Create a Virtual Memory Cards with Palm RAM Disk

Posted By: Ed Tuesday, May 21, 2002 8:39:21 AM

HandWatch has introduced Palm RAM Disk, which allows users to create a virtual memory card in their handheld's RAM. This lets files that aren't of the standard Palm OS file types be stored in internal memory. The RAM disk works like a VFS card and can be accessed through any application that can access memory cards. It is available now for $10.

The Palm OS doesn't allow files that aren't either .PRC or .PDB files to be stored in RAM. This means JPG images and MP3 music files can only be stored on removable memory cards. With Palm RAM Disk, this is no longer necessary.

It also allows the handheld to copy non-Palm files from one memory card to another.

Unlike RAM disks on PCs, this app doesn't pre-allocate a chunk of memory. It only acquires memory when the amount of data it stores increases. Therefore, it doesn't hold up the memory for other applications to use.

The standard Palm application Launcher shows the RAM disk as another category, the same as it shows a regular removable memory card. Launcher can copy files to it and open applications from it.

In order for both a RAM disk and a real memory card to be used at the same time, an application needs to be able to access multiple memory cards. Fortunately, many apps have been written to take advantage of the multiple card slots on the HandEra 330, including McFile.

RAM Disk is up to 4 times faster than real memory cards.

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Why??

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 9:01:16 AM #
With my measly 8 Mb what am I going to use this for???
RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 9:03:24 AM #
They must miss calculated your 8MB to 8GB
RE: Why??
seanhennessy @ 5/21/2002 9:27:20 AM #
Why must there always be one to dismiss anything new out of hand? This seems to be a fairly sophisticated piece of software, offered for what seems to me a more than reasonable price. Because it doesn't plug a hole in your universe doesn't mean someone else won't find it useful. Some of the uses are given in the article.

This is one of those things that offers radically new functionality to the Palm community, and I'm sure it will turn out to have many interesting extra uses. Good luck to the developers.

RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 9:38:25 AM #
Hammers are so stupid. I have no need to hammer anything so the person who invented the hammer was obviously a moron who wasted his time. If I don't need something, it is 100% crap so everyone everywhere should throw out all their hammers and never buy another one. The same goes for frozen dinners. And no one should ever watch Friends because I don't like that either.

If you don't listen to me, I'll throw myself on the ground and kick and scream until I get my own way.

RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 9:46:03 AM #
I see uses here at my office. It's nice for carrying files back and forth from home.
Answer:
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 10:47:44 AM #
I'll just take an easiest example as answer:

If you have a Clie NR70 / NR70V or N710C / N760C. You can store music in Internal RAM and does not require another Memory Stick.

The same as this, you can store in RAM many files that you were not able to put in RAM before.

This program is GREAT! I must get it.


RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 10:58:50 AM #
>I'm sure it will turn out to have many interesting extra uses

Give me one example

>If you have a Clie NR70 / NR70V or N710C / N760C. You >can store music in Internal RAM and does not require >nother Memory Stick.

Do u really understand what are you talking about ?!! Store music in RAM ?!!! I think you must have 8 or 16 "GB" internal memory. Wow, that's a amazing.


>This program is GREAT! I must get it.

Go for it and enjoy your "virtual 8/16GB internal memory". Ooops,do i mentioned that you even can put an whole length 2 hours movie in your "virtual 8/16GB internal memory"

RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 11:50:30 AM #
> Give me one example

I can store JPEG images in ram, and view them with JPEGWiewer (JPEG are from 10 to 20 times smaller than in Fireviewer format).


> Go for it and enjoy your "virtual 8/16GB internal
> memory". Ooops,do i mentioned that you even can put
> an whole length 2 hours movie in your "virtual
> 8/16GB internal memory"

Need to answer? hmmm... I think no, no answer to stupid sentences... ]


RE: Why??
james_sorenson @ 5/21/2002 11:55:02 AM #
I'm amazed at the number of people who took the time to essentially write: "I can't think of a use for it, so it sucks."

Just for you guys, I'll list a few uses for this program. I'm sure there are even more uses I haven't thought of yet.

1) You can use this to copy non-PalmOS files from one memory card to another (card-1 to Palm, then Palm to card-2). Good if you want to give a friend a jpeg image, text file, or ONE mpg song.

2) Save your images in JPG form to your built-in RAM. They take less space and don't require a conversion program.

3)

-------
James Sorenson

RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 2:15:36 PM #
I can't believe the number of idiots on this board who are such Palm jingoists that they attack all valid criticism of new developments in the Palm marketplace. You people remind me of the jack*sses who continually trumpeted the springboard even when the only products appearing for it were so pathetic that I thought they surely must be hoaxes. As fine a technical achievement as this may be, it is simply useless for the overwhelming majority of Palm users given current Palm memory limitations. If you don't like people pointing that out, really sucks to be you.

RE: Why??
ardee @ 5/21/2002 2:27:59 PM #
My first reaction was "Why?" as well. Then I remembered that what you can normally save in the built-in RAM of the Palm are *not* files but Palm apps & databases (PRCs & PDBs) only, which consist of records in a very restrictive format.

So this new app lets you save real *files* into RAM, a unique ability. Other people have already posted some good practical examples (JPGs copying files between cards).

Not an earth-shaking app, but a nice new piece of functionality for the platform.

RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 2:49:18 PM #
> As fine a technical achievement as this may be, it is simply useless for the
> overwhelming majority of Palm users given current Palm memory limitations.

I could say that about almost every Palm app. The overwhelming majority of Palm users don't need most of the thousands of Palm applications. I don't need to make presentations from my Palm but that doesn't make Presenter-to-Go a piece of junk. I don't need any games either but I know other people like them. You are yet another short-sighted person who thinks his needs are everyone's needs and everyone who disagrees is wrong.

RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 3:47:46 PM #
I believe this is the real differences between a PKPC, Zaurus, and a PalmOS BBS. PalmOS BBS has more morons than any other platform because of its simplicity (too stupid to learn something hard).
RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 5:04:46 PM #
And then there are people like you that make it no fun for those who participate - why slam people? Make you feel good?
RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 5:40:47 PM #
>You are yet another short-sighted person who thinks >his needs are everyone's needs and everyone who >disagrees is wrong.

And you are that very special type of imbecile who doesn't understand that comments about a piece of software don't justify attacks on the person making those comments.

RE: Why??
seanhennessy @ 5/21/2002 9:01:53 PM #
Here's a simple solution: those who want to use this program, buy it and do so. Those who don't, ignore it and quit whining. And when this innocuous little utility causes the sky to fall, you can say "I told you so."

RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 11:53:11 PM #
I have a better suggestion, if you don't like people complaining about this program, either shut up and suffer silently or move to your favorite fascist dictatorship. Hopefully, the thought police there will agree with everything you say and torture those who have differing opinions by making them listen to your drivel.
RE: Why??
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/23/2002 12:31:38 AM #
"I have a better suggestion, if you don't like people complaining about this program, either shut up and suffer silently or move to your favorite fascist dictatorship"

And I have an even better one for you.. quit taking up precious oxygen by breathing... and please don't reproduce.. you're just another joker who thinks the world owes him a stage and mommy owes him an allowence.

Hmm

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 2:33:48 PM #
You'd think this would be a feature BUILT IN the Palm OS. Much like Wince.
RE: Hmm
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 2:54:48 PM #
The mere fact that it is part of WinCE makes me question whether it is necessary or not. God, what a heap of bloatware.
RE: Hmm
Altema @ 5/21/2002 7:19:09 PM #
It would be a waste to include a feature that would not be used by 90% of the PDA users. Sure it would have it's uses like moving a non-prc or pdb file from card to card by dumping it to RAM Disk, or you could beam a jpg file, but those occasions would be rare. BTW, if you have McFile, you can receive ANY type of file and save it directly to card as long as McFile is open at the time.

RE: Hmm
LarryGarfield @ 5/21/2002 8:37:44 PM #
Windows CE is able to have a RAM disk because they completely eschew eXecute-In-Place, which is fundamental to the Palm. The internal RAM is both storage AND active-where-programs-run memory. It's all formatted to be optimized for record-wise databases, which is what makes a 16 MHz or 33 MHz Palm so blazing fast, even compared to a 206 MHz PocketPC. Yes, you can have an XIP-based storage area that accepts any type of file, but it's more work, and it would have slowed down random-record-access, which is what the Palm depends on.

For more details on RAM, ROM, and how the Palm guts work, see my recent article on infoSync (http://www.infosync.no/resources/knowledge/).

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Just like the evolution of the PC memory use!

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 6:49:38 PM #
The concept of RAM Disk and external memory drivers sounds like the exact path that PC evolution took when the X86 processor (in the XT/AT days) went past the 1M memory requirement!

Basically, the current architecture (like the PC) does not handle extended memory or external memory very well at all, so they hacked around it by copying chunks of memory into the operating memory (PC = memory paging, Palm = PiDirect or MSMount) before executing the program.

Likewise, RAM Disk appeared for a while to make use of the oodles of memory that could not be accessed because of OS limitations. Also, it was a cheap way of having a virtual drive instead of expensive hard disks.

It basically boils down to the simple fact that when external RAM was introduced to the Palm OS, they did not have a seamless solution to integrating external cards so the volatile RAM and external memory looked like one huge block of memory.
Liekwise, RAM Disk fills in a niche place where someone would like to transfer files quickly (picture, music, or databases) and then move it into the external memory at a more convenient time,

Having used this for a couple of days now, the transfer between RAM to RAM Disk is a hell of a lot faster than to memory stick (using a Clie). I doubt I'd use it often, apart from reading documents and ebooks - which frees up my main memory for other uses!

Oh yeah - if you register now, you can register for it for 50% the normal price.

ciao!

RE: Just like the evolution of the PC memory use!
LarryGarfield @ 5/21/2002 8:41:08 PM #
It basically boils down to the simple fact that when external RAM was introduced to the Palm OS, they did not have a seamless solution to integrating external cards so the volatile RAM and external memory looked like one huge block of memory.

False. External RAM has never been introduced. External FLASH ROM in a device context was introduced. Very very very different thinks. They added support for floppy disks, NOT support for more RAM.

I know I harp on this subject all the time, but that's only because it is the single most misunderstood concept in the entire Palm world, which only gets people upset when they find that they can't use a card "just like RAM." It's a floppy disk. That's all it is. Anything to make it pretend to be more is just a hack. (Sometimes a very good hack, but still a hack.) Oh, and MS Mount, PiDirect, and AutoCard are more akin to disk paging, aka swap space. Again, flash cards are not RAM.

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Clie Apps?

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/21/2002 7:28:44 PM #
Has anyone else had a problem using this with the Clie Apps like AudioPlayer? The Program does not see a MemoryStick...The Documentation says it will not work with MS Import, but not Audioplayer?....

doesn't work on HandEra 330

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/22/2002 7:36:15 AM #
From what I can tell, this thing doesn't work on the HandEra 330. Has anyone else tried it on that device? It just keeps telling me that the "RAM Disk driver cannot be found," even though I installed it. I'd like to use it, but I don't think this thing is yet ready for prime time.

sony is fascist

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/12/2002 9:29:03 PM #
the ps3 is the device for mind control.
RE: sony is fascist
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/12/2002 10:52:22 PM #
LoL .....
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