram and I have only seen my pc go into swap when i leave it on for weeks at a time. Swap only picks up in linux when the memory is overwhelmed. So, I really don't think there would be much benefit since almost all kernels run minfree and other tweaks to keep memory freed up for performance.

I wonder if we can use our data partition for swap or any other partition? Since swapper does have the option to use a partition as swap.