Bug in memoryhandling for MDA/XDA II devices and Windows Mobile 2003 PE

[IvkovicD]

Hi, want you to know, that the MDA/XDA II devices have a big bug with handling open programms in programm memory.

I've open a discussion at Microsoft News (microsoft.public.pocketpc.phone_edition), but 've get no reply on this, maybe there are too less people there using a MDA/XDA II device.

I hope, that here at this forum, there are more response. So I'ill just opcy the newsmessy here:


Hi,

to "Microsoft Mobile Stuff"

please confirm following bug:

The new Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition (at least german edition, might also be at english one) has a big bug at the memoryhandling routine, which handles the closing of open programms to keep programm-memory free.

Situtation: if you load programms and get over 16mb of used memory for
programms at the shared memory pool of your device, the device (here
especially MDA/XDA II) starts closing programms until it gets under 16 mb again, it doesn't matter, if your device has 128 Mb free, or you moved the slider at memory configuration to the left, so the programm memory is > 80 MB)

If you load enough load-and-stay-resident programms (traytools, menue
extensions, desktop enhancments e.g. wisbar, smenue, pocket controler, aso.) to keep more than 16 mb used, you cannot load any further programms, because the device reports insufficant memory for execution. You can only use the already loaded tools.

If you remove all \windows\startup entries and boot clean, you can load all the programms, which are being closed before, without any problems (until you reach the 16mb boundary), the programms stay in memory for hours....

Luck, the telephontool is somekind hardwired, so it functions even if other
programms are quit with memoryerrors...

If this value of 16mb is not being set up into registry, than it is a
hardcoded bug.

Anyway

Please check this out, especially an foreign language Mobile 2003 OS, and
provide an bugfix fast, because with 16mb of usable programm-memory, you hardly can use your PE in a professional fashion!



Ok

Thats the fact and it is reproducable anytime.

Can anyvody check this out, or does anybody from Microsoft stuff access this forum, so please pass this to developer of the OS, it's a really annoying and frustrating bug, because you hardly keep programms in memory and that is not acceptable for an 128mb device.

Greets

Dejan

[Jon Westfall]

Yea, this is a pretty annoying bug. This morning I was typing an email, a call came in, and when I finished the call, my inbox had closed and my IE window (in the background) was gone as well. For a device that has 50 megs of PROGRAM MEMORY available, this is unacceptable.

Come on MS - Fix It!

[Janak Parekh]

8O 8O

The problem is that not a lot of people have this device yet, so that's why you're not seeing a lot of responses.

I'd wouldn't surprised if this is not a problem with WM2003PE, and not the firmware of the XDA II itself, though. I can't imagine that WM2003PE is that different from WM2003...

--janak

[IvkovicD]

well, I've expected that the first gadgeteers for this device are also these one, which frequently visit the known forums. Anyway, seems not to be.

Well the bug is also on MDA II which is from T-Mobile. I do not know, if I-Mate does suffer from this bug, too. Anybody arround with this behaviour.

Anyway, if is it not the WM2003PE OS, than it should be the Device itself, which is from HTC.

We'll see

Greets

Dejan

[Janak Parekh]

well, I've expected that the first gadgeteers for this device are also these one, which frequently visit the known forums. Anyway, seems not to be.
Well, there's the "early" adopters, and then there's the "early-early" adopters.

Well the bug is also on MDA II which is from T-Mobile. I do not know, if I-Mate does suffer from this bug, too. Anybody arround with this behaviour.
Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge T-Mobile Germany is the only division that currently offers the MDA II. T-Mobile US certainly doesn't yet. :cry:

--janak

[IvkovicD]

well, I've expected that the first gadgeteers for this device are also these one, which frequently visit the known forums. Anyway, seems not to be.
Well, there's the "early" adopters, and then there's the "early-early" adopters.

--janak

and there are betatester

:D

Dejan

[Jon Westfall]

Well, there's the "early" adopters, and then there's the "early-early" adopters.


And then there are the nutcases that just love to have new technology as soon as possible (Myself included).

My device is an i-mate and has this bug, so I think that this is, at least, an HTC XDA II problem, not specific to any branding of the device.

[wiz]

A few months ago, with the introduction of Windows Mobile 2003, www.xscale.de found a bug in it and provided a downloadable fix. The bug was in the fact that at every soft reset, the db_notify_events database would grow duplicate entries. The bugfix that xscale.de provided also was integrated in PocketPlus ans the WM2003 fix. On both iPaq machines I have (iPaq 5550, 4150) it worked flawlessly.

On the XDA II however, I only see the db_notify_events database growing and growing .....

Anyone any clues? I expect loads of stability problems ........

[IvkovicD]

Anyone any clues? I expect loads of stability problems ........

If you have IA Caller ID running, well, this tool might fill up your db_notify_events also with entries each 10 minutes. So you get some hundreds entries during the time.

Get the PHM tools or DBView or something else for watching the DB entires and tell us, what is filling up your db.

Greets

Dejan

[wiz]

It IS IA Caller ID indeed. Tekguru just informed me that a.o. Scary Bear software is goiung to update their clear notifications tool soon (hopefully). I guess SPB will do so as well for Pocket Plus.

[wiz]

Hint: For now, I did a hard reset, waited until all applications were being pre-installed. Cancelled installation #4 (IA Caller ID, at least on my device), proceeded with the rest, and reinstalled my regular apps. Although the db_notify_events counter still is increasing, it is not doing this as quick as it did with IA Caller ID installed.