Are Hard Resets a Sign of Impending Death?

[azhiker]

I have used a Toshiba E-310 for over two years now. But lately I have had spontaneous hard resets and had to reload all my software.
:evil:

Is this a sign of a dying PPC? Is this a common occurance. I have had to manually hard reset at least every other month since I got it, but lately I have had a few spontaneous resets! :cry:

Everythings runs fine for awhile, then crash!

[dlangton]

Based simply on the fact that you've had hard resets periodically since you got the device, I'd say you have a software problem. Something you've installed is causing problems. I haven't had a spontaneous hard reset in over two years, although I've had a few instances where I was forced to hard reset due to software problems - typically after uninstalling a SIP method which I subsequently uninstalled. About the only time I've had a spontaneous hard reset came after a ROM update. It's normally a good idea (in my experience) to perform a hard reset after a ROM update even if it's not required.

Spontaneous hard rests once a month are way too often.

[tanalasta]

I also own the e310 and although I do get the occasional hard-reset (usually without working out the reason), you seem to be getting them more often than you should.

1. Have you checked your battery? A dying battery that completely drains itself is a common cause of a hard-reset. This is easy to check: After you find out about the hard-reset, the battery meter should read close to zero!

2. Consider reinstalling minimal essential software and seeing if hard-resets continue to occur.

If what you are describing is when the pocketpc "locks up" i.e. screen freezes, soft reset button doesn't work and you have to manually hard reset it (e.g. flicking the battery switch) then it may be time to buy a new pocketpc. Especially if this continues to occur after you have excluded a software problem.

[azhiker]

Yes, it seems to be about time to replace it. I use my E-310 daily. I turn it on at least a dozen times everyday. I sync important data daily so as not to loose anything. I also have most of the important data on the SD card and not in RAM where it can turn to vapor.

I do watch the battery levels through Battery Pack Pro. I have even watched out for too much memory being used.

Maybe if I keep the software to just my Pocket Informant it will be fine, But I tend to do so much more with it.

Fortunately I have had enough resets that I can put all my essential data back in 40 minutes. So not too bad, just incovenient and now to the point where too much time is taken.

[tanalasta]

Fortunately I have had enough resets that I can put all my essential data back in 40 minutes. So not too bad, just incovenient and now to the point where too much time is taken.

Do you have Sprite's Backup program? If you do, it should take about 90 seconds to restore all your programs and data. Then about 15 seconds after that on the cradle to re-sync all your Outlook data and clock.

If you don't need anything flash, consider picking up a low-end IPAQ which you can get dirt-cheap nowdays.