Menneisyys
06-08-2006, 09:17 AM
You may have already heard about the difference between driver memory (don’t confuse it with the ‘static’ storage memory!) and dynamic memory. The two have nothing to do with each other. That is, you can have even 100 Mbytes of free dynamic (program) memory while having no driver memory at all.
The shortage of the driver memory is very well known for many WM2003SE device users; for example, those of the Pocket Loox 720. On the Loox, upon (re)enabling Bluetooth, you often run into this error message (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/DriverMemShortage.bmp.png) complaining about the lack of the driver memory. Other, mostly WM2003SE (and, to a much lesser degree, WM2003) users have also run into this problem.
Some programs use more and some less driver memory. For example, the Widcomm Bluetooth stack in the Pocket Loox 720 and in the WM2003SE HP iPAQ hx2xxx series uses quite a lot of driver memory. Other applications that consume a lot of driver memory are, for example, Qmail, the great alternative E-mail application (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=569&more=1), the beta (past) versions of Opera Mobile, the best Web browser for the Pocket PC (the final, trial/commercial version released late May has much less driver memory usage), the also nice Web browser NetFront 3.2/3.3, Adobe Acrobat Reader 2.0, TextMaker and PlanMaker by Softmaker.
It’s completely device-dependent how much driver memory you have. For example, the Pocket Loox 720, the HP iPAQ hx2xxx series and the (default, that is, WM2003SE) x50v have pretty little driver memory which runs out really easily.
WM5 devices (I’ve tested this on a Dell Axim x51v, a WM5-upgraded hx4700 and a HTC Wizard with the latest i-mate ROM), on the other hand, have so much driver memory that, in practice, you won’t ever run into problems related to driver memory shortage. I’ve tested this with running several driver memory intensive apps and, albeit task switching was a bit slow, I have never encountered any problems. The same stands for the WM2003 iPAQ 2210. It's very rarely that you see WM2003 users complaining about driver memory problems – this means WM2003 is also much more robust (in this respect) than WM2003SE.
Under WM2003SE, you can easily reproduce the problem. If you have a Widcomm Bluetooth stack-enabled device (Dell Axim x50, Pocket Loox 720, the original HP iPAQ hx2xxx series etc), make sure you enable it before the test. Then, get for example Adobe Acrobat Reader 2.0 (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readerforppc.html) (preferably in forced VGA mode if your PDA has a VGA screen – then, it takes even more system resources) and the trial version of Opera Mobile (http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/products/winmobileppc/). Start both. Now, if you try to run, for example, NetFront 3.2 or 3.3, it’s highly likely you will either get a (until you reset the PDA) spinning hourglass and/or a just non-starting NetFront, leaving the Pocket PC in a state where only the current application works (along with its local menu), but not the (global, system-level) command bar, the Software Input Panel icons or the Start menu. Note that, if the local (still accessible) menu of the current application supports exiting, this doesn’t help either: the given app indeed exits but you still won’t be able to access the Start menu/ the SIP in already-running apps. That is, you’ll need to reset.
The same stands for starting other applications while NetFront is running. For example, run Acrobat Reader, NetFront 3.2 or 3.3 and, then, Opera Mobile or Qmail on your WM2003SE device. Try switching back to NetFront. The device will crash. This means you should never start anything driver memory-intensive while NetFront (both the old, 3.2 and the new, 3.3 version) is running on a WM2003SE device if you don't want to lose all your work because of the need for a soft reset!!!!!!
Note that I’ve emphasized you should enable the Widcomm Bluetooth stack to run out of driver memory as soon as possible. You, however, will eventually run out of driver memory even without using the Widcomm BT stack; that is, it’s not all Widcomm’s fault. Also, you’re safe even if you use the Widcomm BT stack shipped with some WM5 devices: the one that comes with the HP iPAQ hx4700 WM5 upgrade doesn’t cause driver memory problems; neither does the 0.50 version of the WM5 x50/x51 Widcomm BT stack (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=new_0_50_version_of_greatly_enhanced_fre&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1).
Naturally, you can run into the same problem not only with the above-mentioned Acrobat Reader, NetFront, SoftMaker apps, Opera Mobile but with a lot of other, driver memory-intensive applications. See for example this thread (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=128504) for more information. It’s that using them, along with Qmail, that I’ve tested on all my test devices to be absolutely sure my test results are absolutely reproducible.
Summary
WM2003SE has been a big step backward, compared to WM2003: it had pretty low driver memory. WM5, fortunately, got rid of this limitation (too), along with another, even more annoying one – that is, the 32-process limitation (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=874&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1).
Users that have to live with WM2003SE, however, will frequently need to soft reset their devices before starting driver memory-intensive applications like NetFront 3.2/3.3. This problem, unfortunately, can’t be fixed. The only way to completely get rid of it is either upgrading to WM5 (if possible and you can live with the inherent problems - mostly the filesys.exe compaction problems - of all non-native WM5 devices under WM5) or just selling your current Pocket PC and getting a native WM5 one.
The shortage of the driver memory is very well known for many WM2003SE device users; for example, those of the Pocket Loox 720. On the Loox, upon (re)enabling Bluetooth, you often run into this error message (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/DriverMemShortage.bmp.png) complaining about the lack of the driver memory. Other, mostly WM2003SE (and, to a much lesser degree, WM2003) users have also run into this problem.
Some programs use more and some less driver memory. For example, the Widcomm Bluetooth stack in the Pocket Loox 720 and in the WM2003SE HP iPAQ hx2xxx series uses quite a lot of driver memory. Other applications that consume a lot of driver memory are, for example, Qmail, the great alternative E-mail application (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=569&more=1), the beta (past) versions of Opera Mobile, the best Web browser for the Pocket PC (the final, trial/commercial version released late May has much less driver memory usage), the also nice Web browser NetFront 3.2/3.3, Adobe Acrobat Reader 2.0, TextMaker and PlanMaker by Softmaker.
It’s completely device-dependent how much driver memory you have. For example, the Pocket Loox 720, the HP iPAQ hx2xxx series and the (default, that is, WM2003SE) x50v have pretty little driver memory which runs out really easily.
WM5 devices (I’ve tested this on a Dell Axim x51v, a WM5-upgraded hx4700 and a HTC Wizard with the latest i-mate ROM), on the other hand, have so much driver memory that, in practice, you won’t ever run into problems related to driver memory shortage. I’ve tested this with running several driver memory intensive apps and, albeit task switching was a bit slow, I have never encountered any problems. The same stands for the WM2003 iPAQ 2210. It's very rarely that you see WM2003 users complaining about driver memory problems – this means WM2003 is also much more robust (in this respect) than WM2003SE.
Under WM2003SE, you can easily reproduce the problem. If you have a Widcomm Bluetooth stack-enabled device (Dell Axim x50, Pocket Loox 720, the original HP iPAQ hx2xxx series etc), make sure you enable it before the test. Then, get for example Adobe Acrobat Reader 2.0 (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readerforppc.html) (preferably in forced VGA mode if your PDA has a VGA screen – then, it takes even more system resources) and the trial version of Opera Mobile (http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/products/winmobileppc/). Start both. Now, if you try to run, for example, NetFront 3.2 or 3.3, it’s highly likely you will either get a (until you reset the PDA) spinning hourglass and/or a just non-starting NetFront, leaving the Pocket PC in a state where only the current application works (along with its local menu), but not the (global, system-level) command bar, the Software Input Panel icons or the Start menu. Note that, if the local (still accessible) menu of the current application supports exiting, this doesn’t help either: the given app indeed exits but you still won’t be able to access the Start menu/ the SIP in already-running apps. That is, you’ll need to reset.
The same stands for starting other applications while NetFront is running. For example, run Acrobat Reader, NetFront 3.2 or 3.3 and, then, Opera Mobile or Qmail on your WM2003SE device. Try switching back to NetFront. The device will crash. This means you should never start anything driver memory-intensive while NetFront (both the old, 3.2 and the new, 3.3 version) is running on a WM2003SE device if you don't want to lose all your work because of the need for a soft reset!!!!!!
Note that I’ve emphasized you should enable the Widcomm Bluetooth stack to run out of driver memory as soon as possible. You, however, will eventually run out of driver memory even without using the Widcomm BT stack; that is, it’s not all Widcomm’s fault. Also, you’re safe even if you use the Widcomm BT stack shipped with some WM5 devices: the one that comes with the HP iPAQ hx4700 WM5 upgrade doesn’t cause driver memory problems; neither does the 0.50 version of the WM5 x50/x51 Widcomm BT stack (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&title=new_0_50_version_of_greatly_enhanced_fre&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1).
Naturally, you can run into the same problem not only with the above-mentioned Acrobat Reader, NetFront, SoftMaker apps, Opera Mobile but with a lot of other, driver memory-intensive applications. See for example this thread (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=128504) for more information. It’s that using them, along with Qmail, that I’ve tested on all my test devices to be absolutely sure my test results are absolutely reproducible.
Summary
WM2003SE has been a big step backward, compared to WM2003: it had pretty low driver memory. WM5, fortunately, got rid of this limitation (too), along with another, even more annoying one – that is, the 32-process limitation (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=874&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1).
Users that have to live with WM2003SE, however, will frequently need to soft reset their devices before starting driver memory-intensive applications like NetFront 3.2/3.3. This problem, unfortunately, can’t be fixed. The only way to completely get rid of it is either upgrading to WM5 (if possible and you can live with the inherent problems - mostly the filesys.exe compaction problems - of all non-native WM5 devices under WM5) or just selling your current Pocket PC and getting a native WM5 one.