Firmware

**Sigh-clone** · #1 (**permalink**) 04-05-2008, 01:26 AM

Not sure if this is in the right forum topic or not but can anyone give me an explanation/description of Firmware? I know what software and hardware are but not so sure about firmware. Thanks

**Jam** · #2 (**permalink**) 04-05-2008, 01:33 AM

Hey,
Okay, so Firmware is (From what I understand) a type of operating system if you like, that installed on routers, mp3 players, cameras etc. It just contains everything that it needs to run. You can often get new firmware updates for certain mp3 players and things like that.

I may be totally wrong here, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is

**Sigh-clone** · #3 (**permalink**) 04-05-2008, 11:19 AM

That makes sense - I had to download a 'firmware update' for my router and then install it, just like I would a software update, so I wondered what the difference is.

**Mr Pickles** · #4 (**permalink**) 04-06-2008, 01:54 AM

Yes Jam is correct. Wiki defines Firmware as

Quote:

In computing, firmware is a computer program that is embedded in a hardware device, for example a microcontroller. It can also be provided on flash ROMs or as a binary image file that can be uploaded onto existing hardware by a user.
As its name suggests, firmware is somewhere between hardware and software. Like software, it is a computer program which is executed by a microprocessor or a microcontroller. But it is also tightly linked to a piece of hardware, and has little meaning outside of it.

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