Database Users

Is a Class2 SD card sufficient for running Android?

Hi all,
I'm going to finally have some spare time this weekend and might even get to have a mess around with Android on my HD2 if I get lucky! My concern is that I have a 16GB Class2 microSD in my Leo and while looking at HD2 stuff on ebay came across this.
The seller states that Android won't run (properly?) on his 16gb Class2 and includes a Class6 8gb card aswell for this purpose.
What's everyone's experience with running Android on a slower card? From looking around I've seen people saying 'there isn't much difference' for most things but a lot of contridictions for others.
Thanks gang!

I have no issues with my Android build currently, and it's on a 4gb Class 2 SD card.
It does help having a faster one, but It's not the end of the world.
Phil

Have been testing out froyostone sense build on a 2gb class 2 card and it's like lightening So yes, would format first though otherwise you will get lag.

Cheers - yep I won't forget to format, been reading the threads while working this week... taken in loads of info, just need to find the time to actually get it rolling

I was wondering the same thing. I installed froyostone 08.07.2010 using miri Rom on stock radio on a friends hd2 and it freezes and comes back to life very often. Would a higher class sdcard solve his problem?

I think they guy on eBay is talking rubbish. I run darkstone's 2.2 perfectly well on a 16GB Class 2. A Class 4 would probably help a little bit, but I'm not that fussed really.
I'd be more concerned about getting dodgy copies of Transformers from them!!

murdaralph said:
I was wondering the same thing. I installed froyostone 08.07.2010 using miri Rom on stock radio on a friends hd2 and it freezes and comes back to life very often. Would a higher class sdcard solve his problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whole OS and all animations etc, or just touch screen response?
If its the touch screen, that's a known issue and will be addressed in due course.
Phil

It's in german, but i guess u may figure it out.
h**p://***.chip.de/bestenlisten/Bestenliste-microSD-Karten--index/detail/id/867/

I have a kingston class 2 , not working.

qingcai said:
I have a kingston class 2 , not working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A Little more information would be useful, what's not working about it? How's it formatted? Has it even been formatted and then had a new build copied to it?
Phil

i never had issues with a class 2 before... no SOD or anything... although after switching to class 4, there is noticeable speed. now in class 10, a lot faster. but no real issues in class 2 except a tad slower (but decent speed nonetheless)

I use the 16gb class 2 card and its quick with decent quadrant tests. I think its because android loads into ram (please correct me if I am wrong, ill search for this later). I think there are apps that read or write to folders on the SD card that would gain from speed of a class 6 or 10 card and if I am right about loading to ram the boot up time could receive a benefit.
Personally I am looking to get one just to access media faster and for taking pics and vids as there is a write delay that's typical with all phones. If it helps android in its current state the cool but I'm not in a rush. Development here have made great strides in making android snappy and android is an awesome is as it is for handling background tasks. Much to the credit of Linux but I find android to be a faster evolution then most mobile oses. Much to the credit of being open source and encourage community development. Nothing here is illegal but maybe some grey areas in closed source distributing which cyanogen had an interesting situation that was resolved quickly with Google's assistance.
But I am off topic now. Yes it would help with some things but don't break the piggy bank over it.
Hope my thoughts are helpful. It would be better to get feedback from those that have done it and get before and after boot, quad, and market download responsiveness tests. I may have a class 6 8gb card somewhere I can test later tonight. I would do fresh sdformatter formats with nothing but android on the card to get a somewhat standard benchmark.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Mine is 16gb class 2, with the latest fullram zimage, i score 29.2fps in neocore test
and can play sparta! very smooth, also the asphalt 5

kerman19 said:
The whole OS and all animations etc, or just touch screen response?
If its the touch screen, that's a known issue and will be addressed in due course.
Phil
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the touch screen. The SD card was quick formatted. Would that make a difference in the builds performance ?

I'm using a Kingston class 2, but it performs with 5,5MBs writing speed when used in a computer slot, so in practice its a class 5,5. Works great! Froyostone sense v1

pappadj said:
I use the 16gb class 2 card and its quick with decent quadrant tests. I think its because android loads into ram (please correct me if I am wrong, ill search for this later). I think there are apps that read or write to folders on the SD card that would gain from speed of a class 6 or 10 card and if I am right about loading to ram the boot up time could receive a benefit.
Personally I am looking to get one just to access media faster and for taking pics and vids as there is a write delay that's typical with all phones. If it helps android in its current state the cool but I'm not in a rush. Development here have made great strides in making android snappy and android is an awesome is as it is for handling background tasks. Much to the credit of Linux but I find android to be a faster evolution then most mobile oses. Much to the credit of being open source and encourage community development. Nothing here is illegal but maybe some grey areas in closed source distributing which cyanogen had an interesting situation that was resolved quickly with Google's assistance.
But I am off topic now. Yes it would help with some things but don't break the piggy bank over it.
Hope my thoughts are helpful. It would be better to get feedback from those that have done it and get before and after boot, quad, and market download responsiveness tests. I may have a class 6 8gb card somewhere I can test later tonight. I would do fresh sdformatter formats with nothing but android on the card to get a somewhat standard benchmark.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have experience with your G1, the class 6 I use on mine makes definite difference when running apps from your sd card. I've been alternating using my 16 GB Class 2 and my 8 GB Class 6 in my HD2 but I haven't seen any speed difference with android so I believe that it runs on the internal ram.

i think class 2 is enough

murdaralph said:
the touch screen. The SD card was quick formatted. Would that make a difference in the builds performance ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touch Screen lag/freezing is a known issue right now and doesn't relate to the SD card.
It's being worked on.
Phil

I have a class 2 16GB sandisk drive and score 1578 in quadrant standard, that said i usually get write speeds of around 6MB/sec on my computer

i personally think it helps a bit ( i ws previously running Android off the 16GB class 2 card the HD2 came with) but experienced some lag when scrolling.
That said, it was an early build of Android so it was probably just that.
The thing is, 8GB class6 cards are relatively cheap to buy (i picked up an A-DATA 8GB class 6 for $21 canadian at CanadaComputers)
so..why not upgrade to the class6 card? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt and no matter what you'll experience at least have SOME sort of performance gain in other aspects (music, pictures, file managers, etc)

Micro SD class speeds

I know the differences between the classes, but I'm more concerned about how the speeds effect some what I do on the phone. Currently I have a 16gb Samsung C2 that I took from an Epic. It seems to be working ok, just nothing to write home about. I am thinking about getting a 16-32gb c4 or higher. I'm just curious about what gains I would see
*would the camera be any quicker?
*I assume the gallery would be quite a bit quicker, can somebody verify?
*I use my phone as an mp3 in my car, would the lists load faster? as a player its just fine but it takes a while to load all the artists/albums, which is annoying when I am driving. I thought those were indexed but would a better card help that?
*any other daily activities that would see a direct effect?
I searched, but most people just asked questions I already knew. Thanks

Gibs679 said:
I know the differences between the classes, but I'm more concerned about how the speeds effect some what I do on the phone. Currently I have a 16gb Samsung C2 that I took from an Epic. It seems to be working ok, just nothing to write home about. I am thinking about getting a 16-32gb c4 or higher. I'm just curious about what gains I would see
*would the camera be any quicker?
*I assume the gallery would be quite a bit quicker, can somebody verify?
*I use my phone as an mp3 in my car, would the lists load faster? as a player its just fine but it takes a while to load all the artists/albums, which is annoying when I am driving. I thought those were indexed but would a better card help that?
*any other daily activities that would see a direct effect?
I searched, but most people just asked questions I already knew. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a 16gb class 4 and I haven't noticed any significant increase in speed from a 8gb class 2 card both were from sprint don't know the name of them yet
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Class 4 cards will record HD without any hiccups. Class 2 skip all day long, because they can only right at 2mb a second which is far to slow for HD.

thanks for the info.

I just put a 16GB Class 6 card in my Evo and it more than doubled the write speed and more than tripled the read speed. I had the stock SD card that came with the phone. I believe it was an 8GB Class 2 SD Card.
I do alot of flashing of new ROMs and such, so the increase in write speed is very noticable when copying files to the SD card. I use to hover around 1.9-2.0MB/sec and now I'm seeing 4-5MB/sec write speeds.

[Q] SD Card Class Question

Ok.... So I have a 32gb Class 4 SD Card. When I went from the stock 16 class 6 card I noticed a speed difference... And well.. It has finally got to me... I am looking at going class 10 but I am wondering if anyone has done an upgrade like this and has any input.
I understand the class number is directly related to the speed in mbps but I guess what I am really curious about is will the epic write/read the card at faster speeds (than 6 [which is stock]) reducing my lag spikes in applications, pictures (taking and viewing), and in gallery 3d(While creating thumbnails [I have noticed this has slowed down the MOST])
For anyone who is interested I am looking at getting this SD card (Please note that I have nothing to do with this seller on amazon and am purely asking for opinions)...
amazon /Patriot-Signature-MicroSDHC-Memory-PSF32GMCSDHC10/dp/B004H8FTCU <----- Insert .com
Again I do know the pure fact that a class 10 offers more speed than class 6 and 4 but is the epic capable of using that speed?
Thanks in advance!

I don't know if our hardware will push the speeds of a class 10, that's not saying you cant use it, just saying you likely won't get those speeds out of it. Most of the time you can't get that much out of one even if the hardware will support it. I'd be willing to be 60% of cards out there are over classed or numbers are inflated from actual production chips.

"Stock card" was a Class 6? My launch day Epic came with a Class 2...

crzyrider250 said:
"Stock card" was a Class 6? My launch day Epic came with a Class 2...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 3 month old Epic also came with a Class 2. LOL - popping it out with the phone running caused my Phone to reboot (Bonsai).

Kcarpenter said:
I don't know if our hardware will push the speeds of a class 10, that's not saying you cant use it, just saying you likely won't get those speeds out of it. Most of the time you can't get that much out of one even if the hardware will support it. I'd be willing to be 60% of cards out there are over classed or numbers are inflated from actual production chips.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Our hardware can. I have done tests transferring files from my computer to the USB card via my phone and it is extremely fast. Camra speed has also dramatically increased if you are taking HD photos. Camcorder speed also increased. But I was going from a stock class 2 16gb that came with the phone to a class 10... So coming from a Class 6, I dunno how much of an increase that would be.

[Q] SD Built Performance compared to Native Android Phones / Benchmarks?

Hey guys,
currently i am on my Samsung Galaxy S but i ogle with WP7 . How is the performance going on with a Android built on a SD Card? Maybe even a Class10 one. Is it comparable with a native android phone like Galaxy S?
Are there some benchmarks (within android like Quadrant etc..)?
Thx for Infos in regard!
Cheers

I'd recommend a good quality class 4 microsd card like sandisk to run android off of... higher class SD cards tend to have slower random access speeds, which is more important than sequential read/write speeds if you're gonna run an operating system from it. I use a 32gb class 4 sandisk and have it partitioned to dual boot windows phone 7.5 and android, and it runs android as smooth as my brothers galaxy s. I'm currently running ICS without any major issues... only 5mAh battery drain on standby, too.
Sent from my NexusHD2 using xda premium

Thx for your reply ! Good hint with the lower sd class. So there are elswhere no limitations in using ICS? GPS / Calling works flawlessly? I read the threads but i was looking for a subjective opinion of someone. So good to hear that your brother owns a galaxy s and its comparable in your opinion ;-) Could you run a Quadrant? I read several posts with scores from low like 900 to even bashing a galaxy s. I know benchs are not equal to performance, but i would be interested.
Do you experience any lags in using a SD built like descriped in some posts? I read alot about "wakeup lag" for example :/

tomatenjungee said:
Thx for your reply ! Good hint with the lower sd class. So there are elswhere no limitations in using ICS? GPS / Calling works flawlessly? I read the threads but i was looking for a subjective opinion of someone. So good to hear that your brother owns a galaxy s and its comparable in your opinion ;-) Could you run a Quadrant? I read several posts with scores from low like 900 to even bashing a galaxy s. I know benchs are not equal to performance, but i would be interested.
Do you experience any lags in using a SD built like descriped in some posts? I read alot about "wakeup lag" for example :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In terms of features everything works flawlessly but you will inevitably get wakeup lag with SD builds unfortunately As for quadrants, I used to get easily over 1500 with ACA and some of MCCM's builds

Ok thx great support here @hd2 base really.
So except wakeup lag its a fully working android from a sd. Found this useful post about the lag: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12108550&postcount=18
If i buy a HD2 maybe i should look out for a "newer" Device.
Honestly i am a little interested in WP7 and like to link it with my xbox.
Would you buy a HD2 now? Its the only phone with WP7 / Android dualboot am i right?

tomatenjungee said:
Ok thx great support here @hd2 base really.
So except wakeup lag its a fully working android from a sd. Found this useful post about the lag: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12108550&postcount=18
If i buy a HD2 maybe i should look out for a "newer" Device.
Honestly i am a little interested in WP7 and like to link it with my xbox.
Would you buy a HD2 now? Its the only phone with WP7 / Android dualboot am i right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I might also try WP7 at some point, it's such a sleek OS Yes, as far as I know the HD2 is the only phone with the capability to dual boot Android and WP7, but it's possible that soon Android may work on WP7 native devices. On the portal look at the threads about Haret and being able to run WM6.5 on WP7, all seems to be quite interesting right now.
I would say that it's worth buying a HD2 if it's cheap but there are some things which simply aren't up to standard with other newer devices (despite what people say) such as the fact that the multitouch is very glitchy (due to the original WM6.5 OS the screen was outdated, it only supports 2 fingers and does even that very badly), the camera isn't great, the GPU is quite slow for HD games, sometimes the 576 Mb of RAM isn't sufficient (with just a few background apps running on a CM7 build I get around 200Mb free RAM, but if you go for Sense you'll be luck to get over 100Mb) and so on. I guess if you can get some sort of trade for your SGS for an HD2 then go for it, or if you can get yourself an HD2 at a low price, but if you think there are better out there go for a WP7 phone and hope for the best

Microsd card - Which one to use?

Hi All,
Just like to ask. My S7 Edge will be coming next week and I wonder which of my microsd cards is better to use for Mobile Phone specifically for S7 edge.
I have 2 Sandisk Ultra 64GB with attached speedtest result:
microsd_x - higher read but lower in write. i'm using it on my Yi Action Camera currently.
microsd_y - lower read but higher in write. used it on my HTC One M9+
I just like to know your opinion which one will be better for the S7. Will the microsd_x is better for S7 edge since it has higher read speed that can be maximized when the phone reads the apps that i installed to sdcard? will the write speed is just enough for average daily use?
and will my action cam benefit for microsd_y since it has higher write speed and read speed will not be used most of the time?
Please help. need you advise. not sure if my logic is correct based on the speedtest results. or is there a deeper explanation behind it.
Thanks!

BUMP
jhannbernas said:
Hi All,
Just like to ask. My S7 Edge will be coming next week and I wonder which of my microsd cards is better to use for Mobile Phone specifically for S7 edge.
I have 2 Sandisk Ultra 64GB with attached speedtest result:
microsd_x - higher read but lower in write. i'm using it on my Yi Action Camera currently.
microsd_y - lower read but higher in write. used it on my HTC One M9+
I just like to know your opinion which one will be better for the S7. Will the microsd_x is better for S7 edge since it has higher read speed that can be maximized when the phone reads the apps that i installed to sdcard? will the write speed is just enough for average daily use?
and will my action cam benefit for microsd_y since it has higher write speed and read speed will not be used most of the time?
Please help. need you advise. not sure if my logic is correct based on the speedtest results. or is there a deeper explanation behind it.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BUMP

I think it will depend on what you use the card for the most. If it's mostly loading apps, then the one with the faster read speed. OTOH, if you mostly use it to store photos or videos you take with the phone, then then the one with the faster write speeds.

i think i will try to test the microsd card with higher read speed first on S7 edge and see if the write speed of the same card will be sufficient for mobile phone use.

The left one seems to peform far better with random IO and is fast enough for 4K recording so that's the one I'd choose unless you copy a lot of lage files to your phone mostly.

Zamboney said:
The left one seems to peform far better with random IO and is fast enough for 4K recording so that's the one I'd choose unless you copy a lot of lage files to your phone mostly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your suggestion. that is what I'm thinking also, if the write speed is sufficient to record 4K videos. Anyways, I'm not into capturing videos and 1080p is okay for occasional videos. I think i will be using it more for transferring installed apps to microsd and the read speed is definitely faster. But with your recommendation that it can capture 4K videos, then I will be using the left one instead.
I checked the recommended samsung evo+ speeds, the left one image has similar speed with evo+.