Storing Apps in ROM

[CalgaryCowboy]

I disagree!!I keep my storage limited to about 0.5meg more than I have stored. When copying from my sd into main memory I got an out of memory error. The os did not adjust. I think it would adjust when installing apps but not when manually copying.

[Ender78]

"I would recommend you not put volatile files in ROM. ROM has a write lifecycle limit that is lower than RAM" -JakeRich

I cannot find the post, but someone figured out about 2 weeks ago that you would have to write to your ROM several times a day for the next 20 years to max-out the lifecycle of your ROM chip.

I don't know about you, but I plan of upgrading to a new unit between now and then.

-Ender

Originally posted by CalgaryCowboy
I disagree!!I keep my storage limited to about 0.5meg more than I have stored. When copying from my sd into main memory I got an out of memory error. The os did not adjust. I think it would adjust when installing apps but not when manually copying.

I think the OS only steals Storage Memory, but will not automatically give it back.

As a trial I had running seveeral processor intensive programs and watched as the OS moved the slider to allow more system resources. When I shut down all the apps, the slider remained where it was. I guess the OS assumes that if you needed that much Program Memory...you'll need it again. ;)

I adjusted the slider back to about 28MB Storage/35MB Program and it has stayed there since then.

Chris...

[JakeRich]

Originally posted by Ender78
"I would recommend you not put volatile files in ROM. ROM has a write lifecycle limit that is lower than RAM" -JakeRich

I cannot find the post, but someone figured out about 2 weeks ago that you would have to write to your ROM several times a day for the next 20 years to max-out the lifecycle of your ROM chip.

I don't know about you, but I plan of upgrading to a new unit between now and then.

-Ender

Let's do the math. The ROM has an average life of about 10,000 write cycles. If you keep your Ax for two years, that would be 730 days. So 10,000 divided by 730 is just about 13.7. If you write anything to ROM as much as 13.7 times each day, you'll reach the theoretical limit of ROM in about two years. That's not a lot of writing for volatile files like calendars, logs, game scores, things that store configuration files every time they run, etc, etc. And once ROM fails, it's all gone, not just the area you have been writing into. Add the fact that the lifecycle is an estimate, with some variance on either side and it's possible to reach the failure point even sooner.

Ok, we don't need to fear failure, just don't overwork ROM. I store backups there and I run programs that don't keep logs/configuration files or other changes there. All I want to do is sound a little word of caution before you think of ROM as just more RAM. To get that 20 year figure you have to cut the writing to 1.3 times a day. And that is what I am saying to do.

[Ender78]

JakeRich,

You are right... I was under the assumption that StrataFlash had a 100,000 write cycle, but after some investigation at intel.com I found out that it only has a 10,000 write cycle.

I do agree with not writing too much information to the ROM chip in your PDA regardless of how many write cycles. Using it as storage only increases the possibilities of something going wrong.

-Ender

[io333]

But here is a question: If I dump something in the "Windows" directory, where in the world is it being stored? I have this sense that it is putting it in ROM.