Enough of the sluggishness -- did a factory reset

[gmichie]

After seeing my Hero slow down considerably over the past month or so and not being able to fix the problem any other way, I finally decided to restore it to factory condition. Before doing so, I purchased and installed MyBackup Pro and backed up all my contacts, photos, music, apps, etc. I know there are ways to do this for free but I didn't have the time to figure them out. Anyway, MyBackup worked flawlessly -- all is restored and the phone is snappier as it was when I bought it. Maybe I'll just have to do this every couple months. The Hero sure is a lot more fun to use when you're not waiting on it to do everything.

 

[unixpsycho]

I found that turning off Location Services greatly sped up my phone after it started lagging. Along with keeping my SMS thread count low, my phone is zippy now.

I also removed some of the bloatware and HTC Location Service.

 

[kelv1ntran]

I found that turning off Location Services greatly sped up my phone after it started lagging. Along with keeping my SMS thread count low, my phone is zippy now.

I also removed some of the bloatware and HTC Location Service.

how do you keep your sms thread count low? just delete them before they get long i'm looking for something that automatically deletes them when they get to "X" length...

also how to you remove the "bloat ware and htc location service"?

 

[mysticaly4u]

how do you keep your sms thread count low? just delete them before they get long i'm looking for something that automatically deletes them when they get to "X" length...

also how to you remove the "bloat ware and htc location service"?

recommended from another thread asking the same question

http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero/6163-deleting-huge-sms-threads-2.html#post37887

 

[toddx]

I've had an issue with sluggishness also, and I've found to things that helped dramatically.

1. Removed Screebl app --> This app keeps your screen on if the phone is in the vertical position. Turning it off improved things dramatically, so I removed it completely.

2. Disable/enable location services --> I found another ip in the FAQ thread that said that if your phone was slow, try disabling location services for 30 seconds, then enable them once again. That's not been much of an issue, since I removed Screebl, but seems to help just the same.

Todd

 

[pjwatson104]

I've had an issue with sluggishness also, and I've found to things that helped dramatically.

2. Disable/enable location services --> I found another ip in the FAQ thread that said that if your phone was slow, try disabling location services for 30 seconds, then enable them once again.

Todd

This works great for me... recently though, I haven't really had any issues with lag... I don't know why, I haven't changed how I use my phone.

One also hint is to use the back button to get out of apps. It closes them out. If you hit home, the app stays running. Try it! It works.

 

[unixpsycho]

how do you keep your sms thread count low? just delete them before they get long i'm looking for something that automatically deletes them when they get to "X" length...

also how to you remove the "bloat ware and htc location service"?

Removing the bloatware requires r00ting your phone. The instructions are somewhere on the site. Its a simple task of just deleting the apks or obex's of Sprint crapware, and HTC's Location Manager is one... although itself not buggy, it brings out a bug in Android 1.5 alot quicker.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

One also hint is to use the back button to get out of apps. It closes them out. If you hit home, the app stays running. Try it! It works.

Did you get this from my post out of curiosity? i like feedback to see if its just me or if others benefitted from this info. i haven't had to restart my phone since i was doing this, but do so ocassionally.

 

[wolf1989#AC]

This works great for me... recently though, I haven't really had any issues with lag... I don't know why, I haven't changed how I use my phone.

One also hint is to use the back button to get out of apps. It closes them out. If you hit home, the app stays running. Try it! It works.

The way I was lead to believe is that Linux doesn't actually work that way. Just because one of the task managers says that the app is "running" in the back ground doesn't mean that it is using memory unless your actively accessing the program.

I haven't found the location services to make any difference. What helps me is doing a soft reset every once in awhile.

 

[KSmithInNY]

The way I was lead to believe is that Linux doesn't actually work that way. Just because one of the task managers says that the app is "running" in the back ground doesn't mean that it is using memory unless your actively accessing the program.

I haven't found the location services to make any difference. What helps me is doing a soft reset every once in awhile.

I'm with Wolf. Linux doesnt work like some people are assuming it does.

I posted this in this thread but an article i read suggested doing the following steps to keep Android running fast:

1) By now you should have your "core" apps. When you try a new one and realize you'll never use it again after that initial 5 minutes, delete it. Make this a habit.
2) Delete any downloaded apps you don't use.
3) Clear all SMS and MMS messages. Try not to let your threads build too large.
4) Delete any unnecessary emails
5) Clear cookies, cache, and history in browser
6) Reboot phone.

I do this stuff commonly (maybe once a week) and my Hero is just as quick as it was on the first day.

 

[pjwatson104]

Yep

Did you get this from my post out of curiosity? i like feedback to see if its just me or if others benefitted from this info. i haven't had to restart my phone since i was doing this, but do so ocassionally.

I did indeed. It works great. I used to go into location services, and turn them off and back on again after a few seconds and that would help out... a little. But since I have been backing out instead of pressing home, I have had no issue with sluggishness. Thank you for noticing and posting.

Now if I could only get pictures in gmail to work...

 

[pjwatson104]

I'm with Wolf. Linux doesnt work like some people are assuming it does.

I posted this in this thread but an article i read suggested doing the following steps to keep Android running fast:

1) By now you should have your "core" apps. When you try a new one and realize you'll never use it again after that initial 5 minutes, delete it. Make this a habit.
2) Delete any downloaded apps you don't use.
3) Clear all SMS and MMS messages. Try not to let your threads build too large.
4) Delete any unnecessary emails
5) Clear cookies, cache, and history in browser
6) Reboot phone.

I do this stuff commonly (maybe once a week) and my Hero is just as quick as it was on the first day.

Mine is as well from backing out. I don't know what the difference is. I am not very educated with Linux. I've played around on it, but this actually works for me. I don't know.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

the Linux kernel in Android can be programmed to handle memory management as well. You can define thresholds for when the phone should:
Kill empty processes (apps that aren't running, but are still registered in the RAM)
Kill background processes
Kill active processes
Kill essential processes

I've changed some system files and built a new kernel (thread in Hero ROM forum) that keeps me over 60 Mb free RAM vs. the stock values of ~26 Mb . The difference is amazing.

 

[KSmithInNY]

the Linux kernel in Android can be programmed to handle memory management as well. You can define thresholds for when the phone should:
Kill empty processes (apps that aren't running, but are still registered in the RAM)
Kill background processes
Kill active processes
Kill essential processes

I've changed some system files and built a new kernel (thread in Hero ROM forum) that keeps me over 60 Mb free RAM vs. the stock values of ~26 Mb . The difference is amazing.

I wish I could use this without rooting! Do you ever bump into problems where an application in use exceeds your new values?

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I wish I could use this without rooting! Do you ever bump into problems where an application in use exceeds your new values?

Not yet. I do foresee it being a problem if the app is "big" enough. ATM we're good. It's set pretty conservatively as far as killing active and vital processes. Services like clock, CDMA data, the sprint ril etc. should stay running until the free RAM is less than 6 Mb. At that point the phone should pretty much be a hot brick with no dial tone anyway lol. The biggest boost comes from agressivley killing ghosts/dead processes.

 

[unixpsycho]

Looks like it is solved easy with MinfreeManager from the app market.

echo "1536,3072,4096,21000,23000,25000" > /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/minfree

I was using the hack manually after each reboot but now its an app.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

I did indeed. It works great. I used to go into location services, and turn them off and back on again after a few seconds and that would help out... a little. But since I have been backing out instead of pressing home, I have had no issue with sluggishness. Thank you for noticing and posting.

Now if I could only get pictures in gmail to work...

Thanks for the response. Sorry about your gmail woes, I haven't had them, yet. The only issue was Handcent force closing after trying to delete a thread with >300 texts, but when I restarted it, the thread was deleted, so no biggie.

 

[envoynv]

After seeing my Hero slow down considerably over the past month or so and not being able to fix the problem any other way, I finally decided to restore it to factory condition. Before doing so, I purchased and installed MyBackup Pro and backed up all my contacts, photos, music, apps, etc. I know there are ways to do this for free but I didn't have the time to figure them out. Anyway, MyBackup worked flawlessly -- all is restored and the phone is snappier as it was when I bought it. Maybe I'll just have to do this every couple months. The Hero sure is a lot more fun to use when you're not waiting on it to do everything.

I did a rooting of my phone with a load of Fresh 1.1. After using the Fresh ROM for almost a day I decided to do a factory reset on my phone. I am glad I did. I had to reinstall my apps and fix a couple settings, but it was worth the time. The phone is working very well.

The Fresh ROM just was not fast and snappy for me. I had to reinstall my IM icon and my Peep program. I also saw a red X on one of my tray icons. I just did not like the look and feel of the new ROM.

Good advice on this resetting to factory.

 

[sitt123]

I did a rooting of my phone with a load of Fresh 1.1. After using the Fresh ROM for almost a day I decided to do a factory reset on my phone. I am glad I did. I had to reinstall my apps and fix a couple settings, but it was worth the time. The phone is working very well.

The Fresh ROM just was not fast and snappy for me. I had to reinstall my IM icon and my Peep program. I also saw a red X on one of my tray icons. I just did not like the look and feel of the new ROM.

Good advice on this resetting to factory.

How did you reinstall peep? I am currently using fresh 1.1 and that's the only thing I don't like about it. Mine runs snappy and everything!

 

[MacGuyInNC]

Looks like it is solved easy with MinfreeManager from the app market.

echo "1536,3072,4096,21000,23000,25000" > /sys/module/lowmemorykiller/parameters/minfree

I was using the hack manually after each reboot but now its an app.

I've downloaded the app, but could use a little bit of help with the different settings. Got any tips/advice?