iPad locks up repeatedly - why?

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kerry.j.d Author

Level 1

0 points

iPad locks up repeatedly - why?

this has just started to happen with my iPad2 which is about 14 months old;

no error message of any kind, the screen just freezes, cannot close the app, can only power down;

plenty of memory available, battery ok, strong wifi and carrier signals;

cold restart does not stop the problem recurring;

the only major changes recently were installing a Vienna tourism app and some Swiss Re apps;

I also downloaded a Kindle book, but an earlier download had no effect and the app was installed last year;

no diagnostics logged since Nov 2011;

iPad 2, iOS 5.1

Posted on Aug 27, 2012 6:52 AM

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Answer 1

Diavonex

Level 9

67,259 points

Aug 27, 2012 6:56 AM in response to kerry.j.d

1. Double-click the Home button to close all Inactive Apps in Task Bar

2. Hold the Apps in Task Bar down for a second or two until you see the minus sign

3. Tap the minus sign to close App

4. Tap center of screen to return to Home Screen

5. Reset iPad. Hold the Sleep and Home button down for about 10 second until you see the Apple logo. Ignore the red slider

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Answer 2

kerry.j.d Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 29, 2012 3:43 AM in response to Diavonex

Thank you - my iPad has been going ok now for 2 days, so the problem has been fixed for now.

Do you or anyone else know why this happens, eg:

(a) is it when a large number of inactive apps accumulate?

(b) is it affected by the number of open tabs in Safari?

(c) is it produced by a malfunctioning app?

(d) is it due to a known deficiency in iOS5? If so, is a fix expected in iOS6?

(e) is it just a feature of earlier iPads?

Knowing the cause would help me formulate a prevention strategy, eg following your procedure every 3 months or so, unless, of course, a cure is expected in iOS6.

I recall a former colleague working with a 24x7 Unix system which needed to be rebooted every 90 days, and with 24x7 NT systems which needed a monthly reboot.

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Answer 3

Diavonex

Level 9

67,259 points

Aug 29, 2012 3:57 AM in response to kerry.j.d

You can monitor the memory usage when you have problem

http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/system-status-activity-manager/id401457165?mt=8&l s=1

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee374/Diavonex/edea306f95cac14e014c14b74558c b6e.jpg

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Answer 4

Demo

Level 10

166,747 points

Aug 29, 2012 4:03 AM in response to kerry.j.d

This is my take on your questions .....

kerry.j.d wrote:

Do you or anyone else know why this happens, eg:

(a) is it when a large number of inactive apps accumulate?

(b) is it affected by the number of open tabs in Safari?

(c) is it produced by a malfunctioning app?

(d) is it due to a known deficiency in iOS5? If so, is a fix expected in iOS6?

(e) is it just a feature of earlier iPads?

A. That is not supposed to be the issue - iOS is supposed to allocate memory as needed and the apps in the task bar are for the most part - not running - and merely recently used apps

iOS: Understanding Multitasking

B. It does appear that when a large number of tabs are open in Safari, that could affect the memory that the iPad needs and it can slow the iPad down.

C. A corrupt app can cause problems. Sometimes a corrupt file in an app could be the cause of problems and sometimes the app itself could have been corrupted during the download.

D. I don't think that these problems would be considered a known issue in iOS 5.

E. The earlier versions of the iPad do not have as much RAM as the new iPad so a slight drop off in performance would not be considered unusual when compared to the new iPad.

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