ÓILICON ÃOBBLER 64

BY Ò. ÍARKLAND   

×EBSTER DEFINES CONVENIENCE AS ANYTHING THAT SAVES WORK. ÒECOGNIZING THIS, MANY COMMERCIAL PROGRAMS LOAD AND AUTORUN WITH THE FEWEST POSSIBLE KEYSTROKES. ÕNFORTUNATELY THIS CONVENIENCE ISN'T AVAILABLE ON SOME DISKS AND MOST SHORTER PROGRAMS. 

ÓILICON ÃOBBLER 64 IS AN AUTOBOOT MAKER FOR THE ÃOMMODORE 64 THAT PROVIDES A SIMPLE SOLUTION AND REQUIRES NO COMPUTER OR PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE. ÁLTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF AUTOBOOT MAKERS WRITTEN, MANY ATTACH THEMSELVES TO A PROGRAM AND PERMANENTLY ALTER IT. ÓOME ONLY WORK WITH ÂASIC PROGRAMS, OTHERS ONLY WITH MACHINE LANGUAGE. ÓILICON ÃOBBLER 64 CREATES A ONE BLOCK AUTOBOOT TOTALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM. 

ÃREATING AN ÁUTOBOOT

ÓILICON ÃOBBLER 64 WALKS YOU THROUGH EACH STEP OF CREATING AN AUTOBOOT PROGRAM. ÆIRST, YOU'RE PROMPTED TO SELECT THE FOLLOWING ATTRIBUTES: 

 1.  ÂORDER COLOR DURING LOAD. 
 2.  ÓCREEN COLOR DURING LOAD. 
 3.  ÃHARACTER COLOR DURING LOAD. 

ÓTEPS 1, 2, AND 3 ENABLE YOU TO SELECT THE VISUAL EFFECTS FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION WHILE YOUR MAIN PROGRAM LOADS. ÓTEP 3 SELECTS THE CHARACTER COLOR FOR THE LOADING MESSAGE.

ÎEXT, YOU'RE PRMPTED TO ENTER THE NAME OF PROGRAM TO BE AUTOBOOTED.  ÓIMPLY ENTER THE FILENAME OF THE PROGRAM FOR WHICH YOU ARE CREATING THE AUTOBOOT. ÙOU MAY TYPE THE FIRST FEW LETTERS, FOLLOWED BY AN ASTERISK (*), PROVIDED FILENAME CONFLICTS DO NOT RESULT. 

ÙOU'RE THEN ASKED TO ENTER THE COMMAND TO ACTIVATE - ÔYPE IN THE COMMAND YOU NORMALLY USE TO ACTIVATE THE MAIN PROGRAM, EITHER A ÒÕÎ OR ÓÙÓ COMMAND. ÔHEN YOU'LL SEE A PROMPT FOR THE CHARACTER COLOR FOLLOWING LOAD. ÓET THIS COLOR TO MATCH THE SCREEN AND BORDER COLOR SELECTED IN STEPS 1 AND 2 ABOVE. ÔHAT WILL PROVIDE A SMOOTH TRANSITION. ÉN RARE CASES, YOU WILL NEED TO SET THIS ATTRIBUTE TO THE COLOR APPROPRIATE FOR THE OPENING OF THE MAIN PROGRAM. 

ÎEXT, THERE'S A PROMPT TO ENTER A FILENAME FOR AUTOBOOT. ÆOR EASY IDENTIFICATION, ENTER AN AUTOBOOT NAME SIMILAR TO THE NAME OF THE PROGRAM IT AUTOBOOTS. ÆOR EXAMPLE, A PROGRAM CALLED ÐACMAN MIGHT HAVE AN AUTOBOOT CALLED PACMAN.LOAD. 

ÁT THE NEXT STEP IN THE PROCESS, ÓILICON ÃOBBLER 64 LISTS YOUR CHOICES. ÃAREFULLY CHECK EACH ATTRIBUTE. ÉF YOU FIND AN ERROR, PRESS Ó TO START OVER. ÏTHERWISE, PRESS Ã TO CONTINUE. 

ÔHE NEXT PROMPT IS TO ÃREATE ÁUTOBOOT. ÂE SURE THE DESTINATION DISK IS IN THE DRIVE. ÔHERE ARE TWO TECHNIQUES FOR UTILIZING AUTOBOOTS: 

1. ÉF THE AUTOBOOT IS THE FIRST DIRECTORY ENTRY, THE PROGRAM MAY BE AUTOBOOTED WITH ÌÏÁÄ"*",8,1. 

2. ÆOR PROGRAMS LOCATED ELSEWHERE IN THE DIRECTORY, THEY MUST BE AUTOBOOTED BY TYPING ÌÏÁÄ"AUTOBOOT NAME",8,1. 

ÄEPENDING UPON THE DISK UTILITIES YOU HAVE, THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO INTEGRATE AUTOBOOTS INTO THE DISK DIRECTORY. ÆIRST, IF YOU HAVE A "DIRECTORY EDITOR", IT DOESN'T MATTER  WHERE THE AUTOBOOT IS SAVED. ÊUST RE-ARRANGE THE DIRECTORY AS NECESSARY. 

ÉF YOU HAVEN'T A DIRECTORY EDITOR, BEGIN WITH A BLANK DISK. ÓAVE THE AUTOBOOT, THEN COPY THE APPROPRIATE PROGRAM TO THE DISK. ÃONTINUE IN THIS MANNER IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE ADDITIONAL AUTOBOOTS. ÔHE PROGRAM OFFERS A "ÁNOTHER/ÑUIT" PROMPT AT THIS POINT. ÙOU MAY MAKE ADDITIONAL AUTOBOOTS FOR OTHER PROGRAMS OR DISKS, OR QUIT. 
 
ÈELPFUL ÈINTS

ÉF A ÂASIC PROGRAM WILL NOT AUTOBOOT, CHECK THE PROGRAM'S LOAD ADDRESS. ÙOU MAY WANT TO CHANGE IT TO LOCATION 2049. ÓILICON ÃOBBLER 64 ALSO CHECKS FOR DISK DRIVE ERRORS. ÉF A FILENAME ALREADY EXISTS, SELECT ANOTHER NAME, OR OVERWRITE THE EXISTING AUTOBOOT. ÉF YOU FIND AN AUTOBOOT DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY, CREATE A NEW AUTOBOOT AND OVERWRITE THE OLD ONE. 

ÁUTOBOOTS CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY ADDED TO NEARLY ALL DISKS, INCLUDING BACKUPS OF COMMERCIAL Ã-64 SOFTWARE. ÂE SURE TO ALWAYS WORK WITH COPIES OF COMMERCIAL PROGRAMS, THOUGH, NOT THE ORIGINALS. ÉF THE PROGRAM USES A STANDARD DIRECTORY, SAVE THE AUTOBOOT AS YOU NORMALLY WOULD, THEN MOVE ITS FILENAME TO THE FIRST DIRECTORY POSITION. ÈAVE FUN AUTOBOOTING YOUR ALL OF YOUR DISKS!