Lifedrive Essentials -- Which Memory Do You Serve?

I have owned the Lifedrive for almost a year now and I must say that I am pleased with it over the past 6 months, mainly because I have not put a lot of software on the device and because I have not hotsynced the device in almostthe same length of time. However, this weekend, I am going to have to bite the bullet and go through the hotsyncing process again. Why? Well, I have just discovered that all that glitters is not Gold.

One of my favorite applications, SplashID has its main data file stored in the Lifedrive's memory. Essentially, I usually store and run the program from an SD card. Since it is encrypted, I felt that it would be safer to have it on the card than on the machine. Well, I copied the sd card to my regular Tungsten T and found that all of my entries were not listed and that when I removed the sd card, the icon and the program were still on the lifedrive. Perhaps a sophomoric error - and I can just about hear the jeers and snide elements of the Palm Programming community having a jolly good laugh - but I was able to do this with another program, TCPMP. This program is an open source project ( a brilliant program by the way, as is SplashID), that is used to watch videos on the Lifedrive. Once stored on the SD card, it can be run directly from the card. I decided to test out my theory that I have been deluding myself all of this time by thinking that the program was self-contained on the SD card and not in the Lifedrive. I downloaded an addition to the program that allows you to view files stored in the .MP4 format and placed it in the same SD directory as TCPMP. I then clicked on the SD stored icon and I was able to watch the .MP4 video without a problem. However, when I shut down the machine and hit the icon in the Lifedrive's main memory, I could not watch the .MP4 file. Thus the question, was the Palm running directly from the SD card or was it running from the Lifedrive main memory when the icons were clicked?

Why is this so important? Well, if you are like me, your world on the Lifedrive has changed dramatically if you directly upload your .PRC files directly to a directory called /LAUNCHER on an SD card as opposed to using the hotsync or Lifedrive docking pathway. The former is an exercise in patience while the latter is an exercise in forgiveness. The latter tends to crash your Lifedrive's hard-drive more frequently, while using the ubiquitous hotsyncing tends to take longer than anticipated and can be brought to a dead stop if it finds an error. But all of this may be irrelevant if the Lifedrive is actually storing the data in the main memory - particularly for SplashID. As the saying goes, as the Lifedrive goes, so does my peripheral brain. Thus tonight I will have to back up everything so that I can preserve all of the passwords that I cannot possibly memorize.

Another reason for backing up the old machine is the fact that it is begining to slow down and the On/Off switch is doing a few fancy tricks that it has not done in over 6 months. All of these little things spell HARD RESET coming down the pike. Although some of this derision may have been self inflicted. Upon perusing the Palmaddict site I ran into a few programs that I thought would be brilliant to have in my mobile brain. Medical essentials such as FIFA FOOTBALL and PAC-MAN, along with a memory game all enticed me to the download front. Again, applying my /Launcher direct insertion on the SD card, the programs ran flawlessly. I could not see any remnants of them after I finished using them (Zfile and other scouring programs), but a funny thing started happening a few days later. Soft-Resets started occurring with a few. So I began deleting all except FIFA and that appears to have stopped the carnage. However, there is still a little sluggishness to the machine that I believe would be remedied with a hot sync. Additionally, it would seem appropriate to finally upgrade the operating system to v 2.0 as others are begining to find it a bit more stable.

If anyone has any insights into this dilemma, I would be very much appreciative. Below is a list of some memory insights that I have found over the past year and a few suggestions:


1. Splash ID - Possibility to run from the SD card, but uncertain if the data is stored only on the Lifedrive memory or the SD card.

Addendum: A thread on the Splashdata message boards on Yahoo seems to address this very problem. The data is stored in the Lifedrive main memory, but you can backup the main data file to an SD card, but it will not run from there. Check out the Yahoo Message board for more details.

2. TCPMP - I think it runs directly from the SD Card. The two versions that I have on the machine and the SD card appear to act differently. I used to have this in the main memory only, but I found that it kept on crashing after exiting. When I moved to storing it strictly on the SD card, the load times were a little slower (proof that it was running directly from the card?) but there were no crashes and the program ran smoothly.

3. pTunes - A very interesting discovery on the podcast trail. If you listen to a podcast or a song from the Lifedrive itself, you cannot fast-forward to skip from ie. 00:20:00 to 00:25:00 for example ( I think that this is better explained as intrasong / intrapodcast/ intrafile fastforwarding) , pressing the circular key forward will send you to a different file/song/podcast. However, if you store the files on an SD card and run them from there, there is an increase in speed by almost 50% and interfile fastforwarding is simple, fast and accurate.

4. MobiOffice - Storing a copy of all data files on an SD card (found in the directory /Programs) will thwart the need to hotsync your data and provides a good backup source that is accomplished in seconds rather than minutes. Additionally, you have the freedom of updating or not updating the files which can take a long time if you hotsync.

5. Printboy - I have not been able to get this to work with the Lifedrive, regardless of where I load the file. Even with hotsyncing, this thing just crashes.

6. Lifedrive drive memory - Probably best served by not using any more than 80% of its 3.8 gigabyte capacity. More than that and I have found sluggishness. Additionally, I have not found this to be a very good place to store files or to run programs from. It is what it is! A multimedia storage center. You can apparently upload gigabytes of photos, videos and sound files and address them using TCPMP or pTUNES without much of a problem, ie crashing. But running software from the area is like flying across the Bermuda Triangle in a Cessna.

7. MobiDatabase - Storing all files in the Lifedrives' main memory is your best bet. Storing them on the SD card is another exercise in patience when the program addresses the database. The beautiful, yet feared sound of ker-clink is met if you try to store your file on the 3.8 gigabyte space, rendering your database dead! Ker-Clink - the sound of a soft reset - is not readily found if the files are stored in the main memory however. Thus backing them up to the SD card is probably best.

8. Control -- The act of waiting for others to try out a piece of software before deciding to jump into the waters and loading it up on your Lifedrive.


I hope this helps. I am thinking about putting up a few basic Lifedrive survival tips, since I think that I can now help a few people from falling into despair when the Ker-Clink monster eventually arrives.

LDD.

PS. Thanks to those of you who have written to me in regards to the Lifedrivedoc.com beta site. As you can see I took the site down although I liked the design of it and spent a long time trying to get it perfected. The problem was not with the website, which was a beta - (the final site WOULD not have had that bawdy flyer) - but I ran into some issues with the ISP that could not be resolved easily. As soon as it is completed, I will let everyone know. Again thanks for your support.

LDD.

Addendum2: A brief note about some communication I had with Michael Verive, he is the author of NSBASIC for Palm OS. According to Mike, all of the Palm software is loaded into the main memory of the Lifedrive before it is run. Some apps which are written in NSBASIC will look for a file that is installed into the main memory of the Lifedrive called Runtime. If the file is absent then the program and usually the Lifedrive crashes. Many applications are now being written as FAT APPS, containing their own runtime program. This makes some programs run better than others, mainly because they do not have to look for the NSRUNTIME program of which there are many versions. Thanks Mike.

LDD.