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Many game consoles use interchangeable ROM cartridges, allowing for one system to play multiple games. Shown here is the inside of a Pokémon Silver Game Boy cartridge. The ROM is the IC on the right labeled "MX23C1603-12A". Read-only memory (ROM) is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices.
In computing, BIOS (/ ˈ b aɪ ɒ s,-oʊ s /, BY-oss, -ohss; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is a type of firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the booting process (power-on startup). [1]
In operating systems, memory management is the function responsible for managing the computer's primary memory. [1]: 105–208 The memory management function keeps track of the status of each memory location, either allocated or free. It determines how memory is allocated among competing processes, deciding which gets memory, when they receive ...
A memory leak occurs when a program requests memory from the operating system and never returns the memory when it is done with it. A program with this bug will gradually require more and more memory until the program fails as the operating system runs out.
OTP (one time programmable) memory is a special type of non-volatile memory (NVM) that permits data to be written to memory only once. Once the memory has been programmed, it retains its value upon loss of power (i.e., is non-volatile). OTP memory is used in applications where reliable and repeatable reading of data is required.
Most modern operating systems employ a method of extending RAM capacity, known as "virtual memory". A portion of the computer's hard drive is set aside for a paging file or a scratch partition , and the combination of physical RAM and the paging file form the system's total memory.
In principle, an option ROM could provide any sort of firmware extension, such as a library of video graphics subroutines, or a set of PCM audio processing services, and cause it to be installed into the system RAM and optionally the CPU interrupt system before boot time. A common option ROM is the video BIOS which gets loaded very early on in ...
ROM BIOS firmware on a Baby AT motherboard. In some respects, the various firmware components are as important as the operating system in a working computer. However, unlike most modern operating systems, firmware rarely has a well-evolved automatic mechanism of updating itself to fix any functionality issues detected after shipping the unit.