Database Info

Kernel Optimization

The lovely thing about having a Linux Kernel is that we can do a lot to optimize it.
I figured it would be a great idea to set up a thread where we can bring all these optimizations into one place.
Mind you, I'm no expert by any means...
For my (possibly useless) contribution:
When we compile the kernel to the G1, do we compile it with the general Arm eabi? If so, is that made for ALL ARM cpu's? We have an ARM6 in our G1's. If we set it up to optimize to ARM6, can we set it up to use the CPSID/CPSIE instruction instead of the SWP instruction? Are the drivers open source? Can we recompile them to do the same also? To learn more about why, read this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=516223
That's where I got the idea from.
SWP is a deprecated opcode in armv6 that decreases performance due to the way it locks the bus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyhow, whatever you guys post here, I will add to this post. Also, to the people to compile the kernels, can you answer my questions?

answers to some of your questions.
hi i usually don't post here since i am not a developer but in this case i think i can answer some of your questions (since i sometime make custom kernels for my laptop). kernel optimazation is used to removed excessive drivers and services from the kernel that you don't need that slows down your computer or in this case phone. i believe htc already does this when they configured android for the g1. most cell phone manufactures already do this to ensure that there products processor use energry efficiently and and run as smoothly as possible.
When we compile the kernel to the G1, do we compile it with the general Arm eabi? If so, is that made for ALL ARM cpu's? We have an ARM6 in our G1's
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, arm eabi is made for all general arm cpu's i believe you can complie it for arm 6 specifically though. how do you know that htc hasn't already optimize the kernel for that specific processor? also if they didn't you wouldn't really see any noticible speed improvements by compliling the kernel for this specific processor.
Are the drivers open source?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, futhermore they don't offer the drivers for the g1 except execpt for the usb driver so your computer can recognise the g1 as mass storage device.
If we set it up to optimize to ARM6, can we set it up to use the CPSID/CPSIE instruction instead of the SWP instruction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't know sorry. thats all i know i'm really not a kernel, coding expert i hope this helps in your task.

bananajama said:
no, futhermore they don't offer the drivers for the g1 except execpt for the usb driver so your computer can recognise the g1 as mass storage device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you meant to say "ADB interface" instead of "mass storage device."

t1n0m3n said:
I think you meant to say "ADB interface" instead of "mass storage device."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The system type is set to "Quaalcom MSM", so I would imagine that it's optimizing for arm6l.

cyanogen said:
The system type is set to "Quaalcom MSM", so I would imagine that it's optimizing for arm6l.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like it. Well, other than that, are there any other obtimizations anyone else can think of?

there are few things in linux that you can play with to see if you get any performance increase. It's mainly in memory management. run ls on /proc/sys/vm. you can play with the page cache but I doubt that you'll get much perf increase from it since, since most of the things we can play with are for write back cache. If we have access to the dalvikvm we may be able to do more optimization. The one thing that I've always wanted to be able to do is to pin Home in memory, and not allow garbage collector to kill it, so when we exit out of memory intensive apps, like browser, gallery, etc, we do not have to wait for Home to reload. If we have more control over garbage collection we may be able to do more, but I don't know much about the dalvikvm at all.

taking a quick look at the vm. The only nob that may have any effect on android may be vfs_cache_pressure. theoretically setting to 200 would push fs cache out quicker and give more memory to the vm. default is set to 100. I set it to 200 and 300 but didn't notice any difference.

knaries2000 said:
there are few things in linux that you can play with to see if you get any performance increase. It's mainly in memory management. run ls on /proc/sys/vm. you can play with the page cache but I doubt that you'll get much perf increase from it since, since most of the things we can play with are for write back cache. If we have access to the dalvikvm we may be able to do more optimization. The one thing that I've always wanted to be able to do is to pin Home in memory, and not allow garbage collector to kill it, so when we exit out of memory intensive apps, like browser, gallery, etc, we do not have to wait for Home to reload. If we have more control over garbage collection we may be able to do more, but I don't know much about the dalvikvm at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dxtop, which is a home replacement, does exactly that. It keeps itself in memory so going back to it is much faster than the default home application. And in low memory situations, it tries to free up as much resources as possible while still staying in memory.

[Q] Lag after some days of use - GB

Hi there,
I am on MIUI GB (2.4.13) and I noticed the same issue on CM7, so I guess this is kernel related as I already tried to uninstall every app on my phone.
After 3 or 4 days of use, I can feel the phone waking up slower and having more lags during sweeping home pages or even typing sms.
I use setCPU with no overclock and tried smartass, ondemand and interactive governors, each time having the same issue.
I think this is related to memory usage because after a fresh boot, my phone is about 450 mb free, if I launch successivly all my apps i reach about 400 mb and the phone is still flying.
But after some days of use the available memory drops to 300 mb and lower, and each time I notice this comes with the lags.
Does anyone experience the same issue, or better, knows a way to fix it ?
I don't post really ofter so I will also thank Nexx and superkid for their work on the early stage of the Desire S developpement.

Anyone on this ?
Just to confirm that I am not alone >.<
Maybe a thread somewhere already talks about this...

A few things you could try:
1) V6 Turbocharger by Zeppelinrox HERE
If your new to this you can look here
Using SuperCharger Starter Kit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
near the bottom of the thread.
Using script manager to open the *.pdf, set as su save then run it you will have many options including 'quick engine flush' and 'detailing' which will help your particular problem. These actions and others can run from your home screen too via widget as a short background process. Once you've ran the script with script manager, exit script manager, choose SM widget from home-screen and find the particular script you ran before. Then you can flush whenever you experience lag building up.
2) Various Cache cleaning programs such as SDMaid etc...
3) A start-up manager to limit which programs boot on start-up. System Tuner Pro is a good all-round program you can try, that is feature rich.
Good Luck

Many thanks, I'll try V6 stuff, the developper is a good seller.
I'll install it on monday and tell my feedback here after 4 or 5 days.

What's in your tool box?

There are hundreds of apps that allow you to control all aspects of your interface, kernel, rom etc. What combination's is everyone using?
I am sure I have too many apps to do random jobs and want to minimise this bulk.

Rom Toolbox Pro can probably replace the majority of your root apps, well worth paying for

Aside from Root Explorer, all I have are monitoring apps. Battery Monitor Widget, CPU Spy, aLogcat, RIL Infos, Terminal Emulator and OpenGLES Extension Viewer.
My kernel control is done by init.d scripts and editing init.qcom.post_boot.sh. Since we got ICS, I just don't trust CPU apps. System Tuner is flaky, FauxClock hasn't been updated in ages, never really used Antutu and I didn't pay for SetCPU since it stopped being free. Plus I don't know what these apps are doing behind the scenes, whereas I know exactly what the scripts are doing.
For what it's worth, I'm running Faux 007u, Intellidemand governor @ 1.35 GHz max, with 1.08 GHz for my two-phase freq, no GPU OC. Works great.

[Q] LC-Power MIRA-1 / M105F Andorid 4.0.4 Questions

Hello,
I do hope my questions fit in here.
I recently bought the LC-Power MIRA-1 10.1" tablet. In google play it is called "unknown M105F"
the tablet has a 1,2 GHz A10 - ARM Cortex A8 CPU and a Mali 400MP GPU
i do have some experience with backup/root/uc&oc and even custom mods with my motorola defy phone (currently running cm7.2 stable)
when "playing" around with my defy i found it was sold in big numbers and is very well supported not only here but in any number of other communities. however, since my new tablet is pretty new to the market and no brand tablet, finding information on it is near impossible.
i do hope this will change in the future, especially since I really feel that my tablet is well suited for a number of tasks and with the price tag of ~150 EUR might even have a chance of finding its way in the hands of many people
anyway, even if the tablet is fine as it is now, it could be better. i am talking about modifications and this is what this thread is about.
1) BACKUP
in case i screw up, I really would love to have the possibility of resetting everything(!) back to factory defaults.
with my defy it is as easy as downloading the official sfb and flashing it with rsd lite
this wont work here for obvious reasons
is there a possibility to download the firmware to the pc (from the tablet) and later restoring it? probably not
so the only way left is nandroid backup?
easier said than done with a new device and without root...
also, i would very much prefer to have a backup without root / be sure to be able to remove all modifications i made like installing clockwork mod and rooting...
2) ROOT
for various reasons I'd like to have root. according to my information, rooting 4.0.4 is dependant on the device.
considering i have an unknown device, short of trying every possibility, what else could i do/try?
3) UNDERCLOCK/OVERCLOCK
I would LOVE to try to UC and OC the tablet. I know this might fail miserabely, but I could try.
IF i had root and any idea on how to find (again, short of trying every possible app) a working app.
any ideas?
4) GENERAL CUSTOMISATION
i learned that a well made custommod (like 7.2 for my defy) can make a huge difference in customisation and performance.
I would be willing to try a stable custommod but for now, I dont think that is viable since they usually are device specific.
So all I can do is use another launcher and hope for the best. I really like the performance, functions and especial the ability to customize the AWD Launcher that came with the cm7.2 for my phone.
According to google play the awd launcher is not compatible with my device. i cant imagine why, but there it is.
now, is there a way to still try it?
and what launcher comes closest to the performance, feel and customizability of the awd launcher (i do NOT care about special visual effects on which most launchers seem to concentrate)?
5) SIMILAR DEVICES
the best way to approach all those questions might be to find a (very) similar tablet and try to extrapolate answers from there onto my device.
however, I have no clue on how to figure out what chipset my tablet uses and what other information might be needed to try it that way
---
thats it for now
any and all help will be appreciated!
thank you for reading this
Catwiesel

Hello
okay, I have some news...
since no one had anything to say I went ahead and started trying stuff out...
Apparently, the tablet is rooted by default (or my measurement of being rooted is wrong):
- when i run the app root checker, it says it is rooted
- when i run adb shell / su the prompt is root:directoy #
- i can create and delete files from /system/app
still, something is up...:
- using the adb shell i can create a file in /system/app (touch test.tst)
- if i try to delete/move anything in the adb shell from /system/app apparently the file can not be found
- it works in terminal emulator
- ive installed superuser, but have yet to see the "application asks for superuser rights"
- with the default file browser or es file explorer i can not get to / (stuck in /sdcard) EDIT: Resolved, layer8 problem!
ive also tried some overclocking apps
- they either do not go beyond 1.2ghz (stock) - the apps however is more or less to uc, not oc
- they crash the tablet even with 1248mhz - maybe the scaling gouvanours fault?
- underclocking seems to work (by accident i set the mhz from 1200 to 60 and well... it was SLOW)
i also found out some stuff (quick info system pro)
- ARMv7 processor rev 2(v71) (ARM Cortex A8 1,2GHz - at least according to the tech sheet at the manufactorer)
- sun4i
so, i wonder:
- is the tablet actually sold rooted? then why do i not get superuser permission popups?
- is my hardware not overclockable with (those) apps (i have) and/or do i actually need a custom kernel (ive read abput self compiled kernel for sun4i and another tablet)
ive gotta say, even with a bit of experience in android (acutally, very little) and a bit of linux (not too much, but decent enough) i am sorta confused

...not alone
I´d bought 2 devices LC Power Mira 2 yesterday...they should be delivered on friday...so hang on...you´re no longer alone...
It could be that the device is rooted...as far as I know...
Google runs some kind of an quality assurance by denying some "nobrand" manufactures the total Android 4.0 compatibility.
For an example the Arnova (Archon´s budget line) 10b G3 is running 4.0 but without the Play Store, ´cause the device is not fully supported as an "Quality Android 4.0 Device" and you have to use a custom rom on that tablet.
That´s one reason to spend 5 Euros more for the Mira2 which have it all onboard...or am I wrong...?

thearclight said:
I´d bought 2 devices LC Power Mira 2 yesterday...say should be delivered on friday...so hang on...you´re no longer alone...
It could be that the device is rooted...as far as I know...
Google runs some kind of an quality assurance by denying some "nobrand" manufactures the total Android 4.0 compatibility.
For an example the Arnova (Archon´s budget line) 10b G3 is running 4.0 but without the Play Store, ´cause the device is not fully supported as an "Quality Android 4.0 Device" and you have to use a custom rom on that tablet.
That´s one reason to spend 5 Euros more for the Mira2 which have it all onboard...or am I wrong...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, indeed, at least the MIRA-1 tablet does come prerooted. This is of course nice (since I do not have to try root it myself) but also troubeling, since there is a good reason that android devices usually are not sold rooted. The bigger problem however seems to be that the superuser app is not working properly, i.e. I do not get the "this app is requesting superuser acess" question and probably for the same reason can not get my file browser (ES file browser) to go into the / directory.
what and if other apps could have trouble with the root access that apperently not every app is "finding" i dont know. i do hope not!
however, using the android sdk or shell emulator, all kinds of SU operations can indeed be executed.
concerning your google play store question (was it a question?), yes, the MIRA-1 tablet has google play installed and it can be used without any peticular limitation. its a safe bet that the mira-2 will be able to, too.
my experience with overclocking the tablet does not bode well. even a 48Mhz (smallest step) increase will freeze it. I have tried multiple apps.
i do not have any absolute answer so far. it could be that the oc apps have trouble with the root or are plain the wrong apps or simply that the cpu is already at its absolute limit and just can not be oced.
further investigation into this issue has revealed that apparently other tablets with similar hardware configuration may be able to overclock but apparently it would be neccesary to edit config files and with those compile the kernel. this is far beyond of what i can do and would be willing to do.
i am a bit sad about that, then yeah, the tablet is nice and good enough for me and worth the money, but a bit more speed could not hurt. it does happen that the tablet gets unresponsive for .5-1sec when browsing the web.
one last thought. the gpu does seem to be pretty "powerfull" (please, do not take me to literal.)
but i have yet to find any game that does not run smooth and looks good. according to my information i came across, the gpu is indeed well known for its good performance in 3d and full hd playback
(one exception. snes emulator is unplayable slow. but here i too blame the cpu, not gpu)

...
...sounds good to the fact that I won´t expecting more for this price. Hey 157€ is´nt very much for an 10.1" tablet...
...I´d got also my LG P990 as Android device and smartphone...believe Me...I know what it means being betrayed...no updates...Tegra ? - nVidia ?...I don´t wanna talk about it...lol
It´s rooted and I never got problems with some apps about this fact...ok it´s still on 2.3...thanks LG, by pretending the update comes in May 2012...
I´d send an e-mail to the support of LCpower, by asking about an list of compatible 3g Sticks...10min. later...Answer and an Exel-file with the whole list...great service...´til now...
I just hope that I´d bought 2 "nice" family tablets for a few funny games, sometimes a movie, some social networking...nothing more.
Hope I did´nt misunderstood something here...
...is it only possible with another Explorer (like Astro and ES) to get to the files of an external SD Card or not ???

thearclight said:
...sounds good to the fact that I won´t expecting more for this price. Hey 157€ is´nt very much for an 10.1" tablet...
...I´d got also my LG P990 as Android device and smartphone...believe Me...I know what it means being betrayed...no updates...Tegra ? - nVidia ?...I don´t wanna talk about it...lol
It´s rooted and I never got problems with some apps about this fact...ok it´s still on 2.3...thanks LG, by pretending the update comes in May 2012...
I´d send an e-mail to the support of LCpower, by asking about an list of compatible 3g Sticks...10min. later...Answer and an Exel-file with the whole list...great service...´til now...
I just hope that I´d bought 2 "nice" family tablets for a few funny games, sometimes a movie, some social networking...nothing more.
Hope I did´nt misunderstood something here...
...is it only possible with another Explorer (like Astro and ES) to get to the files of an external SD Card or not ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, the external sd card behaves a bit strange (at least for my understanding of android)
in short:
we have 2+1 memories in the tablet:
1 internal memory (small, i think 256mb, quite full with the android os and the apps)
1 other internal memory (the 8GB)
1 slot for the sd card, the +1 memory
now, everything begins at / (i figure this is the small internal memory)
the 2nd internal memory with 8gb is mounted under /mnt/sdcard and i believe /sdcard (where i would expect the sdcard!)
the sdcard itself can be found at /mnt/extsd
es file explorer has some trouble with that. if you launch it, it will start in /sdcard
since it does not recognize root, you can not go to /
since you cant type in the path by hand you can not go to /mnt
so apparently you cant browse the sd card with es file explorer (or i havent figured it out yet)
the preinstalled file explorer has no trouble with it at all. in fact, it even actually sends you to the right memory when you tap the corresponding symbols (as preinstalled file explorers go, it is actually not so bad)
ive tried setting up some symlinks but failed. maybe i did it wrong, maybe it just wont work.
another possibility to fix it could be editing fstab. but this could be dangerous and/or cause more problems then it helps
i filed that as a minor inconvenience to be adressed when im bored enough

...
Ok...this means...that I just hope that the Mira2 is accepting my microSD16GB and I can use it quite as normal...
In 2.3 it´s still the structure: " /mnt ---> /mnt/sdcard ---> /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD"
Is this structure changed in 4.0 ?

thearclight said:
Ok...this means...that I just hope that the Mira2 is accepting my microSD16GB and I can use it quite as normal...
In 2.3 it´s still the structure: " /mnt ---> /mnt/sdcard ---> /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD"
Is this structure changed in 4.0 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well on my mobile phone (motorola defy with cm7.2) i have /sdcard and /mnt/sdcard - actually being the sdcard
i also have /sd-ext which is empty
i dont know if that is the default for all android versions and/or if there are differences in sd-card mount points in android
however, the behaviour of the phone seems more logical (or its just that i am used to it)
whatever it is... the sd card of the tablet can not be accessed by /mnt/sdcard/ANYTHING
however, further research especially with the es file browser has shown that indeed you can browse the sd-card /mnt/extsd by switching the two in the favorites options.
so, maybe it makes sense, maybe it dont.
maybe its andorid 4.0.4 conform, or not.
what is important is that apps apparently dont mind (they do get installed on the 8gb internal memory mounted at /mnt/sdcard and /sdcard) and so far have yet to refuse to work/show strange behaviour
also, it is possible to move/copy etc files between /mnt/sdcard and /mnt/extsd and browse both directories, at least with the default android file explorer as well as es file browser.

So...a little update...the 2 devices are now in our hands...for about one week...
....and everything I can telling 'bout them...
,,.they're working great. Not a single bad issue, no freezes, and as far as we can see...
...for a price around 160€ there is no better tablet on the market.
Since yesterday I run the game Wild Blood (Unreal Engine 3 Game) which is most famous for an app who killed some tablets and phones...but nit the mira2 ...it's playable.
The device was also rooted "out of the box" but I can't find a single problem with the external SDcard or other USB Hosts I tested.
Sent from my MIRA-2 using xda app-developers app

Had the same issue thanks for the help guys

Perfomace apps for rooted devices

[email protected]@T:
Hi guyz today im gonna discuss about top apps which increses perfomance or are helful in any other way on rooted devices only.
1 >Greenify
Greenify is an Android app that can improve your device's battery life and performance by hibernating certain apps.
2>SEEDER
Many people might not be aware of this app.This app reduces the lag which every one of you might have experienced while switching between apps.I personally have experienced this app and it actually does remove lags.
3> XPOSED INSTALLER
Xposed is a framework for modules that can change the behavior of the system and apps without touching any APKs. That's great because it means that modules can work for different versions and even ROMs without any changes (as long as the original code was not changed too much). It's also easy to undo. As all changes are done in the memory, you just need to deactivate the module and reboot to get your original system back. There are many other advantages, but here is just one more: Multiple modules can do changes to the same part of the system or app. With modified APKs, you to decide for one. No way to combine them, unless the author builds multiple APKs with different combinations.
4> SET CPU
SetCPU is a tool for changing the CPU settings on a rooted Android phone or tablet. SetCPU works with a great variety of Android devices and ROMs, including the HTC One series, Samsung Galaxy series, and Nexus devices. You're under control: SetCPU can improve your performance, save battery, or both!
Automate SetCPU with profiles! SetCPU allows you to set up powerful profiles to change your settings under certain conditions, such as what app is running, when the phone is asleep or charging, when the battery level drops below a certain point, when the phone's temperature is too high, or during certain times of day. See the screenshots for examples of how you might set up profiles.
SetCPU's wide feature set make it useful to Android beginners and enthusiasts alike. Accelerate yo...
5> CHAINFIRE 3D
Chainfire3D is an intermediary OpenGL driver. What does that mean? It means that Chainfire3D sits between your apps and the graphics drivers, and can intercept and/or change commands between the two. It has some built-in functions, and can be further extended with plugins too.
6> NO-FRILLS CPU
No-frills CPU Control is a tool you can use on your Android phone to quickly set the CPU frequencies and governor to use. It allows you to use the highest frequency your phone supports and gain some precious FPS in your preferred game, or go down to the lowest frequency and gain some more juice when your phone is sitting idle. All of this without any memory footprint or services running in the background!
8> TITANIUM BACKUP
Titanium Backup is a backup utility for Android that backs up your system and user applications along with their data on external storage of your choice. It is a leading Android application that uses root access to pull all your important applications and data from the system partition and stores them for future restoration. Whether your phone is corrupted or flashed with a custom ROM, Titanium Backup can save the hassle to get your phone loaded up just like it was before. Best of all, it is FREE! If you use it regularly, the PRO version will enhance the experience like never before! Get it today and protect your precious data before its too late!
9> ROOT APP DELETE
best tool for android users, and works better with root permission.
it helps you easily and quickly manager system apps (freeze or remove), the best tool for managing your android system.
compared to other clean or uninstall tools, it is much more better and special:
* tiny,fast, even running on old phones with low memory.
* "modify" MODE, change system apps before uninstalling
* can "Disable" backgroud system service, such as "google backgroud transport" and "contact sync service"
I have personally used all the apps and I think they are very good.
Sent from my Micromax a110 using XDA Free mobile app

Where can I get that Seeder app? Thanks.
Sent from my SM-N910C using XDA Free mobile app