Cannot get Compact Mode working

[trek7]

I create a ramdisk where I select:

10240 MB
SCSI (or Direct-IO, doesn't matter)
DMM and Compact mode
NTFS 4096, disable NTFS indexing, create TEMP automatically
Enable associated file, load&save
Plain image - because I want the timing save.

But no matter how I twist it, I cannot make compact mode work with plain image. Compact mode works fine if I select smart image or no image at all - but then timing save cannot be used.

I don't understand why compact mode cannot work with a plain image, or why a smart image is incompatible with timing save. After all, a smart image can be saved manually - so why not just invoke that function automatically on a timed basis instead of requiring the user to remember to go and save the disk again and again?

[InquiringMind]

Welcome to the forums Trek7,

Compact mode (described fully in Primo Ramdisk Features - Dynamic Memory Management) appears to use a different format for the ramdisk image in memory to lower usage. Since the smart image feature appears to perform a similar function with the image file, translating from one to the other is likely possible with minimal overhead.

Translating between compact and plain image formats on the other hand is likely to take longer which is presumably why that option is not offered. And the timing/real-time save restriction to plain image files likely has the same reason - halting a system periodically to carry out (potentially) multi-gigabyte image format translations would negate much of the performance benefit of a ramdisk.

For the situation you describe, you need to consider what is more important - performance or reliability. Temp files shouldn't need an image file backup so if you are using your ramdisk only for these, skip the image file. If you have important data, consider whether a volatile ramdisk is really appropriate.

Alternatively, you could create two ramdisks - one for throwaway data using compact format (and no image) and one for more important data using plain format and timing/real-time save enabled - giving you a middle ground.

[trek7]

Thank you...

I do not experience any significant delays when writing the images. 4096 MB get written in a matter of seconds, if I do a manual save of a mostly full compact mode drive.

So I still don't see the issue. Even if it cannot do incremental saves or whatever - the option of a timed full save should still be available. Let ME, the customer and user, decide whether I want to spend the extra time every so often to save it. The company/program should not come preprogrammed with a notion that spending that (for me rather insignificant) time is unproductive.

[InquiringMind]

The point you make about the customer having the final say is a perfectly valid one. The reasons given above are more speculation on my part as to why the limitations exist. It could also be that Romex haven't yet spent development time on more flexible imaging options (or see the need for them, since your post is the first on this topic).

If the workarounds suggested above aren't acceptable, then you would be best advised to contact support directly to see if they can be added to the next release - whenever that is due.