Firmware
Hard Drive Recovery - Firmware
Firmware is a term used to denote the fixed the small programs that internally control various electronic devices.
The term firmware was coined by Ascher Opler in a Datamation article in 1967. It meant the microcode contents of a writable control store (a specialized small area of RAM memory), which defined and implemented the machine instruction set of a computer’s CPU.
Examples may range from products such as remote controls, calculators, harddisks, keyboards, TFT screens or memory cards, scientific instrumentation, industrial robotics, mobile phones, digital cameras, synthesizers, etc. Firmware enables the device’s basic operation and implementing higher level functions.
Firmware is a relative term, as most embedded devices contain firmware at more than one level. Subsystems such as LCD modules, flash chips, communication controllers etc, have their own (usually fixed) program code and/or microcode, regarded as part of the hardware by the higher level firmware.
Simple firmware typically resides in ROM or OTP/PROM. Complex firmware employs flash memory to allow for updates. Common reasons for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the device.
Firmware has evolved to mean almost any programmable content of a hardware device. This may include machine code for a microprocessor, configurations and data for application-specific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, etc.
Sometimes an unofficial new version of firmware is created by third parties to provide new features. Examples include Rockbox for digital audio players, CHDK for Canon digital cameras, and OpenWRT for wireless routers, region free firmware for DVD-drives, which are not region free with the official firmware, as well as many homebrew projects for gaming consoles.
