We've put a lot of hours on our quad and hex vehicles. We've reloaded the APMs as the software has been updated, but I'm wondering if reloading should be done with some frequency? What happens when the space to log data on the APM is full? Can parameters get corrupted either through bad writes? Can "learned" values over time degrade? Can power being removed from the APM at random times (there is no shutdown sequence) affect EEPROM? As a precaution is it worth doing a complete EEPROM erase, factory reset, and software reload with some frequency? Is it also worth reloading parameters with some frequency as well? I know it can't hurt to do these actions, but it's not something anyone wants to do before every flight, so I'm hoping a dev or someone with knowledge of the code can add their 2 cents?
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The log 'wraps'. Starts overwriting itself from the beginning.
Now all EEPROM/Flash memories have a limited erase/write life. So the more often you write data the faster they will fail. On EEPROM quite low (typically something like 10K cycles). These though erase on a per cell basis. Flash instead uses a page based erase, rather than 'per cell', and on this the write life is hundreds of times larger, and a life will only get used when the log starts writing back over itself, or you erase it yourself.. However they also have a 'hold life', where for the longest storage life you should refresh cells after a time. However the interval involved with this is so long relative to software releases, that I wouldn't bother.
It _can_ hurt to keep updating data. Each time you do it, you use a life.
If code didn't change in a year, then you might want to consider refreshing the memory.
Best Wishes