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< Home < Support < Knowledge
Library

Article ID: 35222

How does the Treo 650 memory system work (NVFS), and
how does it affect me when I upgrade from a previous device?

The Treo 650 smartphone uses non-volatile memory a file system
that's different from previous smartphones. These features keep your
data intact, even if your battery drains completely.

Personal data takes up more space under this new system. Your
smartphone may appear to have less capacity than other devices with
the same stated memory.

The Treo 650 Updater
optimizes memory handling and frees up more memory with file
system improvements. If you did not have these improvements already,
you'll find that Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Memos items take up
less room after you install the update.

Learn more

What
is NVFS?

Advantages
of non-volatile memory

What
else is new: non-volatile data structure

Upgrading
to a Treo 650 from other Palm OS devices

Estimating
how much data you can transfer to Treo 650

What
happens if my Treo 650 runs out of memory when I'm
upgrading?

Helpful links

Treo
650 Updater: Check availability

Learn
more about file system changes after the updater

What is NVFS?

NVFS (non-volatile file system) is a way of describing the memory
on a Palm device. Before NVFS, the data in your handheld was stored
in "volatile" memory that required a constant stream of low power to
maintain the data. If your handheld抯 battery became completely
drained, you would lose your data until you performed a HotSync
operation to restore it from your PC.

By contrast, some of our devices (starting with Treo 650 and
Tungsten T5) use "non-volatile" memory, meaning that they don't need
power in order to store data. You can detach your battery or let it
run down completely, and your data will remain in the device.

This article talks about non-volatile memory on the Treo 650
smartphone specifically¹.

Advantages of
non-volatile memory

We think you'll like NVFS because it offers two great benefits:

Now you can swap out your battery — your data will still be
there: With non-volatile memory, your handheld doesn't need
power to maintain your data. This lets you use a secondary battery
for extended trips away from your charging station. Just pop out
the drained battery, and insert the secondary battery (without
having to worry about data in the process).

You can be more casual about charging: Don't always
have time to charge your battery? Now your smartphone won't lose
data because you ran low on power and have not been performing
HotSync operations as regularly as you should. Breezily, place
your handheld in a drawer and head for the border (assuming you
like to travel without any of your connectivity devices) knowing
that you can return in a month or two without risk of your data
being erased due to a low battery.

Note: Even though non-volatile memory keeps your data
without battery power, we still encourage you to keep copies of your
data by performing frequent HotSync operations, or using an
expansion card backup application. It is always possible to erase a
local file in error, and you will want a recent backup from which to
restore.

What else is new:
non-volatile data structure

Because it stores data without battery power, non-volatile
memory uses a new file system. Non-volatile memory works more
like a hard disk, while volatile memory is essentially RAM. If
you're a typical user, the new file system won't be apparent
to you — most applications should work normally, and your data
from your previous device will generally be compatible. But
there are a few ways the NVFS may affect your data and
applications.

Back to the hard disk analogy: when you store files on a
hard disk of a PC, the files occupy a certain number of memory
blocks of a fixed size. Likewise, when you run an
application that resides on a hard disk, the application is
first copied to RAM in order to be run.

NVFS on a Treo 650 operates like a PC's hard disk storage.
In addition to the non-volatile memory, the Treo 650 includes
10MB of true RAM. Applications are copied from non-volatile
memory to the RAM in order to be run.

This new data structure has two main implications:

Data takes up more space: With NVFS, applications and
data files may occupy a larger amount of memory on Treo 650 than
they would on a handheld that uses volatile memory. With the Palm
Operating System (Palm OS), each file contains internal records.
The internal record size for files on NVFS is always the same;
larger records are spanned across multiple records of the same
size. By contrast, with volatile memory, the record size can vary.

Real world implications: Your applications and data
will have slightly a larger footprint than on previous devices.
The growth depends upon the size and number of records inside an
application or data file.

If you have a Palm OS device with 16MB or more of volatile
memory, and this space is filled to capacity, you may have to
make some choices about which applications to move to your Treo
650, and which to place on expansion
cards3.

A few applications won't like the NVFS: This is a rare
case. A small number of third-party applications may use a very
large data file containing many records. Such an application may
need to access all the records at once (for example, when sorting
all records); this can cause problems under NVFS.

Real world implications: If you perform a function in
one of these applications that requires more than 10MB of RAM,
you will see a "Memory full" error. We are working
closely with third-party developers to help them rewrite their
applications to work with NVFS. If the "Memory full" error
appears when you're using an application, visit the third-party
developer's website to see if an updated version of the software
is available.

Upgrading to a Treo 650
from other Palm OS devices

Most people will have no problems upgrading if they use the
installer included on the Treo 650 CD. The information below is
useful if you choose to do this manually, or if your Treo 650
becomes too full when upgrading from a previous device with volatile
memory.

Estimating how much data you
can transfer to Treo 650

First: Install
the Treo 650 Updater. It will dramatically reduce the sizes of
files on Treo 650 smartphones from Cingular, Rogers, Sprint and
Unlocked GSM (Alltel, Earthlink, Telus and Verizon smartphones
already include the memory benefits).

Then, add about 0.5 to 1.5 MB (megabytes) to the existing
occupied memory on your previous device. This is a generous
estimation. Most users won't experience such dramatic data
expansion, but you won't know until you actually transfer the files
to your new smartphone.

Follow the instructions in Knowledge Library article 6440 to
determine free memory on your previous handheld, then subtract that
from the total memory to see how much space is occupied.

For example, let's say you're upgrading from a Treo 600
smartphone.

You discover that there is 7.1MB free space on the Treo
600.

There is 23.8MB total memory on your Treo 600.

Therefore, you have 16.7 occupied space on the Treo 600
(23.8MB total memory - 7.1MB free space).

Now, calculate how data expands when migrated to Treo 650. To
be safe, let's add 1.5MB to that 16.7MB: at most, your data and
applications may occupy 18.2MB on your new Treo 650.

Assume you have 23MB user memory on your Treo 650 (actual size
varies by carrier). Therefore, you should not encounter low-memory
issues when you upgrade.

Will you wind up with less than 2MB of free space? After
you calculate how memory will be used, you may find that you will
have less than 2MB of free space. If this is the case, we recommend
that you move some applications to an expansion
card3 before migrating your data to a Treo
650.

What happens if my Treo 650
runs out of memory when I'm upgrading?

When you use the Treo 650 CD to upgrade to your new smartphone,
you'll perform your first HotSync operation with the Treo 650. If
there isn't enough memory on your Treo 650 to accommodate your data,
you'll see an error in the HotSync
Log that says "Handheld full. The data storage of the
handheld is full." You'll need to free up more memory on your
Treo 650.

Usually, you can move large applications to an expansion card;
you can also shrink or delete unnecessary files. For more
information and tips on clearing memory, see Knowledge Library
article 26571.

Footnotes

1

Where can developers learn more about NVFS?
The NVFS technology was developed by PalmSource. Red Mercury, a developer of Palm
OS applications, has published an informative technical
backgrounder at http://www.red-mercury.com/nvfs.html.

2

How can I tell how much memory my previous
device has?

For most Palm OS devices:

Open the Applications
launcher.

Access the Menu
launcher.

From the App menu, choose Info.

At the top of the screen, you'll see a memory statement,
such as "Free Space: 9.1M of 23.1M". The second
number is the amount of memory in your device (in the
example, the device has a capacity of 23.1MB memory, and
9.1MB is currently unused).

If you have a very old device that runs Palm OS 2 or below
(such as an original Palm Pilot, or any device before the Palm
III):

Open the Applications
launcher.

Launch the Memory application

The memory used and total available is displayed at the
top of the screen. The total available memory is the one
you're interested in.

3

To move an application from internal memory to
an expansion card: If the application is already in the
internal memory of either your previous device or your Treo
650, you can move it to an expansion card to make room.

Go to the Applications
launcher, and open the Menus.

From the App menu, select Copy.

At the top of the screen, select these options: Copy
To: (your expansion card) — From: Phone (or Handheld)

Highlight the application you want to copy to the
expansion card, and select Copy.

When finished, select Done to return to the Applications
Launcher.

In the Applications Launcher, open the Menus. From the
App menu, select Delete.

At the top of the screen, select this option: Delete
From: Phone (or Handheld)

Highlight one of the applications you moved to the
expansion card, and select Delete. Repeat for each
application you moved to the card.

Article ID:
35222

Article
Type:

Date Created:

Date Modified:

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