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Question regard the total amount of RAM in a ROM

To all the ROM cooks and expert,
I have a quick question regard the TOTAL amount of the RAM available in a ROM. I tried many new and old roms in this forum and I found one general conclusion. That is generally for all the roms (except the one with UL, Throttle Laucher, or SPB shell loaded), the amount of used RAM after a reboot is about the same, about 23 ~ 24 MB. However, what make the amount of free RAM available depends on the amount of TOTAL available RAM. This is my question, how come in some roms, there is about 52 MB available while some only have about 47 MB available. As you can see, the difference is about 5 MB, which is a good amount? Thanks

The total available RAM has to do with how big the pagepool is, how much is dedicated to the kernel, etc. The free RAM has to do with what's running in the background (programs, services, etc.)

ivanmmj said:
The total available RAM has to do with how big the pagepool is, how much is dedicated to the kernel, etc. The free RAM has to do with what's running in the background (programs, services, etc.)
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I know to get more free ram, we can disable startup services and some background programs, but can we get more TOTAL available ram? I should ask this question up front. Our device, Herald or Wing, have 64 Meg of RAM, even with your JUSTME, the maximum it shows in "Device Information" is about 52 Megs. Where is the remain 12 Megs go? Can you tell me more details about it. Thanks

live4nothing said:
I know to get more free ram, we can disable startup services and some background programs, but can we get more TOTAL available ram? I should ask this question up front. Our device, Herald or Wing, have 64 Meg of RAM, even with your JUSTME, the maximum it shows in "Device Information" is about 52 Megs. Where is the remain 12 Megs go? Can you tell me more details about it. Thanks
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I would think it would be for the OS software but I could be wrong.

speoples20 said:
I would think it would be for the OS software but I could be wrong.
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Thanks. If it is for the software, then it should reside in the ROM. RAM is for anything that is running, currently or background. What I don't understand is that papa's newest RC6, Open Touch 6.5, and PDA viet's most updated ROMs they all have the same OS build (at least I believe they are), but the TOTAL available ram is different on each ROM. I am trying to build my own rom and just try to learn many thing as possible. Thanks

The "missing" RAM is taken by the XIP (kernel and such) and various other things like the pagepool. If these guys ran from the ROM, the device would be extremely slow.

[Q] 768 RAM and Apps?

Does the 768 RAM on the MyTouch 4G allow installing more apps or is the memory reserved for apps/data the same as for a 512 device?
Thanks.

I think you are confusing the memory used for storage (1gb available internally) with the memory used for running apps (768mb).
You have 768mb of system memory (for running apps). 1gb of internal memory for apps/storage along with 8gb on the removable SD card.

What are you talking about man?
RAM = random access memory.
ROM = Read only memory.
Ram is what used to allocate the programs/app that is already installed on ROM, so it can run on the phone. In simple ROM is where you install it and to run the program when you load it then its allocated in RAM, I hope it make sense to you.

I've currently got an Acer Liquid E which has 512 MB RAM but I need an AWS phone now.
The phone has 512 MB RAM but only part of that is allocated for storing apps and their data. I believe after a clean wipe only around 70 MB is available for apps (I could be wrong about that number). I believe the rest of the RAM is reserved for the OS and various caches. Even though many apps can be moved to the SD card, there always remains part of the app taking up memory in RAM so if you install too many apps you'll eventually run out of space and things get ugly.
So my question is whether the larger amount of RAM (an extra 256MB) is (at least partially) available for a larger amount of app space, or whether the amount of space available for apps is the same as on a 512MB device, with the additional 256MB being used only by the OS...
I'm sure I've got some of the details wrong, but still the basic question: can the MyTouch 4G have more apps installed before going wonky than say a Samsung Vibrant?
Thanks!

No wonder you got confused I just looked up the spec for Acer Liquid E. It has 512MB ram and rom. Now you are saying that you installed alot of apps and its becoming sluggish? In that case disable some of the service and close some apps you don't use. Normally you won't have 512MB or the actual ram in any device as OS itself and other things use some memory some even used for accelerated graphic depending on the phone.
What you should look for is first remove all the boltware and run the phone barebone without running many things then you can see how much actual memory is available to you to run other service/apps. Also you can save the app as in installing in SD but that has nothing to do with the RAM which is just saving in SD and not in NAND. But when you run the app it will still have to be allocated on RAM thus enabling you to use it.

On my system the RAM appears to be partitioned into /system, /data, and /cache. It seems the /data partition is what's available for use by apps. When this gets low (around 20 MB or so) performance is seriously affected and some apps don't even work right. On my system there is 200MB available for data. I assume it's similar on other devices with 512 MB RAM.
One way to check is install the free app "App 2 SD Free" and on the "On phone" tab at the bottom it will give you total and available memory. (I'm sure there are lots of other ways to check, but it's one app I've got installed that has this info. Here's a link: whoop's it won't let me post a link...)
Anyway, what I'm trying to find out is if there's more available memory on the MyTouch 4G. If someone with this phone could run this app let me know what the "total" memory "On Phone" is I'd appreciate it!
Thanks!

tmagritte said:
On my system the RAM appears to be partitioned into /system, /data, and /cache. It seems the /data partition is what's available for use by apps. When this gets low (around 20 MB or so) performance is seriously affected and some apps don't even work right. On my system there is 200MB available for data. I assume it's similar on other devices with 512 MB RAM.
One way to check is install the free app "App 2 SD Free" and on the "On phone" tab at the bottom it will give you total and available memory. (I'm sure there are lots of other ways to check, but it's one app I've got installed that has this info. Here's a link: whoop's it won't let me post a link...)
Anyway, what I'm trying to find out is if there's more available memory on the MyTouch 4G. If someone with this phone could run this app let me know what the "total" memory "On Phone" is I'd appreciate it!
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
You have your definitions messed up:
You are talking about ROM (read only memory) which is like hard drive in your computer. MT4G has 2gb of memory with about 1gb available to end user. SD card can be used to supplement ROM, if app developers enable it (most do) so you have the potential to have up to 17gb of storage space for apps.
RAM (random access memory) is what used to actually run those apps (i.e ability to multitask) and so far this phone has more RAM then any other phone on the market (768MB).
In short: you have roughly 5 times more available memory for apps then on old phone and that does not even include SD card.
Does that help?

Ignore this post: read the one below.

OK, I think I've been confused because the Acer has 512 MB RAM and ROM. So as I understand it now, there's some amount of ROM on the phone that is available to install apps and separate from this is the RAM used to run the apps. I'm guessing the amount of RAM taken up by apps depends on the apps and services currently running, not on the total installed in the ROM?
So having more ROM will let you install more apps but having more RAM will be better for multitasking and speed since more apps can reside in RAM before being swapped out?
From what I've picked up on this thread and Google:
MyTouch 4G: 758 MB RAM, 1 GB user ROM
Vibrant: 512 MB RAM, 2 GB user ROM
Liquid E: 512 MB RAM, 200 MB user ROM
The Vibrant can have more apps installed but the MyTouch should be better at multitasking (and 1 GB space for apps seems like plenty). Either phone should be far better than the Liquid which is seriously constrained by the small ROM.
Is this generally correct? If so, I'm definitely leaning towards the MyTouch 4G.
thanks!

Yes thats some what correct. In this case you might want to go with MT4G due to superior hardware capabilities. Vibrant has issues and you will need lagfix before you can work it fully but on MT4G is good to go out of the box if you are android normal user.
If you look at quadrant benchmarks for Vibrant against MT4G. The MSM8255 (2nd gen snapdragon) CPU and Adreno 205 GPU blows away the Hummingbird CPU and SGX 540 GPU. ATM MT4G and DHD is the fastest android device in market. With MT4G you have elegant balance in ROM/RAM for nice performance. BTW MT4G has 4GB ROM but 1GB user accessible.

Thanks. I'm going to try and get the MT4G.

Available RAM?

Hello,
I'm trying to fill a table useful to understand how much RAM is really available to the user in Android Phones.
Please try "Free Memory" by coconuts on the market or the "free" command in Terminal to let me know the total RAM of your device so that I can understand how much is reserved for hardware operations.
Please also say which ROM are you using.
Thanks

poochie2 said:
Hello,
I'm trying to fill a table useful to understand how much RAM is really available to the user in Android Phones.
Please try "Free Memory" by coconuts on the market or the "free" command in Terminal to let me know the total RAM of your device so that I can understand how much is reserved for hardware operations.
Please also say which ROM are you using.
Thanks
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bit confusing how devices with 768mb ram have only 300mb free ram on boot.... 400mb+ ram already used by android (+sense)
then imagine a few years back devices had/still have 256mb ram..

olyloh6696 said:
bit confusing how devices with 768mb ram have only 300mb free ram on boot.... 400mb+ ram already used by android (+sense)
then imagine a few years back devices had/still have 256mb ram..
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Click to collapse
Some is for caching and used ram also means that it is used for a good cause but I think that android uses too much RAM, maybe it's a bit related to using Java... I cannot believe that very simple widgets eat 10-12 MB of RAM so easily.

The ram is supposed to be taken up. It allows programs to start really fast(normally). This is normal. The programs in memory are based upon what you use. Available ram is wasted space. I generrally only have ~100mb free and have 512mb total. My phone never slows except when a dev does not implenent a listview correctly. As for Widgets with big ram req that is also a developer thing.
Sent from my Incredible using Tapatalk

wow! 12mb for a widget?!
yeh i understand it runs in the background, but if you use task killers you gain more ram back... the free ram ensures better performance though? it isnt 'wasted' is it?
do htc widgets generally use alot of RAM?

olyloh6696 said:
wow! 12mb for a widget?!
yeh i understand it runs in the background, but if you use task killers you gain more ram back... the free ram ensures better performance though? it isnt 'wasted' is it?
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it's not
android have it's own internal task killer and there is no need to install additional apps to manage RAM and keep free memory for... for what? system knows how much free mem is needed to run and will kill processes when needed.
and if you close app with task killer and then would want to run it again, it will actually take more time than if it would be kept in RAM.

deadwilder said:
it's not
android have it's own internal task killer and there is no need to install additional apps to manage RAM and keep free memory for... for what? system knows how much free mem is needed to run and will kill processes when needed.
and if you close app with task killer and then would want to run it again, it will actually take more time than if it would be kept in RAM.
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I generally agree with you, but my heavy usage of android shows me that things can get really slow even on my oced G2, when the available ram gets under 40 things get messy, increasing the lowmem limit saved me a bit but I aim for a 768 MB minimum for my next phone.

a widget takes 12mb of RAM because of the heap size of the way android OS is setup. it assigns 12mb of RAM regardless of whether that widget needs it or not. check each process, every one shown in system panel will be a minimum of around 12mb or so, even something that is only 75k. just the way android works.

RogerPodacter said:
a widget takes 12mb of RAM because of the heap size of the way android OS is setup. it assigns 12mb of RAM regardless of whether that widget needs it or not. check each process, every one shown in system panel will be a minimum of around 12mb or so, even something that is only 75k. just the way android works.
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That seems a bit uncomfortable to me

i personally think that it could be changed better by removing some apks or in other ways to reduce something

In my opinion it is nonsense that 1-4 MB stuff must reserve a minimum of ~12 MB of precious RAM. In this way we just lose resources that would be better used for actual data.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

[Q] RAM ISSUES with samsung galaxy tab 2 7.0 (GT-P3100)

I own a samsung galaxy tab 2(GT p3100), which initially had 4.0.4 ICS with 687 MB RAM(but specified as 1 GB RAM, as some developers claim that it is being reserved for system). I updated my firmware to 4.1.2 and now it showed me 770 MB RAM. later i rooted my device and installed the latest CM(cyanogenmod) 10.1 (jelly bean 4.2). To my surprise this rom which has less bloatware and is smoother, it showed me 691 MB RAM, less than 770 MB as displayed by the STOCK jelly bean OS.
i would like to ask, which OS(custom/stock) displays the MAX RAM for GALAXY TAB 2 7.0(P3100)???????
as i don't ve enough internet downloading capacity(limited downloads), i can't just go on downloading all the firmwares and keep flashing everytime, SO EXPERIENCED USERS, PLEASE SUGGEST.
for more info(for my knowledge), do please tell this also--------->tab 2(my device specifies 1 GB RAM and the same does galaxy s2, but why with ICS(4.0.4) installed both the devices show different MB RAM. tab2 shows around 680 MB wheras S2 shows around 880 MB, wheras HTC one X shows 1 GB.
why is this so????? i know some developers claim that this RAM is being consumed by system or reserved for system, but why is it different for different devices, when the OS is the same?????
again if you claim that it is reserved by the android system, then WHY DO , WITH NO APPS INSTALLED TOO, I SEE AROUND 300-400 MB RAM BEING USED(300 MB WHEN I DNT USE ANY WIDGETS AND ALL, AND I STOP ALL THE PROCESSES, BY CLICKING FORCE STOP ON ALL APPS LIKE GMAIL AND EVERYTHING EXCEPT ANDROID SYSTEM AND PHONE AND SOME NECESSARY RED MARKED APPS IN THE DEFAULT TASK MANAGER).
if android process is being displayed here with this 770 MB ram, then where has the 230 MB ram gone------------>do you mean the android process consumes the hidden RAM and also a part of this RAM too???????------------------>this sounds too unpleasant, when htc one x displays all the specified RAM but my tab fails.
really disapponting

You are getting too excited about available RAM. The OS system manages available RAM so each different ROM will use it a little more or less.
The amount of free RAM has nothing to do with how many apps are stored, ONly how many apps are RUNNING. Android system efficiently manages RAM and tries to keep it about 80% full all the time. So called Bloatware (one mans bloat is another mans useful app) has nothing to do with speed , they do nothing if you don't run them.
The system RAM usage contained OS buffers, temp storage and system routines that are always loaded for speed.
1GB is a ton of RAM for android.
You do not have a RAM issue.
You can run out of SD storage space for downloaded apps if you store too many. But you have several GBs of storage so that's hard unless you are a real pack rat.

DigitalMD said:
You are getting too excited about available RAM. The OS system manages available RAM so each different ROM will use it a little more or less.
The amount of free RAM has nothing to do with how many apps are stored, ONly how many apps are RUNNING. Android system efficiently manages RAM and tries to keep it about 80% full all the time. So called Bloatware (one mans bloat is another mans useful app) has nothing to do with speed , they do nothing if you don't run them.
The system RAM usage contained OS buffers, temp storage and system routines that are always loaded for speed.
1GB is a ton of RAM for android.
You do not have a RAM issue.
You can run out of SD storage space for downloaded apps if you store too many. But you have several GBs of storage so that's hard unless you are a real pack rat.
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Right Sir,
well, regarding storage i dont ve any issue as some data like pics and vids can be kept in ext storage card too,but i also wanted to know which ROM provides user with more RAM, so that it will be good for multitasking or if i play high end games like NFS MW

fbh59 said:
Right Sir,
well, regarding storage i dont ve any issue as some data like pics and vids can be kept in ext storage card too,but i also wanted to know which ROM provides user with more RAM, so that it will be good for multitasking or if i play high end games like NFS MW
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Click to collapse
The amount of difference between one kernel and another (which is what really matters here) isn't large enough to make any real difference in the performance of any application. The available RAM after the kernel grabs its stuff varies around 10% from one kernel to the next.
If you want to make a performance impact, make sure you minimize the number of running applications that compete for the available RAM. However, that won't make much difference as Android is very aggressive about grabbing memory back from idle applications.
Basically, you're obsessing over something that in the end will make no difference in how your tablet runs.

fbh59 said:
Right Sir,
well, regarding storage i dont ve any issue as some data like pics and vids can be kept in ext storage card too,but i also wanted to know which ROM provides user with more RAM, so that it will be good for multitasking or if i play high end games like NFS MW
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Irrelevant. Android will clear apps from RAM if it's needed by an app with high memory usage. This isn't windows
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

well, if this is the thing, and android can kill apps automatically then why do some people prefer custom ROMs like CM or AOKP.
even for installing custom ROMs they need to root their tab/phone, and if they root and want to get rid of so called bloatwares and make their OS lightweight, they can uninstall it using root uninstaller(available for free in google play)....
but why do they prefer custom ROMS?????

fbh59 said:
well, if this is the thing, and android can kill apps automatically then why do some people prefer custom ROMs like CM or AOKP.
even for installing custom ROMs they need to root their tab/phone, and if they root and want to get rid of so called bloatwares and make their OS lightweight, they can uninstall it using root uninstaller(available for free in google play)....
but why do they prefer custom ROMS?????
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More features generally. Some roms will manage the memory better than others, ie at what point it starts to kill apps to free RAM(although this can be adjusted in any rom using rom toolbox or a similar app). many custom roms include a theme engine allowing more customiza. They may make better use of resources to decrease battery usage or because it has better cpu governors which will increase performance. They may flash a custom roms because it's kernel includes modules that aren't in the stock Kernel. There are many reasons besides RAM usage, since as you say you can root and remove bloatware and change memory handling(called minfree or oomut of memory)
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

Swap storage for more cpu capacity and clockspeed

I have heard of swapping storage on your phone for creating virtual ram, but I am curious and will be happy to know if you can also swap part of your phone storage space for virtual cpu. Is there even anything like virtual cpu?

You at any time can create virtual memory ( SWAP ) on a rooted Android OS to be used by Android OS.
Code example:
Code:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/data/local/swapfile bs=1024 count=65536
Side remarks:
CPU and RAM are totally different hardware components: CPU fetches program code from RAM, processes it, and returns result into RAM.
A SWAP doesn't increase device's RAM, you can't create a virtual CPU: a virtual CPU only exists on Anfroid emulators, not on any real Android device.
An Android device, as every computer, too, has a distinct amount of RAM .You may use SWAP, which stores the data actually residing in RAM on disk, if you run out of RAM .
SWAP can be / is useful because applications that aren't being used can be stored on disk until they are used. Then they can be "paged in" and run normally again. While it is not in RAM, though, the OS can use that RAM for something else, like disk cache. So it's a very useful feature, but if you don't have enough RAM to run your program, you definitely need more memory.
SWAP because it's part of the device's storage space is naturally much slower, which results in performance losses.
On Android each app is allowed to use only a certain amount of bytes of heap. This value is preset by app developer.

Thanks a lot.!