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I'm new to WM5 having previously had a Blue Angel running 2003SE; so far I like my new toy by am wondering about the pros and cons regrading where to install applications Storage Card versus Main Memory. Obviously, installing on Storage card keeps memory free - this is a good thing, but will applications run slower from storage card?
What expereinace can you share regarding thsi?
Thanks
Chris
In WM2003, internal storage ROM is only used to store a backup of the OS and vendor extensions, and is only read during hard resets. Volatile RAM is used to store the OS, files, and applications during regular use (unless they are installed on the SD card), and so their storage must compete with the RAM needed for running programs.
WM5 changes everything -- with WM5, the OS, applications and files always get stored in a nonvolatile storage, be it internal or external, and this is separate from the RAM. Thus battery loss does not cause you to lose installed applications or files. RAM is totally available for running programs, and is not used to store files which are rarely used. There is no more competition for RAM between stored files and running programs.
The WM5 OS and applications running in the background will always use a certain amount of the 64 MB of RAM. You can free it up by removing unnecessary applications. You can also free up the non-volatile storage space by removing vendor extensions and cleaning up temporary files. See this thread, and search for "0506" in re: O2 XDA Exec ROM.
As I have not received my XDA Exec yet, I cannot comment on the speed differences between using internal storage and SD storage. Obviously both are slower than running programs stored in RAM, and depend on the speed on the storage card. But the difference between installing on a SD card and installing in the "default location" is less in WM5 than in WM2003. Installing in the default location won't reduce your available RAM, for example.
I'm sure others have opinions on how best to optimize memory.
thanks for the answer. I posed the question because I pretty much ran out of memory on my device. I have installed in Corporate mode, so don't have O2 active etc. I have just done a hard reset & will now install everything on my storage card just to see what happens
I have had a few WM5 devices. Basically install everything on a removable card. Only install on the internal storage utilities that you are likely to keep around and restrict this to a minimum and small things, like vbar, TRE, etc.
The disadvantage of course is that if you swap SD cards then you can't run applications until you put back in the card installed. I never have this problem as I have only 1gb card permanently in the system. I will shortly be upgrading to a 4gb card (as they are not around £100) which means this is less of a problem. Although note that in the current version of the xda exec's software the camera refuses to write to a 4gb card unless at least 2gb is full.
rgds
I too have a 1Gb card with a 4Gb on order. I'm not very bothered about the camera, but I have read about the 2Gb problem. Hopefully someone will fix this little bug, but until then I can save photos to main memory and then move them about
As a guide I install everything to a SD Card unless it's a today screen plugin or sync's in some way...
that's excatly my thought too - only things which have a today plugin go on the main memory; everything else to SD card - seems to work fine
Hello,
I just discovered I'm even more of a ignorant farmgirl than I thought... this time it's the MiniSD card I don't know anything about.
I mean: of course you plug it in and you browse to it to add/move/remove files... but it would seem that's not enough. So, can anyone point me to a SD-on-Wiz Faq, please?
A few things I'm looking into:
- How do you get the Wiz to automatically look among SD card-based files from an app? (i.e. "Open" from Word looks into the card first)
- How do you get the camera to save pictures directly onto the SD card, so as not to waste precious device-based memory?
- What are the actual differences between installing apps onto a SD card compared to the device memory? I noticed some apps seem to behave differently according to where they are placed.
- Is there any way to create a card-based auto-multi-installer to do all the dirty work of reinstalling apps automatically after a hard reset?
I'm sure I left out several other interesting and useful things...
Thanks in advance for your contributions!
there´s some reg tweaks you can do so the wizard will store stuff on the sd-card and not in main memorey (i. e. IE cache files, Camera pics, etc.)
just search the forum you´ll find some stuff there.
For the difference between SD-Card and main storage installation. i have no idea. haven´t noticed any change in my apps. maybe just in speed of loading apps. but that´s all i noticed.
for doing backup of your apps. a lot of programms you intall on your sd card don´t need to be reinstalled after a hard reset. just need to put the shortcuts and links back in the folders.
hope i could help.
greets Freez
Making the camera save pictures to the SD card can be done by changing the settings in the camera app under options.
There is no way to automatically have all apps look on the SD card first, every app needs a change in their settings or in the registry to accomplish that.
Installing apps on the SD card has pros and cons. The pros are of course that your storage space on the device (in the ROM) gets used up less, so you can install more apps on your device. It is however not necessary to leave it as empty as possible as it was in WM 2003 SE. In WM 2003 SE (on for instance the Magician) apps were installed in RAM and the more you installed on the device, the more RAM was used up and the less RAM there was available for running apps, resulting in a slow down of the device. Furthermore running out of battery power would result in the device turning off, emptying the RAM and lossing all data and installed apps. In WM5 this is different. Since ROM is used for storage and RAM for executing only, you can fill your ROM to the max without slowing down the device. Furthermore an empty battery will mean no data loss. Concluding, there is no necessity to install as much as possible to the SD card and leave your ROM space empty.
The cons of installing to your SD card are that some apps (e.g. today-plug-ins) don't like being installed on SD card. For today plug-ins this has to do with the start-up process of the Wizard. After turing the device on or waking it from sleep, the device will first load the apps and then initialize the SD card. The device will try to load the apps on the today screen (the plug-ins that is) that are stored on the SD before the SD slot is initialized and the apps cannot be found by the device, creating glitches and problems.
Another con for me is that I like to switch between my SD with TomTom navigation maps and my SD with my mp3/movie collection. If I install most apps to SD, this means that I will have to change my SD again if during a movie or MP3 I want to use one of these apps quickly.
However, if you use only one SD for installing and not much else, this problem does of course not exist.
If your storage in ROM is not full, there is no reason to install aps to SD.
Thak you for the info so far!
Koskie: paint me 'tard... I never even saw the camera Options menu until you mentioned it...
I am about to start getting some cards and here is what I was thinking...
1. a 512 or 128MB card for everyday use. Store IE cache, ringtones, pictures, and some programs (solitaire, puzzles, monopoly etc).
2. A series of 2GB cards for music, movies and TV content when I travel. I was planing on installing TCPMP on each one to avaoid putting that in my device memory.
As far as restoring after flashing or a hard reset, I currently keep a copy of all programs, ringtones, pim backups etc on my home computer. It is organized by file type, utils, games, rings etc. so when I flash I just go through again and reinstall one by one. I've found this is easier than figuring out where to download everything all over again.
@bubism: no problem, took me a while to figure it out too, that option is well-hidden!
@dcdivenut: Good plan. Those small size cards are really cheap. Why don't you install TCPMP on your device memory? It is not too big. Or have you crammed your mem so full that you have no more place for it.
I also have all apps I ever installed still on my desktop, including a list with all the reg edits I did and all apps I have currently installed with a short explanation for most apps and installation instructions when a standard install is not good enough (e.g. TomTom 5.21)
In case a hard reset is needed,I just grab the list and install all apps again, then do all the regedits. Still a lot of work, but quicker than having to search all apps and edits online. I recommend this approach to everyone.
Hey Koskie:
Can you post that list and what to do? I have a new 8125 and miniSD card and have no idea what to use the card for. I won't be putting music, pictures or videos on it since it is a work phone.
Ski
@ Skijackz: I use my SD card for music, TomTom 5.21 maps and video's only, all my apps are installed in main (=device) mem. I have approx. 16 MB free of Storage mem. If you have no use for your SD card and your storage mem is sufficient to store your apps, you can take it out and replace it with the plastic dummy that came with it. In that way your card slot is protected against dust and dirt, but the SD card will not use any power, thereby lengthening your uptime. If you use your device for navigation, you have to use the card to store the maps on it, since they are too big for your device mem.
The list I made is partly in Dutch, especially the notes, so it might not be very useful to you. Furthermore the list is a mess, since it works through my personal filing system (copy and paste wherever my cursor happens to rest). It is a mostly chronological list, I mostly added everything I found at the end. I'll attach it anyway, perhaps you'll find it useful. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them here or through PM.
Thanks a lot for the tip on storing pics to the storage card!!! That's a real find! ....and much appreciated!!
This place is the BEST :!: :!:
Thanks Koskie!! This is a real help.
I have a question about the MicroSD cards you can buy for the Wing. Once I realized it was a good idea to have one for the wing (didn't take me long), I had one sent to me via UPS from some website. I got a 2GB. Anyway! My question is.. if I put the card in my phone, does it act as phone memory? Can I actually install .cab's and stuff ON the card and run them like they were actually installed on the phone?
Basically what i'm asking is if putting a MicroSD card into the wing is like putting a hard drive into a computer. It's not just a card to store things on, it's a card that acts as actual memory and you can install things on it too, right?
Today I kept getting pop-ups saying I had low memory. It was annoying as hell, so I uninstalled a few programs until I get my card. They were things I used like battery status and larger start menu, but oh well. I can do without them for a few days.
I know there's "Storage" memory and then there's "Program" memory. The Storage was at 0MB free and that's why I kept getting those pop-ups. My Program is at 18.34MB free.
Thanks in advance.
itslinx said:
I have a question about the MicroSD cards you can buy for the Wing. Once I realized it was a good idea to have one for the wing (didn't take me long), I had one sent to me via UPS from some website. I got a 2GB. Anyway! My question is.. if I put the card in my phone, does it act as phone memory? Can I actually install .cab's and stuff ON the card and run them like they were actually installed on the phone?
Basically what i'm asking is if putting a MicroSD card into the wing is like putting a hard drive into a computer. It's not just a card to store things on, it's a card that acts as actual memory and you can install things on it too, right?
Today I kept getting pop-ups saying I had low memory. It was annoying as hell, so I uninstalled a few programs until I get my card. They were things I used like battery status and larger start menu, but oh well. I can do without them for a few days.
I know there's "Storage" memory and then there's "Program" memory. The Storage was at 0MB free and that's why I kept getting those pop-ups. My Program is at 18.34MB free.
Yes, to answer your question, the microsd card is just like a hard drive. That's where you will prob want to store most of you applications, music, games, etc. This frees up memory on your main drive. I also have my camera setup to put photos on it too. I also keep a backup of all my cab files on my card. Whenever you have a card present, and you install a program, you get the option of installing on the card or the main drive. I believe our phones will take up to an 8 gig. I have 4 and it works great.
Thanks in advance.
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Yes, to answer your question, the microsd card is just like a hard drive. That's where you will prob want to store most of you applications, music, games, etc. This frees up memory on your main drive. I also have my camera setup to put photos on it too. I also keep a backup of all my cab files on my card. Whenever you have a card present, and you install a program, you get the option of installing on the card or the main drive. I believe our phones will take up to an 8 gig. I have 4 and it works great.
dougstoner said:
Yes, to answer your question, the microsd card is just like a hard drive. That's where you will prob want to store most of you applications, music, games, etc. This frees up memory on your main drive. I also have my camera setup to put photos on it too. I also keep a backup of all my cab files on my card. Whenever you have a card present, and you install a program, you get the option of installing on the card or the main drive. I believe our phones will take up to an 8 gig. I have 4 and it works great.
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Click to collapse
I see. Thanks for the response. So I guess it would make more sense for me to uninstall everything I installed on my phone and reinstall it all on my card instead? That way most of my actual phone memory is free and it's all on the card? Any idea how much free memory there is to start off on the phone anyway? And what's the difference exactly between Storage and Program memory? I know Storage says Total: 31.44 MB and Program says Total: 47.89 MB. Is that how much the phone gives you to start with?
it will not merge with your storage
and memory is mainly what we call application mem like ram in a computer
not the harddrive
cabs should at install time ask if one wish to install to storage or sdcard
so does it matter where you install programs.
will it run faster in memory or will speed be the same.
or
will having more free memory on the phone make the programs run faster.
They will run faster off the phone memory... but in saying that, I have most of my applications installed on my micro sd card and I haven't noticed any issues.
Apparently there is a program that will speed up your memory card read/write speeds, but I'm yet to test it.
OMG, I install all except games into phone memory.. because I hope I still can use 'em even without memory card
foxcheng said:
OMG, I install all except games into phone memory.. because I hope I still can use 'em even without memory card
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I figure the memory card is too hard to get out, so I just have one big card with everything on it.
So, I was wondering if it would be better to install apps on the memory card or on main memory. In terms of stability, performance, etc
Thanks!
Main memory.
Snarksneeze said:
Main memory.
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Yep, main memory especially if you're using the crap class 2 card that came with the phone.
I usually install games/apps that i use frequently on the phones main memory. All other games/app, I install it to the storage card. It is stable for me and also leaves space on the phone for other things.
I agree with halojinx. I try to keep my device memory as empty as possible. I throw the large files on the storage card and create shortcuts to them with quicklinks. That way my phone runs quicker. Works for me. : /
Since we have such a big system memory, I have no idea what would drive you guys to move your apps to your SD card.
I know I keep all my .cab files on my SD card, but all my installations go to the system memory.
I have 8gb class 6 micro SD, but the 16gb holds so much more music and video files, I don't really use the 8gb anymore.
rickyoon.vegas;
I agree with you. We have more than enough memory to install a huge amount of apps in the main memory.
Installing it to the main memory won't take up your RAM space for apps to run.
Main memory will use less of your battery also and will not cause your HD2 to freeze because of the generic card that came with the unit.
Yes, there's a metric crapload of on-board memory for apps on the HD2...I think it's a much better policy to install all apps to the phone's memory, and just store the cabs themselves on the storage card. I also believe that installing apps (and all their related minute little files) to the SD card can cause device lag in general when the phone is trying to index the card.
Snarksneeze said:
Main memory.
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Sweet. I was thinking "oh, when I flash I won't need to reinstall the apps if they're on the SD card!" Well I was still installing them after I flash, so I figured I may as well just start installing them to main memory.
Yeah, the crap Class 2 SD card makes me nervous. Once I have the $50, I'll go buy me a nice Class 6
Thanks!