Re: A89: Flash ROM-Archive command


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Re: A89: Flash ROM-Archive command




In a message dated 10/10/98 22:35:21 Eastern Daylight Time, miken@dodgenet.com
writes:

> At 02:54 AM 10/9/98 EDT, you wrote:
>  >
>  >> Recently I e-mailed TI asking them about the fact that since the archive
> is
>  >a
>  >> Flash eeprom chip, if the possibility of simply archiving a variable
over 
> 
>  >> and
>  >> over again would possibly burn out the archive, and their response was
>  quite
>  >> interesting, it doesn't. No singel archive and unarchive will burn out 
> the
>  >> chip, instead, the chip has been redesigned to only "gain" age whenever
a
>  >> "garbage collection" takes place. So basically, you'd not only have
>  archive 
>  >> a
>  >> variable enough times to make the calc preform a garbage collection,
then
>  >> you'd have to do it again, and again, etc. Basically you'd have to 
> perfrom
>  >> about 10,000 garbage collections, not simply 10,000 archives/unarchives.
>  >
>  >This is logical.  The ROM will gain age when a variable is archived for
the
>  >first time, but it's not removed from the archive until it is unarchived, 
> and
>  >another variable is archived for the first time or a garbage collection is
>  >run.
>  >Therefore, those are the only two times the ROM ages.
>  >1. When a variable is archived for the first time.
>  >2. When a garbage collection is run.
>  >
>  What is a garbage collection?


garbage collection occurs when a bunch of archived files have been marked for
deletion, and you try to archive more variables than there is space left in
the flash rom for.  the ti-89 removes all the old files, and then adds the new
ones.  this way, it doesn't get "aged" every time you unarchive a file