Frequent h1910 soft reset

[Sekera]

I have owned a h1910 for one week now and have had to perform a soft reset at least once per day. The unit stops responding, usually while browsing contact or calendar records, and a soft reset is the only way to return to normal operation. Is this normal for a PPC 2002 device? Is there anything in particular I should do to reduce the number of soft resets?

[jimski]

You only have to soft reset "once per day". Now that's progress. Seriously, if you are a Palm convert or new to Pocket PC's in general, you can get used to doing soft resets.

I don't know if you have a specific problem, but on my iPAQ 5450 I usually require a soft reset when jumping around too quickly (at least that's what it seems like) or sometimes for no reason I will take the iPAQ out of my pocket to find the the little busy icon swirling and my battery getting chewed up. A soft reset is the only solution.

After using a Pocket PC for 6 months I have just gotten used to doing a soft reset 1 to 3 times per day on average. Dosen't hurt anything, but it is a pain sometimes.

[revolution.cx]

This isn't normal. The 1910 shouldn't be doing that, though the 5450 has some issues.

Jimski, you may have to soft-reset 1 to 3 times a day, but in my experience the rest of the world doesn't. Perhaps you should consider a warranty repair.

[bmhome1]

In the six weeks I've had my 3955, I probably have had to soft reset (locked up or slowed to a crawl, not app install resets) three times TOTAL and that's with 38 non-ROM apps (9MB in RAM + 4MB in File Store), two sleeves switching and heavy use.

I agree something amiss must be causing such instability. I heard about multiple daily resets and expected it, but have happily actually found the opposite. I do always close unused apps to keep as much RAM free as possible, and trash software trials immediately that seem unstable.

[TopDog]

I often have to reset my PPC several times a day, and some times not at all... depening on the use. But I use my PPC pretty radicaly (I work in a PPC sofwarecompany with testing)

I'f you use I/O cards a lot (modems/wlan, etc...) or if you use a lot of beta or freeware there are a lot of bugs flowting around. But if you just use standard software, there should be no reason to reset often!

[Vincent M Ferrari]

I've only had to reset my Maestro twice this week. Generally, the most I've ever had to deal with resetting is twice in one day, but for the most part once every couple of days keeps things running smoothly.

You may want to try SBP Pocketplus which changes the stupid useless X in the upper right corner of the screen to a close button, this way stuff doesn't stay loaded when you close it. That will probably make a huge difference in how often you have to reset.

Hope that helped.

[newst]

Sekera,

Don't panic. You're frequent resets are probably not due to any hardware problem. It's a learning curve issue on the proper care and feeding of a Pocket PC.

All pocket PCs have limited RAM, and the 1910 at 46meg is more limited than most. Pocket PCs share that RAM between storing and running programs. When it gets too full it will lock up, requiring a soft reset. This causes no damage and does not indicate a hardware problem. Once you understand how the PPC uses RAM there are steps you can take to eliminate the reset issue.

1. Your 1910 splits its 46meg between storing and running programs. The more RAM used up in storing programs means the less available for running them. So it is a good idea to load as many programs as possible into the SD card. Most PPC programs will work from there just fine, with no more effect than a slightly longer start-up as the program is loaded from SD to RAM. The few PPC programs that must be loaded to RAM will tell you this up front.

2. Unlike other versions of Windows, CE does not close a program when you tap the "X" icon. It puts them to sleep in the background, where they still use up some RAM. Now CE is supposed to identify when the RAM is getting crowded, and automatically kill background programs when the memory needs to be used by active programs, but this feature doesn't really work well. Eventually the RAM is used up and the PPC locks up-requiring a soft reset to flush the RAM. Just think of the soft reset as a re-boot.

3. The way to avoid these problems is to shut programs down completely when you are done with them. You can do this within the software suite built into the PPC by going to Settings/system/memory/running programs and turning some of them off. You can also install some third party software that simplifies the process. Most of these programs have additional features that make them very useful to have on your machine. Many, like WISBAR and ICBAR are even free.


SN

[Sekera]

Thanks for the help, newst and others. :D I can't imagine owning a PPC without utilizing the content of PPCT. Thank you, PPCT.

[gibb-a]

Your 1910 splits its 46meg between storing and running programs. The more RAM used up in storing programs means the less available for running them.

Do you allocate more memory then to Storage or Program in the settings?

BTW, I too have had my 1910 for a week (and love it). I use Wisbar to close applications as much as possible and I haven't needed to soft reset my unit.

[newst]

"Do you allocate more memory then to Storage or Program in the settings? "


gibb-a,

Actually, I don't bother with the "allocation" function at all. Win CE, like desktop Windows, uses dynamic memory allocation, applying whatever free RAM is available to keep running programs up. Yes, you can set that little bar, but that only affects the current session. As soon as you turn off the machine, Windows takes back control.

All I do is load every program possible onto the SD card, so that as much RAM as I can conserve is available to run programs. Win CE handles the rest.

Realize that there are some programs that are designed to run on startup, while it takes a fraction of a second for the CPU to recognize the SD card after you turn on the machine. If Windows calls the "startup" program before the SD card is on-line, you will get an error message.

There are several answers to this, the easiest of which is to keep that program in main memory.

SN

[3puttbob]

Hi all
I too have had my h1910 for a week. Only reset a couple times and it was because I was a bit rough on it. :twisted: Where can I find these freebies that let me control programs without having to go to settings, etc.? I love this machine. SDIO would be nice. Couldn't I just connect between my cell phone and the ppc for Inet ability? Anyway, I have heard horror stories on soft resets. It appears to more software conflicts. Kinda like drug interactions.

[TopDog]

Where can I find these freebies that let me control programs without having to go to settings, etc.?
http://www.hfrmobile.com/download_system.htm

A little bit down on the page you find "Switch", choose ARM and download. I love this app, better than PocketNav if you ask me :-)

[gibb-a]

Where can I find these freebies that let me control programs without having to go to settings, etc.?

Here's Pelmar's Wisbar (http://www.pelmarinc.com/html/pocket_pc.htm).

I've been using 1.1 with no problems and am waiting for the final version of 1.2. Make sure you go into the discussion boards and look at the skins that people have made. Some of them look pretty sharp!

[3puttbob]

:lol:
Thanks guys. Appreciate the links. They sound similar. I'll check 'em out.
Love this H1910