I've done a lot of searching and haven't been able to find a clear answer on this one.
Just so terminology is clear...a standard computer running an operating system stores applications on a hard drive. When a user runs a program, it is loaded into physical memory/RAM and executed. A multi-tasking OS running on a computer with a single-core CPU will hold more than one program in physical memory and switch between them such that, to the user, it seems that more than one program is being executed at the same time.
Now, on the G1, there is 192MB of SDRAM, of which about 71MB is available for storing user-installed applications. I'm assuming this is analogous to the hard drive on a standard computer--along with the 256MB of flashable ROM for the operating system, etc. So, when a user runs a program, where is it loaded? In other words, what is the analogy to the physical memory on a standard computer? Is it part of the 71MB of RAM used to store applications? If so, if I use the entire 71MB of RAM to store applications, will I have no physical memory left to run apps?
And, if I root my phone and move all my apps to the SD card, does having the entire 71MB of RAM free allow me to have more programs open and running, analogous to having more physical memory/RAM installed on a standard computer?
Thanks much for the info!
Let's clear up terminology some more.
The G1 has 256MB of ROM (Storage) with ~71MB left after install of the stock image. The remaining 60-80MB (depending on ROM) is what is used by default to install apps and for purposes of cache, acting in the equivalent purpose to a hard drive. If you use Apps2SD this is the storage you are extending.
The G1 has 192MB of RAM. This is used to run the programs and base OS. When RAM runs low the Android OS will close programs to free up enough memory to allow the foreground application the memory it needs. If you create a swap file or swap partition this is the memory you are extending.
I hope that clears it up.
Ah! So that's what I was missing. I didn't realize that the 256MB of ROM was the "hard drive" for the G1. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks much.
JanetPanic said:
Let's clear up terminology some more.
The G1 has 256MB of ROM (Storage) with ~71MB left after install of the stock image. The remaining 60-80MB (depending on ROM) is what is used by default to install apps and for purposes of cache, acting in the equivalent purpose to a hard drive. If you use Apps2SD this is the storage you are extending.
The G1 has 192MB of RAM. This is used to run the programs and base OS. When RAM runs low the Android OS will close programs to free up enough memory to allow the foreground application the memory it needs. If you create a swap file or swap partition this is the memory you are extending.
I hope that clears it up.
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Your answers is right and thanks for the useful information. I have one question though!! when I install any ROM and do a "free" command on terminal, it tells me total memory 97MB, free memory 3MB or 4MB etc.
I want to know that G1 has built in 192MB ram then why it shows 97MB only? where the rest goes?
ibraheeemz said:
Your answers is right and thanks for the useful information. I have one question though!! when I install any ROM and do a "free" command on terminal, it tells me total memory 97MB, free memory 3MB or 4MB etc.
I want to know that G1 has built in 192MB ram then why it shows 97MB only? where the rest goes?
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Click to collapse
On the EBI0 HTC Dream there is to my knowledge the following:
8MB @0x00000000
32MB @0x02000000
110MB @0x10000000
------------------------
150MB accessible by linux
102MB (103MB with my recent patch) is general purpose (~5MB reserved by the kernel allowing you to see the 97/98)
48MB (or 47MB) are either in small holes or used for hardware communication or other special tasks (video ram, camera ram, memory log buffer ect)
42MB not listed is used by the radio firmware; that controls access to the entire device
Related
i look in the specification of kaiser in htc site, and it shows 256 rom and 128 ram.
when i look in my memory section at my device i saw
storag 153m and program 101mb
can anybody tell me what is missing, im using the originall rom.
am l anderstaning it wrong or there's another reason
The devices OS and applications take up the space not listed in this case 103 and 27 MB, respectively. The missing space is being occupied or used by the installed OS and applications. The space you see is what is left and available for you to use. If you were to erase everything and look at the space then you would see truer values (not that you can).
So whats the difference between ROM memory and RAM memory?
When I install a program on my device (not storage card), am I utilizing space from ROM or RAM?
And is storage ROM or RAM and program is ROM or RAM?
Thanks
Assuming the same terms appy with my TyTN II as with full sized PCs, ROM = Read Only Memory and RAM = Random Access Memory. ROM is Non-Volatile (ie data is not lost when the power is switched off) where as RAM is volatile (why you get a message saying data may be lost if you continue to run down your battery when it's very low. ROM is generally (much) slower for read and write speed than RAM (hence why RAM is used).
In the case of the TyTN II ROM is what is known as flash memory (because it can be overwritten using a process called flashing). It can also be written to in more general use such as when installing programs so I prefer the term Flash rather than ROM because it's not strictly read only in this case.
When the programs are installed into main memory (rather than a card) they will be stored on ROM (so it's not lost when the power is removed) but will be in RAM as well when the PPCs CPU is working with the program.
If the OP nndd12 looks in Start =>Settings => System tab => Device Information => Hardware Tab the RAM and ROM details are in there but the ROM is termed Flash.
Hello,
As you know Kaiser has 128MB of RAM. When you open Memory in settings then you can see that there is only 85.32MB of Program memory. So where is 42,68MB of RAM? Is all gone for pagepool in this ROM?
Best regards.
Just like yr desktop, everything runs on the machine need memory (RAM). OS (WM6.1), driver, start-up program, phone dialer, today ... etc.
jackleung said:
Just like yr desktop, everything runs on the machine need memory (RAM). OS (WM6.1), driver, start-up program, phone dialer, today ... etc.
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Click to collapse
You are talking about "in use" memory. I am talking about total memory what you can see in memory in settings...
After soft reset i have:
Total: 85.32 MB
In Use: 38:93 MB
Free: 46.39 MB
Anybody can explain me why total memory is only 85.32?
art12345 said:
You are talking about "in use" memory. I am talking about total memory what you can see in memory in settings...
After soft reset i have:
Total: 85.32 MB
In Use: 38:93 MB
Free: 46.39 MB
Anybody can explain me why total memory is only 85.32?
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Click to collapse
I know exactly what you are talking about. In older ROMs 6.0 and I believe some of the older 6.1, that amount was closer to the 100MB mark.
Part of that (about 12MB) is used for page pool. However almost that amount was used on the older ROMs as well, so wouldn't account for the almost 15MB disparity we see.
I have asked this question myself a couple times in the ROM development forum...no one has provided an answer. Some suggest that they are using that RAM as additional 'cache' ram of one type or another to improve performance. That seems like it could be a logical reason since whenever you increase other cache's in the registry it takes memory out of that same chunk. The other answer could be that there are newer or more low level drivers that for one reason or another are taking up that RAM.
Fact is no one knows. My bet is on cache of some point, although i can't really say that I see an improvement that would warrant that 15MB of use. There's not much you can do about it at this point other than live with the diminished memory or flash an older ROM.
Before i had HTC Himalaya (128MB of RAM) with WM5 and there when you set up 16MB pagepool then all rest of RAM (112MB) was available in memory applet. I never tried Himalaya with WM6 ROM so i can't tell how much memory was available then. However, thanks for your reply. Regards.
hi,
I bought the Indian 2.75G version of the htc touch diamond without the extra in the front.
I checked the task manager memory and this is what it looks like:
http://gidisrael.googlepages.com/myDiamondmem.jpg
Is that correct?
If I'm not mistaken program memory is supposed to be 192MB and Rom:256MB??
Thanks so much
Google is your friend.
As far as I know, 64Mb is reserved for the GPU (+ maybe other phone functions). Here for more.
I did do some searching, but I guess I would'nt have found an article with the title "64MB eaten by aliens".
Anyway, thanks so much. I'm a little confused about the ROM now, what about the 256 MB ROM, where did it dissappear and why does it say I have 83.44 MB storage memory.
After some searching I found this on an archived post here:
128Mb of RAM speaks for itself. Of the 256Mb of flash however, 128Mb contains the operating system, the other 128Mb are available to the end user to install programs and add documents. When flashing any given device, the available flashrom is first filled up with the OS, after which a second amount is allocated to the extended rom area, and finally the rest is made available to the end user.
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Is this correct?
Thanks.
I did a bit of research and that quote seems quite correct as to what is stored in the flash ROM:
- bootloader
- OS
- extended ROM area (themes, customizations and apps that install immediately after a hard-reset)
- (lastly) the user-available portion.
Your 83Mb is similar to my free storage mem.
I suppose getting a ROM with all the unnecessary apps removed is your best bet of increasing your program storage size. Also, I think chefs move some apps into the extended flashROM area, making more space available to program storage.
H3x said:
Google is your friend.
As far as I know, 64Mb is reserved for the GPU (+ maybe other phone functions). Here for more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read in other threads, both the Diamond and the Pro lacks graphics drivers for hardware processed rendering so what's the use of having a GPU then?
everyone would like to know
mostly to lure people in with a spec that doesnt live up to itself.
Is there a way to use the internal storage to increase the ram, like virtual ram? With this we could install more software without memory fail.
Thanks
pinttas said:
Is there a way to use the internal storage to increase the ram, like virtual ram? With this we could install more software without memory fail.
Thanks
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not sure about using the storage as a RAM drive, but if you want to install more software you should choose to install it to the storage card when you are given the choice at installation time
Yes, I know. But the memory usage increase.
Same problem, I have installed apps on my internal mem but it still used the system memory.
An electronics shop that can upgrade the memory would be sweet! I own both Touch Pro and Touch Diamond and I love the Diamond's size and weight, but the Touch Pro lets me install away.... The same amount of memory on a Touch Diamond and the SD card option is where HTC failed. Heck, even the regular Touch had SD!
check this out dude...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=551148
Just install a custom ROM and you'll get plenty of more RAM than on a stock ROM.
that is true to a certain extend but....
wouldn't it be sweet if you could upgrade the ram hardware. how hard can it be?
(probably impossible)
Add additional RAM
Hi,
I checked this thread which is 1 year an a half old. Is that still impossible to create a kind of partition in the internal storage that can be used as Additional RAM?
Isn't it what Android systems installed on HTC diamond already do?
Here is an explanation why pagefiles weren't implemented in WM5:
blogs @ msdn @ com/b/windowsmobile/archive/2006/03/31/566187 @ aspx
(change ' @ ' to dots - can't use links yet:])
Since for example Desire HD has 1.5gb of internal storage & 768 MB RAM, and (at least on PCs) it's common to set pagefile size to double the amount of RAM I think it won't be implemented in any version of windows mobile soon.
Android has modified version of standard linux kernel which has support for swap partition since almost always and that's why we can use it on Diamond.
And we use it because Diamond has less RAM than it's sufficient to smoothly run Android.
But I really don't think it is widely used in devices created to use Android as an OS.
Anyway, apps that use a lot of data(opera, google maps etc) use it's own cache file on disk, media players also reads data from files while playing so I really don't see necessity to have a swap file on WinMo unless you want to run like 15 apps at once.
And if you want your diamond to look like hd2, you have to live with the fact that it will work slower than the os and apps created for diamond.
Hope I answered your question
Hello,
I would like someone to clarify to me some things about the device memory. My current mem readings as shown in the Control Panel are:
- Storage: 299.01 MB (210.27MB free)
- Program: 183.73 MB (72.87 free)
According to the official specs, the Topaz has 512 MB ROM and 256 MB RAM. How are these two types of memory related to Storage and Programs? Is there a way to mess between RAM, ROM, Storage and Programs in order to achieve optimum memory usage? For example, in my device there seems to be a lot of free Storage Mem available, as compared to Program Mem... Should I need to do something about this big discrepancy?
I would be grateful if someone clarified all this to me.
To be very short:
ROM (Read Only Memory) is where bootloader and Windows resides:Beside this there is more room to install applications (Programs) and to store personal files such as pictures,videos,mp3,docs etc.(Storage). ROM is non-volatile memory, this means that data will remain in the device even if power is cut off and will be available the next restart.RAM (Random Access Memory) is volatile memory that your device needs for ordinary functioning (loads into it programs that are running).RAM wil be emptied if powered off. It does not have sense to compare these two values and try to make them similar. An advice would be to install and store all you can in the Memory Card.Note: some apps/cabs need necessarily to be installed in the device (Programs memory) otherwise they don't work.Note 2: Access timings to memory cards are higher than internal ROM, take it in consideration if you have to decide where to store/install.
...Well I wasn't so short..I'll try it again:
If someone asked me:""why do I have so little free Program memory compared to Storage memory?"
I'd answer:"It's beause of many useless Microsoft programs embedded into Windows that cannot be uninstalled, only cooks can do it"
Thanks a lot for the (not so short after all! ) reply! So, if I get it correctly, the so called Storage Memory is the ROM after all: In other words, these 210 MB that are free cannot be utilized by me in any way, unless of course, I switch to a cooked ROM that contains lots of programs that currently occupy my RAM, and which they will not be needed to be installed there any more.... However, I am not in the mood of flashing and setting everything up from scratch, right now....
The storage card is indeed a solution, yet it has the two limitations that you correctly mentioned... So, I will basically have to stick with the RAM that is left...
In the same order as your arguments:
-Those 210 MB CAN be used by you, by installing apps in it, but I adviced you to possibly install them in Memory Card unless inevitable.
-Cooked ROMs generally free up Programs Memory area (or maintain same memory and upgrade embedded apps).
-Storage card is simply VITAL,access timings and transfer speeds are good enough to support everyday use.
-Then you talk about RAM: You "have to stick to RAM that is left" as anybody,but RAM usage is variable, depending on how much intensive is your device work in runtime. To optimize RAM memory use CleanRam, you can do it manually or schedule it (like I do)...and of course don't run too many apps at the time (check Task manager)!!
jcan said:
Hello,
I would like someone to clarify to me some things about the device memory. My current mem readings as shown in the Control Panel are:
- Storage: 299.01 MB (210.27MB free)
- Program: 183.73 MB (72.87 free)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was talking about these 210 MB, which are reported as free in my Storage memory, which if I understood well is the ROM... So I can't use them to install apps in it.
On the other hand, the Program memory (which I have 73 MB free) is the RAM, right?
Or I've got it all wrong?
210 MB is part of the ROM and it is free space in which you can store personal files (mp3,pictures,videos,contacts,docs etc.)--->same as Memory Card but smaller and quicker.The free memory in which you can install programs is in your case 72.87MB and is still part of the ROM(I want to better check this last statement,update coming soon).
RAM is another memory module,physically separated from ROM,it's another chip. RAM values vary with the device workload.
Update: I confirm,to simplify we can say that both Storage and Programs memory is part of the ROM, in no ways it can be considered as being RAM.
Thanks a lot for all the clarifications, sualc! Now everything has been sorted out to me.
You're welcome,cheers