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I am new to the whole PDA form so please forgive me if this is obvious but I have not found the answers on this site.
I have an O2 XDA mini s and am slowly getting the hang of it.
Problem: On closing all running programs in task manager I loose the use of the phone keypad, pressing the green call button brings up the phone application but minus the number keys, calls can still be made through contacts. A soft reset is required to recify.
?Related problem: In task manager, there are programs running that are not visible on the list (if I press below the last visible item something is selected and I can "goto" it.
Plus on occation the listed item takes me to a different program ie. selecting media player takes me to Word (no set pattern though).
All help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
StefanF: what task manager are you using?
V
Sorry, just to clarify, PDA is "as out of the box", so just the WM5 task manager.
Thanks for your interest, I have followed several of your posts and seen your site. You have some great programs I would like to use, particually like the big phone buttons and close application tool but am quite scared of this thing.
It may be a while before I mess to deeply.
Stefan: that sounds like an odd problem.
The built in task manager is useful but not very comprehensive.
If you want to view all running tasks etc, there are much better programs out there, many are freeware. If you can't find any better, check out one I've posted here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=190257#190257
It's not written by me, I've just re-added some features.
Note - closing the phone (cprog.exe) is not a particularly good idea unless you really need it, because some other apps expect it to be loaded (eg contacts)
My programs
Some are ok. You might want to try my program VJOkButt if you just want to close apps to keep your memory healthy. But that's subject to taste and it's not clear how useful - although on the Wizard, it might be helpful.
The big phone buttons are actually just for the universal, it's not designed for Wizard. Basically it's for VGA phones that are using the ful VGA hack.
I've got some other stuff coming out soon. Stay tuned :wink:
V
Phone application
Thanks for the info.
I think, from what you have said, I need to know what I am doing to shut down the phone application as it is never my intention.
Pitty about the big button program. Why is there not full customisation of the screen (as in desktop PC's, can change the size of buttons, scroll bars... both of which are to small for finger use on this)
As a side note, when I am in an application the menus and any selections within make a click upon pressing ie. in word, Menu>Cut each selection makes a click. I have all tap sounds off but the only way I can stop it is to turn the master volume all the way down. Any ideas?
Once again, thanks.
You have to overwrite some of the default sounds with empy sounds to disable all click sounds. At least that's what I did, but that was a long time ago..basically you use your pc, make an empty .wav file, and overwrite the necessary files in your \windows\ folder. If you're interested in doing this and need more help, shout out!
Closing the phone - yes, you would probably not close it without knowing what you're doing. I presume when you're not using the task manager you're not having the phone problems?
Try a program called CETuner to help play around with your scrollbars etc. It's good for modifying colour themes and various settings on the go. Another program worth looking at is Tweak 2k .net.
V
Many thanks.
Personally i'm currently using Magic Button to close apps and act as a task manager. http://www.freewareppc.com/utilities/magicbutton.shtml
It allows you to close or minimise apps, and by clicking the "house" icon on the windows bar you can also close all, soft reset etc. Final point on it is that you can see X number of running apps and touch to swap to them, or "hide when inactive" and "keep alive" so you dont close (or even see) some apps - i keep messages & phone in this state to improve response times but close use close all to kill everything else.
Danger using Task Manager
Stefan,
I had the same problem. Ideally you should use Start/Settings/System/Memory/Running Programs to close down active tasks. Yes, the Task Manager does it and you can launch it from the menu, but it is a bit dangerous (as I found out). The Phone app appears in Task Manager as an unnamed icon and its icon looks like the Windows Media Player one (at least it does on my XDA Mini S). Shutting this down will do exactly what you describe (I started a thread called 'Help I'm stuck in Contact History on this).
By all means use Task Manager if you want to, just don't shut all apps, leave the unnamed 'media player lookalike' icon.
Cheers. :wink:
To the original poster:
I had this problem when i got my XDA at first. To be honest, i think its the o2 active stuff that messes up the phone app.
My suggestion is this: back up any important data, then do a hard rerset of your phone. When the screen comes up about Standard, Corporate or Basic install choose the Corporate option and use the passcode 0506. this will allow you to use the phone without any of the o2 crap and since i done it i've had no problems with the phone.
just to let you know, this will stop the phone setting up its own GRPS and MMS settings, but if you phone o2 ar go into a shop then they will happily send them to you.
Hope this helps.
Task Manager or Active ?
I suspect that it is shutting down the phone app that's causing the issue not Active. I agree, get rid of Active if you don't like it (I use Basic so I still get the MMS settings), but I don't think Active is the cause.
Just my humble opinion of course.
I'd completely overlooked that StefanF was using o2. I'm an O2 and Orange user, but O2 active has never touched my system. Sounds like that's quite an oversight by them if the O2 Task Manager allows you to close the phone app... not recommended!
V
Oooer indeed
My friend has an XDA Exec (Universal) and he had lots of problems with the phone app which I strongly suspect were much the same thing. (although his apps in task manager were not unnamed, he had multiple phone apps running). I didn't know the Task Manager was an O2 add-on, I assumed it was a WM5 feature.
G'day all
I recently got myself a lovely HTC wizard (branded O2 XDA Mini S, ). It's a device I've been researching for a while so I was very much excited to try out my first WM product when it arrived this morning.
However, for all it's beautiful design, it's really been a bit of a big pain on several ways. Most significantly and immediately noticable is the very sluggish interface. Some things, like notifications, I can dismiss fine, but the majority of actions, such as starting a program, opening one of the left-hand buttons or switching to landscape mode, take several (maybe 10) seconds to happen and even then the screen will only be partially and very slowly redrawn. This seems to only occur at the 'today' screen (other programs are pleasantly snappy). Anyway, it's rendering the today screen pretty useless and since it's the starting screen it means everything is taking much longer to do. Is this just my device or is this a recurring issue?
Cheers
Have you reinstalled without the o2 Active stuff (basic mode option I think). It the real hog.
Other than tat have a look around the messages is the forum for various registry hacks to speed this baby up.
It does work well, you just have to tweak the heck out of it.
So it's a matter of going around deleting stuff that 02 put on?
Basic install plus something like SPB or Magic button to close apps properly (apart from the ones you regularly use, such as phone/messaging/IE) makes the device at least twice as quick.
wilesd said:
Basic install plus something like SPB or Magic button to close apps properly (apart from the ones you regularly use, such as phone/messaging/IE) makes the device at least twice as quick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I've done on my mini S...O2 Active is really doggy, the interface looks fine, but mini S can't affort....
Basic intall with SPD Plus work fine for me....I can now play mp3 & mp4 files smoothly with beta player, connect BT GPS receiver with TT5...
To really clear all the clutter, perform a hard reset and when you get to the 'about to customise' step (short countdown) perform a soft reset.
This results in a completely clean OS thats much more responsive. SPB pocket plus is a good app to install next.
There are other registry tweaks such as disabling menu animation that make an additional improvement to the responsiveness
There are plenty of discussions about this in the other threads - have a search around.
Dunno if this works on the Wizard but on the magician, if you map one of your buttons to the "Start" menu, then you can do a lot of program switching without going via today page - and the whole re-draw of it.
Particlulrly if you chose wisely the 5 programs that you can specify for the start menu.
jacro said:
To really clear all the clutter, perform a hard reset and when you get to the 'about to customise' step (short countdown) perform a soft reset.
This results in a completely clean OS thats much more responsive. SPB pocket plus is a good app to install next.
There are other registry tweaks such as disabling menu animation that make an additional improvement to the responsiveness
There are plenty of discussions about this in the other threads - have a search around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The soft reset method is OK if you don't use MMS as the MMS app will not be installed, if you want to use MMS though the Basic install is better
I cleaned my mini-s the hard way
Hard reset, soft reset, then installed some of the extROM cab files manually and setup the GPRS manually too. Wizard now runs ok, its not fantasticly fast, TTN5 still takes time to load, and incoming calls while it loads cause problems (but thats only 15 secs!). Magic button is great, pick the apps you need to keep open (phone, text messages, etc) and "keep alive" and "hide when inactive" then just use close all to keep the RAM free.
Alright - I'll try one of these hard/soft reset cleans. But...
Another problem I've been having is that ActiveSync refuses to detect my device over USB. The USB connection seems fine (Windows XP detects new but unkown hardware - seems to lack an RNDIS driver or something), but a sync I can't make work.
So I can't install anything again. After a hard reset will applications such as phone and messaging be restored or will the require a reinstall (that I can't do)?
Also, remapping the buttons sounds like a brilliant idea. I'm not so big on IE so if I made that my start menu toggle I could reach a whole load of things one-handed. One thing that oft annoys me is when you have to close a program or dialogue box with the cross in the top-right. Can that be remapped to, say, the voice recorder button so I don't have to keep awkwardly touching the screen?
That Magic Button sounds handy also - freeware by any chance? I'll google it in a sec. It's annoying (well, peculiar, coming from a PalmOS background) to have several applications running at once - all that's needed is the phone/messager apps and perhaps the music player.
Thanks for all yer replies!
Correct me if I'm wrong. From the readings I have made , WM5 works by not closing the programs launched and keeps on working in the background even after closing the program (tapping the x button on the right upper hand). The only way to close this program completely and to free the memory is by stopping the program using the running program window. It is then that you free the memory. Unlike 2003SE once you close the program it also frees the memory.
This makes it a problem for WM5, because I notice that if you open a lot of program, eventually you loose memory and cannot run other program , not until closing all those previously opened programs using therunning program window.
I was wondering if there are any program/registry hack/patch to go around this problem.
Thanks
There are many programs that turn the x into a permanent close, instead of just minimize. I use Wisbar Advance Desktop but that is a full Today Screen replacement program. If you press the x it minimizes, if you press x and hold, it closes.
There are tons of other programs... do some searching.
It shouldnt be a problem. Too many people think of WM5 as Windows XP. When your memory is low you need to close thigns. This is not the case.
As you quite rightly say when memory gets low WM5 should close the oldest app to free up the required memory, the reason it leaves things open is to keep things fast. When you need memory, it just closes something.
I use mine for TomTom as well as memory hungry push email and my memoy always has at least 10mb free and I have never run out. If the device is running slow its normally down to a particualr app using all the processor. Skype for example which can be closed with the exit command in its menu.
Unless your having particular problems I say let it be. Closing apps each time is a pain and a waste of time.
Actually, the problem is the same in WM 2003 and 2002.
The program you are looking for is called MagicButton and it's free.
http://www.trancreative.com/mb.aspx
thanks for your reply. I will try the magic button, will update you...
Magic button lets you to define what to close and what to keep alive. I'm set to keep alive mesaging and some other applcations to get ot on faster and to closу other.
Ok button = close app
I have tried various app but none gave me what I want: when I press the hardware button ok or for example the red button (end call) to close the active window without the use of the touchscreen. Does anybody knows an app whick behaves like this ?
spb pocketplus (not free) also has this capacity, and with it you can map the "close all" or "close" to a button. you may also define exceptions for this (applications that do not close even if you choose "close" or "close all").
Hi, See and try this.It has good capacities and work really fine in Prophet.http://insoftwarehouse.com/downloads/inclose/xe.php?l=en
Hi. I've used the phone a bit, and I have GSPocketMagic++ but the phone app won't close with the X. Plus, even worse, in the menu I can see that there are 4 instances of the phone running! i.e. Seems like every time I go to the phone interface then it has a new instance in the list. (GSPM seems to be fine and great otherwise.) Thanks.
Now with another app, I'm seeing strange behavior on the part of GSPM (not closing another app and keeping it always on top), unfortunately, I'm guessing it's GSPM but it could also be the phone app.
what do - as a sufferer of this also s use magic button - free . . it solves it about 50-6-% of the times - but this is still my main cause to reboot . . .
I wrote an app, VJPhoneToggle or something, that will close cphone.exe
I've also written a generic task killer.
However, you should know that closing cphone.exe is not advisable. On my Mio A701 it puts the phone in flight mode and prevents calls coming in.
On the HTCs, trying to commence a call from the contacts screen will cause an error.
But otherwise, it's a good way to save a bit of memory. I wuoldn't really advise it though.
re the various instances of cphone running. Probably unlikely - more likely is that the various dialogs in cphone, eg callhistory etc, show up as seperate entries.
VJOkButt can help close some of the dialogs sometimes. But VJPhoneToggle is probably what you need.
V
As Vijay was hinting - you can get rid of the app by putting the device into flight mode. But the purpose of that eludes me. It's a (Pocket PC) phone after all...
AFAIK
MB doesn't really close the phone either.
Need to try the phonetoggle - lol i am still a vijay-virgin!!!
I have seen lots of posts that explain how to close running programs,
and how to get memory back.
But I would like to know how I can let software run continuously
in the background.
I put the exe. of the program it in my start-up folder, and after a reset the program runs.
But sometimes during the day I close all other running software, to get
back memory. But when I do, I forget to startup the one that needs to
run in the background continuously.
Can someone please explain how to let it run continuously, without
accidentally closing it ?
tnx.
Is there really no-one here that knows how to do it ?
winny said:
Is there really no-one here that knows how to do it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends which soft you're using to close the whole set of running applications. Some of those applications managers have an option where you can put exceptions, so when you call the close all functionality, all the excluded apps won't be closed.
Cheers,
.Fred
or if u use vbar make ur program active and use the "close all axcept active" option...
How are you closing these apps?
As by default Windows Mobile keeps every app running in the backround (and is why you see so much talk about how to <i>really</i> close applications).
frazell said:
How are you closing these apps?
As by default Windows Mobile keeps every app running in the backround (and is why you see so much talk about how to <i>really</i> close applications).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows mobile just minimize them. In order to close them, you have to post a WM_CLOSE to the main window of an application. This should in most cases be enough to close an app.
Cheers,
.Fred
tnx guys for your help.
I use Wisbar, but I am not sure if there is an option in it to exclude
a program. I will look into it and see if it works.
I was also thinking about making a change in the registry to
keep the software moving.
As I am not a tech-guy, I do not know if this makes sense.
So forgive me, if this sounds stupid.
Having quite the same problem, just another exe - the CardAutoRun.exe, just another device, a Prophet; see my thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=278672
I also have a TaskMangager, but there CardAutoRun is not visible at all - and I very seldomly use it to close *all* applications.
Yesterday I did a soft reset, after which the CardAutoRun worked for two tests with two different cards - then I simply switched off my Prophet (sent it to sleep), switched on again - and the next SDcard inserted didn't autostart (as it _did_ just before off/on).
Obviously CheckAutoRun gets kicked out by that automatic task managing of Windows ...?
I found out that Wisbar does a good job.
In Wisbar/Settings/Task Management you can clearly define which
programs need to keep running in the background continuously,
even if you close all at the same time.
It does not work
Now, I thought that Wisbar (or taskmanagers in general)
would do a good job. There still is a problem.
Yes, wisbar (or some other task manager) will keep software
running in the background at startup.
But as soon as I start Internet Explorer, the software that
should keep on running in de background is closed.
No matter how I configure the Taskmanager, as soon as I
start Explorer ALL programs are closed automatically.
Does someone know what is happening here ?