Help Memory issues, post root, pre-wipe.

[Diversebydesign]

Hi guys.

As a couple of you might remember I just rooted my Strat a few days ago. I have made my nandroid backup as well - so I am planning on conducting a full system wipe soon.

My plan is to wipe the phone and then install either the stock ROM or the one that I saw available the other day. I can't remember the name of it right off hand, but when I was looking for root info I saw there was a custom ROM/OS and it had decent reviews. I just need to do a bit more research before I move forward using that. My other option is just to stick with the stock one.

Here is my other issue and the main reason I am posting this thread. I am having some memory issues. Too much of it being used to be exact. My concern is that even after I do the ROM flash I will eventually have the same memory issues - so what I need is a good way to manage it.

I know there are various apps to handle this, but I need some good solid advice on which is best. I have been using the memory management portions of a couple apps but for some reason as soon as I clear/delete something from memory as soon as I refresh or reload the running processes whatever I deleted is back again! What's the deal?

So what can you guys recommend? I know that some of these will be gone because I will delete the bloat-ware. But what is the best app for this? And what app will insure that when I delete them they stay deleted and out of memory?


Thanks in advance!!

 

[Diversebydesign]

Here is another issue or question... I have been doing some reading about all of this stuff and I did get a bunch figured out as a result. It is funny how backwards some of the guides are. You almost have to read between the lines or add your own assumptions inbetween paragraphs to figure them out. I guess writing IS a skill. lol.

Anyway.. I am preparing to remove much of my bloatware and freeing up my memory which has become a big issue of late as referenced by my previous post. But I have seen many people make mention of the fact that when you remove some apps and if they are apps that were installed "out of the box" there is a good chance that they will return upon the first reboot or "factory reset". I really hope this is not true, but I can see that happening. So if it IS the case, how can we truly delete or remove these files/apps?

What I would prefer to do is to remove these files from the ROM and then re-flash the ROM to the phone. Or maybe find a ROM that already has the bloat removed. Of course, this is not possible since there are no reliable and stable ROMS for the Strat.

While I have you all, let me bend your ear a little more... I know,.. I am multi-tasking in this thread..

So... I want to make sure I am getting all this understood properly before moving too far forward. I rooted my phone. So essentially all that I did to this point is to:

1. Replace the stock Kernel with a modified Kernel
2. Added a couple files that give me SuperUser access on the phone
3. Flashed a custom Recovery ROM (CWM) to the Recovery Partition
4. Used the new options in the custom Recover ROM to create a full backup of my device (nandroid).

To this point.. that is all that I did and if I understand the process I followed from the available guides on this site and the Rootzwiki site, then the above steps and description is my understanding of that process and it is correct.



So now I am on the lookout for a custom ROM for the OS partition of the device and once a solid/stable/reliable/clean and bloatfree ROM is available I can flash it (along with many other Strat owners).



See.. I knew I would get it in a few days. Now if I can figure out how to mingle all of this into my site I would be happy. I considered doing that providing I can think of a way to seemlesly do that.Should that occur I will let you guys know.



I look forward to a couple replies to this thread. I could really use a couple of you guys who really know what your talking about and have much more experience with this to post a reply or two and let me know what you think.


Thanks in advance. I know I can count on you guys!!


ssjTiamat
DiverseByDesign

 

[Scur]

Try freezing the bloatware instead of removing it. You can do it for free using AntTek App Manager or with the paid version of Titanium Backup. I haven't had any bloatware return on my Strat.
As far as memory goes, Android keeps it's memory filled to a certain point with running processes. "Unused memory is a waste" is the motto of Android methinks. To improve things give the V-6 SuperCharger a try.
I would give your posts better answers but I'm off to work, good luck!

 

[Diversebydesign]

Hey thanks Scur!

I will definitely try those apps. But as for the freezing of problem app and memory suckers, wont i have to keep doing that after every reboot? And what if it is an app that i use every so often, if i freeze it to keep its process out of memory (because who needs a games process running in the background) and then play the game, will i have to go back and refreeze the process after im done? Just seems like a lot of unnecessary work...

 

[Scur]

Hey thanks Scur!

I will definitely try those apps. But as for the freezing of problem app and memory suckers, wont i have to keep doing that after every reboot? And what if it is an app that i use every so often, if i freeze it to keep its process out of memory (because who needs a games process running in the background) and then play the game, will i have to go back and refreeze the process after im done? Just seems like a lot of unnecessary work...

Once you freeze an app, it's forzen until you go into your app manager and unfreeze it. It won't run at all and it won't show up in your app drawer. It may as well be uninstalled for all practical purposes, except it isn't actually removed so there's far less worry about losing something you didn't know you needed. Plus, if you freeze instead of delete, you can simply unfreeze your stuff when an OTA comes around (since missing bloatware will queer an update).

If you have an app that you wish to use, then don't freeze it. If it's something that really bothers you, then yes, freeze and unfreeze at your leisure, but I only freeze bloatware I'll never use and just let the rest run as they wish. If you're using an app that is a memory hog for no good reason, then get rid of it. Pretty much any app that does what you want it to do has alternatives.

If you really want to see what's doing what with your memory, grab an app that keeps track of apps, memory, resources, etc. and look at things over a timeline. I use SystemPanel myself, but there are lots of options on this front.

Just remember, this isn't like a PC. Your memory will always be full of stuff that's running. That's why people complain about app killers. They don't understand that Android will keep trying to use excess memory instead of just letting tons of it sit there without doing anything with it.

 

[Diversebydesign]

Thanks Scur, that all makes a lot of sense.

Let me ask you this. I downloaded a game called "NFL Pro 2012 HD" a while back. Now I have only played the game a couple times and in all likelyhood I will probably delete it. But I think it serves as a good example for this discussion.

I noticed the other day that it was running a process in the background. Now I cannot think of any reason for this except to maybe check for updates. Could that be something that would require a constant process to be running? Cause if that's the case then I will check "Do that manually" for all my app installs.

That is actually the app that started my big campaign against memory hogs. I understand that free memory is best used, I get that. But I also don't think that I should be running at almost 98% full (i'm not btw) because I don't think any device either PC or Phone run well at that capacity. I just want things that suck up memory to be things that both make sense and that I can look at and say, "yea.. I gave it permission and I know why it is running." You know what I mean?

I will try SystemPanel and look at the various others available.

Hey.. quick question off the subject. Your "big list of App Markets"... are they all good or are there a couple that I should maybe stay away from or are a waste of time?

Thanks.

 

[Scur]

As far as the app markets go, I was just making as comprehensive of a list as I could. Myself, I stick to Android Market, Amazon Appmarket, Soc.io, Slide.me, and GetJar. Those I feel comfortable with. I didn't rate any of the sites and only excluded the ones I knew were blackmarket or seemed shady. At least half of them are just little sites and markets trying to get a foot in the app market door, so unless I hear they're pulling underhanded/dishonest stuff, I'll keep them in. I run through my lists every month or so, so they should be halfass up to date.

And you're right about running at full memory capacity. Just because it tries to run like that doesn't mean it runs best like that. The phone does run better with more memory opened up, it can just be a bit tricky to actually get it to do so. The V-6 Supercharger and apps like Advanced Memory Manager can help, though. And running something like A2SD can actually add virtual memory space, though I haven't felt the need to try it on the Strat and see if it works.

You can get a good clue about running apps that don't seem like they should be running by checking out the permissions. Look at the permissions for NFL Pro 2012...

• YOUR ACCOUNTS
  • USE THE AUTHENTICATION CREDENTIALS OF AN ACCOUNT
  • Allows an application to request authentication tokens.
• SERVICES THAT COST YOU MONEY
  • SEND SMS MESSAGES
  • Allows application to send SMS messages. Malicious applications may cost you money by sending messages without your confirmation.
• NETWORK COMMUNICATION
  • FULL INTERNET ACCESS
  • Allows an application to create network sockets.
• PHONE CALLS
  • READ PHONE STATE AND IDENTITY
  • Allows the application to access the phone features of the device. An application with this permission can determine the phone number and serial number of this phone, whether a call is active, the number that call is connected to and the like.
• STORAGE
  • MODIFY/DELETE USB STORAGE CONTENTS MODIFY/DELETE SD CARD CONTENTS
  • Allows an application to write to the USB storage. Allows an application to write to the SD card.
• SYSTEM TOOLS
  • RETRIEVE RUNNING APPLICATIONS
  • Allows application to retrieve information about currently and recently running tasks. May allow malicious applications to discover private information about other applications.
  • PREVENT DEVICE FROM SLEEPING
  • Allows an application to prevent the device from going to sleep.
  • CHANGE WI-FI STATE
  • Allows an application to connect to and disconnect from Wi-Fi access points, and to make changes to configured Wi-Fi networks.
  • CHANGE NETWORK CONNECTIVITY
  • Allows an application to change the state of network connectivity.

Ugh, that's more than a few. This is one of the things I look at before downloading an app. When I see that many, odds are it's going to be running quite a bit in the background. I'm not really comfortable with that many permissions, anyway. If I really gotta have an app, though, I gotta have it.

 

[Scur]

By the by, alostpacket did an incredible job of explaining permissions in this awesome post.

 

[Diversebydesign]

Hey Scur, thanks a ton for all the time taken for that post and for making and updating the lists. Like i mentioned in another thread i plan on adding a Android/Strat page(s) to my site. In doing so i will most likely include some of the info in your postings. If you dont mind that is.

Other than that, after im done getting my son and i a haircut i will be wiping/flashing my phone when i get back home. Time to add the deodexed/zipaligned ROM and clean up some trash, i want a clean and fresh start. So i will be paying close attention to all of that and will check that post out. I will update this thread as to how it all turns out.

Thanks again!

 

[Scur]

Hey Scur, thanks a ton for all the time taken for that post and for making and updating the lists. Like i mentioned in another thread i plan on adding a Android/Strat page(s) to my site. In doing so i will most likely include some of the info in your postings. If you dont mind that is.

Other than that, after im done getting my son and i a haircut i will be wiping/flashing my phone when i get back home. Time to add the deodexed/zipaligned ROM and clean up some trash, i want a clean and fresh start. So i will be paying close attention to all of that and will check that post out. I will update this thread as to how it all turns out.

Thanks again!

Sure, I'm not a snob about stuff. Pick and choose whatever you want to repost. As long as others get info and help they want and need, it's all good.

 

[Diversebydesign]

Well, I read up on the V-6 Supercharger from the link you provided (Scur). Thanks. It seems like a solid app (prolly can't call it an app), are you using it? And if not, why? If it is such a "smokin" memory boost, I would think anyone who could run it would.

I will give it a try after a bit more research. Ill let ya know how it turns out.

 

[Scur]

Well, I read up on the V-6 Supercharger from the link you provided (Scur). Thanks. It seems like a solid app (prolly can't call it an app), are you using it? And if not, why? If it is such a "smokin" memory boost, I would think anyone who could run it would.

I will give it a try after a bit more research. Ill let ya know how it turns out.

Tons of people do run it. If you look through the xda forums long enough, you'll notice that folks kind of assume that most everyone on there is running it.

And no, it's not an app. It's a script. Actually, it's a script that creates another script that runs at boot and redefines the minfree values of the different Out-of-Memory groups. Here's a step-by-step we made to put it on the Ascend that explains it better.

However, I tried to put it on my Strat the other night, and ran into a problem. I believe that when it checks a certain area of memory to see if the launcher is hard-to-kill it finds that the keyboard info is in there instead, and returns an error. Haven't looked into it fully yet, but that's my best guess atm. The error throws the whole V-6 running script out of whack, and it won't continue. When I get around to it I may just edit the V-6 script to skip the step and see if that works for a workaround, though the option to make the launcher hard-to-kill would have to be edited out so nothing gets messed up. Just a guess so far, though, I may be missing the mark altogether, gonna take some actual looking into.
So right now I'm running Advanced Memory Manager, which does make a bit of a difference, though not that noticable.

 

[p_025]

I (think) I got the script to run with no problems on my Strat. But I haven't noticed much difference... Maybe I'll disable Autokiller on boot this time.

 

[Diversebydesign]

That sounds good. I'm gonna have to read up on it and see exactly what it is before I give it a shot. There are a lot of different memory "areas" and parts of the OS that I am still not that familiar with. Following some instructions to root the phone and actually understanding the various parts of the code and what they do/why they exist is another thing all together. I'll get it, just gonna take some reading. This whole setup is a bit different for me. I understand how Linux works and that helps, but there is much more to this then just that. I do appreciate all the help you guys have offered however. Scur you have been a great help with all the posts and replies to my questions. Thanks.

I'll report back soon. I have noticed too however that over the last couple days or so my memory consumption has not changed really, yet the phone is acting very laggy. Any quick ideas?

 

[Scur]

That sounds good. I'm gonna have to read up on it and see exactly what it is before I give it a shot. There are a lot of different memory "areas" and parts of the OS that I am still not that familiar with. Following some instructions to root the phone and actually understanding the various parts of the code and what they do/why they exist is another thing all together. I'll get it, just gonna take some reading. This whole setup is a bit different for me. I understand how Linux works and that helps, but there is much more to this then just that. I do appreciate all the help you guys have offered however. Scur you have been a great help with all the posts and replies to my questions. Thanks.

I'll report back soon. I have noticed too however that over the last couple days or so my memory consumption has not changed really, yet the phone is acting very laggy. Any quick ideas?

A decent cache cleaner is my first suggestion, followed by keeping track of your applications' processor usage.
The browsers and markets have a history of having especially large caches, and since their caches reside in memory, well, larger caches = less memory. While caches do help applications run quicker, in the end I'm of the opinion that I'd rather have an app spend an extra couple seconds to run than fill my memory up. The cleaner I use these days is 1Tap Cleaner.
And I keep an app running that monitors and tracks app and system resource usage data. I keep an eye on it to make sure there are no rogue apps. (I probably try out 5-10 new apps a week, so...) For this, I've used SystemPanel App since I've gotten my phone, though I'm going exploring this weekend for alternatives, mostly out of curiosity. I keep an app killer on my phone, but only use it when an app goes funky, I never use it as a quick "speed up my phone" button. In the end, I've found it forces the phone to work harder by restarting apps it's killed that are going to run anyway.

 

[Diversebydesign]

Scur, thanks again.

That is the one thing that I have been doing since day one is checking the cache. That is a common computer thing (computers I'm great with). So I do utilize a couple cache clearing methods. Actually, as I was looking through them to mention them here I realized that they are all more for just checking memory and looking at system stats. I have been using the standard System Settings to "clear memory" which I think just kills running background apps. I have also been using "App 2 SD Free" to move things to the external memory. The task manager, Titanium Backup, Memory Booster (which I have found is not to useful as of yet). I also have "Spare Parts" and "Dev Tools" which I like because of the amount of info they provide. I cannot remember where but I think they both came as part of another app download maybe???

Like I said, I have a lot to sorta "catch up" on. But the posts that you make (and made in the past), not to mention your replies to me have been very helpful. So I wanna thank you! I am going to try the apps you mentioned as well as to look for a couple more. I am still in the process of reading through the info on the V-6 Supercharger along with the link you provided for when you put it on the "Ascend" device. So.. mucho reading to do

I'll be back.