Database Develop

[Q] Change graphics memory size

As I previously read, out of the 512 MB of our O2X's, some 128-140 MB are reserved for the Tegra chip-set, and the rest of 380 MB are available to Android and applications.
With Froyo, there were usually 180-200 MB of memory free after booting/killing all apps, and like 90-130 MB free after normal usage. I'm not sure, but if I remember correctly, in the running apps screen, the sum of the used/available memory summed up to about the previous stated 380 MB.
After applying the GB update, after booting/killing all apps there are only 140 MB free and about 60 MB after some usage. If I go to Manage Apps -> Running apps, the sum of the used and available memory is around 310-320.
My question is: why is there less memory available in GB? Has LG increased the graphics memory from 128 MB to 192 MB? If yes, is it possible to change this allocation? Or is there a ROM that uses less graphics memory?
Maybe GB reports available memory differently, but it's definitely noticeable that there's less RAM available. If switching from browser to another app, with Froyo the page loaded was kept in memory, however with GB the page always has to be reloaded even if the switch lasted like 20-30 seconds.
Edit: I'd like to use less graphics memory and have more RAM so my apps run faster.

No the Vram is the same. The phone still has 380 mb ram to use for the OS and apps. Also free ram is wasted ram since apps are not cached so they will not launch faster.

taxas said:
No the Vram is the same. The phone still has 380 mb ram to use for the OS and apps. Also free ram is wasted ram since apps are not cached in for they will launch faster.
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And therefore taskplanners are also not needed ;-)

KillerbeeNL said:
And therefore taskplanners are also not needed ;-)
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Not completely true. Android kills automatically unneeded processes, that's true, but sometimes it happens that an app remains in background and uses the 100% of the CPU, so i use the task killers to terminate it.

Try Super charger, very efficient and not as resources consuming than apps. Search the dedicated thread.
And I don't think there is a way to free graphical memory. I don't think it's software driven but physical...
The only thing that had been made is to free the reserved memory for OTA LG service, that leaves you some more memory, but only available in some roms.

Striatum_bdr said:
Try Super charger, very efficient and not as resources consuming than apps. Search the dedicated thread.
And I don't think there is a way to free graphical memory. I don't think it's software driven but physical...
The only thing that had been made is to free the reserved memory for OTA LG service, that leaves you some more memory, but only available in some roms.
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Its possible to give the GPU less memory, different defs have done it (i.e benee). But as far as i know most of them removed that tweak since it was causing alot of bugs.
And yes, free ram are most likely wasted ram.
Sent from my Optimus 2X using Tapatalk

If ya want to change vram look at this: https://raw.github.com/gist/1170959/73e5f41b1ad8b3bb65c8bd22d422a4fd877204a3/CarveoutMemory
It contains a little info about the things you need to change. Some skills required though

kiljacken said:
If ya want to change vram look at this: https://raw.github.com/gist/1170959/73e5f41b1ad8b3bb65c8bd22d422a4fd877204a3/CarveoutMemory
It contains a little info about the things you need to change. Some skills required though
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Hi kiljacken !
I remember that you've made some times ago a kernel with 64mb more of ram...
Also for the stock rom...
butI can't find it anymore...
Any help?

Thanks for the replies guys!
It seems like if possible, it's very complicated to change the video memory allocation, so I'll leave it like that.

hey all!
i have question like that! im working on electronic factory and have no problems with solder out and in BGA chips even the smallest ones! now the question! if i will solder out the ram chip and solder back in 1GB ram chip of the same tipe and company(i have acces to all the part available on the market)?

oleg1981 said:
hey all!
i have question like that! im working on electronic factory and have no problems with solder out and in BGA chips even the smallest ones! now the question! if i will solder out the ram chip and solder back in 1GB ram chip of the same tipe and company(i have acces to all the part available on the market)?
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How small is the solder required? Would be amazing if we could upgrade.
Sent from my LG-P990 using Tapatalk

oleg1981 said:
hey all!
i have question like that! im working on electronic factory and have no problems with solder out and in BGA chips even the smallest ones! now the question! if i will solder out the ram chip and solder back in 1GB ram chip of the same tipe and company(i have acces to all the part available on the market)?
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Click to collapse
I'm very unsure. I am sure though, that both kernel and boot image changes would be needed to run with the added memory

i think it's impposible to change the graphic memory size, maybe RAM hack? if you want to free RAM just use supercharger, i already used that and my free ram about 117-130 MB

It's completely possible, it's something that's controlled by the kernel.

Such kernels already were in the spring which reduced video memory by 64 Mb

Rusty! said:
It's completely possible, it's something that's controlled by the kernel.
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so if I'm understanding correct if i will solder in new memory chip all i will need is to find how to change the ram value from 372 to 872?

oleg1981 said:
so if I'm understanding correct if i will solder in new memory chip all i will need is to find how to change the ram value from 372 to 872?
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I suppose if LG's programmers were careful enough not to hard-code any values, the phone should detect the memory like a computer detects new RAM. However ROMs which target multiple devices with different RAM, like CM, shouldn't have such issues...

I would LOVE 1GB ram! What would such ram cost?

Guys, RAM amounts are hardcoded into the kernel, so a custom kernel would be needed to use the ram. IF it's even possible to use such amounts of RAM. There migth be limitations in the bootloader, which will cause problems, but kernel changes should be enough. If you try it on your device I would be glad to provide a kernel that supports that amount of RAM, but I don't think it's doable. AFAIK the RAM is tightly packed in the device with many other components. It might even be built into the SoC making it impossible to change. But IDK, feel free to try what you want, but remember it's your device that gets destroyed if something goes wrong.

Do it OP!
Sent from my Optimus 2X using Tapatalk

How RAM are allocated in Droid 3

I know there are 512MB RAM in Droid 3, in addition to 16G internal storage. However, I don't know what go to the RAM. Are the bloatware going to take part of it, or they are simply stored in the 16G internal storage? What about the OS?
Hope I can get some insights on this. Thanks.

i dont understand. your post sounds as if you think programs are installed on the RAM. they arent. RAM is random access memory, programs arent stored on here, they use RAM to run commands. The 16gb is what your programs will be installed to

Not all 512MB will show as total memory its around 370-380 I think that is because the graphics use some of the RAM. Some bloatware will preload into the RAM as well as some of your apps. But when RAM is needed for the program you are currently running lower priority apps preloaded will close. So even if you see bloatware running in the background it cannot take away RAM when you need it.
The 16GB is flash memory for installing programs, etc. Android is not like older versions of Windows Mobile where apps were installed directly to the RAM so the 16GB of memory and the 512MB of RAM are for two totally different tasks.

Thank you.
After I posted the question, I did some research on google. Basically your replies are pretty in line with what other say. The 512MB RAM is used when running program, and OS too. Motorola says there is a 1.5 secured storage space in the phone. I guess that is where the app are stored physically. When being run, the app will be loaded into RAM.
Yes, the sum of used RAM and free is less than 512MB. I guess the difference goes to the OS and graphics. That's what I learn after posting the question. If there is anything you think might help understand these terms, please share.
Thanks for all the feedbacks.

newshook said:
Thank you.
After I posted the question, I did some research on google. Basically your replies are pretty in line with what other say. The 512MB RAM is used when running program, and OS too. Motorola says there is a 1.5 secured storage space in the phone. I guess that is where the app are stored physically. When being run, the app will be loaded into RAM.
Yes, the sum of used RAM and free is less than 512MB. I guess the difference goes to the OS and graphics. That's what I learn after posting the question. If there is anything you think might help understand these terms, please share.
Thanks for all the feedbacks.
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The ram is memory, the internal storage (both the 16gig and the secured partition/the 1.5 gig) are hard drives

[Q] is there really 2 gb of memory in this phone?

Hi,
I'm a bit surprised that if I add free memory and used memory from the Settings app the total is about 1.7 gb. Ain't we supposed to get 2gb? I hope sony didn't do the hdd trick (see wikipedia page on Kibibyte, I cannot post link as a junior member) and even so 2000000/1048576 = 1.907 ... where's my ram?

Under CPU-Z that show : 1.732Mb.

Your OS doesn't need RAM to function right?

Dsteppa said:
Your OS doesn't need RAM to function right?
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yes it does but I thought it will be included in the "used memory"... if the OS takes 300 mb that's ok but why I only got 900 mb free when I kill all apps? I used to have a nexus 4 and with the same amount of memory on chip there was a *LOT* more available in the settings menu.

Geolm said:
yes it does but I thought it will be included in the "used memory"... if the OS takes 300 mb that's ok but why I only got 900 mb free when I kill all apps? I used to have a nexus 4 and with the same amount of memory on chip there was a *LOT* more available in the settings menu.
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That 900MB figure is about the same I normally have free. Various apps and services take up about 800MB on my phone, which seems excessive but I've turned off all background stuff that I can (some Google and Xperia services just won't go away, however). The only good news is that Android will free up memory if it's needed so that 900MB is not a finite figure (at least that's what I assume).

Hmm. I generally have no more than about 300 mb free memory at any given moment. Even just a few minutes after reboot. No weird apps or excessive widgets. Do you guys really have 900 mb free? You can check your memory on the fly using Cool Tool from Google Play.

The Z3C has 2GB of RAM, don't worry. What you are missing is used by shared graphics memory. BTW: This is exactly the reason why the Z3 has 3GB of memory (instead of 2GB) for its screen resolution is full HD opposed to "only" HD on the Z3C.
Anyhow, is it really necessary to start another thread on the same topic if there already is one?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/ram-2gb-1-69gb-t2941487

sxtester said:
The Z3C has 2GB of RAM, don't worry. What you are missing is used by shared graphics memory. BTW: This is exactly the reason why the Z3 has 3GB of memory (instead of 2GB) for its screen resolution is full HD opposed to "only" HD on the Z3C.
Anyhow, is it really necessary to start another thread on the same topic if there already is one?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/ram-2gb-1-69gb-t2941487
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I have never had any doubts about the two gigs. But how much free memory do you have on your Z3C after a reboot and after a few hours of typical usage? My other phones with this much ram have generally had a lot more memory available at any given moment. Not that *free* memory is of any particular use in android, but I'm still curious to see whether your Z3C's are the same.

Fruktsallad said:
I have never had any doubts about the two gigs. But how much free memory do you have on your Z3C after a reboot and after a few hours of typical usage? My other phones with this much ram have generally had a lot more memory available at any given moment. Not that *free* memory is of any particular use in android, but I'm still curious to see whether your Z3C's are the same.
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When I boot up the phone and immediatly check it shows some 800MB of free memory. About 500 to 600MB after a couple of days, fluctuating though. However, don't think these numbers have any meaning for Android keeps as much in memory as possible in order to increase responsiveness. It also depends on the Apps installed and the bloat disabled/blocked. Further, comparing it to other phones you had earlier might also be misleading since the version of Android could be a different one, hence comparing apples to apples would just not be possible.

RAMDISK possible??

Our Oneplus 3T comes with a whopping 6GB of RAM. And for an average person the average RAM usage is about 3GB, leaving 3-2GB of RAM free. My idea/question is to the developers, that is it possible to treat RAM as a disk? That is can we treat part of it to store apps that are stored in the internal storage? The advantage is that we will get blazing fast performance because the apps will be in RAM itself(and average speed of RAM in GBps as compared to that of UFS which is in MBps). I know 3T is already fast, but it will be an amazing feature.

In theory it's possible, but it will likely never be done because of the huge disadvantage that anything on it would be lost upon rebooting. Also, disk caching already happens and I/O isn't always the bottleneck, so the performance gains wouldn't even be as great as you're thinking.

RAM management

My only criticism with the N8 is RAM management. I moved from the Xperia XZ with 3GB of RAM and purposefully went for a device with 6GB because of reloads. Yet my N8 reloads the sites and apps in question every bit as much. I read that he N8 had much better RAM management with Nougat, is this so?*

My N950F 128 GB model almost never reloads, it only reloads when I execute device maintainance, which clears ram and all cached non essential stuff

I'm on Nougat and mine reloads after opening just two other apps briefly, or one app when using it extensively. Having 6 GB of RAM has had no improvement in this regard over the phones I've had with 2 gb of RAM.
I wish we could dedicate a certain amount of RAM to a few of our most used apps.

I never understood how the phone could use nearly 3.5 gigs of ram for background processes.

It would appear that there is no benefit when using a phone with 6GB versus a phone with 3 or 4GB. What a shame. A massive waste of multitasking possibilities.

You guys do realize free ram is wasted ram on android....
Since android 5.0 Ram management has gotten so much better..So what if you only have say 1 gb free Thats a good thing you are utilizing what you got...Nothing beats a good reboot once every couple days clear it out.Ram managers are a waste of battery...

https://www.androidcentral.com/ram-what-it-how-its-used-and-why-you-shouldnt-care
Good article on RAM and what's stored and used in it.

TheMadScientist said:
You guys do realize free ram is wasted ram on android....
Since android 5.0 Ram management has gotten so much better..So what if you only have say 1 gb free Thats a good thing you are utilizing what you got...Nothing beats a good reboot once every couple days clear it out.Ram managers are a waste of battery...
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That doesn't explain why my 6GB N8 reloads just as badly as my 3GB Xperia XZ. It holds hardly anything in memory before reloading/refreshing. I love the phone but specifically got it for the RAM which in my experience is kinda for show. It doesn't improve anything.

Well, I agree with you being so upset about YOUR particular note 8 behaving as a 3 gb ram device or worse, but my device reloads only sometimes, not all the time, I usually have some 800-1000 mb of free ram, in device maintainance I have some 60 apps unmonitored and 194 to always sleeping untill I run them

Use eternal process lock.. Its an xposed module.. It will lock the app and it will not be killed.

winol said:
Well, I agree with you being so upset about YOUR particular note 8 behaving as a 3 gb ram device or worse, but my device reloads only sometimes, not all the time, I usually have some 800-1000 mb of free ram, in device maintainance I have some 60 apps unmonitored and 194 to always sleeping untill I run them
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It doesn't reload all the time, it just reloads the same apps with the same frequency that my Xperia XZ did. It must be down to Android ram management rather than the amount of RAM itself.