compcache without apps2sd? - G1 General

can i use compcache without apps2sd and cache2sd on my cyanogen 4.1.11 rom?
i cant figure out how, and is it possible to enable compcache w/o wiping?

Compcache has nothing to do with apps2sd, it runs by default and requires no SDcard particulars. It's only if you want backing swap that you'd have some work to do.

maybe i have compcache confused with swapper. is that the thing that turns the linux-swap partition into a pagefile basically?

Yes, you do have things confused.
Apps2SD - It's only used if you have an ext partition, nothing to do with CompCache or Swap...at all.
CompCache - Files in RAM are compressed, so there's more room to play with, nothing to do with swap
Linux Swap - This is a partition where files are paged to, it's seperate from CompCache, instead of compressing whats in the RAM in expands it. Although Swap space can never be compared to physical RAM.
Compcache will be running automatically on Cyan's ROMs, swap will does not. If you want to use Swap and compache (I do) then follow the link in my sig. It will show you how to generate a config file to tell Android which settings to use. Don't use swapper, it will create a page file on your fat32, using a linux-swap partition is far more effective.

Related

Working with swap on Hero ROM (MT3G)

Hey everyone i've been doing some reading and I'm still having some difficulty understanding the use of swap. I made a partition using gparted. Partitioned a fat32 a ext 3 and a linux-swap of like 80mb. Once the Evil Hero Rom is loaded I use DroidSwap to recognize the 80mb partition so that i will use 80mb instead of 32mb. My phone still runs a bit slow though. I've heard people say that i would never run sluggish once they increase the swap partition. I have set it on the settings to 64 MB swap size and 60 swappiness. Is there something i did wrong on these steps? Thanks guys!
Bump
No help guys? Really? Just wanna quick answer.....
I've never had any luck with swap. I've tried Swapper and using files, partitions, etc., I have a 16g Class 6 card and have a 32mb linux swap on it. It seems like when I enable swap (no matter which method I use) I start getting a lot of force-closes and random reboots.
--- before anyone blames the sdcard, it should be pointed out that I have tried 3 different sdcards of various sizes and speeds including the stock 2g card.

The Preferred Setup for Using CyanogenMod

Hello to all!
I have a G1 that I am going to wipe and install the latest CyanogenMod rom on. I also have a class 2, 4GB SDCARD.
What would you all say the preferred setup would be as far as partitioning the SDCARD and all else? I am looking for performance. Seems like my G1 is laggy a bit, especially when trying to navigate the home screen.
Thanks!
Try this out
1. Save any important files (pictures, etc) from sdcard to computer
2. Boot into recovery and wipe all (data, ext, dalvik, battery, rotate)
3. Partition sd (Linux-swap 0mb; Ext2 512mb) then upgrade ext2 to ext3
4. USB toggle and place base zip and CM's latest on sdcard
5. Flash base first then flash CM's latest
6. Reboot system
7. Go to Spare Parts, turn Window animations off, enable Home app in memory, and Compcache.
8. Download this 10mb ramhack + OC kernel and place it on your sdcard.
9. Boot into recovery and flash the zip.
BoomBoomPOW said:
8. Download this 10mb ramhack + OC kernel[/URL] and place it on your sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be warned. only do this step if you dont plan to use your G1 to play any 3D games as it utilises the ram used to process the games as far as i know.
correct me if im wrong though guys
Hey guys,
Thanks for the response.
2 questions:
1. Why would I not want to format ext3 in the first place? Just out of curiosity
2. Is the class 2 MicroSD card killing me? Do I really need to worry about the difference in classes as an average user? I just care about navigational speed
Thanks!
Well I. Can answer your first question. You need to set ext2 first as the 512 partition on your sd card. Then once you have all your partitions set. You can upgrade the ext 2 to ext 3 and even 4 if you feel the need.
I'm not sure about the 2nd question myself. Someone else may be able to help you there. But if you forget to up the ext you can do this at any time as you will not lose any data from this.
As for home screen lag, this can be due to widgets too. They take up quite a bit of memory as far as I know so if you have many on your home screen. This can lag it
patrickalexson said:
Hey guys,
Thanks for the response.
2 questions:
1. Why would I not want to format ext3 in the first place? Just out of curiosity
2. Is the class 2 MicroSD card killing me? Do I really need to worry about the difference in classes as an average user? I just care about navigational speed
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The class 2 would only hinder performance when you are reading files from the sdcard. I.e. if you have a game loaded on the sdcard w/ apps2sd then it may be a bit slower than a class 6 card. If you have a swap partition set up this would also slow down read/write to and from the swap. This is of course slower performance when compared to a class 6, not saying that class 2 are slow just slower than.
BoomBoomPOW said:
3. Partition sd (Linux-swap 0mb; Ext2 512mb) then upgrade ext2 to ext3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is the Linux-swap set to 0mb? Do you have to create a swap partition?
MLonon said:
Why is the Linux-swap set to 0mb? Do you have to create a swap partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM by default does not use Linux-swap. If you want to enable swap you must create a userinit and user.conf and push it in /system/sd (check this thread)
I suggested 0mb swap for him since he has a class 2 sdcard and enabling swap might be a daunting task for a novice.
BoomBoomPOW said:
CM by default does not use Linux-swap. If you want to enable swap you must create a userinit and user.conf and push it in /system/sd
I suggested 0mb swap for him since he has a class 2 sdcard and enabling swap might be a daunting task for a novice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is an app that will also do it for you called user.conf creator. its on the market. but get some advice on how to use it before messing about with it.
but as stated, with a class 2 card there aint much point
Great!
Any other suggestions once I get it up and running? I understand the whole point of the CM rom was to boost performance and add functionality so most of the stuff should be covered in the ROM?
I've seen articles mentioning that you can set the frequency for the processor to a higher value. Is that something I would want to do or is that already done in the more recent versions of CM?
Also,
What about skins and themes for CM? From my experience with Windows, any custom themes or skins can cause performance problems, unless they are absolutely minimalistic. Same basis with Android?
Thanks for the help people!
you can speed up the processor yes. cyanogen mod doesnt come with this, you can do this seperately with apps on the market for root users. there is a great app called SetCPU that has everything you need. it will configure the speed dependant on profiles that are set up for it. for example, you can have it running default speed when using it out and about, or full speed when plugged in. very handy to be fair. themes and skins will not slow the phone as far as ive seen. i have custom notification bar and custom launcher (advanced launcher) and have not had any problems so far, however some apps and widgets like stated earlier may slow your phone as they use up memory.
patrickalexson said:
Great!
Any other suggestions once I get it up and running? I understand the whole point of the CM rom was to boost performance and add functionality so most of the stuff should be covered in the ROM?
I've seen articles mentioning that you can set the frequency for the processor to a higher value. Is that something I would want to do or is that already done in the more recent versions of CM?
Also,
What about skins and themes for CM? From my experience with Windows, any custom themes or skins can cause performance problems, unless they are absolutely minimalistic. Same basis with Android?
Thanks for the help people!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be referring to the "780Mhz Bombshell". No need to have a whack at that. Actually that 10mb ramhack + OC Kernel I gave in my post earlier has been overclocked to reach 550Mhz. The max/min is 550/128. If you want to configure those frequency, you can use SetCPU app, choose Motorola Cliq as the device frequency. A great theme that doesn't hinder the rom's performance is the Enoch Theme. Simply flash that in recovery over the rom. Also, try fixing permissions once you've installed all your must-have apps. Simply open Terminal Emulator and type "su" enter, "fix_permissions" enter. Wait until it finishes. You could also boot into recovery, scroll to Other and run "fix apk uid mismatches".
if i have compcache at 32 should my backing swap be 96 or 64?
ps wats diff between swap and backing swap?
olvap377 said:
if i have compcache at 32 should my backing swap be 96 or 64?
ps wats diff between swap and backing swap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's a thread that's very informative in regards to Compcache and Linux swap. If you really read everything discussed on there you will learn much more.
But back to your questions. If enabled, backing swap will correlate with the cc disksize, so it wouldn't be 96 or 64, but rather 32. So partition your sdcard to a 32meg swap.
The difference is that with backing swap you have Compcache managing the swap file as well as the compressed data. With regular Linux swap the data has to be handed back to the OS to deal with after it is determined that it can't be compressed. It's just more efficient to let Compcache send it straight to the swap partition.

Swap Partition When Using Apps2sd

Hey guys,
I am planning to format my sdcard to fat32/ext_ partitions for use of apps2sd. I have a few questions I would like answered first though.
-Is a swap partition required? I have little space on my sd and would rather not use one. If it is required, what size/file system would you suggest? I take it there is no invisible swap partition by default?
-Ext 2, 3 or 4 for my apps2sd partition?
- I am planning to make my apps2sd partition only about 200mb, will that work well?
Thanks.
- swap: depending on rom, but in general: no
- i would recommend ext2, you can use 3 or 4 as well. keep in mind that ext4 doesn't work on any 2.1 rom until we have the kernel sources (after official release).
- it will work, the size only determines how many apps you can install there. average size of an app is ~1mb, though can go from a few kb to several mb (i.e. copilot.apk has 14mb).
Thanks a lot Any particular advantage of ext2 over ext3?
tbman1996 said:
Thanks a lot Any particular advantage of ext2 over ext3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ext3 and ext4 wear out your sdcard quicker, because of journaling features.
Since, compared to a system or cache partition, the sdcard is not written to as much, and system crashes where the mobile is shut down during a write operation are rare for Android, journaling doesn't offer any significant advantage. The unnecessary journaling however, accounts for extra writes to the flash memory chips, which in turn equals extra wear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ext2 said:
ext2 is still the filesystem of choice for flash-based storage media (such as SD cards, SSDs, and USB flash drives) since its lack of a journal minimizes the number of writes and flash devices have only a limited number of write cycles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Partitioning the SD

Can someone please educate me on partitioning the sd? Based on what I've read and my discussions with others, ext swap is for cache, fat32 is for apps, and the remainder is for usb storage???
I have a 8 GB class 6 (supposed to be faster) Samsung sd partioned at ext swap - 0 and fat 32 - 500.
If I'm right about ext swap (please correct me if I'm wrong), I could make my phone faster if I allocated some sd space to it??? One forum I read said that the phone is usually faster but it could have been referring to a different phone and a slower card.
If I did decide to change my partition what affects would it have (wipe sd, reinstall custom rom, etc)?
Thanks for any feedback!
Partitioning the SD card allows you to utilize a2sd/app2sd and/or swap space on your SD card - if the ROM in question supports it.
Note that the ext and swap partitions are separate things, not one and the same thing.
swap is for swap - set it to 0 (you will never need it)
ext{2|3} is for the A2SD/APPS2SD space for storing applications (and dalvik-cache for some ROMs) - 512 MB will be more than you ever need.
the rest is the VFAT partition - the MS-DOS partition you see from your Windoze box when you mount it from the PC.
Note also that partitioning your card destroys all data on it - make a backup if you decide to partition.
Neither A2SD nor having swap space will speed your phone up. (Adding swap - for ROMs which support it - will actually slow your phone down, except certain pathological cases, unless you become an expert on the process trimmer configuration and experiment with swappiness controls. The reason this happens is because the as-configured process trimmer kicks in too late if you merely add swap and do not reconfigure the trimmer).
My recommendation? Keep your life simple and avoid both A2SD and especially use of a swap area on the SD card, until such a time as you "need it". You might find a practical need for A2SD if you are going to be trying out a whole bunch of new ROMs as they come out, or you are an app hoarder and run out of space in /data.
Probably you will never need to use a swap partition on your card.
Again, in neither case will you notice a perceptible gain in "performance" of the phone.
bftb0
PS Josh. Please stop putting usage questions in the Development forum. Please. Put them in the General forum.
Thanks for clearing that up......and i will stop posting in development.

[Q] MTD Memory Handling Question

My epic 4g is running ei22 Legendary v.1 with the samurai 3.3 assassin kernel. I am a bit of an app whore and have loading it up with nearly 260 apps. I have accomplished this with the use of a 2.5gb ext4 partiton on my class10 16gb sd card, the darktremor script and the a2sdgui app. With this setup I am have all the storage I need and then some.
My question is; is it possible to repartition in order for more ram as opposed to storage?
I have excluded a fair amount of apps from starting up at boot, and I aggressively manage my memory with a memory manager, but I still feel I need more ram.
dewayne25 said:
My epic 4g is running ei22 Legendary v.1 with the samurai 3.3 assassin kernel. I am a bit of an app whore and have loading it up with nearly 260 apps. I have accomplished this with the use of a 2.5gb ext4 partiton on my class10 16gb sd card, the darktremor script and the a2sdgui app. With this setup I am have all the storage I need and then some.
My question is; is it possible to repartition in order for more ram as opposed to storage?
I have excluded a fair amount of apps from starting up at boot, and I aggressively manage my memory with a memory manager, but I still feel I need more ram.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe ram is a completely different chip in the phone, opposed to the storage space, because it functions a lot differently. But I may be wrong.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
iatedeadpeople said:
I believe ram is a completely different chip in the phone, opposed to the storage space, because it functions a lot differently. But I may be wrong.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, WHAT?! The ram isn't in our SD cards?! You don't say! Although I was starting to suspect something when I noticed that if I remove the SD card (or mount it as USB storage), the phone keeps functioning, and I know that can't happen with any computer when the ram is removed...
The OP only mentioned partitioning of the SD card, not internal storage. Also, ram isn't partitioned... he is most likely referring to creating a swap partition on his sd card, which the system would then use as additional storage space for temporary data that would normally be held in ram. However, the CPU still needs the data in ram in order to interact with it, so if the required data is actually in the swap partition, then the system would need to free up some room in ram for the required data (often, by swapping places with data in ram that isn't currently needed, hence the name...
@OP - I'm fairly certain the Epic doesn't currently support swap files/partitions, but I recall seeing mention of other android phones with that ability. But it shouldn't be necessary, our phones have enough ram - if you are running out of memory (errors, not simply seeing a low amount of available ram) then you either have something wrong with your phone, or you need to stop trying to keep all of your favorite 3d games loaded at the same time, lol
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Our phone does have the ability to support swap. Some Bonsai releases support swap. First you'd have to make sure the /sdcard was partitioned for swap to have a place to reside. Then, it'd have to be enabled in the kernel and there are tweaks to "swapiness" that sets aggressiveness of swap use - basically swap enable will try to take dormant items in RAM and move them to SWAP to free up RAM. You can run 'free' command from the terminal to see how much swap is available and in use.
All that said - I don't think the OP is referring to SWAP or RAM - as those would only help free up running memory. OP seems to be interested in more room on his OneNAND data partition and SDCard for Apps to be installed.
RE OP: CM7 MTD downsized the /cache partition in OneNAND and gave a sizeable boost to /data space for more apps (see images posted by AproSamurai showing free space). If you run the command 'df -h' from the terminal you'll see the size (total, used, available) of /system, /data, and /cache. On CM7 I have the following sizes, respectively, 268.5M, 676.5M, and 25M. Side note: The 25M cache isn't large enough for all Market apps to download though so noobnl fixed by mounting /cache/download on /data partition (MTDBlock3) to allow for larger apps to cache in download directory before install.
If you're sticking with a GB TW ROM though - I don't understand your setup. Why not just use the built in GB capability to move Apps to SD Card in Settings -> Applications (select app and "move to SD card" for those compatible/capable)? I don't get why you need to create a separate EXT4 partition and use 3rd party tools. Can you elaborate on why they wouldn't work?
Rereading your OP - NO - you can't get more RAM to fit in the phone. It's got what it's got and you can't get more from it. Enabling SWAP may help, terminating resident apps in the background MAY help, but at the end of the day you can't increase the RAM available. You'll need to better manage what you have.
Please don't confuse RAM with storage memory - that got me turned around in your OP.
Sorry for confusing you, if I did. I wasn't interested in partitioning my sd card for more ram on the sd card. My interest is in using the cache space for ram. I don't understand how a phone can be stated as having 512mb's of ram and 1gb of rom and not be. Yet all the epic can muster is 362mb of ram, most of our performance issues are due to that... If there was a way to unlock any more ram in samsung's specs claim I wanted to know.
If you're sticking with a GB TW ROM though - I don't understand your setup. Why not just use the built in GB capability to move Apps to SD Card in Settings -> Applications (select app and "move to SD card" for those compatible/capable)? I don't get why you need to create a separate EXT4 partition and use 3rd party tools. Can you elaborate on why they wouldn't work?
I would have loved to use the .android folder to save my apps but my dalvik cache would fill the internal space and limit me to about 180 apps. With the Darktremor script and a2sdgui I am able to put my Dalvik on the ext4 partition of my SD card.
I would have loved to use the .android folder to save my apps but my dalvik cache would fill the internal space and limit me to about 180 apps. With the Darktremor script and a2sdgui I am able to put my Dalvik on the ext4 partition of my SD card.

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