Jason Aller Floppy Collection/324.img/OPTUN127.ZIP/README.TXT

Text File | 1990-08-15 | 14KB | 222 lines

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║                     O P T U N E   V E R S I O N   1 . 2                     ║
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It is extremely important that you read this addendum to your OPTune manual!
It contains vital information and a few cautions that you must be aware of in
order to get the most effective optimization possible.  In addition, it also
documents a few new features that were added to OPTune after the manual was
printed.


┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│             S O F T W A R E   I N C O M P A T I B I L I T I E S             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

1)  Users of Q-DOS II should be aware that if OPTune is executed from
    within Q-DOS, the FAT and directory information maintained in memory by
    Q-DOS will no longer be correct.  It will then be necessary to rescan
    all drives which were optimized in order to update that information.
    The most recent releases of Q-DOS II (dated 08-15-88 and after) will
    detect OPTune, and automatically rescan the optimized drives.  Any user
    who would like to obtain the latest release of Q-DOS II may contact our
    customer support department at [phone],  or [phone] in
    Utah.  (A minimal product update fee will apply.)

2)  Because of the nature of the OPTune program, you must not use it when
    any multi-tasking or multi-user software is active.  If any other
    program accesses the hard disk at the same time as OPTune, chances are
    very high that the system will lock up, and data will be destroyed.
    If you wish to run OPTune from an AUTOEXEC.BAT file, we recommend that
    it be listed as one of the first commands in order to reduce the chance
    that another program might interfere with the optimization process.  In
    particular, we strongly recommend that OPTune be executed before the
    DOS FASTOPEN program since FASTOPEN can cause serious data damage if it
    does not have correct information about the location of files on your
    hard disk.  If OPTune detects that FASTOPEN is already in memory, it
    will force a system reboot after the optimization process is completed.
    This will protect your data from FASTOPEN, but will also make running
    OPTune in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file somewhat inconvenient.

     NOTE: We have found that we are unable to detect FASTOPEN if it is
    loaded into high memory.  Do not run OPTune if FASTOPEN is loaded
    into high memory.  Also DOS 4.0x will allow you to install FASTOPEN
    from your CONFIG.SYS file.  If this is the case with your machine
    remember to reboot your machine after running OPTune.

3)  Do not use OPTune if you have any disk caching software active.  Many
    disk caching programs can intercept critical disk accesses and prevent
    them from occurring.  In order to avoid the serious problems that this
    can cause, OPTune will test for disk caching, and abort its current
    function with an appropriate error message if caching is detected.
    Unfortunately, OPTune will sometimes report that caching is active
    even when there is no software caching installed.  This means that
    your system has some type of hardware disk cache, and you will need to
    include a  '-I'  command-line option when you run OPTune.  This option
    will simply cause OPTune to ignore the hardware disk caching since it
    will not cause the same problems that many software caches can cause.

4)  Many copy-protected software packages use special hidden and/or system
    files to detect unauthorized duplication.  If any of the hidden/system
    files are moved to another location on the disk, the copy-protected
    software may not function properly.  In order to avoid this problem,
    OPTune identifies all hidden/system clusters on your hard drive, and
    does not move them.  Unfortunately, some copy-protected software
    packages use more sophisticated methods to prevent unauthorized
    duplication.  For this reason, it is possible that some copy-protected
    programs will no longer run after OPTune's Optimize function has been
    executed.  This problem can sometimes be avoided by marking the
    copy-protected software as hidden or system before using the Optimize
    command.  Call Gazelle Systems for more information on how to do this.

5)  OPTune is not compatible with the copy protection used with most
     versions of Lotus 123 and the first release of dBASE III.  If you
     have 123 we recommend using the Value Pak disk that was supplied
     with 123 to uncopyprotect it. You can either unprotect the original
     disk or the copy on the hard drive. However the Value Pak can only
     be used once.  If you do not have a Value Pak diskette we recommend
     contacting Lotus to obtain this disk. For the users of the first
     release of dBASE III call Ashton-Tate for an uncopy protected
     version of dBASE III.  After you are sure that your 123 or dBASE III
     is uncopy protected you may run the OPTIMIZE feature of OPTune.
     If you want to rid OPTune of the message "A Hidden Superlok
     directory..." you need to use a program like our QDOS II to remove it.
     However make sure the Superlok subdirectory is not associated with any
     other copy protected software before removing it.

6) OPTune 1.27 will work on any hard disk that has been formatted for use
    under DOS versions 2.0 and higher.  However, it will not work on a
    Novell file server because the Novell software requires a proprietary
    disk format which is not DOS compatible.  Fortunately, OPTune can be
    used to optimize the file server of most other networks as long as
    the network is not active.


┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               T U N E - D I S K   C O N S I D E R A T I O N S               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

1)  Before testing or altering the interleave of your hard disk, Tune-Disk
    will check to see if your system has a Konan disk controller installed.
    If a Konan controller is detected, the Tune-disk function will abort
    and display a message that your hard disk controller is not standard.
    This is due to the fact that the Konan KXP-230Z controller performs
    many nonstandard functions that interfere with OPTune's operation, and
    will frequently result in data damage.  If you are using a Konan
    controller, and you are certain that it is not the KXP-230Z, you may
    include a '-R' command-line option which will allow the Tune-Disk
    function to operate normally.

2)  Plus Development Corporation manufactures a variety of hard cards which
    may or may not be compatible with Tune-Disk.  If you are using a Plus
    hard card which is not compatible, it will display an unpleasant error
    message when Tune-Disk attempts to alter its interleave, lock up your
    system, and force you to reboot.  Although Tune-Disk will be unable to
    operate normally on these hard cards, it will in no way endanger any
    data on them.

3)  Some of the hard drive controllers which were manufactured by Data
    Technology Corporation in 1983 and 1984 use a nonstandard disk format
    which is not compatible with the Tune-disk function.  If you are using
    a DTC controller that Tune-Disk recognizes, it will abort and display
    an appropriate error message.  However, if you know that your system is
    using a DTC controller, we strongly recommend that you do a full backup
    before using the Tune-Disk function.  If your particular DTC controller
    is not recognized by Tune-Disk, severe data damage will result.

4)  The micro-channel PS/2 computers released by IBM after April, 1988, do
    not allow user programs to change their interleave setting.  Therefore,
    the Tune-Disk function will abort with an error message if you attempt
    to run it on one of these machines.  This is not a serious problem
    since these high performance machines are always set to the correct
    interleave.

5)  The Tune-Disk function will work flawlessly on a wide variety of RLL
    controllers, but there are several others which will cause Tune-Disk to
    abort with a nonstandard controller message.  Those RLL controllers
    which are not compatible with Tune-Disk operate in what is referred to
    as "translation" mode.  This means the controller reports hard disk
    parameters to the system ROM BIOS which are not correct in order to
    make its nonstandard drive format appear to be standard.  If Tune-Disk
    detects that a controller is operating in translation mode, it will
    abort in order to prevent the severe data damage that could result.  If
    you are using a translating RLL controller, we recommend that you
    contact its manufacturer to see if it can be reconfigured to operate in
    non-translation mode.

    *** NOTE: If you wish to test and/or alter the interleave setting on a
    hard disk that is connected to a translating RLL controller, you may do
    so by including a '-R' command-line option when you execute OPTune.  Be
    aware, however, that this will probably destroy all data on the drive!

6)  Hard disk drives that contain more than 1024 cylinders are usually not
    compatible with the Tune-Disk feature since an IBM compatible ROM BIOS
    will only support a maximum of 1024 cylinders.  In order for these
    large drives to operate correctly, they must be controlled either by a
    "translating" controller, or by a proprietary device driver.  If the
    former method is used, Tune-Disk will abort with an error message as it
    does with translating RLL controllers.  If the latter method is used,
    Tune-Disk may be able to function normally, but it will only be able to
    tune the first 1024 cylinders on the drive.  We have found that Tune
    Disk does work with Ontrack's SWBIOS to allow access to cylinders
    beyond the 1024 limit.  However any given partition can not exceed 1024
    cylinders in size.

7)  Some high performance hard disk drives and removable cartridge drives
    operate with high speed controllers which perform SCSI data transfers.
    Since the SCSI data transfer method is not supported by an IBM standard
    BIOS, these devices must be controlled by proprietary device drivers.
    This means that the Tune-Disk function cannot communicate with them
    correctly, and a nonstandard drive message will result.

8)  If your computer system has a switchable bus speed, we recommend that
    you set it to the slowest setting before using Tune-Disk.  Many hard
    disk controllers do not operate correctly at bus speeds greater than
    8 MHz.

     *** NOTE:  We would like to express our appreciation to Perstore
     Systems, Inc. and Scientific Micro Systems, Inc. for their assistance
     in making the Tune-Disk function of OPTune 1.27 compatible with Perstor
     and Omti hard disk controllers!  However, if you have a Perstor PS180-16FN
     16 bit network compatible controller do NOT run the Tune Disk feature.
     A future release is scheduled to include compatibility with the
     PS180-16FN controller.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    A D D I T I O N A L   F E A T U R E S                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

1)  The Verify/Fix-Disk function of OPTune includes an undocumented cluster
    range option.  This option allows you to restrict the verification
    process to a specific area on your hard disk.  If any other OPTune
    function detects a problem area on your disk, it will report a cluster
    range which you may use later to do extensive bit pattern testing of
    that particular area.

    *** NOTE:  This option may also be invoked from the DOS command line by
    including the 'SC' and/or 'EC' switches.  For example, the command

                         OPTUNE C: /V 10 SC100 EC400

    would cause OPTune to perform 10 iterations of read-only verification
    on drive C: starting with cluster 100 and ending with cluster 400.

2)  GZ_SAVE.EXE can help to protect you in case your hard disk is ever
    formatted accidentally.  It will create a copy of your hard disk's
    critical DOS information in a hidden file called GAZELLE_.SAV.  This
    file can be used later to restore your drive to its original condition,
    even after the DOS FORMAT command has been used.

    *** NOTE:  It is only necessary to run the GZ_SAVE program once since
    the hidden file it creates will be updated each time you run OPTune's
    Optimize function.  Installing OPTune in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file is an
    excellent way to keep your GAZELLE_.SAV file current.

3)  GZ_UNFMT.EXE will use the hidden file created by GZ_SAVE to reconstruct
    your drive after the accidental usage of the DOS FORMAT command.  It
    will always be able to locate GAZELLE_.SAV even though DOS will not.

    *** NOTE:  GZ_UNFMT should only be run after the inadvertent use of the
    DOS FORMAT command.  Improper use of GZ_UNFMT can result in data loss.