How To speed up your Transformer Prime:
For the sake of organization, I'm going to split this guide into three parts: Those who just want to do a few clicks and get a faster prime, those who are willing to do a little more work, and root-based solutions (advanced).
For Everyone:
1. Change the power-usage mode under Asus customized setting to “Performance”.
2. Uninstall apps that you don't use. (Settings, apps, downloaded, scroll and tap an app, uninstall) The more free space you have, the faster your prime will be.
3. Alternatively, if you have an app that you rarely use, but don't want to uninstall, you can move it to the sd card. Note that apps running off the sd card will probably be slower, widgets and apps that start on boot won't work, won't work if you remove the sd card (kinda obvious), and will take up space on your sd card. This is the button next to uninstall in settings.
4. Cut down on the number of items on your homescreen. (read: WIDGETS). This will not only speed up your prime, but also improve battery life. Also set the widgets that you do have to update less often (~6-8 hours I find is good)
5. Ditch the live wallpaper. I know it looks awesome, but it chews battery and cpu cycles. No live wallpaper=Faster and longer lasting.
6. Head into Settings, accounts, and tap your google account. Most likely, you have a ton of google services automatically syncing. Do you use all of them? Uncheck any of the ones that you don't.
---------- Post Merged at 06:06 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:06 PM ----------
For those willing to do a little tinkering:
1. Grab your favorite file manager (Solid Explorer is my favorite) and get ready to go digging through your internal and external sd cards. A lot of large apps (especially games) have you download a separate resource pack for the game to run. When uninstalling, the packs should be deleted, but they often aren't. Hunt through your storage and look for any folders that belong to apps that have been deleted. (Look in root, app, and data.). Note: Don't delete random stuff just because you don't recognize it, remember, your music, movies, saved games, and pictures are all stored there, so be careful!
2. Hunt down rogue cpu-eating apps with Watchdog. Unlike normal task managers, watchdog automatically looks for apps that use cpu above a set threshold. SystemPanel is also good to see what is eating your battery and cpu cycles.
3. Install an alternative launcher. I'm currently running the free version of Nova Launcher and the difference between stock and nova is insane. Raw speed alone is more than enough reason to switch, but Nova has additional customization options that really make this one a no brainer. Also, if you don't use all 5 of the stock homescreens, you can remove the ones you don't use.
4. Install an alternative browser. Opera Mini and Dolphin Mobile are both reputed to be extremely fast, and if you don't care for the stock browser's thumb controls or chrome's awesome sync features, than consider grabbing one of the real speed demons.
5. Grab a cache cleaning app. There are a ton on the market, I personally like app2sd Free, because it also tells me what apps can be moved to the sd card to save space. You can also set some of them to automatically clean caches.
6. Install Carat. This is intended to analyze your battery and tell you what is using it, and to offer recommendations. However, as battery-intensive tasks are usually heavy on the cpu cycles as well, this app will definitely help you quash those processor-hungry apps.
---------- Post Merged at 06:06 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:06 PM ----------
Whatever it takes: Rooting
0. This guide assumes you have already unlocked your bootloader and rooted, and that a custom recovery is installed. If you haven't, head over to xda and follow the guides there. (Asus Transformer Prime Hacking-XDA Developers). Note: the unlock app has been malfunctioning for some people as of 9/13/12. I'll continue to update this as new info becomes available. Note that I am not responsible for anything that may happen to your tablet as a result of these modifications. I am simply informing you of things you may to do speed up your prime, YOU are choosing to undertake them. Also note that I am deliberately trying to scare you. Rooting is not something to be taken lightly. Do your homework, read, read, ask questions, and than read again BEFORE you do anything.
1. Change the cache size for the sd card for blazing read-write speeds. Install Cachemate for Root Users and change the default cache size on your sd card for faster read-write performance.
2. Flash a custom kernel. Reboot into recovery by turning the prime off, than hold the volume down and power buttons until the recovery screen appears. If you don't know how to flash a kernel, than you should have read more from wherever you got the kernel, and should probably not proceed until you know what you're doing a little better.
3. Grab a copy of setcpu (requires a custom kernel), either the paid (and updated)version on Google Play, or the free (but not updated) version Over at XDA. Now, you can set profiles to overclock the prime (run it's processor at a faster speed than it is factory set too). NOTE!!!!: IF YOU RUN IT TOO HIGH, YOU CAN PHYSICALLY DAMAGE YOUR PRIME, AND POTENTIALLY CAUSE A HARDWARE BRICK, FROM WHICH THERE IS NO RECOVERING!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Make sure to set a profile that rapidly scales down the cpu if the temp gets above 40 degrees Celcius.
4. Uninstall Bloatware that comes shipped with the Prime. Don't like Asus magazine, asus sync, or any other of those confusing-looking icons that lead to who-knows what app? DELETE 'EM. You can either use a file manager and delete them from system/app, or use a dedicated app like titanium backup. WARNING: DELETE THE WRONG STUFF, AND YOUR PRIME DOESN'T WORK. YOU WILL HAVE TO REFLASH THE ROM FROM RECOVERY.
5. Factory Reset your tablet. Note that this will delete all of your data, but almost always, this will speed up your prime immensely. Your Contacts, gmail, books, movies, etc. will automatically sync when you log into your google account. Your apps should automatically redownload when you log in to the play store, but this feature is reportedly unreliable. Thus, I recommend that you root, install Titanium Backup, create a complete backup, copy it to your computer, and than factory reset. Move the backup back over, redownload titanium, and than restore the backup. Recreate the market links between the restored apps and the market (basically, reconfigure it so that you receive app updates via the play store). Restore user app's data (big problems occur when you restore data for system updates), and than you're back on track.
6. (Flashers, you know this is coming) The biggest thing you can do you to speed up your prime is to wipe your data and flash a custom ROM. Note that this WILL wipe your data, and restoring a titanium backup between different ROMs is a very good way to cause big problems. (You can make a backup and restore on the same version of the same ROM. Say if this is unclear). To avoid permanently losing any data, I would recommend making a nandroid backup. This is done by booting into recovery and than choosing the backup option. Just a heads-up, these backups are massive (~1/2 gb), so make sure you have a fairly large sd card. This is like taking a screenshot of your entire tablet, restoring a nandroid will copy your tablet to EXACTLY the way it was when you made the backup. This includes overwriting ROMs (for example, if I make a nand backup while on the Androwook Prime ROM, than flash the Cm10 nightlies, than restore the backup, I will be back on androwook). First time Flashers will be amazed by the speed added by the ROM. This is the best way to speed up your tablet, however, it's a big step.
So, I hope this guide has helped. Post any questions, or if you have any other ways to speed up your prime.
For the sake of organization, I'm going to split this guide into three parts: Those who just want to do a few clicks and get a faster prime, those who are willing to do a little more work, and root-based solutions (advanced).
For Everyone:
1. Change the power-usage mode under Asus customized setting to “Performance”.
2. Uninstall apps that you don't use. (Settings, apps, downloaded, scroll and tap an app, uninstall) The more free space you have, the faster your prime will be.
3. Alternatively, if you have an app that you rarely use, but don't want to uninstall, you can move it to the sd card. Note that apps running off the sd card will probably be slower, widgets and apps that start on boot won't work, won't work if you remove the sd card (kinda obvious), and will take up space on your sd card. This is the button next to uninstall in settings.
4. Cut down on the number of items on your homescreen. (read: WIDGETS). This will not only speed up your prime, but also improve battery life. Also set the widgets that you do have to update less often (~6-8 hours I find is good)
5. Ditch the live wallpaper. I know it looks awesome, but it chews battery and cpu cycles. No live wallpaper=Faster and longer lasting.
6. Head into Settings, accounts, and tap your google account. Most likely, you have a ton of google services automatically syncing. Do you use all of them? Uncheck any of the ones that you don't.
---------- Post Merged at 06:06 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:06 PM ----------
For those willing to do a little tinkering:
1. Grab your favorite file manager (Solid Explorer is my favorite) and get ready to go digging through your internal and external sd cards. A lot of large apps (especially games) have you download a separate resource pack for the game to run. When uninstalling, the packs should be deleted, but they often aren't. Hunt through your storage and look for any folders that belong to apps that have been deleted. (Look in root, app, and data.). Note: Don't delete random stuff just because you don't recognize it, remember, your music, movies, saved games, and pictures are all stored there, so be careful!
2. Hunt down rogue cpu-eating apps with Watchdog. Unlike normal task managers, watchdog automatically looks for apps that use cpu above a set threshold. SystemPanel is also good to see what is eating your battery and cpu cycles.
3. Install an alternative launcher. I'm currently running the free version of Nova Launcher and the difference between stock and nova is insane. Raw speed alone is more than enough reason to switch, but Nova has additional customization options that really make this one a no brainer. Also, if you don't use all 5 of the stock homescreens, you can remove the ones you don't use.
4. Install an alternative browser. Opera Mini and Dolphin Mobile are both reputed to be extremely fast, and if you don't care for the stock browser's thumb controls or chrome's awesome sync features, than consider grabbing one of the real speed demons.
5. Grab a cache cleaning app. There are a ton on the market, I personally like app2sd Free, because it also tells me what apps can be moved to the sd card to save space. You can also set some of them to automatically clean caches.
6. Install Carat. This is intended to analyze your battery and tell you what is using it, and to offer recommendations. However, as battery-intensive tasks are usually heavy on the cpu cycles as well, this app will definitely help you quash those processor-hungry apps.
---------- Post Merged at 06:06 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:06 PM ----------
Whatever it takes: Rooting
0. This guide assumes you have already unlocked your bootloader and rooted, and that a custom recovery is installed. If you haven't, head over to xda and follow the guides there. (Asus Transformer Prime Hacking-XDA Developers). Note: the unlock app has been malfunctioning for some people as of 9/13/12. I'll continue to update this as new info becomes available. Note that I am not responsible for anything that may happen to your tablet as a result of these modifications. I am simply informing you of things you may to do speed up your prime, YOU are choosing to undertake them. Also note that I am deliberately trying to scare you. Rooting is not something to be taken lightly. Do your homework, read, read, ask questions, and than read again BEFORE you do anything.
1. Change the cache size for the sd card for blazing read-write speeds. Install Cachemate for Root Users and change the default cache size on your sd card for faster read-write performance.
2. Flash a custom kernel. Reboot into recovery by turning the prime off, than hold the volume down and power buttons until the recovery screen appears. If you don't know how to flash a kernel, than you should have read more from wherever you got the kernel, and should probably not proceed until you know what you're doing a little better.
3. Grab a copy of setcpu (requires a custom kernel), either the paid (and updated)version on Google Play, or the free (but not updated) version Over at XDA. Now, you can set profiles to overclock the prime (run it's processor at a faster speed than it is factory set too). NOTE!!!!: IF YOU RUN IT TOO HIGH, YOU CAN PHYSICALLY DAMAGE YOUR PRIME, AND POTENTIALLY CAUSE A HARDWARE BRICK, FROM WHICH THERE IS NO RECOVERING!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Make sure to set a profile that rapidly scales down the cpu if the temp gets above 40 degrees Celcius.
4. Uninstall Bloatware that comes shipped with the Prime. Don't like Asus magazine, asus sync, or any other of those confusing-looking icons that lead to who-knows what app? DELETE 'EM. You can either use a file manager and delete them from system/app, or use a dedicated app like titanium backup. WARNING: DELETE THE WRONG STUFF, AND YOUR PRIME DOESN'T WORK. YOU WILL HAVE TO REFLASH THE ROM FROM RECOVERY.
5. Factory Reset your tablet. Note that this will delete all of your data, but almost always, this will speed up your prime immensely. Your Contacts, gmail, books, movies, etc. will automatically sync when you log into your google account. Your apps should automatically redownload when you log in to the play store, but this feature is reportedly unreliable. Thus, I recommend that you root, install Titanium Backup, create a complete backup, copy it to your computer, and than factory reset. Move the backup back over, redownload titanium, and than restore the backup. Recreate the market links between the restored apps and the market (basically, reconfigure it so that you receive app updates via the play store). Restore user app's data (big problems occur when you restore data for system updates), and than you're back on track.
6. (Flashers, you know this is coming) The biggest thing you can do you to speed up your prime is to wipe your data and flash a custom ROM. Note that this WILL wipe your data, and restoring a titanium backup between different ROMs is a very good way to cause big problems. (You can make a backup and restore on the same version of the same ROM. Say if this is unclear). To avoid permanently losing any data, I would recommend making a nandroid backup. This is done by booting into recovery and than choosing the backup option. Just a heads-up, these backups are massive (~1/2 gb), so make sure you have a fairly large sd card. This is like taking a screenshot of your entire tablet, restoring a nandroid will copy your tablet to EXACTLY the way it was when you made the backup. This includes overwriting ROMs (for example, if I make a nand backup while on the Androwook Prime ROM, than flash the Cm10 nightlies, than restore the backup, I will be back on androwook). First time Flashers will be amazed by the speed added by the ROM. This is the best way to speed up your tablet, however, it's a big step.
So, I hope this guide has helped. Post any questions, or if you have any other ways to speed up your prime.
Last edited:
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