IE on Embedded

  • Thread starter Thread starter OhioBeeFarmer
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OhioBeeFarmer

Although I didn't want to post an IE question in the Embedded area I haven't
been able to find a solution in that area so I'd like to post a question
here.

We are running XPe on a compact flash device. The ONLY application running
on this device is IE 6.0 with service pack 1. We have a website that we run
that a user connects to has only to tap several screens through out the day.
IE is up and running 24x7 and is never exited. However, after several days
of use we get an IE error accessing memory. When check further we see that
all the memory has been used up on the device not allowing IE to
continue.... WHAT IS INTERESTING is that IEplorer.exe has used up all the
memory. It start off around 7 - 8 megs and grows to a size that the
available memory is gone.

Now this doesn't just happen when hitting our webpage this happens when
hitting any webpage "MICROSOFT.com" even. We created a call ticket with MS
and after two days of their support... and probing our system and theirs
came up with the answer of ... Iexplore.exe is suppose to grow and use all
the memory on your device and you should reboot!!!!! Come on.. that can't
be the solution to reboot a device every day... This is very easy to
replicate this issue and I would think others have the same issue.

What are others doing to alleviate this in the field?

Thanks
Bob
 
Bob,

Unfortunately it is true - pretty much all versions of IE from Microsoft expose some memory leaking problem(s).
Actually it is not just memory leaks. For instance, there is a few known problems with JScript garbage collector of IE engine where
it doesn't get kicked off to release used memory.

Actually a while ago I spent some time to investigate some of the memory related issues of IE on Windows CE. Basically a few last
versions of IE there (5.0,5.x,6.0) have been ported from Desktop and expose the same memory problems.
Unfortunately, most of the problems were hidden deep in Microsoft IE binaries so not much can be done without Microsoft changes the
IE for you (which is usually almost impossible to convince them to do).

There is very few things you can do to work around the issue you've got:
- Move to SP2 as there have been a few important related fixes implemented in IE stack that may (or may not) improve the memory
usage of IE on your image.

- If possible, change your web server html code to minimize the usage of script variables that are only meant to be cleaned up
by garbage collector. IIRC, there is a few articles on MSDN/MS KB about how to do that.

- Develop a simple system memory monitoring app that will alert you when IE instance eats too much memory. Then the app an
automatically restart the IE or even reboot the device once in a while if acceptable.
Before the IE restart the app can do a few other tricks to kick off garbage collection in IE (e.g., minimizing or hiding IE
window for a few secs, etc.)

- Develop your own WebBrowser object container to replace the IE on your image. From within the container app code you will be
able to monitor the memory usage and other parameters much easier.

- Don't use IE but use something like Firefox or etc.

=========
Regards,
KM
 
KM,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my email. It is interesting to
hear your findings are so much like ours and your ideas to correct the
issues are really good ideas. With so many units in the field we will need
to find a solution that will be as simple and as non-invasive to our
customers as possible. Just surprises me that there isn't as much as an out
cry for MS to fix this as there appears not to be.

Your idea of restarting IE is one we have thought about although, are not
sure at what point to do so as this application is 24x7. Moving to SP2
would be a real trick as we have so many devices in the field that would
require first hand attention to replace the CF or re-imaging which would be
a real venture.

Once again thanks for your feedback! This will give us something to really
think about.

Bob
 
The other thing you could do would be to write a script to
shutdown/restart IE and run it once or twice a day under TaskManager if
that is in your image.

windowsjunkie
 
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