Ext4 Optimizations - G2 and Desire Z General

I noticed going into the Nexus S Development Section, they were able to make optimizations/tweaks to the Ext4 system to increase performance (user supercurio). With Gingerbread now available for the G2/Z for a few weeks now (at least in Nightly Builds), Im curious if our developers will start tweaking/optimizing the Ext4 system to boost performance. A bit more performance never hurts.

I noticed that the Virtuous guys were looking into it for their next release. I did some light reading on the topic and can't seem to figure out what the big deal is...I know it's the new filesystem etc. But all the articles were saying it's main benefit was the possibility of huge filesystems which don't seem to apply to phones...unless somebody decided to start editing feature length HD video on their phone with some top secret 500 TB sdcard...
I'm not actually saying there isn't a point to having ext4 on phones, I'm more asking what the big deal is. Help out my ignorance!
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Related

[Q] Whats the best lag fix for the fascinate?

I just rooted using the super one click root and was wondering what the best lag fix was for the fascinate?
It's all the same lagfix, it's the kernels that are different.
I use Dirk's kernels.
Sent from my Fascinate using the XDA app
Voodoo has shown much greater success for me vs. Ryanza's 1 click lagfix. Voodoo is ext4 vs. running loop commands in an ext2 partition for the other. Not to mention the fact that you are giving up about .7 GB with one click lagfix. Quadrant scores are higher on RyanZA's but quadrant scores don't translate directly into real world results. Voodoo and OC until Froyo's arrival. BIG DISCLAIMER!!!!! RTFM before doing anything with either or you will soft brick your phone. Nothing hard about applying voodoo or fixing it if you do happen to brick it if you read the manual.
Old lagfix is old. If you want one, definitely use voodoo. Your options are from Dirk and jt, each with overclock kernels available as well.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
I wouldn't recommend doing any lag fix at this time.
Ryanza's 1 click fix is a "fake" lag fix. It's mainly for faking/improving quadrant scores. Don't even bother. Has little to no real world performance increases.
Voodoo is a true lag fix, however, the current version that exists in the kernels that our out for device (such as jt's and dirk's) are buggy. You may install them ok, and they will work just fine, and they definetly help. However, many people are noticing slowdowns after some usage, that start to negate the improvements. But worse, many people, including myself, are unable to get the "disable_lagfix" working, to shut voodoo off, which is required prior to flashing non-voodoo kernels, or using CWM, etc. If you're one of these people like I was, your phone basically bricks after disabling voodoo and you have to use Adrynalyn's voodoo uninstaller which involves wiping your phone, so you'll lose all your data. I didn't believe that it was a problem until it happened to me, I thought it was just noobs being noobs. however, many skilled people including myself have not gotten voodoo to disable in it's current form.
While there are backup utilities like Ti Backup that work awesome, setting your phone back up from scratch even with backups can be a pain. If you don't like doing such things, I wouldn't bother messing with voodoo for now.
There IS a new voodoo base kernel in development/out now by supercurio. However, it needs to be ported over to the Fascinate for it to work on our phone. This version contains many fixes/improvements, and will hopefully resolve the issues people (like me) have had disabling voodoo. There are no kernels out yet for our phone that yet have this new voodoo.
There is also z4mod on the horizon which is an alternative to voodoo, that allows for greater compatability and may replace the voodoo project for our phones. That should be out soon too.
Basically: if you don't mind the potential to need to wipe your phone to get rid of voodoo, and are a trigger happy flasher - go ahead and flash any kernel you want. But if you wait even a week, I'm sure there will be better kernels out there. Birdmans project looks promising. I'm running his test20 kernel right now.
Protonus said:
I wouldn't recommend doing any lag fix at this time.
Ryanza's 1 click fix is a "fake" lag fix. It's mainly for faking/improving quadrant scores. Don't even bother. Has little to no real world performance increases.
Voodoo is a true lag fix, however, the current version that exists in the kernels that our out for device (such as jt's and dirk's) are buggy. You may install them ok, and they will work just fine, and they definetly help. However, many people are noticing slowdowns after some usage, that start to negate the improvements. But worse, many people, including myself, are unable to get the "disable_lagfix" working, to shut voodoo off, which is required prior to flashing non-voodoo kernels, or using CWM, etc. If you're one of these people like I was, your phone basically bricks after disabling voodoo and you have to use Adrynalyn's voodoo uninstaller which involves wiping your phone, so you'll lose all your data. I didn't believe that it was a problem until it happened to me, I thought it was just noobs being noobs. however, many skilled people including myself have not gotten voodoo to disable in it's current form.
While there are backup utilities like Ti Backup that work awesome, setting your phone back up from scratch even with backups can be a pain. If you don't like doing such things, I wouldn't bother messing with voodoo for now.
There IS a new voodoo base kernel in development/out now by supercurio. However, it needs to be ported over to the Fascinate for it to work on our phone. This version contains many fixes/improvements, and will hopefully resolve the issues people (like me) have had disabling voodoo. There are no kernels out yet for our phone that yet have this new voodoo.
There is also z4mod on the horizon which is an alternative to voodoo, that allows for greater compatability and may replace the voodoo project for our phones. That should be out soon too.
Basically: if you don't mind the potential to need to wipe your phone to get rid of voodoo, and are a trigger happy flasher - go ahead and flash any kernel you want. But if you wait even a week, I'm sure there will be better kernels out there. Birdmans project looks promising. I'm running his test20 kernel right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ well said ^
the disable_lagfix worked for me, luckily; now i'm running a clean rom with no voodoo and no overclock - works great without either of these (more stable and still very fast!)
Protonus said:
I wouldn't recommend doing any lag fix at this time.
Ryanza's 1 click fix is a "fake" lag fix. It's mainly for faking/improving quadrant scores. Don't even bother. Has little to no real world performance increases.
Voodoo is a true lag fix, however, the current version that exists in the kernels that our out for device (such as jt's and dirk's) are buggy. You may install them ok, and they will work just fine, and they definetly help. However, many people are noticing slowdowns after some usage, that start to negate the improvements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've found that the "slowdowns" really only occur on the Overclocked Voodoo kernels. I've been on the 0.2 Voodoo kernel (with no OC) and have found that it's been consistently fast with no lag, lockups, or slowdowns whatsoever (I've been running it for weeks). It's been stable as a rock. Your point is well noted on the reported removal issues (as well as your own experience) and the effects of the OC'd kernels though.
FWIW, I'm one of the apparently few people that actually did notice real-world performance increases using the "old" lag fix. It is most noticeable with applications that do a lot of read/writes to the /data/data and cache directories (web browsers, for example). There is, of course, still lag when installing or loading applications themselves, because those don't get stored in the virtual partition, but that's not quite as big of a deal.
I will say that it is without a doubt much less risky than the voodoo one, as I have enabled and disabled it two or three times without any issues whatsoever. I'm very nervous about messing around with voodoo as it appears there's a good chance of bricking my phone. I have decided to wait until Froyo comes out, and see if there is still any lag after that that would warrant a lag fix of any kind. If there is still lag, I'll probably wait for an actual custom Froyo ROM instead of just swapping kernels around. Until then, my phone is fast enough.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
ivorycruncher said:
There is, of course, still lag when installing or loading applications themselves, because those don't get stored in the virtual partition, but that's not quite as big of a deal.
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Click to collapse
Lolwut?
I think you are confused on how the lag fix works.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Thanks
guys i really appreciate all of your input you have been really helpful...i am coming from the original droid and i was flash happy but the fascinate seems a bit more complicated as of now i am trying to research alot right now and really hoping for some froyo because i truly do miss it. so i think i might just keep it rooted and give it a few weeks and see whats on the horizon
I hear you, I am in the same boat. A little harder to find the info here as well. But there is a lot of great info here and helpful people!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
adrynalyne said:
Lolwut?
I think you are confused on how the lag fix works.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I went through every line of code in the setup script, and I know exactly how it works. It simply creates a virtual ext2 partition within a data file that contains your /data/data, /data/system, and /data/dalvik-cache directories. The apps themselves (apk files) are stored in /data/app, so they're still on the physical RFS partition, which has slower read/write times.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
ivorycruncher said:
Nope, I went through every line of code in the setup script, and I know exactly how it works. It simply creates a virtual ext2 partition within a data file that contains your /data/data, /data/system, and /data/dalvik-cache directories. The apps themselves (apk files) are stored in /data/app, so they're still on the physical RFS partition, which has slower read/write times.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I definitely know you are confused.
I'll give you a hint:
pssst: RFS is only slow on writing.
adrynalyne said:
Now I definitely know you are confused.
I'll give you a hint:
pssst: RFS is only slow on writing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is getting interesting... Popcorn anyone?
No worries, I am done. Some of these guys are interesting because they don't actually know what the lag fix is for
adrynalyne said:
No worries, I am done. Some of these guys are interesting because they don't actually know what the lag fix is for
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I admit, I didn't know it was just the write speed that was an issue. However, I don't appreciate the fact that you made it sound like everything I said was incorrect, because that's not true. While loading apps may not be any faster, I still see my phone slow to a crawl when installing new apps, during which there are obviously write operations occurring. But like I said before, not that big of a deal. The data and cache folders are what really matter, as data frequently gets written to those directories.
I'm well aware that the virtual ext2 partition is not as good as a true physical ext4 partition, but it's still better than RFS, and the extra benefit Voodoo brings is not worth the risk of bricking my phone, in my opinion. Anyway, 'nuff said.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Thinking of moving from my incredible to a fascinate and i see a lot of posts about "lag." After playing with one in the store I'm wondering if it is lag associated with the UI (swipe between home screens for instance) which seems way slower than the incredible or lag only associated with installing programs. I love the hardware, but honestly Touchwiz seems a bit slow overall for a phone with such outstanding hardware. Does the "lag fix" improve this as well?
ivorycruncher said:
Okay, I admit, I didn't know it was just the write speed that was an issue. However, I don't appreciate the fact that you made it sound like everything I said was incorrect, because that's not true. While loading apps may not be any faster, I still see my phone slow to a crawl when installing new apps, during which there are obviously write operations occurring. But like I said before, not that big of a deal. The data and cache folders are what really matter, as data frequently gets written to those directories.
I'm well aware that the virtual ext2 partition is not as good as a true physical ext4 partition, but it's still better than RFS, and the extra benefit Voodoo brings is not worth the risk of bricking my phone, in my opinion. Anyway, 'nuff said.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Voodoo has yet to brick a phone.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
nmyeti said:
Thinking of moving from my incredible to a fascinate and i see a lot of posts about "lag." After playing with one in the store I'm wondering if it is lag associated with the UI (swipe between home screens for instance) which seems way slower than the incredible or lag only associated with installing programs. I love the hardware, but honestly Touchwiz seems a bit slow overall for a phone with such outstanding hardware. Does the "lag fix" improve this as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is mostly the crappy Verizon bloatware and all the crap that runs all the time as a result. Flash a ROM like jt's clean rom and you'll see how fast TouchWiz can really be.
that being said, ditch touchwiz anyways and get Launcher Pro, which is all around better...
The lag fixes help with the reading and writing of data to the internal memory of the phone, which is formatted using a propiretary RFS format, rather than a more common / faster one like ext4. So you'll see the speed improvements doing things like writing/reading from a database (such as pulling up a list of all your installed programs), or when installing an app from the market, etc. While the phone with a clean ROM (like JT1134's super clean) is VERY fast, and even faster over clocked, you'll notice on the stock kernel, sometimes it doesn't seem as fast as it should be doing somethings, for a moment, like it pauses. This is the "lag" in question.
It's really not that bad, either way, once you have a clean ROM, and a better kernel loaded.
I can pretty much guarantee you'll love the Fascinate vs. an Incredible once you hack it up a bit Get the kickstand case ;-)
Just sent you a PM...
nmyeti said:
Thinking of moving from my incredible to a fascinate and i see a lot of posts about "lag." After playing with one in the store I'm wondering if it is lag associated with the UI (swipe between home screens for instance) which seems way slower than the incredible or lag only associated with installing programs. I love the hardware, but honestly Touchwiz seems a bit slow overall for a phone with such outstanding hardware. Does the "lag fix" improve this as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Anyone else hate EXT4?

i cant stand EXT4. every rom i tried with it just seemed way laggier than i ever experienced with RFS.
my issues have been my battery draining a lot quicker, mms sometimes wont send, takes forever to get a GPS lock, sound stutters (music and notifications), games lag... and other ones i cant think of at the moment,
ive tried Quantum, Bonsai, and Viper. they just seem much more buggy to me on EXT4. so im switching back to RFS.
anyone else have these issues?
ksmullins88 said:
i cant stand EXT4. every rom i tried with it just seemed way laggier than i ever experienced with RFS.
my issues have been my battery draining a lot quicker, mms sometimes wont send, takes forever to get a GPS lock, sound stutters (music and notifications), games lag... and other ones i cant think of at the moment,
ive tried Quantum, Bonsai, and Viper. they just seem much more buggy to me on EXT4. so im switching back to RFS.
anyone else have these issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
noobnl told me that he and others were doing everything they could to use RFS only. If those guys don't want EXT4 then there's definitely something up...
Mine's more responsive than its ever been (except for screen rotate) running quantum 2.7 EXT4 and xjman's modified libdvm.so. personally, I think the whole "EXT4 will kill your phone" stuff is a kneejerk reaction to a non-issue. Those of us that are reflashing a few times a week via odin or updating roms through cwm are going to wear the NAND more than simply running EXT4. :shrug: personally, I'm going to continue to run EXT4 and I'm not going to loose a wink of sleep over it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
SubnetMask said:
Mine's more responsive than its ever been (except for screen rotate) running quantum 2.7 EXT4 and xjman's modified libdvm.so. personally, I think the whole "EXT4 will kill your phone" stuff is a kneejerk reaction to a non-issue. Those of us that are reflashing a few times a week via odin or updating roms through cwm are going to wear the NAND more than simply running EXT4. :shrug: personally, I'm going to continue to run EXT4 and I'm not going to loose a wink of sleep over it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1..
I don't have any issues. Infact I've seen improvements
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
ksmullins88 said:
i cant stand EXT4. every rom i tried with it just seemed way laggier than i ever experienced with RFS.
my issues have been my battery draining a lot quicker, mms sometimes wont send, takes forever to get a GPS lock, sound stutters (music and notifications), games lag... and other ones i cant think of at the moment,
ive tried Quantum, Bonsai, and Viper. they just seem much more buggy to me on EXT4. so im switching back to RFS.
anyone else have these issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you should try odining a different "version" of dk28. I know dameon mentioned stuff about certain preparations of dk28 not working well.
Sent from my baked and emotionless SPH-D700
Its just way too much flashing, more steps and headache in EXT4 or maybe im just lazy. I like simple that's why i will stay with RFS.
ive gone back to eclair with syndicate rom and xtreme kernal. Froyo and / or EXT4 are not ready for primetime yet IMO
EXT4 lags for me as well so I'm in the process of going back to RFS as I type this. Actually starting over from DI18 and videoing it as well
I love Ext4. Made my phone more responsive along with the custom lib. I don't really see where it's that much more flashing once you install it you are done.
I've given ext4 a shot for about a week with a few different roms, and I'm not impressed at all. Seems to run worse.
Actually, I'm getting sick of DK28 in general. I think it's time to go back to 2.1.
No problems for me at all. Runs better if anything. Running Nebula ROM 1.06
I like EXT4 myself...I dont think we should go backwards,this is improvment plain and simple.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
I switched to EXT4 as soon as it came out and I have seen nothing but improvements. Have you tried the midNIGHT ROM? ptfdmedic's stuff runs as smooth as glass.
DK28 in general is not that great (it is unfinished afterall) and i've been back on 2.1 for some time now and the difference is like night and day. Battery actually lasts, phone is responsive, GPS performs much better, e.t.c.
Those eschewing the valour of EXT4 and DK28, kudos to you, but it is not great in my opinion having been through it all.
jirafabo said:
noobnl told me that he and others were doing everything they could to use RFS only. If those guys don't want EXT4 then there's definitely something up...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a war of egos, nothing more. This is demonstrated by the complete lack of definitive proof offered in the argument (and I've been present for a lot more detailed arguments in IRC about the subject between noobnl and Dameon than have been present on this forum).
One side of the argument consists almost solely of "Well then why doesn't the Nexus S use EXT4 for the system directory?" on one side and "EXT4 performs better and has not been proven to perform more writes."
I have a lot of respect for noobnl and his contributions to the community, but you can't make a statement that EXT4 is going to cause people's phones to fail and not back it up with any kind of real logic or proof. However, counter-arguments from some very well-informed individuals have been made citing plenty of evidence that EXT4 will not harm your phone.
And lastly, you risk your phone every time you flash a ROM... something could go wrong, and you could brick your phone. This is much more of a risk than accelerated NAND block corruption is. We're not going to stop flashing our phones though, are we?
Regarding the OP regarding EXT4 performance, mine runs flawlessly. I haven't seen the stuttering some people have been reporting, my battery performance seems about even with RFS if not perhaps slightly higher, and perhaps it's my imagination but the phone seems ever-so-slightly more responsive. I've also checked my bad block count a few times over the last week and a half and I have the same number I did the day after I switched to EXT4. I've got no reason to go back to RFS...
Maybe the performance difference for people is no_journal mod vs those without the mod. I'm running Nebula with ext4 and have noticed some sluggishness/lagginess that wasn't there on ACS Syndicate (2.1), but i can't compare to RFS DK28, because i went straight to ext4 when i went to DK28. Can folks comment on whether or not they are running ext4 w/ no_journal mod?
Yeaa, maybe its the no journaling that's causing the responsiveness. Idk. I might try it again in a few weeks. But my phone was just pissin me off by doing the stupid little things. Plus, there isn't many files that support edify yet.
Imo, I think we should finalize one version before upgrading to an entirely new file system. It just seems to be more problematic to me.
So do you guys that like ext4 use the no journals?
I had a lot of lag with Bonsai4all with EXT4, was bout to give up, but decided to re-do it all and go to Nebula 1.06 and thing screams. I would try another ROM if you are having issues with EXT4, but thats just me...
bullet2300 said:
I had a lot of lag with Bonsai4all with EXT4, was bout to give up, but decided to re-do it all and go to Nebula 1.06 and thing screams. I would try another ROM if you are having issues with EXT4, but thats just me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I have... I tried three different ones. Bonsai, viper, and quantum... all three lagged like crazy
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
And you are using the OTA, non-deoxed Dk28 to start from? I've heard that is key for EXT4.

Voodoo 5

Is it worth going too? Pros cons?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Psst...search function...
But to answer your question, it really depends on you and how you use your phone. Eveyone will have different pros/cons based on their individual experience. If you think you need it then go for it, if you're unsure then don't.
Sent from my SCH-I500
zachsx said:
Is it worth going too? Pros cons?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As was said, a lot depends on how you use your phone.
I was always down on Voodoo because of the potential problems it can cause, but I gave it a try a week or so ago. Honestly, I haven't seen much if any improvement in speed, but I probably don't do the type of things that would benefit the most from it - frequent read/writes to the file system. I think for general use, it really doesn't offer much.
That said, there's nothing wrong with it, a Voodoo kernel installs just like any other, it does it's conversion to EXT4 automatically, and it also converts back to RFS automatically after you set it to do so.
Even though I haven't noticed much of an improvement in performance, I figure I'll stick with it mostly for the new red Clockwork recovery.
The only con is that you have to make sure to disable the lagfix and convert the file system back to rfs BEFORE flashign a non-Voodoo kernel. Aside from that, there's really no other cons.
Just make sure you fully understand what's it's doing and how to disable it when/if need be.
Doesn't change a whole lot. I found a few apps load and operate much more smoothly, with a slight (maybe just placebo affect) increase in responsiveness. It really is not all that complicated to install, and I had zero issues with it. I stayed away after seeing all the horror stories, but after kaos showed up and informed us that we would need voodoo installed to eventually run his froyo rom I figured I would be making the jump eventually anyway and went ahead and loaded it. Just spend time reading through all the various walkthroughs and fixes. Make sure you understand what it is you have to do and follow the directions. Make sure you are comfortable with Odin in case something does indeed go wrong. I have yet to bork my phone and have to odin back to stock, but it could happen, so be prepared.
Did I mention read through all the threads and make sure you follow the steps to a t? Once you think you understand the process, read some more. Don't know about you, but I'd feel like an asshole if I left myself with a 500$ paperweight because I couldn't be bothered to read a few pages on a message board...
Thanks for the quick responses!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Noob question - what is Voodoo?
I've been using it for about two weeks now... but it can be a little confusing for someone who is just coming into the custom ROM scene.
Thanks.
kent1146 said:
Noob question - what is Voodoo?
I've been using it for about two weeks now... but it can be a little confusing for someone who is just coming into the custom ROM scene.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a collection of enhancements to the Galaxy S phones, the primary one being a lag fix that converts the file system(s) to standard Linux EXT4 from Samsung's hobbled together RFS. The issue commonly associated with Voodoo is when someone flashes a non-Voodoo kernel over a Voodoo one. Since non-Voodoo kernels don't support EXT4, they can't read any of the partitions that were converted to EXT4 and all sorts of issues ensue. But it's not not all bad, converting back to RFS before flashing the new kernel avoids the problem, and even if it occurs (if someone doesn't convert back), there are clear steps to recover.
In addition to the lag fix, Voodoo has slight tweaks to the color settings and more significant tweaks to the sound options and settings.
+10 char
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
ChrisDDD said:
It's a collection of enhancements to the Galaxy S phones, the primary one being a lag fix that converts the file system(s) to standard Linux EXT4 from Samsung's hobbled together RFS. The issue commonly associated with Voodoo is when someone flashes a non-Voodoo kernel over a Voodoo one. Since non-Voodoo kernels don't support EXT4, they can't read any of the partitions that were converted to EXT4 and all sorts of issues ensue. But it's not not all bad, converting back to RFS before flashing the new kernel avoids the problem, and even if it occurs (if someone doesn't convert back), there are clear steps to recover.
In addition to the lag fix, Voodoo has slight tweaks to the color settings and more significant tweaks to the sound options and settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice summary bro
internetbrofist.jpg
Voodoo5 makes your phone go HAM!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
http://project-voodoo.org
Can you flash themes without disabling the lag fix?
Super Clean DL09 .4 w/ JT's Fascinate voodoo w/Supercurio sound
Yes, as long as you use red CWM.
ivorycruncher said:
Yes, as long as you use red CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ivory. Also, use theme fix if using a DJ05 theme, right?
Super Clean DL09 .4 w/ JT's Fascinate voodoo w/Supercurio sound
Yup!
Posted from my DL09 SuperClean Fascinate with Voodoo
There doesn't seem to be a HUGE difference in speed with the lagfix, but there's quite a massive boost in sound quality once you download the Voodoo Control App from the marketplace and use decent headphones. Not bad for an hour or two of downloading and flashing. The only worrisome thing seems to be the massive amount of warnings about flashing anything over the Voodoo kernals...
Naris said:
There doesn't seem to be a HUGE difference in speed with the lagfix, but there's quite a massive boost in sound quality once you download the Voodoo Control App from the marketplace and use decent headphones. Not bad for an hour or two of downloading and flashing. The only worrisome thing seems to be the massive amount of warnings about flashing anything over the Voodoo kernals...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Honestly, I haven't noticed *any* objective increase in speed with the lag fix. I suspect 99% of the lag people experience is attributable to the bloatware Verizon saw fit to load on the phone, not any inherent deficiency in the file system used. Not arguing that EXT4 isn't better than RFS, I just don't think it makes that much difference in actual use. When it comes to kernels, I think there's an enormous placebo effect. Unless you're overclocked, I'd challenge anyone to show *measurable* improvements in real performance - not just meaningless benchmarks, but real improvements in things that would be noticeable in the actual use of the phone.
I wouldn't worry about the warnings though, they're not because the lag fix is inherently dangerous, it's more because of the number of people who can't or choose not to read and get themselves into trouble flashing a non-Voodoo kernel without first disabling the lag fix. Follow the forums for any length of time and you'll be amazed at how many posts you see saying:
"I have no idea what Voodoo is, but I installed it anyway, because I don't want any lag, and then I heard about StupidFast, so I installed that, and now I have zero internal memory, what gives?"
If they had made any attempt to understand what Voodoo is and does, they'd have avoided the problem. But in the end, it's pretty straight forward to fix even if you inadvertently screw it up, so again, I wouldn't worry.

Is EXT4 really that great? I think that RFS is better

Hello,
I was just wondering why people think that EXT4 is faster than RFS? Both of them are similar in speed at first boot and installation of a ROM, but I tend to notice that EXT4 goes much slower over time, as opposed to RFS. To test this out, I borrowed my friends epic, and tried flashing the SFR 1.2 ROM on one Epic and the EC05 stock ROM on the other epic. They were both fast, and sometimes EXT4 was a tad bit faster at loading pages and apps, but over the course of a week, I found EXT4 to slow down and RFS was starting to run faster. I have installed the same amount of apps on both phones, and the Stock Epic even had the sprint bloat installed, I installed the same apps on both phones and about a week later, the RFS File system was much better off then the EXT4 File system. I'm saying this from personal experience. Does anybody else notice the same thing?
For some people who say that the variables are different:
Well, I can say that the stock rom is odexed, but all the other variables are the same, same amount of apps, I always deleted the texts and call logs, after I saw them or after I received a call. Even then, many people say that EXT4 is much much much faster than RFS, and odexed RFS vs deodexed SFR is not much of a variable difference because one is running stock RFS and one is running an "Stock" EXT4 (now if you know of an odexed EXT4 ROM, then I will gladly try it. But all the other variables were basically the same)
I have realized and done similar tests for quite awhile ever since rom building for the Samsung Moment. Which is why I've never touched an ext4 rom for the Epic. But I tend to simply run completely stock aside from deodexing for more internal space and adding crt and stock 1% battery mod
I've not had a single issue with my Epic this way and it has always ran fast, smooth, and completely stable down to the smallest details with excellent battery life
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Im not sure about RFS, but I can say ext4 would be surprising if it performed well. Afaik ext4 is designed for consistency more than perf. Perhaps ext4 could be configured for writeback journalling, the fastest it can go with journalling. Of course disabling the journal woulf be fastest of all. What is rfs? Pardon my ignorance, but I suppose it's not journalling?
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Lol use titanium backup on ext4 and rfs and you'll see the speed difference
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inimitableac said:
Lol use titanium backup on ext4 and rfs and you'll see the speed difference
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Yes but the slightest mistake with an untrained user how we've all been at one time or another can leave you with corrupted data. EXT4 is a good thing but it also shares it's amounts of bad as well.
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AproSamurai said:
Yes but the slightest mistake with an untrained user how we've all been at one time or another can leave you with corrupted data. EXT4 is a good thing but it also shares it's amounts of bad as well.
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Yea your absolutely right no argument against that.
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parasense said:
Im not sure about RFS, but I can say ext4 would be surprising if it performed well. Afaik ext4 is designed for consistency more than perf. Perhaps ext4 could be configured for writeback journalling, the fastest it can go with journalling. Of course disabling the journal woulf be fastest of all. What is rfs? Pardon my ignorance, but I suppose it's not journalling?
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rfs is reiser fs. it is journaled as are most modern file systems.
edit: interesting fact: the guy that designed rfs murdered his wife.
i've gone back to RFS after a bunch of the EXT4 roms degraded for me over time. with journaling on. its possible it was my own fault but i honestly have no issues with the RFS roms right now except that they aren't as numerous as the EXT ones
schnowdapowda said:
rfs is reiser fs. it is journaled as are most modern file systems.
edit: interesting fact: the guy that designed rfs murdered his wife.
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W.r.t Samsung phones, RFS is not Reiser FS. It is essentially a Samsung proprietary FST32 compatible FS with journaling.
Regards,
Dave
EDIT: More info here - http://www.samsung.com/global/busin...ducts/fusionmemory/Products_RFS_Brochure.html
I used ext2 for all filesystems on my moment and noticed improvements over rfs, I always wondered why samsung stuck with rfs I assumed it was for stability? This has me confuzzled
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schnowdapowda said:
rfs is reiser fs. it is journaled as are most modern file systems.
edit: interesting fact: the guy that designed rfs murdered his wife.
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Lmfao that is an interesting fact indeed
schnowdapowda said:
rfs is reiser fs. it is journaled as are most modern file systems.
edit: interesting fact: the guy that designed rfs murdered his wife.
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source?
10char
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Reiser
He did infact, but its not the RFS we use... we use ROBUST File system by samsung not ReiserFS by Hans Reiser
rfs is a system designed by samsung, now, EXT4 is a partition scheme for linux, we run using a linux kernel on samsung hardware on solid state memory, it really is anyone's preference. thats why dual-kernels are the ****.
Great Butt Scratcher!!!!
schnowdapowda said:
rfs is reiser fs. it is journaled as are most modern file systems.
edit: interesting fact: the guy that designed rfs murdered his wife.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to go off topic what kind of animal in on your signature. That got to be the funniest thing I ever seen in my life!!!
Is this what I've been experiencing? I feel like every rom I've tried slows down for me after about a week. Not terribly... but it starts to hang in certain places when it never hung at all to begin with. I've normally stayed away from rfs so I know the bulk of the roms I've flashed were ext4. Even now I'm on ACS bamboozle. A week ago I thought this was teh best rom evar. But now I lag a bit here and there. Quite annoying actually. Also, I ALWAYS enable journaling.
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I've never paid much attention to the speed, but the file corruption problems I've had on EXT4 make me nervous.
gokuman56 said:
Hello,
I was just wondering why people think that EXT4 is faster than RFS? Both of them are similar in speed at first boot and installation of a ROM, but I tend to notice that EXT4 goes much slower over time, as opposed to RFS. To test this out, I borrowed my friends epic, and tried flashing the SFR 1.2 ROM on one Epic and the EC05 stock ROM on the other epic. They were both fast, and sometimes EXT4 was a tad bit faster at loading pages and apps, but over the course of a week, I found EXT4 to slow down and RFS was starting to run faster. I have installed the same amount of apps on both phones, and the Stock Epic even had the sprint bloat installed, I installed the same apps on both phones and about a week later, the RFS File system was much better off then the EXT4 File system. I'm saying this from personal experience. Does anybody else notice the same thing?
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Click to collapse
You were not just comparing filesystems. The Stock ROM is Odexed, but SFR is Deodexed,
Some people have said that Odexed ROMS are faster than Deodexed ROMS, but they are more difficult to customize. I believe that is why all our customized ROMS are Deodexed.
xopher.hunter said:
I used ext2 for all filesystems on my moment and noticed improvements over rfs, I always wondered why samsung stuck with rfs I assumed it was for stability?
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Click to collapse
I have been running EXT2 & EXT4 since they came out. The speed difference has been major, IMO, both on my Moment running EXT2, and my Epic running EXT4.
On my Moment, I never even ran the journaling, though I did turn it back on for my Epic.
IMO, I will never use RFS again, unless I have no other choice. RFS is supposed to be the best for prevention of data loss, but when you turn on journaling with EXT4, you should retain the data protection offered with RFS.
I did have data loss due to frequent power loss (Extended battery for my Epic didnt fit perfectly, and loss connection until I fixed it), but that ended when I turned on journaling.
I have never ran a setup past a couple months, so I can't comment on the long term slowdown, but with just the change from RFS to EXT4 provides a performance increase of the level where I can see the difference in daily use of the phone.
gokuman56 said:
Hello,
I was just wondering why people think that EXT4 is faster than RFS? Both of them are similar in speed at first boot and installation of a ROM, but I tend to notice that EXT4 goes much slower over time, as opposed to RFS. To test this out, I borrowed my friends epic, and tried flashing the SFR 1.2 ROM on one Epic and the EC05 stock ROM on the other epic. They were both fast, and sometimes EXT4 was a tad bit faster at loading pages and apps, but over the course of a week, I found EXT4 to slow down and RFS was starting to run faster. I have installed the same amount of apps on both phones, and the Stock Epic even had the sprint bloat installed, I installed the same apps on both phones and about a week later, the RFS File system was much better off then the EXT4 File system. I'm saying this from personal experience. Does anybody else notice the same thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, you ran two completely different ROMs with completely different customizations (one, as noted above, was deodexed) and optimizations, and you're just assuming the file system is the reason you're seeing a difference between the two?
As well, did you install all the exact same apps on each, make all the same phone calls, send/receive the same number of text messages, and utilize them in identical manners?
Correlation does not equal causation. Just because one ROM is running one file system and the other another and they perform differently is no evidence on its own that the file system is the cause. Until you eliminate all other outside variables, we've learned absolutely nothing from your experiment. Your test is also subjective, and not blinded. So your personal biases easily slip through, and your assumption that RFS is faster will lead you to use confirmation bias to notice the elements that confirm your supposition and ignore the rest. You'll be more likely to jump to consider the things the RFS-based phone does faster as more important than the ones the EXT4 phone did faster, when the same feature might be in the other list if it was on the system you preferred. This isn't a dig on you, it's a human cognitive bias we all employ that proper scientific tests are designed to avoid. But your test doesn't.
Now I'm not saying EXT4 IS faster, I'm merely saying your test does nothing to tell us one way or the other. As far as I'm aware Google shifted officially to EXT4 as the standard for Gingerbread, and I assume this was done for good reason. That's not to say Samsung didn't have good reason for using RFS that trumped it. But EXT4 is at least a non-proprietary standard that's easier for us to work with, which is one reason some prefer it.

F2FS - Fading away fast file system?

Hi all,
I've been using f2fs for a few months now. Was very happy with the performance (could be a placebo ). But I've noticed that f2fs hardly gets attention anymore;kernels have or look to abandon support for it. Converting roms to f2fs is so tedious too.
Has anyone gone back to ext4 from f2fs and was there any noticeable performance hit?
I came back to ext4 from allF2FS to test something that i thought it was caused by f2fs file system...eventualy the problem is still here and it's because of camera...anyway i feel the speed almost the same with ext4 and i don't have to search compatible kernels and convert any rom...easier life
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I got tired of the whole F2FS thing. I went back to ext4 a long time ago. Being able to change between dalvik and art has been good enough for me.
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