Related
SWAP on internal
Extend your RAM with very quick internal SWAP
v0.5 alpha​
For the moment, the script is confirmed to work only on ROMs with the chinese x-part (or data2ext) by Atroy script only (read at the end of this post for alternative).
The only ROM I am aware of using this script out of the box is the excellent MIUI XJ x-part.
However, I intend to develop a non-loop based version shortly. It should will be compatible with most ROMs, so stay tuned.
What and Why
I decided to make a script that places the swap file on internal memory. Many people place it on SD card, but to me it seems somewhat pointless, as it hardly offers sufficient performance.
However, placing it on the internal memory makes it a much more interesting concept, because it has much better random read/write performance than even the fastest SD cards.
Warning: placing SWAP on internal memory will subject it to frequent read/write operations which in theory shortens lifespan of internal memory chip which you cannot replace. This is because flash memory has limited number of write/read cycles to it. So, consider yourself warned.
HOWEVER:
1 - although true, in reality I have been unable to find any case of this actually affecting anyone's phone. There is very limited amount of data documenting real-life effect of that process, but most likely your device will be long gone before the internal memory will show any signs of wear.
2 - the script recreates the swap file on each boot using different physical blocks of memory - this means not the same blocks are always used. More on this in 'Do it right' section.
Do It Right
1. 16-32 MB of swap should suffice. If you think you need more, you are probably wrong. NEVER use all available internal space. The larger the proportion difference between swap size and total free space on the internal data partition, the more breathing space your internal memory gets, as this allows the swap file to be moved around upon every reboot, which, in turn, will make it use the same blocks more rarely, and thus extending memory chip lifespan.
2. Get rid of bloat you don't use from the system partition, ie: ringtones, live wallpapers, useless system apps. Then create a custom
hboot with smaller system partition and larger data partition. You can do it using this (also attached to this post).
3. Play around with swappiness parameter. Still, the default set by the script should serve you well. But if you are paranoid, you can use it to further decrease how often system will write to swap.
Removal
Disable execution flag on the scipt in /system/etc/init.d and delete swap.img from internal data directory (on x-part scripts it is /mnt/asec/mtddata/ )
v0.5 alpha
* first public release
* loop device version only
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x-part Impacted script (80% chance of rendering your ROM unbootable)
I attached a data2ext script which should offer better performance and battery life than some other a2sd scripts.
You are free to try and flash it on your ROM, but there is a good chance it won't boot any more - this is a very alpha version and I am not working on it at the moment.
Do not post complaints about it here. I only want to hear from you if it works!
So this allocates a part of your internal memory for random access? Nice.
I personally don't need more RAM, but this could be useful.
This sounds really good to my ears :good:
I will keep an eye on it.
Edit:
A small question:
So is it possible to use this for any rom if you are using data2ext for it?
Or atm only for miui xj?
Androidmarketuser said:
A small question:
So is it possible to use this for any rom if you are using data2ext for it?
Or atm only for miui xj?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to use Atroy's data2ext, which is virtually impossible to obtain because it was developed as part of chinese MIUI rom and never released as a separate script.
However, I have been working on it and I am attaching an alpha version of my adaptation of this script to the first post
Let me know if it works, but there is a good chance your ROM will not boot any more.
impactor said:
However, I have been working on it and I am attaching an alpha version of my adaptation of this script to the first post
Let me know if it works, but there is a good chance your ROM will not boot any more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer
I tried to install it on CM10 by vj but it didn't work. Here are my steps:
Wiped everything except sd
Installed rom, then data2ext script and finally the swap script.
I'm on a ext4 partition if it matters.
I think (not really sure) one script has created two folders: /data/ and /data-app/ on sdcard.
Or did I just install it the wrong way?
Edit: The problem was as you expected that it stucked at HTC bootlogo.
Androidmarketuser said:
Edit: The problem was as you expected that it stucked at HTC bootlogo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to try x-part script, then do not flash swap script until you confirm the x-part rom works.
Try with some GB rom. Maybe you'll have more luck.
impactor said:
If you want to try x-part script, then do not flash swap script until you confirm the x-part rom works.
Try with some GB rom. Maybe you'll have more luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try it out that way on JB first (I am addicted to the new design, can't go back:crying, if it doesn't work I will try it out with 2.3 anyway.
---------- Post added at 08:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 PM ----------
Ok on JB the data2ext script doesn't seem to work, I can't boot.
I will try it out later with a GB rom, propably EuroSkank
Hmm still doesn't work.
I tried MW7 on Redux2 but stucks at boot logo...
Custom hboot maker link from thalasmus blog is dead!
Can someone plz attach it here!
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda app-developers app
vasili_defy said:
Custom hboot maker link from thalasmus blog is dead!
Can someone plz attach it here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Attached.
Don't have swap on internal! The number of read/writes will just kill your nand by creating loads of bad blocks.
Just my 2 cents
Kind Regards
Dave
topgeardave said:
Don't have swap on internal! The number of read/writes will just kill your nand by creating loads of bad blocks.
Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And pray tell, apart from hearsay, what else do you have to support the claim that it will occur within foreseeable lifetime of the device?
I'd love to learn.
impactor said:
And pray tell, apart from hearsay, what else do you have to support the claim that it will occur within foreseeable lifetime of the device?
I'd love to learn.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After flashing ROMs on my Desire for nearly 2 years I'm starting to get bad blocks on my nand. Having a swap partition on internal would accelerate the process of getting more bad blocks. That's what I think anyway. Check your recovery.log for bad blocks next time you wipe your phone.
Kind Regards
Dave
Sent from my HTC Sensation using xda app-developers app
I tried this on Alex-V 1.8 and nothing happened
probably did something wrong
I'll try again later
topgeardave said:
After flashing ROMs on my Desire for nearly 2 years I'm starting to get bad blocks on my nand. Having a swap partition on internal would accelerate the process of getting more bad blocks. That's what I think anyway. Check your recovery.log for bad blocks next time you wipe your phone.
Kind Regards
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads-up. But I gave a clear warning about in the first post. After two years, my desire has 4 bad blocks, which amounts to less than 0.5mb of internal space (less than 0.1%). Everyone should make a concious decision about using internal swap.
It will degrade the memory chip, yes, but is the degradation significant enough to care? Everyone has to decide for himself.
impactor said:
Thanks for the heads-up. But I gave a clear warning about in the first post. After two years, my desire has 4 bad blocks, which amounts to less than 0.5mb of internal space (less than 0.1%). Everyone should make a concious decision about using internal swap.
It will degrade the memory chip, yes, but is the degradation significant enough to care? Everyone has to decide for himself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how can I check if it's running on my rom...?
Balino said:
how can I check if it's running on my rom...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into terminal and run "free"
impactor said:
Go into terminal and run "free"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says swap 0... I think woh's roms doesn't support swap....
So I'm pretty sure I have my Wingray Xoom updated and using the new partitions because I have the new CM installed and running. But my issue is when I went to do the BigPart procedure the data partition wouldn't mount after switching over to F2FS so I have it in ext4. How do I get it over to F2FS because without it the tablet seems to run slow and choppy.
Beeko said:
So I'm pretty sure I have my Wingray Xoom updated and using the new partitions because I have the new CM installed and running. But my issue is when I went to do the BigPart procedure the data partition wouldn't mount after switching over to F2FS so I have it in ext4. How do I get it over to F2FS because without it the tablet seems to run slow and choppy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm am nowhere near an expert, but my understanding is that, while the BigPart TWRP is F2FS compatible, there are not yet any Xoom ROMS (or kernels???) that are F2FS compatible. Therefore there is no way to get F2FS to work on the Xoom at this time.
Beeko said:
So I'm pretty sure I have my Wingray Xoom updated and using the new partitions because I have the new CM installed and running. But my issue is when I went to do the BigPart procedure the data partition wouldn't mount after switching over to F2FS so I have it in ext4. How do I get it over to F2FS because without it the tablet seems to run slow and choppy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
slow1234 said:
I'm am nowhere near an expert, but my understanding is that, while the BigPart TWRP is F2FS compatible, there are not yet any Xoom ROMS (or kernels???) that are F2FS compatible. Therefore there is no way to get F2FS to work on the Xoom at this time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
F2FS needs support in the kernel. F2FS is currently only supported in 3.0+ linux kernels. As I'm sure you are both aware we have a 2.6 kernel which is now prehistoric!
BRD looked into it and from what I gather said it couldn't be done without extensive work, schischu was looking into it last month I believe and deciding whether to take on the task.
We haven't heard anything since.
I would assume we will not get F2FS but we can always hope
Well even if there aren't any ROMs or kernels that support F2FS why is it that I can't mount data partition after re-partitioning it. Shouldn't I be able to format it and mount it anyway?
Beeko said:
Well even if there aren't any ROMs or kernels that support F2FS why is it that I can't mount data partition after re-partitioning it. Shouldn't I be able to format it and mount it anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's probably an indication that the repartition went wrong. Hop over to the bigPart thread and ask for assistance there. You may want to start over.
Q&A for [MOD] SD-EXT Boot MOD - CM12
Some developers prefer that questions remain separate from their main development thread to help keep things organized. Placing your question within this thread will increase its chances of being answered by a member of the community or by the developer.
Before posting, please use the forum search and read through the discussion thread for [MOD] SD-EXT Boot MOD - CM12. If you can't find an answer, post it here, being sure to give as much information as possible (firmware version, steps to reproduce, logcat if available) so that you can get help.
Thanks for understanding and for helping to keep XDA neat and tidy!
I do not know how to use this mod who can help me ?
I do not know how to use this mod who can help me ?
Encryption Unsuccessful Message
I tried both mod1, 2, and 3. Each time I load my rom, load the BOOT-MOD-3.zip, and then my apps (PA Gapps).
I keep getting a Encryption unsuccessful message. Also to note, during the initial boot, it only preps/installs 12-14 apps and not the 70+ that usually need to be done when I don't run the move mod.
Any ideas?
bin8636 said:
I do not know how to use this mod who can help me ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use google to find how to create a sd-ext, there are many guides.
sillysuliman said:
I tried both mod1, 2, and 3. Each time I load my rom, load the BOOT-MOD-3.zip, and then my apps (PA Gapps).
I keep getting a Encryption unsuccessful message. Also to note, during the initial boot, it only preps/installs 12-14 apps and not the 70+ that usually need to be done when I don't run the move mod.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to wipe all partitions except sdcard in recovery, flash rom, gapps, then mod.
When you update rom, flash rom then mod again, that's it.
SD-ext needs to be a second primary partition formatted in ext4 (or f2fs if using cm12/cm12.1).
Note: New versions uploaded. Now supports all ivanich's ROMs (cm11,cm12,cm12.1).
@hinxnz: great mod, thx!
Working great for me, but I got 2 questions:
1) I flashed the newest cm12.1 two days ago and flashed your mod (all in SD except dalvic) afterwards. Now you uploaded a New Version compatible with all ivanich Roms. Does your update make any differences for me with cm12.1? Should I reflash?
2) You just said that the mod should be flashed after gapps, I did it the other way round. Does it matter? Got no problems so far.
Sent from my Sensation using XDA Free mobile app
Tommyfirebird said:
@hinxnz : great mod, thx!
Working great for me, but I got 2 questions:
1) I flashed the newest cm12.1 two days ago and flashed your mod (all in SD except dalvic) afterwards. Now you uploaded a New Version compatible with all ivanich Roms. Does your update make any differences for me with cm12.1? Should I reflash?
2) You just said that the mod should be flashed after gapps, I did it the other way round. Does it matter? Got no problems so far.
Sent from my Sensation using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't matter in what order, as long as the mod is flashed after ROM because it edits ramdisk in the kernel.
Your fine with the version you have, it will act the same. You can flash the newer version when you update your ROM.
Problem with storage size
Thanks very much for the mod.
I wanted to use "All Data excl. Dalvik-Cache" and ivanichs cm 12.1 with 4ext recovery.
I was using delta-roh method on my previous installation.
I wiped all partitions except SD card. clean install the rom, then pico gapps and then this mod. Then i install my backups with titanium backup and it started to say storage is full.
When I checked the storage it was still showin 1.15gb and it was full. But installed app size was showing 2gb. I wast able to get sms because of the storage was full.
Am I missing something with the installation method?
Thanks is advance for the replies.
How can I check free/used space on idata?
Sent from my Sensation using XDA Free mobile app
Same problem
Hey guys, I'm having the same problem than AKAndrew41. It gives me encryption unsuccessful screen after reboot. It keeps loading at bootloop and can't enter recovery neither. Can you help me?
Thank you!
sicko40 said:
Hey guys, I'm having the same problem than AKAndrew41. It gives me encryption unsuccessful screen after reboot. It keeps loading at bootloop and can't enter recovery neither. Can you help me?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I flashed boot.img (this file I unzipped from ivanich ROM 18.04.2015 ROM) from the computer with adb and flashed ivanich ROM 18.04.2015 from TWRP ivanich. It's helped.
Sent from my Sensation using XDA Free mobile app
Tommyfirebird said:
How can I check free/used space on idata?
Sent from my Sensation using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could use a root file explorer and check the properties of /idata or just enter code below into a terminal emulator. To enable terminal in cm12, goto developer options and enable local terminal.
Code:
df /idata
sicko40 said:
Hey guys, I'm having the same problem than AKAndrew41. It gives me encryption unsuccessful screen after reboot. It keeps loading at bootloop and can't enter recovery neither. Can you help me?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To enter recovery pull battery out, then reinsert it. Hold down volume down button while powering up device and it will enter bootloader, which then you can enter recovery by selecting recovery.
You must have a second primary partition (sd-ext) of your sdcard formatted as ext4 (or you can choose to use f2fs if using cm12 or cm12.1).
If your formatting your whole sdcard instead of shrinking your fat32 partition, then you need to create the first partition (fat32) first and then the second (ext4 or f2fs), otherwise they will be labelled wrong.
CM11 doesn't support f2fs, so if you format it as f2fs on CM11, you will get an encryption error and same goes I guess if you format a partition in ext2 or ext3 because it's not configured in fstab.
Did you try flashing ROM and then mod again, maybe it was a bad flash, it can happen.
I'm using your MOD Plus V3 with 2 f2fs partitions at the moment, which I created with GParted.
What does TWRP do when wiping sd-ext in recovery? If I need to wipe both is there any posibility without using GParted?
And similar, what is backuped by TWRP when doing a backup of sd-ext?
Multi swap
Hi there,
I love the work you've been doing on the sensation and I'm glad to still be using it 4 years on with the latest CM12.1. I have a problem with lagginess after multiple attempts to install CM12.1 and your boot mod v1.2. It seems to be an issue relating to the memory and swap, and I noticed running the cat /proc/swaps shows BOTH /dev/block/zram0 AND the data partition. Removing the zram0 by using the swapoff command speeds the phone up loads. Is there a permanent fix though to persist after reboots?
Thanks,
Keith
geekshow said:
Hi there,
I love the work you've been doing on the sensation and I'm glad to still be using it 4 years on with the latest CM12.1. I have a problem with lagginess after multiple attempts to install CM12.1 and your boot mod v1.2. It seems to be an issue relating to the memory and swap, and I noticed running the cat /proc/swaps shows BOTH /dev/block/zram0 AND the data partition. Removing the zram0 by using the swapoff command speeds the phone up loads. Is there a permanent fix though to persist after reboots?
Thanks,
Keith
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Keith, zram shouldn't be active, my mod disables it in fstab.pyramid, found in the root directory.
I don't know why it's activated on your side, maybe an app or init.d script.
To disable it, you could use an init.d script.
Code:
#!/sbin/sh
# Disable ZRAM
swapoff /dev/block/zram0
ZRAM sorted
Thanks for the reply mate. I installed TWRP (from 4ext) and used it to reformat everything and start from scratch which sorted out the ZRAM0 issue.
After reinstalling ivanich's CM12.1 and your boot mod v1.2 it was much better. I'm still having intermittent lag and slow network speeds so I reverted to CM11 this morning (with your boot mod) to see if it was any quicker. Seems to be much quicker but the lag persists. Weirdly I get the lag most in the settings, and it bombs out sometimes. I'm wondering if it could be to do with my SD card partitions which were created in GParted, not TWRP.
If you've got any ideas of things to check I'm all ears.
Thanks for the kind support!
geekshow said:
Thanks for the reply mate. I installed TWRP (from 4ext) and used it to reformat everything and start from scratch which sorted out the ZRAM0 issue.
After reinstalling ivanich's CM12.1 and your boot mod v1.2 it was much better. I'm still having intermittent lag and slow network speeds so I reverted to CM11 this morning (with your boot mod) to see if it was any quicker. Seems to be much quicker but the lag persists. Weirdly I get the lag most in the settings, and it bombs out sometimes. I'm wondering if it could be to do with my SD card partitions which were created in GParted, not TWRP.
If you've got any ideas of things to check I'm all ears.
Thanks for the kind support!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries, first try a lower swappiness value by lowering value in /cache/swap.conf, save it and then reboot.
Try 30 or 40, default is 60. See how it goes.
If you still have lag then your memory could be running very low, use an app or init.d script to raise minfree values slighty higher.
I don't think it has to do with your sd partitions, could be your sdcard is a little slow maybe.
You could probably check the partitions in twrp or gparted though.
If you sort it, post what you did :good:
hinxnz said:
No worries, first try a lower swappiness value by lowering value in /cache/swap.conf, save it and then reboot.
Try 30 or 40, default is 60. See how it goes.
If you still have lag then your memory could be running very low, use an app or init.d script to raise minfree values slighty higher.
I don't think it has to do with your sd partitions, could be your sdcard is a little slow maybe.
You could probably check the partitions in twrp or gparted though.
If you sort it, post what you did :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update: Blew everything away again and installed cm12.1 fresh without the SD-EXT mod and it runs fast and lag-free. Installed the sd-ext and lagginess came back. :-/
I had previously tried a fresh install with another SD partitioned by TWRP, made no difference to lagginess. Lower swappiness values seemed to have a minor difference but still laggy.
The lagginess seemed to be mostly when loading from disk. Applications in RAM seemed to run fine until they needed to load something. Downloads very slow on WiFi or 3g, titanium backup very slow too. Strange...
It would be nice to get it working but this is a tad baffling. Thanks for your kind support!
Keith
geekshow said:
Update: Blew everything away again and installed cm12.1 fresh without the SD-EXT mod and it runs fast and lag-free. Installed the sd-ext and lagginess came back. :-/
I had previously tried a fresh install with another SD partitioned by TWRP, made no difference to lagginess. Lower swappiness values seemed to have a minor difference but still laggy.
The lagginess seemed to be mostly when loading from disk. Applications in RAM seemed to run fine until they needed to load something. Downloads very slow on WiFi or 3g, titanium backup very slow too. Strange...
It would be nice to get it working but this is a tad baffling. Thanks for your kind support!
Keith
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to me that your sdcard is not fast enough, what make and kind of card do you have?
SDHC or SDXC and UHS-I or UHS-II
I have a Sandisk Ultra SDHC UHS-I and it's only just fast enough for this mod, I need a faster one really.
I have no issues with download speeds with wifi, not really related to mod though, could be slow at writing to sdcard.
Titanium could be slow due to slower writing speeds on sdcard too as it has to build dalvik-caches on sdcard when restoring apps.
Edit: Can you try BOOT-MOD-1.1.zip, it's the non-plus version. It would be good to know if you still experience lags with it, if you do, then sdcard is not fast enough, otherwise could be something to do with the plus version, cheers.
hinxnz said:
Seems to me that your sdcard is not fast enough, what make and kind of card do you have?
SDHC or SDXC and UHS-I or UHS-II
I have a Sandisk Ultra SDHC UHS-I and it's only just fast enough for this mod, I need a faster one really.
I have no issues with download speeds with wifi, not really related to mod though, could be slow at writing to sdcard.
Titanium could be slow due to slower writing speeds on sdcard too as it has to build dalvik-caches on sdcard when restoring apps.
Edit: Can you try BOOT-MOD-1.1.zip, it's the non-plus version. It would be good to know if you still experience lags with it, if you do, then sdcard is not fast enough, otherwise could be something to do with the plus version, cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using a Lexar 32GB class 10 SDHC, had no issues with it. I ran the A1 SD card benchmarking tool and it measured reads of 17 and writes of 11 MB/s. The internal flash reported speeds of 25MB/s read and 7MB/s write by comparison.
I'll try the BOOT-MOD v1.1 and report back...
Hi guys can you say to me how I can run f2fs file system on s6? and is worth comparing vs ext4 on s6?tnks :highfive:
marceloz5 said:
Hi guys can you say to me how I can run f2fs file system on s6? and is worth comparing vs ext4 on s6?tnks :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly you need to have a kernel installed which supports f2fs, I think only arters kernel supports it right now. The process involves converting the different partitions from ext4 to f2fs within twrp, so like data and system, if you look at benchmarks f2fs is better than ext4 but I've never done it personally so cannot give too much info, but the above is a quick rundown in what's involved
sofir786 said:
Firstly you need to have a kernel installed which supports f2fs, I think only arters kernel supports it right now. The process involves converting the different partitions from ext4 to f2fs within twrp, so like data and system, if you look at benchmarks f2fs is better than ext4 but I've never done it personally so cannot give too much info, but the above is a quick rundown in what's involved
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but its stable or secure/safe do it?
marceloz5 said:
but its stable or secure/safe do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is safe to do, but as with all mods there maybe instances where you might get hiccups. Just be aware that you are formatting the partitions so you will lose data, so make sure you do a full back up
Does the data partition formatted to F2FS cause random reboots? I cant seem to narrow it down to anything else. Every nougat rom i tried so far seems to random reboot 3-4 times a day with clean installs. What file format is recommended for custom roms on this phone?
you need a custom kernel for that i think, i thin firekernel has support.
idk tho i dont have experience with it
I believe that ext4 is the stock filesystem type for the data partition, I've never changed it.
Actually, the stock ROM has the data partition formatted as F2FS. It's one of the factors in making the lower end processor seem as fast and snappy as it is.
You can check it in TWRP recovery. Go to advanced wipe and check the formatting for the data partition.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
riggerman0421 said:
Actually, the stock ROM has the data partition formatted as F2FS. It's one of the factors in making the lower end processor seem as fast and snappy as it is.
You can check it in TWRP recovery. Go to advanced wipe and check the formatting for the data partition.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm... Your right, a quick look at mount in the terminal confirms that. Sorry, my bad.
Now that we know that, I guess the F2FS file system type is probably not the cause of your issues.
acejavelin said:
Hmm... Your right, a quick look at mount in the terminal confirms that. Sorry, my bad.
Now that we know that, I guess the F2FS file system type is probably not the cause of your issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I've tried different combinations of partitions formatted to f2fs and it would only work using data as F2FS. Im using the newest aosp extended. Maybe this rom will fix my reboot problems. I am new to this phone coming from a falcon. I know one thing, i am not enjoying moto display. The screen seems to turn on when you dont want it to all the time. I miss my notification LED.