A Simpler Soft Reset
There is one seemingly unavoidable fact about our Treo. Namely, every once in a while it needs to be soft reset.
Generally speaking a soft reset is as painless a process as they come – a bit like rebooting your PC and then waiting about 40 seconds. The main issue that seems to annoy Treonauts the most is not the soft reset itself but the fact that in order to do it they must first remove the battery cover and then use the stylus to press the tiny hole at the back.
Additionally, if you happen to use a Skin, hard or leather protective case for your Treo (such as a S650, ToughSkin, InnoPocket or Vaja) or Enfora’s WiFi Adapter then you’ll first have to remove the case or adapter as well which is by all accounts a major hassle.
Since I’m always looking for simpler solutions I kept my eyes open for alternatives and a couple of weeks ago I finally found one that not only works great but is also completely free thanks to an application called SoftReset.
SoftReset really exemplifies simplicity with nothing more than one screen with a big button that does one thing and one thing only: it allows you to do a soft reset via the screen and saves you a lot of hassle in the process…
Additionally, SoftReset provides you with a setting (below left) that allows you to skip pushing the button on the screen altogether with an Auto Reset Countdown (that you can set at between 1 and 60 seconds) which will automatically reset your Treo within the specified time after you launch the application. Still another option if you prefer not to deal with the screen is to simply press the letter ‘R’ on your keyboard once the program has launched.
Finally there’s also a basic System Information screen (above right) which in my case does nothing more than annoyingly remind me of the little free RAM that I have left…
Installing SoftReset on your Treo should be a complete no-brainer for all Treonauts – even more so if you happen to own one of the cases that I mentioned previously. There aren’t that many free utilities that enhance the experience on our $599 Treo better.
Considering the fact that so many people have complained about the ‘soft reset via the battery cover issue’, I hope that an application like SoftReset will come built-in on our next generation Treo…
Treonauts are always looking for simpler solutions… 
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» Soft reset your Treo - the easier way from Treo Today
While I still maintain that the Palm Treo 650 smartphone is the best available smartphone in the market today, we all know its not perfect. Occasionally, for no apparent reason, the Treo 650 may decide to freeze up. Due to the design of the... [Read More]
Tracked on Nov 12, 2005 11:35:10 AM
Comments
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...OR, just use VersaMail and your Treo will soft reboot almost every day!
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Chatter Mail, in its quest to provide at least as much functionality as VersaMail actually has this feature as well, but since its normal functionality doesn't provide the reset the author must have added it as a feature request. You have to open the command console then enter "reset" and it'll reboot you on demand :-)
Seriously though - I get crashes mainly when attempting to purge all SMS messages. That's pretty annoying because as a sysadmin running pretty tight monitoring I usually wake up to a collection of them. Purge All -> reset. Sigh.
It's a good thing this device is so damned useful, or I'd chuck it ;-)
I use Profile Care and set one profile with one function - to perform a soft reset. Although, after doing the latest Sprint "911 update", my Treo resets with every hotsync. . . . of course, it's possible that something else is causing the resets?
Zlauncher has this also. Just open the scroll down and there is an option for a soft reset. Seidio also has a new battery cover in the works (it may already be out) that has a hole where the reset can be done without resetting the cover.
I like the simplicity of this one. Very cool.
I've been using this one ever since I got mine:
http://www.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&prodID=50830
Carlos - yes, we'll shortly be adding Seidio's new battery cover to the Treonauts Shop.
Patrick - I had looked at the other Soft Reset application that you point to but much preferred the version in my post.
Cheers, A.
But more often than not, when I need to do a soft reset my treo is not responding, so to open an application is almost impossible :-)
The only time I need to reset my Treo, which happens often enough, is when it is totally locked up and unresponsive. How does an onscreen or hardware button help?
You wrote: "I hope that an application like SoftReset will come built-in on our next generation Treo…"
Well what I hope is that next generation Treos will be bug free and will NOT need any soft reset at all!
It is especially "amusing" when you have your Treo in your pocket, you don't realize it's frozen and as a result of that you don't receive any phone call.
To be honest I'm quite disappointed. This application is handy but truth is that it shouldn't even exist.
instead of using the stylus to soft reset, just open the back and dump the battery for a second. You don't even have to remove it completely. just pop it slightly, pop it back in - bingo - soft reset....
-p-
I've had problems with resets after the Sprint E911 update also but it is when receiving SMS'. Ironically, I got the SMS from Sprint telling me to update after I installed the update and it reset the phone...
Yeah, I don't really see the point of this app, as the only time my Treo needs to be reset is when it's locked up, or when a program I've installed needs to reset it, but then the program does it for me.
LightWav also has a soft reset feature, which I usually end up using instead of Soft Reset when my Treo bogs down. (LightWav is the first app that starts with 'L' whereas Security is the first app that starts with 'S' in my list of apps.) Palm OS occasionally reminds me of the Classic Mac OS days except worse. :)
The problem I see with this soft reset software is that most of the time... not always... but MOST of the time, the reason for a soft reset is that the phone has locked up. When that happens, this program will be of no use at all.
I use Hi-Launcher, a fully-customizable program launcher, and I have a soft reset built into the applications menu.
I have to admit that I feel a little like the odd Treonaut out as I can't even remember the last time that my Treo froze or locked up... Evidently I touched on a raw nerve here...
Cheers, A.
Hi,
My problem is that my treo 650 soft reset without my input. It does this at least a couple of time a day and I did a hard core reset but the problem continues. Please any help to explain or resolve this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sam
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