Early Treo 650 users complain about a Major Issue in the file system, leading to orders cancellation

Posted on Nov 21, 04 02:40 PM PDT

The Treo 650 was introduced with a new Non-volatile File System. The advantage of such a solution is that you won't loose all your data in case the Treo's battery is completely run down. However, the new file system minimal unit size if 512 bytes. It means that a filesize that's only 10 bytes big, will effectively occupy 512 bytes! (continue by clicking below.)

This is leading to a big issue for users who are storing a lot of small files. The first example would be the contacts. Their storage size (vs real size) could be inflated quite a bit. Some users have reported a 500% increase.

I'm not sure how PalmOne is going to fix this, but there are only a few solutions:


1/ Increase the memory size to 64MB
That might not offset the file size inflation

2/ Decrease the chunk size in the PalmOS, but this will take time and will probably have repercussions on other things such as total addressable space. The 512 bytes number has not been chosen without a reason.

So, it's likely that this issue will hit the users who have a lot of small files in their Treo 650. You are now aware of the issue. Before ordering yours, think about the implications that the new file system brings.

Details
Non Volatile File system (NVFS)

Links
[slashdot]
[gigaom]
[treocentral forum - orders cancelled]
[treocentral forum - too little memory on the Treo 650]

[Treo 650 home]

Add a comment

Your Comments

Featured Posts

Top Stories

Advertisement