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Ztcoracat 01-10-2012 01:23 PM

Firmware
 
Hi, I have a question about Firmware.
Is firmware sort of like a clasp on a bracelet?

By that I mean; does it (clasp/firmware) join together the last link of the bracelet (driver) and form a chain of communication thru out every link?

:newbie:

jefro 01-10-2012 03:40 PM

In one of the very first computers, it was all regulated by what might be called firmware. Ladies would take a few days to move cables all over a building. Firmware is a device that has features unlike discrete devices. The may broadly include slightly computable devices but tend to be devices that can be burned. A bios may be considered firmware and the code written to it would be software. All the stuff is general in common day terms.

Ztcoracat 01-10-2012 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro (Post 4571303)
In one of the very first computers, it was all regulated by what might be called firmware. Ladies would take a few days to move cables all over a building. Firmware is a device that has features unlike discrete devices. The may broadly include slightly computable devices but tend to be devices that can be burned. A bios may be considered firmware and the code written to it would be software. All the stuff is general in common day terms.

Your description was a little hard for me to understand; but:
I get the part about code written to it would be software.
Thank you

suicidaleggroll 01-10-2012 10:16 PM

Firmware is basically just the software that is flashed on embedded devices, like the code that runs on a hard drive controller board, or on a RAID card.

Hardware is the circuit board itself, it's set in stone, you can't change it unless you break out the soldering iron
Firmware is the software that runs on the embedded devices on the hardware. It's usually modifiable, but updating it can be a PITA, and if you screw up you can brick the device
Software is easily modifiable, you can change things at whim, run them, if it breaks you just change it and re-run

It might be easier to think about how you load each one

Hardware has to be built, physically
Firmware has to be compiled and then flashed directly onto an embedded processor (or the flash memory that's used by an embedded processor)
Software is compiled into an executable, and can then be copied/moved around and run on a regular CPU (like a .exe file on windows)

Ztcoracat 01-10-2012 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suicidaleggroll (Post 4571516)
Firmware is basically just the software that is flashed on embedded devices, like the code that runs on a hard drive controller board, or on a RAID card.

Hardware is the circuit board itself, it's set in stone, you can't change it unless you break out the soldering iron
Firmware is the software that runs on the embedded devices on the hardware. It's usually modifiable, but updating it can be a PITA, and if you screw up you can brick the device
Software is easily modifiable, you can change things at whim, run them, if it breaks you just change it and re-run

It might be easier to think about how you load each one

Hardware has to be built, physically
Firmware has to be compiled and then flashed directly onto an embedded processor (or the flash memory that's used by an embedded processor)
Software is compiled into an executable, and can then be copied/moved around and run on a regular CPU (like a .exe file on windows)

Guess I better be sure I have the right firmware.
Thank you, I understand now.

singhjc 01-10-2012 11:50 PM

Hi the defination of firmware in simple words .


It is a software program which installed in small memory chip on hardware devices.firmware allow to be updated hardware for maintain the compatibility for external devices like HDD,DVD ROM and other peripherals, actually it is just like flash memory,we can formatted it and can be rewritten again.

Ztcoracat 01-11-2012 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by singhjc (Post 4571564)
Hi the defination of firmware in simple words .


It is a software program which installed in small memory chip on hardware devices.firmware allow to be updated hardware for maintain the compatibility for external devices like HDD,DVD ROM and other peripherals, actually it is just like flash memory,we can formatted it and can be rewritten again.

You said to manintain the compatibility for external like:
HDD, DVD and Rom.....does that include a usb adapter that communicates with a wireless connection? Just trying to learn and understand.
Thank you


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