Database Develop

[HOWTO] Getting Hero To Run Fast

A lot of people have a tough time with Hero/Sense ROMs. I thought I'd make a guide on what I do to help others out. This is not definitive but it's my personal way of doing things. Comments, tips and suggestions are welcome here. I will update this with some more info as I go along.
I have a MT3G but this is the same for G1.
**Firerat has really comprehensive guides for A2SD and other tweaks. Please check his thread for more info. Also, his post about setcpu profiles is a must read.
First, get a ROM. I'm currently playing with KingKlick's Legend Port and Vegaman's kernel update.zip. This guide applies to any Hero ROM though.
Table of Contents / Overview
First things first
Get your task killers in order (TasKiller, AutoKiller, etc.)
MyBackup Pro or similar if you use them
Autostarts-- one of my favorites. Would love to hear about a free alternative
Droidwall-- free, blocks Internet to apps you choose
Reboot, wipe Dalvik-cache, reboot
Additional steps, Misc, Errata
FIRST:
Partition your SD card. I set a 256MB swap partition and have copious memory left over even under heavy load. EXT2 is better than 3/4.
Flash the ROM, flash the kernel update after. Boot the ROM, go through set up. I always skip signing in at this point as the setup is heavy on the CPU and wait for things to settle before the memory intensive sign in process begins.
SECOND:
Okay, now I see the home screen. Install TasKiller (free/paid) with ADB, MyBackup Pro and kill all the processes except Sense. I highly recommend Autostarts (paid). It handles not only autostart processes but also event listeners and will significantly speed up the ROM. Here are the services I disable:
"After Startup"
Download Manager
My Uploads
Network Location
PC Synchronization
HTC Message Uploader
Peep
HTC Media Uploader
Flickr/FaceBook/MySpace/etc
com.htc.socialnetwork.provider
HTC Widget Download Manager
MyBackup Pro (Uploads your location to their servers at every boot!!)
"Connectivity Changed"
My Uploads
Network Location Service
HTC Message Uploader
HTC Media Uploader
com.htc.socialnetwork.provider
"Application Installed"
PC Synchronization
Pico TTS (why would text-to-speech need to run...)
If you use Slacker.. disable it completely from all "Application Changed/Installed/Removed" categories. No need in them knowing your usage..
"Screen Off"
TasKiller
Notice how (and you can watch with logcat) when an application is modified or installed, it starts up Pico TTS (text-to-speech), synchronization, etc. This is not necessary and a memory hog. You might also be thinking "but I needz muh Facebook" but you don't need it to autostart. These services will load on demand as you use them. Without them, things go a lot quicker.
THIRD: (If you use MyBackup Pro)
Now, I sign into my account with Market, accept the terms and conditions. Once things have settled and I'm able to use the Market I exit the app immediately. I use MyBackup Pro to restore my apps. Version 3 now links apps to Market so they can be updated. Pretty slick despite the fact it logs your location to their servers without your permission. Luckily Autostarts stopped that. Now there's a small catch-- MyBackup messes up the Market database. Easy fix with ADB:
Code:
# cd /data/data/com.android.vending/databases
# ls -l
[I]I summarized the output here for formatting's sake..[/I]
----rwxr-x assets.db
-rw-rw---- billing.db
-rw-rw---- webview.db
-rw-rw---- webviewCache.db
See how assets.db is owned by root and the wrong permissions? This will FC Market 10/10 times. So:
Code:
# cp assets.db BACKUPassets.db
# cp -p billing.db assets.db
# cat BACKUPassets.db | tee assets.db
# rm BACKUPassets.db
Now it will work. The theory is that we can't chown the DB due to an "unknown user" but the other files there have the correct permissions. We use cat and tee to overwrite the clone with the correct contents. It's a hack that works perfectly.
FOURTH:
I then reboot and go to the Market. Install Droidwall (free) and set it to blacklist any app that doesn't need Internet Access. I also install AdFree (free). One site that it doesn't block is flurry.com. This site is used by a lot of applications such as MoreLocale. It uploads personally identifying information about you including your location, phone number, account info, etc. without your permission. I append it to my hosts file afterward. Note that each update with AdFree will erase that entry but I use Autostarts to disable it at boot and never update.
Code:
# mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
# echo "127.0.0.1 flurry.com" | tee -a /system/etc/hosts
# mount -o remount,ro /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
FIFTH:
With all the apps now installed that I want to start out with, I go back to Autostarts and disable those I don't want (pretty much all of them). I reboot into recovery mode and wipe Dalvik cache. Reboot, wait for it to cache again and all is well.
Additional Steps
You can easily lock home into memory. *thanks speedysilwady and firerat. Here's how to set this permanently:
Code:
adb pull /init.rc
[I]replace "setprop ro.HOME_APP_MEM ..." with:
[B]setprop ro.HOME_APP_MEM 1536[/B]
[/I]adb push init.rc /sdcard/init.rc
adb shell
# mount -o remount,ro rootfs /
# cat /sdcard/init.rc | tee /init.rc
# mount -o remount,rw rootfs /
# rm /sdcard/init.rc
I will update this as I go. Any comments and tricks like reducing call delays are welcome. Again, this is just how I do things. Hope it helps.

Reserved for the updates....

Reserved for more updates. Just in case.

Don't bother getting kings version just get Vegaman's 0.3 version.
It works a treat and fast as well...
EDIT= and on Vegaman's use EXT2 not EXT4 like you have to do in kings roms. EXT2 is faster then EXT4

Awesome thread! you could also use AutoKiller and Cachemate to keep things smooth as well! =]

Updated OP. I'm looking for the prioritizer script that supposedly gets incoming calls within 1-2 rings... will update when I get it figured out. I have between 40-55MB free memory according to TasKiller when no apps are running.

deuse said:
Don't bother getting kings version just get Vegaman's 0.3 version.
It works a treat and fast as well...
EDIT= and on Vegaman's use EXT2 not EXT4 like you have to do in kings roms. EXT2 is faster then EXT4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree...and great job thread creater!!!

Interesting! I will try this, how much will the speed increase be?

With what I do, I barely get any slow downs unless I run a lot of apps but I have TasKiller's mini taskbar on one of my home screens and always clear things out before I do something like web browsing, Maps, or games to keep RAM clean.
I'd love an alternative to Autostarts that's free but it is truly great. Blocking listeners causes a huge boost in speed. You will see in logcat when you install an app that all these services start running in the background like Voice Dialer, TTS, etc. That's the reason installing apps seems to peg the phone for a few minutes. Not so when you block those background services.

enatefox said:
Updated OP. I'm looking for the prioritizer script that supposedly gets incoming calls within 1-2 rings... will update when I get it figured out. I have between 40-55MB free memory according to TasKiller when no apps are running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Code:
su
setprop ro.HOME_APP_MEM 1536
this will keep home in memory. I learned that one from Firerat , should make calls come in faster

from what i understand a large swap like that might offer some positive temporary results, but after time clogs up

adelco93 said:
from what i understand a large swap like that might offer some positive temporary results, but after time clogs up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's bad to have a large swap and high swappiness.

I haven't had any issues. The swap partition hasn't clogged up or even gone under 100MB left for me yet. Your mileage may vary but it's what I set it to. What size/swappiness would you recommend then? 96MB is not enough, 128MB seemed like too close to the edge of what I need.
I need to make the OP not look like crap...

It is better for the life of your sdcard to have a large swap....because if you allocate say only 64mb to swap...those blocks on your sdcard are constantly being written/read and the rest isn't....better to have a swap of say 256mb so that you are evening out the stress on the blocks more.
I think Wes G or Chris S said this....but that's my paraphrase of it.
Also no difference in speed between a 32mb swap and a 256mb swap. Just depends on your sdcard's class.

enatefox said:
I haven't had any issues. The swap partition hasn't clogged up or even gone under 100MB left for me yet. Your mileage may vary but it's what I set it to. What size/swappiness would you recommend then? 96MB is not enough, 128MB seemed like too close to the edge of what I need.
I need to make the OP not look like crap...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
60 at most 80 or 100 is to much
G1ForFun said:
Also no difference in speed between a 32mb swap and a 256mb swap. Just depends on your sdcard's class.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If we were talking about computers then swap would be same size as ram, it's better to have no swap at all then to have one
Read some of this:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwapFaq

G1ForFun said:
It is better for the life of your sdcard to have a large swap....because if you allocate say only 64mb to swap...those blocks on your sdcard are constantly being written/read and the rest isn't....better to have a swap of say 256mb so that you are evening out the stress on the blocks more.
I think Wes G or Chris S said this....but that's my paraphrase of it.
Also no difference in speed between a 32mb swap and a 256mb swap. Just depends on your sdcard's class.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Fireat
But for purposes of speed, a large swap partition will get full eventually, and when it does, have fun trying to use your phone. It gets slower because swap has to "dig" through more files to get what you want, the more files it has to dig through, the slower it is. However, you won't notice this if you reboot often (and I guess 5% of Android users reboot daily)

is there a way to enable compache on any of these hero roms?

speedysilwady said:
is there a way to enable compache on any of these hero roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The user.conf (if it is activated on the rom)

JAguirre1231 said:
The user.conf (if it is activated on the rom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is im not sure if its activated in any of the newer sense roms, i never heard it mentioned, so i figured id ask. ill go check the user.conf...

speedysilwady said:
The thing is im not sure if its activated in any of the newer sense roms, i never heard it mentioned, so i figured id ask. ill go check the user.conf...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of newer ones use it for a reason, you would use back-swapping instead(Cc+swap)

[Q] Full RAM after using a some apps... with a little analysis

After fixing some lags with I/O system by using filesystem LagFix I still have a Lag problem in my system and I think it's not related to Samsung.
I think this could be an Android problem.
After a fresh reboot I get 124MB of free RAM.
BUT... every day I need to reboot the phone because after 3 hours it became laggy.
Now I analysed this and read a bit about the memory management on several forums and was able to reproduce the lag 2minutes after reboot.
I just need to use much applications one after another to raise the RAM usage for every application.
When the free RAM reaches 40MB I think the system clears some pieces for using it for the app I now want to use and there is the LAG.
Is there any fix for Android not caching every activity of an application in the RAM?
Now for me Android feels like: Usage -> Full RAM -> Lag
Sorry for the new thread but after 2 hours of research I didn't find anything useful over search function.

Yea, every program should have as much ram available as their size. 2gig for program storage on sgs, so there should be the same amount of ram ;D Anyway, theres still less memory for programs on the sgs than for example in the N1. I'd say there is about 384MB of ram total on the sgs and not the 512 claimed.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Not just the RAM for the apps... there's much more...all mails from internet, all google talk conversations, the wather I checked out from internet with any widget, feels like every interaction is cached into the RAM until it reaches the 40mb mark and after that every interaction on my system is laggy... for example: opening the notification bar needs 2-3 seconds.
I already talked to N1 users with the same problem

DasLeo said:
I already talked to N1 users with the same problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heading out the door in a minute so can't comment on the rest, but I strongly disagree with that part of your statement.
As an N1 owner I've NEVER seen lag like I suffer on the SGS. Never seen the absolute FREEZE in the GUI like the SGS gets.
I'm running FroYo on the N1 now, so can't compare side-by-side to the SGS things like memory usage, but I don't think that's the issue here if you're going to use the N1 as a comparison, despite other users complaining of lag.
You might try Autokiller or the free memory manager app from the Market and see if that improves thing, they'll keep more or less memory free depending on settings. You could test how soon lag comes with default, minimal, and aggressive settings.

I never testet Froyo because everyone said, it's unstable but for me it seems like froyo has other RAM management than Eclair when you said you can't reproduce this problem.
I'm already using a task killer... I have my main apps ignored or excluded and most time there are 2 or 3 apps which will be killed after lock or time or what else.
What's the problem here... if I would use a PC with 512MB RAM and use only 10 small applications, it won't cache everything in the ram until it's full.

Hi, didn't read all the posts, but u should look into the RFS file system, which is samsung proprietery file system. It has a very bad implementation on android (i could be wrong). As for ram, the phone has 512 mb, but 128 are reserved for Gsm/data connection. Just think if you had an incoming call and all your ram was in use, u had to wait for the system to clear up some memory before being able to receive the call physiclly. That would be a long wait.
I could be wrong and sorry for the bad english.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Have you ever tried "Minfreemanager" app?
It can change the minimum available memory level in different app usage.
The device must be rooted first.
Then select "Aggressive" preset and see the result.

rkantos said:
. I'd say there is about 384MB of ram total on the sgs and not the 512 claimed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this turns out to be true, samsung is up for a massive lawsuit from MANY angry customers who've been mislead due to false marketing

tra33372 said:
Have you ever tried "Minfreemanager" app?
It can change the minimum available memory level in different app usage.
The device must be rooted first.
Then select "Aggressive" preset and see the result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DAMN!!! Nice app... it does exactly what I need cleans my RAM so I'll get 120MB and after that loading of apps is much faster than starting apps with Android included RAM cleaning.
It just cleans my RAM like a reboot but without the reboot
This should be a temporary solution until someone finds a better solution or until froyo is released.
I would like to have an application like this with an autoclean option on 2 hours

Guys please,
Getting off-topic here. Here is Android Development.
Not Q&A or General.
Please post in the right section.
Here is getting too many off-topics that pose no relation to Android Development.
Too cluttered.
Thanks

DasLeo said:
DAMN!!! Nice app... it does exactly what I need cleans my RAM so I'll get 120MB and after that loading of apps is much faster than starting apps with Android included RAM cleaning.
It just cleans my RAM like a reboot but without the reboot
This should be a temporary solution until someone finds a better solution or until froyo is released.
I would like to have an application like this with an autoclean option on 2 hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Auto killer is better.Its exactly the same as minfreemanager but can be made to apply at boot.Minfree manager resets itself at boot.

I use Memory Booster Lite (free version) app to free up memory, must do that manually but it works very well, if you buy the app it free up memory automaticly.

Pika007 said:
If this turns out to be true, samsung is up for a massive lawsuit from MANY angry customers who've been mislead due to false marketing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone does have 512mb of ram. It just isn't used properly.
MOJO783010 said:
Hi, didn't read all the posts, but u should look into the RFS file system, which is samsung proprietery file system. It has a very bad implementation on android (i could be wrong). As for ram, the phone has 512 mb, but 128 are reserved for Gsm/data connection. Just think if you had an incoming call and all your ram was in use, u had to wait for the system to clear up some memory before being able to receive the call physiclly. That would be a long wait.
I could be wrong and sorry for the bad english.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, wrong. The reserved ram is in the form of a ram disk, which seems to be a bit oversized. Not really sure why a ram disk is needed at all, personally.
sammy555 said:
Auto killer is better.Its exactly the same as minfreemanager but can be made to apply at boot.Minfree manager resets itself at boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the correct solution. the JF* series of firmwares have very bad default settings for killing unused apps. Use this app to set them a bit better and you shouldn't have any problems.

Pika007 said:
If this turns out to be true, samsung is up for a massive lawsuit from MANY angry customers who've been mislead due to false marketing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does have 512 of ram, but some is partitioned off for the phone, so that you can always receive phone calls. Just about every device does this, because users would be more upset if they couldn't pick up the phone until they had closed a bundle of running programs. Don't you think that people here would have noticed earlier if the SGS physically had less ram than claimed ?
As far as the OP is concerned, sounds like you are just running too many programs at once. Its not an android problem, its user error.
Any task manager, but particularly an auto-killer will set you right, although alternatively you could try not leaving every app open when you're finished with it. You think your PC would run ok if you left one game open while you opened another ?

DasLeo said:
I never testet Froyo because everyone said, it's unstable but for me it seems like froyo has other RAM management than Eclair when you said you can't reproduce this problem.
I'm already using a task killer... I have my main apps ignored or excluded and most time there are 2 or 3 apps which will be killed after lock or time or what else.
What's the problem here... if I would use a PC with 512MB RAM and use only 10 small applications, it won't cache everything in the ram until it's full.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't comparing a N1 on FroYo to the SGS on Eclair. My comments were in regard to when I was on Eclair, which was several months...FroYo's only been available for a couple of months. What I said was since I'm on FroYo now, I can't compare side-by-side, but my experience with an N1 on Eclair was never any lag problem or GUI freezes.
Anyways, I also suggested you try Autokiller, and you missed that or misunderstood it by saying you already run a Task Killer (which is generally considered a bad idea, but I see you picked up on Autokiller after someone else suggested it. Enjoy.
Pika007 said:
If this turns out to be true, samsung is up for a massive lawsuit from MANY angry customers who've been mislead due to false marketing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, all phones advertise the actual chip size in it, not the amount the system actually lets you use.

tra33372 said:
Have you ever tried "Minfreemanager" app?
It can change the minimum available memory level in different app usage.
The device must be rooted first.
Then select "Aggressive" preset and see the result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. This removes almost all lag I'm experiencing.

RAM in Froyo: welcome to Hell

I have been using the latests builds to see if they mitigate a common problem in our devices (mine is a Polaris). The insufficient memory makes it lag until forever when switching amongst applications, not only the heavy ones, but also the supposed light applications like Messaging, Phone, Contacts, etc.
The system has to work under really hard conditions: 20 - 28 MB when starting up. Every application I run is a fire proof. Applications like Navigation makes our devices literally crawl and bite the dust. Not far away, I was driving and tried to play some music at the same time. It was impossible. The waiting was unbearable and it finally hung like a pro.
My question is: is there any chance to free up memory or use it more efficiently in order to avoid these undesirable situations?

Did polaris get back some memory with Froyo kernel like vogue did? From the video buffer or something... what res do you run at?

I'm running at 240x320 - 120 dpi
I made a screenshot of a "free" command in a terminal (see attachment image).
My kernel is this one (converted with Atools):
http://androidhtc.git.sourceforge.n...=2.6.32/VOGUIMG-320-FROYO-10-4-10.NBH;hb=HEAD
Thanks for your interest!

Im not sure.. but is there a way to use the sd as ram?
I think its not fast enough, but i havent seen any "benchmarks" yet how fast the ram on the polaris works.
Maby its slower but fast enough to work as swap etc?

Enabling compcache will help you.
Still, our little devices cannot multitask very well with Android, but I can navigate and play music at the same time, with compcache.
You will need drivers that match your kernel, in /system/lib/modules. I have packaged some in the first post of this thread that should work for each of the two popular kernel versions.

n2rjt said:
Enabling compcache will help you.
Still, our little devices cannot multitask very well with Android, but I can navigate and play music at the same time, with compcache.
You will need drivers that match your kernel, in /system/lib/modules. I have packaged some in the first post of this thread that should work for each of the two popular kernel versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, I'm downloading the modules for 2.6.32. After applying the update, what should I do to enable compcache? Some time ago, this setting was in Spare Parts.

SuperJMN said:
Alright, I'm downloading the modules for 2.6.32. After applying the update, what should I do to enable compcache? Some time ago, this setting was in Spare Parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open terminal
type: Su
and then
compcache.sh enable

-Arturo- said:
Open terminal
type: Su
and then
compcache.sh enable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any way to confirm that it worked?

margosmark said:
any way to confirm that it worked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
type FREE in terminal and look under swap if it shows zero then it's not active.

-Arturo- said:
type FREE in terminal and look under swap if it shows zero then it's not active.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea, try doing free from a terminal you should have an amount of memory for the swap row

For testing...
Thank you SuperJMN for this thread : I hope this help us for better use of our phone.
Like you, when I try to use my GPS navigation (Navigon or Igo8) I'm bored that's too slow !! Impossible to change anything if I want...
I try now with Compcache enable, I can see 130024 (total and 104156 used) instead of 104024 : swap = 26000
Cheers.

manu33xtro said:
Thank you SuperJMN for this thread : I hope this help us for better use of our phone.
Like you, when I try to use my GPS navigation (Navigon or Igo8) I'm bored that's too slow !! Impossible to change anything if I want...
I try now with Compcache enable, I can see 130024 (total and 104156 used) instead of 104024 : swap = 26000
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any better luck with comcache on??

Report
I installed this update for my .32 kernel (dated September, the 30th):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=409422&d=1285714954
My build is the latest: http://sourceforge.net/projects/androidhtc/files/system-froyo-01-10-10_16.tgz/download
When I open a terminal and type
su
compcache.sh enable
it states that compcache will be enable in 120 seconds.
After that time, a free command doesn't reveal any change.
I've also tried typing
su
compcache.sh start
When doing this, it processes the command and after 30 seconds or so, some lines are displayed:
Code:
insmod: can't insert '/system/lib/modules/lzo_compress.ko': File exist
insmod: can't insert '/system/lib/modules/lzo_decompress.ko': File exist
insmod: can't insert '/system/lib/modules/ramzswap_compress.ko': File exist
swapon: /dev/block/ramzswap0: Function not implemented
vm.swappiness = 30
After that, a free command doesn't reveal any change, too.

SuperJMN said:
I installed this update for my .32 kernel (dated September, the 30th):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=409422&d=1285714954
My build is the latest: http://sourceforge.net/projects/androidhtc/files/system-froyo-01-10-10_16.tgz/download
When I open a terminal and type
su
compcache.sh enable
it states that compcache will be enable in 120 seconds.
After that time, a free command doesn't reveal any change.
I've also tried typing
su
compcache.sh start
When doing this, it processes the command and after 30 seconds or so, some lines are displayed:
Code:
insmod: can't insert '/system/lib/modules/lzo_compress.ko': File exist
insmod: can't insert '/system/lib/modules/lzo_decompress.ko': File exist
insmod: can't insert '/system/lib/modules/ramzswap_compress.ko': File exist
swapon: /dev/block/ramzswap0: Function not implemented
vm.swappiness = 30
After that, a free command doesn't reveal any change, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this one
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7688082/androidupdate.tar
Also is terminal added to the white list in super user app.?

Try with this update...

l1q1d said:
Try with this update...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked! Thanks!
By the way, the touchscreen behaves erratically with 4-oct NBH. Test with calibration app and tap the screen. You will notice abrupt lines.
Edit: if you want to see which behavior I'm referring to, watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPLu41BUB1Y
It happened sometime in the past, but with this one it happens the same (although the abruptness is not as much as in this video).
Edit 2: Strangely enough, it is fixed on reboot, but after some time running the touchscreen starts to behave crappy again. It happens with the newest .NBHs made in October.

CM11 Random Reboot Fix

I got fed up with CM11's constant reboots and did some digging, and discovered what was causing it. Kitkat by default uses zram, which increases CPU overhead, makes it painfully slow, and apparently on the DX, makes it unstable. I disabled it and made a swapfile in /data, a day and a half of heavy tinkering later, not one crash, and it's rather snappy for being on a 5 year old device. I even installed a ****load of Xposed modules and overclocked. Not one crash.
The fix:
Use either ES or CM File Manager to make an init.d script with the following content:
Code:
#!/system/bin/sh
swapoff /dev/block/zram0
You want this done early, so name it "07-zramoff" or something. Set proper perms and you're done. It doesn't make a big difference as far as RAM usage goes (maybe 10MB), but if you're really worried about it, make a swapfile and an init.d script to swapon at boot.
Note: If you have the Gapps installed, your DX will still be painfully slow.
As always, thanks to the devs for keeping our old DXs useful.

argentwarrior20 said:
I got fed up with CM11's constant reboots and did some digging, and discovered what was causing it. Kitkat by default uses zram, which increases CPU overhead, makes it painfully slow, and apparently on the DX, makes it unstable. I disabled it and made a swapfile in /data, a day and a half of heavy tinkering later, not one crash, and it's rather snappy for being on a 5 year old device. I even installed a ****load of Xposed modules and overclocked. Not one crash.
The fix:
Use either ES or CM File Manager to make an init.d script with the following content:
Code:
#!/system/bin/sh
swapoff /dev/block/zram0
You want this done early, so name it "07-zramoff" or something. Set proper perms and you're done. It doesn't make a big difference as far as RAM usage goes (maybe 10MB), but if you're really worried about it, make a swapfile and an init.d script to swapon at boot.
Note: If you have the Gapps installed, your DX will still be painfully slow.
As always, thanks to the devs for keeping our old DXs useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol my sister's phone broke so I was about to cook up an update for cm11-Kanged so she can run the droidx till she gets a better replacement, I'll try this and see how it goes, with gapps of course (my ROM includes them)

can you please give more detail?
how do you make the swap file? what directory does the script go? what are the permission?
would be nice if you can give a step by step instruction
Thanks in advance

I forget the step by step but you can just google it, ain't that hard to setup. My kang already has the groundwork for it since I have a script setup. A heads up though, swapping on android off of an SD card significantly reduces the life of your SD card and isn't really advised.

RAM always at 70% on MI5

Hello fellow MI5 users,
I received my phone one week ago and I start having some issues with the RAM. In fact, at the start of the phone, it's already at 70% filled up which is too much for me. Indeed I use a lot of RAM and I'm that type of guy who let the apps running in background everytime because I keep opening them everytime. I was wondering if it was possible to have a link to a better ROM because I guess it's the problem and also a link for a tutorial on how to flash it I'm a newbie in this type of manipulation but I'm very interested so I hope you will help me guys. By the way, my MIUI version is the MIUI 8 Global 6.8.18. I honestly don't know what can i give as information but I'll answer ASAP at any questions
Have a good day

This is working as design - Android keeps apps in RAM to reduce I/O on resuming from background - faster & more energy efficient.
You can change the number of background processes via the development settings or you can kill apps on closing.

adwinp said:
This is working as design - Android keeps apps in RAM to reduce I/O on resuming from background - faster & more energy efficient.
You can change the number of background processes via the development settings or you can kill apps on closing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen that indeed but it was set at standard so I'll probably put it at 3 I guess. How should I set the memory optimization? I've read it should be set off, altough I tried middle and I feel comfortable like that?
Is it normal to start at 70% without anything started ?

Unitae said:
I've seen that indeed but it was set at standard so I'll probably put it at 3 I guess. How should I set the memory optimization? I've read it should be set off, altough I tried middle and I feel comfortable like that?
Is it normal to start at 70% without anything started ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the 3GB version? Pretty much. MIUI is horrible.
After booting I typically had 1.3GB / 3.0GB free but after a while this averaged to around 650MB free.

free ram is useless ram , which cant accelerate anything

ps2lover said:
free ram is useless ram , which cant accelerate anything
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Click to collapse
I know that but I need more because I use multi-task a lot. Is there a way to change the ROM so I have more space to work with? Even if the ROM itself is beautiful.
Indeed it's the 3gb version 32gb. It have lags sometimes and I think it's due to the full RAM. Can I have a link to a custom ROM which works fine on this device?

I'm a little confused, you want as much RAM available but you want as many processes in the background as well? That sounds contradicting to me. Memory optimization maps to ZRAM, if you set it off there will be no memory compression and thus even less processes will be kept in the background. If you set it high, you can have as many processes as possible, but there could be lag due to (de)compression time overhead.

Try different Rom
Try to use a different Rom. On the Stock Rom is a lot of bloatware which is using your RAM too.
First you need to get an Bootloader unlock permission and have to unlock the BL.
It could take up to 10 Days to get the permission from Xiaomi
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-5/how-to/unlocking-xiaomi-mi-5-bootloader-t3336243
After that you have to flash a recovery like trwp via ADB. Google it for videos or threads how to do it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-5/development/recovery-twrp-xiaomi-mi-5-t3412123
After that you can flash a developer Rom.
I use the Resurrection Remix and it works fine. The CM 13 stucks in Bootloop. Maybe because I made a full wipe and had to sideload my rom.
Because you don't have a SD card option you have to have the room installed on your hard drive. But just follow the description below
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-5/development/unofficial-resurrection-remix-m-5-6-9-t3395945
It took me just 1 day to get the unlock permit but don't try do do it without it. You brick your phone.
The RR Rom works really fine. Fingerprint and everything. It has no bloatware and you have to get the gaps like in the description. Arm64 nano seems enough.
Good luck and fun with a great phone.
Normally the android system kills the unused apps even in background. But i also experienced lack in multitasking.

leledumbo said:
I'm a little confused, you want as much RAM available but you want as many processes in the background as well? That sounds contradicting to me. Memory optimization maps to ZRAM, if you set it off there will be no memory compression and thus even less processes will be kept in the background. If you set it high, you can have as many processes as possible, but there could be lag due to (de)compression time overhead.
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Click to collapse
I think you misunderstood the OP question, he wanted more free RAM at start in order to have as many as possible apps in the background.

lapocompris said:
I think you misunderstood the OP question, he wanted more free RAM at start in order to have as many as possible app in the background.
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Yup exactly

Try trwp 3.0.2.0 with 3.0.2.1 people experience bootloop

Omied said:
Try trwp 3.0.2.0 with 3.0.2.1 people experience bootloop
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Click to collapse
In fact, I'm just doing some research before asking because I'm very new. I have found some videos but they are pretty old and not on this phone but I guess it works more or less the same way

lapocompris said:
I think you misunderstood the OP question, he wanted more free RAM at start in order to have as many as possible apps in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, in that case, just open Security->Permissions->Autostart and disable those which aren't immediately needed upon start. I have 18 autostart items (mostly system monitoring & social media apps) and I usually start with 1.5 GB free RAM.