hx4700 problems with VGA, Memory leak, Caligrapher and AF

[lanwarrior]

I put more details in the subject since I've been getting problems to no end with my hx4700 in multiple areas. I am hoping anyone can help me here in just 1 thread rather than multiple. Here are the problems:

1. Changing fonts format in Agenda Fusion 6.3 crashes the hx4700

2. The hx4700 have much more memory leak than my old 5455. After soft-reset, I have about 25 Mb of RAM. I ran Bluetooth Manager, perform ActiveSync, run Agenda Fusion, then close everything. Remaining memory shown is 17 Mb.

3. I am using Calligraphy 7.3 but for some reason the application is having a hard time recognising my handwriting, so bad that EVERY SINGLE word needs at least 3-5 times rewrite before I got the right word. Try to write the word "Close".

The surprising things is that both of the above programs runs VERY well with my 5450, and the memory leak is pretty small too.

Is the hx4700 have some "unknown" problem that is causing applications to react erratically here and there?

[Darius Wey]

With regards to (1), which variant of Agenda Fusion 6.3 are you running? There are two versions - 6.31 and 6.32.

[lanwarrior]

6.32. Do you have the same problem? Mine occurs when I open an existing task or create a new one, then click on the "Font" button, change font color/size/bold/underline, then click OK and it'll hang, resulting in Soft-Rest.

For Memoy leak, I found out that when I run BT Manager, it'll use up about 6 Mb or Program Memory, and closing BT Manager only frees up 2 Mb back.

[Darius Wey]

I don't get this problem but then again, I have an h1940, and not the hx4700. You said that it runs fine on your h5450 so I assume you don't get this problem.

There are so many buggy reports on the hx4700 at the moment that I'm beginning to think it's a problem in the hx4700 and how it handles the Agenda Fusion application, although it may be best to send an email to DeveloperOne and ask them if they are aware of the problem. You can find a contact form on their website. (http://www.developerone.com)

[Jonathon Watkins]

Have a look at this thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=291065) which talks about possible 4700 problems.

[whydidnt]

I've noticed some of the same type of issues with my 4700. Though it's the included Pocket Informant that seems to cause lock-ups for me. I also have had the issues with HUGE memory leaks. I find I need to soft reset a couple of times per day. I uninstalled PocketPlus, thinking that was causing problems, but still have issues.
I also could not get SplashID to run. Every time I tried to install it, I get a hard lockup that only a HARD reset will resolve. I've sent a note to Splash Data, but haven't received a resolution yet.

Interesting to hear others are having some problems, too. I thought I might be the ony one.

[lanwarrior]

Have a look at this thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=291065) which talks about possible 4700 problems.

Thanks for the info, Jonathon. The other thread, I thought at first, was for .NET stuff. But it seems tat the hx4700 really does bunch of problem.

Though it's the included Pocket Informant that seems to cause lock-ups for me. I also have had the issues with HUGE memory leaks. I find I need to soft reset a couple of times per day.

Yes, big problem on the memory leak. We all should contact HP on this, this is a no-no.

[ignar]

I experienced some odd bahavior on my 4700 yesterday. The first button assigned to calendar suddenly mapped to "align screen" in settings. I checked button settings and it was still assigned to calendar. I changed mapping to other items including "none", but it still continued to bring up "align" screen. I soft reset and still had the same problem. Eventually I hard reset, and guess what? It was still going to "align" screen. 8O At that point, I knew something was seriously screwed up and I had to call HP. But then, maybe after ten minutes or so after hard reset, the button started to work again! I had not restored any data or programs. Just left it as it was right after hard reset. So, I have no idea what caused the problem and what fixed it. I can just hope it doesn't come back. Anyone has experienced the same behavior?

[seaflipper]

I bought 2 hx4700, one from HP SMB, one from Computers4sure.

I notice memory leaks. PI (ROM) seems to be involved, but since that's the program I use the most, I don't know if it's the cause or the victim!

Shutting down PI seems to release most of the memory I had after a soft reset, but not quite all of it. I still seem to get memory leaks/creep throughout the day.

The other hx I got might have memory leaks too, but I don't use that, a friend does and he is a new PPC user, so I don't know if he is noticing that yet, although I am now going to ask. What happens with his hx though is that the screen settings get changed randomly, to all dark, the slider settings for brightness on both "battery" and "ac" will randomly get set to 0 for no apparent reason. Additionally, the timeout buttons on the screen saver will get unchecked for no reason. This has happened several times. I change the settings back and then a couple of days later they seem to reset. He swears he isn't changing them himself, so I can't really explain why this is happening.

[jpf]

I feel like the boy who cried wolf - but here goes.
From the time I got it out of the packing I've had problems with the nimh backup battery showing 25% or less (zero) in power settings and causing recharge warnings. It's doing it right now, it's been in the cradle for several hours.
I've had the bad lockup with deep discharge that I've covered elsewhere. The screen looks like being depressed at the bottom and is a different tint to the rest of the screen.. green/bluish tint with a wide band of pinkish tint either side. I don't remember this being there even earlier today.
I've had it reset several times while copying files onto an sdcard through the activesync connection. Eventually activesync didn't restart so I had to soft reset.
Wifi connects but won't accept the IP it's offered. I have to recreate the connection and wep key (and reset).

Just working with the thing, it gets bogged down (memory/resources used up?) requiring another reset.

This is the first ipaq I've had real problems with. My previous 3955 and 4355 just functioned day in, day out almost without issue.
I'm seriously considering calling hp and getting it replaced. The battery overheating concerns me; I've read about recalls for similar things in laptops and cellphones.

[bvkeen]

I feel like the boy who cried wolf - but here goes.
From the time I got it out of the packing I've had problems with the nimh backup battery showing 25% or less (zero) in power settings and causing recharge warnings. It's doing it right now, it's been in the cradle for several hours.
I've had the bad lockup with deep discharge that I've covered elsewhere. The screen looks like being depressed at the bottom and is a different tint to the rest of the screen.. green/bluish tint with a wide band of pinkish tint either side. I don't remember this being there even earlier today.
I've had it reset several times while copying files onto an sdcard through the activesync connection. Eventually activesync didn't restart so I had to soft reset.
Wifi connects but won't accept the IP it's offered. I have to recreate the connection and wep key (and reset).

Just working with the thing, it gets bogged down (memory/resources used up?) requiring another reset.

This is the first ipaq I've had real problems with. My previous 3955 and 4355 just functioned day in, day out almost without issue.
I'm seriously considering calling hp and getting it replaced. The battery overheating concerns me; I've read about recalls for similar things in laptops and cellphones.

This is just to let you know that the deep discharge problem might not necessarily be the hx47OO. I had this problem two or three times with my e800, and my recollection is that it was always when I was opening or modifying or closing a large file on my SD card. I might have even had such problems with my X3i, although it seems like what I had with it was a total wipeout (had to reload everything). I was able to trace that problem to a program that I had installed into Flash - basically, the app simply did not behave well in the File Store, and it was not a program that you would have thought would have such a problem. (It was a beta of nice photo viewing program: large, but not an app that has to start at reboot.)

So, I would look at whether your manipulating any large files on an SD card and whether you have any large programs loaded into the file store. I don't know that these are real problem causes, just trying to see if my experience might relate to yours.

[lanwarrior]

I found another possible issue: all programs I have that have drop-down boxes, such as Resco Explorer, Resco Photo Viewer, and ListPro are experiencing problems.

The problems are:
1. The item list is shown, but the drop-down boxes is really small and it "cuts" through the view of the item list

2. The drop-down box is in normal size (as opposed to #1), but when the it is selected, it shows the drop-down box is empty (no list). However, if I scroll through the box, each item is selected.

A sample of #1 is below:

http://s90267578.onlinehome.us/ListPro.jpg

Anyone else experiencing the same thing?

[ppchaser]

My hx4700 has also experienced the same symptom : the font size shown in "NEW" menu and all drop down menu of every installed application become very small. The size is different from those of the task bar. I can hardly make a selection in the drop down menu by my stylus. I have to hard reset my device and install each application one by one after a soft reset of each successful instalation. I guess the problem come from the pre-installed Pocket Informant. I am a lisenced PI user and I choose not to upgrade to version 5.21 until their release of 5.5 You can found in their forum there are many user experienced problem in upgrading to the latest version against the pre-installed one. The memory leakage seems "stable down" after my last hard reset and NOT to upgrade the latest PI.

[jpf]

Hmm.. Well, I've been installing the latest version of PI on mine and haven't had the same problems as you. It's one of the programs I install first or second. I do find that menu bars on some non-vga aware programs are missing. I don't know whether that applies to all vga pocketpcs though. My 6.x version of calligrapher exhibits this. Also a game 'pocket slay' which I will sorely miss.

I have been doing a soft reset after each install though as this seems to minimize the likelihood of errors.
Anyway, activesync is now non-functional on my 4700 so I will start again at the weekend.

[bigray327]

3. I am using Calligraphy 7.3 but for some reason the application is having a hard time recognising my handwriting, so bad that EVERY SINGLE word needs at least 3-5 times rewrite before I got the right word. Try to write the word "Close".
I've had a ton of problems, too, but none whatsoever with Calligrapher handwriting recognition. It works just as well as it did on my 2215.

The memory leak thing is a reality. I'm up around 250 soft resets so far, and I've only had this thing for 13 days. I really hope HP addresses this soon.

Needless to say, I make backups all the time. I'm still trying to find my perfect configuration of software, and I've found a LOT of stuff doesn't work right. Several times, I've had to hard reset and reload a backup. Gotta love the File Store, man. People don't like it, but I think it was a brilliant move by HP.

[KuroNeko]

as I'm interested in buying a 4700, I'm curious - has this problem been fixed?

Neko