[MOD] Seeder entropy generator to provide significant lag reduction - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

Hey guys,
I came across this in teh portal and am not sure if it actually works on my prime (Stock rooted OTA JB). I would love to see how it fares for the rest of you. Here is the information from the OP. All credit to OP lambgx02 and Ryuinferno.
Instructions: FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE SECOND QUOTED POST IF YOU CANNOT FLASH FILES FROM RECOVERY OR ARE ON STOCK FIRMWARE
Here is the OP:
lambgx02 said:
Hey everyone,
So, I was experiencing significant lag as we all do from time to time, and decided I was going to get to the bottom of it.
After tracing and debugging for hours, I discovered the source of 90% of Android's lag. In a word, entropy (or lack thereof).
Google's JVM, like Sun's, reads from /dev/random. For all random data. Yes, the /dev/random that uses a very limited entropy pool.
Random data is used for all kinds of stuff.. UUID generation, session keys, SSL.. when we run out of entropy, the process blocks. That manifests itself as lag. The process cannot continue until the kernel generates more high quality random data.
So, I cross-compiled rngd, and used it to feed /dev/urandom into /dev/random at 1 second intervals.
Result? I have never used an Android device this fast. :good:
It is literally five times faster in many cases. Chrome, maps, and other heavy applications load in about 1/2 a second, and map tiles populate as fast as I can scroll. Task switching is instantaneous. You know how sometimes when you hit the home button, it takes 5-10 seconds for the home screen to repopulate? Yeah. Blocking on read of /dev/random. Problem solved. But don't take my word for it .. give it a shot!
Update!
I've built a very simple Android app that bundles the binary, and starts/stops the service (on boot if selected). I'll be adding more instrumentation, but for now, give it a shot! This APK does not modify /system in any way, so should be perfectly safe.
This is my first userspace Android app, so bear with me!
Note that this APK is actually compatible with all Android versions, and all (armel) devices. It's not at all specific to the Captivate Glide.
Caveats
There is a (theoretical) security risk, in that seeding /dev/random with /dev/urandom decreases the quality of the random data. In practice, the odds of this being cryptographically exploited are far lower than the odds of someone attacking the OS itself (a much simpler challenge).
This may adversely affect battery life, since it wakes every second. It does not hold a wakelock, so it shouldn't have a big impact, but let me know if you think it's causing problems. I can add a blocking read to the code so that it only executes while the screen is on. On the other hand, many of us attribute lag to lacking CPU power. Since this hack eliminates almost all lag, there is less of a need to overclock, potentially reducing battery consumption.
If you try it, let me know how it goes.
ROM builders - feel free to integrate this into your ROMs (either the .apk / application, or just the rngd binary called from init.d)!
If anyone's interested, I've launched a paid app on the Play store for non-xda users. As I add features I'll post the new versions here as a thanks to you guys (and xda community at large for being such a great resource). But if anyone's interested in the market's auto-update feature, just thought I'd mention it.
Cheers! :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is another informational post from TODAY with installation instructions that worked for me (unlike the APK in the OP).
Ryuinferno said:
First things first I am not the OP but things need to be sorted out...Ok...this thread is starting to get more and more attention, which is good because with more people to test things out, the more feedbacks and the more improvements can be done...however, the thread is now cluttered by tons on unhelpful posts, like "how to use this", "do I need root" etc...useful posts get pushed wayyy behind, until it is hard for people who are really trying to discuss to keep track...so I am here to answer the basic questions:
Do you need root for the app?:
Yes
Can it work on xxx device?:
Yes, as long as your device is arm based
Where to download the app?:
Here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1477944&d=1352786461
Or search Play Store for a donate version...
The other 2 attachments are the rngd binary and a diff patch, which are not really required for end users...
How to check whether it is working or not?:
In terminal emulator, type
Code:
watch -n 1 cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail
You should get values around 3000++ to 4000++...
Set on boot does not work?:
It does, just that the app does not show it properly...it is a known bug...to really confirm, use the terminal emulator method above...
Do I have a risk of bricking my device?
No because the app won't modify system files at all...anything just uninstall...
For the zip, it only adds files to your system partition...does not modify any, so if you want to stop using this, you can disable it via the extended menu script...
It does not do anything/It is placebo/I see no improvements/It is awesome!/Wow!:
Well, this is not constructive or helpful...NOT AT ALL...keep in mind that this is still a WIP...research and discussions are still going on...if it is not working or you feel no change or a great improvement, please describe more and explain...which a lot of others are already doing so......keep it up!
For more answers, read this post by my pal pepoluan...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36234571&postcount=444
And for those who prefer to run this via a script and init.d, read on...
=======================================================================================================================
UPDATE: Seeder_v6 is out, I improved the detection of whether rngd is running or not (the previous method was not that accurate), and I removed unnecessary lines...previous users can just flash over...
Download and flash: http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=9390248398092764097
How to use this script?:
After flashing, launch terminal emulator and type
Code:
su
seeder
You will get a menu like this:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
NOTE: There will be NO app after flashing! This only installs the necessary binaries and scripts...
For those who cannot install via recovery:
You get a status 0 error -> replace the update-binary in Seeder_v6.zip with one from another zip that works with your device
OR
Use the new installation method!
Instructions:
1. Download Seeder_v6_non-CWM.zip from here: http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=9390248398092764098
2. Extract the zip, you will get a folder named "install"
3. Place the folder in the root of your sdcard (/sdcard)
4. Launch terminal emulator, type:
Code:
su
cd /sdcard/install
sh install.sh
5. Ignore any error messages (those are only warnings, only happens to current users)
6. You are done! The script will auto-delete the "install" folder as it is not required anymore...
Sample output:
NOTE: Please quote this post if you want to answer someone's question or share it elsewhere, so that people can get sufficient info and repeated answers do not have to be posted...thank you...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, it installs for me, but I'm unable to get the init.d stuff to install (no support for this on Asus' stock rom). When running the terminal command line to monitor it, I get total values of 3000-4000. I'm not actually sure if it made a difference in my TFP performance.
What are your guys' experience?

Running aw1.5, I don't seem to find any difference in performance whilst the app is running it seems to drain battery life regardless of the screen being off or on, causes my prime to heat up overnight, causing 20-30% drainage

There's a simpler way to get the effects of the application. Bring up a terminal, and do something like:
cd /dev
mv random random.bak
ln -s urandom random
This will have the same effect - apps trying to read from /dev/random will get data from /dev/urandom instead - but it doesn't require any extra CPU time or kernel mods or anything. It does require root, but so does the original app.
Note 1: You may have to do this again if you reboot, or else add the above commands to a startup script. I'm not sure how the /dev directory is typically managed on Android.
Note 2: This (or the Seeder app) will degrade network security somewhat. Things like SSL depend on high-quality, unpredictable random numbers. The /dev/random interface guarantees these, but can be slow. The /dev/urandom interface doesn't guarantee cryptographically secure random numbers. If you do this, it's probably best not to use your table for, say, banking transactions, shopping, or other operations where you'd be in real trouble if people were snooping on your network connections.
That said, the odds of a cryptographic hack are, so far as I can see, fairly low. In general, attacks on Android would tend to be malicious trojan apps or such. But you should be aware of the risk.
I don't know yet if this change makes a real difference. I did it on my original Droid, but haven't evaluated it for long enough to be sure of anything. My TPrime isn't rooted (yet) so I can't implement it there.

sorceror171 said:
There's a simpler way to get the effects of the application. Bring up a terminal, and do something like:
cd /dev
mv random random.bak
ln -s urandom random
This will have the same effect - apps trying to read from /dev/random will get data from /dev/urandom instead - but it doesn't require any extra CPU time or kernel mods or anything. It does require root, but so does the original app.
Note 1: You may have to do this again if you reboot, or else add the above commands to a startup script. I'm not sure how the /dev directory is typically managed on Android.
Note 2: This (or the Seeder app) will degrade network security somewhat. Things like SSL depend on high-quality, unpredictable random numbers. The /dev/random interface guarantees these, but can be slow. The /dev/urandom interface doesn't guarantee cryptographically secure random numbers. If you do this, it's probably best not to use your table for, say, banking transactions, shopping, or other operations where you'd be in real trouble if people were snooping on your network connections.
That said, the odds of a cryptographic hack are, so far as I can see, fairly low. In general, attacks on Android would tend to be malicious trojan apps or such. But you should be aware of the risk.
I don't know yet if this change makes a real difference. I did it on my original Droid, but haven't evaluated it for long enough to be sure of anything. My TPrime isn't rooted (yet) so I can't implement it there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This amazes me! A knowledgeable person who hasn't rooted their Prime?!?! Good god man!

seeknom said:
This amazes me! A knowledgeable person who hasn't rooted their Prime?!?! Good god man!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine's working well enough for me (haven't had the horrible problems others report, just occasional ANRs on the browser), and I want to retain warranty coverage just in case. Plus, I have other hack targets like a Raspberry Pi and such. Once the warranty expires, I will certainly unlock and play around with it.
---------- Post added at 12:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:34 AM ----------
Update: see the Google developer thread here: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=42265
The symlink trick may not work on versions of Android past Gingerbread, except on some specific applications (Google Maps appears to be one). Looks like the Dalvik VM on Android doesn't read from /dev/random itself; but some of its operations may end up calling get_random_bytes() in the kernel. So seeding the entropy pool would be necessary in that case, and the symlink trick doesn't do that.

I actually ended up disabling it again and I didn't notice any change in performance. Didn't seem to do anything for me.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

Can you please add another option to your poll: "DON'T KNOW/CAN'T TELL"?

I'm running it on my Prime and my Note 2 with what seems to be at least a slight increase in responsiveness. The Note 2 is dang snappy by itself, and I'm running Energy on my Prime, which is a lot smoother than stock. I would be interested to see how it works with older, laggier devices. I may boot up an old handset and see how it works on there.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app

It's working for me, my prime used to have that annoying 2-3 seconds lag when returning to Apex Launcher from apps (even with HB 1.5), but that's almost 90% gone with Seeder running. Not to mention my Gallery loads much faster

placebo.

It works on my M600 Zio quite well. On my Prime, I can't truly say. It seems a little more responsive but I've never really had lag on the Prime unless I was writing large files to the internal storage and trying to do something else at the same time (rarely ever happens anymore with clemsyn's kernel).

i prefer crossbreader. the rng they us is a bit more efficient, and it comes with a couple more mods. i havent used on my prime but i have noticed measurable improvements on my note 2 (i multi task a LOT of apps a LOT of the time). for now its only a cwm install and uninstall zip, but they plan on making an installation apk soon. another benefit of this is that it doesnt run every 5 seconds like seeder does. this one is set to 30, and still maintains entropy levels of 3700-4096, hovering mainly at the 4000 mark (at least for me and many users)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2113150

thanks, a great tool.

does it really work

enkyll said:
does it really work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
give it a try your self, no harm in trying~

Related

[REF][3/31/11] GizmoDroid Braindump or "Ideas for a Fascinating Tomorrow"

Topics Covered in this Thread So Far (or "potential areas for investigation/improvement")
USB modes confusion, CD-ROM mounting bug, and how to make it useful
Hunting for buried treasure in system apk's
EFS backups
GPS
Wifi
Stuff About CDROM/USB Device Protocols
More Stuff About CDROM/USB Device Protocols
Stuff On EFS
Stuff On Hidden Options
GPS power toggle from Drop Down Menu
EVRC-B Phone Voice Codec
Background Noise Cancellation during call
Disabling of debugging stuff and additional code checking
PNG/ogg optimization and Zipaligning
libdvm.so Optimization
Battery Service Polling
RAM management
Disk Scheduler
A more complete nandroid solution
A better voodoo implementation
About scripting
Sleep of Death
Phone.apk mods
More EFS partition info
Info about other partition backups (backing up kernel and others)
Wakelocks/Timekeeping issues and fixing it at the kernel level
Partition mounting tweaks (noatime and such), power management, vm writeback time
More VM tweaks
SD card cache tweak
Reclaiming the Preinstall partition
So I'm going to be out of town for a week or so, and I know that with hacking, that means I could come back and nothing will have changed... or I could come back and everything will have changed (source, anyone?)
EDIT: I'm back... and everyone got thunderbolts! I swear, I leave for one week...
Unfortunately, I myself am a jack-of-all-trades (king of none, sadly), so I've got about 50 different little things I've been working on researching, and won't make much progress on if I keep on trying to do them all at once, since every single project requires that I learn an entirely new set of principles that I never knew about before. Because of this, I have decided to do a brain dump. Hopefully this is welcomed. Some of it will be stuff you already know, some will be dead leads that don't apply, but I hope that there are some nuggets of goodness that will inspire someone to investigate further.
Basically, I go hunting for things that catch my eye, and mark them to investigate later. Unfortunately, later on, I can't find it, so I have to find it again. Therefore, I'll try to present the most I can re-find about a given topic. Also, my memory is very shoddy, so beware of inaccuracies. I am not stating this as a gospel truth, but as a jump off point to maybe catch your interest to go investigate something further. I welcome any discussion, but if you take an idea and make it your own, feel free to start a new thread about it.
Part I:
USB modes confusion, CD-ROM mounting bug, and how to make it useful
Samsung integrates several different USB devices into that one little plug. I count the following:
1. UMS - Mass Storage Mode (looks like a jump drive)
2. MTP - For use with media players to transfer music/videos/pics (looks like a media player)
3. CDFS - Mounts an image onto a virtual device (looks like CD-ROM drive)
4. DUN - Used for Dial-up-networking (looks like a modem)
5. COM port - Used for programming using low level tools like QPST (looks like a serial port)
6. ADB bridge - communicate over adb to the phones through a terminal
With the possibility of TV-out over usb, USB On The Go, or USB Host, then there are probably more.
There is a lot of weirdities that happen because there are different parts of the phone that activates different "modes" which are usually a combination of the above. Try rebooting into CWM and then select to mount the USB. Depending on your set up, you will probably find your SD-drive mounted to the virtual CD-ROM device. Is it the kernel or recovery that's not set to the right usb mode? I don't know.
There are so many different areas that can change the USB device, so it can be confusing to know why you are seeing a certain thing, even though you have it set as something else from the menu. Just a few examples: In the Settings, you have Debugging, which will turn on UMS, CDFS and the ADB. Depending on what Settings.apk you use, there is an accessible Dial-up networking option to enable the modem. There are dialer codes that affect the enabled devices(**usbii which accesses the PhoneUtil.apk, **debug which allows you to change the port map, and toggle DUN). There is a persistent ADB property that can be stored in "/data/property/persist.service.adb.enable". There are system settings that can be added to the .prop files that load on boot, or set by "setprop somepropertyhere" using a terminal or script.
Have you ever plugged in your phone and gotten an autorun prompt that says something about verizon? On the stock roms, there is an ISO that is stored at "/system/etc/verizon_i500.iso". It contains the samsung usb drivers and a couple other things. When it works properly, this would let you install everything you need to get your phone connected to a new computer, without going through the hassle of finding the files. This is especially helpful if you only have internet access through your phone and cannot obtain the drivers elsewhere. All this seems to be handled by the kies service manager, which does really weird quirky things. For instance, you can manually mount the iso onto this virtual cd-rom device, but kies will unmount it after 15 seconds or so. This is why sometimes, if your sdcard gets mounted as a cd-rom, you can actually read the contents for a little while before it disappears.
Why does this matter to anyone? Well for one thing, it explains a lot of the bugs. There are so many different devices, that sometimes they get mixed up in scripts. This is especially true when porting from other software, or mixing and matching kernels and OS's and recoveries. If they aren't all in agreement, weird things will happen.
Secondly, it opens up a cool built in feature that could easily be utilized: emulated cd-rom drives! I haven't isolated the properties (but it doesn't seem too hard to figure out using the logs and such), but I have successfully mounted the memtest boot iso to the virtual CD-rom drive. Think about it: you have a 16gb sdcard in there. Throw on a live-linux iso, and if the computer was made in the last 5-10 years, it should be able to boot from it (not tested yet).
Right now, you can quickly verify this works by making a symlink from /system/etc/verizon_i500.iso to the iso on your sd card. Then, if you know how, enable the virtual cd-rom (I can't remember the exact variable but its as easy as "setprop cdfs.something enable"). There you go! Instant Virtual CD-ROM drive. You can use it to install stuff on your netbook that didn't come with one, or turn your local library PC into a hacking command center (that's a joke... don't do that).
Now obviously, this could be easily packaged up into a neat little apk that would enable the right USB mode, and then allow you to pick the ISO you want to mount. This would be the ultimate goal, not this dirty little demo. Even easier to implement would be to call it from a script, using a script shortcut program.
Part II
Hunting for buried treasure
There are a lot of things hidden in the OS. Almost all of the APK's, if decompiled, have things that are hidden. Sometimes, the full code is there, but the ability to access it has been removed. To make it visible, you may only need to add the info to the layout xml, or remove a line of smali code (look for things like "removePreference" and such).
Other times, it's just a stub of the information. The great thing is, there are so many variations of our phone, almost anything missing can be inserted again if you can find it another device's code. Sometimes, this is a huge pain, because the dependencies can be spread over multiple files, requiring quite a bit of persistence and dedication. Other times, it's as simple as copy and pasting a line, or an entire method.
The i9000, Mesmerize, Captivate and Vibrant seem to have lots of our missing goodies, but a lot of them need to have the code adjusted, and I don't know what to work on first, since some of the easy stuff is worthless, and some of the valuable stuff is impossible. Here are just a few of the screen shots I've taken (yes, I realize a lot of them are probably not portable, but just showing you how much stuff can be hidden in an APK):
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/22143517/1/Settings?h=7cc415
There are a lot of little APK's that can only be accessed by dialer codes or through a shortcut program. The useful features sometimes are very small and could either be hacked into the main Settings.apk, or called from it, or added into SpareParts.apk. There are a lot of dangerous things in there ("You want me to format your phone and your SD card?" "Nnnn-" "FORMATTIN YO SDCARD YEAAAAAY") so be careful exploring.
Which brings me to another big issue: EFS backups.
One night, before going to bed, I was poking around in a hidden menu (yep). I don't remember actually changing anything, but I lost a setting. Of course, I have no idea what the correct settings are, so I didn't know what to look for, and for 12 hours straight, my data connection would connect and disconnect every minute. I learned a lot about how poorly the os/radio/kernel/something handles the data connection, but I also learned about the EFS partition, and how this could have easily been fixed if I had a backup, and also how it could have been much, much worse.
If you wander through the i9000 forums, there are multiple warnings to backup your efs folder before messing with any settings. If you corrupt certain files, your phone will lose the ability to regenerate its EFS data, and you will lose your IMEI number. Meaning, your phone will not be activate-able. Meaning, your phone will have to be shipped to Samsung to get it fixed, so... good luck with that. If you think you are smart enough to avoid this, if I remember right, supercurio lost a device to this while trying to figure out the secret audio settings stuff.
It's simple to backup the entire partition using your favorite terminal command (I used dd to copy the efs dev/block device to the sdcard, don't know if this is the best method or not). However, it is virtually impossible to get it back once it is gone, if you don't have a backup. (There is someone charging for this service for i9000 phones).
My theory is that i9000's being used on different carriers causes lots of more people to play around with the EFS data, causing more people to corrupt it. Since the Fascinate is mostly only getting used on Verizon, then there aren't as many cases. However, one mistake in a mounting script in a recovery/kernel/os, and you're toast. Not only that, if you have a working backup and you go messing with the radio settings, then you will always have a backup that doesn't require you to activate another phone and then reactivate your's in order to get your phone working again. (All the while, watching in horror as your logcat fills with a continuous stream of data connection failures).
This is something I'd love to hear more from by someone who knows about it, and if it's as valid of a concern as it is on the i9000, then I'd really like to see more publicity about it's importance.
Part III
Is supposed to be about GPS and wifi, but dang, that is a crazy amount of stuff to write. I hope that a little bit of info, along with a link dump will be okay. And to be honest, I'm getting tired of typing now. I keep thinking of more stuff, but I haven't even fully fleshed out what I've posted so far. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some more later (and even more hopefully, there comes some good from it).
GPS
Most promising is the Captivate GPS work. This thread is a little bit old, but it contains good info. There might be newer information available as well:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881941
The i9000 GPS dev has some good posts as well, explaining it very well. Again, there might be newer information, but this is what I have bookmarked:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842694
It talks about using the "LbsTestMode.apk" for testing. I have no idea if it works for actually configuring the files (I was told it doesn't), but I am providing it here for the possible testing it can do:
LbsTestMode.apk
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22143517/Android/LbsTestMode.apk
This is just a quick (and not very entertaining) video of setting up a shortcut to access it instead of using a dialer code, then running through the menus real quick so you can see what is available.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22143517/Android/lbstestmodedemo.mp4
From a cold boot, in google maps, I can get a lock down to 2 meters in 3-5 seconds with wifi off and GPS standalone enabled when I'm outside. Inside, usually 10-20 meters at first, then drops to 5 after a few more seconds. So I don't know if it's something I've done, or if I just got lucky with a good chip, but I have a hard time testing GPS fixes because I don't have problems (but things can always be better, right?)
I highly recommend checking into the app "GPS aids" if you like the idea of assisted gps. I find that AGPS hinders my GPS performance, but after using GPS aids, it's about as good as normal. So for someone with bad standalone GPS performance, maybe it would help them out using AGPS.
Wifi
Oh boy... I don't know where to start with this. It completely ignores the system property wifi.supplicant_scan_interval. There are files spread across /system and /data that relate to wifi. The binary 'wpa_supplicant' is a source of hackery on other systems, but I don't know if anyone has attacked it on the Fascinate side of things. Want to see ad-hoc networks? This is the file that they usually hack to do that. Other devices have hacked the ability to enable infrastructure mode for wifi tethering. I don't know if this has been done yet for SF.
There are a lot of hidden wifi, wps, and tethering options in the Settings menu. Several system settings properties relating to wifi, several .conf files for the messing, wlan services for the playing, and a nice engineering mode when calling WlanTest.apk that says it's loading a different driver (I can't remember what all neat stuff is in that).
Stuff About CDROM/USB Device Protocols:
My thoughts exactly, the cdrom driver is useful, maybe more so.
The issue as to what starts when is configurable, Eclair had a hard limit of 2 usb modes at any given time, if I recall correctly Froyo supports 4 and that maybe a hard limit by the device. So what is running has to be carefully chosen, with mtp, virtcd, virtcom, ums, adb, acm, usb-otg, tvout, wired tether you hit 4 quick. This is an issue on my table but of low prority, as without a fully working kernel these amenities become mute.
I intend to make the cdrom driver configurable to select various isos from sd and switchable on command, I feel it would be more useful in that state, and I plan to give the user more control over what usb modes are selected using a sysfs setup, the defaults are in about 6 profiles that barely cover my needs without slowing me down.
Edit, More Stuff About CDROM/USB Device Protocols:
I have never tried to get all of the devices working simultaneously, but I do know that if you enable the virtual com port for EFS editing that DUN support is disabled, and that if you enable UMS(USB MassStorage)/SDcard that UMS/VirtCD is disabled, and if you enable UMS/VirtCD that UMS/SDcard is disabled, and I don't use MTP (think syncing your music from WindowsMediaPlayer to Android) so I'm not 100% sure about this one, but I think MTP is disabled if ADB is enabled. At least this is how stock is anyway.
Stuff On EFS:
The I9000 EFS stuff is a little out of my department, but I would love the ability to edit EFS reliably within the OS, unfortunately unlike with the I9000 our devices do not mount an EFS partition, and I have not ventured to attempt looking for it. I imagine it would be just as easy for us to edit it in device as it is for the I9000 people, however if it is due to the way the radios are handled this may not happen, as we are still trying to figure out where the Fascinate keeps it's modem, it would make sense that the EFS partition and the modem code would rest in the same area or partition, if we could only for certain identify it. I think the FSR and FSR_STL drivers obscure our view of it, no fear, I will be attempting to import Gingerbreads MTD work into the my WIP Froyo to hopefully solve this issue once I get the radio working reliably. If and once we do have access to EFS, we could technically copy and replace or edit our Verizon EFS information live, flash from one network to another, and update tower information possibly without even restarting the phone....that is IF we have access to the EFS partition, and logic says we should have access to it ( as every other CDMA Verizon and Alltel device I have used does have one ) and it is programmable from within the Samsung device setup APKs.
Stuff On Hidden Options:
As for the special hidden stuff....it just boggles my mind the amount of crap they hide (or did they forget about this stuff?!?) from us, most of it doesn't work, most of it has no warnings for the DANGEROUS stuff it can do without prompting for a confirmation (ie complete factory reset and yes sdcard formatting) I think this crap should have been jammed into a single engineering menu accessible via a fixed passcode rather than scattered from A to Z in 20 different APKs with little more indicator of what an option does than some cryptic function name and a report of what someone else may have experienced only after executing the command. At the very best it's an unorganized, inefficient, undocumented, unreliable, low level, factory device configuration menu set that even most experts do not know how to fully utilize.
SirGatez said:
My thoughts exactly, the cdrom driver is useful, maybe more so.
The issue as to what starts when is configurable, Eclair had a hard limit of 2 usb modes at any given time, if I recall correctly Froyo supports 4 and that maybe a hard limit by the device. So what is running has to be carefully chosen, with mtp, virtcd, virtcom, ums, adb, acm, usb-otg, tvout, wired tether you hit 4 quick. This is an issue on my table but of low prority, as without a fully working kernel these amenities become mute.
I intend to make the cdrom driver configurable to select various isos from sd and switchable on command, I feel it would be more useful in that state, and I plan to give the user more control over what usb modes are selected using a sysfs setup, the defaults are in about 6 profiles that barely cover my needs without slowing me down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to see you in here, as I think the whole issue is very much best implemented/fixed from the kernel with the OS just facilitating from there. Also interesting that someone else was thinking about this while I was. With the little amount of knowledge I have, trying to hack around the different usb profiles at the OS layer is a pain. ("let me mount this" "NO, STOP IT!" "come onnnn let me turn that on")
I know I personally have had UMS, CDFS, DUN, Serial, and ADB all showing up in windows device manager at the same time, by manually toggling them on. That was as far as my test went, so I have no idea if they were accessible at the same time. But it's interesting to watch the device ids change as it switches modes. I have very little driver knowledge, so actually doing much digging was over my head.
Ok, I think I'm done for the night. Sorry for the quality of info, I'll try to work on it more sometime soon.
I feel like we are all just holding our breath for froyo source, but a lot of profitable work can be done in the meantime. Really, a lot has already been done that we can just kang from other devices. We just need to look outward at our foreign cousins.
For instance, supercurio did a lot of work on hacking the sound before they had kernel access. Using his methods from back then might give us some improvements in the meantime.
Things like GPS and Wifi will probably continue to be an issue even after we have source, so they can be done without fear of being completely forgotten about as soon as source drops.
Lots of mods and tweaks that are widespread across other devices don't seem to be discussed. Build.prop hacks are cheap and easy things that don't get much action around here (though not all of them are applicable/or even helpful). Someone brought up the FuguTweaks thing the other day from the Captivate forum. More of these cross-device discussions would be awesome.
God, my brain just exploded.
This is actually quite interesting, though. Now, on Part II: certain Sammy .apk's have hidden usage? Could we combine that into a massive super-settings app?
Samsung Fascinate, Verizon
EB01 Superclean 2.4
Kenesis' TransMyst GBKB (EPIIIIIC)
Mob87's Honeycomb Theme
Stock Kernel
obsidianchao said:
God, my brain just exploded.
This is actually quite interesting, though. Now, on Part II: certain Sammy .apk's have hidden usage? Could we combine that into a massive super-settings app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the idea. CM has a lot of this kind of thing, but we aren't there yet. There are also a bunch of testing apks that I didn't mention built right into the stock ROM.
There are even some super mega apps (some available on the market) that are somewhat compatible (be careful with these, especially for low level stuff). "Sysinfo" reveals a lot of... system info that you normally have to go digging around for. So does "Under the Hood". "Tuxility" doesn't really have much, but could be an easy start for the basis of a SF compatible utility. "SuperPower" gives a lot of control over power options. "SpareParts" from other Galaxy variants have had lots of options added. There are some other SGS specific tools that half work, as well, but their names are slipping me now. One allows you to flash a kernel from the OS. Also, I wonder if Development.apk from the emulator might have some use?
There are tons of things that could easily be added to the SpareParts app too, if you didn't want to add it to the Settings app.
So much stuff to kang.... so little time.
Dude. This is... amazing. Can you mentor me on this stuff? XD
Now, Spare Parts is that app in SC that shows the battery info and stuff, no?
Edit: and what all could you drag to spare parts? Could it access those hidden .apk's and utilize the secret functions?
This is so cool.
Samsung Fascinate, Verizon
EB01 Superclean 2.4
Kenesis' TransMyst GBKB (EPIIIIIC)
Mob87's Honeycomb Theme
Stock Kernel
Part 4
GPS power toggle from Drop Down Menu
The GPS option from the drop down menu is essentially broken and needs to be fixed. I recall a similar problem on a different device with the wifi. With that device, on observation, I noted that on powering up wifi from the settings menu, I would be connected within 5 seconds, but from the power widget, it would take a full minute. After doing some investigating, the power widget was basically trying to control the wifi device directly. I found a different widget that essentially emulated the same method used in the system settings menu, and it starting connecting immediately. My guess is that the GPS power code on the pull down menu could be modified using the same examination/modification needs to be adapted in the same way.
EVRC-B Phone Voice Codec
Switching to the EVRC-B codec improves call quality substantially, for both parties of the call. If anyone knows of a way to set it that doesn't involve going into service mode and manually changing it, then please let me know.
Background Noise Cancellation during call
Also, I'd love to find a fix for the mic during calling. It's a frequent occurrence for the person I'm calling to be like "Who are you talking to?" because they hear someone talking in the next room away from me. Or a very light sound on my end, elicits a response of "WHAT IS THAT NOOOISSSE??!" from the person I'm talking to. So obviously an issue of background noise cancellation. I'm hoping its a software fixable problem.
I've seen this build.prop edit to mess with the noise cancellation for disabling noise reduction for the voice recorder (Say you are trying to record something like music, or something at a concert, the noise filter would hinder your ability).
Code:
media.a1026.nsForVoiceRec=0
media.a1026.enableA1026=1
Two things about this:
1. I've only seen this kind of property on other devices that have two mics that work in combination for noise cancellation. I'm guessing the SF only has one, and any attempted noise cancellation is done at the hardware level or in software.
2. This would assume that the noise shield actually exists, but the stock Fascinate behavior is to not have it enabled for calling... which is pretty dumb. Given some of their other decisions, this may be true, but I have my doubts. If it's parameters are accessible, and it's merely only needing some tweaking, then I will be happy.
I wonder if supercurio knows much about the noise cancellation, since he's worked with so much of the sound stuff?
Disabling of debugging stuff and additional code checking
Debugging stuff is essential for figuring out problems, but for the 99% of the time, isn't it probably slowing us down? I don't know what would be the best way to easily disable any additional debugging routines that might be affect performance.
As for disabling code checking, I used to run these build.prop edits on an older device. I have no idea if they still apply:
Code:
ro.kernel.android.checkjni=0
dalvik.vm.checkjni=0
dalvik.vm.verify-bytecode=false
Maybe you are the kind of person that needs their phone fully stable at all times (no you're not, because you are on a forum that is made to push your device to the limits). I, however, keep everything backed up, so if disabling this extra "security" might slightly increase risk of data loss, then I'm okay with that (not saying that this is an actual danger, but just in general). The only problem I have is if the increase is negated by a large rise in errors that actually hinder performance, or if it becomes significantly more risky (doubt that's the case, but it's always a possibility).
Somewhat related, we currently keep the dalvik heapsize at 48mb's. Is this the best match for our device, or just the default?
PNG/ogg optimization and Zipaligning
I recently took a superclean rom, and dropped 16MB losslessly just from throwing the pngs through PNGOUTWIN and deflopt (didn't touch the *.9.png files). Free RAM right there. Not to mention that some of those APK's have ridiculous extra resources that can be reduced by cutting color depth or taken out entirely (giant HTML based tutorial files stored in the apk... why?) Also, all of the ogg files can be slammed down using a sox script or an equivalent.
In compression, it's also important to know when its a free and harmless, or when it will reduce stability. You can zip up an APK nice and tight... but aapt is a better method. The files might be bigger, but they will run better (also, learn how to treat *.9.png files, or don't touch them at all).
I've adapted the script from Bugless pete's automatic, on-phone zipaligning utility (just had to change a couple lines). A lot of times there are apk's that slip through the cracks in the ROM's that aren't zipaligned (especially in themes and patches). Again, just free performance that isn't hard to obtain.
libdvm.so Optimization
Has our libdvm.so been optimized to run on on our processor? I know this was a huge boon for older devices, but couldn't find any info on ours.
Battery Service Polling
Ever watched the logcat even when your device is nearly at idle? Ya... that battery is always updating. How do we change this habit? I often wonder how much extra juice would we gain by increasing the length in between battery polls.
GizmoDroid said:
Ok, I think I'm done for the night. Sorry for the quality of info, I'll try to work on it more sometime soon.
I feel like we are all just holding our breath for froyo source, but a lot of profitable work can be done in the meantime. Really, a lot has already been done that we can just kang from other devices. We just need to look outward at our foreign cousins.
For instance, supercurio did a lot of work on hacking the sound before they had kernel access. Using his methods from back then might give us some improvements in the meantime.
Things like GPS and Wifi will probably continue to be an issue even after we have source, so they can be done without fear of being completely forgotten about as soon as source drops.
Lots of mods and tweaks that are widespread across other devices don't seem to be discussed. Build.prop hacks are cheap and easy things that don't get much action around here (though not all of them are applicable/or even helpful). Someone brought up the FuguTweaks thing the other day from the Captivate forum. More of these cross-device discussions would be awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your gonna hold your breath a long time if you're waiting for froyo source.
If anyone needed proof that Quadrant scores aren't good indicators of real performance, this is a real, unedited screen shot from my phone running EB01:
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"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
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I dropped the link in IRC for giggles and a couple of people lost their minds, accusing me of lying. Sorry fellahs, I got better things to do.
You can boost your quadrant scores this high with a couple easy steps that provide absolutely no performance boost outside of quadrant (it's is similar to why voodoo enabled systems score so high, but only perform somewhat better). So for the hold-outs that still think that quadrant is a reliable benchmark... be aware of it's major flaw.
GizmoDroid said:
If anyone needed proof that Quadrant scores aren't good indicators of real performance, this is a real, unedited screen shot from my phone running EB01:
I dropped the link in IRC for giggles and a couple of people lost their minds, accusing me of lying. Sorry fellahs, I got better things to do.
You can boost your quadrant scores this high with a couple easy steps that provide absolutely no performance boost outside of quadrant (it's is similar to why voodoo enabled systems score so high, but only perform somewhat better). So for the hold-outs that still think that quadrant is a reliable benchmark... be aware of it's major flaw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been trying to convince people of this flawed benchmark app for months when using Blazed Eclair, it scores almost normal but runs the same voodoo other kernels do plus lots of other tweaks on kernel side. Very few believed me and switched from Blazed JUST for higher quadrant benchmark scores
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
SirGatez said:
I have been trying to convince people of this flawed benchmark app for months when using Blazed Eclair, it scores almost normal but runs the same voodoo other kernels do plus lots of other tweaks on kernel side. Very few believed me and switched from Blazed JUST for higher quadrant benchmark scores
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I should make a HOWTO tutorial on how to get ridiculously high quadrant scores on any OS/kernel, then people would be free from using it to influence their thinking and instead would base it on real world results.
The cynical side of me says that they would just find a new benchmark and do the same thing with it.
Meh, we know the truths, so sure make a howto, maybe quadrant will fix their flaws (yeah...i'm not sure about that one...) people on the otherhand will flock like you say without our intervention, but for the rest of us this could prove helpful in building roms/kernels that do not allow benchmarks to succumb to the same flaws that most current ones do
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
SirGatez said:
Meh, we know the truths, so sure make a howto
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[HowTo] Release the most downloaded ROM of all time:
Take stock rom.
Insert the following line into a boot script:
Code:
mount -o rw -t tmpfs tmpfs /data/data/com.aurorasoftworks.quadrant.ui.standard
Upload ROM to host of your choice.
Post screenshots of Quadrant scores with download link.
Great Success.
There are lots of ways to inflate quadrant scores... but this is the funniest method because it makes it ridiculously obvious how voodoo can achieve inflated quadrant scores without gaining a similar amount of performance (they both write cache to memory, therefore inflating the I/O scores ridiculously high).
Adding more to the noise cancellation issue, I found some more info out tonight:
Jamezelle pointed out a property that is set in res/values/bool.xml in the Phone.apk "has_noise_suppression" and it's set to false. After digging around, I found that this shows up in the PhoneUtils class if you decompile Phone.apk. It reveals two options: "noise_suppression=auto" and "noise_suppression=off". Some realworld testing needs to be done, but if the fascinate has the noise surpression ability and its just turned off, then this could be turned on again by adding to build.prop, or by modding the options menu to have this show up as an option.
Its very possible that it's hidden because it's not implemented, but other Galaxy S phones have some type of noise cancellation, so it might just not be implemented in the software.
Don't know if you were still looking for how to change EVRC to EVRC-B, but dial **72, the spc code is 000000, press down on the directional button arrow until you see Svc mode nam 1 end of basic nam exit. Press the right directional key once, you will see EXIT change to more, hit enter, press down once and you will see HomePage VoiceSO and EVRC, push the right button to change to EVRC-B. Hit ok and phone will reboot. Sorry for the sloppiness, at work and trying to be quick.
Edit: Ah, nevermind, you didn't want service mode, sorry!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Dread This Day said:
Don't know if you were still looking for how to change EVRC to EVRC-B, but dial **72, the spc code is 000000, press down on the directional button arrow until you see Svc mode nam 1 end of basic nam exit. Press the right directional key once, you will see EXIT change to more, hit enter, press down once and you will see HomePage VoiceSO and EVRC, push the right button to change to EVRC-B. Hit ok and phone will reboot. Sorry for the sloppiness, at work and trying to be quick.
Edit: Ah, nevermind, you didn't want service mode, sorry!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, this way does work, and I have used it multiple times. But it resets itself every time you reactivate, and its near dangerous settings, so its not something I would recommend to newbies.
If there was a less dangerous way to set it (say from a script or an apk) then this could lead to it being more widely recommended. It really does provide substantial improvement of call quality.
If my gf calls using her bluetooth headset, which has mediocre sound quality, the further compression of EVRC makes her very hard to understand. With EVRC-B, I can understand her plain as day.
Dread This Day said:
Don't know if you were still looking for how to change EVRC to EVRC-B, but dial **72, the spc code is 000000, press down on the directional button arrow until you see Svc mode nam 1 end of basic nam exit. Press the right directional key once, you will see EXIT change to more, hit enter, press down once and you will see HomePage VoiceSO and EVRC, push the right button to change to EVRC-B. Hit ok and phone will reboot. Sorry for the sloppiness, at work and trying to be quick.
Edit: Ah, nevermind, you didn't want service mode, sorry!
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, working great! But you posted incorrect dial code. Let me correct you. **772

[Q] Android or Prime Test/Debug Software

I'm trying to help out my sister who bought one of these (against my recommendation as the thought of new hardware (Tegra 3) running with new software (ICS) in the hands of a non-tech person makes me break out in a cold sweat). She is well beyond the return window, other than to ASUS. However, after playing with this thing (for test purposes only) for the last few days, it is pretty sweet! So, before I try the return route with ASUS, I decided to try and find out what issues it really has.
I've read most everything I could find on this and several other forums but unfortunately, I haven't seen any mention of any test software or something I could run that would let me get low level sensor readings, grab crash logs etc.. There appear to be numerous reported issues, but I haven't seen the results of any controlled testing that has been done (ie many problems could be the result of some apps themselves and/or the particular tablet setup.
I've installed the Android Dev package and it appears I can link the debugger with the tablet though ADB. I was running the debugger trying to get a lockup to occur prior to the .13 update, but the damn thing ran fine! Crashed as soon as I disconnected it from the debugger!!!
So, my questions are:
- Is there an app that would allow me to directly read sensor values and/or perform any very low level diganostics? Save and grab crash dumps, etc?
- Do I need to be rooted to run this kind of stuff? Or worse, wait for the bootloader unlock tool?
- Has anyone here already done something like this?
- Can anyone point me to some other site that might be able to help me?
I have confirmed that the GPS is useless, but she does not care about that.
The WiFi "seems" weak but I have not yet tested it in a controlled environment. She was OK with the performance she was getting at home, but she had not yet taken it out on a "date" to see if it would perform!
The occasional random reboots appear to be gone since I updated it to .13
There have been several occurrences of the tablet going into a coma while sleeping that require some extraordinary measures to wake it (hopping on one leg while scattering chicken feathers to the wind, etc).
I am going to wipe the thing clean to remove any potential rogue apps, but I don't even trust the pre-installed stuff which is why I am looking for some low-level diagnostic stuff.
Any technical help would be greatly appreciated! I do low-level stuff with microcontrollers, but very little OS based development stuff, so be gentle with me.
Please send all "just return it" or "my tablet works fine so you must be doing something wrong" responses elsewhere. I doubt ASUS will refund her money along with the taxes she paid on it and the there are definitely issues with it. I am just trying to determine whether it is mostly software related issues (which could eventually be resolved) or whether the hardware, especially the WiFi is truly an issue.
Thanks, and sorry for the excessively long post.
George O. II
For sensors try elixir 2 it allows you to test all the sensors light gyro ect...
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Wordlywisewiz said:
For sensors try ecliar 2 it allows you to test all the sensors light gyro ect...
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We on the same page. I was just about to recommend the same thing. I have it n love it.
Its actually called Elixir2..its a free app...then you should get elixir widget also n have a great monitoring widget like this on my prime.
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"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
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From a terminal emulator ( https://market.android.com/details?id=jackpal.androidterm )
Try this:
Code:
# cat /proc/kmsg > /mnt/sdcard/some-clever.name
This should continuously log kernel messages, but I haven't tried it myself.
Woops, forgot you need root for this.
Elixir 2 looks like a good tool. I think I'm getting info overload already!
Thanks..
Try this:
Code:
# cat /proc/kmsg > /mnt/sdcard/some-clever.name
This should continuously log kernel messages, but I haven't tried it myself.
Woops, forgot you need root for this.[/QUOTE]
Is the kmsg logfile created new everytime the tablet boots? If so, the your method would preserve the pre-crash log yes? That would be useful! Looks like I need to learn how to root this thing.
Also, do you know if there is a list of available console commands somewhere?
Thanks for the info
Rooting is very simple n easy. Just check out the developement section.
It looks like someone created an automated root tool. Might give that a try.
Before I do, does this thing have a recovery mode in case some idiot (me) does something stupid while rooted? Can I just re-install the current OS version from a file on the sd card?
GeorgOrwel said:
It looks like someone created an automated root tool. Might give that a try.
Before I do, does this thing have a recovery mode in case some idiot (me) does something stupid while rooted? Can I just re-install the current OS version from a file on the sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't a recovery yet for prime. Other than Asus one. If anything goes wrong, you can just manually install the firmware from Asus website with prime hooked up to a PC. Or from putting zip file on root of SD card. The root method here is pretty safe though. Once you rooted, get voodoo OTA Rootkeeper to back up n save your root. So once a new update comes out n breaks root, you can just restore root through this app. Its free.
Happy Rooting!
Great! I'll do a little more research then give it a try.
I'm starting to like this tablet. It is mostly stable now, other than the occasional comatose state that occurs. It never did that before the update, but until I rule out the apps, I can't point a finger at it. The WiFi is my biggest concern at the moment, but there could be other things causing issues with that as well. Until I can control more of the variables, any testing is really subjective.
Again thanks for the info! Gives me a good starting point to do some further analysis.
George
GeorgOrwel said:
Is the kmsg logfile created new everytime the tablet boots? If so, the your method would preserve the pre-crash log yes? That would be useful! Looks like I need to learn how to root this thing.
Also, do you know if there is a list of available console commands somewhere?
Thanks for the info
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kmsg is a process that runs all the time on the OS, so when you point the output to a text file, it will constantly write the kernel messages to it (just run the command in terminal, and continue about your regular use... it should continue to run in the background).
When the system locks/freezes up or reboots, you'll be able to see what the last kernel message was, which should help you narrow down the issue.

[LIST] Great apps for a variety of functions

This thread is about apps that you absolutely feel is a must have on your X8.
Check post 2 regularly for updates! I will try to update at least once every 2 days.
No warez please.
If you feel that there is an app that you really think should be included here, just post it here.
The hope is that users will discover great new apps they never knew before, and to clean up some mess on the forums over which apps to get.
Games and default apps will not be listed as of yet.
Apps below are listed in a random order with no order of merit.
To do: Solicit feedback
Titanium Backup (Pro) [Root] {Root Tool}
Hands down the best root app out there. Backs up your apps, app data, and has the capability to sync with Dropbox, Google Drive etc. Huge variety of other features like freezing apps, convert /data apps system apps etc. Try it out for yourself
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keramidas.Titaniumackup
Droid Tesla (Pro) {Tool}
An app that simulates electrical circuits and solves for unknowns in it. User interface is hard to understand but once understood is easy to use. Quite useful for your homework , provided they are about electricity.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vlada.droidtesla
AdFree [Root] {App Mods}
Blocks in-app advertisements by using a hosts file to circumvent the ad host addresses. It has less effectiveness now than before but still works its magic well.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bigtincan.android.adfree
Favorite Frequencies {Tool}
An app that generates frequencies from 4 Hz - 22500 Hz. Can act as a mosquito repellent at frequencies >17000 Hz, but effectiveness is disputable. Can cause battery drain if turned on for long amounts of time. Good for general annoyance of those around you .
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.favoriteandroid
Barcode Scanner {Tool}
Does what it says on the tin. Scans barcodes and provides information on it, provided it has internet access of course. Works for QR codes and various others too. Only problem is the quality required for a successful capture of the barcode as our X8 camera is horrible .
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.zxing.client.android
Chainfire3D (Pro) [Root] {App Mods}
Allows for management of certain graphics options such as Multi-Sample Anti Aliasing in apps, Depth buffer, reduce texture quality to 16 bit etc, and most importantly load apps with different graphics drivers like Qualcomm (what we have), Nvidia, and PowerVR.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.cf3d
Droidsheep [Root] {Internet}
Spoofs others' IP provided they are connected to the same WiFi network and allows you to test vulnerabilities in your WiFi. Allows you to hijack others' accounts provided they log in to a supported website. Abuse of this app will be looked down upon and could land you in jail .
Link: Not on market, look for it yourself .
Droidwall [Root] {App Mods}
Basically a firewall for android that uses iptables to block apps from accessing the internet. Useful for banning suspicious apps from accessing the internet if you feel that it shouldn't at all. Also works for blocking ads as ads have to be pulled from the internet.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.googlecode.droidwall.free
HexEditor [Root] {App Mods}
Edits hexadecimals in your binaries. useful only to those that know how to use it. Has features like jump to address, search for bytes and can function as a cheat engine hehe .
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tuba.tools
Instant Heart Rate (Pro) {Tool}
Tells your heart rate by monitoring colour changes in your finger related to pulse. Must be done in good lighting or else it will not work. Displays a graph of your heart rate.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=si.modula.android.instantheartrate
Elixir 2 (Pro) {Tool}
Tells you everything about your phone, rom, kernel, sensor data, android id etc. Useful for checking if your phone sensors are functional and for thorough checks on all your phone to see if there is a problem somewhere. Displays logcat and dmesg too.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bartat.android.elixir
PAID Mathpac (Tool)
Wide variety of mathematical features including Scientific Calcula4or and Graphing Software. Useful for your math homework. Graphing software has most of the basic features inside and some advanced ones too. Downside is that there is no free version to test out, so make your 15 minutes refund time buffer count.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobilecaltronics.calculator.mathapp
Moon+ Reader (Pro) {Education}
An e-book reader. Will handle txt, html, epub, umd, fb2, chm, zip or OPDS files without issue. The encoding might need to be modified though to view some exotic punctuation. Page-flip animation, dictionary, annotations and text2speech supported. Plus it allows linking to good free online databases like Project Gutenberg.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flyersoft.moonreader
ProxyDroid [Root] {Internet}
Helps you set a proxy that you can use to bypass certain network blocks, for whatever reason. Allows per-app proxy, bypass IP address, and DNS proxy etc.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.proxydroid
Script Manager (Pro) [Root] {Tool}
Manages your scripts, be it some personal script or /etc/init.d bootscripts that refuse to stick . Allows run as root, interactive scripts, run as boot, and script editing. Overall quite useful and has widgets for activation of certain scripts too.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=os.tools.scriptmanager
SD Tools {Benchmark}
Benchmarks your sd card r/w speed. Useful for finding out sd card class and also for determining whether or not to employ swap, a2sd etc.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ales.veluscek.sdtools
PAID Smart Tools {Specific Function}
Has a variety of functions, including that of a ruler, protractor, distance triangulation, compass and seismometer. Includes graph for the seismometer and seismometer can be calibrated and made to give an alarm when it exceeds a certain threshold. Paid only, no free trail .
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kr.aboy.tools
Paid Star Chart {Astronomy}
Astronomy app. Can view the sky as you see it, provided location settings are correct. Provides information on stars, drapes constellation images on constellations and allows time travel to see the sky as it was on a particular date. Great amounts of features but a little bulky.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.escapistgames.starchart
Paid Tapatalk {Forum}
Forum app. Auto-sign in after registration, allows almost all the features of browser-forum like Thanking, Edit Post, PM and such. Supports most major forums including XDA !
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.quoord.tapatalkpro.activity
Zipsigner 2 {Tool}
Signs zip, apk or jar files nativey using your device and zipaligns them too. Useful for making small changes to applications natively and then signing it to ensure that it will be accepted by the Android system.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kellinwood.zipsigner2
WifiKill [Root] {Internet}
App that uses ARP poisoning and iptables to drop/reject/redirect people connected to your WiFi. To be used for seeking vulnerabilities in your WiFi ONLY. Abuse of this app could land you in jail and is strongly discouraged.
Link: Search for it yourself
Paid Wifi Protector [Root] {Internet}
Starts countermeasures to prevent DroidSheep, WifiKill, and related attacks from crippling your android device. Ability to keep a lookout once WiFi is turned on and it even logs information about your attackers. Sensitivity (proneness to false positives) can be adjusted.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gurkedev.wifiprotector
Airdroid {Internet Tool}
Allows you to manage your ndroid from your web browser with internet access of course. Supports wireless file transfer, SMS, app management, music management and the like. HTTPS secure network used. get it if you hate all those cables .
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid
Gamekiller [Root] {Cheat Engine Tool}
Functions just like Cheat Engine. Edit in-app memory values to hack HP, stats and so on and so forth. Just multitask and switch between Gamekiller and victim app to search for memory values to change. Supports value freeze and fuzzy search and BYTE, WORD, DWORD data types.
Link: http://mir.cr/HGCEPTHZ
PAID Root Explorer [Root] {Root Tool}
A file explorer app that allows root operations like changing of permissions and owners of files and folders and also r/w access to the MTD partitions such as /data and /system. Supports zip/gzip/tar file extraction and creation and also symlink, multi select etc. UI is clean and simple, shouldn't take too much trouble understanding and using.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer
Swapper for Root and Swapper2 [Root] {Root Tool}
Both apps are generally used in conjunction to set up swap on your device using a swap file. Swapper for root is generally only useful for creating the swap file while Swapper2 is used for the swap management, swappiness, reformat, set up at boot, implement, and so on and so forth.
a. Swapper for Root (Swap file)
This app is only used for creation of a swap file. Afterwards you can uninstall it if it so pleases you to do so.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.azasoft.free.swapper
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lv.n3o.swapper2
How to USE SWAP:
For swap file:
Open Swapper for Root and set create location and size of swap file that you want
Create the swap file (takes quite long depending on set size, recommended <1GB size for swap file)
Uninstall Swapper for Root
Read the steps for swap partition
For swap partition and swap file (cont.)
Open Swapper2
Under advanced settings, tick the option: use swap partition
Set swap partition location to the location of the swap file that you created OR the location of the swap partition
If your swap file is on the FAT partition, make sure that the safe unmount and remount when mounting to PC options are ticked
If you are using a swap partition or if your swap file is not on the FAT partition, untick the two options
Set swappiness to either 10 (default) or 30.
Tick the option: Run at boot
Go back to the starting screen of Swapper2 and hit "On".
Your swap file/partition has been set up properly .
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PAID Camera Zoom FX {Imagery}
This app has received multiple awards from prominent Android App rating sites. It has a wide range of features, including up to 6x zoom, live preview of filters, and most notably post processing options such as vintage, lomo, vignette, retro, mosaic, polaroid etc. Quite feature-packed for a camera app, allowing great customisation ability before and after a photo is taken.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=slide.cameraZoom
==================================================
Your feedback is appreciated. Tell me about apps I missed out! Mods please PM me if my list has apps that break XDA rules. Thanks!
Credit goes to the app developers for their awesome work and apps!
Changelog
7/6/2012 ## Added AirDroid -- nazz.rule
8/6/2012 ## Added Root explorer and Swapper apps -- harshitrule ... also added in a link for a guide by junghyun01 on activating swap
9/6/2012 ## Removed Multitouch Visualiser 2, Spirit Level Plus (in the app Smart Tools) and Metal Detector (also in the app Smart Tools) due to lack of useful functions -- harshitrule
10/6/2012 ## Added in a small guide on activating swap and also added in Camera ZOOM FX -- harshitrule (again )
Reserved! Good job, SpyderX! Another nice thread to add to your profile!
Sent From My W8 Using Tapatalk On MiniCM9 3.0.1
I'm always on the lookout for apps with great functionality, so I thought why not start a thread that allows users to share their favourite apps.
Wow! Gamekiller is the alter ego of GameCIH?
Sent From My W8 Using Tapatalk On MiniCM9 3.0.1
lucastan96 said:
Wow! Gamekiller is the alter ego of GameCIH?
Sent From My W8 Using Tapatalk On MiniCM9 3.0.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much. I stumbled across it by accident. It has a better UI than GameCIH but I think less features.
What about Airdroid..it's free in the market...good for those who don't like to plug in their USB just to move or copy something into their phone..
Sent from my Xperia X8
WHAAAT???
No root explorer???
NVM take it from here(PAID)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer&hl=en
Also dont forget
1.Swapper 2
(provides u more memory when u need it)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=swapper%202&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CGEQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dlv.n3o.swapper2%26hl%3Den&ei=iJ_QT_PQCIizrAeK4-mqDA&usg=AFQjCNE-FUFpMBgzQNd2erVkflGuBNl6fw
2.Link 2 SD
(moves apps to SD-EXT)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=link2sd&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CFcQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.buak.Link2SD%26hl%3Den&ei=2J_QT-CqNYOHrAeN2LyCDA&usg=AFQjCNFB1aIwUFAkAXVzrTMhn6tjL2DwEA
3.Blackmarket
(Lets u download paid apps on store for free)
4.ZArchiver
(Lets u unpack or pack password protected archives)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=z%20archiever%20play%20store&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CGoQFjAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dru.zdevs.zarchiver%26hl%3Den&ei=YqDQT_PcLMbXrQeGkbGeDA&usg=AFQjCNGhfseKaUiSfOdUadIht0dnG81CYg
5.Setcpu(paid)
(lets u change the CPU frequencies easily)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=setcpu&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CF8QFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.mhuang.overclocking%26hl%3Den&ei=d6HQT5e9HonjrAeXp7CvDA&usg=AFQjCNEPhZeo9pRDeQ3kq7sA926hBUUTmw
7.SD-maid(free and donate)
(Helps u to free up the SD card and phone memory at the ease of one click)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=sd%20maid&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CFcQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Deu.thedarken.sdm%26hl%3Den&ei=_qHQT_-BBYmJrAeVtcGGDA&usg=AFQjCNH4FWmrvPIVUCTHyFqFaiG5RKZjtA
harshitgroup said:
WHAAAT???
No root explorer???
NVM take it from here(PAID)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer&hl=en
Also dont forget
1.Swapper 2
(provides u more memory when u need it)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...4-mqDA&usg=AFQjCNE-FUFpMBgzQNd2erVkflGuBNl6fw
2.Link 2 SD
(moves apps to SD-EXT)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...2LyCDA&usg=AFQjCNFB1aIwUFAkAXVzrTMhn6tjL2DwEA
3.Blackmarket
(Lets u download paid apps on store for free)
4.ZArchiver
(Lets u unpack or pack password protected archives)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...kbGeDA&usg=AFQjCNGhfseKaUiSfOdUadIht0dnG81CYg
5.Setcpu(paid)
(lets u change the CPU frequencies easily)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...p7CvDA&usg=AFQjCNEPhZeo9pRDeQ3kq7sA926hBUUTmw
7.SD-maid(free and donate)
(Helps u to free up the SD card and phone memory at the ease of one click)
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...tcGGDA&usg=AFQjCNH4FWmrvPIVUCTHyFqFaiG5RKZjtA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whilst all the apps you listed are quite good, most were default enough that I thought they could be safely omitted to reduce the list's size.
And black market apps are not allowed, last time I checked that is the some as providing warez on XDA
I will add some from your list. Thanks!
Sent from my E15i using Tapatalk 2
Yea I know that some of those were basic apps but then also u should post them as they should help the noons..
And for black market, I am not giving the download link so I don't think That I'm posting warez
Press THANKS if I tried to help..
Well SpyderX IMO not every app from Your list is a MUST HAVE app, butmany of these yes and congrats for this thread, every importnat app in one place!
Great!
Greets.
mr-tical said:
Well SpyderX IMO not every app from Your list is a MUST HAVE app, butmany of these yes and congrats for this thread, every importnat app in one place!
Great!
Greets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ones do you think I should strike off?
The apps u should strike off are
1.droidsheep.
2.metal detector.
3.multi touch visualiser.
4.spirit level (smart tools is far better and has the same functions)
5.and all the wifi tools.(I don't think anyone uses them)
Press THANKS if I tried to help..
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mmin.handycalc&hl=pl
I think that is very important or must-have app. In my opinion, this is the best calculator for Android, but i, maybe you too, can't download from Google Play
We can download Handycalc from website developer this app and it will work
http://handycalc.wordpress.com/
amazing
SpyderX said:
Which ones do you think I should strike off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone use another stuff, example for me must have is Battery Monitor Widget Pro, GPS Status....
Sent from my iXperia using xda premium
Hmm... K does anyone else have any suggestions?
SpyderX said:
Hmm... K does anyone else have any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have a few more apps.
1.Collins dictionary.(https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ems.msdict.embedded.wireless.collins.ed&hl=en)
2.Camera zoom fx.(for those who want camera zoom)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=slide.cameraZoom&feature=search_result
3.Google sky maps.(very light and fast)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.stardroid&feature=search_result
If I named an app which u have already listed please pardon me cos I'm on xda app so can't read ur whole post.
Stay tuned I'll name more apps that I encounter.
Press THANKS if I tried to help..
I think it will be super toolbox 10 which includes:
Task killer
File manager
Cache cleaner
Memory info
Baterry info
App2sd
Etc
Its very useful for me.
@-}-- @-}-- @-}--
Updated with apps I think are deserving. So, any more jewels from you guys?
Sent from my E15i using Tapatalk 2
Link2sd. I know someone mentioned it already but imo it's a lot better than app2sd.
Sdmaid deserves some mention, too.
What else.. battery calibration for flash addicts.
I also use 1-tap cleaner mainly for its widget (gives you almost real-time(?) notification of memory/cache).
Just suggestions.
Btw, great list.
Edit: where can i use Favorite Frequencies for? If you answer for my mom she's probably gonna kill us both.
Sent from my W8 that PCC thinks is an X8 using my W8 that PCC thinks is an X8.

[HOW-TO] ASUS system boost - root required - v0.4 UPDATE!

Hello, last two days I thought about I/O performance of great Asus Transformer Prime.
It is actually PDA so it means that device is not in the real power off state so much.
It can be used for ANY kernel and ANY rom!
Works with ANY ASUS TRANSFORMER MODEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sooo let's tweak it for better performance!
We will reduce write times to SSD drive, no more hangups, ARNs etc.
I am using it on my own prime for one day and I have no delays at all.
For this test I need huge amount of volunteers to tune numbers in the script.
This change is only for actual session
If you want to save it after reboot use SManager for script autorun.
Here is script, run like. su
So download script on sdcard to root of sdcard, unzip and run:
Code:
su
cd /sdcard/
sh tune.sh
It is safe and it will not harm your system or break OTA update
The worst scenario is softresetting your device after
hang up (but it should be ok).
PLEASE I NEED RESPONSES FROM YOU!!!!
+ Faster system
+ less hangups (none on my Prime)
+ You don't have to flash new kernel
+ It is for actual session only, after reboot you have to run script again
+ Better battery life!
+ Longer life for internal SSD drive!
- If you reset your prime you can loose some of your datas
- If your system hangs you can loose some of your datas
- It is for actual session only, after reboot you have to run script again
EDIT: :::::::::::::::::: Ok version 0.2 is out. ::::::::::::::::::
With previous values I had problem with gmail.
With little tweaking I have no issues now and there is ALMOST no drop of permormance compared to version 0.1.
Changelog:
Code:
changed value for dirty_ratio from 90 to 70
changed value for dirty_background_ratio from 70 to 50
If you haven't gmail issues you don't have to install version 0.2
Nvm it seems that gmail issue had nothing to do with these changes
EDIT: 25.6.2012
Tune script is included here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27862975&postcount=149
:::::::::::::::::: EDIT 2: 26.6.2012 New version out v0.3 ::::::::::::::::::
+ tweak for battery (audio is suspended earlier when it is not used
+ some tweaks to cfs scheduler should be more responsive
Let me know your experiences with this version!!
::::::::::::::::::8.7. 2012 NEW VERSION OUT! v0.4 ::::::::::::::::::
Some of ideas taken from here ! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1205259
Optimalized for Prime
+ Added three types of scripts
+ 1st script = tune.v0.4.sh.zip = safe optimalization = only safe tweaks which will speed up IO operations a little bit
+ 2nd script = tune.v0.4.drive.sh.zip = drive optimalization = same like 1st script + optimalizations for internal ssd drive
+ 3rd script = tune.v0.4.max.sh.zip = heavy performance mode = 1st + 2nd script + "old" checked by users tweaks with background ratio, swapiness etc. + io mount tweaks + kernel tweaks + internet tweaks = max. perform. (for best turn sio TOO!!)
+ Longer life for internal SSD drive! Because noatime,noadatetime = less writes
- Somebody reported battery drain, so these relative functions were removed
Please for correct testing remove ATP application and run this script with SManager or manually (if you won't uninstall ATP it will change values...) If you don't want to remove ATP you have to wait for new developer of ATP when he will add these version of scripts to ATP !!!!!!!!!
If you have some problems after this script PLEASE try to remove ATP first, it seems that on some devices it has problems with running this script.
ok i m running it right now.
what are the default values?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Sorry I dont remember. Reboot your prime and you will see defaults.
batoo said:
Hello, last two days I thought about I/O performance of great Asus Transformer Prime.
It is actually PDA so it means that device is not in the real power off state so much.
It can be used for ANY kernel and ANY rom!
Sooo let's tweak it for better performance!
We will reduce write times to SSD drive, no more hangups, ARNs etc.
I am using it on my own prime for one day and I have no delays at all.
For this test I need huge amount of volunteers to tune numbers in the script.
This change is only for actual session
If you want to save it after reboot use SManager for script autorun.
Here is script, run like. su
So download script on sdcard to root of sdcard, unzip and run:
Code:
su
cd /sdcard/
sh ratio.sh
It is safe and it will not harm your system or break OTA update
The worst scenario is softresetting your device after
hang up (but it should be ok).
PLEASE I NEED RESPONSES FROM YOU!!!!
+ Faster system
+ less hangups (none on my Prime)
+ You don't have to flash new kernel
+ It is for actual session only, after reboot you have to run script again
+ Better battery life!
- If you reset your prime you can loose some of your datas
- If your system hangs you can loose some of your datas
- It is for actual session only, after reboot you have to run script again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tempie007 said:
ok i m running it right now.
what are the default values?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, it will be interesting to see how this works. swappiness=0 will cause less swapping to disk (it will only happen when it needs to). Default for swappiness=60 in our Android and mainline Linux kernels. These settings here are aggressive in trying to reduce swap disk i/o, so it will be great to see if it succeeds and whether or not OOM errors occur when RAM is running short when using RAM hungry applications or doing extreme multi-tasking.
I have also been testing something at the vm level in the kernel that I found in the HTC OneX source. It is something the HTC engineers added that would actually set the default to swappiness=100, the complete other direction from what you are doing here. This theory is to clear out the stale RAM and open up the RAM for something more useful. While this may be counter-intuitive to I/O performance since swapping equates to more disk i/o, the code change also implements some changes to the block, fs, and mm portions of the kernel. Essentially, from what I can tell, it flags and handles disk operations (aka "bios") differently if they are involved in swap operations (going to or coming from swap). A "bio" is essentially a manifest of an ongoing I/O block device operation, what sectors and memory locations it contains etc. Once the RAM is freed up, I have also been increasing the Dalvik vm settings in the build.prop to allow for more RAM consumption. So far, this combination (at least for me so far) has really given me good UI performance and I haven't had to kill the browser often like I did before. I have yet to play with vm.dirty_ratio and vm.dirty_background_ratio, but I am wanting to do this as well to see what combination can work the best for us.
Anyhow, thought I would share. I think you are looking at some important things here with the tuning of virtual memory to see how they can affect disk performance and more importantly application fluidity.
Cheers
Hi
I'm using it for about two hours and I had one reboot when I opened File explorer (before this never happend to me on .28) Im using also IO Sio from Your other topic (it seems to be alright...everything seems to work smoother). On tune.sh I have better write to sd speed in antutu. Now I have 8 mb...before 2 mb. Thx for that.
_motley said:
Hi, it will be interesting to see how this works. swappiness=0 will cause less swapping to disk (it will only happen when it needs to). Default for swappiness=60 in our Android and mainline Linux kernels. These settings here are aggressive in trying to reduce swap disk i/o, so it will be great to see if it succeeds and whether or not OOM errors occur when RAM is running short when using RAM hungry applications or doing extreme multi-tasking.
I have also been testing something at the vm level in the kernel that I found in the HTC OneX source. It is something the HTC engineers added that would actually set the default to swappiness=100, the complete other direction from what you are doing here. This theory is to clear out the stale RAM and open up the RAM for something more useful. While this may be counter-intuitive to I/O performance since swapping equates to more disk i/o, the code change also implements some changes to the block, fs, and mm portions of the kernel. Essentially, from what I can tell, it flags and handles disk operations (aka "bios") differently if they are involved in swap operations (going to or coming from swap). A "bio" is essentially a manifest of an ongoing I/O block device operation, what sectors and memory locations it contains etc. Once the RAM is freed up, I have also been increasing the Dalvik vm settings in the build.prop to allow for more RAM consumption. So far, this combination (at least for me so far) has really given me good UI performance and I haven't had to kill the browser often like I did before. I have yet to play with vm.dirty_ratio and vm.dirty_background_ratio, but I am wanting to do this as well to see what combination can work the best for us.
Anyhow, thought I would share. I think you are looking at some important things here with the tuning of virtual memory to see how they can affect disk performance and more importantly application fluidity.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ice increased my dalvik vm also through build.prop. Like the heapsize, growth limit, startsize etc...how much can you increase those vm to where its still safe? On stock kernel.
What values are you running at? IM also using that dalvik jit mod.
demandarin said:
Ice increased my dalvik vm also through build.prop. Like the heapsize, growth limit, startsize etc...how much can you increase those vm to where its still safe? On stock kernel.
What values are you running at? IM also using that dalvik jit mod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure how much room there is since I have only tweaked on the prime recently. I am running 8m, 64m, and 256m now. One of my other tabs used higher dalvik settings like this on the HC stock ROM (GT 8.9 or Iconia A500 can't remember). There are so many parameters to take into account for any given test etc., as they say "you never step into the same river twice" LOL.
I have posted my latest alpha kernel with the aforementioned changes. It will be interesting to see if folks like it or not. It is working great for me thus far.
Guys pls no offtopic and chat.
Ill try this new tweak once I get off work.
my first problem. cmclient has stopped.
first time I have seen this in weeks and it comes after 45 min of this tweak.
However it may be related to the fact that I have not used the default browser in weeks.
whycali said:
my first problem. cmclient has stopped.
first time I have seen this in weeks and it comes after 45 min of this tweak.
However it may be related to the fact that I have not used the default browser in weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a reboot should clear it. did you enter in commands exactly like listed in op? it tells me file not found. when i unzipped the file, it gives me a tune.sh txt file or whatever. in the commands, is it supposed to be "tune.sh" instead of "ratio.sh"? i see i can just click the file and execute the file like that, bypassing the need to enter in commands. same like with overclock files. i could just execute them manually instead of using an overclock app.
have you noticed any other issues? what benefits have you noticed so far? you have me hesistant to execute the file now, since those commands give me error.
demandarin said:
a reboot should clear it. did you enter in commands exactly like listed in op? it tells me file not found. when i unzipped the file, it gives me a tune.sh txt file or whatever. in the commands, is it supposed to be "tune.sh" instead of "ratio.sh"? i see i can just click the file and execute the file like that, bypassing the need to enter in commands. same like with overclock files. i could just execute them manually instead of using an overclock app.
have you noticed any other issues? what benefits have you noticed so far? you have me hesistant to execute the file now, since those commands give me error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PM'd you. it was just an alert. no need for reboot. hard to see or report anything yet.
whycali said:
PM'd you. it was just an alert. no need for reboot. hard to see or report anything yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you guys get this to work, I keep getting the file not found message
whycali said:
PM'd you. it was just an alert. no need for reboot. hard to see or report anything yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MRCANNADY said:
Did you guys get this to work, I keep getting the file not found message
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to try the OP's settings, you can easily change these and other virtual memory related settings graphically using the free app System Tuner under "SysCtl". This may be easier for those that don't like messing around with scripts. You can also optionally have the settings to be activated on boot if you test them thoroughly and want them to persist.
I ran
sh tune.sh
as the third command since that was the file name. nothing to report beyond the first one I posted here. I have not sodded yet and have folded my prime closed for a while since implementation.
im getting great results so far. no lag during app store apps updating and installing. plus the apps download and install so fast now. I think this mod along with SIO scheduler, build.prop tweaks, and overclock makes the prime scream speed. no negative drawbacks running this so far. i havent tested playing games yet.
whycali is correct. the filename in the command needs to be changed to what he posted, tune.sh
I am so sorry I changed typo in firat post to tune.sh, my test version had diff. Name.
i am going to try this based on the awesome feedback i have read. i will be testing alongside Chainfire driver and CFQ using ATP Tweak. i will report back. i do have some dalvik tweaks that may yield extreme lag free by forcing zygote to recognize 4 cores along with JIT.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
I don't think that tweaking over heap size and experimenting with JIT will help so much.
This is the cleariest way how to speed up system.
swapiness is useful mainly with swap location but prime doesn't use swap at all.
It's true that these values are agressively focused on smooth UI but it's the point.
I am working on another tweaks.
These things can be of course written to startup scripts to the system, but I don't want to unlock my Prime and when I don't have CWM I won't risk some mistyping resulting to bootloop.
This is the most effective way how to safely reach good performance.
Don't blame Asus that they didn't setup these values, they need to keep some "safe" standards.
Anyway I will try to explore more effective ways.
Guys let me knows your experiences!!
I already tested some heavy applications like Nova 3 and it's working without problems...
Results are in
With out Tune.sh script and SIO at balanced setting:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Same but at Performance Setting:
Now with Tune.sh and SIO enabled at balanced setting:
Same with Performance Setting:
You be the judge. Running .28 ASUS Stock and LOCKED bootloader
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 Biotchh

Entropy pool lag reducer (tweak)

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1987032
just found this over in one of the other forums. It seriously reduces lag and also pretty much gets rid of screen flicker and the reloading of apps everytime you go to the homescreen. ABSOLUTELY awesome.
Heres the post so you know what it does click the link to goto the original post and dl files.
Hey everyone,
So, I was experiencing significant lag as we all do from time to time, and decided I was going to get to the bottom of it.
After tracing and debugging for hours, I discovered the source of 90% of Android's lag. In a word, entropy (or lack thereof).
Google's JVM, like Sun's, reads from /dev/random. For all random data. Yes, the /dev/random that uses a very limited entropy pool.
Random data is used for all kinds of stuff.. UUID generation, session keys, SSL.. when we run out of entropy, the process blocks. That manifests itself as lag. The process cannot continue until the kernel generates more high quality random data.
So, I cross-compiled rngd, and used it to feed /dev/urandom into /dev/random at 1 second intervals.
Result? I have never used an Android device this fast.
It is literally five times faster in many cases. Chrome, maps, and other heavy applications load in about 1/2 a second, and map tiles populate as fast as I can scroll. Task switching is instantaneous. You know how sometimes when you hit the home button, it takes 5-10 seconds for the home screen to repopulate? Yeah. Blocking on read of /dev/random. Problem solved. But don't take my word for it .. give it a shot!
Update! I've built a very simple Android app that bundles the binary, and starts/stops the service (on boot if selected). I'll be adding more instrumentation, but for now, give it a shot! This APK does not modify /system in any way, so should be perfectly safe.
This is my first userspace Android app, so bear with me!
Note that this APK is actually compatible with all Android versions, and all (armel) devices. It's not at all specific to the Captivate Glide.
Caveats
There is a (theoretical) security risk, in that seeding /dev/random with /dev/urandom decreases the quality of the random data. In practice, the odds of this being cryptographically exploited are far lower than the odds of someone attacking the OS itself (a much simpler challenge). This may adversely affect battery life, since it wakes every second. It does not hold a wakelock, so it shouldn't have a big impact, but let me know if you think it's causing problems. I can add a blocking read to the code so that it only executes while the screen is on. On the other hand, many of us attribute lag to lacking CPU power. Since this hack eliminates almost all lag, there is less of a need to overclock, potentially reducing battery consumption.
If you try it, let me know how it goes.
ROM builders - feel free to integrate this into your ROMs (either the .apk / application, or just the rngd binary called from init.d)!
If anyone's interested, I've launched a paid app on the Play store for non-xda users. As I add features I'll post the new versions here as a thanks to you guys (and xda community at large for being such a great resource). But if anyone's interested in the market's auto-update feature, just thought I'd mention it.
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using xda app-developers app

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