[trev869]

(I originally posted this in the Blackberry 6 forum but since it directly relates to the .344 leak, I felt it would get better use from this forum. Some of these tips could be applied to other os builds and devices.)

If you are like me, it gets old looking through hundreds of posts just to find the one tip you are looking for. For that reason, I have decided to create a post to help my fellow crackberrians out.

1. Memory Leak Problems-
A. I have noticed a huge difference in regards to memory leaks when comparing against shrinking the os and not shrinking. I feel the main reason is due to the fact that Shrink A Os is designed for OS5 and below. I have noticed a significantly smoother experience and less memory leaks when I have installed without shrinking. If you are a power user with a long list of apps to install, then it may be a must for you to shrink the os. If so, I would consider manually shrinking out the toolkit files, the background files, anything else you may not need.

B. We all love the new browser, even with the "page is too large" bug but the browser in .344 leaks RAM very bad. Even in the hybrids using .357, it still leaks a horrible amount of RAM. The main problem is the os does not seem to recover this used RAM until it zeros out or idles at a very low rate for a period of time. The solution I have found is to use Bolt or Opera Mini 5 beta 2(can be found here) on anything that you don't need the webkit browser for. The official release version of Opera does not work very well on trackpad phones but the above listed beta is pretty good. The Bolt or Opera browsers are not integrated into the os so when you close them out, they releases all used RAM.

C. It has also been reported that opening user icon pictures inside the BBM app, starts a massive memory leak until the next reboot. I have had no issue with this but just be aware of the reports.

2. Interface Lag-
A. First thing to do is to cut down on what you have universal search indexing for. Go into the universal search options and only have things you actually need selected. The 9700 running os 6 is already being strained a small amount so it doesn't need to be searching pointless files that you do not need. For example, I only have contacts and home screen selected. If you don't use it at all, then deselect them all.

B. Second is, all operating systems have to cache and index files when they boot. Some files are done when the os starts and some are only done the first time they are opened. A way to speed up the user experience, is to manually index some of the internal apps we know we are going to use regardless. After a reboot, click on the manage connections tab. Let it completely open up and then close it again. Repeat these steps with the notification pane and the All tab. That way the next time you select these, they will open much quicker and smoother.

C. Another thing is to limit how many icons you have in the All tab. I personally feel the tab opens much smoother when you have only three rows worth of icons. The tab opens much smoother and then scrolls the way it is meant to. The reason why this makes it smoother, is because every time you select a tab, the os has to load all the icons that are visible in that tab. A way to make this more efficient, is to make a folder to store the apps that you do not use very often.

D. Also you should consider enabling memory cleaning. It is located under the advance security settings. You can set it to only run when the phone has been idle for a selected amount of time. It will also clean unneeded files off the system each time it reboots. It only added 22 seconds to my boot time. That is not a lot of time for a faster user experience.

E. Before you first install OS6, wipe the device using the security wipe, then wipe the device using BBTools or BBSAK(only if you feel comfortable with this step, use at your own risk), then do a clean install. This means to not install any of your personal apps with the os. Manually install these apps after the install. Also do a selective restore. Only select necessary things like contacts, calender events, profile settings, sound settings, and other things of that nature. Doing a full restore, will add files that are redundant or outdated and will also add files that OS6 may not be able to use. This will just make more files for the os to sort through when loading apps. (***Attention T-Mobile users-Please look at this thread before installing os 6.***)

3. General Hints-
A. To make it where you can see a full preview of your Facebook and BBM notifications in the drop down notification pane, you will have to select the "Show in Message Application" setting that is located inside each of the actual apps. This will also provide a direct link to open the application from the notification pane.

B. To enable or to even use Social Feeds, you will have to manually select to install it when you load the os or load it later via the desktop loader. It does not install under default settings. Neither does the Password Manager.

C. Home screen shortcuts can be activated by opening the options from the home screen and changing the top option. There is also a setting to allow browser shortcuts inside the browser settings.

D. If you want the calender to default open in the month view, you will have to do as followed. Open the calender, select options, scroll down and change the default opening view to week, and then exit with saving the changes. Now open the calender again, go to the options, scroll down and change the default opening view to month, and then exit with saving the changes. Now when you open the calender app again, it should open in the month view.

E. If you are using wifi and you leave the wifi area, you may notice that you can no longer send sms messages. Instead of rebooting the phone just open up the manage connections tab and toggle the cellular radio off and back on. This will refresh the connection and let your sms messages go through.

F. *Added 11/19* If you are suffering from the copy/paste problem, then there are some short cuts you can use to help. To select text, you can press the shift key plus slide the trackpad to highlight the text. Then you should be able to press the menu key and select whether to copy or cut. You can then press the shift key plus press down/click the trackpad to paste the text.

4. Hybrid OS -
The use of hybrid operating systems are also a viable option. There are currently two versions being posted in the hybrid forums. One labeled as v4.0 by BDHP and one labeled as version 2.1 by BTHM. I have tested both these builds and they both are good builds. I feel the BDHP release is a little snappier but does have a few bugs. This version was just recently released and I have heard the developer is planning to release a version 4.1 to fix the few bugs it does have. On the other hand, the BTHM release does not feel quite as fast but does not have as many bugs. The speed difference is barely noticeable and most people would not notice it. I think as updated releases are posted, these two hybrids will stay neck and neck with each other. You can also work on making your own hybrid using BBSAK. It will take some knowledge and patience. I am currently using a build I made using files from .294, .333, .344, and .357. The upside to making your own hybrid is that you do not have to make everything work flawless, just the things you would use.
*Added 11/19* BTHM has released version 3. I have not tested this build yet.


I hope these tips help some users with the overall experience of OS6 on their 9700. These tips may also help on other devises. I also want to say that I did not discover all these tips. Some were submitted by other users but I do not have the time to scroll through all the posts and find their names. That's basically why this post was made.

If you want to add to this thread, please feel free to. I will do my best to update as new tips are learned/posted.

[alfons1]

Excellent consolidation! Excellent Tips! Thanks Trev!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[reverepats]

Dood your absolutely right about the browser using memory and not restoring the memory after use. I just tried it on my 9650 and the memory doesn't restore after exiting. I've been wondering why I have such a memory leAk with the new OS leak .333. Good tip bro. Now how could that be avoided though? Is it because of the leaked OS it self? Or could we expect this with a official release as well? Your thought?

[trev869]

I would honestly think Rim would address this before an official release. The webkit browser is integrated into the os and remains running at all times so there is prob not a fix we can do but I would be surprised if Rim overlooked this before official release.

[trev869]

The only was I have worked around the browser issue, is to use the opera beta when I do not need the full webkit browser.

[reverepats]

GUY, i cant believe finally sumone figured it out.....thats a really good catch bro.....i cant believe the browser doesnt restore the memory it uses. but hey OPERA MINI 5.1 doesnt work on my device. the cursor doesnt work and its so laggy that i cant even hit MENU button and exit.....its crazy.....thats a really good catch though.....too bad theres not way u can report that though

[trev869]

GUY, i cant believe finally sumone figured it out.....thats a really good catch bro.....i cant believe the browser doesnt restore the memory it uses. but hey OPERA MINI 5.1 doesnt work on my device. the cursor doesnt work and its so laggy that i cant even hit MENU button and exit.....its crazy.....thats a really good catch though.....too bad theres not way u can report that though

Opera Mini 5.1 doesn't work on mine either. Try the Opera beta that I have linked in the original post. It works much better. It is designed for trackpad devices.

[dr_w]

Sorry to say man but Section One Tuning is by far the best Hybrid. Flawless.

[MalikColdbane]

I would honestly think Rim would address this before an official release. The webkit browser is integrated into the os and remains running at all times so there is prob not a fix we can do but I would be surprised if Rim overlooked this before official release.

This.

When you close the browser it doesn't actually close, it just closes your tabs but continues running in the background which kinda sucks. First noticed it when I spent about five minutes trying to close it (kept seeing it in the task manager).

Good post btw, some of the stuff you mentioned helped me out, especially that memory cleaning and indexing tip.

BTW, what's Section One Tuning?

[trev869]

This.

When you close the browser it doesn't actually close, it just closes your tabs but continues running in the background which kinda sucks. First noticed it when I spent about five minutes trying to close it (kept seeing it in the task manager).

Good post btw, some of the stuff you mentioned helped me out, especially that memory cleaning and indexing tip.

BTW, what's Section One Tuning?

Thanks, Section One Tuning developed a hybrid based off the .344 build. I did not mention it in my original post because I had not tested it. I didn't want to advise using a hybrid that I had not personally used. By the way, the .358 leaked os is pretty good in my opinion.

[A.C]

Not sure if this happened to anyone else but I enabled the Memory Cleaning (Tip D), rebooted, and for some reason I couldn't see the bottom row of icons (row 4 of 4) - I could select them but not see the actual icons?
Similarly, when selecting the top portion of the home screen (Carrier, time, battery etc) I couldn't scroll to the bottom of the drop down list ('Options')?
I have since disabled the Memory Cleaning, rebooted and everything is back to normal - strange! I suppose it's to be expected from a leaked (i.e. unofficial) OS.

[trev869]

Not sure if this happened to anyone else but I enabled the Memory Cleaning (Tip D), rebooted, and for some reason I couldn't see the bottom row of icons (row 4 of 4) - I could select them but not see the actual icons?
Similarly, when selecting the top portion of the home screen (Carrier, time, battery etc) I couldn't scroll to the bottom of the drop down list ('Options')?
I have since disabled the Memory Cleaning, rebooted and everything is back to normal - strange! I suppose it's to be expected from a leaked (i.e. unofficial) OS.

I didn't have this problem on .344 or .358. Did you mod or shrink your os?