Hello all,
I've had a bizarre problem for a week. Our app runs perfectly well in POSE. We 
just finished adding expansion card support using VFS manager, so we could run 
it on a real AlphaSmart Dana. My first attempt was fine - it ran  thoughI 
didn't utilize all its functionality, but just exited shortly after starting as 
I wanted to test restarting. I restarted a couple of times, all worked as 
expected. I went back to my CodeWarrior 9.3 IDE and build some trivial code, 
and added a few VFSFileClose() calls that we had forgotten to include. Then 
downloaded the new AdaptItDana.prc file (Release compilation) over the older 
installation using the Palm Desktop software's Install function, on my XP Pro 
SP2 Windows laptop. 

Here's where things went wrong. At the "cleaning up" point of the hotsynch, a 
Fatal Alert came up: the message in it said "Fatal Exception", and there was 
only a Reset button provided. I pressed the Reset button, the alert went away 
for a few seconds, and then it returned. Nothing I could do would permanently 
dismiss the Alert, so I had to hard reset the Dana - wiping out the downloaded 
AdaptItDana app.

I then tried putting the app on the SD expansion card in the /Palm/Launcher/ 
folder, to speed up the process. Inserting the card in the Dana I was shown the 
app icon in the Launcher window as expected, but as soon as I tapped it, the 
same Fatal Alert came up, and was only dismissable by a hard reset.

This has been the pattern for the last week. Everything I have tried has not 
succeeded. In POSE, everything is fine though. I've completely rebuilt the 
project in the CodeWarrior IDE, but it made no difference. I've tried debugging 
using the Dana as the debugger target, but the Fatal Alert comes up immediately 
the downloaded app commences to run, and before any of the Threads windows get 
anything put in them. To try figure out how far into the app it runs before 
failing, I put a simple alert at the very start of PilotMain(), but running on 
the Dana the Fatal Alert comes up before my alert gets a chance to run. 
Removing code changes (but leaving the needed VFSFileClose() calls) added since 
the first successful run did not restore it to run successfully (same Fatal 
Alert still happens). I've no optimizations on when compiling the Release 
version. If I make another C++ app using the template, and put a few trivial 
things in it, it runs fine under POSE and on the Dana; but when I add my app's 
source code to such a new starter app, and despite a perfect compile and 
perfect operation in POSE, as soon as I try running it on a Dana, the Fatal 
Alert manifests. I've used only standard settings in the IDE, with a few minor 
tweaks, and the Code Entry Point is the standard  __Startup__  which I've never 
changed. Attempts to debug the problem run foul of the fact that the exception 
manifests before PilotMain() starts running - so I'm locked out of any way to 
get at what might be happening. 

Can anyone shed any light on this? I'm perfectly willing for anyone ready to 
have a play to receive the whole project on trust and have a go at sorting it 
out. Just to get the little alert I put at the start of PilotMain to show would 
mean the problem is solved; so no knowledge of what the app does would be 
required. I sure hope someone can help: 3 years work is at a standstill until 
we can get past this problem. (I'm not a formally trained IT person, but a 
bright self taught programmer who has been programming for 30 years, 
comfortable in C and C++. So please don't make too many assumptions about what 
I may know.) 

Many thanks,  --Bruce Waters
Sorry about the long post, but more info might make replies more informative 
and eliminate unhelpful guesses.
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