[1967LS2]

The Memory leak issue is such a weird phenomenon. Where does the memory go? Why does it sometimes get recovered and sometimes just go away?

I find myself in a constant struggle to keep my memory at an acceptable level so my Storm doesn't begin to get slow and non responsive. I have a memory ritual which I perform over and over again every day. I first open my browser and clear all history, cookies, and content, etc. I then delete any non essential emails & SMS. I then go into my view folders and delete all phone call logs both incoming and outbound. I then go into my security options and manually force a memory cleaning. I have my memory cleaning set to do it manually but during my routine I do it manually either way. Then I go and check my memory level which sadly is always low. I reboot at least once a day but within an hour my memory drops considerably. I make sure to turn off all applications so that only the main applications are running in the background. Nothing I do though is never enough and it is constantly draining like a faucet with a faulty seal.

Will the memory drain ever be fixed/addressed? Is this a continuing BB problem which has plauged BB's since the dawn of time? Much like there are scientists in laboratories around the world trying to find a cure to cancer, AID's & Erectile Dysfunction, are there engineers & software programers trying to solve the worlds BB memory leak issues? Will we ever get any answers? Will I ever stop asking these redundant questions? Should I turn to the X-Files?

[Reed McLay]

I have invested a lot of time into getting the memory situation under control.

The key setting appears to be Media / Options / Device Reserved Memory. In early OS version, that was a choice between 12 and 15 Mb. Later OS versions have make 5 Mb an option.

After a battery pull, all the caches and temporary files are flushed. That is your maximum available memory, after third party applications and your data are accounted for.

In my experience, it is normal for BlackBerry to use 10 Mb in normal operation. Memory is assigned and recovered automatically and it remains very stable at that level.

I go months at a time between battery pulls. It works great.

[1967LS2]

Thanks for the reply McLay. I'm still at a loss though??? I can perform a battery pull and not even pick up my phone and within minutes the memory has already began to drain away. Where is it going & why can't I recover it without performing a battery pull? It seems to be a vicious cycle which is never ending.
Also I go to my media folder click on options and there is no option for Device Resevered Memory? Maybe I'm not looking the right spot. Thanks....

[Reed McLay]

Sorry, I posted that from imperfect memory. The setting is actualy: Device Memory Limit, but I am viewing that with v4.5xx on a Pearl.

This setting refers to minimum memory reserved for media applications. If your File Free Memory is greater then the setting, everything works smoothly.

You mention watching the memory change after a restart. Let it go for a while, I am sure you will be pleasently suprized how well the automatic memory mangagement works in the background.

I am currently at 1.6 million seconds of uptime and plenty of free memory.

[tnsfan]

After a battery pull, all the caches and temporary files are flushed. That is your maximum available memory, after third party applications and your data are accounted for.

In my experience, it is normal for BlackBerry to use 10 Mb in normal operation. Memory is assigned and recovered automatically and it remains very stable at that level.

I go months at a time between battery pulls. It works great.

I am a new(6 weeks) blackberry bold user and had to pull my battery yesterday because the 3G signal was getting low and switching to edge and I checked the memory, which was low. Is pulling the battery just something we have to put up with in a blackberry? I love my bold, but never had to pull the battery in my previous smart phone, a Treo 700W.

[codemaker]

When my wife had her Pearl she never had problems with memory. I have always had problems with memory on my 8830. The 4.5 upgrade has helped (and prevent my sms messages and phone logs from getting deleted), but the leaks are still there. I don't think it's a core OS problem (although that is possible), I think it is a problem in one of the core apps.

[codemaker]

I am a new(6 weeks) blackberry bold user and had to pull my battery yesterday because the 3G signal was getting low and switching to edge and I checked the memory, which was low. Is pulling the battery just something we have to put up with in a blackberry? I love my bold, but never had to pull the battery in my previous smart phone, a Treo 700W.

I have not heard reports of Bold users having to do a lot of battery pulls (I don't own one).

Unrelated, I recall when the solution to fixing problems with your windows OS was rebooting. It seems blackberries are the same way. That makes me sad

[greydarrah]

Through Civic, I found an interesting tidbit about the databases on your BB. You can view them and see if any are way out of whack, size wise. Any big anomalies can indicate a corrupted database. I've gathered that most phones are going to have a pretty big RMS Database from all the apps we add/remove. This database apparently does not clean up after itself. The last thread tells you how to clear it. I did it myself, and had no problems and gained a few meg. The size will depend on the phone and how much stuff you've added.

To see the size of your BB databases...
Go to Options/Status and hit Menu/Database Sizes
BlackBerry Database Details - BlackBerryFAQ
Mobi·gas·mic: The Secret of the Blackberry Memory Bloat

[cd36]

if you clear it won't you lose all your address book entry's and calendar and whatnot? Or is it no problem to just backup and restore that stuff (or will it bring the corruptedness along with it?)

Mine is only 500k anyways so I doubt i'll free up much room anyhow.

[greydarrah]

If your RMS Database is only 500kb, I wouldn't mess with it. If you read those links in my post, that particular database has nothing to do with calendars or contacts. It's all about registration codes.

[cd36]

Sorry I misread, i didn't see my RMS Database entry right off the start so I thought it was the name for all the databases. My RMS Databases is only 28k, so nowhere near anywhere that I shoulod worry about it. Most of the space is taken up by calendar/contacts/sms/messages. Good info to know though!

[alleycat0124]

One possible reason for memory leaks is poor coding practices.
If a program fails to release reserved memory when it terminates either because of poor coding, or terminates unexpectedly, the reserved memory is not made available again until the system is restarted.
This was (still is?) the case with Microsoft Windows.
Whether or not RIM suffers from this same issue is a topic for debate, but it could explain why the occasional battery pull is recommended or necessary.

Memory leak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[1967LS2]

These are all great answers and do help to explain some of the issues. I didnt start this thread because I didnt know what a memory leak was and I know there are hundreds of memory leak threads already but I was just kinda wondering if there is any concrete solutions which could be possible either through new software, or other means. I just wish we didnt have to deal with this at all. It seems like the main flaw with the BB is the memory leak issue. People may complain from time to time about their phone being too slow or slugish but it all seems to stem from low memory being the culprit. My phone is perfect when the memory is up there but within minutes it drops and is once again as slow as a slug when it comes to doing anything....I just wish there was a definitive answer or solution....