Lagging Solutions for N9 - Page 2 - maemo.org

ladoga | # 11 | 2013-06-02, 07:27 | Report

Looks like the resource monitor from ovi store doesn't show buffers/cache, which makes it useless for following RAM usage.

RAM should be in use so that's normal, question is how much of it is used as cache and thus reallocated when some application needs it. Running "free" from the command line would be more informative.

Code:

~ $ free -m
             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:           985          760          224            0           17
-/+ buffers:                743          241
Swap:          412           94          317

Above shows that here we have 241 MB free (free memory + buffered memory) for applications to claim. Even when there are no apps running that are started by you the most of stock applications are prestarted by start up scripts (see all those -prestart flags in top output) and thus using the RAM. I suppose it's made that way so that quick response of basic functions (phone calls, web browser, etc.) would be guaranteed. Above output is from N9 with current uptime of 29 days.

@Yisroel.
Your top output seems to be cropped from the right side so names of the processes aren't shown. Try to print out something like this:

Code:

Mem: 778016K used, 230632K free, 0K shrd, 18144K buff, 296660K cached
CPU:  0.3% usr  0.5% sys  0.0% nic 99.0% idle  0.0% io  0.0% irq  0.0% sirq
Load average: 0.00 0.01 0.00 1/353 12708
  PID  PPID USER     STAT   VSZ %VSZ %CPU COMMAND
12708 12671 user     R     3104  0.3  0.4 top -n 2
  364     1 root     S <   1776  0.1  0.2 /sbin/dsme -p /lib/dsme/libstartup.so
  945     1 user     S <   202m 20.4  0.0 /usr/bin/meego-im-uiserver -remote-theme -use-self-composition
10804   897 user     S     193m 19.5  0.0 /usr/bin/fenix -prestart
11148   897 user     S     178m 17.9  0.0 /usr/bin/call-history -prestart
 2832   897 user     S     177m 17.9  0.0 /usr/bin/camera-ui -prestart
 1871   897 user     S     172m 17.3  0.0 /usr/bin/organiser -prestart
 6235   897 user     S     169m 17.0  0.0 /usr/bin/messaging-ui -prestart
  952     1 user     S <   159m 16.1  0.0 /usr/bin/meegotouchhome -remote-theme -upstart -graphicssystem meego -prestart
  918     1 user     S <   159m 16.1  0.0 /usr/bin/sysuid -graphicssystem meego
 1826   897 user     S     156m 15.8  0.0 /usr/bin/contacts -prestart
11047   897 user     S <   155m 15.6  0.0 /usr/bin/grob -prestart
11166   897 user     S     136m 13.7  0.0 /usr/bin/call-ui -prestart
  993   897 user     S <   125m 12.6  0.0 /usr/bin/conndlgs
 5540   897 user     S     115m 11.6  0.0 /usr/bin/duicontrolpanel.launch -appletloader -outprocess
  995   897 user     S N   113m 11.4  0.0 /usr/bin/applifed.x
12557   897 user     S <   113m 11.4  0.0 booster-m
10784   897 user     S <   110m 11.1  0.0 booster-d
 1438  1326 user     S N   109m 11.0  0.0 msgindexer
 1773     1 user     S <   108m 10.9  0.0 /usr/bin/commhistoryd
 1636     1 user     S N   105m 10.6  0.0 /usr/bin/contactsd
 2229  2223 user     S <   104m 10.5  0.0 {n9-button-monit} /usr/bin/python /opt/n9-button-monitor/n9-button-monitor.py
  897     1 user     S <   103m 10.4  0.0 /usr/bin/applauncherd.bin --re-exec                                                   
 5455   897 user     S <   103m 10.4  0.0 booster-q

It would be also nice if TMO had [code] tags that didn't wrap the lines. :/

Last edited by ladoga; 2013-06-02 at 10:43.

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tortoisedoc | # 12 | 2013-06-02, 08:11 | Report

Originally Posted by Yisroel491 View Post

i guess this is what you're asking to see?

Hah.
Funny, I posted somehow related thread on memory consumption a way back (don't have the time to look it up).
The reply I got was "linux uses all the available memory by default".

I also noticed phone lagging VERY much once RAM is 100% full (and swap is necessary). This makes sense as flash is slow(seems to be especially slow on N9 but that is my own opinion).

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ladoga | # 13 | 2013-06-02, 10:35 | Report

Originally Posted by tortoisedoc View Post

Hah.
Funny, I posted somehow related thread on memory consumption a way back (don't have the time to look it up).
The reply I got was "linux uses all the available memory by default".

I also noticed phone lagging VERY much once RAM is 100% full (and swap is necessary). This makes sense as flash is slow(seems to be especially slow on N9 but that is my own opinion).

N9 reserves a portion of RAM for swap (ramzswap) so no flash storage is used by swap as default. If I understand correctly the system compresses pages and then stores them into ramdisk. I don't know what is the performance hit of (de)compressing pages, but it's probably much faster than using flash based swap.

Bit off-topic, but the performance of N9's flash storage seems to vary quite wildly from N9 to another, Maybe Nokia aquired chips from several sources.

For example I have two N9's which give very different results using hdparm.:

Rev. 1603 Serial: 5093798

Code:

~ # for i in {1 2 3}; do hdparm -tT /dev/mmcblk0 2>/dev/null; done

/dev/mmcblk0:
Timing buffer-cache reads:   280 MB in 0.51 seconds = 561679 kB/s
Timing buffered disk reads:   94 MB in 3.00 seconds = 32071 kB/s

/dev/mmcblk0:
Timing buffer-cache reads:   280 MB in 0.50 seconds = 562285 kB/s
Timing buffered disk reads:   95 MB in 3.02 seconds = 32176 kB/s

/dev/mmcblk0:
Timing buffer-cache reads:   302 MB in 0.51 seconds = 604549 kB/s
Timing buffered disk reads:   95 MB in 3.02 seconds = 32137 kB/s

Rev. 1603 Serial: 2354235

Code:

~ # for i in {1 2 3}; do hdparm -tT /dev/mmcblk0 2>/dev/null; done

/dev/mmcblk0:
Timing buffer-cache reads:   138 MB in 0.51 seconds = 276993 kB/s
Timing buffered disk reads:   80 MB in 3.00 seconds = 27297 kB/s

/dev/mmcblk0:
Timing buffer-cache reads:   144 MB in 0.51 seconds = 288364 kB/s
Timing buffered disk reads:   79 MB in 3.02 seconds = 26757 kB/s

/dev/mmcblk0:
Timing buffer-cache reads:   152 MB in 0.51 seconds = 305113 kB/s
Timing buffered disk reads:   81 MB in 3.01 seconds = 27466 kB/s

Even with those differences both devices are equally smooth in normal use. Maybe loading of uncached apps takes slightly longer on serial 2354235, but I wouldn't notice really. Both devices are pretty much lag free unless they are downloading feeds and I'm navigating between views or scrolling the apps/events view at the same time.

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Yisroel491 | # 14 | 2013-06-02, 11:40 | Report

okay it was difficult to maneuver but i managed to copy top's output from landscape mode.

Code:

Mem: 980084K used, 28564K free, 0K shrd, 37772K buff, 443284K cached
CPU: 27.5% usr  5.1% sys  0.0% nic 66.9% idle  0.0% io  0.3% irq  0.0% sirq
Load average: 0.40 0.35 0.19 1/362 10180
  PID  PPID USER     STAT   VSZ %VSZ %CPU COMMAND
10078     1 user     S <  86728  8.5 24.0 /usr/bin/meego-terminal
  558     1 root     S <  82504  8.1  3.6 /usr/bin/Xorg -logfile /tmp/Xorg.0.log -cor
 1124     1 user     S     149m 15.0  0.9 /usr/bin/sysuid -graphicssystem meego
  641     1 root     S    21700  2.1  0.9 /usr/sbin/sensord
10180 10081 user     R <   2164  0.2  0.5 top
 2553     1 user     S <  60540  5.9  0.3 /opt/theshaketorch/bin/theshaketorchd
  565     1 root     S <   7288  0.7  0.3 /sbin/mce --force-syslog
  355     1 messageb S <   6144  0.6  0.3 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --system --nofork
  531     2 root     SW       0  0.0  0.3 [sgx_misr]
   56     2 root     SW       0  0.0  0.3 [irq/221-atmel_m]
  630     1 csd      S    11604  1.1  0.1 /usr/sbin/csd -z -p call autorej=0,autoans=
  624   513 root     S     4184  0.4  0.1 {hald-addon-inpu} hald-addon-input: Listeni
  870     2 root     SW       0  0.0  0.1 [ipolldevd]
  287     2 root     SW       0  0.0  0.1 [sgx_perf]
 6709     1 user     S <   219m 22.1  0.0 /usr/bin/meego-im-uiserver -remote-theme -u
 6250   876 user     S     196m 19.7  0.0 /usr/bin/fenix -prestart
 9687   876 user     S <   192m 19.3  0.0 /opt/forum-qml/bin/forum-qml --tmo
 2272   876 user     S     180m 18.2  0.0 /usr/bin/camera-ui -prestart
 1599   876 user     S     176m 17.8  0.0 /usr/bin/call-history -prestart
 1824   876 user     S     173m 17.4  0.0 /usr/bin/messaging-ui -prestart
 9681   876 user     S     172m 17.3  0.0 /usr/bin/grob -prestart

edit
and here's the output for free.

Code:

~ $ free -m
             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:           985          956           28            0           34
-/+ buffers:                921           63
Swap:          255           10          245

p.s. i'm not sure if y'all appreciate the severity and extent of my computer illiteracy. i don't understand more than 5% of what anyone is saying. on the other hand you can see that i am capable of following instructions. still i understand if i have exceeded the supply of patience and tolerance for newbie ignorance available within the relatively advanced community of TMO.

Last edited by Yisroel491; 2013-06-02 at 12:05.

tortoisedoc | # 15 | 2013-06-02, 11:48 | Report

Originally Posted by ladoga View Post

Bit off-topic, but the performance of N9's flash storage seems to vary quite wildly from N9 to another, Maybe Nokia aquired chips from several sources.

Might also depend on the battery level of each device - and / or battery qualiy?

Yisroel491 | # 16 | 2013-06-02, 12:34 | Report

Originally Posted by ladoga View Post

It would be also nice if TMO had [code] tags that didn't wrap the lines. :/

apparently the TMO app doesn't wrap the lines.

it just cuts them off. lol. but in landscape you can get pretty much the whole line. probably not the best solution especially if you want to be on your desktop.

Last edited by Yisroel491; 2013-06-02 at 12:39.

Jeffrey04 | # 17 | 2013-06-03, 13:43 | Report

Originally Posted by Yisroel491 View Post

I've installed fasterN9 and still suffering tons of lag especially playing urban fat burner. are there any other easy methods of speeding up the phone?

ever tried playing without sound effect and bgm? not really a solution, but gameplay should be smoother

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AndyNokia232 | # 18 | 2013-06-03, 14:38 | Report

You could try using DropCache from the ovi store. It seems to help me and speed my N9 up if it's been busy for a while.

Worth checking out:
http://everythingn9.com/drop-cache-f...an-app-review/

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Yisroel491 | # 19 | 2013-06-03, 15:42 | Report

@Jeffery04
hey that actually worked pretty well. i can actually play urban fat burners now. but like you said it isn't a real remedy for whatever is lagging out the memory. but at least now I'll be able to achieve my anti junk food trophy

@AndyNokia232
picked up and used the app and here are the results:

Code:

Mem: 673224K used, 335424K free, 0K shrd, 12860K buff, 181308K cached
CPU: 76.9% usr 23.0% sys  0.0% nic  0.0% idle  0.0% io  0.0% irq  0.0% sirq
Load average: 0.11 0.32 0.42 3/359 15387
  PID  PPID USER     STAT   VSZ %VSZ %CPU COMMAND
15196     1 user     R <  84336  8.3 38.3 /usr/bin/meego-terminal
14360     1 user     R <   221m 22.3 23.0 /usr/bin/meego-im-uiserver -remote-theme -u
  558     1 root     S <  86540  8.5  7.6 /usr/bin/Xorg -logfile /tmp/Xorg.0.log -cor
  568     1 pulse    S <  49756  4.9  7.6 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --system --high-priorit
10379   876 user     S     203m 20.5  0.0 /usr/bin/fenix -prestart
~ $ free -m
             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:           985          657          327            0           12
-/+ buffers:                644          340
Swap:          255           59          196

definitely freed up some memory. edit: it would be nice to be able to increase my total amount of swap available.

Last edited by Yisroel491; 2013-06-03 at 15:48.

tortoisedoc | # 20 | 2013-06-03, 20:03 | Report

Originally Posted by Yisroel491 View Post

definitely freed up some memory. edit: it would be nice to be able to increase my total amount of swap available.

There was an article on everythingn9 at some point last month I think (about swap)