Removing --gc_global flag in /etc/palm/browser.conf : animation speed increase

TheMarco · 10/19/2009, 05:03 PM

So... just for the heck of it, I removed the --gc_global flag from /etc/palm/browser.conf after learning that this flag controls the 'big garbage collection' that takes 300ms every time it kicks in.

I was quite surprised to see that my app 'Screamager' runs MUCH smoother now. I'd think a lot of other apps that are pestered by 'choppiness' may now run smoother.

I have no idea yet what the side effects of removing this flag are but... so far so good. I'm gonna keep running for a while like this to see if I discover any disadvantages.

P2Labs · 10/19/2009, 05:08 PM

oooh.. I wonder what other increases can be found...

btw - what are you going to do with your rpn calc and the pixi?

TheMarco · 10/19/2009, 05:15 PM

I'm still trying to figure that out. The 80px less screen estate is a real showstopper for that app...

For Screamager I can just 'squeeze' the dots a bit which won't matter much for the experience. For the calculator however there's not much I can squeeze without ruining the user experience.

When creating this app I couldn't have dreamed that Palm would be stupid enough to go with multiple display resolutions. Horror....

diomark · 10/19/2009, 05:28 PM

Cool find; Let us know if you see any differences in memory usage..
-m

TheMarco · 10/19/2009, 05:39 PM

I'm not an expert in memory usage monitoring but using 'top' I haven't been able to spot anything alarming so far.

Note: The choppiness is not completely gone but the frequency of 'freezes' in Screamager seems to have gone down a lot and the framerate seems a bit better as well.

P2Labs · 10/19/2009, 05:43 PM

If they did the least they could have done was go for a HIGHER resolution and a LARGER screen. I'm not sure how well Pixi will be received. If it's a "poor mans" Pre that's really stretching it as a Pre is so cheap compared to those 'other' phones...

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMarco

I'm still trying to figure that out. The 80px less screen estate is a real showstopper for that app...

For Screamager I can just 'squeeze' the dots a bit which won't matter much for the experience. For the calculator however there's not much I can squeeze without ruining the user experience.

When creating this app I couldn't have dreamed that Palm would be stupid enough to go with multiple display resolutions. Horror....

TheMarco · 10/19/2009, 07:11 PM

been running with this setting all afternoon now. I have not experienced any issues yet.

Jason Robitaille · 10/19/2009, 07:34 PM

Here's a quick patch if anyone else wants to try this out. Very interesting find TheMarco

Brain_ReCall · 10/19/2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robitaille

Here's a quick patch if anyone else wants to try this out. Very interesting find TheMarco

You zipped a 400 byte file? Well done.

As an aside, anyone else try this?

TheMarco · 10/19/2009, 08:01 PM

I guess the worst that could go WRONG with this is the phone starting to leak memory over time. In that case it would slowly get more and more sluggish, you'd reboot, put the --gc_global back and reboot again.

I don't think there are any risks involved with trying this.

My phone is still doing absolutely fine with this.

Jason Robitaille · 10/19/2009, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brain_ReCall

You zipped a 400 byte file? Well done.

PreCentral forums don't support direct .patch uploads

K4p741nkrunch · 10/20/2009, 02:22 AM

Hey TheMarco, great find!

I love the Screamager app and I'm definitely willing to test a way to make it smoother

*Update*

Ok tested the app and it runs great. I still get a freeze after every 3 passes of the text with the default text in there, but it beats the 1&1/2 I was getting before. Also the freezes seem to take less time before they unfreeze. They're just kind of small hiccups now.

Thanks alot, I'll leave this on!

TheMarco · 10/21/2009, 11:23 AM

Did anyone test this with other apps that have laggy performance? I'm surprised that this thread receives so little attention.

Update from my part: I've been running my phone for almost 24 hours now and I have not found any drawbacks for this tweak.

socca1157 · 10/21/2009, 05:35 PM

The modern user wont be able to adjust this though.

This is a patch for the phone itself correct?

TheMarco · 10/21/2009, 05:39 PM

The 'modern user' ?

This is a patch like any other patch really.

Jason Robitaille · 10/21/2009, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by socca1157

The modern user wont be able to adjust this though.

This is a patch for the phone itself correct?

It's a patch for a configuration file on the Pre, yea. And the average user should be able to install the patch easy. It's not too difficult: http://forums.precentral.net/canuck-...les-wosqi.html

wkalam2 · 10/21/2009, 06:12 PM

This was simple to install, and I've too noticed speed increases almost everywhere. Overall it just seems way less laggy and snappier. Looking forward to seeing if it stays that way!

diomark · 10/21/2009, 06:39 PM

For what it's worth, I think this hack helps. I did notice one thing though (that I haven't been able to replicate..) - using drPodder to play a downloaded podcast, it started cutting out on me half-way through - and I also hit the too many cards error. pausing it and replying fixed the issue.. (I've *never* had that problem before in my 2+ months of using drpodder to listen to podcasts..) - so maybe it's not performing garbage collection that's needed to clear out the buffer?

Keeping this hack on and will see how things go.

-m

socca1157 · 10/21/2009, 06:45 PM

Well I meant average Pre users, someone not on PreCentral. So this won't really help developers.

TheMarco · 10/21/2009, 06:53 PM

diomark that could very well be.

In my opinion it would be ideal if apps could trigger their OWN garbage collection when needed and have this run as some low-priority background process rather than something that pretty much locks up the phone for a third of a second.

For example in Screamager I would run it after the animation finishes scrolling, right before it starts over again. It would work fine and there would be no hiccups.

10/19/2009, 05:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
TheMarco Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 699 Likes Received: 6 Thanks: 19 Thanked 160 Times in 72 Posts	Removing --gc_global flag in /etc/palm/browser.conf : animation speed increase So... just for the heck of it, I removed the --gc_global flag from /etc/palm/browser.conf after learning that this flag controls the 'big garbage collection' that takes 300ms every time it kicks in. I was quite surprised to see that my app 'Screamager' runs MUCH smoother now. I'd think a lot of other apps that are pestered by 'choppiness' may now run smoother. I have no idea yet what the side effects of removing this flag are but... so far so good. I'm gonna keep running for a while like this to see if I discover any disadvantages. __________________ My shiny new TouchPad apps: Scientific RPN Calculator HD - Screamager HD
	Liked by Thanked by fchristian2k, Milominderbinder, Shadavis08

10/19/2009, 05:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
P2Labs Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: New York City Posts: 194 Likes Received: 1 Thanks: 5 Thanked 29 Times in 14 Posts	oooh.. I wonder what other increases can be found... btw - what are you going to do with your rpn calc and the pixi? __________________ P2Labs :: finger on the pulse... P2Labs.com \| Twitter \| P2Snippets \| P2Wardrobe
	Liked by

10/19/2009, 05:15 PM	#3 (permalink)
TheMarco Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 699 Likes Received: 6 Thanks: 19 Thanked 160 Times in 72 Posts	I'm still trying to figure that out. The 80px less screen estate is a real showstopper for that app... For Screamager I can just 'squeeze' the dots a bit which won't matter much for the experience. For the calculator however there's not much I can squeeze without ruining the user experience. When creating this app I couldn't have dreamed that Palm would be stupid enough to go with multiple display resolutions. Horror.... __________________ My shiny new TouchPad apps: Scientific RPN Calculator HD - Screamager HD
	Liked by

10/19/2009, 05:28 PM	#4 (permalink)
diomark Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 770 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 37 Thanked 276 Times in 83 Posts	Cool find; Let us know if you see any differences in memory usage.. -m
	Liked by

10/19/2009, 05:39 PM	#5 (permalink)
TheMarco Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 699 Likes Received: 6 Thanks: 19 Thanked 160 Times in 72 Posts	I'm not an expert in memory usage monitoring but using 'top' I haven't been able to spot anything alarming so far. Note: The choppiness is not completely gone but the frequency of 'freezes' in Screamager seems to have gone down a lot and the framerate seems a bit better as well. __________________ My shiny new TouchPad apps: Scientific RPN Calculator HD - Screamager HD
	Liked by

10/19/2009, 07:11 PM	#7 (permalink)
TheMarco Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 699 Likes Received: 6 Thanks: 19 Thanked 160 Times in 72 Posts	been running with this setting all afternoon now. I have not experienced any issues yet.
	Liked by

10/19/2009, 08:01 PM	#10 (permalink)
TheMarco Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 699 Likes Received: 6 Thanks: 19 Thanked 160 Times in 72 Posts	I guess the worst that could go WRONG with this is the phone starting to leak memory over time. In that case it would slowly get more and more sluggish, you'd reboot, put the --gc_global back and reboot again. I don't think there are any risks involved with trying this. My phone is still doing absolutely fine with this. __________________ My shiny new TouchPad apps: Scientific RPN Calculator HD - Screamager HD
	Liked by

10/20/2009, 02:22 AM	#12 (permalink)
K4p741nkrunch Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 187 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 21 Thanked 48 Times in 32 Posts	Hey TheMarco, great find! I love the Screamager app and I'm definitely willing to test a way to make it smoother Update Ok tested the app and it runs great. I still get a freeze after every 3 passes of the text with the default text in there, but it beats the 1&1/2 I was getting before. Also the freezes seem to take less time before they unfreeze. They're just kind of small hiccups now. Thanks alot, I'll leave this on!
	Liked by

10/21/2009, 11:23 AM	#13 (permalink)
TheMarco Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 699 Likes Received: 6 Thanks: 19 Thanked 160 Times in 72 Posts	Did anyone test this with other apps that have laggy performance? I'm surprised that this thread receives so little attention. Update from my part: I've been running my phone for almost 24 hours now and I have not found any drawbacks for this tweak. __________________ My shiny new TouchPad apps: Scientific RPN Calculator HD - Screamager HD
	Liked by

10/21/2009, 05:35 PM	#14 (permalink)
socca1157 Homebrew Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 312 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 32 Thanked 60 Times in 28 Posts	The modern user wont be able to adjust this though. This is a patch for the phone itself correct? __________________ Beerology 101 \| Liquorpedia \| FMLshake \| TFLNshake \| MLIAshake FMLpro \| PocketParty \| FreeSun \| Penguin Panic \| Jot It \| Cloud Hopper ___ Killin' It LLC \| Austin Cameron \| WebOS & Web Development
	Liked by

10/21/2009, 05:39 PM	#15 (permalink)
TheMarco Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 699 Likes Received: 6 Thanks: 19 Thanked 160 Times in 72 Posts	The 'modern user' ? This is a patch like any other patch really. __________________ My shiny new TouchPad apps: Scientific RPN Calculator HD - Screamager HD
	Liked by

10/21/2009, 06:12 PM	#17 (permalink)
wkalam2 Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Chicago Posts: 61 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 6 Thanked 13 Times in 8 Posts	This was simple to install, and I've too noticed speed increases almost everywhere. Overall it just seems way less laggy and snappier. Looking forward to seeing if it stays that way!
	Liked by

10/21/2009, 06:39 PM	#18 (permalink)
diomark Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 770 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 37 Thanked 276 Times in 83 Posts	For what it's worth, I think this hack helps. I did notice one thing though (that I haven't been able to replicate..) - using drPodder to play a downloaded podcast, it started cutting out on me half-way through - and I also hit the too many cards error. pausing it and replying fixed the issue.. (I've never had that problem before in my 2+ months of using drpodder to listen to podcasts..) - so maybe it's not performing garbage collection that's needed to clear out the buffer? Keeping this hack on and will see how things go. -m
	Liked by

10/21/2009, 06:45 PM	#19 (permalink)
socca1157 Homebrew Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 312 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 32 Thanked 60 Times in 28 Posts	Well I meant average Pre users, someone not on PreCentral. So this won't really help developers. __________________ Beerology 101 \| Liquorpedia \| FMLshake \| TFLNshake \| MLIAshake FMLpro \| PocketParty \| FreeSun \| Penguin Panic \| Jot It \| Cloud Hopper ___ Killin' It LLC \| Austin Cameron \| WebOS & Web Development
	Liked by

10/21/2009, 06:53 PM	#20 (permalink)
TheMarco Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sunnyvale CA Posts: 699 Likes Received: 6 Thanks: 19 Thanked 160 Times in 72 Posts	diomark that could very well be. In my opinion it would be ideal if apps could trigger their OWN garbage collection when needed and have this run as some low-priority background process rather than something that pretty much locks up the phone for a third of a second. For example in Screamager I would run it after the animation finishes scrolling, right before it starts over again. It would work fine and there would be no hiccups. __________________ My shiny new TouchPad apps: Scientific RPN Calculator HD - Screamager HD
	Liked by

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