Well, okay, nothing really about space aliens and robots, but you're here reading, aren't you?
Lots of discussion about pro/con of the EXT4 filesystem, risks to data integrity without journaling (analogous to a transaction log for a database), the disappearance of the reboot option on Bonsai (and maybe other ROMs) because of this, blah blah blah this, blah blah that, and on and on and on.
There is another solution. You can still have the performance of EXT4, without journaling. With much lower risk to your data in case of the battery leaping out of the phone on a whim. And good ol' reboot can make a comeback too!
The nirvana is a linux command called 'sync'. Crusty old unix hacks like me will get a twinkle in their eye at the mention of this command.
sync does somesthing very straightforward and simple: It syncs the filesystems. Put another way, it flushes the in-ram buffers out to "disk", syncronizing the actual state of the filesytem with what is stored -- and stale -- in secondary storage (hard discs on the big boys, NVRAM/SD/whatever on phones).
I've been experimenting with this to see if I can improve data integrity while minimally impacting performance. Here's what I've done:
Using GScript Lite, created a simple Superuser script for rebooting that looks like,
sync
sync
sync
/sbin/reboot #Bonsai ROM
Why 3 syncs? Paranoid. Nothing more.
Optionally create a shortcut on the homescreen to invoke this script to easy one-button reboot. I did this a week ago, have been using this to reboot Bonsai 4.0.0 a gazillion (actually, a bazillion, but I'm rounding) times, and have had absolutely no problems at all. Seems to work.
Created a shell script that launches at boot, as superuser, that runs in an infinite loop waking up every 10 seconds to do a sync. No detectable impact on performance that I can see. This is what I'd expect, as there is never more than 10 seconds of filesystem activity sitting "dirty" in the cache, so the sync doesn't usually have much to do (most of the time, nothing).
What does all this mean? Well, it's sort of a "lazy" journaling, and much more efficient. There's still a higher risk of data corruption under uncontrolled loss of power than with journaling, but in my considered opinion its negligible with the usage model/patterns for this particular situation (a smartphone).
FWIW, before I implemented this method for reboot, I like others got FCs on apps randomly after using the 3-finger reboot, simply running reboot directly from a shell prompt, or back on Bonsai 3, using the power-button menu reboot command. With this sync approach, I have not had a single problem -- and I can reboot the phone again easily!
What this means for you
If you're enough of a hack to understand how to implement this stuff yourself, give it a shot (at your own risk!), and let us know how it works out.
For the rest of you, be patient... I'm putting together a package to make it simple to install all this (initially just for the Bonsai ROM, others to follow, maybe), and should have something to test in a day or two. If you're interested in being a tester, PM me. Looking for 10 people.
I'm interested in this as I have been wondering about no_journaling for some time. I think it would help to prove or disprove the theory that no_journaling is causing data corruption. PM sent.
This is very interesting. I'll be watching this - depending on the results, it may be a good option for future versions of SRF.
I think a mod should move this thread over into the Development forum, please?
This sounds interesting. So will this "lazy" journaling put the same or less wear on the nand chip vs journaling being enabled?
If it has the same or similar wear factor as no journaling, as well as no impact on performance. Then this mod is a no brainer IMO.
Does sync only cause a write operation for data that has changed, or simply rewrite the entire buffer to disk each time? I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
It's better than nothing, but it still doesn't address battery pulls or phone freezes. It just provides a more graceful shutdown IF you do a clean shutdown.
dwallersv said:
Using GScript Lite, created a simple Superuser script for rebooting that looks like,
sync
sync
sync
/sbin/reboot #Bonsai ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this on my phone and so far, so good. I am using ACS Frozen Rom 1.1.0 with Twilight 1.1.0. When I downloaded the GScript lite, there was already a script for reboot, I just edited it to add the sync lines. I assume that the #Bonsai ROM is a comment and not needed, so that was omitted. I have rebooted about 10 times (I know...many, many less than a Gazillion) and have not had any issues.
Thank you!
epic4GEE said:
This sounds interesting. So will this "lazy" journaling put the same or less wear on the nand chip vs journaling being enabled?
If it has the same or similar wear factor as no journaling, as well as no impact on performance. Then this mod is a no brainer IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In terms of the precise impact on storage, it is indistinguishable from not doing it at all. All this does if change the timing of the writes -- you control it, rather than waiting for the OS to decide to flush the filesystem buffers.
In the case of a reboot, this makes a ginormous difference, because anything in cache that hasn't been flushed is lost if the system doesn't sync before quitting back into the bootloader.
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk
styles420 said:
Does sync only cause a write operation for data that has changed, or simply rewrite the entire buffer to disk each time? I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
only dirty blocks.
sync should not cause anything to be written that wouldn't be eventually written anyway, when the kernel decides it is either idle enough to perform the deferred task, or cache "fullness" requires it to make room for newer data by flushing older stuff that hadn't been written yet.
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk
poit said:
It's better than nothing, but it still doesn't address battery pulls or phone freezes. It just provides a more graceful shutdown IF you do a clean shutdown.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True on the reboot mod.
On the monitor, though, it can make a big difference in the case of catastrophe. The FS cache is never more than 10 seconds out of sync with the underlying NV secondary storage. Depending on the usage model, this may be enough to reduce risk significantly.
The interval, of course, is configurable. The monitor could sync every second, reducing risk further. Given the speed of the processor in the 4G, and the low overhead hitting sync when there's nothing to flush, the overhead at a one sec interval may be trivial.
I haven't progressed far enough with this nascent idea to have characterized such questions. It's on the work order, though.
Also, my rough experimentation with this is all via shell scripting, which has a lot of unnecessary overhead. Coding this into an Android service, calling the linux sync(2) system call directly will be much more efficient.
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk
hotwired34 said:
I assume that the #Bonsai ROM is a comment and not needed, so that was omitted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, just a comment... across different ROMs I've found that devs mess around with the location, and linking, of the reboot command.
I have rebooted about 10 times (I know...many, many less than a Gazillion) and have not had any issues.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
let us know when you get to a gazillion... our at least to a bazillion.
Oh, and anything with aliens or robots that comes up as well
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk
Hello all,
Following XDA for years, but wasn't posting that much. My apologize for that, trying to give my contributions now
So, to start, hereunder, a sum up of my recent tests over last German ICS rom, Stock XXLRG.
======================
This is the second version of this post, taking in account various comments so far.
Firtsly, this is aimed to share my feelings about my own experience. Hope this could help anyone in anything. Nothing more
Accordingly to Roy_W, I provide which I will call my "test phase" description at the end of post, as simple infos for you to better make your opinion according to your own use. It is not about precise calculations & results, but about comparing the same things.
Hope this helps.
======================
Tests
1. Stock LRG + Stock Kernel, No root
2. Stock LRG + Stock Kernel + Root + remove some samsung apps.
3. Stock LRG + Speedmod 3-7 + remove some samsung apps
4. Stock LRG + CF-Root LRG + remove some samsung apps.
Impressions
1. In my opinion, do not use this setup. Rom feels very laggy, many little freeze here and there but the must annoying is the battery drain and heat while wifi download.
I think this is due to screen ON + heavy download (1GB+, games like Max Payne or Nova)
Pen is not well reponsive also.
Note : Except in test 3, there should be no difference with pen responsiveness between 1,2 and 3. but that was the case to me. Dunno why ^^
2. Starting to feel better, due to the removal of some Samsung apps (Rooting should not have this kind of effect .
Complete list of removed applications at the end of this post.
The phone is more responsive, lesser lags, but other things from test 1 (battery drain, pen responsiveness) remains the same.
3. Very good setup.
Lags are mostly gone, and Pen responsiveness is far better.
Don't know if Speedmod have done some special work for that, or is just due to his overall tweaks. I think it is also related to Samsung S-Suite updates. (look at test 4)
Good battery, feels like it could be better but mostly due to Samsung Roms than kernel. With normal use (sms, few calls, internet, XDA app , new review, some always active sync like Weather, Gmail, Talk, ...), you can easily achieve 2 days (48h) before running out of juice.
Also lesser memory consumption in idle (maybe related to samsung apps that were removed)
But, bluetooth was not working and since it is a must have for me, I needed to go to test 4.
4. Currently in test. Don't have my bluetooth headset with me, so this test will be updated tonight or tomorrow for feedback about battery, bluetooth and other.
So far, overall responsiveness of the phone is ok, but not as good as with Speedmod.
Maybe a placebo ( ), but I always felt that Chainfire's kernel is behaving a little better than stock one even if the only difference is root rights.
Also lesser memory consumption in idle (maybe related to samsung apps that were removed)
Samsung Removed Apps
Always doing this since my GS. It always make the system smoother to me. Can't tell about battery save.
- All Hubs (Reader, Music, ...)
- All apps related to hubs. (Zinio, Press reader, kobo...are examples of ones eating too much storage space).
- the big one : Samsung social Hub (2 apks)
- All stock live wallpaper (storage space eater)
I did not removed the Kies apps, since there were never launched, do not bother me and was having some weird warnings about missing apks while trying.
I advised to keep All Share (which is functionnal and useful for cross hardware connection) and Samsung Apps (but deactivate sync from app settings)
Go also for setting, and deactivate Wifi sync for system updates (About Phone -> System updates).
I did not test NOTECore kernel which has good feedback (3.1 version) because of the bluetooth not working.
Test Phase
Mostly due to my work, I have quitely the same daily use.
- Kernel were flashed the morning, at full charge, with cache/dalvik cache wipe.
- Only 3G, no Wifi/GPS/Blutooth. Auto Brightness, no added/removed apps (except for tests cases above).
- Betterbattery stats, stock battery monitor and Go power master for battery monitoring
- Facebook sync off (for battery save)
- Gmail sync on
- Google+ sync & Instant Upload off (for battery save)
- Weather sync every 4 hours
- Samsung apps sync off (for battery save)
- 1h call
- Gtalk & Whatsapp always connected
- No Flash installed (feels like I should mention this)
- No kills or memory clean
- Fixed wallpaper (for battery save) & lesser lags for screens transitions and opened drawer using NOVA.
What I take into account while making my opinion about battery :
- screen on time versus battery lost for the same period of time. Having used different 720p androphones, I have my own appreciation of that.
For 2000mah full charged batteries in my use with full stock, 2-3h screen on time is really bad, 3-5h should be considered as a good average, 6h+ is a dream.
GNote has a 2500 maH battery, so I have my expectation and maybe that's why I feel bad battery bahaviour when it won't hurt you at all.
- if apps were differently used by me according to their respective impact on battery
- if the basic services of Android are stable towards battery (custom kernels often reduce that )
- any wake locks
- if battery seems not affected by side-effects like mentionned above, then wait for one week of use before stating.
What I take into account while making my opinion about smoothness:
It is about shutters between screens transition, apps transition, feeling about time for the usual apps to be launched, multitasking...nothing more that a simple user feelings
Bests
thanks for the tests... but we prefer the wiping tests... just kidding...
thanks for the info,
which method do you use to remove these apps please ?
Haha..only wipe caches & dalvik from speedmod and CF kernel. I won't take any rosk from stock kernel
For system apps removal, jusy need root and titanium backup
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
CF-root and stock kernels are identical. No tweaks. Nada. Just root and Clockworkmod recovery.
So, how can the phone lag with stock kernel and be OK with CF-root ???
Placebo ?
Maybe related to the init scripts. For sure the main thing is the root with this kernel but wihin these tests and also for all samsung devices I had with Cf, it were always behaving better.
As I also said, should be related to samsung apps removal, especially the hubs.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Phenryth said:
Hello all,
Following XDA for years, but wasn't posting that much. My apologize for that, trying to give my contributions now
So, to start, hereunder, a sum up of my recent tests over last German ICS rom, Stock XXLRG.
Hope this helps some of you.
Tests
1. Stock LRG + Stock Kernel, No root
2. Stock LRG + Stock Kernel + Root + remove some samsung apps.
3. Stock LRG + Speedmod 3-7 + remove some samsung apps
4. Stock LRG + CF-Root LRG + remove some samsung apps.
Impressions
1. In my opinion, do not use this setup. Rom feels very laggy, many little freeze here and there but the must annoying is the battery drain and heat while wifi download.
I think this is due to screen ON + heavy download (1GB+, gamers like Max Payne or Nova)
Pen is not well reponsive also.
2. Starting to feel better, due to the removal of some Samsung apps.
Complete list of removed applications at the end of this post.
The phone is more responsive, lesser lags, but other things from test 1 (battery drain, pen responsiveness) remains the same.
3. Very good setup.
Lags are mostly gone, and Pen responsiveness is far better.
Don't know if Speedmod have done some special work for that, or is just due to his overall tweaks. I think it is also related to Samsung S-Suite updates. (look at test 4)
Good battery, feels like it could be better but mostly due to Samsung Roms than kernel. With normal use (sms, few calls, internet, XDA app , new review, some always active sync like FB, Weather, Gmail, Talk, ...), you can easily achieve 2 days (48h) before running out of juice.
Also lesser memory consumption in idle (also related to samsung apps that were removed)
But, bluetooth was not working and since it is a must have for me, I needed to go to test 4.
4. Currently in test. Don't have my bluetooth headset with me, so this test will be updated tonight or tomorrow for feedback about battery, bluetooth and other.
So far, overall responsiveness of the phone is ok, but not as good as with Speedmod.
Should be related to various tweaks, and ChainFire always aimed to provide his kernels, with Root and few tweaks.
I had GS, GS2, and CF kernels were always really nice for those looking to a Rom not too far from Stock, but with some performance tweaks and root.
Also lesser memory consumption in idle (also related to samsung apps that were removed)
BUT, having some troubles with NOVA with this setup. Several freezes, and needs to restart the launcher.
I think it is related to root access which needs to be set again coming from Speedmod to CF. Will keep you informed.
Samsung Removed Apps
Always doing this since my GS. It always make the system fly
- All Hubs (Reader, Music, ...)
- All apps related to hubs. (Zinio, Press reader, kobo...are examples of ones eating too much storage space).
- the big one : Samsung social Hub (2 apks)
- All stock live wallpaper (storage space eater)
I did not removed the Kies apps, since there were never launched, do not bother me and was having some weird warnings about missing apks while trying.
I advised to keep All Share (which is functionnal and useful for cross hardware connection) and Samsung Apps (but deactivate sync from app settings)
Go also for setting, and deactivate Wifi sync for system updates (About Phone -> System updates).
I did not test NOTECore kernel which has good feedback (3.1 version) because of the bluetooth not working.
Hope this helps.
Bests
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got to be honest I disagree with a lot thats written here.
Point 1 :- Why shouldn´t we use this set up??You might have or had problems but a lot of other users don`t,me being one of them.I have had NO laggs,my battery doesn´t heat up that much with WiFi,nothing freezes and the battery life is 100% top,all what you did in Point 3 with usage I get in Point 1 plus a few hours more.
Point 2 :- Once again I disagree,I´ve had no problems what so ever,only rooted for a few extra apps and removed NONE of the Samsung apps,still fast and smooth.Battery life still top,even upto 3 day usage depending on what I´m doing.
Point 3 and 4.....can´t say anything about these points because I won´t go this far,why should I ,everything is super fast,no laggs,a lot less battery drain:good: no need for any mods.(bluetooth also works )
Maybe I´m one of the lucky ones with a good Note :laugh:but this report won`t help me,maybe a few with problems.
Hi I think you don't agree wih my report cause of different perceptions between you and I.
Battery perf is linked to what is acceptable or not for both of us and also from various comparison through many flashes since GB.
And for sure, Linked to the type of use we both have.
It is the same for smoothness. I must say I am very sensible to lags and freezes even milliseconds one For instance, I am so maniac with it that I can detect a lag in a movie while no one noticed around me.
Plus, you can tell about many things to explain mobile OS perf and I will not accept this since I can not accept that a phone running a spec near to a PC ones, suffers such perf issues.
The best example is the smoothness experienced with my nexus with Jellybean against ICS. It is day and night.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Thanks OP for the comparison :victory:
Good initiative from OP for the comparison. Each person use the Note in a different way and will have different results surely from OP. But the main point of this thread was to give us a basic idea on the different setups OP has used. Thanks!
Thanx for making thread with detail study, thogh i can not be agree with many of statements.
Here something i like to say
- There is nothing much difference between test 1 & 2 except you have Root and removed some applications.
So does it mean
*Rooting can improve performance - I dont think so
*Removing application just making space on system ROM, so does making room on system ROM, can increase performance? I dont think so
many application you have removed may not be activated on start, naturally that doesn't have any relation with performance, b'coz it just occupy space not RAM
Now some application which may have enabled on boot, even that gives you temporary extra RAM, As android itself have LMK(low memory killer) which auto kills background applications which is not in used - LRU(least recently used), and when there is enough RAM available, even you exit from applications it remains in background for quike reopening, that is basic android mechanism. So if your aim to remove some application to make available more RAM, it won't be fulfilled, b'coz that application will be replaced by recently used application by users till android system dont sense as RAM is full. (you ca test it - when you have many applications removed, sure you will have much free RAM on boot, but if you look again after 15 min of play with device, it will be again full, same as who dont have remove blotwares, so wat benefits we got by removing those?)
Yes atleast i can say applications which was running in background for some time can consume little juice, but if you believe me, my experience is it can save maximum 3-4%(of full cycle) nothing more than that. But performance? I dont have any logic to believe it.
-I can't comment on test 3, as i have never used any custom kernel, and leaving your opinion untouched.
-Again between 2 and 4
yes you have also not tested much, but somewat if your opinion goes in favor of 4 (as you said in 1&2 responce is not good but in test 4 you saying it is OK) then if i am not wrong chainfire himself said, his kernel is complete stock (minus mmc_erase_cap command +root+su binary+CWM)
so in that case your opinion may not be placebo?
Anyway dear don't feel bad. appreciate your workout, but some points which i said dont favor me to agree completely.
Regards
I think my note must have been XXLRG when I got it but after trying to do some rooting things and bricking it, then finally loading XXLR1 (ICS) It is working great with no lag or freezing what so ever. Also have scored up to 4050 on Quadrant!
Da mOnKeY said:
Got to be honest I disagree with a lot thats written here.
Point 1 :- Why shouldn´t we use this set up??You might have or had problems but a lot of other users don`t,me being one of them.I have had NO laggs,my battery doesn´t heat up that much with WiFi,nothing freezes and the battery life is 100% top,all what you did in Point 3 with usage I get in Point 1 plus a few hours more.
Point 2 :- Once again I disagree,I´ve had no problems what so ever,only rooted for a few extra apps and removed NONE of the Samsung apps,still fast and smooth.Battery life still top,even upto 3 day usage depending on what I´m doing.
Point 3 and 4.....can´t say anything about these points because I won´t go this far,why should I ,everything is super fast,no laggs,a lot less battery drain:good: no need for any mods.(bluetooth also works )
Maybe I´m one of the lucky ones with a good Note :laugh:but this report won`t help me,maybe a few with problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree with this post. I didn't recognize any of the problems stated in the 1st option. I am currently running stock everything after having tried several different combinations of ROMS/Kernels.
There is also a lot of missing information in relation to what exact tests were performed and how they were measured : Whats apps were running at the time, were Wifi / GPS / Power Saving active, what was the state of the battery, how was "lag" measured, what brightness setting was used, Was a good 3g station nearby or was the telephone continually searching for a stronger signal, etc etc etc , The list could go on eternally.
As for anything batttery related, I do not understand how tests can be performed that have not been run over a relatively long period.
There are far too many parameters and options possible, that it would appear that the tests are merely personal interpretation.
I appreciate that you have taken the time and effort to do the testing but I am not convinced that the results can be treated as anything other than one persons thoughts at a given time.
I think that you can only perform these kind of tests when they are performed "identically" on a device that is reset from scratch and that the tests performed are measurable with precise calculation rather than the human eye/sentiment.
It is an almost impossible achievement outside of a qualified environment with a very strict set of controls.
Can the results be reproduced, is there any possibility that the results could change, would a third party be able to reproduce the same results ?
Unless of course detailed results and calculations are actually available, in which case it would be very interesting to be able read them.
Hi Dr. Ketan. Again, thanks for your guide, test 1 & 2 was done following it
Do not worry, I won't feel bad about your feedback, as for the previous one.
For sure, I think you and Chainfire knows that type of things better than me (no needs to tell why ^^), just reporting here my feelings over my tests.
*Rooting can improve performance - I dont think so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think the same.
*Removing application just making space on system ROM, so does making room on system ROM, can increase performance? I dont think so
many application you have removed may not be activated on start, naturally that doesn't have any relation with performance, b'coz it just occupy space not RAM
Now some application which may have enabled on boot, even that gives you temporary extra RAM, As android itself have LMK(low memory killer) which auto kills background applications which is not in used - LRU(least recently used), and when there is enough RAM available, even you exit from applications it remains in background for quike reopening, that is basic android mechanism. So if your aim to remove some application to make available more RAM, it won't be fulfilled, b'coz that application will be replaced by recently used application by users till android system dont sense as RAM is full.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Removing samsung apps does not affect that much battery, but smoothness. I certainly wrongly express myself.
Maybe CF kernel has nothing to do with it since I was always flashing this and removing the hubs (especially the social one) together.
But fore sure, since my galaxy S, even on the S2, and now on the NOTE, doing this does increase system smoothness.
I do not know that much about Android memory system managment, but the first time I've done this was because I was sick about seeing these services running in background, even without ever launching them once and it does consume memory.
Yes atleast i can say applications which was running in background for some time can consume little juice, but if you believe me, my experience is it can save maximum 3-4%(of full cycle) nothing more than that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you without any problems
You know the deal, 1% here and there...at the end, it saves some battery.
I will update my post, but I can now say that Speedmod provides better battery than Stock/CF, looking at my battery stats for today.
Roy_W said:
I have to agree with this post. I didn't recognize any of the problems stated in the 1st option. I am currently running stock everything after having tried several different combinations of ROMS/Kernels.
There is also a lot of missing information in relation to what exact tests were performed and how they were measured : Whats apps were running at the time, were Wifi / GPS / Power Saving active, what was the state of the battery, how was "lag" measured, what brightness setting was used, Was a good 3g station nearby or was the telephone continually searching for a stronger signal, etc etc etc , The list could go on eternally.
As for anything batttery related, I do not understand how tests can be performed that have not been run over a relatively long period.
There are far too many parameters and options possible, that it would appear that the tests are merely personal interpretation.
I appreciate that you have taken the time and effort to do the testing but I am not convinced that the results can be treated as anything other than one persons thoughts at a given time.
I think that you can only perform these kind of tests when they are performed "identically" on a device that is reset from scratch and that the tests performed are measurable with precise calculation rather than the human eye/sentiment.
It is an almost impossible achievement outside of a qualified environment with a very strict set of controls.
Can the results be reproduced, is there any possibility that the results could change, would a third party be able to reproduce the same results ?
Unless of course detailed results and calculations are actually available, in which case it would be very interesting to be able read them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many good hints in your posts.
For sure, I've made my tests with some knwoledge about that, and trying to be in the same scenario each time.
I will update my post towards the parameters activated and other you stated.
Thanx
yes custom kernel may have improvement, b'coz that is made for that purpose, and we know developer adds some tweaks to improve performance. though i have not tested it, i can be agree on that point. but i have not make review just b'coz i have not used.
Regards.
Phenryth said:
Many good hints in your posts.
For sure, I've made my tests with some knwoledge about that, and trying to be in the same scenario each time.
I will update my post towards the parameters activated and other you stated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phenryth,
I look forward to your results, the basic idea of what you are doing has the potential of becoming a very interesting article.
These are tests without any statistical significance.
So in the end your heart or gut decided.
Everyone has there own view on how their phone should perform. If you are happy with it then there is no need to change it. If not then this guide provides some tips on how to improve it.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
To me for the first time ever since the ICS was introduced the 1- setup is absolutely the best I have tried, and I did try all four of them including removing Samsung bloatware.
The touch response is super sensitive, the pen works not just perfect but it also marks when in a diagonal position something never happened before, my one and only complain is the same one since seven months: the lag which comes when opening the Contacts application for the first time ,which is absolute outrageous other than that I am satisfied.
Honestly I'm clueless about sdcard speed.
I used to have 17-22mb write speed which I think is ok.
When I had about 2gb space left it went down to 5-10mb. I removed some files and speed went back to normal for quite long time. Now I have 5gb (32gb version) left and speed is 5-6mb. I'm like WTF!
Speed test is very irradic. It writes 15mb/s for a few seconds and then stops for some seconds and then speeds up. Average then gets really slow.
What tool/apps can I use to see if some process locks up write or what could be wrong?
All ideas appreciated. Can sdcard get fragmented like harddrives?
I'm stock rom 4.2.2 rooted.
Also tried ktoonez kernel but same result for sdcard speed.
Skickat från min Nexus 10 via Tapatalk 2
And the solution was lagfix on Google Play. Well known problem on Nexus 7. Apparently present on Nexus 10 too. Strange noone else seem to have this problem on their Nexus 10.
Skickat från min Nexus 10 via Tapatalk 2
All solid state storage bogs down after a time, it is similar to "fragmentation" on hard drives but in a different fashion. solid state storage is made up of cell's that store an electrical charge. SLC chips are either on or off and store 1 bit per cell. MLC flash chips have 4 levels, which gives the capability of storing 2 bits of information per cell. So double the storage in the same space. The problem is how the MLC memory is handled, you can just write a new value to a cell like you can with SLC type. When the memory cell is empty then yes it can be written to directly, but when it contains data the system must first read the data in a cell and store it in memory, then do an erase cycle on the cell, then write the new data to the cell that is a combination of the old data and new data. A lot more steps on MLC type. As memory cells get full you have to do these extra steps a lot more often because there are no empty cells left. This causes a large slowdown in write speed. What lagfix does is called "TRIM", it sends a command to try and consolidate the data in the cells so that all the half filled cells get brought together to a smaller amount of full cells. Then it uses all the newly empty cells (which are not truly empty yet) and does an erase cycle on all of them to remove the voltage charge. This creates more completely empty cells on the storage which allows for the system to do writes much faster since it doesnt have to do 2 extra steps each time until the cells all get dirty again.
In addition to this problem, many solid state controllers have problems when they get too full, jut as hard drives do when you fill them up completely. The chipset cant handle what it is trying to do with shifting around data very well so this creates a large slowdown as well when the storage is almost full. Not all chipsets have this problem, but most do.
Most chipsets have "garbage collection" routines in the background that when the system is idle for long enough will automatically do this TRIM stuff for you to get speed back up. But if you have no idle time then the system cant do this optimization and you run into more slowdowns.
TRIM isn't specific to MLC flash, actually; SLC has to be erased too. Initially all the bits are 1, and data is written by selectively changing individual bits to 0. Changing them back to 1 can only be done by erasing the whole block.
Technically, TRIM doesn't actually command the flash device to erase anything, it just informs the device that certain parts of its data are no longer needed. Typically the device will respond by erasing blocks in that area, but the specifics can vary from device to device.
Hehe this got really technical (which is interesting) but in the end I'm just happy it worked. Most curious why this isn't fixed either in kernel or rom. Because I honestly thought my internal memory was damaged and thought I needed a replacement. Shouldn't this really bad slowdown occur to everyone after a while?
(really love autocorrection sometime. Sdcard managed to be seward)
Skickat från min Nexus 10 via Tapatalk 2
Yes the slowdown does happen to everyone. Theoretically the problem should clear itself up from garbage collection built into the chipset. This lagfix app is really for those who want it fixed right away and not done over idle time in the background.
I don't think it fixes itself on my Nexus 10. Been slow speed and laggy as hell for days. And it should have been idle a lot during this time.
Skickat från min Nexus 10 via Tapatalk 2
I use CM12.1 on both my N7 2012 and N6 and it's incredibly slow on the N7. Clearing the cache does nothing, trim does nothing, F2FS /cache and /data does nothing and even the stock 5.1.1 image is slow.
I've read everything under the sun about poor NAND, not enough RAM, poor CPU, etc but none of them really make that much sense. I have hardly anything running EVER and I only have a few apps installed for opening documents an such. No Facebook or Email clients or anything that would be running in the background. The built in RAM manager tells me that I usually have over 50% of my RAM free and with such a small number of things running, my CPU usage is low, so I fail to see where the issue lies. I guess the NAND, but I also read articles about how that's kind of a load of bull as someone tested old 2012 N7s that had been heavily used and slow, as well as new ones and the R/W speeds were the same.
The main thing that bothers me about it is the fact that when I do a clean install of the 5.1.1 factory image or even CM12.1, it will be snappy for all of 10 minutes and then suddenly it becomes annoyingly slow. It's by no means unusable, but compared to my Nexus 6 every action feel like it takes 2-3 times a long. Even doing my pattern unlock feels sluggish.
I went back to KitKat tonight and it seems to run much better, but there are some things I've gotten so used to with Lollipop and Holo looks plain ugly now that I'd really rather not use KK. Does ANYBODY know of something I can do to speed it up even a little bit. This almost seems like a kernel related issue to me, seeing as how the N7 has been running off of an old kernel for most of it's life. It makes me wonder if there are some kernel-level things that might be done to help.
admiralspeedy said:
I use CM12.1 on both my N7 2012 and N6 and it's incredibly slow on the N7. Clearing the cache does nothing, trim does nothing, F2FS /cache and /data does nothing and even the stock 5.1.1 image is slow.
I've read everything under the sun about poor NAND, not enough RAM, poor CPU, etc but none of them really make that much sense. I have hardly anything running EVER and I only have a few apps installed for opening documents an such. No Facebook or Email clients or anything that would be running in the background. The built in RAM manager tells me that I usually have over 50% of my RAM free and with such a small number of things running, my CPU usage is low, so I fail to see where the issue lies. I guess the NAND, but I also read articles about how that's kind of a load of bull as someone tested old 2012 N7s that had been heavily used and slow, as well as new ones and the R/W speeds were the same.
The main thing that bothers me about it is the fact that when I do a clean install of the 5.1.1 factory image or even CM12.1, it will be snappy for all of 10 minutes and then suddenly it becomes annoyingly slow. It's by no means unusable, but compared to my Nexus 6 every action feel like it takes 2-3 times a long. Even doing my pattern unlock feels sluggish.
I went back to KitKat tonight and it seems to run much better, but there are some things I've gotten so used to with Lollipop and Holo looks plain ugly now that I'd really rather not use KK. Does ANYBODY know of something I can do to speed it up even a little bit. This almost seems like a kernel related issue to me, seeing as how the N7 has been running off of an old kernel for most of it's life. It makes me wonder if there are some kernel-level things that might be done to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn off journaling, use trimmer and try Minimal OS
XenonHD and BSZAospLP run fairly well on my N7. I've got the 32GB model, which purportedly has less memory slowdown issues than the original 16GB model, fwiw.
If your flash memory has bad blocks in it, that will slow down your device whenever it tries to read/write data. A full format of the /system /data and /cache partitions may help. I can't remember if there is a way to mark off bad sectors from being used. You'll have to research that. You may have to do a special kind of format to remove bad blocks from use.
Sent from my Nexus 7
GtrCraft said:
Turn off journaling, use trimmer and try Minimal OS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, disabling journaling did nothing and trimmer does nothing.
Dirty Unicorns with /data and /cache formatted to f2fs works perfectly with my n7 2012. I'd highly recommend it.
I assume you went from a full flash of the latest stock images, flashed latest twrp recovery, formatted f2fs for cache and data, flashed latest stable CM snapshot, and optionally installed the relevant open gapps as linked to on CM's wiki site?
Have you tried running this setup with no additional apps installed? Chrome isn't much better under this CM 12.1 installation than stock 5.1.1 for me, but everything else seems to run about as good as stock 4.4.4. One thing I do is reboot my 2012 N7 every time I put it on the charger
Chroma works fine on my N7.
admiralspeedy said:
Well, disabling journaling did nothing and trimmer does nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you clearly did something wrong. Try with a custom rom like Minimal OS, Chroma or Ressurection. And with M kernel
What could I have done wrong? I flashed the file to disable journaling and I've always used trimmer... Disabling journaling literally did nothing.
im right there with you OP, my nexus 7 is ****. Doenst matter what rom, or what format (ext4 or f2fs). I slows to a crawl in a few mins of use, more often than not, takes forever to wake, and then will sometimes just go black before i can unlock, freezes constantly and requires reboots. I hate this piece of ****.
I've added
ro.config.low_ram=true
to the build.prop and I am running the Trimmer app once a day. There is still some lag from time to time, but at least it's useable.