Hi all,
A few of us on the SD card list thread have tried this and it seems to be stablizing things....the theory as we are working with now is that the problem is due to a power control issue in the Samsung drivers for the phone, not especially in the card itself.
No ill effects have been reported as of yet, and the battery life seems to be on par with before the switch was made. It is a simple fix, and can be reversed easily.
I ran the phone for 2 months without a card, and with these keys toggled, it is actually FASTER than it was. I don't fully believe it, but it has been over a week and rock solid.
First off, you need to dev unlock your phone. See the thread here for simple and complete instructions: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=938106
Next off, you need to toggle the following 3 registry keys in the Registry Editor provided in the above post:
The keys have to do with MMC (internal memory) power management.The big speed improvements is in games/apps (Fruit Ninja opens and operates leaps and bounds faster than it did when the phone did stock!)
Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>Drivers>SDCARD>ClientDrivers>Class>MMC_Class>DisablePowerManagement (Change to 0)
Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>Drivers>SDCARD>ClientDrivers>Class>MMC_Class>High_Capacity>DisablePowerManagement (Change to 0)
Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>Drivers>SDCARD>ClientDrivers>Class>SDMemory_Class>DisablePowerManagement (Change to 0)
One point of note here, do not be afraid if the phone locks up the first time soft resetting after these changes, mine did and it was fine after a battery pull.
Also, I would be interested to hear any theories about why this one made such a big difference when it seemingly affects only the internal storage. Maybe because the two storage devices are "bridged" by WP7?
Comment below with your experiences please!
If this gets enough test results, we will submit it to Microsoft. Thanks!
As I already mentioned:
Up to now I just did the SD card registry hack. The device is now stable for over 3 days, longer than ever before.
Battery life wasn't noticable affected, lasted for around 40h with moderate usage (thumbs up indeed).
In fact without this registry hack I wasn't able to get down to an empty battery without those reboting/dataloss issues.
But I need some more days, then I will change the MMC registry key also.
No speed improvements mentioned up to now.
I applied the hack to all three keys. So far, it is much less laggy. Not sure if that will return after 4+ weeks as before, but here's a pretty cool side effect:
After the hack, my screen does not stop responding to touch when the phone is placed on my desk or a soft surface, like a couch cushon. It was getting really annoying because I often place mu phone on my desk during the day for easy access, but every time I tried to onlock it, it would not respond unless I picked it up. Sometimes, it's nice to leave it lying down and operate it. Couldn't do that before, but I can now! WooHoo! Thank you for this.
I'll report back if it starts up again in a couple weeks.
Sent from my Focus WP7 using Board Express
Whoa! I just tested this and you are correct! More proof that the Samsung power drivers are full of problems. Who would have thought?
For testing purpose I changed the MMC Keys also and made some Videos (no I won't upload them). There were absoluteley no differences in app loading times (ok, i know the longer loading apps are pretty much all stored on the sd card, ) and also not in overall performance, although this isn't provable easily.
I changed the keys back to normal, but kept the sd card key change to 0.
I address the positive speed effects to sdcard key for now. Perhaps i will make some tests without any reg change in the next few days.
Still stable as hell!
Edit: Damn I forgot to test the not responding problem (even though i didn't notice it that often and badly)
Sebo1985 said:
For testing purpose I changed the MMC Keys also and made some Videos (no I won't upload them). There were absoluteley no differences in app loading times (ok, i know the longer loading apps are pretty much all stored on the sd card, ) and also not in overall performance, although this isn't provable easily.
I changed the keys back to normal, but kept the sd card key change to 0.
I address the positive speed effects to sdcard key for now. Perhaps i will make some tests without any reg change in the next few days.
Still stable as hell!
Edit: Damn I forgot to test the not responding problem (even though i didn't notice it that often and badly)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I mentioned above, I'm hoping it's not just a result of resetting something and it still returns in a few weeks. Although, the thing about the screen touch response not working when laying on something is COMPLETELY GONE! That alone is worth the setting change. It really was annoying for me the way I use the phone. Thank you to eveyone involved in finding this setting.
PS: From my perception, I don't believe my battery is behaving any differently. Although, I would imagine if it were scientifically tested, it surely would be using slightly more juice. But it still had the normal amount left in the evening, and I probably used it slightly more testing it out. Maybe getting the screen to perform better uses less power?
For the sake of completeness: I set the sd card key back to 1, and I do not experience any slow down in overall performance or in app loading times. Still I cannot reproduce any of those not responding issues you mentioned.
For today and tomorrow I will stay with this setting an will wait for a random reboot. Let's see what and when it happens.
tried this with a 16gb class2 sandisk... loaded it up to 9.25 left and the reboot monster came... but it was weird... it would rebllt like every 30 sec with no loss then poof all lost...then rendom self reboot all mem would reappear and start the reboot process all over.... now it didnt do this till it was unplugged.... plugged in it was fine... reformatted... re set up did the tweak... loaded and the same as before... so for me no... but im going to test it with another card on the list... heres to hoping....
but it does fix the sitting on the bed and unresponsive gimmick.....
So would this be worthwhile even for someone without an sdcard? For the screen response issue i mean. It's so annoying haha.
edit: Screw it i went ahead and did it hah. It def fixed the touch screen responsiveness issue!
Which cards?
Can you guys post the specific SD cards you are testing this with. I am curious to see if somebody has tested it with the Sandisk class 2 32gb card. Thanks.
knwldg0010 said:
Can you guys post the specific SD cards you are testing this with. I am curious to see if somebody has tested it with the Sandisk class 2 32gb card. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sebo's testing with a SanDisk Class 4 32GB card which ended up being more stable (before it failed and before he tried the registry stuff) than the Class 2s from Sandisk.
Based on what you have read, would it be best to get rid of the class 2 32gb card or wait to see if there is an actual fix? Since this seems to be a power issue based on the fix, does it really matter what class it is then? Thanks.
knwldg0010 said:
Based on what you have read, would it be best to get rid of the class 2 32gb card or wait to see if there is an actual fix? Since this seems to be a power issue based on the fix, does it really matter what class it is then? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something to keep in mind is that this registry hack is relatively new. Some people managed to go for weeks without issues on an unmodified WP7 with a card. It's entirely possible that these hacks are just a stopgap, or a reset, and actually *fix* nothing.
Theoretically, the card shouldn't matter. If I hadn't locked my 32GB Class 4 Kingston to my old (bricked) Focus, I would try it with the current one and see if doing the registry tweaks fixes the slow sync issue on it. Someone in the SD Card List thread claims to have done the registry tweaks and it ended up failing badly too with a 16GB Class 2 Sandisk. However, the 16GB Class 2 Sandisk is one of the more reliable ones (without tweaks) through the limited testing this board has done, so it's possible he has a bad card.
In brief, it shouldn't matter (within reason) what brand/class/capacity you use. If this tweak is the real deal, it should work, especially if your only concern is random reboots. However, you still would want to avoid cards with extremely high class ratings at typically their random read/write is slow (which the most common usage of the storage in WP7). In terms of performance, there's no guarantee as to what these tweaks will do as the only consistent change has been that phones that would constantly reboot due to their cards aren't (yet).
However, to answer your initial question, I don't believe anyone has tested a Class 2 Sandisk 32GB card. I wouldn't put too much faith that your card will have the exact same results as Sebo's class 4 because we aren't certain what the cause is. We believe it's power, but we're not 100% sure. If you're already using the card in your phone, you don't really have much to lose. If you're not using it yet, then you only have something to lose if you, like me, don't have a Nokia/Symbian phone that you can use to reformat the card if it fails.
Good post fishface.... That's where most are thinking its a fix.. This is just a theory right now.. That's why there's another post wanting testers... my find was it did fix the sensitivity issue...theres no doubt on my end.. But card wise my 16gb class2 SanDisk worked before I tried this until I hit 15gb used... Then it went goofy... I tried it 5 times.. Same thing. Just about 15gb used was where the instability happened. Soon as the reg hack hit I read thru it.. I love reg edits.. Made my Omnia 2 &hd2 quite decent phones... That's when I saw the mention of others thinking this too.. So I took my 16gb class2 SanDisk that I freshly brought back to life, and decided to test it out... I posted the results before... Plugged in no issue.. Unplugged it went goofy at 12.7 used... I was stable at that point before without the edits... Not saying it doesn't help but it made mine worse... I'm still going to try other cards though .. I do think there is something to this... I might try different scenarios of the edit... What's it going to hurt..i mean were here for the same goal to help find a solution... Well except the lurkers..you all know who you are..lol. But again. Great post fishface...
Thanks for all of the info. I guess fix is the wrong word to use, but i was just trying to get an idea of what others have done. Whenever i would pass the 10gb mark, mine would do a full wipe after a couple of restarts. I still have my 32gb card in my phone, because there really is no point of taking it out and possibly loosing it. Plus i was hoping an official fix would come out so i could just apply the patch. I have been waiting to see when the MS update would come out so i could do a full backup before running test. Thank you for your help.
anyone tried messing with block sizes? Default is 128. I'm wondering if maybe your sd card has trouble with that block size its causing the lagginess. Who knows lol....
Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express
Also I'm still using my 32gb Kingston class 4. I have all 3 keys set to 0. And its still going strong other than that one reset I had. MMC block size 128 sd block size 128. If my sd card can't handle that large of a block size I would have instability.
Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express
Anyone know if this also fixes the song stuttering issue? That's definitely power related since it only happens in the last couple of seconds of a song if the screen is off. One you turn it back on, the music plays perfectly.
jeffgeno said:
Anyone know if this also fixes the song stuttering issue? That's definitely power related since it only happens in the last couple of seconds of a song if the screen is off. One you turn it back on, the music plays perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had a chance to test that yet but I'll post if I have any issues
Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express
I'm stuck. Made it through the first three downloads and have my phone unlocked.
Followed Registry Editor link and downloaded RegistryEditor 1.1.0.0.xap. My computer will not open up this file because it doesn't know what program to use, so I tried to download it straight to my phone and my phone says it doesn't support xap. What steps am I missing?
How do I get into the registry to change the three tabs?
The one described here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1010807
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1021647
Doubled my read speeds. Went from @15 to 30+. Gallery seems snappier. Media Scanning finishes up quicker.
However - Write speeds seem wonky, they vary from 2 to 6 depending on how the phone feels I guess. I don't think the patch is a monumental change, and it makes me wonder why the cache size wasn't increased to begin with since it obviously effects read speeds. Maybe Samsung knows more than us.
Will this not shorten the lifespan of the SD card? There has to be a downside somewhere...
I tried it and it works great. Just make sure after you flash it you check the permissions to make sure it is correct.
LordLugard said:
Will this not shorten the lifespan of the SD card? There has to be a downside somewhere...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It just changes the read-ahead cache on the phone so your phone reads larger chunks of the sd card in one burst. So instead of doing 5 reads (for example) the phone can read 5x as much at one time and hold that data in the cache. That way it doesn't get stuck waiting on the sd card every time it runs through the data held in the cache.
No big downside for this one.
So i've installed sammy kernel and as soon as i was done, the problem started. First, i booted back into the OS and i got a message telling me my SD card was damaged, i tried to take it out, reboot, nothing, it obliges me to format it. Then i've tested out a few combinations of governors and frequencies qith SetCPU and for some reason i barely get a 2000 score in vellamo when on stock i was getting between 2350 and 2400 almost every time. I'm not sure why, but i went through a few pages of the thread about the kernel and everybody found goos improvement and no problem.
Anybody knows how to troubleshoot this?
give little bit more info, dude.
such as?
when I flashed out of Sammy back to stock Kernel exactly one day later my SD card crapped out - unrecoverable data. I had to format it and go from there - now all is fine.
To be expected with new development. Hindsight is always 20/20.
does anybody else have similar issues?
Hey all,
So I'm pretty new to android but have been lurking here for awhile and you guys have got me off to a pretty solid footing. Currently running a S4 (ATT) on Goldeneye Rom with some other little tweaks here and there. Phone runs great, smooth, fast, etc, no problems at all.
I had picked up a Sandisk Ultra 64gb class 10 sd card only to find out it likes to use exFat as its format. After working with CWM and even basic things like music files I saw exFat to not be the most compatible and everyone raves how much easier Fat32 is.
So I made the jump and formated the SD via fat32 Gui tool on windows. It failed a couple of times for reasons unknown to me but finally i got a card with 59.4 gb of space in Fat32, good enough for me, although loosing 4gb is kind of strange.
Everything, like CWM for example, reads perfectly but write speeds are incredibly slow. Using the A1 SD Bench app it reports a 9.32mb/s write speed. Impossible, a 37mb file I copied over took almost 3-4min to complete.
Any point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Might just have to go back to exfat
Thanks.
Edit: Slightly after this post I ran the benchmark again, write speed at 2.93, thats more believable.
Yep, I thought lowering the boosted 2048 read ahead setting that most ROM tweakers on various threads would show a significant increase.
After all many are not using such high speed SD cards in their phones or tablets.
I gathered phone settings are being generally used on all android devices, so I proved it for myself.
Originally I used Civato's custom builds using his settings and tools.
I had used a Sandisk Extreme 32GB standard SD card and familiarized the speeds I was getting with my setups.
After dealing with too many lacking functions, I moved back to stock, and realized once properly setup there was not much difference in speeds.
So I moved on to a 633x SD card and started tweaking with cache... I disclosed in previous thread about 633x being the way to go with tablets, that I used a utility to change my read ahead cache from 2048 down to 256. That would just double the stock setting, and found a significant increase in SD speeds. This all contradicted what is being pushed by the tweakers in the community.
Now that I removed the utility to change the stock read ahead cache, I am running the default 128. Believe it or not... I have a 20% speed increase from the tweaked setting! This was taking a complete full backup of apps and data, over 3 GB worth and at least 1GB of data and apps that are on SD that is part of the backup itself. I went 25 minutes down to 20 minutes. Proving that the read ahead cache is made for slower SD card performance and my argument about testing speeds being affected by the Android system... being not all Androids are the same.
Now to find some utility to disable read ahead cache... and do another test.