Diminishing memory iPAQ 33870

[Janset]

Hi all.

When my PDA is not in use it is always left powered up and running the cradle. iPAQ 3870

Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that the PDA is either freezing up or I am getting a warning notice that the memory is getting low and I should do something about it if I wanted to use my PDA.

This never used to happen before. It appears to have started a couple of months ago.

I have not installed any recent programs, other than that free duplicate remover put out by Holy Spirit Southseas, but that is really installed onto the PC.

I removed a number of programs that I did not use from the PDA and managed to get back to 66% memory usage, 34% free.

Today, I got the warning message again. A soft reset appeared to free things up again....strange.

Just as a point, I noticed that I have a bundle of 1KB files in the Temp folder. Can I remove these safely and if so how?

Any suggestions on how to control the memory leak would be appreciated.

I do not want to go down the path of storing routine stuff/programs onto the memory card.

Regards :confused:

[AnswerDude]

First thing you can do is to soft reset more frequently.

You can remove files in Temp folder, just delete them normally. You can also delete cache files, and clear History and cookies inside Pocket Internet Explorer if you use it regularly.

There are also several tools to help you managing memory, both freewares and commercial one.
MemMaid
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=14279
Where is my RAM?
http://mypaq.net/mysoftware/wimr/index.shtml
SpaceFinder
http://tillanosoft.com/ce/sfinder.html

[Janset]

As always AD To the rescue.

Thanks pal :D

Regards

[106112909]

Hi

These programs will fix storage memory. How about program memory? Most of the memory leaks hapen there.

Regards

Patrick

[AnswerDude]

Actually programs like Memmaid try to optimize program memory in RAM (not storage as in storage cf or sd card memory). Don't forget that current Win Mobile uses the same RAM memory space to store files and run program. So if you optimize RAM storage space, you'll have more memory to run the programs.
But ultimately the problem of memory leak falls to the developers. It's their responsibility to correct this type of problem.

[106112909]

Hi AnswerDude

Thanks for posting. If what you say is true, why do we have a slider to set an arbitrary limit on both storage and program memory? Shurely, it would make more sense for the OS to allocate whatever memory it needs inj a single heap regardless of whether it is for storage or program use.

Regards

Patrick

[AnswerDude]

Actually the OS does that, the slider usually does not work anyway, try to move it, most of the time it will just move back to a certain level on its own. It's there to temporary force increase or decrese memory space for either purpose. The os does not seperate the RAM memory, my point is the more programs or junk you store the less memory space you have to run the programs. When you clean out the storage space in RAM, you'll have more memory to run applications.

[106112909]

Hi AnswerDude

I tried moving the slider to the minimum Program Memory it would allow (3.18MB). As soon as I popped-up WinMobile Lens, the slider moved back to the middle; probably because 3.18MB wasn't enough for WinMobile Lens. My point is this: What's the point of having a slider? The actual free memory to run programs or store files is the sum of the two. Very interesting!!!

Regards

Patrick

[yankeejeep]

Within certain limits, the slider actually will permit control. For instance, my e805 has 128 MB of RAM. I have manually allocated the memory into a 60/40 split storage/program. Since I have not required more program RAM than this and still have over 30 MB available in each area after a soft reset, the OS has not done any allocation changes. But I know if I push the program area too close to its upper limit, the OS will reallocate based on the increased demand for program RAM. The problem comes when the RAM margins get too close since that is when the OS is going to dynamically override the user slider setting and allocate the RAM according to its own needs for either storage or program use, and this typically means to divide the available RAM in half. The design leans toward avoiding, as far as possible, a situation where the user cannot open an app due to unavailable RAM for the program area and also avoid a file save denial due to a lack of RAM available in the storage area. In most cases, the typical user is just as far ahead allowing the OS to dynamically manage the RAM allocation since most often, the cryptic 'out of memory' message really has nothing to do with RAM but is actually a notice from the OS that the preset limit on available system resources has been hit. No amount of program RAM available can stop this from happening.

[106112909]

Hello All,

Would be much more logical if the memory slider let us set a ratio between Program and Storage memory. The OS would then stick to this ratio whatever the actual free memory was.

Regards

Patrick

[yankeejeep]

In WM5 this should be a dead issue. The default handling by the OS will have RAM assigned to program execution with storage taking place in ROM.