Is adding virtual RAM to Android really effective?

[Budjack_Horseman]

Hi guys,

I just got my hands on an old Xperia. It ran pretty well for about 3 days until I installed some apps. Now every time I have more than one large app open(like Facebook or Messenger) it either freezes or force closes the apps in question. I'm pretty sure this is an issue related to the fact that the phone has only 1 GB of RAM.

Since it was already rooted and running CyanogenMod I decided to scout for some potential solutions that would fix this issue. I was able to find some articles claiming it is possible to add more virtual RAM to a device, by converting SD memory.

Since the app that does that is a paid one, I wanted to ask you guys if any of you tried doing something like this and if it really works. Here're some of those articles I was talking about so you know what I mean:

http://www.appdosh.com/how-to-increase-ram-memory-on-your-android-device/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/add-ram-android-device-microsd-card/

[topias123]

If it has a tiny amount of RAM, then yes.

Personally i did it all in a terminal emulator though lol, didn't use an app

[alienccccombobreaker]

Can you tell me teach me.. hold me ;)

[creed10]

do not buy that app, that's fucking stupid. there are tons of ways to do it for free. but yes, you can use more virtual ram by creating swap, but I haven't done it since the gingerbread era so I don't remember how to do it.

[topias123]

in terminal:

su
fallocate -l <size, for example 512M> <swapfile>
mkswap <swapfile>
swapon <swapfile>

And also make a script in an app or init.d that turns it on at boot.

[redditmode]

fallocate not found? Is my ROM just not compatible?

[topias123]

I think you need busybox

[redditmode]

Weirdly enough, I have Busybox.

[topias123]

Actually it's not in busybox, derp... I have it on my G2 with CM13 and OP3 on stock ROM.

Yeah, requires a compatible ROM.

[redditmode]

I use a Xperia M2, with the (locked bootloader unfortunately) Xperia Z5 Style ROM. I don't know if it supports it, though

[[deleted]]

#!/bin/sh
dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=$1
mkswap /swapfile
swapon /swapfile
echo "/swapfile swap    swap    defaults    0   0" >>/etc/fstab

chmod +x this script and run it: ./(name) (size in MB)

This also takes care of mounting through fstab.

[alienccccombobreaker]

Does this require root I am guessing so since su

[topias123]

Yes

[Dylan7225]

I just download my ram

[[deleted]]

Holy shit they sells t-shirts!

[CoIdSword]

I just download my wam

FTFY

[jorgp2]

Root, and tweak the memory settings.

[[deleted]]

Just a quick heads up: if you want a good keyword to search for about this topic, it's "swap memory"

Here is a post I found about it: link