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Lets say that you want to change your device's operating system.For a phone or tablet we would say "today I am flashing cyanogenmod" but for PCs "today I am installing Ubuntu" although flash is used BIOS like "I am flashing an updated BIOS to my laptop". Why is it called flash,it is basically the same thing,replacing the operating system.Is this because phones and tablets use SSD / flash memory.But new computers also have SSDs
Suici Doga
Posted 2016-03-01T10:36:31.460
Reputation: 2 168
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It is not about harddisk or SSDs. On PCs we also call it flashing the firmware.
The firmware is what gets run when the device powers up. Usually from ROM, EEPROM or possibly from flash memory.
The OS onthe other hand is typically a higher layer and you do not flash it. You install it. Regardless if you use rotating rust or flash cells to write it to.
Hennes
Posted 2016-03-01T10:36:31.460
Reputation: 60 739
On a phone or tablet we are also just changing the OS.Not the fast boot or something – Suici Doga – 2016-03-01T10:41:13.227
A phone is often optimised and has limited storage. All data is in the same storage backend (assuming no extra SD cards). On a PC it is typically a small non-eraseable part for the minimal startup, then over to HDD or PXE. Same for routers, setup boxes etc. Small storage for the firmware. And also called flashing. And if you fail to succesfully flash you can brick a device. unlike with writing to a HDD/SSD. – Hennes – 2016-03-01T10:45:00.423
You cannot brick a phone or tablet by flashing a bad ROM if it has an unlocked bootloader because fastboot will always be there – Suici Doga – 2016-03-01T10:46:09.993
@SuiciDoga: Um, there are many other kinds of flashable devices, not just Android phones or tablets... Consider regular desktop computers, for example: in the earlier days, if a BIOS update went wrong, you had to actually remove the flash chip and flash it using an EEPROM writer, because BIOS itself is the "fastboot", there's nothing before it. – user1686 – 2016-03-01T12:06:31.543
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As far as I know, the term 'flashing' was earlier used for writing ((E)E)PROM chips on which devices store their firmware; depending on the device, there might be an online upgrade function, or one might need to use an actual EEPROM programmer device. (That's also where the term "ROM" comes from, since the chip was effectively read-only after programming it once.)
The main difference from installing is that you have a prepared image, and the firmware upgrade erases and rewrites the whole thing at once. Traditional OS installation, meanwhile, involves a lot of moving parts – copying individual files to an existing filesystem, setting up the configuration on the spot, etc.
user1686
Posted 2016-03-01T10:36:31.460
Reputation: 283 655
Phones use flash memory not EEPROM – Suici Doga – 2016-03-01T12:24:41.993
@SuiciDoga: Never said I was talking about phones. – user1686 – 2016-03-01T12:31:57.560
1Older devices used ROMs. Including phones. These days that is changed by the termology has stuck. – Hennes – 2016-03-01T13:17:54.667
1I've used PROMs and EEPROMs before Flash memory was introduced, and the term "flash" was never used. The verbs used were "program" or "blow" (the fuses). Someone else (in another post) claimed they used "burn" (even before writable optical discs were available). You also have the origin of "ROM" wrong. ROM was available before there was ever PROM. You seem to be making this stuff up. – sawdust – 2016-03-01T19:00:37.440
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First a short explanation about flsh storage: It's called like that, because data stored on it cannot simply be 'updated' instead it would have to be deleted and completely rewritten (c.f. block erasure of flash memory on Wikipedia). The deletion happens by putting a current on all cells, reminding of a camera flash. Thus, the term flashing and flash memory was created.
In smartphones, one can see a similar behaviour: flashing overwrites the whole stored information, instead of changing small fractions of it.
In conclusion, flashing means complete replacement of existing data, installing means adding some information to / modifying it.
Valentin Kuhn
Posted 2016-03-01T10:36:31.460
Reputation: 131
To a certain extent, it's just use of jargon to show off "technical" knowledge of the speaker/writer. In professional publications, you would see less use of such jargon, and see functional verbs like "install". Similarly you could use "transfer" instead of "download" and "upload". – sawdust – 2016-03-01T19:15:31.980