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View Full Version : Programs "hang" until I press the "receiver up" button.


rocky_raher
02-07-2005, 05:27 PM
At least three programs on my Samsung SPH-i700 often hang up until I press the "receiver up" button (the one on the left side, about the "calendar" button). They are FlashFormat, from CNetX, ThemeDream, from Applian, and I'm sorry but I just don't remember the third.

By the way, no pun intended! When I say that these programs "hang up," I mean that they show no output or other sign of activity, and do not respond to input. When I re-read the first paragraph above, I realized that "hang up" has another meaning when talking about cell phones.

I first noticed this behavior with FlashFormat. I installed it, but when I tapped on its icon, nothing happened. I emailed CNetX, describing the problem, and my hardware/software (Samsung SPH-i700/Windows Mobil 2003), but have not received a response. In their defense, let me point out that my bug report was the kind most QA people dread: "It don't work!" No error messages, no other symptoms. (I myself do software QA for a living.) In my defense, that's all the information I had, the HW/SW combination and the lack of activity.

One day, after I had made another attempt to get FlashFormat to work (without success), I later started to place a call. As soon as I pressed the "phone" button, FlashFormat popped up with its "Hardware detection" screen. My reaction was, "What the heck, why is this crazy software running NOW, rather than when I wanted it to?" After this happened a second time, I decided to look at this as a feature rather than a bug. Starting FlashFormat is now a two-step procedure: 1. Tap on FlashFormat icon. 2. Press "receiver up" button. It's a workaround.

When I first acquired my Samsung, Applian's Theme Dream was one of the first things I installed. However, it didn't always work. Tapping on the Today screen icon didn't always open it, and the "Create Preview Images" more often than not caused it to hang so badly that I had to do a soft reset. Then it occurred to me to try the "receiver up" button. I loaded some new themes, called the "Create Preview Images" option, and after sixty seconds of no activity whatsoever, pressed "receiver up." ThemeDream immediately started generating images.

This weekend, while I was on a trip, a third program hung up until I pressed the phone button. I made a mental note of it, but unfortunately my wetware memory has been getting a little more volatile in recent years; I just don't remember which program it was.

My point is that I'm not trying to criticize either FlashFormat or ThemeDream. I think they're great programs. The problem obviously is with the Samsung. Has anyone else observed this kind of behavior?

Chris Spera
02-07-2005, 06:45 PM
I have an i700 and often notice that unless I have the Phone application running, many applications fail to execute correctly. I'm not sure why; but I can tell you the easiest thing to do is to make sure that Phone is always running... That way most everything will work.

I know you already knew that, but I hope it helps. I would like to encourage you to contact the developers of each app and let them know what is happening on your device. Also, as this is no longer a current phone edition device, AND since it didn't sell very well, I would not count on an app update from those vendors. I'd still report it, but wouldn't hold my breath for an update...