[XPERIA X10 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PaVi90:
[Tutorial] My easy guide to SPEED-UP a lot X10 with STOCK SE 2.1 ROM ♦(UPDATED 30/04)

Hi everybody!

My username is new here on XDA, but you have to know that I follow you everyday, mostly on Xperia X10 thread, since I bought my SE smartphone. Finally I decided to register and take part of this huge community :) So... welcome to me! :D

After working on my X10 and following several guides here on XDA, I found very interesting some posts/threads about it and would like to share my experience with you.

Well, I will report here the procedures I have applyed to my Xperia X10 with standard Eclair 2.1 to improve its performance a lot, without making uninstable the software or causing any sort of crash.

!! ATTENTION !!

The mods that I report here are not mine. They belong to their developers

. I just would like to share with you the steps and the mods I made to my X10 choosing among the great ones all made available here on XDA forum, thanks to the great work done by super people here on XDA :) Thus, all software downloads here on XDA contain an hotlink that will address you on the official thread of the software, created by its developer. OK?? :)

!! WARNING !!

I AM NOT, I AM NOT, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED TO YOUR SMARTPHONE. Thus, if you want to try, it's up to you. I can only say that my Xperia X10 still works more than fine, and even much faster than before :D

READY? SET, GO!!!!!!!​

STEP 1: ALL DRIVERS WE NEED!!

WHY THIS STEP

: At first I tryed some mods but, even with USB debug enabled, certain software was not able to work. The reason? Simple: the right drivers were not correctly installed on my Windows 7 PC even with SEUS preinstalled and fully working.

HOW TO DO

:

You simply have to download Sony Ericsson PC Companion. You can found it clicking HERE , downloading from the official SE source the latest version.

Once you download and install it (very easy to do), just connect your Xperia X10 and wait until the software recognizes it. Now all drivers, even the USB debugging ones, are fully installed and operative. We must need them for next operations we will perform to our X10.

STEP 2: ROOT IS THE BASIS FOR ALL!

WHY THIS STEP

: we need to obtain the ROOT access on our Xperia X10 in order to be able to execute certain software and make sure it works well. Without working root, we simply won't obtain the right full permissions to proceed with the installation and customization of certains mods that will follow here in this guide.

HOW TO DO

:

simply download and unpack the latest FlashTool 0.2.6, that includes several major bugfixes in respect to the previous version. Download it from its official thread, HERE.

Now turn on your Xperia X10, connect it to your PC and enable the USB Debugging from Setting -->Applications --> Development (I hope the translation is right, I have italian software on my Xperia...);

Finally start FlashTool by clicking on the main executable file and simply click the "ROOT" button on the upper part of the software.

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT and enjoy a delicious italian coffee :D

Once the software finishes (usually a few seconds are needed) maybe it will restart your X10 or will ask you to do it. So, do it now! :)

Root completed!!!

STEP 3: BUSYBOX, the magic box :)

WHY THIS STEP

: you need this intermediate step to be completely sure that the installation of next component will work fine without any problem or crash. This is a toolpack for your Android device that will bring the right instructions used by certain software to be correctly executed.

HOW TO DO

:

Open Android Market application from your X10;

Search "busybox", then install it as you do for every application;

Open BusyBox Installer from your main menu, click OK to agree with the licence and finally click on the "Install" button.

If the root performed at the previous step (STEP 2) of this tutorial has been correctly executed, you will be able to install it without any problem and an "OK" message will appear.

STEP 4: xRECOVERY, the magical installation tool ;

)

WHY THIS STEP

: xRecovery is a sort of "external software environment" developed for Android Xperia X10 in which you will be able to boot in at every OS boot, to execute advanced operations regarding your ROM and NAND memory. You can install custom rom, backup them, format, wipe cache, and (this is what we need now) install custom zip updates and software packages.

HOW TO DO

:

Download the installer from the OFFICIAL THREAD here http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=859571 on XDA; choose the typical installation. In other words, just download the APK;

Copy the APK on the SD of your X10 by connecting it on your PC;

Open the APK on the Xperia X10 and install it using for example ASTRO file manager.

Once installation has finished, open "xRecovery installer" from the main menu and choose "Install xRecovery". A few seconds and all is done!!

To boot in xRecovery, simply restart your phone and press BACK button while booting

xRecovery does not allow you anymore to charge battery without (automatically) turning on the phone if it is powered off and you plug the USB cable. If you want to restore the battery offline charge functionality, just install through xRecovery the "xRecovery-charge-offline.zip" file; you will find it in the same official thread, at the bottom of the first main post!

STEP 5: THE JUST-IN-TIME COMPILATOR for your 2.1!

WHY THIS STEP

: you will be able to enjoy better performance in everyday use of your X10 by installing a new kind of software compiler that Google has included in Android 2.2 Froyo (and next releases). On XDA developers have been able to make a port of this new kind of compiler on the standard Xperia 2.1 ROM. This compiler works in a quite different way because it performs the compiling procedure "as the software needs it", just in time. I would remember you that in ARC computer architecture, a compiler is a software module that translates high-level language in assembly language.

HOW TO DO

:

Download the JIT Enabler v2.0 from its OFFICIAL THREAD ;

Don't unzip it but follow the instructions in the official thread to install it. You simply have to save the zip file on your SD Card, boot in xRecovery (restart the X10 and press any button during boot), than choose "install custom zip" and select this file. Installation will last a few seconds.

After installation, reboot the X10 choosing the rebooting option from xRecovery.

No panic: first reboot will require a lot of time!! Don't worry, leave your X10 working until the boot ends.

STEP 6: MULTITOUCH, WE WANT IT!!

WHY THIS STEP

: really? are you seriously asking yourself why this step? :D Well, the multitouch (sorry, dualtouch...) is one of the most dreamed freature by every X10 user: it makes you able to use pinch-to-zoom on your beautiful 4'' LCD !

HOW TO DO

: just follow the official tutorial HERE

STEP 7: A FULLY-ENABLED DUAL-TOUCH!

WHY THIS STEP

: simply because multitouch update won't work in every application! Browser, google maps, Angry Birds,... Thus, with this tutorial you will be able to fully unlock it

HOW TO DO

: just follow the official tutorial HERE

STEP 8: IMPROVE YOUR CAMERA

WHY THIS STEP

: it overwrites the official camera apk with an optimized one that allow you to snap better pictures with improved details, reduce the shot time, improve a lot HD video quality (recuding a lot the stuttering suffered by X10 in videorecording...).

HOW TO DO

: just follow the official tutorial HERE

I suggest you to backup the official camera apk file; in case of problem you can easily restore it. You can simply choose to rename it, for example, append to the name "_DELETED": you will "disable" the file because you changed its name. To restore it simply rename it deleting the modded one and removing the "_DELETED" extension. For this operation I highly suggest Root Explorer!

The new v7 version of this custom apk camera, that always applyes ONLY to stock SE 2.1 ROMs, is based on the stock apk camera file of latest SE firmware. It includes even better video captures, but

requires a few more steps to be fully enabled

: just have a deeper look at the first post of the official tutorial I have just linked! In fact, you just need to add a few more rows to build.prop file.

STEP 9: SPEED, SPEED, SPEED! REMOVE UNUSEFUL APKs!

WHY THIS STEP

: well, this is the step I like the most! Simply because it's the one that makes it possible to obtain a lot of speed increasing!!! The goal is to remove unused applications that usually runs in background draining your battery and slowing a lot your bright Snapdragon CPU

HOW TO DO

:

Use Root Explorer; install it from the Market if you still don't have it;

I don't want you to remove applications; just move them to your SD cards. They will not be recognized anymore from Android OS and won't be executed. In other words, you remove it by creating a backup. If something goes wrong, if you miss any application functionality, you simply restore them on their original directory. Be sure to check permissions, when you restore: put a check, with Permission options of Root Explorer, of the first two items of first row if they are unselected!

With Root Explorer create a folder, for example name it "deleted" on SD card root; it will contain the backup copy of removed unused APKs;

With Root Explorer, move to system/app directory

Enable the Multi-select option in Root Explorer

SELECT THE FOLLOWING APKs:

Choose "Move";

Now reach the "deleted" folder you created before and choose "Paste".

Finished!! Now reboot your X10 and enjoy better free RAM and much more speed!!

I followed THIS GUIDEto suggest you the be(a)st APKs to remove. However, I missed some APKs for two reasons:

I WANT TIMESCAPE! :D

Removing some of the ones suggested in that thread, I was no more able to update my status and the splins on TimeScape

Well, I don't remove Chinese keyboard because I need it to write to my chinese friends here in Shanghai ;) But you can add it to your custom removing list if you prefer!

Pay attention! Maybe now, due to any of that application removing, you won't be able anymore to sync facebook photos with your phonebook. Don't worry!! You can download and use the great SyncMyPix from Android Market. It will allow you to automatically sync every photo from your facebook contacts with a much higher quality than the stock Sony Ericsson application that works in your phonebook to sync these photos!!!

You can have a deeper look of all these APK HERE ; thanks to reindero2005 user for this useful link!

STEP 10: HOME SCREEN REPLACEMENT

WHY THIS STEP

: simply because the stock homescreen and menu by SE are quite slow and usually stuttering. Thus, I suggest you to install LauncherPro and enable the 3D menu.

HOW TO DO

:

Open Android Market and search launcherpro application;

Try the free version, it's more than enough. However, you can help its developer buying the full version and enjoying full options

Set it as default homescreen (it will be asked from Android OS after installation when you press the home button) and add all widgets and icons you want.

You may also choose a static desktop background: it will help you saving battery and menu will become a lot faster without an animated wallpaper. Try and choose, almost everything in your life it's up to you! :D

STEP 11: IMPROVE YOUR SOUND

WHY THIS STEP

: to obtain a better, louder, crisper sound from your X10. From every hardware source: earphones, bluetooth audio devices, on-board speaker,...

HOW TO DO

:

Just download (it is not free, buy it if you want ;) ) Louder Volume Hack v4.1;

After installation, follow every initial step that the program will require.

Press on the big speaker icon on the screen, then select V6 & Revision2Files button and click Apply.

Wait until the software finishes, than on next screen choose buttons IC Loud, Headset Boost 1 and Bluetooth Boost 1, finally apply again :D

Reboot and enjoy a better higher sound, especially in earphones!! ;)

STEP 12: SYSCTL, ADVANCED (BUT AUTOMATIC) KERNEL IMPROVEMENTS

WHY THIS STEP

: sysctl is a free utility that allow to further improve your system responsiveness. Scrolling will be even faster (everything on the screen will better follow your finger during touch), applications will run faster and their opening time will be reduced. Not only!! After the right settings and tune-up of the software, your battery will do an huge smile because your X10's autonomy will exceed a lot!! :D

HOW TO DO

:

search on the Market and download sysctl; it's free

after installation, search in your menu and open "Sysctl Config"

Set up the following:

FINISHED! Maybe the easiest step, right? Now just reboot your phone ;)

STEP 13: MINOR FINAL TWEAKS TO BUILD.PROP file

WHY THIS STEP

: a few minor tweaks for further improvements of your android device!

HOW TO DO

: you need to edit your build.prop file. Remember? I explained how to do it in STEP 8, in the quoted part of the text. Take a look here if you did not read it before these other steps and you will be ready to go!

Here you will found several "rows" that you have either to modify (if already present into default.prop file) or to add (if not present, of course). The BOLD part are the rows, while the Italic-style text is a description about them and you don't have, of course, to add/edit this part into your build.prop file because it's simply a description for you, to better understand what every single "command" does!

ro.telephony.call_ring.delay=1000 phone will ring without delay when someone calls you

windowsmgr.max_events_per_sec=260 the operative system will check touchscreen inputs with more frequency (think about the interrupt interval), thus the scrolling will be smoother

dalvik.vm.heapsize=48m and dalvik.vm.execution-mode=int:jit which bring better cache management

mot.proximity.delay=150 : it makes the proximity sensor more responsive

You should already have these two values if you took a look at STEP 7: they are ro.product.multi_touch_enabled=true and

ro.product.max_num_touch=2 . Make sure these two instructions are ALWAYS placed as last ones into build.prop file and no enter is present at the end of the file!

STEP 14: FURTHER SPEED-UP, FREE RAM MEMORY AND IMPROVE BATTERY LIFE

WHY THIS STEP

: Thanks to the user PlayGunsta that has posted HERE a nice deep tutorial regarding this, it is possible to further increase the true performance of our device by installing two small programs and set-up them in a very easy and fast way! In a few words, the first APK module will allow you to make free around 100MB of the RAM of the X10 in any situation (and trust me, this immediatly translates in a smooth boost, without taking into account the Android memory management system and how it works...). Not only more free RAM: also an improved battery and an overall speed-up of your system.

After this tweak, try to open your Browser, TimeScape or MediaScape: all will seem damn fast :D

ALL CREDITS go to PlayGunsta and his THREAD, I just report his tweak here for your convenience ;)

HOW TO DO

:

PART 1 - Autokiller

Download THIS package, move it to your SD card and install, for example, with the help of ASTRO File Manager;

Open Autokiller (what you have just installed!);

In the Memory limits tab set the following:

Hidden app: 150

Content provider: 160

Empty app: 170

Press Apply (and allow for root access permissions);

Go to "Setting" and check that the option "Apply settings on boot" is checked!

Move to "Advanced system tweaks" and enable "Battery" and "Memory management" options;

Exit and return to your home screen, then reboot!

PART 2 - Autorun Manager

Download THIS package, move it to your SD card and install, for example, with the help of ASTRO File Manager;

Open Autorun Manager(what you have just installed!);

Focus only on the "Basic" tab of the software, and disable all the services that you don't use or, in general, are unuseful for your device. This will kill all uneeded background applications, will free more memory and will make available more CPU resources for the other running programs! For example, I have disabled "Software Update", "Anonymous Usage Stats", "Skype". You can also try with other services if you like!

Exit and return to your home screen, then reboot!

STEP 15: DRASTIC FURTHER STOCK APPS REMOVAL

WHY THIS STEP

: Well, I have to say that I didn't need to perform this step because I love so much certain stock applications which are present in our X10. For example, how could I survive withouth Timescape? Imho it's simply the best social gadget I've played with until now! However, if you like to have a more Android-stock oriented smartphone, and want to remove further Sony Ericsson applications in a very safe way, this further step is just for you :)

Furthermore, it will give you the ability to remove core applications which can easily replaced with other ones -most of them free- from the Android Market.

HOW TO DO

:

Just

follow the instructions of STEP 9

, what you have to do is exactly the same. But, in this case, here the other applications that you can remove (if you don't need them, of course), withouth causing any problem to your phone. I would thank the user Ski-lleR that has mentioned them on this thread and already removed them without problems.

Here the list:

Well, as I said, I didn't remove them and if you keep them only TimeScape, especially on very low speed networks, will cause sometimes the phone to lag a bit. It's up to you to decide. And, in case you are not pretty sure, just move these applications, as I explained in step 9, to another folder and see what happens to the operative system without them. In case you miss them, just restore with a cut-paste in the original folder to enjoy their functionalities again :)

STEP 16: REMOVE BOOT SCREEN ANIMATION TO SPEED-UP BOOT

WHY THIS STEP

: If you don't care too much to graphics and animated SE boot screen logo, you can remove this capability and save some time during the boot procedure. I would thank the user basisnederland that has suggested to include this step in the guide. Really thank you and thanks everybody for the tons of feedbacks and suggestions that help me to make this guide better and better :)

HOW TO DO

: Using for example RootExplorer, you just have to delete the file called startupanimation.zip situated into the directory media. The result is a sensible improvement on cold boot!

STEP 17: SD CARD TRANSFER RATES (READ&WRITE) SPEED-UP

WHY THIS STEP

: Well, in my case only improvements with benchmark tests and not too much in real daily use. But at least you should have a try to this mod, it sounds really interesting ;)

Since a couple of weeks, here on XDA more than one developer suggested scripts and mod (to flash with xRecovery or to create with a notepad and put inside the ROM) to reach a simple goal: adjust the size of the cache of the SD memory card in order to obtain better performances in terms of read and write transfer rates.

The operation of modding was not so easy for non expert users, until Diego Stamigni, an Italian developer (I am Italian too and so I am glad for this ^_^ ) has created a very easy-to-use tool to perform this operation!

Before and after you perform this step, please measure the read and write speed of your SD Card in terms of MegaBytes per second (MB/s) with a benchmark tool called SD Tools that you can find on the Android Market to see how much the improvement is!

HOW TO DO

:

A few very simple steps to follow:

Download from Android Market the software SD Tools and install it

Run the benchmark with the stock parameters (remember that Android set SD Cache to 128KB) and look at the result; you will see quite low reading and writing speed for your SD card!

Now download and install from the market SD Speed Increase, thus set the cache of SD card in 2048KB and press Apply. Of course, you can try other values and every time start SD Tools bench to see which one best fits for your memory card, according to the brand, the Class speed and the NAND type

After applying the tweak, see the improvement with SD Tools!

This tweak will automatically apply to every boot of the smartphone, so after you perform it just enjoy the speed increase without remember to do anything next time you reboot your X10 ;)

... AND NOW? WHAT SHOULD I GET AND EXPECT FROM MY SLIGHTLY MODDED X10?​

The answer to this question is very simple: much speed!!! One time I executed Linpack I got 34.4 MFLOPS as score. But usually is around 32.5 / 33. A very good result for the stock ROM. However, I want to focus to a more important point: it doesn't matter the number of a benchmark, it matters the real speed that you are able to appreciate everytime you use your smartphone. Now you will se everything work much faster, you will say "WOW" maybe :D (yes, I did it too...) =P

LINPACK and QUADRANT scores - screenshots:

​

CONCLUSION AND FINAL WORDS

I hope you appreciate my modest guide. It is addressed to newbies like me ( :D ) that want more performance from their SE standard ROM.

I will check and try to update this guide as more news come, however you can always help me to reach this goal and suggest all the mistakes I made writing this tutorial ;)

Thank youuuuu ^^