im_dragon

I have read this Brighthand article since the day it came out, and it just hit me now:

When you turn off the Axim, what will happen to the data that's in RAM? Wiped out?

If it gets wiped out because of no power applying to it, then you would lose whatever you were doing, possibly losing some important data. Then when you turn on your PPC, you would start WM5 from scratch instead of resuming where you left off. Could this scenario be right?

I really love the way it is right now, where you can switch the device "OFF" and ON any time, and resume whatever you were doing instantly. I hate it if that's no longer the case

EDIT: in order for us to instantly resume where we left off, power must continually applied to RAM. If that's the case, WM5 will use power much like WM2003SE. Am I missing something?

Gigi

It's my understanding that the device will continue to be powered all the time to ensure a fast bootup time, and also to keep the clock/alarms running, etc. However, the Storage component of Main Memory will no longer need constant power since apps are installed in persistent memory.

im_dragon

So, I think WM5 will drain battery as much, or almost as much as WM2003SE, when the device is "off". Some people compared the power management of WM5 to that of Cell phones, and that it won't draw any power when it's off, but that's obviously not true.

Anyway, Gigi, please add "X51 Forums" to the drop-down menu in the header. Thx.

Gigi

Originally Posted by im_dragon

So, I think WM5 will drain battery as much, or almost as much as WM2003SE, when the device is "off". Some people compared the power management of WM5 to that of Cell phones, and that it won't draw any power when it's off, but that's obviously not true. Anyway, Gigi, please add "X51 Forums" to the drop-down menu in the header. Thx.

I think I read somewhere that WM5 will take a bit less power compared to WM2003SE, probably because it doesn't have to hold programs as well.

Unfortunately, I don't have the power to add X51 Forums in the header, but if you put this in the Site Suggestions, Chris will see it and take action as he sees fit. :)

badbob001

Take the x50v for example. When it is upgraded to WM5, it will, more or less, use the same amount of energy as it did previously.

But you may perceive that the device under WM5 is running longer though because the battery warnings will come later than it did previously. In WM5, since flash is used for storage, nothing (hopefully) is loss from total power loss. Therefore it is less conservative in maintaining a buffer of standby power. So say in 2003se, the battery warning comes at 25% battery level. Under WM5, it may come at 10%. The scale of the battery bar may even be re-adjusted so it looks like energy is used at a different rate.

And no, there is no current practical method in pocketpc's to 'power off' unused ram. And there will not be a way to 'turn off' a pocketpc like smartphones unless you pull out the battery.

So if you're currently running your device overclocked, all-wireless on, and screen to full brightness, don't expect any miracles from WM5.

KidOtaku

To answer the OP's question, you should not lose any data when turning your device off under WM2005. Basically, your device will not turn itself off instantly upon pressing the power button. A copy of whatever data you were working on will be written to the ROM before the power to the RAM is cut. When you turn the device back on, this data will be copied back to RAM, thus restoring the device to the exact state it was in before turning the power off.

This will undoubtedly be transparent to the user (i.e. your screen will go black as soon as you press the button, just as you expect it to).

badbob001

Originally Posted by KidOtaku

To answer the OP's question, you should not lose any data when turning your device off under WM2005. Basically, your device will not turn itself off instantly upon pressing the power button. A copy of whatever data you were working on will be written to the ROM before the power to the RAM is cut. When you turn the device back on, this data will be copied back to RAM, thus restoring the device to the exact state it was in before turning the power off.

There is some misinformation here. Even with WM5, PocketPC-type devices will not have a power-off feature. As before, pressing the power button will put the device into minimal power sleep mode but ram will still receive power. Smartphones and Phone-edition type devices will continue to have an 'off' option since phones always had that option.

See here for more info:

Quote:

http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/...01/446240.aspx: In Windows Mobile 5, the PocketPC still uses the original Sleep power model. In some future version (maybe the next, maybe the one after that, we don't know yet) PocketPCs will move to the Smartphone Always On model.

What you described above, where 'turning off' the device makes the device copy ram to storage and then the reverse when 'turning on' sounds like hibernation, which exists on laptops. Such a thing has not been implemented for WM5. True, WM5 will periodically flush non-temporary data from ram to storage and will also immediately flush data to storage upon power button press, but the state of ram is not reserved.

The only way to really turn off a pocketpc is to pull out the battery (and let the backup battery drain). Luckily, with WM5, that won't result in any storage loss.

KidOtaku

Thanks badbob001 for putting me back on the right track. I should verify my sources before I post... :)

badbob001

Of course, I didn't say a third-party instead of Microsoft, such as Dell, couldn't implement an OFF feature: http://x51v.blogspot.com/2005/09/rea...s-arrived.html

Cool!

beemer

In a review I've seen that it is possible to assign the Total Power Off function to the "hold power button" instead the usual "light off" function.