Help! the slowness

[WirelessDJ]

HELP!! :?


problem
=====
when I open or close a pocket word or excel document it takes soooo long to close. it gives me an hourglass for up to 45 seconds! The file sizes are small (71K) and work instantly from internal memory. I thought it was the 1gb microdrive then I sold it to get a CF card and still have issues. I tried using storage tools to check FAT table and defrag, made no difference.
I recently did a hard reset and reloaded all the apps and data and that did not fix the problem.

has anyone seen a problem? is the CF card supposed to be that slow? maybe pocket pc can't handle 1GB? should I try to format the card into 4 256mb stoarage cards?

I would really appreciate any advice at this point

configuration
========
ipaq 3835 with dual non-powerd CF sleeve
1gb microdrive or sans 1gb CF memory card
pocket pc 2002 os no patches
All word/excel documents (not applications) are stored on memory card

Software installed:
============
withmp3
SPB pocket plus 1.2
resco file explorer 2003
adobe acrobat reader
socket low power ethernet driver
pocket media pocket divx
pdawin tv remote controller
macromedia flash player
insignia jeode runtime
f-corp power warnign tweak
cambridge vxutil
softwinter storage tools 1.4

[WirelessDJ]

As a follow-up

I have confirmed it is NOT a power issue: I tried a friend's powered CF sleeve and it made no difference still took 45 seconds to close a small 71K file pocket excel file.

I have made some progress though. It could have been a file related issue:

Recall there are NO problems with teh FAT table or media itself according to softwinter storage tools 1.4 and FlashFormat programs. The flash card and the microdrive have been formatted many times over.

:idea: HOPE --> While poking around in My Documents, I found *one* 29 byte pocket word document file that just would not open. It appeared to be a copy of the file above it? So, deleted it. After deleting that one file, the system has not been freezing.

:!: NOW --> If this is the cause of the freezing, I find it amazing how one '29 byte corrupt file' can bring the entire OS to a halt even when I was not accessing the corrupt file!

:!: ALSO --> I find it amazing that I was able to copy this 'corrupt file' back and forth over and over, and never gave me any problems.

More testing is warranted. :?:

[Paragon]

Using a file explorer that shows hidden files (Activsync explore, or something like Resco file explorer) check your storage card for a file named ignore_my_docs. If you find it delete it. As well if you don't have a my documents folder be sure to place one on the card otherwise the OS will keeep putting the ignore file back.

Dave

[bmhome1]

Try moving ALL of your largest applications out of RAM into your SD storage card. Having as much RAM free at all times (even 5-10MB back free will have huge impact) will speed up file saving as well as overall speed. Also suggest trying PocketHackMaster to boost system performance.

[Jonathon Watkins]

What are the implications of delting the 'ignore_my_docs' file?

I just aquired a 1Gb CF card and I have the same problem. Opening or closing Word etc is SLOW.

I have delted the files on my SD and CF card and have created a My Documents folder on both. The speed has indeed increaed. Why is this?

Ta.

[Janak Parekh]

If "ignore_my_docs" is there, it will scan the entire CF card for relevant files. If you have a lot of files, there will be a pretty substantial performance penalty.

--janak

[Paragon]

What are the implications of dealt the 'ignore_my_docs' file?

The file is placed there by the OS if there is not a my documents folder. As Janak stated if you have a lot of files on the card it can slow things down to a dead crawl. If you have a my documents folder....which you should..... then you do not need the ignore_my_docs file.

The best procedure is to be sure you have a my documents folder on your storage card and delete the ignore_my_docs file if you have one. NO ill effects will be incurred doing this.

Dave

[Jonathon Watkins]

I have have done just that. It is a LOT faster now. Thank for giving me the real reason this works. Now I have to juggle three My Documents folders. Is it OK to rename them to "SD My Documents" and "CF My Documents", or does the name need to be left as 'My Documents"?

I take it that if I want to Sync directly to the SD card (in the Axim all the time) I need to use something like MightySync? I can't seem to create a desktop shortcut to the My Documents folder on the SD or CD cards. :?

It IS nice however to have a 1Gb CF card and 256Mb SD card to be able to play with. I'm busy transfering my larger apps to the SD card and I'm filling the CF card with MP3s and Mpgs. :mrgreen:

Any rule of thumb of how much free space to leave at all time on the PPC itself?

[Janak Parekh]

Is it OK to rename them to "SD My Documents" and "CF My Documents", or does the name need to be left as 'My Documents"?
I'm pretty sure you have to call it exactly "My Documents". :(

I take it that if I want to Sync directly to the SD card (in the Axim all the time) I need to use something like MightySync? I can't seem to create a desktop shortcut to the My Documents folder on the SD or CD cards. :?
Correct, another wonderful limitation of ActiveSync. :)

Any rule of thumb of how much free space to leave at all time on the PPC itself?
No hard answer - it depends on how many programs you use simultaneously. On my 64MB iPaq, I had 30+ MB free when running no programs; on the 32MB PPCPE, I have 19+ MB free.

--janak