ROM – Read Only Memory

There is a type of memory that stores data without electrical current; it is the ROM (Read Only Memory) or is sometimes called non-volatile memory as it is not erased when the system is switched off.

This type of memory lets you stored the data needed to start up the computer. Indeed, this information cannot be stored on the hard disk since the disk parameters (vital for its initialisation) are part of these data which are essential for booting.
Different ROM-type memories contain these essential start-up data, i.e.:

• The BIOS is a programme for controlling the system’s main input-output interfaces, hence the name BIOS ROM which is sometimes given to the read-only memory chip of the mother board which hosts it.
• The bootstrap loader: a programme for loading (random access) memory into the operating system and launching it. This generally seeks the operating system on the floppy drive then on the hard disk, which allows the operating system to be launched from a system floppy disk in the event of malfunction of the system installed on the hard disk.
• The CMOS Setup is the screen displayed when the computer starts up and which is used to amend the system parameters (often wrongly referred to as BIOS).
• The Power-On Self Test (POST), a programme that runs automatically when the system is booted, thus allowing the system to be tested (this is why the system “counts” the RAM at start-up).

Given that ROM are much slower than RAM memories (access time for a ROM is around 150 ns whereas for SDRAM it is around 10 ns), the instructions given in the ROM are sometimes copied to the RAM at start-up; this is known as shadowing, though is usually referred to as shadow memory).

Types of ROM

ROM memories have gradually evolved from fixed read-only memories to memories than can be programmed and then re-programmed.

ROM

The first ROMs were made using a procedure that directly writes the binary data in a silicon plate using a mask. This procedure is now obsolete.

PROM

PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory) memories were developed at the end of the 70s by a company called Texas Instruments. These memories are chips comprising thousands of fuses (or diodes) that can be “burnt” using a device called a ” ROM programmer“, applying high voltage (12V) to the memory boxes to be marked. The fuses thus burnt correspond to 0 and the others to 1.

EPROM

EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) memories are PROMs that can be deleted. These chips have a glass panel that lets ultra-violet rays through. When the chip is subjected to ultra-violet rays with a certain wavelength, the fuses are reconstituted, meaning that all the memory bits return to 1. This is why this type of PROM is called erasable.

EEPROM

EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Read Only Memory memories are also erasable PROMs, but unlike EPROMs, they can be erased by a simple electric current, meaning that they can be erased even when they are in position in the computer.

There is a variant of these memories known as flash memories (also Flash ROM or Flash EPROM). Unlike the classic EEPROMs that use 2 to 3 transistors for each bit to be memorised, the EPROM Flash uses only one transistor. Moreover, the EEPROM may be written and read word by word, while the Flash can be erased only in pages (the size of the pages decreases constantly).

Lastly, the Flash memory is denser, meaning that chips containing several hundred mega octets can be produced. EEPROMs are thus used preferably to memorise configuration data and the Flash memory is used for programmable code (IT programmes).

The action involving reprogramming of an EEPROM is known as flashing.

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Read-Only Memory (ROM)

One major type of memory that is used in PCs is called read-only memory, or ROM for short. ROM is a type of memory that normally can only be read, as opposed to RAM which can be both read and written. There are two main reasons that read-only memory is used for certain functions within the PC:

• Permanence: The values stored in ROM are always there, whether the power is on or not. A ROM can be removed from the PC, stored for an indefinite period of time, and then replaced, and the data it contains will still be there. For this reason, it is called non-volatile storage. A hard disk is also non-volatile, for the same reason, but regular RAM is not.
• Security: The fact that ROM cannot easily be modified provides a measure of security against accidental (or malicious) changes to its contents. You are not going to find viruses infecting true ROMs, for example; it’s just not possible. (It’s technically possible with erasable EPROMs, though in practice never seen.)

Read-only memory is most commonly used to store system-level programs that we want to have available to the PC at all times. The most common example is the system BIOS program, which is stored in a ROM called (amazingly enough) the system BIOS ROM. Having this in a permanent ROM means it is available when the power is turned on so that the PC can use it to boot up the system. Remember that when you first turn on the PC the system memory is empty, so there has to be something for the PC to use when it starts up.

While the whole point of a ROM is supposed to be that the contents cannot be changed, there are times when being able to change the contents of a ROM can be very useful. There are several ROM variants that can be changed under certain circumstances; these can be thought of as “mostly read-only memory”. :^) The following are the different types of ROMs with a description of their relative modifiability:

• ROM: A regular ROM is constructed from hard-wired logic, encoded in the silicon itself, much the way that a processor is. It is designed to perform a specific function and cannot be changed. This is inflexible and so regular ROMs are only used generally for programs that are static (not changing often) and mass-produced. This product is analagous to a commercial software CD-ROM that you purchase in a store.
• Programmable ROM (PROM): This is a type of ROM that can be programmed using special equipment; it can be written to, but only once. This is useful for companies that make their own ROMs from software they write, because when they change their code they can create new PROMs without requiring expensive equipment. This is similar to the way a CD-ROM recorder works by letting you “burn” programs onto blanks once and then letting you read from them many times. In fact, programming a PROM is also called burning, just like burning a CD-R, and it is comparable in terms of its flexibility.
• Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM): An EPROM is a ROM that can be erased and reprogrammed. A little glass window is installed in the top of the ROM package, through which you can actually see the chip that holds the memory. Ultraviolet light of a specific frequency can be shined through this window for a specified period of time, which will erase the EPROM and allow it to be reprogrammed again. Obviously this is much more useful than a regular PROM, but it does require the erasing light. Continuing the “CD” analogy, this technology is analogous to a reusable CD-RW.
• Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM): The next level of erasability is the EEPROM, which can be erased under software control. This is the most flexible type of ROM, and is now commonly used for holding BIOS programs. When you hear reference to a “flash BIOS” or doing a BIOS upgrade by “flashing”, this refers to reprogramming the BIOS EEPROM with a special software program. Here we are blurring the line a bit between what “read-only” really means, but remember that this rewriting is done maybe once a year or so, compared to real read-write memory (RAM) where rewriting is done often many times per second!

Note: One thing that sometimes confuses people is that since RAM is the “opposite” of ROM (since RAM is read-write and ROM is read-only), and since RAM stands for “random access memory”, they think that ROM is not random access. This is not true; any location can be read from ROM in any order, so it is random access as well, just not writeable. RAM gets its name because earlier read-write memories were sequential, and did not allow random access.

Finally, one other characteristic of ROM, compared to RAM, is that it is much slower, typically having double the access time of RAM or more. This is one reason why the code in the BIOS ROM is often shadowed to improve performance.

Login YM dengan Multi User

Salam KOPIDUDUK,

Bagi teman-teman yang mau chatting atau menggunakan fasilitas YM di Windows mungkin Anda belum tahu bagaimana caranya supaya kita bisa login dengan 2 ID (user) dalam satu PC. Ternyata gampang bangat. Tapi bagi pengguna LINUX sih ga usah repot2, fitur Chat yang ada di linux biasanya sudah support multiuser.

Sederhana sekali, caranya ikuti langkah2 dibawah ini :
1. Masuk ke Registry Editor melalui Start – Run…
2. Akan muncul kotak dialog Run dan ketikkan regedit lalu klik tombol OK.
3. Pada Registry Editor buka / expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER – Software – Yahoo – pager – Test.
4. Buat sebuah String Value baru pada Test dengan cara klik kanan – New – String Value atau bisa juga melalui Edit – New – String Value.
5. Beri nama / rename string baru tersebut dengan plural.
6. Double klik string plural tersebut dan akan muncul kotak dialog Edit String.
7. Set / isikan “Value data:” dengan 0 [angka nol] lalu klik OK.
8. Close Registry Editor dan buka program Yahoo! Messenger, login dengan ID kamu.
9. Buka program Yahoo! Messenger lagi, login dengan ID kamu yang lainnya maka otomatis akan terdapat 2 Yahoo! Messenger yang online.

Begitu saja caranya, gampang/ bukan? Selamat Mencoba.

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