FIXED! Q9m extreme SLOW Performance (or locks-up)... and some history

[lil_sunshine]

Originally Posted by MWYada

Cool! Let us know what they tell you. If my original post is a bit long-winded, we can post a new, short one with just the fix.

I haven't heard anything back yet. I figure they must get a slew of emails. But, I will keep you posted.

As for the length of your post, if it's too long for them, they can just paste the clear history solution/instructions and the firmware update link into a new thread and sticky that.

[XrossOvr]

Originally Posted by Tony Bag o Donuts

Definitely should be a sticky...that with the latest firmware update makes my phone fly....

FYI this fixes the issue on the q9h. It kinda makes sense but wow what a difference.

[mixdown]

Funny...I posted the freeze issue with my phone a few months back. Reading this thread, and mentioning Google Maps, I think that is the problem! I turned off Suggest Text, the same day I got the phone. Few days later I installed Google Maps and then a few weeks later, deleted it....then the freezing/lag issue came up. This was all within 4 weeks of getting the phone. Then, being one of the two people posting about the problem, I just did a hard reset. Now, after 6 months, no problems at all. I never installed google maps again.

[stevetrigs]

Originally Posted by MWYada

There are already a few topics on this subject, but they've gotten rather long and bogged-down, and difficult to search, so I wanted to post this and make sure everyone sees it. Plus, there's quite a bit of history now... and I think we could benefit from a little summary.

(Note: the actual fix appears towards the end of this post. Skip ahead if you're not interested in the history.)

A lot of us have been complaining about a problem where we encounter extremely slow performance on the Q9m. This is not a simple matter of waiting a few seconds between screens... rather, the phone becomes nightmarishly slow, non-responsive, locks-up or otherwise behaves quite strangely.

Many people offered suggestions for fixes (do a soft reset, uninstall third-party apps, clear IE cache, kill tasks, run SKTools Lite, make registry mod, overclock CPU, call Verizon, return the phone, install Motorola update, etc.) While these are all well and good, they never seemed to fix this particular problem permanently.

We quickly learned that temporary relief could be had by doing a hard reset of the phone. Many of us experimented with disabling certain features, or refraining from installing apps, to see if we could find the root of the problem. Suspicion was thrown at various apps (Google Maps, Yahoo to Go, Windows Live, etc. etc.) But despite our diligence, research, testing and hunches, most of us reported the problem came back within a few weeks. And no one could ever prove that any particular application was the cause of the problem. Some concluded that "because I did a hard reset, and didn't install application x, it must've been the cause!" But this is not conclusive. Many of us, in the name of troubleshooting the problem, refrained from installing ANY additional apps, yet still reported the problem returned. Which tells me it's a bug with the phone software itself.

I myself did about 20 hard-resets over the course of the last four months. Each time, the problem returned within a few days or weeks, though I could never identify any particular event that would cause it. Because the problem seemed to return at intermittent durations after hard-reset, and because we were all trying different fixes, it was never clear which fix worked... and some of us (myself included) falsely assumed that "since my phone has been running fine for two weeks, it must've been" (insert a fix here). But again, nothing definitive, consistent or permanent.

Much attention was paid to the Task Manager. Some of us suspected that it was a memory leak, or a buggy application that was simply hogging too much CPU time. We threw accusations at the mail application, Verizon's Wireless Sync, even the Task Manager itself, suggesting they were hijacking resources from the phone. We tried to kill them... but to no avail.

Efforts to reach Verizon and Motorola were met with typical (and ultimately unhelpful) responses: do a hard reset, replace the phone, I'm sorry sir, blah, blah blah.

Many of us have spent multiple hours trying to fix the problem, randomly disabling features to see if we could find the cause. We researched tirelessly online for solutions. We cursed. We removed batteries, because sometimes it was the only way we could get the phone to do anything. We missed incoming phone calls. We went on trips, only to find we couldn't lookup a needed address or phone number. We temporarily used our landlines while our Q9m threw a tantrum. We avoided keyboard-locking the phone, for fear we could never unlock it; we avoided the mail app, because it seemed to be one of the more slowdown-prown features. We began to despise a device that, when operating properly, we actually really liked.

Many of us had even taken to extreme measures to escape the problem: multiple hard resets, phone replacements, refraining from ActiveSync'ing, even abandoning the Q9m altogether. Again, nothing worked long-term. (And I am not exaggerating when I say that I was seriously considering talking to a lawyer to look at a class action lawsuit.)

FINALLY, the group has found that this particular problem (in most cases) is likely caused by a bug with predictive the text/word completion feature.

I'll be honest, I was completely skeptical. But I'll be damned, it worked for me! The problem hasn't been happening at all, and my phone is swimming along fine now.

I believe that this is the only "proven" fix for this particular problem. Why? Because it's the only thing we've found that works without having to do a hard reset. And the problem does now appear to have gone away permanently.

(Now is a good time, however, to remember that performance issues can be caused by a number of different factors, so I'm not going to say something stupid like "this fixes performance problems for everyone," because it won't. The EverythingQ forum is a great place to research and collaborate to try to get those fixed.)

Anyways, here's the fix, if you haven't seen it already:

From home screen click Start, Settings, scroll down to Text Input Settings. Remove the check from "Suggest words when typing." Then click Menu, and Clear Input History. Then click Done.

Many thanks to rainmakerrc, dcarroll23, ouijal, dlanoz, erupert, who had posted this fix. Apologies if I've missed anyone... and I'd sure like to thank the person who originally discovered this!

(And before I get flamed... this particular issue was not just a matter of waiting a few seconds between screens. This was a maddening, frustrating, excruciating problem where the phone essentially became unusable. We all know that there are faster phones out there, with more memory, blah blah blah, Q9m isn't for everyone, blah blah, Windows Mobile sucks, blah blah, overclock your CPU, blah blah. But this problem went far, far beyond those things. This is clearly a bug that needs to be fixed.)

I don't know if the bug is Microsoft's fault, or Motorola's, or Verizon's. It sure would be nice if we could escalate this to their engineers so they can release a fix for it. (And I cringe when I think how many people might have this problem who won't know where to find a fix in the meantime.)

I think I'm going to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau to see if we can at least get someone's attention.

Feedback welcome.

This is EXACTLY what I needed!! Totally fixed the "disappearing" text problem that I posted about yesterday!! Well done and THANK YOU!!

[tfolks206]

what kinda sucks is that i think the texting lag issue has something to do with verizon.

i was in at&t today looked at the Q there and no text lag AT ALL! i tried typing as fast as i could and even though sometimes it wouldnt be totally up to speed with me at least it wasnt creating words like todaaayyy and some other stupid things like the 9m

[MWYada]

Originally Posted by tfolks206

i was in at&t today looked at the Q there and no text lag AT ALL! i tried typing as fast as i could and even though sometimes it wouldnt be totally up to speed with me at least it wasnt creating words like todaaayyy and some other stupid things like the 9m

My Q9m doesn't exhibit any problems after a hard reset. The problem only manifests itself after using the phone for several days or weeks.

I've also heard the problem happens on the Sprint version of the Q9.

So I don't know that we can say with 100% certainty that it's Verizon's "fault" that the bug is there. (Though it's definitely their fault for not doing something about it!)

[DslLmi]

every time I try to up date.... The motorola Software will not see my Q... Any Ideas

[MWYada]

Originally Posted by DslLmi

every time I try to up date.... The motorola Software will not see my Q... Any Ideas

I have this problem too!

[derrickwhitt]

Originally Posted by MWYada

I have this problem too!

Turn the phone off and press the A and enter keys while turning the phone on. It will load the flash mode, then plug in the USB cable.

[DslLmi]

Originally Posted by derrickwhitt

Turn the phone off and press the A and enter keys while turning the phone on. It will load the flash mode, then plug in the USB cable.

Still wont see it... I get into the flash mode but the motorola software wont update... I have a e-mail in to motorola.... Lets see what they say