flicker / menu scrolling problem

[mikezzz]

Occasionally my Axim gets into a mode
where the display flickers and any menu I select
will display with the selection scrolling at
about 2 items per second. This usually (but not
always) stops if I turn it off and back on - but
is annoying none the less. Anyone else
seen this or know of a fix? Thanks

[Mike C]

I've never seen that happen, but whenever the Ax acts strange, you should soft reset it and check it out again. If it persists for no good reason, a hard reset may be in order.

[Solitare]

Originally posted by mikezzz
Occasionally my Axim gets into a mode
where the display flickers and any menu I select
will display with the selection scrolling at
about 2 items per second. This usually (but not
always) stops if I turn it off and back on - but
is annoying none the less. Anyone else
seen this or know of a fix? Thanks

I've seen this a few times with my Axim and powering it off and on didn't help. The only thing that stops it is a soft boot.

Ed

This might be ties to the fact that the OS doesn't seem to completely clear the use of resources after you use/shutdown various apps.

If you check your memory use often, you will see the Program memory just keeps going up & up & up as you use apps. The system isn't releasing this memory from use. This lessens the resources available when you do want to run apps until you reach a point where all RAM is in use...and then things start to slow down.

I've taken to doing soft resets every 2 - 4 days. After 4 days I will often show 20+ MB of program RAM in use meanwhile after the reset the resources required to run are only around 5 MB (depending on what's running, of course).

I wish there was a better way to do this, but it seems to be the only way to recover the Program memory.

Chris...

[Mike C]

I use Icbar as my navigation bar handler, so every time I finish with an app, the X button closes it completely.

[mikezzz]

I don't think this problem is a result of
running out of RAM - I make frequent use of
Dell's "switcher bar" to shut down
apps. By the way, what (that's useful)
can I do with ICBar that I can't do
with switcher bar?

Originally posted by mikezzz
I don't think this problem is a result of
running out of RAM - I make frequent use of
Dell's "switcher bar" to shut down
apps. By the way, what (that's useful)
can I do with ICBar that I can't do
with switcher bar?

Could still be a memory issue. As I said, the OS isn't very efficient at recovering all the used RAM after closing apps. Go to your Memory screen and see what the numbers look like. You might have a heck of a lot more RAM in use as Program Memory then you think. A soft-reset clear all that.

Icbar list all apps that are currently running and lets you close them individually or all at once. It also allows you to set up several icon on your upper task bar for 1 touch access to certain functions. You can also create a couple "custom" buttons. I used one custom button for "Shutdown" app, for instance. The buttons are "skinable" as well.

Chris...

[Mike C]

I got Icbar to be able to design my own Navigation bar, as it allows control of all the various elements. The regular stock close button only minimizes the apps as you know, but Icbar makes it a true stop button. The Today button minimizes the current app and brings up the Today screen the same as the old close button.

The biggest problem I had with Switcher was when I had several apps running, it only allows Shutdown Current App, or Shutdown All. If the one you want is not at the top of the list, you have to first make it the current app, and then go back to stop it.
The Task Manager for Icbar has a Stop button next to each running app on the list, so each can be controlled regardless of its place on the list.