Database Develop

Full 512 mb available?

Does the froyo update make the full 512 mb ram available? I had heard earlier that only a part of it was available due to 2.1 limitations.
Sent from my GT-I9000 ADJF1 using XDA App

They were always available, ~300Mb for Programs and the rest for the system files... Why should that change?

I think what the OP meant was whether one had more memory for apps as ht tp:// developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.2-highlights.html claims that the 2.6.32 kernel upgrade would bring "HIGHMEM support for RAM >256MB".
At the moment, we do not have the full memory available in the Linux system:
Code:
$ adb shell
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
$ free
total used free shared buffers
Mem: 333420 329988 3432 0 34724
Swap: 0 0 0
Total: 333420 329988 3432
I do not know whether that is related to the graphics hardware taking some of the memory, or to the kernel version:
Code:
$ uname -r
2.6.29
Edit: What do you mean by 'system files'? The OS is stored on mass storage, right? And Dalvik and friends should appear as userspace processes taking up regular memory.

satta said:
I think what the OP meant was whether one had more memory for apps as developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.2-highlights.html claims that the 2.6.32 kernel upgrade would bring "HIGHMEM support for RAM >256MB".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do understand that this does not compute, since there has always been more than 256MB available
Or has there?

I was wondering about the same thing, kernel 2.6.32.9 (JP3) also shows a little more than 300mb...

buddy01 said:
You do understand that this does not compute, since there has always been more than 256MB available
Or has there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I'm just quoting from an official AOSP site

Mine shows 30 mb available under advanced task killer. What am I missing?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

@satta yeah that's what I meant and that's what I had read. Cheers
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I've seen Desire have over 400MB of memory available for applications in a video with a some sort of task manager on..

Are you sure, max i got on my nexus one was 312MB in some rare cases, using it without closing apps at all, never got below 100MB... But my Galaxy's max is 170MB, is almost half what my nexus gave me, that kinda suck (don't know if it matter bu tit feels bad in my head )

Desire has 576MB memory.. N1 has 512MB
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Maximum free RAM i got from my sgs is 210mb, easily achieved by using Astro's process manager and killing all non-essential services.

why t.f. do you guys always want to have lots of fre ram? please read a little about android memory management... free ram is wasted ram!

FadeFx said:
why t.f. do you guys always want to have lots of fre ram? please read a little about android memory management... free ram is wasted ram!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So? We all still want our phones to be as future proof as we hoped they would be when we bought them. And we want the extra RAM simply because it's supposed to be there.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

FadeFx said:
why t.f. do you guys always want to have lots of fre ram? please read a little about android memory management... free ram is wasted ram!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as it doesn't go below that ~70mb when the phones actually start lagging
Might also want to take into consideration that the counterpart Desire used in this thread is also an android phone, sure too much free memory is wasted memory but too little usable memory = lag and if there isn't a lot to use in the first place then it won't take much for the phone to start lagging.
Some help in JG and onward firmwares but it's still quite funny that a simple user can make a fix to create a solution for the entire problem and Samsung hasn't either thought about this or taken it into consideration. (Mimocan is my hero <3)
edit: WOO my first post after actually following these forums for almost half a year, just registered recently

Hey,
Actually you do not need that much RAM. Im running on JG5, which IMO is the most stable and usable firmware out there. Has been running the phone for 3 days straight without any ATK like apps, and has not experience any lags.
Another thing is that, IMHO ATKs slow down the system.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

The current Samsung froyo builds do not support highmem. It is a kernel compile time config option. Samsung will hopefully enable it in later builds.
Highmem made a noticeable difference in performance on my nexus one.

ed10000 said:
So? We all still want our phones to be as future proof as we hoped they would be when we bought them. And we want the extra RAM simply because it's supposed to be there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nonsense. You are not entitled to more free ram in any way.
Every os uses a part of the ram for the kernel code and its buffers.
In addition the advanced graphics will need memory for its texture storage and graphic representation.
A froyo kernel will not make a major difference.
The sg has 512 memory today and it is using it as it should...

akselic said:
As long as it doesn't go below that ~70mb when the phones actually start lagging
Might also want to take into consideration that the counterpart Desire used in this thread is also an android phone, sure too much free memory is wasted memory but too little usable memory = lag and if there isn't a lot to use in the first place then it won't take much for the phone to start lagging.
Some help in JG and onward firmwares but it's still quite funny that a simple user can make a fix to create a solution for the entire problem and Samsung hasn't either thought about this or taken it into consideration. (Mimocan is my hero <3)
edit: WOO my first post after actually following these forums for almost half a year, just registered recently
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lagging is actually not caused by to less free ram, in android there is no such. the used ram is caused by apps that you opened and then exited again. if you open a new app that needs more ram than aviailable (actually with a little gap of some mb) the system will close apps that are not used anymore and only kept in ram for faster opening. the lag comes from bad i/o speeds of the nand (internal memory) where apps data is stored. on i7500 there is 192mb of ram and it works ok with froyo (thanx to drakaz and gaosp team!) only thing is that every app you open forces the app you opened before to be kicked out of ram what makes switching between apps makes somewhat a pain.
also free memory and usable memory is apples and pears, useable is all memory that contains no actually running in foreground app or service. and free memory is the rest that contains absolutely no information and thus WASTED
edit: btw i7500 is running well with 20mb free ram.

I often have no more than 30 MBs free, and not running THAT many apps. What is strange is that sometimes there is 70-80 MB free, and I have not done anyting. What happens in the background is a mystery... Any suggestions?

how much ram do we really have?

i thought the cappy had 512 mb of ram... why do all the roms have like 341? im confused >.< either i looked at 3 faulty spec sheets for the captivate or we arent utilizing the full ram potential for the captivate. would someone explain the truth on this matter to a captivate noob like me?

i could be wrong but i believe the 341 is available to use ram, while the rest is being used by the phone to function.

nehal51086 said:
i could be wrong but i believe the 341 is available to use ram, while the rest is being used by the phone to function.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that would make sense, but that makes the specs misleading... i traded my HD2 for a cappy because the spec sheet said 512mb of ram and the HD2 only has 411 available to the OS when running android from nand because the rest is dedicated to winmo only (which sucks massively), and i wanted more ram lol, guess i should have looked harder into things, but regardless the captivate is "better" in very many areas, but RAM is literally my deciding factor for so many things lately (like t-mobile with the sensation or sprint with the evo 3d, i would say evo 3d because it has 256mb or so more ram)

This question has been asked and answered several times....
the phone does have 512mb of ram. Like the person above me said the phones os and graphics take up a portion of the ram. All computers and smart phones work the same way.
As a side note android handles ram very well. You don't need to manage it at all by freeing it up. free ram is wasted ram as the os will have to load it back up anyways
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

crystalhand said:
This question has been asked and answered several times....
the phone does have 512mb of ram. Like the person above me said the phones os and graphics take up a portion of the ram. All computers and smart phones work the same way.
As a side note android handles ram very well. You don't need to manage it at all by freeing it up. free ram is wasted ram as the os will have to load it back up anyways
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i know this very well, free ram can be considered wasted ram, unless you need 200mb or so free for a tegra class game, but i think android handles ram awesomely to an extent but can be improved by implementing autokiller memory optimizer in a knowledgable and appropriate way that doesnt hurt optimizations android already has in place, zipaligning, increasing the dalvik heap size, etc... can all be done, im not asking about how android handles ram or anything, and im sorry i didnt know the question had been asked several times i am brand new to the captivate today, literally, and was doing not but seeking information i didnt understand or know, thank you for the explaination though i appreciate it, and im glad to know that my new captivate will utilize the left over 171mb of ram for something unlike my HD2 that couldnt access the last 100mb because it was designated to winmo only. i had an idea that was the case and i was just clarifying to myself because i kept reading rom changelogs stating "enabled more ram now 341mb available" or something along the lines of that and thought to myself "there should be more available already" lol

I honestly think 341MB is enough.

341 MB is alot. But something is taking all that up too. On a fresh boot, half of it is used, and I have 140~170 MB. Its even worse on GB. Most ive gotten is 100 MB free.
So if the half of the 341 plus the mysterious 171 MB that is nowhere to be found, I dont get whats using the other 171 that is not part of the 341. Lol confusing

Same happens to me. Who knows, lol
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

I think its the user interface graphics, like scrolling quality is good because that ram is dedicated to things
like that
Sent from cyanogen mod 7

Less free RAM after v20 GB upgrade

Anyone encounter the same issue? Used to have around 180mb before upgrade. Now most times less than
100Mb
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App

Not less than 100MB but also less than with Froyo.

cheeese said:
Anyone encounter the same issue? Used to have around 180mb before upgrade. Now most times less than
100Mb
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get a task manager and kill some tasks then, after killing tasks and only excluding stuff i need, eg. messenger app, music ect i get 205mb free ram and never go below 100mb.

I did still?at most 120 only.
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App

OMG guys, why don't people get this:
Free RAM is wasted RAM.
/thread

kiljacken said:
OMG guys, why don't people get this:
Free RAM is wasted RAM.
/thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because your phone slows down when it gets below 100mb, don't bother arguing that because i know from experience that my o2x slows down and becomes choppy when the free ram goes below 100mb, because there is so much crap stored in memory.
If i need something to run ill run it and leave it there and exclude it from task manager but other wise its no use.
Its also a huge battery drain to have so many apps running that you are not using so that's a pretty stupid statement...."free ram is waste ram" lol wtf...., your battery life must be really long.
As for OP, i suggest you install a better rom, i use topigigis 1.7 rom and after killing a bunch of tasks i get up to 205mb free, altho this gets less the longer it goes without a reboot, so try rebooting and hen killing some useless tasks and see what your ram level is at.

eraldo said:
Because your phone slows down when it gets below 100mb, don't bother arguing that because i know from experience that my o2x slows down and becomes choppy when the free ram goes below 100mb, because there is so much crap stored in memory.
If i need something to run ill run it and leave it there and exclude it from task manager but other wise its no use.
Its also a huge battery drain to have so many apps running that you are not using so that's a pretty stupid statement...."free ram is waste ram" lol wtf...., your battery life must be really long.
As for OP, i suggest you install a better rom, i use topigigis 1.7 rom and after killing a bunch of tasks i get up to 205mb free, altho this gets less the longer it goes without a reboot, so try rebooting and hen killing some useless tasks and see what your ram level is at.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Free ram is wasted ram. And taskkillers will only make you battery life worse if not some app is using all the cpu. The reason RAM is used by android is to keep apps preloaded, for better launch times. The built in task handler is all what is needed. My phone runs blazingly fast at all times, and I don't use a taskkiller.

yupe.. Mine is mostly below 100mb.. 70mb on average. but it's smoother than froyo with 140mb.. list of applications and files are faster to load and smoother.. so i have no complain at all.

I'm also experiencing the lower free memory in the default configuration with GB compared to Froyo. Although I'm not trying to get as much free RAM as possible (because I support the reasons given above for usage of the RAM, having apps in there doesn't mean that they're running) I'm still curious where the missing amount of memory went... Does anybody have any clue what was introduced or changed with GB that could use up about 70MB?

kiljacken said:
Free ram is wasted ram. And taskkillers will only make you battery life worse if not some app is using all the cpu. The reason RAM is used by android is to keep apps preloaded, for better launch times. The built in task handler is all what is needed. My phone runs blazingly fast at all times, and I don't use a taskkiller.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh really and what is your logic for thinking having no unused apps running will use more battery than having lads running.....you make no sense an have no logic or fact to back up such a ridiculas assumption.
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA Premium App

kiljacken said:
Free ram is wasted ram. And taskkillers will only make you battery life worse if not some app is using all the cpu. The reason RAM is used by android is to keep apps preloaded, for better launch times. The built in task handler is all what is needed. My phone runs blazingly fast at all times, and I don't use a taskkiller.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clearly you've been on cm7 so long you forgot how bad stock is..
Stock firmware for my phone was horrible and backgrounding was working for only seconds due to lack of ram, Opera would never background, always a new boot.
Cm7 > stock
Sent from my Optimus 2X using Tapatalk

I m on stock v20 ROM. Sometime my fone will b sluggish and it seems like e low RAM is causing it. Also wondering where e RAM went After upgrading.

use supercharger
Code:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=991276

And there's a bug in original stock kernel about memory management, horse power kernels are better for that.

Its not just about the rom your choosing its about the kernel, flash a good kernel and it will improve memory usage.

So does flashing custom kernel void e warranty and does it need rooting? Which is e best kernel for stock ROM v20?
Thanks
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App

cheeese said:
So does flashing custom kernel void e warranty and does it need rooting? Which is e best kernel for stock ROM v20?
Thanks
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes most of the time and Yes. Some providers accept phone customization in warranty, ask yours.
If you have v20L you only have Horse Power kernel (Neoblaze seems bootloop) + Power pack 7 (mandatory, orbootloop, see dedicated threads).

If I reflash my phone using one of the original images availabe and reset it, is there any chance for the provider to detect previous flash operations?
Striatum_bdr said:
Yes most of the time and Yes. Some providers accept phone customization in warranty, ask yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cheeese said:
So does flashing custom kernel void e warranty and does it need rooting? Which is e best kernel for stock ROM v20?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Befor i flashed hp sr2 i had 70 to 90 mb free ram now i had 130 to 150 free ram and my baterry seems better.
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App

I'd tend to relate the better battery life to the new kernel than the increased free ram. I'm on RC9 (w. PP7, no init.d-scripts) and my LGOS reaches almost two days of battery standby with ~50-60MB free RAM.
luka2858 said:
Befor i flashed hp sr2 i had 70 to 90 mb free ram now i had 130 to 150 free ram and my baterry seems better.
Sent from my LG-P990 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] Low available Ram !!!

Hey Guys ... Did you look to the Ram status in the Galaxy Note ???
I have 600+/800 usage in normal situations !!! and when I clear ram it reached to 400+ which goes back to more than 600 Mb after moderate usage !!! what about in your Notes guys ??? Any solution for this ?? plz comments ....

What is it you are planning on doing with the free ram? Has the use of ram caused any problems? Don't worry about it and use the device. There is no point in trying to worry about something which is being used or not being used which is not affecting you in any way. Until it does have fun with the phone.

Do you think Android is running on air? The Note has 1GB RAM which the OS takes 200MB at boot. The rest is used by apps and other things. If you're not going to use the RAM, then why do you need it?
"My computer uses 50MB of RAM, And i have 32GB of it!" WHAT'S THE POINT?!

Try RAM Manager by Juwe. Be aware that the more memory you free up the worse multitasking will be.

Are you kidding me? Use RAM Manager when your device has 1GB of it? Please slap me as hard as you can.

This thread needs to be deleted.
RAM is there to be used.
I would use 100% of my RAM 100% of the time if I could. If it's not being used, it's being wasted.

Unused RAM is totally wasted. When 2GB devices come out OMG my device is using 1GB out of my 2GB!!!

To each his own, who are you to tell others what to do with their RAM? I'm not your typical "as much free memory as possible freak" but how comes that when I kill some apps before running something more intensive it's usually smoother and performs better?

pjm77 said:
To each his own, who are you to tell others what to do with their RAM? I'm not your typical "as much free memory as possible freak" but how comes that when I kill some apps before running something more intensive it's usually smoother and performs better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had to manually kill apps with my G-Note, so I dont know what your doing wrong, Could be a faulty device as far as I can tell.

Thanks for your advice, I'm running to get it replaced.

pjm77 said:
Thanks for your advice, I'm running to get it replaced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
600mb usage is totally normal on moderate use. Obviously you don't know how RAM Management work on Android. Go and replace your phone but nothing will change.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

Would you replace your computer because it's using to much RAM?
Chances are you would find the RAM hog and keep it from starting up when not neccesary.
600mb is normal usage.... if you are not happy with that high of usage delete the apps that have services running or are always in the background. Android does this for you as you approach full RAM usage anyways though...

garytube said:
600mb usage is totally normal on moderate use. Obviously you don't know how RAM Management work on Android. Go and replace your phone but nothing will change.
Ever heard of irony?
Of course I'm not gonna get it replaced I'm happy with the way it is.
Yes, I've read about Android memory management quite a while ago. Very smart and very convincing. Now on the other hand - every now and then after some intense moments - let's say I'm driving and I'm using offline satnav then online satnav then there is a phonecall, then I make a voice note, I get out, send a text, use my GTD app and whatever else - after hours of such use when I get home, stretch my legs and I fancy to play let's say Galaxy on Fire 2, I find it smoother and less likely to crash if I just press "kill all apps" button in Task Manager. And since I installed RAM Manager I don't have to do it. And I haven't noticed any side effects that would interfere with my style of using my phone.
So guess what - I really don't give a **** about Android memory management and all expert opinions because I know what works for me and I'm happy with that state of things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

pjm77 said:
garytube said:
600mb usage is totally normal on moderate use. Obviously you don't know how RAM Management work on Android. Go and replace your phone but nothing will change.
Ever heard of irony?
Of course I'm not gonna get it replaced I'm happy with the way it is.
Yes, I've read about Android memory management quite a while ago. Very smart and very convincing. Now on the other hand - every now and then after some intense moments - let's say I'm driving and I'm using offline satnav then online satnav then there is a phonecall, then I make a voice note, I get out, send a text, use my GTD app and whatever else - after hours of such use when I get home, stretch my legs and I fancy to play let's say Galaxy on Fire 2, I find it smoother and less likely to crash if I just press "kill all apps" button in Task Manager. And since I installed RAM Manager I don't have to do it. And I haven't noticed any side effects that would interfere with my style of using my phone.
So guess what - I really don't give a **** about Android memory management and all expert opinions because I know what works for me and I'm happy with that state of things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I liked your response, but it's not irony, it's sarcasm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

pjm77 said:
garytube said:
600mb usage is totally normal on moderate use. Obviously you don't know how RAM Management work on Android. Go and replace your phone but nothing will change.
Ever heard of irony?
Of course I'm not gonna get it replaced I'm happy with the way it is.
Yes, I've read about Android memory management quite a while ago. Very smart and very convincing. Now on the other hand - every now and then after some intense moments - let's say I'm driving and I'm using offline satnav then online satnav then there is a phonecall, then I make a voice note, I get out, send a text, use my GTD app and whatever else - after hours of such use when I get home, stretch my legs and I fancy to play let's say Galaxy on Fire 2, I find it smoother and less likely to crash if I just press "kill all apps" button in Task Manager. And since I installed RAM Manager I don't have to do it. And I haven't noticed any side effects that would interfere with my style of using my phone.
So guess what - I really don't give a **** about Android memory management and all expert opinions because I know what works for me and I'm happy with that state of things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it looks like to me that you posted in this thread just to promote RAM Manager
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

TeeeJaay said:
pjm77 said:
it looks like to me that you posted in this thread just to promote RAM Manager
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted in this thread beacuse another user complained about the problem that I came across and found solution to. It's certainly not the best one, but it's the one that works for me.
In the meantime I got ridiculed by more social-oriented users who need to accept and be accepted. To which I got upset and posted some crap. As a result I hijacked the thread. I apologize and shut up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

LordManhattan said:
Are you kidding me? Use RAM Manager when your device has 1GB of it? Please slap me as hard as you can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung makes us fool it has only 800MB RAM. Even i thought it was 1GB.

It has 1GB. 200MB is reserved for the system.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

Memory usage
My daughter started a game where a photo is used in the programme, and I got the message "Free RAM low, resolution of photo reduced". Had to kill running services to be able to run it without the reduced resolution. Checked the overall Galaxy Note ram usage and just out of the box I have around 230mb free of RAM, I have an HTC Desire HD (768 ram) that has the same free and it is filled with running apps. When you get that kind of messages from a new phone, from some ****ty simple kid programme before I have even filled it up with stuff I get really annoyed. When I kill all I can i can get max up to 400mb.

Yup, TouchWiz is a greedy RAM eating whore. Wait for CM9 and then you'll see why custom UIs like TouchWiz and Sense is bull****.
Sent from my iPad GT-N7000 using xda premium

How much ram should be free

My phone shows ive around 120 to 140 ram is that enough so that the phone functions smothly without laggings? And i wanna know what free ram u guys have while using ur phone ....
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App

I mean total memory free***
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App

Around 100MB +/- 50 free is nominal, I guess.
The way I understand it:
It's going to vary quite a bit, depending on what your doing, number of additional serviced installed, etc. But generally speaking, Android is a very different animal compared to -- say -- Windows. Free RAM doesn't really have an affect on performance, it's just RAM that's not being exploited. There are several parameters that tell the OS how much RAM should be free in a number of different circumstances, also when and how often to kill other services. i.e. As RAM usage increases, apps and services with increasingly higher priorities will be killed to free up RAM. So like if you run Angry Birds, you may start with 100MB free which will drop down to say 70 maybe even 50, but after a few minutes of running, the OS begins to try to free up memory to get it back to what ever the desired free RAM is set to. So after a few minutes, your RAM may go all the way back up to 100MB. Where Windows would just start to pound away at a page file on the hard drive, Android will start to kill applications then eventually kill lower priority services in order to free up the RAM it needs.
So basically every time you run a RAM heavy program, Android will start to kill the previously used programs (settings screen, browser, facebook, whatever), as they are now deemed lower priority. It's always fighting to maintain a certain about of RAM.

I have an average of about 150mb on the latest CyangenMod build (not ICS). However once I start up my phone and run the auto kill after about 10 minutes, I can have 200+ (sometimes as high as 250).
Bobbar said it well in terms of how much you need. To be honest, when I was on the stock rom, I would sometimes have less than 70mb free, yet my phone still wouldn't lag much. You can help with any launcher lag by disabling desktop animations and such.

I'm generally in the range of 60 - 90 MB free RAM at any given moment. My D3 does not lag at all. What you are reporting is absolutely fine.
My first phone regularly reported 25 - 40 MB free RAM at any given moment. Android runs fine on the D3 - it's best not to spend too much time worrying about it, IMO.

If you have a bunch of RAM free all the time it just means you're losing out on multitasking. Some people tweak their OOM values and such so that they have copious amounts of free RAM, this is not necessarily a good thing. IMO

Android aggressively pre-loads applications into memory. The most ideal situation is actually higher memory usage - as most apps don't need ridiculous amounts of memory to operate, and more apps cached in memory means faster launch times for those specific apps.

If you have a bunch of apps not closing and lagging your phone then try Auto killer.
Sent from my XT862 using XDA App

I've got 240MB free at any given moment with stock ROM and doesn't lag at all.

So, not to get off topic, what exactly do all these newer phones need 1GB of RAM for? Just to load up more apps into memory? I get it, it should make them load up faster...but is it necessary on Android?
It just blows me away how much these manufacturers charge for phones these days. Seems like we're just getting into the same kind of specs 'arms race' that people have been going through on their PCs for a while now, just so they can try to make more money. That's pretty sad, considering I have a fine experience with the D3 and G2x.

BenSWoodruff said:
So, not to get off topic, what exactly do all these newer phones need 1GB of RAM for? Just to load up more apps into memory? I get it, it should make them load up faster...but is it necessary on Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 gig of RAM would be a great thing, for instance for running GNU/Linux in chroot, which I do...
The prob is the Droid 3 doesn't have anywhere near enough total RAM, not to speak of free RAM.

BenSWoodruff said:
So, not to get off topic, what exactly do all these newer phones need 1GB of RAM for? Just to load up more apps into memory? I get it, it should make them load up faster...but is it necessary on Android?
It just blows me away how much these manufacturers charge for phones these days. Seems like we're just getting into the same kind of specs 'arms race' that people have been going through on their PCs for a while now, just so they can try to make more money. That's pretty sad, considering I have a fine experience with the D3 and G2x.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some.of.the Phones with 1gig ram have the lapdock, it docks with a keyboard/screen to be a pseudo laptop. When docked half the ram is set aside for the lapdock
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

BenSWoodruff said:
So, not to get off topic, what exactly do all these newer phones need 1GB of RAM for? Just to load up more apps into memory? I get it, it should make them load up faster...but is it necessary on Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, Android has gotten fatter, for one. Another would be Motos Webtop.
The more memory you have, the more apps you can have stored in it at any one time. Devices with small amounts of RAM (256 or so) may only be able run one major app at a time. But once you get into the 512 - 1GB+ range, users can freely switch between several heavy apps without them getting killed to free RAM. So you could switch between Angry Birds, then the browser, then YouTube or Email and Messaging without having to relaunch any of them.
So manufacturers tossing in more and more RAM does end up being a pretty good selling point.
It just blows me away how much these manufacturers charge for phones these days. Seems like we're just getting into the same kind of specs 'arms race' that people have been going through on their PCs for a while now, just so they can try to make more money. That's pretty sad, considering I have a fine experience with the D3 and G2x.
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Just looks at how powerful these devices are compared to just a few years ago. The innovation and power is increasing at an almost logarithmic rate. The price for a high-end smart phone has remained about the same, but the rate at which they are being cycled for newer, faster devices is crazy. So, in this sense, it may be accurate to compare it to PCs. But, it's only us enthusiasts that really feel the hit to the pocket book, because we always want to be on the bleeding edge. And most users, average users, will stay with the same device for a long time, they don't feel the same 'pain' as the enthusiasts group.
Back in 2005, before the iPhone and all that stuff, a smart would cost you almost $700 and it came with a steaming, stinking pile of Windows Mobile. We have it so good these days.

I have around 200MB at boot (CM7).
Yes, that should be enough RAM to use most apps without lagging. That's about what I had with stock, and I rarely ran out.
aman321 said:
My phone shows ive around 120 to 140 ram is that enough so that the phone functions smothly without laggings? And i wanna know what free ram u guys have while using ur phone ....
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
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512mb it's a little down for me... because i like multitasking and for example if you download something from a web page, using opera mobile or stock browser and you open facebook's app while you listening music (poweramp or winamp) it will kill your internet browser (cancel your download) due to your less ram avaible.
A great solution for us would be if we can enable a swap on our droids but it seems to be difficult (or imposible due to our locked bootloaders)... but if somoene is interested here is a link to the current topic http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1407671
With swap enabled our device will move to virtual memory our background apps leaving free ram to our current app.