maemo.org - Talk - Overclock the N900?

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- Nokia N900 (https://talk.maemo.org/forumdisplay.php?f=44)

- - Overclock the N900? (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=39753)

Re: Overclock the N900?

tried with newest fennec nightly:
17750 @ stock
something like superpi for the device would be pretty nice, it would allow us to exclude the error the browser induces.

Re: Overclock the N900?

First "visual artifacts" here: returning original settings with transition control, after "restarting desktop", menu bar starting to display white lines...and beauty colorfull effects when closing transition.
After restarting, all ok again.

(950-500)

Re: Overclock the N900?

Well, living in Israel I think it would be risky for me to OC it above 800mhz haha. Especially since it's going to be summer pretty soon.

I just had a realization: At 1GHZ the N900 is more powerful than the HD2. Since it has a GPU unlike the Qualcomm devices (HD2, Nexus One etc etc). It's pasically as powerful as an iPad at 1Ghz.
________
Vaporgenie Vaporizer

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nax3000 (Post 595545)

Not completely true, the SnapDragon has a 600Mhz DSP on chip. (correct me if im wrong) So its 1ghz + 600dsp vs n900 1ghz + 500dsp. But it are 2 different processors, not comparable! i think the n900 will beat the snapdrag at 1ghz! And for the ipad.. dont know! time will tell ;-)

Re: Overclock the N900?

How do you check clock speed?

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nax3000 (Post 595545)

i guess it would be faster than the stock HD2 even under 1ghz.... but even the HD2 can be overclocked, so.... lol

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpgAmazon (Post 595541)

I have had artifacts sometimes on stock kernel so it might have nothing to do with the overclocking.

That said, I am running 900Mhz stock DSP, until someone has stress tested overclocking the CPU and DSP. Overclocking both just seems like asking for trouble and surely stuff that utilises the DSP by its nature is using less CPU power, so you shouldn't really need to overclock both.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nax3000 (Post 595545)

The iPad is dual-core and I believe has a VASTLY superior GPU to the N900, not remotely comparable. But then I can't put the iPad in my pocket, multi-task on it or use it as a phone.

Re: Overclock the N900?

I don't really get what the DSP speed actually does.. Could someone kindly explain it to me please?
________
JUSTIN BIEBER FAN

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dof250 (Post 595550)

So its 1ghz + 600dsp vs n900 1ghz + 500dsp. But it are 2 different processors, not comparable!

it dsnt have a dedicated graphics proc. draw!!

Re: Overclock the N900?

As far as I understand it, the dsp is used by the GSM radio, and can be programmed by the host for arbitrary code execution (some people mentioned video codecs but I'd be surprised if that was true).

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nax3000 (Post 595565)

I don't really get what the DSP speed actually does.. Could someone kindly explain it to me please?

worth reading

http://www.schleef.org/blog/2009/11/...dsp-and-omap3/

http://www.wave-report.com/tutorials/DSP.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signal_processor

''DSPs are not the same as typical microprocessors though. Microprocessors are typically general purpose devices that run large blocks of software. They are not often called upon for real-time computation and they work at a slower pace, choosing a course of action, then waiting to finish the present job before responding to the next user command. A DSP, on the other hand, is often used as a type of embedded controller or processor that is built into another piece of equipment and is dedicated to a single group of tasks. In this environment, the DSP assists the general purpose host microprocessor.''

''DSP chips are used in sound cards, fax machines, modems, cellular phones, high-capacity hard disks and digital TVs. According to Texas Instruments, DSPs are used as the engine in 70% of the world's digital cellular phones, and with the increase in wireless applications, this number will only increase.Digital signal processing is used in many fields including biomedicine, sonar, radar, seismology, speech and music processing, imaging and communications. ''

basically sounds like the dsp is a sidekick for the main processor for secondary tasks that the main cpu tells it to do in the case of the n900 from the 1st link it sounds like the dsp is being told to help with video encoding / video playback etc which is probably why with the dsp overclocked people are seeing better iplayer results

Re: Overclock the N900?

This is absolutely brilliant. I am ecstatic....it's like a brand new machine at 900mhz. I wish it had always been like this. I can"t get over watching video streamed from megavideo with no problems. Fantastic! Thanks to all who explored this and brought it into fruition :)

Re: Overclock the N900?

I have mine at 1000cpu/480dsp now.

Just tried running a demo route in Sygic and while that's running, I started playing a normal xvid video using mplayer. When I go to task switcher, I can see both of them actually running.

Then I go to Conky and it shows 1000Mhz at 100% CONSTANT.
I left it like that for a few minutes. No issues so far. Nice.

TweeGo login screen now shows up 5 seconds from launch. (was 8-9 seconds at 600Mhz)

jakiman's N900 Overclocking Guide

jakiman's N900 Overclocking Guide

Here's my quick guide for the first timers in this thread:
(Summarised information of everything I know about overclocking the N900)

Last Updated - October 31st 2010
- Added "FOR MORE BOOST" section on using a single frequency for both min/max.

Benefits of Overclocking:
- Faster loading of most apps.
- Faster bootup and shutdown.
- Faster / smoother transitions
- Faster game emulation (DrNokSnes, PSX4ALL etc etc)
- Faster camera focusing and image processing.
- Faster multi-tasking. Handle more apps.
- Faster web page rendering. Faster flash playback.
- Umm. Faster in just about everything that can be faster.

Downsides of Overclocking: (potential risks)
- If you put constant full load at maximum speed, it may overheat. Possibly HW damage although rare.
- If cpu cannot handle the overclocked speed, phone will become unstable or not boot up. (apps crash, file corruption etc)
- Possibly reduce the lifetime of the device. (This is just theory and cannot put a exact time on it)
- If max speed is used very frequently, it may use a bit more battery = less runtime. (but not by much still)

Disclaimer - You are fully responsible for any damage / problems caused by overclocking. Not anyone else.
(I am being a little over cautious but better safe than not. =P)

Things you need to know:
- Overclock is done by flashing the modified kernel. Can be done without a PC. Very safe.
- No setting or data gets changed/deleted. So it is a transparent flash.
- In Nokia default settings, N900 scales between 250Mhz and 600Mhz dynamically. (550/600 uses overvoltage even in stock form)
- With custom kernel, it can scale between 125Mhz and 1150Mhz dynamically. (You can change the limits on each end)
- Custom kernel allows you to use lower than stock voltages also. In theory, by using less voltage than what Nokia specified, it may use less power even when overclocked.
- In most normal everyday use, I do not notice any extra battery usage. (in fact, it seems to last longer)
- If something goes wrong after installing the new kernel, it's easy to revert back and deinstall.
- Majority have reported theirs to work fine up to 850Mhz very easily. (mine runs stable even at 1.1Ghz!)
- Also, titan's kernel-power-settings profiles overclock not just the CPU but the DSP. (although very slightly)
- The real-life benefits of DSP overclocking is not yet certain it seems. (although, we know it is used by video/audio decoding at least)
- There is no accurate cpu temperature monitoring app / widget / script available. (this is a hardware limitation. No accessible cpu temp sensor!) Only battery temp sensor is available. (cannot rely on it too much)
- We currently have no extensive data to determine what short term or long term damage this will do to your N900.
- What we do know is that it makes the N900 super duper fast and to most, that's all that matters it seems. :p

Success Rates
- These percentages are my own totally non-scientific but slightly educated yet conservative estimates.
- What I mean by stable is that it won't cause issues in everyday use including up to 30minutes of constant use of game emulator or watching flash videos etc.
- I'm assuming that you are using titan's kernel and using lv voltage profile.

99.9% should be stable at 700Mhz
90% should be stable at 800Mhz
75% should be stable at 900Mhz
30% should be stable at 1.0Ghz
10% should be stable at 1.1Ghz
5% should be stable at 1.15Ghz

Instructions on how to overclock:

Installing titan's kernel from HAM / xterminal (no need for PC):
- With this kernel, you can go up to 1.15Ghz if you tell it to! (Obviously, no guarantee it'll work stably with your N900 and definitely not recommended on your first attempt)
- No need for scary flashing either. Just install, shutdown and reboot. Easy.
- Even after you install and reboot, it's not overclocked by default. (250-600MHz) So it's 99.9999% safe.
- Titan's kernel is PR1.3 compatible.
- To see a table with what profile uses what voltages, see this:
http://wiki.maemo.org/Overclocking#Summary

My simple steps:

It's best to have extras-devel repository disabled if enabled and just have extras and extras-testing enabled. (unless you require the extra features that the extras-devel version brings and don't mind the risks)
Install "rootsh" from application manager.
Install "Enhanced Linux kernel for power users (settings)" (section 'system' in application manager).
(This should also install "Enhanced Linux kernel for power users" which is the custom kernel aka titan's kernel)
(UPDATE: Seems dependency is removed. So you will need to install both packages separately. Order does not matter.)
Shutdown the phone and power back up again.
Then launch xterminal, and follow these steps below:

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...postcount=3412

Basically, if you want to try the lv profile (Little bit lower voltage than stock default) and overclock to 850Mhz (min 250 max 850), type following commands in xterminal:

Code:

sudo gainroot

kernel-config load lv

kernel-config limits 250 850

6. Verify that it is working typing "kernel-config show" in xterminal to see what profile settings are currently loaded.

Now your N900 is overclocked to 850Mhz using slightly less voltage than stock!!

Now, if you want to try lower voltages, just replace "lv" with ulv, xlv or ideal. Where DEFAUL > LV > ULV > XLV > IDEAL.
(note that IDEAL's lowest default frequency is 500Mhz but you can change this as mentioned later on)

You can also change the maximum frequency to 900, 950, 1000, 1050, 1100 or 1150.
If you hit a frequency where it's unstable, crashes or reboots, either lower your frequency or try a higher voltage profile.

7. If you reboot, the overclock is reset back to default. So you will need to re-enable the overclock. (this is the safest way to avoid a constant reboot upon applying a unstable overclock although titan's kernel now has protection against this ever happening) I recommend you use the Queen Beecon Widget method I mentioned below on this guide.

If you do want to set an overclock profile to auto-load upon boot up, use the following command:

Code:

 

sudo gainroot

kernel-config load lv

kernel-config limits 250 850

kernel-config save myprofile1

kernel-config default myprofile1

Above is an example where I will load the lv voltage profile, then set the limits to 250-850 and then save it as "myprofile1" and then set it as the default profile at bootup. Now, when you reboot, it will auto-load myprofile1 profile with lv voltages and 250-850 frequencies.

================================================== ===

FOR EVEN MORE BOOST

Fixing the frequency to a single value and not allowing it to scale itself ondemand can result in better response speed and overall a smoother experience. (I'm now running mine at 1000Mhz constantly. Both min and max value as 1000 with all other values in the avoid frequency list)

Read here for more info / instructions:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...postcount=4917

----------

AVOID FREQUENCY INFO

ideal profile avoids 125 and 250Mhz by default. So loading ideal profile will only go down to 500Mhz as its lowest frequency. This is intentional and is found to make your N900 more responsive but not use more battery or harm your N900 still. (with the help of lower voltages)

To enable frequency down to 125Mhz, just run the following command to blank out the avoid frequencies.

Code:

 

echo > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ondemand/avoid_frequencies

If you then want to avoid 125Mhz and only go down to 250Mhz, type the following afterwards:

Code:

 

echo 125000 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/ondemand/avoid_frequencies

================================================== ===

Going to lower voltage than "ideal" profile:
- This is only recommended to push your N900's limits even more.

Tonism has created his own starving profile which uses even less voltage than titan's ideal profile.
As it uses very low voltages, it may be unstable if your cpu is not good enough. If it works fine, benefits are that it uses less power.
Titan's settings package now includes the starving profile also for you to try out.

Voltage Chart: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...072#post646072

Type following to load starving voltage profile:

Code:

kernel-config load starving

Of course, you can change the limits just the same like any other voltage profile. All the way up to 1150Mhz!

================================================== ===

Overclocking from your desktop using QBW:
- Now that you know a thing about overclocking, here is a good way to instantly change your overclock whenever you want conveniently straight from your desktop.
- I recommend you use the Queen Beecon Widget to control the overclock by simply clicking on QBW buttons.

Quick easy starters guide by bakuur:
- http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=61709

or

My own installation steps are in below post:
- http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=668577&postcount=3947

Example screenshot with QBW buttons to instantly change overclock profiles whenever I want.
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/5...0052109205.png

===============================================

How to revert back to non-overclocked factory stock kernel state:

Instructions: http://wiki.maemo.org/Kernel_Power#Deinstallation

==============================================

Overclocking Nitdroid:

FYI
- power.conf is the same conf file syntax as the titan's kernel on the Maemo5 OS for overclocking.

Jay-C's Official NITDroid overclocking guide:
- Please refer to official guide now.
- http://forum.nitdroid.com/index.php?topic=116.0

==============================================

Benchmarking - Show how fast your N900 has become!
Matan has provided us with nbench for us to run tests and get comparable numbers within Maemo5.
Go here - http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=49705

===

Special thanks to lehto, titan, dj_steve and jay-c for helping out and allowing overclocking to happen.

Re: Overclock the N900?

this is awesome! i just flashed to 800mhz and a quick test with streaming video shows a huge improvement. i want to do 900mhz but its getting pretty warm here and 800mhz seems good enough for now.

Re: Overclock the N900?

950mhz 500dsp

loaded fine , boots fine , seems fast and smooth , no artifacts or glitches or lags , overall u/i speed improovements , not noticed any extra heat , idle speeds are not eratic , phone is fine to use , battery life not monitored yet , camera start up seems quicker , iplayer improovements , boot up time of handset seems quicker , so speed improovements all round really

so far so good with that kernel too

nice work lehto mate

edit
gallery is super quick compared to what it was , camera speed is defently improoved

Re: Overclock the N900?

I can't even get my n900 into update mode wtf lolz

Havent o/c'd it yet; wanting to but it's acting up

Re: Overclock the N900?

Nice tutorial, it sounds simple enough.:p

I'm going to hold off doing this and monitor how people are getting on after a few days of overclocking, i see many users which have OC who share similar interests with me with there phones,so i will keep my eye on this thread regarding their results.

Hope all goes well for you all.

Re: Overclock the N900?

I flashed the "fiasco" way with the 800mhz version (Droid is rock solid for three months with 800mhz max).

Xterminal stated it was flashing, but how do I see what the current clock speed is? Everything seems smoother, but could be a placebo until I confirm. Then again, Flash video and games play smoother for sure, but still want to confirm ;)

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rushmore (Post 595615)

I did in the "fiasco" way with the 800mhz version (Droid is rock solid for three months with 800mhz max).

Xterminal stated it was flashing, but how do I see what the current clock speed is? Everything seems smoother, but could be a placebo until I confirm. Then again, Flash video and games play smoother for sure, but still want to confirm ;)

Use Conky to see clock speed

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewG (Post 595618)

Use Conky to see clock speed

Thanks! Min is 125mhz and max is 800mhz :) Observations:

1. Does not seem to get any warmer than 600mhz
2. Flash vids in browser are now smooth as butter :)
3. Ditto for a lot of Flash games that were herky jerky :)
4. MAME and PSX4ALL also play smoother :)
5. The kernel appears to scale in the (five?) steps very well and when you would expect the mhz steps to go up and down.
6. N900 is now the device it was meant to be :) ;)

The N900 appears to handle 800mhz just as well as the Droid and that has been clocked by thousands from 800mhz to 1ghz :) People are doing 1.2ghz too, but they run into a lot of heat and freeze issues.

3430 seems to (on average) hit its "safe" ceiling after breaching 1ghz.

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessi3k3 (Post 595380)

If you guys want to benchmark the browser after you've overclocked, i'd suggest you run this benchmark in full screen

http://www2.webkit.org/perf/sunspide...sunspider.html

I know it's a webkit benchmark, but it should be a pretty good measure when comparing different clock speeds.

If you run the benchmark, make sure to note your score (should be the Total up top) and any overclocks you've done.

For me: 37233.6ms @ 600mhz (stock)

26217.2ms +/- 2.2% @ 900 Mhz

Re: Overclock the N900?

Just upped mine to 900mhz - 500DSP

Conversations still stutters to open, and when clicking on conversations with people. Is this normal due to the way Conversations is rendered?

Re: Overclock the N900?

I was wondering if overclocking the DSP would increase the cell signal since the DSP is involved in the GSM part of the phone. I live in a good 3.5G area but house blocks almost all signals, get maybe 1-2 bars if lucky. I was wondering if there is a way to increase the signal by modding the phone.

I am currently running the Lehto 125-900mhz kernel

Re: Overclock the N900?

Can we actually poll the temperature sensor inside the N900 or the CPU? (is there any?)

Re: Overclock the N900?

25551.4 ms +/- 2,8% @ 950mhz - 500DSP

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakiman (Post 595684)

Can we actually poll the temperature sensor inside the N900 or the CPU? (is there any?)

just had a look and it looks like /sys/devices/platform/omap34xx_temp/temp1_input shows the current temperature in celcius

(i.e. type "cat /sys/devices/platform/omap34xx_temp/temp1_input" in xterm)

Re: Overclock the N900?

I'm going to try this. N900 is getting better over time at last!

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shanezlar (Post 595691)

just had a look and it looks like /sys/devices/platform/omap34xx_temp/temp1_input shows the current temperature in celcius

(i.e. type "cat /sys/devices/platform/omap34xx_temp/temp1_input" in xterm)

Hmm. Mine says 31. But no matter how much CPU I use, it stays at 31 and never changes.

Re: Overclock the N900?

Im Running 930mhz+500mhz dsp

Like most people said smoother over all, flash runs better, Alot less "wait" time for sound to come back after a notification sound.

Ive had no problems with stability or heat.
once we get temp readings, we need to make a wiki entry or something with info, benchmarks and such.

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakiman (Post 595702)

Hmm. Mine says 31. But no matter how much CPU I use, it stays at 31 and never changes.

Im at 930mhz and 500mhz dsp and myne reads 40; this is with a 3 hour uptime.

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ear0wax (Post 595708)

Im at 930mhz and 500mhz dsp and myne reads 40; this is with a 3 hour uptime.

Yeah. I'm at 1000/480 and I'm at 31degrees constant no matter how much stress I put on the cpu.
So I don't think this value is being changes constantly or I have some super awesome hardware. :p

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakiman (Post 595702)

Hmm. Mine says 31. But no matter how much CPU I use, it stays at 31 and never changes.

Mine says 40.
Even if I load the thing up with browser, angry birds, mplayer with video running it stays at 40.
I haven't flashed yet so am still on stock kernel.

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakiman (Post 595702)

Hmm. Mine says 31. But no matter how much CPU I use, it stays at 31 and never changes.

Yeah, it seem to be either kind of slow or have a low resolution.

My device felt slightly warm before and the value was at (I think) 35. I closed some apps and let it idle and now the value is at 27. So it does work (somehow).

But as I'm writing this I am trying to get the temperature up again without success...

Re: Overclock the N900?

Ye ill feel 100 confident about this mod if someone could....

• Created a widget with the temp
• auto shutdown feature once it reaches a high temp

Re: Overclock the N900?

According to Igor, it seems the sensor readings are not easily accessible from the terminal?
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/list...rs/58023#58023

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by m165 (Post 595678)

Just upped mine to 900mhz - 500DSP

Conversations still stutters to open, and when clicking on conversations with people. Is this normal due to the way Conversations is rendered?

Where did u find this file plss?? ive been looking for this..

bench test 24845.8MS +/-1.2% MICROB
running 930/500dsp at the moment... im going to flash 900/stock dsp and give results

Re: Overclock the N900?

I am debating going to the 900mhz kernel. Super easy with the "fiasco" flash process on the N900 :) I have two computers with XP and Vista 32 bit, but do not see the point since the OC process can be done without a computer.

Still, I am happy with 800mhz, so might just stay with it.

Re: Overclock the N900?

What repo is fiasco flasher in? Don't seem to have the binary on my device.

Re: Overclock the N900?

Quote:

Originally Posted by UNderworld (Post 595724)

Where did u find this file plss?? ive been looking for this..

bench test 24845.8MS +/-1.2% MICROB
running 930/500dsp at the moment... im going to flash 900/stock dsp and give results

http://www.saunalahti.fi/crailt/zImage-900mhz-500dsp