iPAQ 3630 won't start, memory was low, green light flashes

[mpavey]

I have a very alarming problem with my iPAQ 3630. For some time now it has been telling me that storage and program memory were low, and when I checked the Memory control panel they were indeed very low (maybe 1 MB free in total).

I couldn't work out why, as not long ago there was plenty of memory spare (10 MB+), and I haven't changed much since then. I couldn't find any large files to delete, or any large accidental voice notes (the usual problem!), and all my ActiveSync settings seemed perfectly sensible. AvantGo was only using up about 1MB.

Anyway, today it appears to have all come to a head. I received a message asking me to choose what app to shut down to save memory, giving me a choice of just ActiveSync. I tapped OK, then received the same dialogue, with a heading of 'Critical', then I did a soft reset to see if that made any difference.

Now it won't start at all! Pressing and holding the on button for a couple of seconds gives a blank white screen, but that's all....

Should I do a hard reset? Is there any other way around this? Is it a known problem?

I'd be extremely grateful for any help or tips!

Thanks,

Michael Pavey

[Jeff Rutledge]

Unfortunately, if a soft reset doesn't do the trick, there aren't a whole lot of options left.

I would suggest trying a few soft resets. I had an issue one time which needed about 10 soft resets before it boot. I of course immediately backed up and hard reset after that. Not sure if it will work, but it's worth a try.

[rapidnet_rick]

Do you use the browser on your PDA?

Have you cleared the cache?

[ctmagnus]

And if you can get into it, delete everything from your \Temp directory as well.

[mpavey]

Do you use the browser on your PDA?

Have you cleared the cache?

Yes, and no -- so maybe that was it (how much does the cache hold as a max by default?). And thanks ctmagnus for the other tip, too.

Unfortunately it's now too late to use either of them though :cry: After about 20 soft resets (again, thanks for the idea JR, I'm quite sure I wouldn't have been so persistent otherwise!) it's still just showing a blank white screen.

So looks like it's a hard reset for me, without a very recent backup (my fault entirely of course). Oh well, as long as that works then I should at least be cured of my memory problems!

BTW is there any way of telling how much of the memory is being used by each of the different components (Outlook, or more specifically Inbox, Notes, Contacts, etc.; AvantGo; browser cache; etc.)? I guess if I hunt around I should be able to find that out myself, but it would certainly be handy to be able to keep track of them all. Especially with only 32MB memory :wink:

[mrkablooey]

You can find where your RAM goes with this helpful utility:

WIMR--Where is My RAM? (http://mypaq.net/mysoftware/wimr/index.shtml)

[mpavey]

You can find where your RAM goes with this helpful utility:

WIMR--Where is My RAM? (http://mypaq.net/mysoftware/wimr/index.shtml)

Thanks, that looks handy. Is all the ActiveSync data stored in easily recognisible, separate files though?

[ctmagnus]

On a similar note, a few days ago the alarm LED on my 5550 would start blinking green whenever I turned the unit off. Turn it back on and it stops blinking. I tried every conceivable remedy to the situation but the only one that worked was hard-resetting and restoring the latest backup (fortunately only 24 hours old).

Remember: Backup, backup, backup! :wink:

[ctmagnus]

Is all the ActiveSync data stored in easily recognisible, separate files though?

Notes, Files, Favorites, Pocket Access and AvantGo are parts of the file system although the latter may be somewhat difficult to restore from. Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Inbox reside in databases that are more difficult to restore from but it can still be done.

[mpavey]

Is all the ActiveSync data stored in easily recognisible, separate files though?

... parts of the file system ... difficult to restore from ... reside in databases

Actually I was thinking of it more from the point of view of working out how much space they were all taking up. A utility which tells you how big your files are is only of limited use if it can't tell you about the other things taking up memory...

Having now performed a hard reset and monitored the memory as I gradually put back everything on my iPAQ, I can confirm that it was certainly not my Outlook data taking up the lion's share of that RAM!

[ctmagnus]

What you can do is explore from ActiveSync, double-click on My Pocket PC then on Databases. This will give you a listing of how big all your databases (Appointments, Contacts, Tasks amnog many others) are. They are actually surprisingly tiny, a bit less 500b per item by my estimate.