Lack of free RAM really ruins the SGS

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I know this has been beat to death but I recently started using a Samsung Fascinate coming from a Droid X. I love the phone but I absolutely hate the lack of available free RAM on this so called 512mb phone. Here is a comparison between my Droid X and Fascinate:



Fascinate running PWGB, Droid X running stock Motorola GB with some debloating. Notice how much memory is free on the Droid X even though both phones only have 512mb of RAM. I have the same apps installed and running on them.

I was just on a business trip and got so frustrated with the lack of memory. A few times my keyboard has been closed by the OS, resulting in me going back up with the Samsung keyboard. Even more often the music player gets terminated while I'm listening to it if I am doing memory intensive things like using the web browser. Every time I use Gallery, LaucherPro gets terminated and I have to wait for it to relaunch....

It's a shame really because the phone is so sleek, sexy and that beautiful screen.

Zram......

Look up Linux kernel memory management. It caches ram so that it can be utilized and accessed faster.

Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App

The SGS here only has 296mb of RAM available to apps compared to 405mb on the Droid X.

Even /proc/meminfo only shows about 355mb on the SGS compared with 475mb on the Droid X which is pretty much the same difference as is available to apps.

Caching won't help when you have a lot of services running as those need to stay in memory to run.

What is ZRAM? And does the stock kernel support it? I was using stock because none of the custom ones I tried supported Dock Audio and had other bugs.

On the fascinate Facebook is taking up 34 MB only 7 on dx

Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda premium

I'm running jt' s vanilla Gb 8 right now and free memory never goes below.. 100

Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

I have never owned real android device (put it on my old touch pro 2) and I just thought the low available ram was just something you had to deal with. I've installed quite a few roms on my phone and they all seem to be pretty similar. However, now using awesome sauce rom, I'm using 223/347 megs. However, that's with this really lightweight launcher that comes with it. If anyone has any solutions to this problem, I would love to hear!

Try AutoKiller Memory Optimizer, read up on it and you will find its not your normal task killer. I've been using it for a long time and I love it.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda premium

It is a known fact that our phone has a very hard time managing its memory. But, lucky for us, there is a solution.

Not sure if I can define zram but from what I understand it is noticeably better. Also, try messing around with your vm heap via the vm heap tool from the market (have to be rooted) I've found that keeping mine above 47, as suggested by another user, tends to keep things in check and running smooth. I'm currently running mine at 80 with Autokiller Memory Optimizer set on optimum and have had amazing results. What setup are you running right now? I know its says PWGB but what kernel, what I/o scheduler, governor, etc...

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...t=zram&page=41

That link will take you to Comradsven's TKSGB Kernel forum. I would suggest reading all the way through, if possible, from page 40 where the link will take you to the end of the zram, akmo, vm heap, etc... discussion.

As far as I know, and anyone feel free to correct me on this, zram is a feature enabled in custom kernels. I have yet to mess with it but I'm sure I will sooner rather than later. So it would not be compatible with stock kernels. Either way, to get the most out of your fascinate you should pop a new kernel in there. Lagfix will greatly increase the capabilities of you phone and in some cases will allow you to control your voltages, I/O schedulers, Governors, and even Color/Gamma tweaks for your screen.

I have personally had the most luck with the kernel I linked above. I'm using the Bleedingedge version of it as I like having more manual controls over the colors, gamma, and rgb multipliers our phones beautiful super amoled screen has to offer. I currently have it OC'd at 200-1200 mhz (States: 1200 at -50 mv, 1000 at -50, 800 at -75, 400 at -75, 200 at -75) with CFQ and Smartass v2, a vm heap size of 80, AKMO set to optimum (as well as all the fun advanced tweaks, depending on what settings your kernel is on. Havn't had good luck with the network tweaks in those though), and I ran the Adrenaline Shot XIX speed tweaks script. My phones flies at this point and I have had no hot reboots or locking up. I should also note that I am running TSM Resurrection 1.2 as it seems to agree with my phone nicely. For some reason didn't have much luck with Pool Party, though I loved that rom to death.

I also had an amazing experience with Imoseyons Lean kernel but I opted out as I wanted more of the manual control of things. Amazing kernel but very very low in extras.

Bottom line is this:
Our phones are very capable devices, they just need tweaking. Each handset is unique and will react differently to different roms, kernels and tweaks. Try and experiment with some rom/kernel combos and see what works out for you.

It really depends on your usage I guess. My phone has been on for a few days and it's at 175MB used with 136MB free. I do have a number of apps installed and open