Lock ups, freezes & soft resetting

gandyjs · 05-14-05, 02:34 PM

I've soft- & hard-reset many times so that will not resolve the issue: upon soft-resetting my hx4705 (one of many, many times that I always have to) even if I wait a moment or two, tapping on a program sometimes freezes the system (necessitating yet another one of many soft-resets with this unit). I'll tap on a program, that program's name appears on the top menu bar of the screen, but then the system freezes. Sometimes this happens, sometimes not.

I've at least 28MB+ of free RAM. I have the latest (and only) ROM upgrade from HP...the audio patch. I've installed SPB's Weather, Diary and Pocket Plus programs for the Today screen. I have a fully-charged Lion 4500 extended battery installed. This problem seems intermittent. It's like the unit is trying to "catch up" or something, preventing me from launching a program. AGAIN, this happens especially just after I do a soft reset.

Also, sometimes I'll wait for what seems a long time before Pocket Plus presents itself on the Today screen...but sometimes I don't wait long at all. Why is there so much inconsistency and delay and whatnot with this unit? Sorry to sound so negative and rude. I get so many lock ups, freezes, and pauses with this thing. But I'm not over-taxing the thing, am I? I do have a CF AND a SD card installed. Maybe I need to install as much as I can into Main Memory? Would that help? Alas, this unit hardly has any of that to begin with. Thanks for whatever assistance you can provide.

blueradish · 05-14-05, 02:38 PM

You actually want to install as little as possible to Main Memory. How much program memory do you have avail? Have you tried moving the memory allocation slider to about 75/25(program/storage)?

Also, uninstall SPB Weather from the MM and put it in File Store or a card. I have mine in FS and it works fine, thereby freeing up more MM.

gandyjs · 05-14-05, 02:55 PM

Yeah, I've got SPB's Weather already on my SD card. Also, I've just now slided the memory allocation into the 75/25 area. Alas, I still am getting freezes. Seems like now more than ever. Hmmmmmm. Time for yet ANOTHER hard reset? I dare not backup (which I have many times) and use that post-hard reset lest "whatever's" in the system will also get restored with the backup!

Maybe I'm not understanding the memory slider. On SPB's Pocket Plus I've the icon which tells me that I've 10.1M of Free Program memory (40%)...this is after I've moved the slider to 25% away from the "Program" side (that is, the slider is nearer to the Program side). This is free RAM, correct? "Free Program Memory" means that I've got only 10.1 of system free RAM to work with (and to run programs)? See, I DID have the slider the OTHER way...pushed toward the Storage side. With that, it gave me, say, 32.7M (megabytes, I assume?!) of "Free Program Memory." The other display options for the Pocket Plus "Memory" icon are Free Storage and Total Free. What do I want displayed so as to give me an accurate reading of how much free RAM "breathing room" I have to launch programs?

Either way, I tried both slider positions and I'm still getting the lock-ups. Probably. I think I'm not sure I don't get it. I think I'll go back to pencil and paper...how refreshing that will be! No more computers!

Iz I all Kunfewzd?

imported_Dermot81 · 05-14-05, 03:59 PM

"Yeah, I've got SPB's Weather already on my SD card."

Don't install today plug-ins to expansion cards, it will exponentially increase the chances of your device freezing.

jbb · 05-14-05, 07:50 PM

New to PPC - so I don't know the answer. WM2003 feels like Win95 to me - buggy, crash-prone and not very elegant. Yep, the reset button is your friend...

ShALLaX · 05-14-05, 08:26 PM

When installing applications - think of it this way: "If I boot my Pocket PC up, what needs to be available for it to run?". That is to say, if you boot with no memory cards plugged in, will all the REQUIRED essentials be available in main memory/ RAM. A good way to see if you got this right is to try booting your device without your memory cards and see if any errors occur.

This leads to the above mentioned issue of "Today Plugins". These should ALWAYS go in main RAM so that the are readily and quickly accessible by the system upon bootup. If the today screen can't get the data it needs when refreshing it's likely to crash your PDA. Also, in terms of things like media players/ picture viewers its wise to think about how you are going to use your device. I install these into main memory since I swap memory cards often to view pictures from different devices etc...

Hope this helps.

gandyjs · 05-14-05, 10:02 PM

I guess I've got to change my mindset. See, I also own the iPaq h5555. Had NO problems with that unit. I could load whatever anywhere I wanted onto that thing knowing that it was going to function perfectly. (Heck, same with my Sony Clie, but that's Palm O/S). Now I get the hx4705. "Well surely it'll be the best of the best!" I think to myself. "It'll have the least of all issues, surely." To be honest, I approach my hx4705 with a little apprehension, "What's not going to work on it THIS time!" I wonder.

Is there an article or book or something that discusses all the basics on how to use this thing then? I didn't think I'd have to need one! I'm fairly computer savvy. I've already got the thing's manual, but I already know those basics. I've taken a look at Spb's Tricks and Tips software but that too seems somewhat elementary. Besides, I don't need tips on peripherals or WiFi stuff (just don't needs wireless at this point)...and that software seemed to talk alot about that. HECK! I still use POST-IT notes even though I've got my handheld less than a FOOT from me!

Also, this: is the iPaq file store considered part of the Main Memory thing? BOY this is confusing! Why even call it that? Are we to view that as sort of like an internal card you can't take out? What's the purpose in separating it like that? Is this some precursor to that upcoming persistent memory thing? Why not make the whole RAM amount that or the other (or neither!)? Then what's the difference between Program Memory and Storage Memory? I hate having to fiddle with all this just to make the thing work! What's the best thing to do? Just how DO light sabers work anyway?!

rob1303 · 05-14-05, 10:20 PM

To give you a good overview on memory management have a look at this post over at Aximsite:
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=76407

Under the current system you want to keep as much RAM (program + storage) free as possible.

Then when WM5 comes out this will change (

) so that:
- The OS and all your programme files will be saved in BIS/ Filestore (ie Persistant memory)
- Programmes will run in RAM

With regard to your problem some users find that SPB Pocket Plus causes lock-ups on their systems. IF you reinstall without this programme do the lock-ups still happen?

AshleyJ · 05-15-05, 04:12 AM

I tried SPB Pocket Plus and suffered the same problems as you are experiencing.

Others seem to be able to run this program with out problems but it caused no end of bother for me. It appears to me that these devices are very sensitive to the mix of application that you have installed and getting the right balance is a matter of trial and error.

I have got mine stable with the applications that I need and (touching wood) it will remain that way.

I would try a hard re-set and then install one application at a time until the problems start again.
If you have these problems with nothing installed I think it is time for a call to service.

Quorlan · 05-15-05, 08:22 AM

Quick note on Program vs. Storage Memory. Storage memory is RAM used to store files and applications, it's how much RAM space your device has without any CF or SD cards and ignoring the File Store. You want as much of this allocated to Program (in other words, you want as much Program memory free as the OS will allow you to set and not auto-readjust the memory slider - I find you need to leave at least 8mb of RAM for Storage or WinMobile auto-adjusts the slider back to the middle) as possible.

Also, Today plugins should be installed to Main Memory (that free storage space we just discussed. Everything else should go to the file store or a memory card. My approach is this:
Main RAM: Today plugins (I use SnoopSoft DashBoard and WisBar Advanced 2)
File Store: All software (games, applications, utilities, including backups of my settings and themes for Dashboard and Wisbar so if I ever have to hard reset, I can restore these quickly once I have those two plugins installed, etc)
CF Card: Data files for applications. This includes any ebooks, word docs, excel files, text files, databases, etc. This allows me to quickly and esily move files or work on these files on either my PDA or on my desktop with card reader.
SD Card: Video and Music files. Here I place dvds I've transferred from my collection to PPC format (usually DivX for use in BetaPlayer) and sometime music to listen to (though I usually use an iPod for music).

This seems to keep things running pretty smooth on my system. Maybe a setup like this will work for you. One more note, I used SBP Pocket Plus and it slowed everything down and made my system crash too frequently, so I went back to using Dashboard and Wisbar, which I've been using on PPCs for years now and all is well.

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