LifeDrive issues from a software standpoint

[Sharkk717]

Hello all! Glad to see the release of the LD, and even though I don't have one yet, I wanted to give my personal observations about this and that.

It seems to me that the LifeDrive is a spectacular Palm device. This has certainly been confirmed by the reviews I've read on review sites, but more than that this has been confirmed by 1src users (whose opinion and comments i trust more, since they're actually the consumers :D). This thing has WiFi, Bt, AND a hard drive :D That's pretty good by anyone's standards, but even more so for Pa1m.

That said, i agree that there are a few issues. This, to me, is normal for any breakthrough product that is basically starting it's own device category. I really don't think we should be too tough on the LD. Instead, here are some potential fixes to current problems:

1) Hard Drive: I think the real problem people are mentioning is the spin issue for the hard disk. There is 64MB of ram that the OS uses for currently running app(s). Basically, the idea would be that if someone could move apps to reside in the so-called "heap" memory, then that would free up space on the HD AND eliminate the annoying spin up time.

I AGREE! I personally haven't done the research to see if this would even be possible programatically, but i would be willing to try when I eventually get a LD. Maybe CliePet could weigh in here on his thoughts? Apart from that, the spin up time is apparently NOT THAT BAD :D. I wouldn't worry about it, and i think this problem will become moot once a) a fix is released by a 3rd-party/Palm or b) more people try the LD and see that there's no speed issue.

2) Lack of Camera: come on, it's awesome that Palm1 included WiFi, BT, and an HD. I personally love my TH's camera, but have never been bothered by the lack of camera on my T3. Once integration with digital cameras is finished and allows you to store your pix on the LD, again i don't think this will be a problem. This could even be fixed by a third-party programmer.

3) Size: the LD has a smaller footprint than the TH55, and is only a tenth of an inch thicker. Enough said :D

regards, sharky

[Ezikial Anta]

Also, its right for some, and not for others. But i agree. It will get better, and from user impersonations i have heard so far, there is no massive 6 second lag that was first stated.

Mine is waiting to be shipped! Yay! (I am so cheap i didnt want to pay tax)

[timepilot84]

1) Hard Drive: I think the real problem people are mentioning is the spin issue for the hard disk.

more people [should] try the LD and see that there's no speed issue.

2) Lack of Camera:

3) Size: the LD has a smaller footprint than the TH55, and is only a tenth of an inch thicker. Enough said :D



1) Yep. I think the lag thing is way overblown. It's not really an issue.

2) I personally don't mind there being no camera. I really liked the camera on the TH-55 because of the macro mode, but the one on the Zire 72 lacked that, and was pretty much useless from my point of view. I used the camera more as a photo copy machine than a camera.

FYI I have a lot of customers that don't allow me to bring cameras on site. Even my crappy cell phone camera they want me to leave in the car. I'd rather just have a real camera with a flash and high res, than a crappy cam that I have to leave in the car.

3) It is big. Don't kid yourself. In its case, it's about twice the thickness of my T5 with it's case (the flip case that came with it). I measure the size in the case because that's how I carry it in my pocket. Out of my pocket, size isn't an issue, I've got big hands :) There may be more svelte cases on the way, but the one that it comes with makes it pretty thick.

[JAmerican]

I don't know. I find the lag to be a problem. Especially while using WiFi and Blazer. I had to type with the Virtual Keyboard due to the lag on the Graffiti 2 was so bad.

JAmerican

[poissonsouriant]

What I thought was a lag in Graffiti 2 turned out to just be a new feature. When writing a stroke that is ambiguous, it waits until it is sure what the character is before displaying it. For example, a simple downstroke could be an L, or the first stroke of a T, K, or I. When you either add the second stroke, wait a second, or write another letter, the letter in question is displayed.

[CliePet]

> 1) Hard Drive: I think the real problem people are mentioning is the spin issue for the hard disk. There is 64MB of ram that the OS uses for currently running app(s). Basically, the idea would be that if someone could move apps to reside in the so-called "heap" memory, then that would free up space on the HD AND eliminate the annoying spin up time.

Bummer, the "64MB" is another of those misleading claims.

Like the T5, the LifeDrive appears to have 32MB of real RAM, split up as:
6MB dynamic heap (system heap)
16MB ROM image (necessary because you can't execute code out of NAND flash)
~10MB DBCache (where the temporary data gets loaded) acting as the "storage heap"

From palmOne Application Note: AN-1 -- "Non-Volatile File System (NVFS) Issues" (downloadable from the palmOne developer site)
See this extracted image: http://aibohack.com/clie/t5_ram.jpg

NOTE: the sizes for the LifeDrive RAM jives with the T5 numbers (experimentally confirmed - after locking about 10MB of data you run out of real memory).
BTW: If they had used a 64MB DRAM chip, I would expect the system heap would be bigger (eg: the T3 which has 64MB of real RAM has a ~10MB system heap)

NOTE: the 64MB User Data (in NAND Flash on the T5 or on hard disk with the LifeDrive) is what the marketing specs point to - ie. 64MB of potential user data, but no more than 10MB used in RAM at any one time.

[squallelf]

> 1) Hard Drive: I think the real problem people are mentioning is the spin issue for the hard disk. There is 64MB of RAM that the OS uses for currently running app(s). Basically, the idea would be that if someone could move apps to reside in the so-called "heap" memory, then that would free up space on the HD AND eliminate the annoying spin up time. Bummer, the "64MB" is another of those misleading claims. Like the T5, the LifeDrive appears to have 32MB of real RAM, split up as: 6MB dynamic heap (system heap) 16MB ROM image (necessary because you can't execute code out of NAND flash) ~10MB DBCache (where the temporary data gets loaded) acting as the "storage heap" From palmOne Application Note: AN-1 -- "Non-Volatile File System (NVFS) Issues" (downloadable from the palmOne developer site) See this extracted image: http://aibohack.com/clie/t5_ram.jpg NOTE: the sizes for the LifeDrive RAM jives with the T5 numbers (experimentally confirmed - after locking about 10MB of data you run out of real memory). BTW: If they had used a 64MB DRAM chip, I would expect the system heap would be bigger (eg: the T3 which has 64MB of real RAM has a ~10MB system heap) NOTE: the 64MB User Data (in NAND Flash on the T5 or on hard disk with the LifeDrive) is what the marketing specs point to - ie. 64MB of potential user data, but no more than 10MB used in RAM at any one time.
o~
for the same experiment, does anyone could run one in TE2~
i wonder why there is still no ppl can tell me the db cache volume of TE2.....
is it 10MB as T5 does,
or, due to it's a low end device, it would have smaller db cache,...?

[CliePet]

re: testing out the DBCache size

If interested, try the following program:
http://aibohack.com/clie/DbCache_Info.prc

It will report the free space for 4 things. Press the "Detail" button to see the sizes in bytes.
"DynHeap" is the dynamic / system heap ("System Memory" where temporary data goes). 6,291,456 bytes on my LifeDrive.
"Storage" is the virtual storage heap ("Program Memory" where programs are stored). 68,448,256 bytes on my LifeDrive. Not real memory.
"DBCache" is the RAM cache used for the storage heap (and feature memory). 13,827,824 bytes.
"VFSdata" is the hidden VFS volume where the real data is stored on the hard disk. 68,448,256 bytes as well (exact same as the virtual "Storage" memory)

The program *should* work on the T5 (including the hidden VFS volume stored in NAND flash). No promises on any other devices.

-----
Additional comments: the full DBCache appears to be 13.4MB, but around 4 or 5MB is used up even after a soft reset. Will have to look into it more (the sizes add up to a little more than 32MB now)

The "VFiles" button will list the files in the hidden VFS partition in a slightly more readable form.

[Adrenochrome]

The lag doesn't bother me that much. Occasionally, it's irritating, but not often. My guess is that all of it can be dealt with via software. If programs are written to cache things correctly, a lot of the HD issues will disappear.

[PDAJah]

Hello all. I am in the UK and we will have availability of the Lifedrive next week. Its been a long time (about a year) since I looked here last (when I bought my Clie Th55). Now it seems to me that Palm have had in the past to release a bunch of fixes or patches just after releasing a new device. Anyone have any news on the Lifedrive? Should I wait a month or so until Palm release one with an updated ROM?