CD Recording Modes

I wanted to preserve this knowledge that I found in a webpage that I can no longer find online along with some info from Wikipedia.

DAO (Disc At Once)

In this mode, the entire CD is written in a single continuous session, and no additional data can be added later. DAO has the following advantages:

• Maximizes the capacity of the CD.
• Provides complete control over the CD layout.
• Allows user-defined gaps between audio tracks.
• The only mode that enables writing to unused R-W sub-channels.
• Supports extended features like CD+G and CD-Text.
• Allows for seamless audio tracks with no gaps (important for progressive rock, trance, and other music genres).

For audio CDs, DAO is particularly valuable because it allows for "hidden tracks" by placing audio in the pre-gap before the first track. This pre-gap audio can only be accessed by rewinding from the start of the first track.

TAO (Track At Once)

Track At Once allows for adding tracks incrementally over time.

• The CD remains readable only in a recorder until it's finalized.
• Once finalized, no more data can be added.
• Creates a 2-second gap between tracks containing a few bytes that may be heard as noise in some audio players.
• The recording laser stops after each track, writing two run-out blocks (special sectors that mark the end of a track and provide a transition zone before the next track begins).
• When the next track is recorded, one link block (connector sector that contain addressing information to help the CD player transition between tracks) and four run-in blocks (special sectors that help the CD player's laser stabilize before reading the actual track data) are written.
• TAO discs can contain both data and audio simultaneously.
• Available in two writing modes:
• Mode 1 (optimized for computer data with strong error correction)
• Mode 2 XA (with less error correction, for multimedia content like audio and video)

SAO (Session At Once)

Session At Once is similar to DAO:

• All information is written in one go (session).
• Additional sessions can be added later.
• Within each session, the user has complete control over the CD layout

SAO is essentially a superset of DAO, with the main difference being that SAO allows for further writing to the disc.

Multiple sessions recorded with SAO can be read by computer drives, but sessions after the first are generally not readable by standard CD audio equipment.

PAO (Packet At Once)

Packet At Once is used for incremental writing where information is transferred to the CD in small "packets":

• Each packet consists of a few kilobytes.
• This approach makes buffer under-runs virtually impossible.
• Each packet has its own lead-in and lead-out, which consume 7 frames of CD space.
• PAO cannot be used for audio recording.

Multisession

Multisession recording uses TAO to allow adding data across multiple sessions:

• Each new session consumes approximately 15MB of disc space for session information.
• Sessions can be related to each other: Newer versions of files can "substitute" older versions existing in previous sessions.

CUE Sheet

CUE sheets can only be used with recorders that support the "send cue" command:

• The CD layout is described in a simple text file with a straightforward syntax.
• Particularly useful when writing audio CDs or complex CD layouts.

Example of CUE sheet format:

TRACK 01
AUDIO TITLE "Track01"
PERFORMER "Unknown Artist"
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 02
AUDIO TITLE "Track02"
PERFORMER "Unknown Artist"
INDEX 00 03:27:16
INDEX 01 03:28:50

Audio Master Quality Recording

This specialized recording method was introduced by Yamaha in 2002:

• Only available on select models like Yamaha's CRW3200 and CRW-F1 series, and Plextor's Premium 2.
• CD recorders with this feature are no longer manufactured.
• Uses the Disc-At-Once method, typically at 1x speed (though some recorders allow 4x and 8x).
• Creates longer pits and lands, reducing the total capacity of the disc.
• A 650MB CD can hold about 63 minutes instead of 74 minutes.
• A 700MB CD can hold about 68 minutes instead of 80 minutes.

Recovery Guide for Casio FX-5800P Calculator

In rare cases, the FX-5800P calculator may experience firmware corruption, displaying ROM!!!!! on startup. Here's a comprehensive guide to recover your calculator:

1. Remove all batteries from the calculator
2. Leave the calculator without batteries for at least 1 hour (some users report success with this simple step)
3. Reinstall the batteries and turn on the calculator
4. If the calculator still displays ROM!!!!!, proceed to the firmware recovery method.

Firmware Recovery Process

You'll need:

• Another properly functioning FX-5800P calculator
• A 3-pin data cable to connect both calculators

WARNING: The malfunctioning calculator must ALWAYS be set to OS UP Recv and the working calculator to OS UP Send. Reversing these roles will damage your working calculator.

WARNING: This will erase all data in the WORKING calculator, so back up any important information before proceeding.

On the Working FX-5800P (SENDER):

1. Simultaneously press AC/ON + MODE + 7 keys.
   The screen will display DIAGNOSTIC MODE, Factory use only.
2. Press the ← key, then press 9.
   
3. Press 2 to select OS UP Send.

On the Malfunctioning FX-5800P (RECEIVER):

1. Press the FILE key.

2. Select OS UP Recv.

After the transfer completes, the malfunctioning calculator should be working fine again.

Dell Vostro 15 3525 review

I've got a Dell Vostro 15 3525 laptop since Q2 of 2022. 

Overall it's bad but let's start with the good things about it:

• Devuan Linux worked almost out of the box on it although I think that back then I had to use a slightly newer kernel otherwise the sound card was not properly recognized and I was missing the sound input.
• Opening the laptop to change the disks, battery and RAM is easy too. 
• The screen is nice. It only had a single blue subpixel that was dead. Hardly noticeable, I didn't even see it during my first dead pixel tests.
• The screen hinges and overall the body of the laptop feels solid.
• The CPU is fast enough for what I need it for. Rimworld runs perfectly on it. Minecraft is playable.
• It has a camera shutter.

Now, I may have been unlucky and maybe it's just my laptop that has the following issues, I have no way to check. Let's go over them one by one:

• It would refuse to accept any of the spare SSDs that I had in it's SATA slot. It always showed communication errors. I thought it was some Linux incompatibility. It wasn't. I noticed it would accept HDDs though, so I used those. Within 6 months, it destroyed 6 HDDs. I've had many HDDs in my life, very few died on me, maybe 4 over multiple decades years. This laptop almost doubled the number within 6 months. I took it for service, Dell returned it saying they saw no issue. The shop I bought it from, which had seen the issue, sent it back to Dell. They replaced the whole motherboard and all the issues went away. SSDs started working with no communication issues.
• It gets too hot. I've completely disabled turboboost because, with it enabled, a single thread of load would take the CPU to 95C-100C. With turboboost off it is at 50C when it's almost, but not completely idling. Running something like Wonderdraft will immediately take it to 100C, turboboost or not, a feat that no game can achieve. A friend has practically the same laptop but with a 17' screen and the cooling system is insanely better. Dell just dropped the ball with the 15' version. The keys above the area where the CPU is are extremely hot, which is both annoying when typing on them and I believe has caused issues to the keyboard itself.
• The keyboard sucks. Horribly so:
• I felt like shift stayed pressed for longer than I held it down, resulting very frequently in typos like "HEllo there stranger! DO you accept ROberto IErusalimschy as you LOrd and SAvior?" I thought I'd get used to it but this being not the only keyboard that I type on, it was practically impossible to train my fingers to hold shift for a shorter time than on other keyboards. I wasn't even completely sure that this wasn't just in my head but then the issue went away when my motherboard was replaced because of the SATA issues.
• The top row with Esc and the F keys is either not exactly centered in the chassis or, if it is, the holes of the keys are not wide enough because if you press these keys a little bit sideways (not exactly straight down) they scrape the chassis and make a "crack" sound.
• The horizontal row of numerical keys has recently started ignoring keypresses unless pressed hard. My 3, 5, and especially 9 are very easy to on-purpose press beyond the point of resistance without really causing a keypress to register, and I've been more and more typos during regular typing like often missing these digits or their shifted forms. I suspect that this may be partially caused by the extreme heat from the CPU speeding up any corrosive/oxidizing process that naturally happens on the contacts under the rubber domes.
• Small annoyance but I have not found a good way to reliably turn off the jump-scare PC speaker which is extremely loud. Right now I have a cronjob that turns it off every minute, because when pulseaudio starts up or if I restart it for whatever reason, it re-enables the PC speaker.

At this point I need those numerical keys fixed and I'm about halfway through the 3 year warranty period but I don't want to stay without my main computer for a month or more. If the last time is any indication, Dell's service might need to have it shipped twice to them before they actually fix it. So I am considering buying a Tuxedo Aura 14, sending the Vostro for slow servicing and then selling it once I get it back.

Wildfire Adventures

I recently bought the HTC Wildfire and, once more, I managed to get into some trouble with it. Here is the whole story:

I bought the Wildfire from Plaisio for about 280 euros. I also got a Blu-ray Disc of Avatar but I have no player to watch it, hehe. Anyway before buying it I was between it, some of the small Xperias (like the X10 Mini or the X10 Mini Pro) and Samsung Galaxy 3. I didn't really like the UI of the Galaxy 3 (Sense is much better in my opinion compared to TouchWiz) and the Xperias had tiny, unremovable batteries while emitting radiation enough to boil an egg. So Wildfire, although lacking a GPU and having too few PPI was the way to go.

The first impression Android gave me were better than those of any OS I've ever worked with. I don't know if this is inherent in Android or it is the HTC Sense UI that made the difference but everything worked exactly the way I expected. I was feeling at home although it was the first day I had used Android. I've never felt like that with any other mobile OS, not with Symbian, not with Windows Mobile (well I've only used some old versions).

Wildfire's hardware is nice. The phone felt REALLY sturdy and I think it actually is tough! A friend dropped his Wildfire from the roof of a house onto solid marble and it only got a small dimple in one of it's corners! If any other mobile had taken that fall he would be collecting broken parts from all around. Well, the back cover and the battery obviously fell off the phone but nothing was broken or bent. The camera is a bit crappy but I really don't give a shit about it... :-) The speakers are pretty good (Nokia E71, my previous phone, was somewhat better in this area to be honest). The screen is better than those of my previous mobiles but still you can see the pixels (while in almost any other Android mobile you can't) which is something I already knew before buying Wildfire. The good thing about low resolutions is that AFAIK you have more spare CPU time to spend on the apps themselves. The touchscreen is great with the anti-fingerprint screen protector I use. The GPS has an extremely fast acquisition (it only takes a few seconds to get a GPS fix) probably because it downloads the ephemeris data through 3G. The GPS reception is also amazing (FFS it even worked inside my house!!!). (BTW E71's GPS was really bad)

I really wanted to use TOR on my mobile so I had to root the device. And so I did three days after buying it. The rooting went well and only took a few minutes (during which a program called unrevoked took care of everything automatically for me). I installed Orbot (that's TOR for Android) but I couldn't make it work. Transparent routing was definitely not working although Orbot used admin rights. Anyway I gave up and decided to wait for a new Orbot version that hopefully would fix the problem.

I also installed Layar which seemed really cool but for some reason I couldn't use it. Points seemed to jump around strangely and it turned out that my compass module was not working properly. I confirmed that with other applications too. For example I installed a compass application but it complained about strong magnetic fields. I tried to calibrate it and it started working perfectly, until I exited the compass app and rerun it... For some reason my compass refused to save the calibration data. Every time the device started using my compass it was useless. Even jumping to another app for 3 seconds and then back to a compass enabled app, it would go mad again.

I would have taken it straight to the shop for a replacement but two things stopped me. First, I had rooted the device and according to many users that had voided my warranty. Second, most friends told me that they wouldn't replace it with a new one under the DoA terms since the device wasn't actually dead. I should have tried it but I didn't and now I regret it.

I did a factory restore and the compass started working for about one or two days. After that it went mad again... I waited till the 2.2 upgrade was released and tried to upgrade the device (so that I could finally send it for service since the upgrade would hide the rooting and bring back my warranty) but the device refused to upgrade. It just showed an exclamation mark after a while.

The first error I had to overcome was that the phone though the upgrade was unsigned... I don't know why but, thankfully, the rooting process replaces your recovery partition (the one that handles the upgrades among other things) with ClockworkMod which has an option to ignore signature checks. But then the installation script run and emited an assertion error which roughly informed me that I didn't actually own a Wildfire... Soon I found out that the reason was that during the root process the misc partition of my phone somehow got a bit corrupted and now the upgrade wouldn't recognize my phone. Some "CID" value was not correct... I used adb to read the CID value from my phone and it was correct (it was one of the valid ones). I still don't know why the script failed to read it. Anyway the only way to install it was to open the official upgrade on my computer (which is a zip archive), find the installation script and remove all the failing assertions. So I did and then repacked my custom upgrade zip. I managed to install it (wow) but then realized that OTA upgrades (Over The Air: the phone downloads the upgrade over WiFi or 3G and upgrades itself without the need of a computer) are more like patches so my phone still had the unofficial recovery partition and although the system wasn't actually rooted anymore, the root manager application was still installed in the system partition (which meant it couldn't be uninstalled). I then found a RUU (ROM Upgrade Utility) and run it on my computer, that way the phone was like it just got out of the factory line, ready to be sent for service.

I brought it to Plaisio again but they told me it would take about a month for it to go to HTC and return. What could I do? I am still waiting for them to call... They probably sent it to Taiwan. :-) I just hope for their own good that they don't scratch my screen (although it has a screen protector) or the phone's body. I will post something when I get it back. Perhaps a list with my favorite android apps.

BTW you can find my custom ROM along with some very long troubleshooting conversations here.

Ubuntu Hardy Heron on a Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31E

This article probably also applies to: VGN-FZ38M


Yeap I bought it. I though that since it had an NVidia card and it was Centrino based etc it wouldn't have any incompatibilities with Linux. (aaaargh if I only knew...) Anyway.

The laptop came with Vista. I was going to keep them for a week or so just to make sure I don't miss any of the Sony specific programs that was preinstalled. Well I couldn't bare them for more than 24 hours. I made some factory restore CDs and repartitioned the whole drive which now only has Ubuntu installed in it.

What worked out of the box:

The SD/MS reader (104c:803b). It works out of the box with SD cards but the MS PRO slot doesn't work for me and I have found no way to make it work.

Graphics Card (10de:0426): The NVidia GeForce 8400 GT worked perfectly with the closed source drivers that Ubuntu installed. The temperature sensor works OK too.
Nevertheless I recreated the xorg.conf (for no specific reason). Here is the new one.

DVD-Drive (PIONEER DVD-RW DVRKD08): It works OK. I recorded a data DVD with Brasero (for some reason it couldn't verify the burned disk afterwards but it worked perfectly). I also installed Diablo 2 through Wine. The CD protection of Diablo 2 works OK and recognizes the original CD.

CPU (Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5450 @ 1.66GHz): Both cores are recognized and the temperature sensors work OK. The same goes for frequency scaling.

Wireless and LAN (8086:4229 and 11ab:4351): They both work perfectly right out of the box.

What didn't work out of the box but works with some tricks. Before trying the tricks enable the extra repositories (universe, multiverse etc) from System->Administration->Software sources).

Camera (05ca:183b): HAL loads a wrong module for the camera that in addition to not working, makes the laptop crash when you try to suspend it. So you must remove the misbehaving module from the kernel and prohibit reloading it.

1. Type the following in a console (you can find the console in Applications->Accessories->Terminal):
   
   sudo gedit /etc/pm/config.d/unload_modules
   
   Give your password and then copy and paste the following line at the end of the file:
   
   SUSPEND_MODULES=uvcvideo
   
   
   Save the file and close the text editor.
   
   
2. To download the r5u870 drive you will need svn, so in a console type:
   
   sudo apt-get install subversion
   
   (answer yes to any questions you may encounter)
   
   
3. To download the source of the driver, type in the console:
   
   svn co http://svn.mediati.org/svn/r5u870/trunk r5u870
   
   
4. Now that all files are downloaded go into their directory by typing:
   
   cd r5u870
   
   
5. Install the build-essential package before trying to compile the drivers by typing:
   
   sudo apt-get install build-essential
   
   
6. Compile the driver by typing:
   
   make
   
   
7. and then install the driver by typing:
   
   sudo make install
   
   
8. Now instead of restarting you may just load the module into the kernel by typing:
   
   sudo modprobe r5u870
   
   When you reach this point the camera will only work with some applications like Skype.
   
   
   If you open Cheese (a very nice application for capturing video and still pictures from your camera, install it by typing sudo apt-get install cheese) you will notice that it doesn't recognize your camera. That's because the system doesn't recognize it as a Video4Linux camera.
   
   
9. To fix this you will have to download this file and copy it to /usr/share/hal/fdi/information/20thirdparty . If you don't know how to do this just type the following two lines in the console:
   
   cd /usr/share/hal/fdi/information/20thirdparty
   sudo wget https://bittit.info/publicDro/10-r5u870-webcam.fdi
   
   
10. Now either restart you computer or execute this in the console:
    sudo /etc/init.d/hal restart
    
    Now you should have a perfectly working camera! Oh, you may now delete the sources by typing:
    
    sudo rm -r ~/r5u870
    
    

Sleep and Hibernate: They don't work initially. The computers go to sleep but when awaken it stays in a black screen. Fixing the camera will fix this problem too. :-)

Sound Card (8086:284b): Well, playback worked out of the box but when opening the sound options there were no recording controls and the sound was coming out only through the builtin speakers, plugging in headphones changed nothing. To fix all these problems follow these simple steps:

1. Optional step. I suggest that you don't use Pulseaudio because I found it a bit buggy. To switch back to ALSA go to System->Preferences->Sound and change everything to ALSA.
   
   
2. Type the following in a console:
   
   echo "options snd-hda-intel model=vaio" sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel
   
   
3. Restart you computer.
   
   
4. Open the sound controls by clicking the sound icon next to the clock.
   
   
5. Select File->Change Device->HDA Intel (Alsa mixer)
   
   
6. Then goto Edit->Preferences and select everything.
   
   
   
7. Play around with the controls. Don't forget to look at all three tabs (in the third tab you will find the record selection switches: Internal Mic, PCM, Mic Jack)
   

Bluetooth (044e:3010): It is properly recognized by the system but it will not work. Here is a way to fix it:

1. In a console type:
   
   sudo gedit /etc/rc.local
   
   
2. Now append the following line before the exit command (if there is one) near the end of the file:
   
   hciconfig hci0 reset
   
   
3. Now save the file and close gedit.

This way the bluetooth will work correctly but if you switch it off and again on (using the hardware switch in the front side of the laptop) it will stop working so you also have to do the following:

1. Right click on an empty space on your panel and select "Add to panel..."
   
   
2. Then create a new custom launcher and in the command textfield copy and paste this:
   
   gksudo hciconfig hci0 reset

This way when your bluetooth stops working, just click on the new launcher that you made and it will ask for your password and then reset the bluetooth device so that it will start working again


VGA-out:

Open a console and type:

cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf ~/xorg.conf.back

This will back up your xorg.conf file just in case you mess it up.
Now you will have to install the NVIDIA settings manager. To do this just type:

sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings

And then run it by typing:

sudo nvidia-settings

The NVIDIA settings manager will open. (you might need to resize this window because for some strange reason it initializes too small)


Now select X Server Display Configuration and then click on Detect Displays to detect the connected display. Now you will be able to configure the two screens using the options in the Display and the X Screen tabs.

From ere you may also set the resolution to for your laptop's monitor to the correct one (1280x800). If you select a resolution from the Resolution drop-down-list (it's visible in the above picture) the drop-down-list on its right will be enabled and you can then select the desired refresh rate.

Afterwords don't forget to click on Save to X Configuration File.

If you mess up then type this in a console to restore your backup:

sudo cp ~/xorg.conf.back /etc/X11/xorg.conf

To delete your backup type:

rm ~/xorg.conf.back

Tip: To get rid of the annoying NVIDIA splash screen type this a a terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Then find all the Device sections and add this line inside them:

Option "NoLogo" "True"


Then save and exit.


What doesn't work and still I have found no solution:

The Fn buttons don't work. In fact the sound controls work, the next track, previous track, play, stop buttons work too. The S1 (customizable button), the AV MODE and the brightness control buttons doesn't work. I am still looking for a solution. The MS PRO slot doesn't work and I still haven't found any solution.

What I haven't fully tried yet:

S-Video out, HDMI output. I'll try them some time... (Shawe in the comments says that HDMI works OK but without any sound.)


References:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=706530
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/147757
http://wiki.mediati.org/Installation
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-driver/+bug/33719

PS: If I fix more problems I will update this post so you might want to check back later. If you find any problems or omissions please leave a comment.

PS2: It seems like someone did a partial translation of this article into Catalan. Here is a link to it. :-)

PS3: Thank you for your comments and the info you provided!

Sagem Fast 800 on Ubuntu

Finnaly there is a simple way to install Sagem Fast 800 on Ubuntu! This has been a major problem for Greek Ubuntu users because this modem was freely given by OTENET (a major ISP in Greece) with new ADSL connections. UbuDSL will almost automatically setup your modem!

For instructions in Greek go here. If you encounter any problems during the installation insert the Ubuntu CD and then restart the installation. (tip by DimBiC)

Και στα Ελληνικά:
Επιτέλους το Sagem Fast 800 δουλεύει και στo Ubuntu! Ακολουθήστε τις οδηγίες που θα βρείτε εδώ. Αν αντιμετωπίσετε κάποιο πρόβλημα κατά την εγκατάσταση τότε τοποθετήστε το CD του Ubuntu και ξαναξεκινήστε την εγκατάσταση. (συμβουλή του DimBiC)

Easy Keyboard Layout

The QWERTY keyboard layout (the one that you probably use every day) was made mainly to avoid stuck pairs of typebars in typewriters. Of course this is not a problem with modern keyboards and that makes the QWERTY layout a bit inefficient (at least for the right handed people). For example many words can be typed by using only the left hand while there are fewer that can be typed with the right hand only. The best case would be to have both hands type alternating keystrokes so that you can move one hand in place while you are striking a key with the other.

There are other keyboard layouts too which try to address some of these problems. One the most famous is the Dvorak keyboard which is probably better than QWERTY.

Anyway, to cut a long story sort, I wrote, before one or two days, a program in Lua that would try to make an optimized layout based on three criteria:

1. Letters that appear next to each other often in English text should be far from each other on the keyboard so that the two hands can press them alternatively.
2. Characters that appear often with a distance of two characters (like T and E in the word "the") should be close to each other so that that each hand moves as less as it is possible during the alternations.
3. The most used character should be close to either the third or the seventh key of the second row (where the D and the J lie on QWERTY keyboards) because that's where I put my middle fingers. :-P

I run this program with LuaJIT (because I really needed more speed) and it came up with this layout:

Z V M L W D A I G Q
X H N R S T E O K
J U C F Y P B

Today I bought a keyboard (the cheapest I could find) and started switching the positions of the keys to turn it into this:
(the photo is outdated. The P and B should be switched)
I still haven't tested it because I bought a PS/2 keyboard while my laptop hasn't got a PS/2 port. So I am waiting to test it to a friend's PC tomorrow.

Of course to use this keyboard you will need to notify the system of the different letter positions. I made a file that can be loaded with xmodmap in Linux to use this keyboard. I will also do the same with Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator so that Windows will be able to recognize my layout.

I won't upload the program's code yet because I am constantly changing it. If you really want it then just leave a comment asking for it and I will upload it. You might also want to try Kiwi: a program written in C that will create custom keyboard layouts. It looks like a great program but I haven't actually tested it yet.

Amazing fact: Just by changing the position of the letters on a keyboard you can create more than 403,291,461,126,605,635,584,000,000 different layouts.

Pocket Computers

I think that most people like pocket computers (not Pocket PC's necessarily) and so I do. It's nice to have a device that fits in your pocket that enables you to keep notes and write programs anywhere.

I currently own a Palm Z22 and I also have my still-working Zire and a broken Palm Tungsten C. The oldest is my Zire which now has a worn out, thanks to Plua, digitizer making it almost impossible to input text without using the on screen keyboard. After the Zire I bought the Tungsten C which I managed to break in a month :'-(. The Tungsten C was far better than any other palmtop at the time. Finally I decided after some years of grief for my dead Tungsten that it was time to buy a new one and continue making some Plua programs. So I bought my Z22 because it was then the cheapest palmtop, so I wouldn't be shocked if I would ever break it like my Tungsten. The Z22 met my expectations in most areas. There are only a few things that I dislike. I will explain the most important in the next paragraph but you can skip reading it if you do not plan on buying a Z22.

Z22 has some differences from the other two palmtops. It has non-volatile memory as well as volatile (aka dynamic memory). It uses the faster volatile memory for buffering data that should be written on the non-volatile memory that is used as the storage of the Z22. How do I know that??? I know that it has two kinds of memory because there are even programs that show you the amount of used memory for both of them. And I suppose that the volatile holds unwritten data because if you reset the unit you will lose the last edited data. It is not a filesystem error because it also happens if you close the program that edits the data before resetting. So it must be that there are unsaved data in the volatile memory that are cleared with the reset. This is really annoying if you program on palmtops, because it's easy to crash the system and loose many lines of code! I found a way to avoid this. I installed FlushIt, an application that flushes the contents of the volatile memory when an application exits or on other system events (I also just noticed that it has been updated since I installed it).

I haven't said a word about Microsoft and Pocket PCs, now it's time. I never had one and do not intent to. Why?

• I do not want to carry Windows with me. I want something different.
  
• I prefer Palm to Microsoft. Those guys managed to create an extremely easy and powerful OS while ignoring some basic features! Palms, initially, didn't support multitasking or directory trees in their filesystem! The latest versions of Palm OS support multitasking although it is not that prominent as in Windows and other operating systems. Support for directory trees on external memory cards (secure digital) is also available on any model that has an expansion slot (my Z22 and my Zire don't have one).
• I do not want to pay that much for a pocket computer. Any Palm is the only company that offers some cheap palmtops.

While Palm used to rule the palmtop market it seems that Microsoft made more clever moves. Or maybe it didn't, but the world prefers a palmtop that has "Windows", believing that it will be easier to learn. Of course Windows Mobile is completely different from XP. And Palm OS is much easier to learn, it can't get any easier in fact. But Palm is moving too slow; there are very few devices and they are quite expensive (except some low end devices like the Z22). The number of independent developers (who used to make quality freeware) is decreasing, and Palm isn't doing much to prevent this.

There are also some palmtops with Linux but do not know much about them. Maybe sometime I'll try one.