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

[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.

[tfolks206]

i never used text input but thanks!!

now if motorola could just come out with an update for the typing lag issues!

[MissSusieQ]

Originally Posted by tfolks206

i never used text input but thanks!!

now if motorola could just come out with an update for the typing lag issues!

agreed.

[MWYada]

Originally Posted by tfolks206

i never used text input but thanks!!

now if motorola could just come out with an update for the typing lag issues!

EXACTLY! It's grating!

[lil_sunshine]

Great day in the morning; this fixed my problem! I thought I was going to have to replace my Q9M with a Blackberry. Granted the Q9M has better features, but what good is a phone that freezes all the time.

I have a question though. I tried this fix recently. Will I have to go in and clear this history every now and again, or is it a one time thing?

[lil_sunshine]

Shouldn't this be a Sticky?

[MWYada]

Originally Posted by lil_sunshine

Will I have to go in and clear this history every now and again, or is it a one time thing?

Good question, I don't know! I imagine if you disable the feature, it wouldn't happen again, but I'm just guessing.

[MWYada]

Originally Posted by lil_sunshine

Shouldn't this be a Sticky?

Given the magnitude of the problem (and the frustration it's caused), maybe it should be!

[tfolks206]

HERE IS THE FIX FOR THE TEXTING LAG ISSUE!!

http://www.everythingq.com/forum/mot...mhz-12075.html


just edit the shell number and profiletype!!!

[Tony Bag o Donuts]

Originally Posted by lil_sunshine

Shouldn't this be a Sticky?

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