Ram usage unnaturally high w/ no apps running

[Preston Wilson]

Hi everybody. Well, first off, I know that task killers arent good, ram usage is good, blah blah, etc etc, so no need to tell me, as that is all I read when I try to solve this problem. After doing a fresh reboot for my N10, I am using appx 700mb/1.2gb, so ram memory isnt an issue. However, after just a few hours of use, ram usage exceeds 1gb/1.2gb, even with no apps running. I go to settings, apps, running, and the combined amount of ram being used from running apps AND cached processes rarely exceeds 200mbs. So, where is the other .8gb being using? This overexcessive ram use causes consistent homescreen redraw and overall slugginess. I cannot find where the other 800mb is being used. I am rooted. Please help, anyone? No custom rom, just 4.2.2. I dont recall this being an issue prior to 4.2.1. I love this tablet so much, but this frustrates me to no end.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Hi everybody. Well, first off, I know that task killers arent good, ram usage is good, blah blah, etc etc, so no need to tell me, as that is all I read when I try to solve this problem. After doing a fresh reboot for my N10, I am using appx 700mb/1.2gb, so ram memory isnt an issue. However, after just a few hours of use, ram usage exceeds 1gb/1.2gb, even with no apps running. I go to settings, apps, running, and the combined amount of ram being used from running apps AND cached processes rarely exceeds 200mbs. So, where is the other .8gb being using? This overexcessive ram use causes consistent homescreen redraw and overall slugginess. I cannot find where the other 800mb is being used. I am rooted. Please help, anyone? No custom rom, just 4.2.2. I dont recall this being an issue prior to 4.2.1. I love this tablet so much, but this frustrates me to no end.

How much free RAM do you have? I doubt the ghost usage of RAM is what would be causing sluggishness. Also, just because you haven't used an app doesn't mean that there aren't background services running. Those could be using RAM.

 

[cadzilla74]

Try installing free app Watchdog Manager Lite from Play Store. Very easy to use. Open it and click on real-time CPU usage setting and let it run for 30 seconds or so then stop it. You now have a list more geared to what is using CPU cycles but also lists the amount of memory being used. Also shows if the processes are running in the background. Also let's you highlight any process and kill it.

It is a great app for catching misbehaving or runaway processes. I switched from WeatherBug to AccuWeather thanks to WatchDog. WeatherBug kept getting hung up when I traveled from one area to another and it tried to follow me. If it couldn't get a GPS lock it would cause my phone to lag. My Thunderbolt recently got an upgrade to ICS which is nice but unfortunately it leaves a lot less RAM overhead than GBread did. Thanks again to Watchdog I found out that any time I accessed the Amazon App Store it would stay running in the background using over 50mb of RAM! In Settings>Apps>Running on my phone it didn't even show the Amazon app at all because it was running in the background. Now I check Amazon's free app of the day once a day and see if I have any updates for the apps I have installed, then I head right to WatchDog and kill it.

 

[snookasnoo]

Android is based on Linux and this is normal. It will use or release ram as needed. Part of this is also due to JVM utilization.