from the misnic.com website it says the newt2100 has:
8megs ROM is this where the OS is stored?
4megs SRAM is this where my files are stored?
4megs DRAM is this the heap?

i think i read that the heap was where the newton actually runs programs, is this right?
any thing else i need (might like to know) just point any links that you think apply my way, i'll read em anyway.
thanks

I'm not to clear on this, so someone correct me if I am wrong. The heap space is like RAM on your desktop computer: this is where programs store the frequently used info while running. The storage RAM is used like a user only HD (for user docs and apps) and the ROM is like a read-only HD that stores system files and any pre-installed software that the manufacturer (Apple) would like you to have. The term "soup" fits in here somewhere, but I'm not too clear on that.

[This message has been edited by TimmyDee51 (edited 12-01-2000).]

right, i got this stuff from the faq (i really should have read the whole thing...)
the OS is stored in the ROM (which i knew anyway, why i asked i don't know!)
SRAM and DRAM are re-writeable but SRAM is faster.
SOUPS are read/write databases, so i'm guessing that these are the users files, prefs and whatnot.
Packages are executables (i.e. not soups)
this is what i understand so-far, i'll keep on reading and report back if i come to different conclusion.

Just a tidbit of info on heap, the Newton 130 actually has more heap than the MP 2000... the 2100 of course has much more than either.

s i n e
-''-..-

AFAIK, there is no SRAM on the MP2x00 series. Instead, there are two Flash chips for a total of 4 MB of Flash.
The MP2100 has 4 MB of DRAM.

Heap is a technical word for a collection of pointers and handles. There are several heaps, and also pages not used in heaps. You cannot say "There is 4 MB of DRAM that is the heap" it's a kind of nonsense as heaps are growable (well, apparently not on the NewtonOS), they can be created and deleted.

There are a lot of software showing you the NewtonScript heaps statistics. It usually says something between 200 kb and 400 kb on the MP2100. But of course, this is not the whole memory.

Memory pages are used:
a/ in the system heap for drivers, c++ code, system memory chunks
b/ in the NewtonScript heap
c/ in the virtual memory system: the data is placed there for decompression
d/ for the system patches.

You can read a more complete description of the memory (although probably outdated and partially wrong) in the FAQ for the Newton community, for example: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ http://members.aol.com/thisolnewt/FAQ/

Paul

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Newton Evangelist and developer:
http://www.kallisys.com/newton/