# Development environment hardware requirements



## chrisexv6 (Sep 8, 2011)

Currently trying to develop an app in ICS (4.0.3) and it seems like my desktop just doesn't have enough horsepower. Its an older machine (core duo I believe) with only 2GB RAM.

In the interest of actually making progress vs swearing at it being so slow to debug/build, any suggestions on better hardware? Im wondering if I can get away with just increasing the RAM, but since the machine is so old I figure Id ask for complete hardware specs to see if Im better off upgrading the whole machine instead.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

-Chris


----------



## imnuts (Jun 9, 2011)

More ram and a faster hard drive (SSD or Raptor) will help out. Also, if you use ccache, it will cut down on compile time as well. However, those are really only band-aids, but may make it a better experience for you. On my old system, it took 5 hours to build a full 4.0.3 AOSP ROM, with ccache it took just over 2 hours. Specs were similar to yours for the VM I was using (core2duo, 2gb memory)


----------



## imheroldman (Aug 23, 2011)

Are you ruining a linux distro or VM?

I run linux mint on a core 2 duo quad with 4 gb of ram. When I compile I issue:

$ make -j16

This uses 4 threads per core on the cpu, adjust to your processor, i.e. 2 cores = max -j8

Sent from my Evo using RootzWiki


----------



## JBirdVegas (Jun 11, 2011)

imheroldman said:


> Are you ruining a linux distro or VM?
> 
> I run linux mint on a core 2 duo quad with 4 gb of ram. When I compile I issue:
> 
> ...


Yes and no read this from the expert JBQ (he heads Google's AOSP)
https://groups.google.com/d/topic/android-building/SkAU5GNVXqs?fromgroups

Yes it matters how many cores but dont just ise that you also want to throw 2 more jobs in to cache to avoid idle threads.


----------



## imnuts (Jun 9, 2011)

imheroldman said:


> Are you ruining a linux distro or VM?
> 
> I run linux mint on a core 2 duo quad with 4 gb of ram. When I compile I issue:
> 
> ...


If you have a quad core processor (no HT), you shouldn't do more than -j5, otherwise you are just going to slow down the build process. Having more than that can just bog down the system and give you no added benefit. I timed builds on my dual-core system, and -j3 was faster than -j4


----------



## rayne58 (Jan 9, 2012)

He's not trying to build the OS I believe he is talking about the virtual device, dont use it lol from what I've read It is usually slow. Use your device through ADB


----------

