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There are various mentions of a "memhack" to apply to the Milestone which apparently frees up some RAM. It also apparently can cause problems when flashing a different SBF.
Could someone help me out here by clarifying exactly what the memhack does and what are the circumstances under which it can cause problems?
Looks like this never got an answer, but now I'm seeing that some of the custom nandroid backups here make reference to using memhack. Could someone help me clarify this? I find a lot of Google hits but no explanations except in German... and it doesn't translate very well.
memhack does not free RAM but storage space. It simply moves the cache partition so you get more space for installing apps. As long as you wipe everything when restoring different nandroid backups, I don't think you can really have any issues. Also I don't really think it can affect your ability to flash SBF's. Maybe OTA updates could only be affected as cache gets moved where OTA upgrades are supposed to be downloaded and unpacked.
cmstlist said:
Looks like this never got an answer, but now I'm seeing that some of the custom nandroid backups here make reference to using memhack. Could someone help me clarify this? I find a lot of Google hits but no explanations except in German... and it doesn't translate very well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you open the script, if I recall correctly, it tries to move the dalvik-cache from the system partition to the cache partition, thus saving you space on the system partition.
i believe the latest version of apps2sd does this automatically ? i've got apps, apps-private and dalvik-cache on my sd card now...
somethingdope said:
i believe the latest version of apps2sd does this automatically ? i've got apps, apps-private and dalvik-cache on my sd card now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, if you have apps2sd you don't need to apply memhack. In fact, it might mess up your device since the symbolic links for dalvik-cache should be pointing to the SD card, not the cache partition.
Thanks for clarifying. I'm starting to run low on app space on my Milestone but I'm not keen to use the apps2sd hack as I've heard it can cause all sorts of trouble. Not impressed that official Froyo is so far away.
cmstlist said:
Thanks for clarifying. I'm starting to run low on app space on my Milestone but I'm not keen to use the apps2sd hack as I've heard it can cause all sorts of trouble. Not impressed that official Froyo is so far away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's really not that hard once you understand how all of these things work. "Memhack" is too 'scary' a name for a simple thing.
dsixda said:
Yeah, if you have apps2sd you don't need to apply memhack. In fact, it might mess up your device since the symbolic links for dalvik-cache should be pointing to the SD card, not the cache partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is not correct.. its actually a worst case scenario, and /dalvik-cache should only be on sdcard, when you're a apps hungry person that cannot work with 100MB free for the purpose..
current disadvantages on milestone for using dalvik on sdcard;
- unstable and slow ext2 kernel module..
- lacks direct io support
- slows phone if sdcard is class2 only.
- no support for wipe of /dalvik-cache folders with any current recovery.
- not a solution if no sdcard is present or paritioned correctly.
(suddenly /data is full?)
Advantage over sdcard pointers for dalvik are;
- faster seek times
- faster loading
- easier cleanup if required when switching roms
- still works even without sdcard inserted.
but if people dont care or know the consequences of their changes, they just accept.
Dexter_nlb said:
this is not correct.. its actually a worst case scenario, and /dalvik-cache should only be on sdcard, when you're a apps hungry person that cannot work with 100MB free for the purpose..
current disadvantages on milestone for using dalvik on sdcard;
- unstable and slow ext2 kernel module..
- lacks direct io support
- slows phone if sdcard is class2 only.
- no support for wipe of /dalvik-cache folders with any current recovery.
- not a solution if no sdcard is present or paritioned correctly.
(suddenly /data is full?)
Advantage over sdcard pointers for dalvik are;
- faster seek times
- faster loading
- easier cleanup if required when switching roms
- still works even without sdcard inserted.
but if people dont care or know the consequences of their changes, they just accept.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually didn't experience any performance gain or loss when moving my dalvik cache to my Class 6 card. I also have no need to remove my SD card. Of course most people should be aware that moving anything to SD requires at least a Class 6 (usually) if you want any kind of performance.
dsixda said:
I actually didn't experience any performance gain or loss when moving my dalvik cache to my Class 6 card. I also have no need to remove my SD card. Of course most people should be aware that moving anything to SD requires at least a Class 6 (usually) if you want any kind of performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Classes don't mean much for SD cards. They do to an extent, but in the end you really need to rely on benchmarks.
Class simply means minimum speed. A Class 6 card could run as slow as 6 MB/sec or go as fast as 20 MB/sec. Not sure.
I have a Sandisk Class 4 8gb microSDHC card. I saw the 16gb benched at 15MB/sec or so. I can hit 18-19MB/sec on mine.
This is considerably faster than the 16gb Class 2 that my Milestone shipped with. It's also considerably faster than the 16gb Class 6 Transcend I wanted to get. But remember my Class 4 promises 4 MB/sec transfers. These speed tests I've done are pretty darn fast.
Another example is my Class 6 Transcend 16gb SDHC (not micro) for my Canon Rebel camera. I benched it around 8.9 MB/sec. That's within Class 6 limits, but presumably my Class 4 8gb microSDHC Sandisk mounted on an adapter should do even better fine if I was able to bench it at 18 MB/sec on my computer....
So it's hard to say. If a Class 2 is really Class 2 at its minimum 2mb/sec, that's a pretty darn slow card.
Ok well I was getting close to that 20 MB "low memory" threshold so I memhacked using GOT OpenRecovery 1.04a. Nandroid backup first of course. Available space has skyrocketed to 91 MB! Sweet.
Hi everyone,
I've been using my NS (not rooted) for 4 months straight without wiping the data on it, and now its reading and writing speed gets horribly slow. App updates become sluggish and sometimes fail, and some actions like searching contacts or moving apps from internal memory to sd now take much longer than they used to. Just wonder how I can fix this problem?
Thanks a lot!
Its possible your caches are quite large. 1-tap clean cache works good without root. Another possibility is your storage space is getting full. Unload some of that stuff onto a computer. Maybe you've got a boat load of apps installed. Uninstall stuff you don't use everyday or every other day. Maybe apps are slowing you down. There might be some cpu hogs or stuff that wants to run all the time. Another culprit is lots of small files in storage. When you boot, it scans the card and if there's lots of small files, its going to take awhile to scan them. Its doubtful but possible that the ram is going bad. That's my suggestions.
oscarthegrouch said:
Its possible your caches are quite large. 1-tap clean cache works good without root. Another possibility is your storage space is getting full. Unload some of that stuff onto a computer. Maybe you've got a boat load of apps installed. Uninstall stuff you don't use everyday or every other day. Maybe apps are slowing you down. There might be some cpu hogs or stuff that wants to run all the time. Another culprit is lots of small files in storage. When you boot, it scans the card and if there's lots of small files, its going to take awhile to scan them. Its doubtful but possible that the ram is going bad. That's my suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply oscarthegrouch! I usually clean app cache once in a while and the internal/external storage is only about 50% full. I think the problem might be that I installed many apps and always did app2sd when possible, which could create a lot of small files. I tried cut-and-paste the stuff on the external storage (as some sort of defragmentation) but it didn't really boost up the speed. And since my phone is not rooted I can't access the internal storage.
P.S. I installed way more apps on my iTouch and it didn't slow down like my NS. Got no idea why this whole problem is happening...
maybe it's a free memory issue ?
my device is always busy with kswapd0 and runs very slow than.
Hello Guyz. This is my first post on any kind of forum and let me go to my problem straight away.
I am using HTC Pico (Explorer) for the last one and half month or so. Obviously the problem is low internal memory. Have tried as many roms as possible to overcome this issue. Found JaggyRom 3.2.1 most suitable when using a2sdgui script and tried installing as many apps as possible. But there is also limit to it. I also tried other CM9/ICS/JB roms out there with int2ext/d2ext+ scripts to actually increase internal memory to 1GB. Even today, I tried Sense 4.0A Build#2 Ver 3 Final, but ultimately they're installed work fine from dev's point of view but my phone is dead slow n I recieve FC msgs alot.
Now my point is that I need to have a look of either ICS or Sense 4.0 but with greater internal memory. Dev guyz are doing great job facilitating nerds like me, but both of the above roms tend to make my phone dead SLOW and I get FC messages a lot many times, since all the data is moved to SD-EXT. Developers have claims of running these roms smooth, but plz put me wise here in this issue. I just wanted to ask a simple question:
1. Does my SD card's speed/class really matters? (btw I've 2GB microSD with 1GB SD-EXT partition, and I don't know its speed/class )
2. My HTC Explorer is rooted, super user capable (as I've learned alot during this one n a half month to do this )
3. Please suggest me what to do here (actually I'm tired of flashing ROMS now )
Regards.
1. The higher class is, the faster sd card is.
2-3. I'm on cm9 build #8(too lazy to update it ) with sdcard a-data class 10 with 1GB external partition using mounts2sd. Working fine .
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
Well, the answer to your question is kinda hard to understand, please read it carefully, as I spent time typing it here .
1/ Yes, card speed really matter, but it's not the class that matter. Class rating is for sequential write speed. For Android, what matters is random small-burst write speed. Read the first post of this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1005633. To successfully utilize your card, you must understand what you want to put on it.
An Android app normally have 3 parts: app (main apk), dalvik-cache, and data (your app's data like account, save game). app and dalvik will make use of sequential write/read speed, but data will benefit from random small-burst read/write speed.
Your internal memory is optimized for both type of read/write (that's why they're expensive like hell), while normally, SD cards are optimized for sequential read/write. Read again about the scripts you use, you will find that scripts that seem suitable for you have: app & dalvik on SD, data on internal. With data on internal, you will have a limit, because some apps use a lot of space for data.
Those scripts that make your internal memory become 1GB simply mount the SD-ext partition as internal memory, so everything is on SD cards, and the slow random write speed cripples your system.
Your best bet now is to try some configurable script like m2sd (I personally highly recommend it), have some patient setting it up, with app and dalvik on SD, leave data on internal, and you're good to go.
Use this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1342387 to learn about m2sd if you're interested.
You should consider buying a fast card like Sandisk Ultra, they're not expensive. Remember to go with Sandisk (class 6 and up) when you're with Android. Some people also report that Samsung cards have great random write speed, and they're on sale more often than Sandisk (just avoid the Plus series). When you buy cards, always look for some benchmark about it's random 4k write speed.
And even with a fast card, I think you should still leave data on internal, data on SD put a heavy burden on your card, which can decrease it's lifespan soon.
I hope you read to this line, the post cost me more than 30 minutes . I just want to help :highfive:.
I attached the m2sd zip that I am using. And if you trust me, try MiniCM9 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1958152, it's great. Use it with Nova launcher, and you will be amazed at the smoothness that our weak phone can deliver :highfive:.
I think you should use Nextgen rom because it had mount2sd script preconfigered and you wont have any problem
Sent from my HTC Explorer powered by Nextgen v1.5
Awesome Reply!!
redguardsoldier said:
Well, the answer to your question is kinda hard to understand, please read it carefully, as I spent time typing it here .
1/ Yes, card speed really matter, but it's not the class that matter. Class rating is for sequential write speed. For Android, what matters is random small-burst write speed. Read the first post of this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1005633. To successfully utilize your card, you must understand what you want to put on it.
An Android app normally have 3 parts: app (main apk), dalvik-cache, and data (your app's data like account, save game). app and dalvik will make use of sequential write/read speed, but data will benefit from random small-burst read/write speed.
Your internal memory is optimized for both type of read/write (that's why they're expensive like hell), while normally, SD cards are optimized for sequential read/write. Read again about the scripts you use, you will find that scripts that seem suitable for you have: app & dalvik on SD, data on internal. With data on internal, you will have a limit, because some apps use a lot of space for data.
Those scripts that make your internal memory become 1GB simply mount the SD-ext partition as internal memory, so everything is on SD cards, and the slow random write speed cripples your system.
Your best bet now is to try some configurable script like m2sd (I personally highly recommend it), have some patient setting it up, with app and dalvik on SD, leave data on internal, and you're good to go.
Use this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1342387 to learn about m2sd if you're interested.
You should consider buying a fast card like Sandisk Ultra, they're not expensive. Remember to go with Sandisk (class 6 and up) when you're with Android. Some people also report that Samsung cards have great random write speed, and they're on sale more often than Sandisk (just avoid the Plus series). When you buy cards, always look for some benchmark about it's random 4k write speed.
And even with a fast card, I think you should still leave data on internal, data on SD put a heavy burden on your card, which can decrease it's lifespan soon.
I hope you read to this line, the post cost me more than 30 minutes . I just want to help :highfive:.
I attached the m2sd zip that I am using. And if you trust me, try MiniCM9 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1958152, it's great. Use it with Nova launcher, and you will be amazed at the smoothness that our weak phone can deliver :highfive:.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a great and dedicated reply ..... thanks redguardsoldier . Moreover I didn't understand the part where u say 4k write speed!! Don't these microSD cards write at speeds of 2 to 10 MB/s??? Or you are talking about random short read/write bursts!!!!
And as per your guidelines this what I have to do:
1. Buy a fast cast like Sandisk Ultra class 6 or up (I hope its microSD and not microSDHC kinda thing!!) or Samsung (except Plus series)
2. Use the m2sd script.
3. Use the following settings:
a. "data" on INTERNAL
b. "app" & "dalvik" on SD (and by SD you mean SD-EXT!!!)
4. And use miniCM9 though
I again appreciate your concern and grateful for taking out some of your precious time. Hope to listen from you again :good:
Regards
vikingmax said:
That is a great and dedicated reply ..... thanks redguardsoldier . Moreover I didn't understand the part where u say 4k write speed!! Don't these microSD cards write at speeds of 2 to 10 MB/s??? Or you are talking about random short read/write bursts!!!!
And as per your guidelines this what I have to do:
1. Buy a fast cast like Sandisk Ultra class 6 or up (I hope its microSD and not microSDHC kinda thing!!) or Samsung (except Plus series)
2. Use the m2sd script.
3. Use the following settings:
a. "data" on INTERNAL
b. "app" & "dalvik" on SD (and by SD you mean SD-EXT!!!)
4. And use miniCM9 though
I again appreciate your concern and grateful for taking out some of your precious time. Hope to listen from you again :good:
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4k random write speed mean the speed that the card is capable of writing small blocks of 4kB each at random location . I talked about "random short read/write bursts" :good:.
About the microSD/SDHC/SDXC, that's just the type of size . It makes me confused at first :highfive:. Well, a long time ago, when cards are just 256MB, or 1GB each, they are microSD. microSD have the maximum size of 2GB. When the 4GB cards come out, they are called SDHC . And now, those hugh 32GB and 64GB cards are called SDXC.
redguardsoldier said:
4k random write speed mean the speed that the card is capable of writing small blocks of 4kB each at random location . I talked about "random short read/write bursts" :good:.
About the microSD/SDHC/SDXC, that's just the type of size . It makes me confused at first :highfive:. Well, a long time ago, when cards are just 256MB, or 1GB each, they are microSD. microSD have the maximum size of 2GB. When the 4GB cards come out, they are called SDHC . And now, those hugh 32GB and 64GB cards are called SDXC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply.. Helped me a lot too. What are your views on int2ext + or ungaze scripts?
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda premium
Hi:
I am a newbie, but I've learned a lot about things using this site and others. Thank you!
I have a rooted LG Volt, which of course has the odious KitKat restrictions on putting apps on SD cards. I've read about mini-tools and have Link2SD (premium, so I can link everything to the SD), but haven't tried it out yet because I wanted to ask some questions first. For reference, I have a 16g (class?) 10 SD card, which I've verified is legit using an app (forgot name).
1) Is there a maximum size for the second (ext) partition? I've read 2g, but other sites have said that there are now no restrictions. 2g is quite small for me since the Volt has very little internal memory, and I download a ton of apps; I don't use as much data. Ideally, I'd like to go half and half (approx. 8/8g data/app partition).
2) If it is limited to 2g, is there any workaround that doesn't require a ton of knowledge? I read something about changing system apps to user apps, but would this work--and is there a noob-friendly walk through?
3) Is there a preferred ext partition type? Again, I've read varied opinions; most say that ext2 is optimal, but others say ext4 might work better with Link2SD.
4) Is there any advantage to using a swap file? Again, varied opinions, but it seems mostly beneficial in terms of speed, and not to a degree that it matters.
I have other questions regarding partition alignment (found a calculator, so I think I can figure out how to optimize the partitions) and will probably have more in the future, but I would really love answers (or else links to answers) about these issues.
Thanks in advance!
anoukaimee said:
Hi:
I am a newbie, but I've learned a lot about things using this site and others. Thank you!
I have a rooted LG Volt, which of course has the odious KitKat restrictions on putting apps on SD cards. I've read about mini-tools and have Link2SD (premium, so I can link everything to the SD), but haven't tried it out yet because I wanted to ask some questions first. For reference, I have a 16g (class?) 10 SD card, which I've verified is legit using an app (forgot name).
1) Is there a maximum size for the second (ext) partition? I've read 2g, but other sites have said that there are now no restrictions. 2g is quite small for me since the Volt has very little internal memory, and I download a ton of apps; I don't use as much data. Ideally, I'd like to go half and half (approx. 8/8g data/app partition).
2) If it is limited to 2g, is there any workaround that doesn't require a ton of knowledge? I read something about changing system apps to user apps, but would this work--and is there a noob-friendly walk through?
3) Is there a preferred ext partition type? Again, I've read varied opinions; most say that ext2 is optimal, but others say ext4 might work better with Link2SD.
4) Is there any advantage to using a swap file? Again, varied opinions, but it seems mostly beneficial in terms of speed, and not to a degree that it matters.
I have other questions regarding partition alignment (found a calculator, so I think I can figure out how to optimize the partitions) and will probably have more in the future, but I would really love answers (or else links to answers) about these issues.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, you haven't told us what are you trying to do. If you are just trying to get a few questions anwsered just say so.
From what I see you are trying to use Link2SD because of the kitkat sd card restriction?
Note: Apps can't detect if an SD card is fake. It will just test how fast it is and guess if it's fast engough for it's class
You can remove the KitKat SD restriction with this app: SDFix
1) Yes, there is a restriction but it depends on how it's formated: on ext2 and 3 the limit is 35184 GB on a single partition and ext4 has a max limit of 1152921500 GB.
2) It's not limited to 2GB. Changing system apps to user and user to system is useless and should not be done if you don't know what exactly and why you are doing it. Don't let root fool you. Deleting system apps will NOT give you more free space for all the games.
3) Depends on support. If your phone supports ext4 (and it does) use that if not use lower such as ext3 then 2 and so on.
4) Look at this as a glass and some water. Water is memory to be put in ram and the glass is the ram your phone has.
The more water you put in it, the less space there is. And when it's full it will overflow, and your phone will freeze or reboot.
What swap does is when the water overflows in the glass (the ram gets full), the water (memory) that overflows goes to a swap file instead of it just getting lost and the phone getting frozen.
But remember, any SD card is MUCH SLOWER that RAM and using swap will not give any preformacne improvments.
The swap sould be factory set anyways and it also uses a lot of storage.
You REALLY shouldn't mess with the partitions.
You could break your phone forever.
What I recommend using is FolderMount and GL2SD. FolderMount is exactly like Link2SD, but you don't need to do any fancy partitioning. And GL2SD works great too, the only downside is that you have to run the apps (you moved to SD) from within the app.
Thank you!
Wonderful, clear answers! Yes, just trying to figure out "what to do" so I can add more apps to the Volt in the easiest manner possible. Apologize for not being clearer about that.
Just some follow-up questions:
1) will the app cited above (nextapp) allow me to move apps to the sd, or just data? Never having had an android other than this one with the dread KitKat, I don't know how it typically works after a KitKat fix. So should I format the entire sd card as FAT32 or ext4 (is the latter even possible)? And where will the data that I do have be saved if I don't partition the card? All on the one partition?
2. RE: FolderMount and GL2SD: that sounds great. The one concern that I have is that Link2SD's support (I THINK that's where I found this) said that the problem with putting an app on an sd card versus linking it is that if you take the sd card out, all of the apps will be gone. Is that just incorrect?
Thanks again! Very helpful.
Hi,
My question is, whats the cause for a bootloop after it optimises apps.
Basically I was doing really well modding out my XA, until I tried adoptable storage. It was not really functional using the root essential app. Atleast not for me. So I started to use apps2sd which I found to be really good, alot better at finding the second partition, more options etc.
To cut it short, after I couldn't find what was taking up so much space,
I moved a heck of alot of apps to sd card,
removed some apps, - apps removed - chinese keyboard and a photo feature. I also added some root apps in, and removed kobo books etc :s
canned it,
reset the phone in twrp,
now it bootloops.
My immediate problem is that I can't wipe cache?
Thanks
jaraks said:
Hi,
My question is, whats the cause for a bootloop after it optimises apps.
Basically I was doing really well modding out my XA, until I tried adoptable storage. It was not really functional using the root essential app. Atleast not for me. So I started to use apps2sd which I found to be really good, alot better at finding the second partition, more options etc.
To cut it short, after I couldn't find what was taking up so much space,
I moved a heck of alot of apps to sd card,
removed some apps, - apps removed - chinese keyboard and a photo feature. I also added some root apps in, and removed kobo books etc :s
canned it,
reset the phone in twrp,
now it bootloops.
My immediate problem is that I can't wipe cache?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had to reinstall the firmware thanks to Malleliu at
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xa/help/bootloop-flashing-33-2-3-81-firmware-t3502160
I now don't have a recovery though, so I'll count myself luckier than bricked and stop modding.
At first I tried manually deleting cache in TWRP then formatting and immediately rebooting TWRP. Whether this was right, someone can scrutinize. So I think my problem was irreparably messing with system apps, which may make sense seeming as alot of apps in an xperia device seem to be linked. And when it did essentially format a non existing folder, it was still not booting.
Anyway peace out peeps, I'm going to enjoy a stock phone.
Wiping cache is useless, use file explorer in TWRP and you will see that there is near nothing in it, partition size is less than 200Mb. Only recovery logs and few things. If you really need to wipe it use fastboot command.
Adoptable Storage works very well only if you don't use mixed AS, only full. I use it with a SanDisk 128Gb class 10 SDCard.