[REF] Simple way to increase free RAM in Dexter's Froyo

Hi all,

I believe many are having problems with low free RAM in Dexter's Froyo. The reason why available RAM is always low in XT720 Froyo is that the low memory killer level limit has been lowered. Here's the comparison of low memory levels between 2.1 and 2.2 (didn't check 2.2.1 though as I am on Dexter's 1.1 release):-

2.1
Foreground App: 12 MB
Visible App: 18 MB
Secondary server: 36 MB
Hidden App: 42 MB
Content provider: 48 MB
Empty App: 48 MB

2.2
Foreground App: 6 MB
Visible App: 8 MB
Secondary server: 16 MB
Hidden App: 20 MB
Content provider: 32 MB
Empty App: 32 MB

The difference shows that at 2.2 empty apps will only be killed at 32MB and hidden apps at 20MB compared to the original 2.1 where empty apps will be killed at 48MB and Hidden Apps at 42MB. So in order to gain back the same amount of free RAM as 2.1 we can modify the low memory killer levels to:-

Foreground App: 6 MB
Visible App: 8 MB
Secondary server: 16 MB
Hidden App: 42 MB
Content provider: 48 MB
Empty App: 48 MB

This should bring back the same amount of free RAM in 2.1. However, this also means that the backend apps would be killed off easier compared to the original settings in 2.2. Free RAM only comes handy if you need to run memory intensive apps/games. For day to day usage the default setting is probably better because more apps can be kept in the memory (faster switching) so change at your own risk.

To change the low memory killer level, I used a free app called "MinFreeManager" from App market.

Do feedback your experience so that we know the overall experience when low memory killer level is changed. If the overall experience is good, we can probably get Dexter to change the default low memory killer level in his ROM.

Cheers.

R-D said:

These appear to be set in the init.mapphone_umts.rc in ramdisk.tar

It contains the following settings with a note that these are 4k blocks, so the first line for example would be: 1536*4096=6291456 bytes or ~6MB as reported in the app you are using.

Code:

    setprop ro.FOREGROUND_APP_MEM 1536
    setprop ro.VISIBLE_APP_MEM 2048
    setprop ro.SECONDARY_SERVER_MEM 4096
    setprop ro.BACKUP_APP_MEM 4096
    setprop ro.HOME_APP_MEM 4096
    setprop ro.HIDDEN_APP_MEM 5120
    setprop ro.CONTENT_PROVIDER_MEM 8192
    setprop ro.EMPTY_APP_MEM 8192

And just below that:

Code:

    write /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/minfree 1536,2048,4096,5120,8192,8192

If you want to make permanent change without 3rd party app, you can play with settings here it seems.

I cant see an app being allowed to take up 48MB of background RAM ...

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

thanks for the info. I am still testing the phone so I am not making the value permanent yet. will do so if I find the settings good. as I mentioned in the first post, the stock settings is probably fine so I may just keep the stock settting. the only advantage I see setting the killer level higher is that it kills off many unwanted background apps for me saving me a bit of battery juice. but that also means that multitasking apps get killed off earlier.

cheers.