iPAQ Losing Steam After ROM Update?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71500' target='_blank'>http://discussion.brighthand.com/sh...&threadid=71500</a><br /><br /></div>There's a discussion thread going on over at Brighthand that made me raise an eyebrow - I have no official confirmation on this, but the anecdotal information seems strong that the 1.1 ROM update for iPAQ 3900 series devices actually reduces the speed from 400 mhz to 299 mhz. Have any of you experienced this?<br /><br />"I am on my second IPaq 3955 from Best Buy after the first one booted up at only 300 mhz a few days after purchase.. I checked the second one in the store before leaving using "speedstepper.exe" (a program to increase or limit clock ratio to increase performance or battery life) and it was the factory 398mhz. After I got home and updated this one to HP's new 1.1 ROM, I noticed it now clocked in at only 299mhz!"

[that_kid]

I checked my 3970 and I'm still running at 400mhz. Reading through the thread indicates the problem is seen with the 395x's and not the 397x's. Hopefully someone will get to the bottom of this.

[Jason Dunn]

I checked my 3970 and I'm still running at 400mhz. Reading through the thread indicates the problem is seen with the 395x's and not the 397x's. Hopefully someone will get to the bottom of this.

Ah, so the ROM update is for the non-Bluetooth 3950's, but the 1.1 ROM update for your Bluetooth-equipped 3970 went ok?

[Ed Hansberry]

Ah, so the ROM update is for the non-Bluetooth 3950's, but the 1.1 ROM update for your Bluetooth-equipped 3970 went ok?
I haven't done the ROM update for my 3970 yet, but they are on a ROM 2.x series, not 1.x. AFIAK, the only real difference between 1.x and 2.x is the Bluetooth stack.

[dcharles18]

Not to sound too ignorant, but how does one go about checking this??

(I just installed the update on my 3955)

[heov]

you can get an OC software. Pocket Hack Master (handango it) is good, but it will only "read" you settings... the trial doesn't allow you to change it.

SpeedStepper is free and will do that thoug...

www.elevatedstudios.com/pocket

[Paul P]

Not to sound too ignorant, but how does one go about checking this??

(I just installed the update on my 3955)

You have to download and install an application called speedstepper. Never tried it, but it will tell you the speed you're running.

http://elevatedstudios.com/pocket/

[that_kid]

Yeah the rom for the 3970 was 2.10 but it went well. Actually I updated mine with the first version that was ever posted on HP's site.

[Chris Spera]

You can get SpeedStepper from this link:

http://www.elevatedstudios.com/pocket/SpeedStepper.exe

You can get Pocket Hack Master here (http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&platformId=2&productType=2&catalog=0§ionId=0&productId=52913) (affiliate link; or at least it should be based on the instructions I received in the Reviewer's Forum.)

I checked my 3955 and it also had the speed reduced to 300mHz. I am not a happy person. This needs to be reported to hp and a new ROM patch should be released to fix the problem.

Christopher Spera

[dcharles18]

According to speedstepper I'm running at 398mhz, so apparently it does not affect everyone.

[blazingwolf]

I did the update this past weekend. It seemed to me that my 3955 was running slower but I just thought it was me. Now I found out that HP did something to my Ipaq. Speedstepper shows me at 300mhz :cry: . What the heck. I think HP needs to figure this out PDQ.

[heov]

According to speedstepper I'm running at 398mhz, so apparently it does not affect everyone.

you sure? if you installed speedstepper, make sure you didn't switch your speed to 400MHz... you seem to be the only one who isn't affected, so i'm thinking you accidentally set the speed or something.

I've never used speedstepper, so i don't know where to look for the curren cpu speed...

[smoke]

:evil: :evil: :evil:

Hopefully this is a glitch in Speedstepper. I'm not sure what I was running before the ROM update but it says that sometimes I am operating at 400 and at others at 300Mhz.

What gives?

[heov]

just run a bench mark and check the CPU scores...

[blang]

I Installed the rom undate and ran speedstepper and it said that my IPAQ 3955 was running at 398.

[dcharles18]

You might want to run it again. Speedstepper initially told me 398, Turbo 2X, after a soft reset it now says 300, Turbo 1.5x

[Sslixtis]

Could it be that with the ROM update, the CPU now actually Scales like it is supposed to? I moved from the iPaq 3955 to the Axim 400Mhz and that Axim actually scales depending on what CPU power is needed. If HP actually enabled scaling on the 395x series it could acount for the different readings seen with Speedstepper. Someone that updated their ROM and has seen a 300Mhz reading from Speedstepper could open other programs and leave them running to increase CPU demand and then run Speedstepper to see what it says the CPU is running at. :wink:

Anyway, good luck.

[blang]

You are correct. It went down to 300 mhz after a soft reboot. I opened PI and then ran speedstepper and it still was 300. However, to tell you the truth, I think mine is running a little faster since the rom update. I am sure it is because I had a lot of "junk" in there.

[batsai]

I think that another thing to take note of is which version of ROM 1.10 is installed. Veryh soon after releasing the English version- SP22945, it was pulled from the HP website with the explanation that "features were being added and it would be released in a few weeks." My experience is that this ROM update caused my 3955's SD slot to work VERY slowly, along with some other problems.

I just visited the website and noticed they've re-released the ROM 1.10 update as SP 23477. I'm downloading it now and I'm hoping that the issues with the first release have been fixed.

Since we may be discussing two different updates, perhaps it would be helpful to mention which one is installed and if it's causing any problems. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for the latest version :)

[dcharles18]

I don't think that's it, I have 23477 installed and am experiencing the same problem.

[blang]

I installed the 2nd update only.

[Spam]

Hhhhmmmm.. strange.. i've installed the first release on my 3950 which caused me a SD read error. I've re-installed the 1 release again after unplugin the SD card and everything went well.. i've checked the speed now with Speedstepper. initialy it showed 398MHz Turbo 2x then performed a soft reboot and it still shows 398MHz.

So for me it seems that it's just the 2nd release affected....

[nosmohtac]

I installed the rom 2.1 update on my 3970. I just installed speedstepper, and it shows running at 398 turbo2x. I have soft reset my ipaq a few times and it still shows running at 398.

[TopDog]

I installed the rom 2.1 update on my 3970. I just installed speedstepper, and it shows running at 398 turbo2x. I have soft reset my ipaq a few times and it still shows running at 398.
Same here!

But I've used the first Update that HP removed... haven't had any problems!

[dannyoneill]

iPAQ 3950 running 2nd update (ROM 1.10.10) and got the problem of it showing 300mhz in Hack Master.

Have tried putting the unit under stress to see if it is scaling but its not. Still running at 300mhz

[carphead]

I never applied the 1st v2.10 update to my 3970 but have applied the 2nd v2.10 update.

My 3970 is running at 398mhz. :)

[batsai]

I was encountering the same problems (300 MHz) on my 3955. My solution? Go back to the 1.00 ROM. While I like the audio fixes, they're no good if Pocket MVP runs like a slide show :(

[blazingwolf]

I contacted HP technical support and they told me that they do not have any information on this problem. However, they do have the support team looking into it. I mentioned the threads here and the one at brighthand. Hopefully it will get them to look into this problem a little closer. Also, the rep put me on hold for awhile and when he came back he said that the problem could not be repeated on their units. He suggested to me that I go back to the 1.0 ROM and run the same tests to see what comes up. One can always hope they will have a fix for this very soon.

[TopDog]

I was encountering the same problems (300 MHz) on my 3955.
Is it just me, or does it seem that this is a problem on the 1.10 ROM's and not on the 2.10 ROM's?

Anyone having this problem on 2.10 ROM's (bluetooth enabled units)?

[MooseMaster]

Why doesn't someone perform a PocketQuake benchmark or a VOBenchmark/GAPIBench and actually verify a SLOWDOWN. I'd be HAPPY if my XScale scaled to a slower speed, that means more battery life, but actually running slower is whole other ballpark than actually reading a MHz number of a CPU that is designed to lower it's clock speed to save battery life.

[Kaber]

I am getting 298 MHz on my 3955 at startup after applying the SP23477 update.

I didn't know the XScale scaled on its own. I thought it was software controllled. I don't see any apps in the new ROM to control this function.

BTW
I used Pocket Hack Master to check my settings. I can still get it to run at 472 and 498 MHz just fine and if I put PHM in my startup folder and have its set to start up at 472 MHz it does just that.

Hmmm... first the Battlefield 1942 1.3 update is all screwy and now this! Not a good month for patches I guess.






Patches!? We don neet no steenking PATCHES!

[blazingwolf]

I didn't know the XScale scaled on its own. I thought it was software controllled. I don't see any apps in the new ROM to control this function.

As far as I know it doesn't. Dell wrote a program to use the scaling feature for the Axim.

I'd be HAPPY if my XScale scaled to a slower speed, that means more battery life

Ya it does save battery but it affects everything. All programs that I ran are slower. I switched back to 1.0 ROM and now I am back to 398mhz all the time. The thread over at brighthand shows the benchmarks using vobenchmark software.

The 3970 does not seem to be affected by this problem, it is specific to the 3955.

[dcharles18]

How do you go back to ROM 1.0?? I thought a ROM upgrade was permanent??

[Ed Hansberry]

How do you go back to ROM 1.0?? I thought a ROM upgrade was permanent??
During the upgrade process you are offered the chance to back up the ROM in the device. That creates a ROM file just like the update, so you can install the old ROM if you want.

If you choose *not* to back up the ROM, then you can't revert.

[blazingwolf]

How do you go back to ROM 1.0?? I thought a ROM upgrade was permanent??

To go back start the ROM update that you just did. Follow the instructions. You will come to a page that asks if you want to apply the new ROM, make a backup, or restore the previous ROM. Just click tthe restore button and follow the instructions. Of course this will only work if you did a backup of the previous ROM and,assumming that you did, have not erased it. :) Hope this helps.

[cmchavez]

I too have a 298.50 mHz iPaq 3950 after running the ROM updated. This truly sucks! :evil:

HPaq needs to address this, I want the full capacity available of the hardware as it was originally purchased.

[dcharles18]

Been fixed:

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=78616