Has Anyone Installed Apps in ROM?

[yrg]

I'm thinking to install some of my apps (e.g. Pocket Informant, Resco Explorer) in the Built-in ROM, after a cold reset.

Has anyone noticed any performance difference? Is it true that loading an app from ROM is slower than from the main memory? Any other advantages or disadvantages of installing apps in the ROM?

Thanks.
yrg

The diadvantage is, you wont be able to take it off.;)
and i think there will be a slight performance decrese because the rom is slower than the ram.

Correct me if im wrong.:)

Also, i wouldent try it yet,because that is where the operating system is stored.

We don't know how much space will be used up by the new os.
The new os should be arriving ANY day now..;)

[ceej13]

there is talk that it s supposed to be released in June. But don't quote me on that. Who knows how long it will be. Then there is the fact the Dell will have to make it's modifications for the Axim.

But as for storing apps in the Built-in Storage, I wouldn't recommend it either. According to the link below, there have been issues of the built-in storage dissappearing.

I have to disagree. I put tons of apps in Built-in Storage in ROM. There seems to be no slow-down in performance. I run Age of Empires, one of the most processor-intensive apps available, out of Built-in Storage with no problems with the game set to faster speed. And you CAN erase programs loaded there later on. I have hard-reset a couple times. Each time I do, I use my File Explorer to delete everything out of built-in storage and then reinstall my apps back into it with no problems (I don't like backing-up and restoring, always seems to screw something up with ActiveSync, etc. :rolling: )


I basically view my Built-in Storage as an extra 21.24 MB of RAM that won't accidently get erased if my Axim crashes. People that don't use it are robbing themselves of a whole lot of extra storage space. When PPC 2003 comes out, I'll just unistall a few apps (or maybe just AoE ;) ) to free necessary space, if needed.




P.S. I was also very worried about putting anything into ROM when I first got my Axim. But I read a lot of posts on various forums from people who knew what they were talking about and they pretty-much all concurred that it was perfectly safe to use it the same as any other storage memory. Haven't had a problem yet in over 5 months! :)

Thanks rbg08,glad to here that.:)

Man, i had to get the 300 axim because i was broke and i only got 5 megs of ROM

[pedroboe]

I lost my built in storage.. but I'm not sure what did it... i had it filled to the brim, with apps and mp3's, as well as photos. Then I flashed it with A03... all gone. But I cannot pin down the moment it happened, or why.. I found very little help on the PPc websites and only a few other cases. The dell community board had a thread about it, but no Dell people commented on it. You can tell they are a bit new with PPC issues (not that there is anything wrong with that) I got my replacement today:D I am going to be more careful with that magic space (useless?):p

Sorry to hear that, pedroboe. I am planning to flash A03 real soon too. I guess I better erase everything out of Built-in Storage before trying. (It does make sense to clear everything else out of ROM before making changes to the OS since it all resides in the same place ;) .)


I previously ugraded to A02 and didn't lose my Built-in Storage (which I had mostly filled then as well); but I don't remember if I erased everything out of ROM before or after I flashed it.

I recommend not installing apps in Built-in Storage because of the performance reasons. ROM is significantly slower than RAM and even slower than SD and CF cards. You can test this by moving Avantgo folders around between them (See "Move AvantGo channels to the storage card" in Axim Registry Tweaks Tutorial page).

Your apps might seem like they are not running significantly slower because of how OS initially loads necessary stuff into RAM (Program RAM). So, your app isn't technically being run from ROM but RAM. The difference you will notice should be the loading time. And if your app needs to load extra stuff in the middle of execution, then it will take longer than if it was installed in RAM.

Use your ROM to store important data you would like to keep even after the disaster happens. I usually keep my eWallet file and several other important documents in ROM.

Also, do not count on stuff in Built-in Storage being available after the ROM upgrade. You should always back up everything before doing the ROM upgrade.
Use Pocket Backup Plus to backup your Built-in Storage as well as other data regularly.

[TheWolfen]

So how sure are you of the poor performance for installed apps - not copying files? I say this because the OS is stored in ROM, and it really wouldn't make sense to use a slower-than-memory-card technology. I could see it being a little slower than RAM, but not an SD card. I also KNOW apps load & run faster when installed in ROM vs a storage card, as I have done both with the same app.

I too use the built-in storage for apps. In fact, most of my primary apps are installed there, so I can leave as much RAM for running a program as possible. Which brings up a good point - there is an advantage to leaving 20 MB more of the RAM free by using the ROM for apps. Even if an app loads slightly slower, it will definitely run better with more RAM available, especially if it is not the only thing running.

[Fuzzy John]

Originally posted by pedroboe
I lost my built in storage.. but I'm not sure what did it... i had it filled to the brim, with apps and mp3's, as well as photos. Then I flashed it with A03... all gone.

Hmmm... I wonder who makes the built-in storage. Sandisk???

[commoved]

I'm thinking to install some of my apps (e.g. Pocket Informant, Resco Explorer) in the Built-in ROM, after a cold reset.

Both PI and Agenda Fusion recommend you do not place their aps in ROM. They say that aps in ROM may not wake up the Ax for appointment notifications. The imply the same would apply to any other application that wakes the Ax, like alarm clocks. I would love to hear from somebody who has loaded one of these to ROM, because I don't believe it's true for the Ax, but I have never tried it.

Some PPCs have NAND ROM, which is addressed serially like a disk drive. These PPCs have to load the OS to RAM before executing, which means the user does not get access to all of the RAM. One of the great points of the Ax is that it uses StrataFlash, which is addressed like RAM directly from the processor. This memory is sometimes called "execute-in-place" ROM, because the OS can run directly from ROM. I don't see why the ROM should be slower than RAM, unless the two are on a different bus, and the ROM bus is slower....

The Ax ROM is Flash memory, like the SD and CF cards. Any time you are writing to Flash, you have to accept that something might go wrong. (Stuff happens.) You can reformat an SD or CF card, but you can't reformat ROM (because it holds the OS). Also, Flash memory has a limited number of write cycles. You definately do not want to put anything in ROM that will be updated daily.

When deciding what to put in ROM, my criteria is that the program be large (save a lot of RAM / SD) and stable (I won't change it very often).
I have three large aps in ROM - Lectionary, a French-English translator, and Adobe Acrobat reader.

When I loaded ROM, I tried to minimize the possibility that something would go wrong that might leave me with missing ROM that I couldn't reformat. I made sure there were no other aps running on my PC. I did a soft reset on the Ax. I made sure there were no upcomming appointments or reminders. I plugged everything in to an AC adaptor. There's no reason not to use your ROM, but there's no reason to take unnecessary risks either.