93 replies to this topic

[timfimjim]

Also I am not getting very much lag at all. I have definitely heard that if you have less than 1gb free internal storage then it can start to slow down but if you've got more than that then it doesn't seem fair... I mean - it's already advertised as 16gb with only 13 actually available for storage. Now if you've got to keep 2gb of that free just so that the tablet doesn't slow down then it's just silly!!

[Spoke]

Looks like The Register has picked it up:

http://www.theregist.../09/11/nexus_7/

[Dabogues]

Great, and all anyone is doing is taking my content out of context and turning it into, "what dummy doesn't know that a 16GB device doesn't actually have 16GB?" My point was this: devices are labeled for a particular amount of storage. Anyone who's ever bought anything storage related knows that that number isn't the actual amount of storage it has, but it tends to be particularly important when talking about devices without a ton of memory. There's less to work with, so every gig counts. In this case, instead of the storage being only ~80+% of the 16GB, it's actually more like 60+%, since the thing chugs unless I have that 3 gigs free (i.e. keep it under 10 GB full). That is a HUGE difference when we're talking about room for apps.

I'm under no delusions about how storage works. I just disagree with the way it's marketed. And, in this case, it's even worse, due to the (presumed) IO issues once you get past 10GB.

[Colin Whiteside]

Glad this has been picked up. Another fun benefit of slowdown due to slow memory speeds: try downloading a rented movie while surfing the web in Chrome. Expect it to be asslike.

[Colin Whiteside]

I mean, I get that this is meant to be a £200 loss-leader tablet designed for streaming, but if you're designing the unit for rapidly taking in and processing data you need fast internal storage.

Latest benchmarks are actually significantly better for reads, for some inexplicable reason, but writes are still sucking hard. Like, sub-Nexus One hard. Again, disable wifi and the scores actually hit the lofty heights of Poor. SQL transactions are so bad they barely even register on the rankings graph.

I've got to admire the contradiction of the thing: a tablet designed for streaming and speed with memory so slow it renders Project Butter pointless; a tablet for company that makes all its money online than only works reliably well when you disable wifi; a powerful multitasking device that grinds to a halt if background tasks try to write to storage.

Edited by Colin Whiteside, 11 September 2012 - 09:16 PM.

[Dabogues]

Makes me want to cry.

[Paul Cahill]

I and maybe others have managed to get an article published on The Register.
http://www.theregist.../09/11/nexus_7/
However the commentards have missed the issue and think that owners are bleating that they only have 13GB and not 16GB or that it runs slow when 99% full.
Please comment on the article that write performance is still a tenth of what it should be, even when the file system is cleared down so that lots of space is free.
So far the only solution is a factory reset.

[Dabogues]

peacanpie, on 04 September 2012 - 07:15 PM, said:

I ended up restoring to factory defaults and starting again.... I've only installed a handful of apps, but intend to near fill the device with mkv files and see how chrome, currents etc, etc behave.  Going by some of the comments above re: I/O, I would expect to see that performance would go downhill again - although Colin's comments that it flies when wifi is off is interesting.. (BTW I'm using stock and non-rooted).

I'm glad you added that to the Register comments, Paul. I think people are getting back on track with it, finally.

Another question for the whole "a factory reset fixes it"---it doesn't really fix it, does it? If you do a factory reset and then reinstall everything back up past 10 GB, won't you still have the same issue? In my experience, it wasn't a factory reset that fixed it---simply uninstalling apps/clearing caches/deleting content until the available storage was below 10 GB.

[ethicalstrategy]

I've definitely noticed it on JR7.  I went back to an old nandroid of JR6 and it's been much better again.

[Dabogues]

ethicalstrategy, on 12 September 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:

I've definitely noticed it on JR7.  I went back to an old nandroid of JR6 and it's been much better again.

That's using the MoDaCo custom ROM? Was about to root my N7 when I started running into this, so I didn't move forward in the event I need to send it to Asus.

Edited by Dabogues, 12 September 2012 - 02:37 PM.

[ahatomastarday]

Big thanks for all your reports and for making noise out there, folks. Let's hope Google admits this issue and addresses it eventually :/

[rferrett]

I have tried lots of different ROMS and several different Kernels and I keep getting it. Back on JR7 with Trinity ATM at it is ok.

But it is a major fault and if I am honest I am thinking of returning it. Just not good enough. So frustrating.

[Colin Whiteside]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, to meet release yields, Asus used cheaper flash storage (with a poor memory controller) on first-run N7s, which explains why this isn't a device-wide issue and seems to largely be affecting early adopters. I'm going to hang off a few more weeks, and if things don't improve or the issue fails to get recognised, look to swap my unit for a newer one at HMV. I'll pop the back off my current one at some point and check the build date though. If other people fancy giving that a shot, I'd be much obliged, it's a bit brown-trousers the first time you try it but it's actually not that hard if you're careful.

[Colin Whiteside]

Okay, here goes:

Build date 2012/05/26 (so, early batch)
14007-00530400
3DC

This info is printed on the inside of the back plate.

[Dabogues]

The wife has been out of town for about a week, so I haven't had the time to dig any deeper yet. Has anyone on here contacted Asus yet? I will probably be able to call them Thursday or Friday, and I"m curious as to how they will handle it. I expect the typical initially useless suggestions, and then it escalating into me trying to convince them that it is a real problem.

[Colin Whiteside]

Well Google have asked a bunch of people experiencing the problem who bought them via the Play Store to volunteer their tablets so they can investigate, so things are moving along.

[cacklemygladys]

I'm getting it as soon as I go below 8Gb free space.
Just downloading the free Transformer movie does it.
I really don't want to return it, but if it's not fixed soon I can't see any other option.

[stevenz]

I got the 8GB version so its nigh impossible for mine to have much more than 4GB free at best, and that's assuming I don't have any files on it. It doesn't seem to be particularly laggy, although I did a massive cleanout and it did make it noticably snappier. I also disabled a number of things like Google Now (which strikes me as being totally useless), all the Play apps (other than the store, they aren't supported in New Zealand) and assorted other bits & pieces. It's now very quick, will see if I can run some sort of benchmark on it (I think AnTuTu does I/O tests?)

[angamb]

See here, it's become quite an issue for many owning the 16Gb versions:

http://www.gottabemo...ormance-issues/

[r5ingh]

Well Guys,

Thanks to this thread I learnt that I was not alone in experiencing NAND Flash problems with the N7. I purchased mine at launch in July from Tesco and thanks to the info from this thread have managed to secure a full refund from Tesco Direct. I explained the problem and they offered me a full refund without question, they picked up the device free of charge. I guess it's worth asking your retailer to replace/refund the device and point them to the article on 'The Register'. Hope this helps someone...