[JRSCCivic98]

Who thinks it would be a good option to implement holding down ESC+Mute+Power to trigger a Reset?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[chris.zacher452]

That would be a really good idea; especially for the people with cases.

[savioAMG]

Why not? All the other BBs have one.
I think the Storm needs it most...

[Damn_Smooth]

Excellent idea Civic, why haven't you applied for a job at RIM yet?

[BzB]

all other bb's have this.

it would seem the storm should too, but no one's found it yet...? :\

there are free 3rd party apps that do this too, but they're not always reliable and guaranteed to function on the os of the moment.

[Sirhill]

Good idea civic but instead of key combo how about a rest feature in the menu or options screen.

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[JRSCCivic98]

Good idea civic but instead of key combo how about a rest feature in the menu or options screen.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

A button combo would work quicker, but I'd take anything now that's better then battery pullin or program resets that trick the device into thinking an install/uninstall took place.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[violatizzle]

problem is that the storm can't do multi-touch.. like pressing a virtual key and pressing another virtual key at the same time.. no pinch zoom type of thing. Probably on the storm2.. but who knows

[vaca232]

problem is that the storm can't do multi-touch.. like pressing a virtual key and pressing another virtual key at the same time.. no pinch zoom type of thing. Probably on the storm2.. but who knows

The Storm CAN do multi-touch. You can select multiple messages using multitouch. It's just not implemented very much in the OS

[Funnystuff]

Interesting -- would an option like this somehow also cut down on random reboots?

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[chuckh0308]

Of course it does and it should have had one from the beginning. QP and such are nice, but when the phone actually freezes and becomes unresponsive there needs to be a way out that doesn't require a battery pull. Thankfully that hardly ever happens anymore, but still...

[jprintz215]

What is the difference between having an application like QuickPull, which is free, and having a key combo to reset the application? Besides the small amount of memory it would take up that is.

[hexwulf]

I subscribe to your thinking in this matter...
If the hardware combo could trigger a reset even during a HW freeze (such as a battery pull cuts power), that would be dreamy...

[seVer916]

What is the difference between having an application like QuickPull, which is free, and having a key combo to reset the application? Besides the small amount of memory it would take up that is.

if you had read the post just before yours, you would have found the exact difference -- if your phone locks up, how are you going to run QP?

I also concur that a HARD button combo be implemented to reset the phone.

[Radakast]

Although I don't know the exact details of the hardware, that 3 key combo would have to be hard-wired (i.e. physical connection) to work even when the phone is frozen / locked up.

The toggle on the back of your computer is a physical switch, when you hit that it always turns off your system, whether it's in a critical lockup or not. The "soft" power switch on the front doesn't always work because there's a interrupt code that is being caught. That's why your BB equivalent of a 3 fingered salute wouldn't always work, it's not a physical switch.

[chris.zacher452]

Good idea civic but instead of key combo how about a rest feature in the menu or options screen.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

This would have the same issues as QP, if the Storm is frozen there is no way to access the menu.

[chuckz28]

How about one of those old school little buttons that you need a sharp pencil to stick in to reset, and then in only a matter of weeks the back of the storm will be covered in graphite along with your hands. LOL J/K

I totally agree. I have fiddled around before pressing all kinds of combinations hoping to stumble upon a secret that likely doesn't exist.

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[JRSCCivic98]

problem is that the storm can't do multi-touch.. like pressing a virtual key and pressing another virtual key at the same time.. no pinch zoom type of thing. Probably on the storm2.. but who knows

Wait... you think it needs multi-touch to be able to click 3 PHYSICAL buttons?

Although I don't know the exact details of the hardware, that 3 key combo would have to be hard-wired (i.e. physical connection) to work even when the phone is frozen / locked up.

The toggle on the back of your computer is a physical switch, when you hit that it always turns off your system, whether it's in a critical lockup or not. The "soft" power switch on the front doesn't always work because there's a interrupt code that is being caught. That's why your BB equivalent of a 3 fingered salute wouldn't always work, it's not a physical switch.

Tell me something I don't already know. The three button combo is not a physical change. It's simply a new piece of code to detect that key press opperation and reset the device. With the current hardware, should there be a lockup of some sort and this key press combo doesn't work due to OS freeze, just pull the battery. It's very seldome if any that I've ever had a complete freeze like that and in those cases a battery pull would be a much more acceptable way to reset anyway. While I'd like a physical reset button similar to those of HTC device on the outside of the device (we're trying to keep from opening the battery compartment here), I'll take this quick "software implemented" key combo RIGHT NOW, as it's greatly needed!

BTW, the part of the quote up top in RED... yeah, HOLD THE SOFT POWER BUTTON ON THE FRONT OF YOUR PC FOR 5-10 SECS AND IT WILL TURN OFF. Doesn't matter if the OS is locked up or not. That's how that works and has worked like that ever since the new non-toggle power buttons were put on new PCs running ATX power supplies.

[salberry1952]

They are not the same.

I prefer a real battery pull where you actually remove the power to the unit, wait a few seconds while the residual power stored in capacitors drains away, and the re-insert battery. This insures a HARD boot.

Software reboots are soft boots.

For this, a Reset button (usually a hole were you insert a toothpick or paper clip) is handy.

For a phone that requires constant Battery Pulls to solve issues, I am surprised RIM didn't provided such a reset.

[salberry1952]

How about one of those old school little buttons that you need a sharp pencil to stick in to reset, and then in only a matter of weeks the back of the storm will be covered in graphite along with your hands. LOL J/K

I totally agree. I have fiddled around before pressing all kinds of combinations hoping to stumble upon a secret that likely doesn't exist.

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Never use a pencil to reset. Pencil lead are graphite which conducts electricity. If your point were to break off or some graphite powder were to get into the circuitry, you may create a problem.

Sorry for getting out of topic here.

[chuckz28]

Never use a pencil to reset. Pencil lead are graphite which conducts electricity. If your point were to break off or some graphite powder were to get into the circuitry, you may create a problem.

Sorry for getting out of topic here.

Hence the LOL and J/K. Its purpose was to entertain.

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[chris.zacher452]

I know this is way off topic but does anyone else think that civic's pic sort of looks like Angelina in Tomb Raider? Minus the big lips.

[Radakast]

BTW, the part of the quote up top in RED... yeah, HOLD THE SOFT POWER BUTTON ON THE FRONT OF YOUR PC FOR 5-10 SECS AND IT WILL TURN OFF. Doesn't matter if the OS is locked up or not. That's how that works and has worked like that ever since the new non-toggle power buttons were put on new PCs running ATX power supplies.[/QUOTE]

I can show you plenty of examples where the soft power button on the front won't work. Work enough years as hardware support (and I'm not talking the guy behind the counter at Best Buy) and you'll see it.

As I said (and I don't know why you want to belabor the point) it's not a physical mechanism, it can fail to work when the system is truly locked up. Not just the OS but (in the case of a desktop or server) the mainboard is locked up due to bad code embedded in the system cache. Based on my experience I'm sure it'd be handy but you'd still need to pop the battery out for the worst crashes.

[JRSCCivic98]

I can show you plenty of examples where the soft power button on the front won't work. Work enough years as hardware support (and I'm not talking the guy behind the counter at Best Buy) and you'll see it.

As I said (and I don't know why you want to belabor the point) it's not a physical mechanism, it can fail to work when the system is truly locked up. Not just the OS but (in the case of a desktop or server) the mainboard is locked up due to bad code embedded in the system cache. Based on my experience I'm sure it'd be handy but you'd still need to pop the battery out for the worst crashes.

What's your "enough years", because mine is 15+ and I'm right in what I'm saying. And this ranges in systems from your average workstation at Bob's desk all the way to the server farm on the 10 floor.

Anyway, back to the BB reset switch option, anything is better then nothing. Bottom line is, a button combination would speed things up instead of pulling the battery and since RIM's device still have the ability to remove the battery in the worse cases (as you indicated above), it's pretty much a moot point anyway, as you'll still be able to do that. Again, I'm not trying to negate the need to be able to pull the battery, I'm trying to negate the need to HAVE to pull the battery every single time you want to reset the phone appropriately.

So, RIM... let's have it.


BTW, since we're discussing systems that have to be reset by button means without having to yank its power source, the iPhone is a good example of this. I (aside from reading about it somewhere... I forget where) have never run up on an iPhone that couldn't be reset or powered off and back on without having to pull it's battery. As I said, I think I remember reading something about someone having one so locked up they had to wait for the battery to die on it, but I can't be sure I'm remember this correctly.

[Devlyn16]

BTW, since we're discussing systems that have to be reset by button means without having to yank its power source, the iPhone is a good example of this. I (aside from reading about it somewhere... I forget where) have never run up on an iPhone that couldn't be reset or powered off and back on without having to pull it's battery. As I said, I think I remember reading something about someone having one so locked up they had to wait for the battery to die on it, but I can't be sure I'm remember this correctly.

Makes sense. If you design a product in a manner that the consumer cant remove the battery then you need to include a way to reset the device without removing the battery.