From: Dan (dan_at_dbdigitalweb.com)
Date: Tue Sep 21 2004 - 10:43:46 PDT
Adam Tingle wrote:
>>*snip*
>>Just keep in mind that your internal memory is Flash and will wear out
>>at some point. That is why I store any data that changes with frequency
>>on a storage card. Cards are still much easier to replace than a Newt.
>
>
> I've heard of this a couple times, but does anyone know exactly what
> happens when the Flash is gone? Does the Newton have an error
> condition or just dies? Is the flash memory inside the Newton
> replaceable? Has this ever happened to anyone?
>
Yes, bascially you get a hardware error (a positive error number rather
than negive) that keeps poping up. For instance you get a hardware
error when you try to add something to a card (data or package), you
reformat, and it is fine till you fill it as full as it was before then
you get the error again. In this case a block has went bad on your
flash card. Since the Newt has no way to "mark" bad blocks, it can't
fix the problem unlike in other devices. The same situation would
happen if it was on the internal. Or you might get a error when trying
to format the card, or if it was internal brainwipe the Newt.
However I don't know if this applies to the ATA driver or not. I
suspect that Paul has put the ablity to manage bad blocks in the driver
but I can't be sure without a confirmation.
-Dan
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