[Motorola Droid RAZR] Ohmster:
CM11 Nightly 01/19 Build Report - POSITIVE!

Currently testing CM11 Nightly Build 01/12 and this is my Build Report.

Basic Info: XT912 Spyder cm-11-20150119-NIGHTLY-spyder.zip with pa-gapps Mini-Modular already on phone from the December 12 release.

Method: OTA update from /Settings/About Phone/CyanogenMod Updates over the CM11 01/12 Nightly Build.

Test Period: 2 Days

Test Parameters: Wake up phone, use Dialer to make calls, receive calls, and do things I would normally do on a smartphone, testing for stability, performance, and issues present. Bluetooth Streaming Audio to CarConnect Receiver in car. Streaming music with apps like Pandora, Slacker Radio, TuneIn Radio, Public Radio, and Google Play Music. Use GPS for Maps and Navigation while streaming music and use phone for calls at same time. The 01/19 Nightly Build passed this test quite well after some "settling in" and a reboot with dalvik and cache wipe in Safe Strap. "Heavy" apps like Facebook or Slacker Radio can take up to 10 seconds to load and be ready, center screen black while loading. These apps are "Memory Pigs" and never load quickly with the little bit of 1Gb actual RAM that our OMAP4 devices have.

Test Description: I look for and report the following issues and conditions:

Lag

"Tap and Wait"

Black screen for prolonged periods

Any FC issues

Self Reboots

Unusually long app launch times

Anything irregular about the device

Criteria for a New Nightly Build or Update: The new rom must be equal to or better than the rom it replaces.

Settling In the New ROM:

Some roms update quite smoothly, no apparent issues during the update, the "Updating Apps" list on first boot is accurate as to the number of installed apps on the device. Sometimes this is NOT the case. The new rom may self-boot after installing. The "Updating Apps" list upon first boot will be totally inaccurate, usually indicating MANY LESS apps than you really have on the system. This is a "Red Flag". After a dalvik cache wipe, which always occurs after a rom update, you will see the "Updating Apps" list as "47 out of 112" or something to that effect.

This app count must be accurate!

If I have 212 apps on my system (Currently I do) and your updating screens shows far less apps as in 112, that is 100 apps less than I really have. Sometimes the rom is just "bad" and will fail. I am now learning that when this occurs, it is wise to boot back to Safe Strap, Wipe, Advanced, and select ONLY cache and dalvik, the swipe to perform the wipe, and reboot to system, your updating app count should now be accurate as to the amount of apps you really have. If the app count is now accurate, you stand a very good chance of having a perfectly good, working rom. This is what happened in the case of my 01/19 cm11 rom update.

After performing the additional reboot with cache and dalvik wipe, I did the multitask stress test again and the rom performed flawlessly. Bear in mind that these devices are "old hardware" and launching "heavy apps" or multiple apps may not occur as rapidly as you might like. But if you can launch and run several apps within 2 minutes or so, that would be considered reasonable. Even though the XT910 and the XT912 devices are old, they were top of the line, $600 smartphones at the time of purchase and we can still get quite a bit of quality usage out of our devices.

Memory:

Our phones have ONLY 1Gb of actual system Memory or RAM (Random Access Memory). SD Card space is not the same as memory. NOTHING can run unless it occupies actual RAM Memory space. When we do not have enough physical memory available, the device will now write some of this "overflow memory" to "swap space" on the internal SD Card. This will slow down the device dramatically but the device will still work. Most modern smartphones now come with at least 2Gb of RAM or more.

Results: Good, Positive! None of the above mentioned issues present for me in this build. Performance is good. This rom is certainly equal to and better than the 01/12 rom it replaced. This is a very, very good rom. :good:

Note:

I do prune and streamline all of my roms with a set of procedures to insure that they run well, do not lag or develop lag, and are always fast and responsive. Your actual test results may vary. The "Tune Up" measures that I employ are listed in the CM11 Performance Guide found below in my signature and you are free to use them to make and keep your own roms fast and responsive. ;)