[Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile ROM Development] mmalka:
Potential reasons for phone freezing

Lately there has been a lot of people saying their phones are freezing. I did quite a lot of research to find out the more common reasons (and solutions).

Here is what I found, which I hope it will help others.

1- The most common situation is Sense freezing while loading. As described on the FAQ, this is normally caused by corrupt file(s) on the folder Application Data\HTC on your SD card.

This may happen for several reasons, such as you rebooting or shutting down your phone while Sense was writing something to that folder.

How to test: Remove the SD card and reboot the phone. If Sense loads ok, then the situation is confirmed.

How to fix: Delete the folder Application Data\HTC from your SD card. Reboot the phone with the SD card in, and Sense will recreate the folder.

2- Another quite common situation is the phone freezing because it is running out of memory. This can also show as an application suddenly closing or failing to open.

Your phone, like your PC, has a memory that it is like a working area. Sometimes, due to bad programming or unexpected termination of applications, some of the programs misuse the working area, by either leaving stuff behind, or using a lot of the space available. The more you multi-task, the more you will be consuming the area. The longer you leave your phone without a reboot, the more likely the area will have stuff left behind.

How to test: Reboot your phone. If the problem does not happen right away, the issue is confirmed.

How to fix: Start noticing which application(s) you are running when the problem happens, and see if you find the offender. Also, it is a good idea to regularly (like every night) reboot the phone. It was posted here a few days ago a program that allows you to schedule regular reboots.

3- Less common but still happening in a few cases, is a corrupt SD card. This is similar to #1, although not limited to that folder.

Your SD card may become corrupt for any reason such as an interrupted writing.

How to test: Same as #1, remove the SD card, reboot the phone and try to reproduce the steps that led to the freezing (although you may not be able to if you were accessing a program or data on the card).

How to fix: I posted a few days ago how to run chkdsk /f on your card. Make sure you do it with the card OUT OF THE PHONE!

4- Another quite common reason for freezing (and for other strange behaviors) is restoring something from other ROM, or from a different version of CHT or any other tool.

Each ROM (and each version of the same ROM) and each program has different ways of recording the information it needs. If you restore something that was written in a way different then the ROM or the program expects, the results are unpredictable.

How to test and fix: Reflash the ROM or perform a hard-reset. Then do no let XDA_UC import your settings. Test the "bare" ROM. If everything works fine, then install program by program and configure everything individually, always testing after each one. If the problem happens again, it is likely the offender was the last one.

5- Yet less common is a bad flash. Although I've never seen one, people say they exist. Not only the flash could have gone wrong, but also you may have forgotten to either run Task29 before flashing, or performing a hard reset after flashing.

How to test and fix: Reflash the ROM, making sure you either performed Task29 before, or hard reset after.

6- More common than I wished for, is the interaction of programs. Sometimes you install several applications on your phone, and one changes something or interferes with something that ends up causing another application or even Windows or Sense to freeze. This is a hard one to pinpoint.

How to test: Follow the same steps listed on #4. Also, read the forum: if no one else is experiencing the same issue in the same situation, it is likely it is something unique to your installation/configuration.

How to fix: Follow the same steps as #4, and be very patient!

7- The less common of all is a bad ROM. NRGZ is good, but believe me, he is human. So, sometimes something could have gone wrong while he was cooking (too much or too little salt), that could cause a problem.

How to test: Read the forum and see if other people reported/are reporting the same issue, because in such case the problem would be wide spread.

How to fix: Wait for the next wave of ROMs, or flash a previous version.

This is by no means intended to be an all-inclusive guide, but based on my research and experience, it should address the more common causes.