Database Users

Memory eaten away !!!!!!!

I think all of you have seen this.. Free program stats from around 25 Mb and keeps on going down even if you completely kill the processes. is there a tool which actually kills the resident dlls and other crap in memory.. Please advice.. i want to get out this habbit of soft reset after couple of days just to bring my memory back up where it belongs ;-)
Cheers
Zobie

Yeah, leaking memory is also one of the very few things I hate on my Wizard
I also would like to know if there is a Memory Cleaner that works like it should and not only kills open programs.

Had problem also. But the Internet Exploder was to blame. I had the history settings to 30 days. Which is the default. Back to 0 days and everything was hunkydory again.

I had problems with memory too. I had less than 1MB of storage memory left. So I went from a custom 2.17 ROM to Mr. Clean AKU 2.3 and changed the Registry setting for IE as follows:
; IE Cache to storage card
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]
"Cache"="\\Storage Card\\Temporary Internet Files"
I've used this ROM for a week now with lots of programs. I have an average of 25 MB of storage free and the system is fast.
I have experienced no problems whatsoever.

If i don't even open the IE will it still be a memory hog?? i don't understand that.. I can understand that if i use IE all the time it will cause problems but if i don't even use it why woud my memory drop with time. Cans omeone please explain. I am not trying to offend neone here but just wante dto know. I can definitely try the reg settings. Please let me know.
Thanks
Zobie

Don't confuse ROM with RAM and storage with program mem. I think the topic starter referred to his RAM mem becoming less every day, resulting in low program mem and slow operations, needing a reset to clear the RAM and speed up the device.
The IE cache is stored in ROM and will only fill your storage but not slow down your device.
memory leaks are unfortunately a standard issue with PPC devices, I have always suffered from them on both WM 2003 SE and Wm5 devices. For me a soft reset now and then clears it up, but I find it an annoying "feature" as well.

I think like Windows its the In Memory DLLs which are the culprit. I wonder if there can be tools for detailed view of memory for Xp why not WM5.

BUMP !!!

zobie said:
I think like Windows its the In Memory DLLs which are the culprit. I wonder if there can be tools for detailed view of memory for Xp why not WM5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are the "In Memory DLL's"? Never heard of such a thing.
The memory that slows your device is the addressable application memory, which is a total of 32 MB. You cannot change that or add to it.
Think of it as the same as the Virtual Memory (VM) in Windows XP on your desktop. Every application you open reserves a bit of this virtual memory. Some apps willingly give it up when they close - some that are not as well written do not. A soft reset when you see the device slowing is about all you can do.
My only other advice is that skinned applications - particularly Today screen plugins - use up this addressable memory very quickly. This includes Wisbar Advance2, PocketBreeze and iLauncher, and any weather program. If you are running these, you will always have similar issues. Find an acceptable mix of skinned apps that you must have, and try doing without the rest just to see how it treats your device's memory.
And if you want to see what processes are running, and how much memory they are using, try MemMaid by Dinarsoft or SK-Tools. Great programs.

Amen. I wonder how much is held in reserve by the system in case you start the app again? Real Windows has been doing that for a long time, I wouldn't be surprised if micro Windows did it as well. Kind of reminds me of years ago when NT would report how it actually used memory and the end result was there was almost zero bytes "free" because all memory was always used for something, it didn't let anything sit around doing nothing. But since users didn't get it, MS wrote the taskman and so on to report something as "free memory" even though it wasn't really free. Finally, a lot of apps were designed to hide, not close, when you select the "X". If one of those task manager apps just blows the app away, does it bother cleaning up after the app which wasn't given the chance to clean up after itself by closing correctly?

markgamber said:
Amen. I wonder how much is held in reserve by the system in case you start the app again? Real Windows has been doing that for a long time, I wouldn't be surprised if micro Windows did it as well. Kind of reminds me of years ago when NT would report how it actually used memory and the end result was there was almost zero bytes "free" because all memory was always used for something, it didn't let anything sit around doing nothing. But since users didn't get it, MS wrote the taskman and so on to report something as "free memory" even though it wasn't really free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look here to learn about what you really see in task manager regarding memory/cpu usage.
http://tinyurl.com/l57w8
Finally, a lot of apps were designed to hide, not close, when you select the "X". If one of those task manager apps just blows the app away, does it bother cleaning up after the app which wasn't given the chance to clean up after itself by closing correctly?
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Click to collapse
Depends on which task mamger you are using; some use the WMClose command instead of the Kill command. Big difference!

Tools Like Memmaid SK-Tools don't allow you to identify rouge elements in memory which nolonger have a parent process running. It is those elemts which eat up the memory. I have SPB tools to actually close the application but even then the memory keeps on falling. I guess there is no tool as of today like Taskmanager or even RAM Optimizer for PPC. A Tool like RAM Optimizer would check for the elements which are residing in RAM and are no longer being used. XDA developers can surely write something using the .NE Framework.

J-Mac said:
Depends on which task mamger you are using; some use the WMClose command instead of the Kill command. Big difference!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you happen to know of a couple that use the WMClose command? I've used HandySwitcher most recently and MagicButton in the past, but have no idea which method(s) they use.
Thank you.
Geoffrey

There must 40 threads on this topics by now. I concur with J-Mac that today plugins are mostly to blame. I use Journal Bar and perform a soft reset roughly every other day. To help the situation I also use 2 programs which I find invaluable - The first is Smartskey which allows you close a program rather than minimise it (its a free download on this forum). The second is SK Tools Free up RAM application which works reasonably well but only delays the enevitable soft reset. It's effectiveness decreases the longer the device remains active.

About Memory Leaking

Recently I found something interesting and would like to share here see any Hi-Tech people can make a software to fix the memory leaking in WM OS.
When I first start my machine, my Ram is about 25.5mb and then will drop down to around 24 something mb. I used different software to try to recover as much as RAM including Oxios and eLiAs AutoHibernate.
Recently I start to use Vito GoodWin I found that every time when I use the dialer pad no matter I make or not make a phone call, my Ram will drop down a bit. When I open the GoodWin, I can see the "Phone" is still running. After I close the "Phone" in GoodWin and close GoodWin and back to Today destop. I found that my Ram will go up to 26.6mb. How come? Is it any chance to find out why and may someone can make a software Like Oxios but can take more Ram back.
Hope someone can do it for US. Cheers

memory leakage
hey dude this is not memory leakage actually whenever u run anything on the pocketpc or a cell phone or a computer it uses the resources of the device that is it uses the RAM memory(memory used for running the programs on a computer,pocketpc).
And as it is all the programs,codes,scripts are actually lines and machine codes which get compiled and executed and hence they use the memory of the device to run and hence the RAM memory is used.
For example if u run multiple programs at a time then it drains your RAM memory and hence the result is slow processing of your device hence there is no such way that you can avoid the RAM usage so even when u start your dialer it consumes the RAM do not worry about the RAM usage its normal.
And about the programs you mentioned they are just to shift the memory usage and yet when you start your dialer the specified and required amount of RAM will be used.
To make it more clear for u just go to the task manager of your computer (by pressing alt+ctrl+del all together) and then click on the performance tab
now minimize the task manager and just open a folder or any program and check your task manager the RAM usage might have definitely increased..
Its the same funda with your pocketpc and mobile phones..

its called...ram...basic computing...just like any computer..its shortterm memory used to run programs...the more u open the less u have...maybe u should search up basic computing terms like ram for a further explanation

Memory leaking is real and especially noticeable on windows mobile.
What happens is that memory is allocated for use by programs but then not released when the application is finished doing its job. A combination of complexity and lazy programming is often the cause.
The end result is a gradual drop in available memory, regardless of whether you have any applications still open. The only way to make that memory available is a soft-reset.
Suggest you look carefully at which applications leak the most and avoid them. It can be one or two culprits that you can live without.

My phone (Verizon SMT5800, running Windows Mobile 6 Standard) is bad about memory leaks. I have to reboot it at least once a day to recover memory, sometimes several times in one day. On one occasion, it got down to about 2 MB free and wouldn't even run the reset command. I had to reset it by taking the battery out.

See here and tweak if necessary !! http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms911907.aspx

"soft reset a day keeps the memory hog away"

ayyu3m said:
"soft reset a day keeps the memory hog away"
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Click to collapse
^ Thats the only thing that works for me

autohibernate works really well

SKTools FreeUP RAM
SKTools FreeUP Ram works well. Use it a couple times a day. Eventually have to soft reset though, maybe every couple of days. Have to buy it of course, not free. But it prolongs the duration between soft resets.

The newest SKTools has an additional service for automatic FreeUP Ram, after every app-closing. Just try it

Is there a way to find out which application is causing the memory leak?

I don't think, that there is a real memory leak.
For example Windows Mobile has a file cache which is not filled yet after a fresh softreset. While you use your device this gets filled until the required amount of memory is being used for it.

If more and more memory is consumed each time the dialpad is used, as described, then there is a memory leak. Nothing else can explain that. You should check with your rom chief.

Thanks, works great!
LordDeath said:
The newest SKTools has an additional service for automatic FreeUP Ram, after every app-closing. Just try it
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Click to collapse
I just upgraded my version of SKTools to get the latest FreeUP RAM Service feature. Very nice. Automatically frees unused RAM.
Thanks for the hint.

chigz said:
hey dude this is not memory leakage actually whenever u run anything on the pocketpc or a cell phone or a computer it uses the resources of the device that is it uses the RAM memory(memory used for running the programs on a computer,pocketpc).
And as it is all the programs,codes,scripts are actually lines and machine codes which get compiled and executed and hence they use the memory of the device to run and hence the RAM memory is used.
For example if u run multiple programs at a time then it drains your RAM memory and hence the result is slow processing of your device hence there is no such way that you can avoid the RAM usage so even when u start your dialer it consumes the RAM do not worry about the RAM usage its normal.
And about the programs you mentioned they are just to shift the memory usage and yet when you start your dialer the specified and required amount of RAM will be used.
To make it more clear for u just go to the task manager of your computer (by pressing alt+ctrl+del all together) and then click on the performance tab
now minimize the task manager and just open a folder or any program and check your task manager the RAM usage might have definitely increased..
Its the same funda with your pocketpc and mobile phones..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the detail reply. Actually what I want to say is after I turn the phone on the ram is start dropping. I just take a sample like after you use the phone the ram would drop about a mb. Of course we know that it is not leaking. My point is after I closed the software and use some software to recover the RAM like Oxios. You can get some RAM back, but my case is when I after make a phone call and turn the dialer pad off. I wouldn't see any software running at task manager also if I use Oxios I just claim about half to one MB RAM back. When I turn GoodWin on in this point I can see the "Phone" still running at GoodWin. I stop the "Phone" at GoodWin and than turn GoodWin off, I found that I could recover 2 - 3mb RAM. That's mean for me is when GoodWin turn this software "Phone" off and could claim more RAM back than Oxios. So could we use the way GoodWin do to make a software claim more RAM back? If you don't get what I say, just try to download GoodWin from the net and try to play around than you can see what happen. Sometime it even make me have more RAM than just after softreset.

ayyu3m said:
"soft reset a day keeps the memory hog away"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you in NZ? Me too, which city you are? I am in Christchurch.

X10 Memory Leak?

I have noticed behaviour pointing to a memory leak on the X10 - After turning the phone on, I get less and less free memory after running ATK - over 110 MB right after turning the phone on to ~70 MB after 24+ hours.
The phone is heavily modified/customized, so it may not be an SE sw bug (ADW, Smart Keyboard, handcent, k9, etc...)
What's the best process tool you can recommend to look into this?

Let the phone handle the memory. dont worry.

+1 on that. Android its linux based and us meant to work like that. Empty memory is wasted memory.
-------------------------------------
Sent from my X10i

Android may be Linux based, but if *after killing all idle processes* memory is systematically dwindling, that means/may mean that one or more of these processes is allocating memory which it is then NOT being released - either by the process (more probable) or the system itself (less probable).
In other words, for the same set of running processes/applications , the memory usage should *not* systematically go up over time.
Linux itself has no automatic GC. Android does (Dalvik VM), but it takes some care from developers for that to work properly - no "loose" pointers to unused but still-referenced data, etc....

acmbc said:
Android may be Linux based, but if *after killing all idle processes* memory is systematically dwindling, that means/may mean that one or more of these processes is allocating memory which it is then NOT being released - either by the process (more probable) or the system itself (less probable).
In other words, for the same set of running processes/applications , the memory usage should *not* systematically go up over time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree, as processes are used/exercised the kernel will allocate the memory they need, after switching on the phone the processes are idle and occupy a small amount of memory. As they are used the process size will grow in main memory as they store or cache common data used by the process. That is why applications such as facebook may be slower at start off as the data needs to be supplied, once this data is cached it will run much faster as the data is already in main memory.
Linux/Android works on the principle that it's a waste not to use as much memory as possible.

Not to get into a GC flame war here: The principle you mention is right, its just that after one KILLS these processes (facebook for example) ALL OF the memory allocated by facebook should be relinquished to the system (ergo, appear as free).
I.e. if I start up my phone, and just have processes A B and C running and have lets say 120 MB free, and after using the phone for a while kill everything and *restart* ONLY processes A B and C, then I should have 120 MB free. At least tendentially (may have a different set of resident libs at the 1st and 2nd points in time, some other minor stuff may be different, etc..). However, I find that doing this over and over results in less and less free memory being available as time passes.
I am not saying I am *right* but a good process inspection tool would help to ascertain what is going on.

acmbc said:
Not to get into a GC flame war here: The principle you mention is right, its just that after one KILLS these processes (facebook for example) ALL OF the memory allocated by facebook should be relinquished to the system (ergo, appear as free).
I.e. if I start up my phone, and just have processes A B and C running and have lets say 120 MB free, and after using the phone for a while kill everything and *restart* ONLY processes A B and C, then I should have 120 MB free. At least tendentially (may have a different set of resident libs at the 1st and 2nd points in time, some other minor stuff may be different, etc..). However, I find that doing this over and over results in less and less free memory being available as time passes.
I am not saying I am *right* but a good process inspection tool would help to ascertain what is going on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong.. it should NOT be returned to the system.. but it should be marked as "disposable" IF another process wants to use it. That is the way linux usually do.. That is why the "Free"-value is misleading. As the "Free"-value is not the sum of "Free" and "Cached" values. when you "unload" a lib it is not completely removed from memory, it is just marked as "cached" instead. Saving tremendous ( ) amount of battery and time when, if, the user wants to use it again before overwritten by another memory-hungry application..
Regards // OwL

does all this mean we don't really need advanced task killer?
or does the advanced task killer kill the cpu process? ( as a result longer battery life)

robbyf66 said:
does all this mean we don't really need advanced task killer?
or does the advanced task killer kill the cpu process? ( as a result longer battery life)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
advanced task killer kills the application itself, so that nothing more is executed by that application thread(s). wether dependent libraries are kept loaded or not does not affect battery time when not used. Advanced task killer does not actually unload any libraries it only kills the process.
I personally hardly never use advanced task killer, as it is not needed as long as you make sure to run applications that does not keep the phone from going into sleepmode. Those programs are just simply bad coded.. I instead have a CPU-meter application in the task-bar and if I see that the CPU-time is extensivly used after the application has been put to background, then I might use a taskkiller to stop the bad application. But that scenario is rare... I usually get 50h+ of battery time per charge, whatever I do with it.
Regards // OwL

Available Memory, how much do you typically have?

Good day!
I've tried a few different apps now, Memory Usage, Advanced Task Killer, and I seem to hover between 110m to 25m. I kill some apps and it jumps back up to 110 and then slowly works its way back down to the mid 20's. Is this normal?
Tips? What is your available memory like?

To sum it up: Free memory is useless memory. You should have as little memory free as possible.
Explanation. Android handles memory management really well. When an app is opened and needs more memory it will shut down unused processes and free up memory on an as needed basis. For apps this can be everything from pausing individual functions all the way to saving an apps state to disk and restoring it the next time it's opened.
Task killers are mostly solutions looking for a problem, I've been running without one for months and my amount of free memory fluctuates as expected when surfing the web and things like that but so far there haven't been any times where I've had to free up memory. So don't stare yourself blind on memory meters and try freeing up memory. Android handles that well enough on its own.

+1..
The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

That's good info! I kinda knew I was making something out of nothing with the numbers. The phone has been fine in terms of performance.

my 2 cents....i typically have between 30-60mb free. phone does not lag or anything. i used task-killer for a few days when i got phone, then actually thought about what it was doing and the way the system (linux based) is designed. i ditched it and have not looked back!
ps. my phone is rooted R2BA024 firmware, fwiw.

I usually have like 80 mb free ram just for the case and i use task manager to kill apps that are using data connection when i dont need them

I got totally obsessed with task killing but having read a lot of the lads reports on here I am on my third day of not touching it and I have to say my phone is doing fine all by itself!

goth50 said:
I usually have like 80 mb free ram just for the case and i use task manager to kill apps that are using data connection when i dont need them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you'd be better off setting up data synchronisation properly. I'm assuming you're talking about background syncing of course. So that you don't accidentally kill an app in the middle of a sync which might cause corruptions. I've had that happen when synching my gmail to a linux machine and the network went down, the cleanup required was insane and I lost a whole months worth of mails from the google servers.

ddewbofh said:
To sum it up: Free memory is useless memory. You should have as little memory free as possible.
Explanation. Android handles memory management really well. When an app is opened and needs more memory it will shut down unused processes and free up memory on an as needed basis. For apps this can be everything from pausing individual functions all the way to saving an apps state to disk and restoring it the next time it's opened.
Task killers are mostly solutions looking for a problem, I've been running without one for months and my amount of free memory fluctuates as expected when surfing the web and things like that but so far there haven't been any times where I've had to free up memory. So don't stare yourself blind on memory meters and try freeing up memory. Android handles that well enough on its own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh...handles memory very well, but how about the battery life!? The more apps you have- the less power you've left.

mymagicmyhero said:
Heh...handles memory very well, but how about the battery life!? The more apps you have- the less power you've left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's debatable, most background apps drain miniscule amounts of power. The exception naturally being things that makes use of the hardware while backgrounded by playing music, syncing, calculating pi or things like that. Most apps though, just hang out in memory not really doing anything. A lot of the time, if not most, it's more efficient staying there as opposed to shutting it down and starting it up again later.

+1 yes, just hanging out idle in memory wont cost you any battery, the memory will be on an base current either way, what does cost you battery is the read and write actions to memory so if you frantically clean out that memory your phone will have to write alot more to it working with your different apps resulting in a slower (less prepared) device sucking more battery then neccessary. Leave the memory handling to your device ;-)
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

[Q] how much memory can i expect from a non-rooted arc

unrooted and unbranded. lt15i 8gb.
not using timescape widget.
i am getting about 105mb. is that normal?

On a fresh boot? It's not a lot, but fine if you are using the stock home launcher which is pretty light. Things may get congested if you use other apps for PIM, email, clock etc over the stock ones since both will be loaded into ram.

My Xperia Arc (Lt15a) came with around 200MB of free space. Could it be bloatware that's on your phone?

CarbonX13 said:
My Xperia Arc (Lt15a) came with around 200MB of free space. Could it be bloatware that's on your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine the same way and it usually doesn't go below 150 over time.

105mb is fine. There will be apps in memory that you arent currently using, but if you run an app that needs more memory then they will be unloaded to free up RAM.
Look at it this way: free RAM is wasted RAM.

sorry i am new to this (first andriod phone/owner for 2 days)
i just restarted phone and am getting 159mb in advanced task killer free (didn't kill anything)--is this a recommended way to check free memory?
i am using stock launcher/stock clock. the only non andriod widget i am using is the SE gallary.
are there any apps that show memory usage by app/component?
edit:
in advanced task killer if i went to "info" from menu (also reachable from setup), i got a different list of running services which show 179mb free memory. which is different from the number above.
what is the difference?

I always have around 160-170MB free.

rumnyc said:
sorry i am new to this (first andriod phone/owner for 2 days)
i just restarted phone and am getting 159mb in advanced task killer free (didn't kill anything)--is this a recommended way to check free memory?
i am using stock launcher/stock clock. the only non andriod widget i am using is the SE gallary.
are there any apps that show memory usage by app/component?
edit:
in advanced task killer if i went to "info" from menu (also reachable from setup), i got a different list of running services which show 179mb free memory. which is different from the number above.
what is the difference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ATK shows the correct amount which is 159mb. The one shown by settings has 20mb more because it cannot account for it's own ram usage, notice it cannot show the amount of memory used by settings.

rumnyc said:
are there any apps that show memory usage by app/component?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> Running
This shows RAM usage (all the other tabs show how much internal phone storage is being used)
Having said that the total RAM free reported by settings is about 40MB higher than the amount reported by, third party apps like, say, TaskPanel. Weird.

mine tends to run around 50-60mb free, but I know if I start something ram heavy like a gameloft game up then shut it down I will have about 150mb free. It seems to manage it well.

Memory management is good on this phone. BTW Task Killing application can cause instability on your phone not really recommend.

daveybaby said:
Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> Running
This shows RAM usage (all the other tabs show how much internal phone storage is being used)
Having said that the total RAM free reported by settings is about 40MB higher than the amount reported by, third party apps like, say, TaskPanel. Weird.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I explained why in the post just above yours. Lol....

constin said:
I explained why in the post just above yours. Lol....
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Click to collapse
Heh, yeah, saw that after i posted. Meant to go back and edit it so that i didnt look like an idiot, but got distracted. So that makes me a double idiot
Still, kinda worrying if settings is using up 40MB (actually just checked again and the difference is 60MB!)

daveybaby said:
Heh, yeah, saw that after i posted. Meant to go back and edit it so that i didnt look like an idiot, but got distracted. So that makes me a double idiot
Still, kinda worrying if settings is using up 40MB (actually just checked again and the difference is 60MB!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WTF--how can settings use 60mb? I noticed a similar difference in my phone as well....

This reminds me of the MS-DOS days when we had to memory manage the first 640k of RAM.
HIMEM.sys FTW!!!!

daveybaby said:
Heh, yeah, saw that after i posted. Meant to go back and edit it so that i didnt look like an idiot, but got distracted. So that makes me a double idiot
Still, kinda worrying if settings is using up 40MB (actually just checked again and the difference is 60MB!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rumnyc said:
WTF--how can settings use 60mb? I noticed a similar difference in my phone as well....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's one reason I do not leave it to android alone to manage ram. Multiple services can link on to Settings ie. a battery indicator widget and other apps that retrieves info from Settings. The Settings service can end up hosting many processes which android does not release unless the system is critically low on ram, because I'm guessing it is a high priority service.
I use Advanced Task Killer to auto kill Settings when my Arc goes idle. Settings will get restarted by itself and then only consume the minimum amount of ram.

rumnyc said:
This reminds me of the MS-DOS days when we had to memory manage the first 640k of RAM.
HIMEM.sys FTW!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, yes... good old days of getting games like ultima to run.