Most likely, many of you have already heard such a word as “firmware”. But what is firmware in its understanding? And why is it even necessary? This is what we have to discuss.
Generally speaking, firmware is special information that is “sewn up” (in plain language, it is written) to the device’s memory chip by the programmer. In other words, it turns out that firmware is nothing more than software, that is, the operating system of a device.
This is about the general meaning, but this concept has a deep history of occurrence. It is she who will be able to describe in more detail what firmware is and what it is intended for.
The thing is that at the time of the inception and appearance of the first computing devices, they were quite cumbersome. Sometimes some instances could occupy an entire room. And for these devices built-in or read-only memory was made, but in a rather original way.
The internal components of these devices were collected from separate cells, where each of them consisted of a small ring. The rings themselves were made of a special material, namely ferrite. It is quite easy in the process of magnetization.
It was necessary to thread two loops of wire into each such ring. These wires were designed to write, erase and read all the necessary information. But still, what is firmware, and where does this whole system come from? We do not make hasty conclusions, we move on.
In one such position, only one bit of the internal memory could be stored, that is, 0 - if the ring was demagnetized and 1 when magnetized. And you probably understand that to provide the device with enough memory, that is, at least one gigabyte, it was necessary to make more than one such position of the ring with wire loops. And to be exact, then 8 589 934 592 pieces.
Thus, all the internal components of this device were as if flashed between each other in order to have sufficient resources to work. After that, probably, it’s already becoming a little bit clear what firmware is, but you should talk about modern devices.
All kinds of tablets and smartphones, in principle, like any modern computer, work on the basis of operating system control. It is she who is fully responsible for how this or that device will work. And to put it differently, then any of the listed devices without an operating system will be meaningless, since without it it is a set of unnecessary iron.
All the components of any computer can be defined as the brain, but the operating system will be the consciousness of this brain, that is, one that can control the entire computer. So, we can make an unambiguous conclusion that the procedure for installing any operating system on a smartphone, tablet or other device, excluding a computer, is called firmware. And even simpler, the definition of “change firmware” is exactly the same in meaning of the definition “reinstall Windows” or another operating system on any personal or laptop computer.
I want to believe that it became clear to you what firmware is. But that is not all. The fact is that in order to flash a modern device, special programs for firmware are needed. And, in addition, the “firmware” is also called the file itself, which is downloaded to the device to install or reinstall the operating system. Files for different devices are also different. And that is why each device needs its own program and its own file.
All firmware are divided into two types:
- Official, that is, one that is released by the manufacturer of a device.
- Unofficial or alternative, it is also called "custom."
Of course, it's best to always choose the first option. But it happens that there is no choice, and then you have to resort to unofficial or alternative firmware for help. Here, in principle, you can already complete the topic, but if you don’t know what PSP or PC firmware is , then you should assure that they are identical in their sense of work to other types, their difference is only in purpose.