Help RAM Usage?!?!

[skibum1983]

Why out of the box does my fascinate currently with absolutely NO programs running use 290/325 of my RAM? This does not seem right to me!

 

[nitsuj17]

The way android processes memory is different than a computer. The system will keep program/processes running for multi-tasking and battery purposes, ie its quicker to start a program thats running in the backround and less battery life to continue it than start it.

That being said Android phones start a lot of crap on boot that you probably wont use and some programs trigger the start of others in the backround. Unless you drop to say under 50mb of available memory you wont slow down or get force closes.

Really the best way, imo, to get around your memory tied up is to root and freeze a lot of apps you have no intention of using (not google apps though, on the sf this will affect market downloads) like vz crapware. Also using autokiller when rooted helps clear backround apps in a way that better enhances androids own memory management.

For example my phone will usually have 160-180 mb free when using auto killer on moderate

Also, its my understanding that android 2.1 kernel cannot utilize more than 256mb of memory anyway. 2.2 Kernel which is .32 and above can so froyo should help with that anyway. The fascinate dedicates a good portion, like 180 mb of memory, to video memory which is why the phone is so good at gaming.

Hope this helped in some way assuage your frustration.

 

[jamesnmandy]

if you want more free memory, take it out of the device and lay it on your desk, there....it's free...

but seriously, thats my response to people who complain that Windows 7 is using 1.5Gb's of memory sitting idle......when asked if the computer runs ok? they say yes its fast! what they dont understand is that it is OK to use memory, thats what its there for, and free memory does nothing, literally

 

[skibum1983]

I dont disagree with you at all, jsut was very surprised to see it is using that much off the bat. My main concern is once i get new apps (and additional processes) running I dont want to run out!!!!

 

[ckochinsky125]

apps that you download take minimal space even with a ton of apps and when you download them it goes to the 2gb internal memory not the ram anyway

 

[skibum1983]

Correct but it takes the RAM To run the apps if they are syncing, running, updating etc. Random Access is never where stuff is stored, only the Mem used by the app's processing. THAT is what I dont want to run out of!

 

[zero_one]

Correct but it takes the RAM To run the apps if they are syncing, running, updating etc. Random Access is never where stuff is stored, only the Mem used by the app's processing. THAT is what I dont want to run out of!

That's the beauty of android. The OS automatically uses RAM based on what YOU'RE using, and closes or runs partial memory towards what you're not directly using.

 

[skibum1983]

That's the beauty of android. The OS automatically uses RAM based on what YOU'RE using, and closes or runs partial memory towards what you're not directly using.

Thats the answer I was looking for! Thanks 01

 

[Moonfire]

A nice video explanation was posted from Google itself:
(Go to about the 2:00 mark to see where it starts.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL6gSd4ugSI

 

[saps]

Great stuff guys. Yeah Its 128mb for the gpu. But as others have said we kinda want all or almost all the ram to be used. Once something is in the active application status it flies open and is available on demand. Much faster than waiting for it to open. Its true you wanna keep a bit of memory free and available so you can open a new program/app but you dont need 100mb free and honestly to dont want that much free. Its true that de-bloating helps because what you dont want is stuff you dont use taking up memory. But normally I have 4-5 apps open and running in the background just so I can have immediate access to them

 

[larry0071]

I've never worried about the ram on the Android system, now when I was on Windows Mobile I was a mad ram chasing fool and with the mem leaks it had, you had no choice. I run this Android OS for days with no shut down and get no lock ups or anything. I have looked at the ram and saw that most is used, but that never seems to change no matter how much flipping through apps I do or videos I stream on Vcast or games I played recently. The phone also never reacts adversely from the low amount of "free" ram. The point of this OS is that it does not require free ram because as you request resources from the device, the OS will reallocate resources as required on the fly. So long as your device is humming right along, try to break the Windows Mobile habbit of being a ram clearing junky. It is unhealthy to worry about such things that make absolutely no difference!

 

[OfTheDamned]

Reading this thread gives me a warm fuzzy. You guys have no idea how often I had to fight with people over this concept in he past.

Knowledge is a beautiful thing and you guys present it very well.

 

[saps]

Reading this thread gives me a warm fuzzy. You guys have no idea how often I had to fight with people over this concept in he past.

Knowledge is a beautiful thing and you guys present it very well.

You're a beautiful thing OTD
Yeah it seems the whole ATK phenomenon is finally dying down and the truth is spreading well. Its kinda like the iphone 4 in that regard