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==========================
EPU Stakker - Instructions
==========================
Date : 8th September 1994
Docs Revision : 2.00
Installer Revision : 1.70 FINAL
Docs by : Chris Wiles
Installer Routine : Stuart Tavener
Document © Copyright September 1994 - National Amiga Users Group
Installer Script © Copyright August 1994 - Stuart Tavener for N.A.U.G.
Un-Installer Script © Copyright September 1994 - S.Tavener for N.A.U.G.
CONTENTS
========
1.0 Note to PD Libraries
2.0 History
3.0 Before we Start
4.0 Introduction
5.0 Hard Disk Users
5.1 How Do I Compress Another Partition at a Later Date?
5.2 What Happens to the Compressed Drive During Use?
5.3 What About Copying Files from a Compressed Drive
to a Non-Compressed Drive?
5.4 Is It OK to Re-Org or Disk Salvage my Compressed Drive?
5.5 How Do I Un-Compress the Partition?
6.0 Floppy Disk Users
7.0 A Few Tricks
7.1 Moving Files
7.2 Icons Protected
8.0 Note to Advanced Users
8.1 Compress Other Devices
8.2 A Compressed Workbench
8.3 Loading Files from a Compressed Disk with No EPU Loaded
8.4 The XPK Library
8.5 Uncompress Your Device
8.6 Uncompress Your Directory
8.7 Re-Compress a Device with a Different Library
9.0 Un-Compression
10.0 Finally
1.0 Note to PD Libraries
========================
Note that the installer routine was written specifically for use by National
Amiga Users Group and CANNOT be modified or copied by any other PD library.
Please also note that the "Installer" program is copyright to Commodore
Business Machines and can not be distributed without registering the licence
agreement.
Any other company found distributing the program with this routine, without
our express permission, could be subject to legal action.
Although the documents and installer routine are copyright the "EPU" and
"RECOMP" program are not, therefore can be freely copied.
There are two other libraries who are authorized to stock the Disk Stakker
program with the Installer Routine. These are,
Ground Zero Software (0272) 741462
17 Bit Software (0924) 366982
2.0 History
===========
1.40 Standard program with no installer or decent documents
1.50 CLI based "request" file installer written by NAUG
Basic documents supplemented by "Readme" file
1.60 Start of the Installer Routine - 11/6/94
1.61 Beta of Routine - problem with Workbench compression
and libraries - 22/7/94
1.62 Full release with new installer, documents and on-line
help. Can compress most devices. - 27/7/94
1.63 Newer libraries added - NUKE v1.10
- FAST v1.03
Fixed the installer routine so you can "Pretend to Install".
In earlier versions the program didn't create a file that was
needed in "pretend" mode and the installer stopped.
Documents supplemented with note to PD libraries and more.
- 29/8/94
1.70 FINAL - Un-Installer added which decompresses devices
New documents updated
*** READ ALL THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS BEFORE COMPRESSING ANY DEVICE ***
3.0 Before we Start
===================
National Amiga Users Group have written the following document to coincide
with the installation routine. PLEASE READ ALL the document before any
installation takes place.
Why have we bothered? We felt that EPU v1.4 was an excellent program but
misled. It was very CLI based, came with no (or no decent) installer, very
poor documents (especially the recomp docs) and was very hard to use. For
every 10 EPU v1.4 disks sold we must have had at least 6/7 people say they
could not understand how to use it. As we were a user group, we felt that we
needed to address a problem. We are not trying to "rip a PD author off". We
understand PD is PD and should be left this way. Well, not in this case. It
needed to be improved as there was a huge leap from EPU v1.4 to the
commercial v2.1. EPU v1.4 was OK for an advanced CLI user but for even the
average user it was difficult to understand. In fact, we have only learnt
how to use EPU effectively since starting to write the original "Request
File" CLI based installer routine last May. However, it is really fairly
easy to use, as long as you read these documents first.
Since the original installer we have found how to un-compress our
devices/partitions, learnt some tricks about EPU which has enabled us to
write the installer routine and this document for you.
Believe us: The original documents don't even mention how un-compress a
device and offer no tips on installation.
We have spent two months with this product and believe it is up to our
desired standard. It has taken Stuart over two weeks of solid work to write
and finish the install routine (we had quite a few problems at first,
especially when installing to a workbench partition). We were not writing
this for money. If we had, then the amount of time spent on the installer
[the installer for this is more complex than Disk Expander's!] would have
justified at least a £10 price tag. We wrote it for the love of the Amiga.
This version is very similar to the commercial version. It uses the same
compression techniques, same libraries and the installer makes it just as
usable. The commercial version has a "statistics" utility: This is fairly
useful so if you want this the upgrade to the commercial version. In the
meantime we hope to offer you some upgrades. In the future we hope to bring
you:
- Newer versions with updated compression libraries when they are
made available.
- A utitility to un-compress a partition - NOW ADDED in v1.7
If you send the disk with this EPU Stakker on it then we will send you the
very latest revision for only 40p if you send with an order or for 90p on
it's own including postage and packing. The disk MUST be a National Amiga
Users Group disk.
Anyway, time to read on...
** WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU "PRETEND TO INSTALL" BEFORE FULL INSTALLATION **
4.0 Introduction
================
In theory EPU Disk Stakker can be applied to any device. However, there are
a few RULES to be followed before any installation takes place.
Firstly, remember that you need to install the EPU program, and it's
relevant libraries and handlers, before you compress a drive or device. The
installer routine does this automatically then goes on to compress a chosen
device/disk.
WARNING :It is advised that you should NOT compress your Workbench
partition or Workbench disk. Although, you may not see any problems
you may find that,
1. At a later date you will, more than likely, have many problems with
compressed libraries and handlers. This also happens with the commercial
version. We've had problems with Art Department Pro and compressed
libraries.
2. If you want to compress another partition at another date you may find
that the compressed Workbench conflicts with other partitions AFTER any
second installation.
Simply, it is not worth the risk. Anyhow, your Workbench partition is more
than likely under 10MB so would not benefit a great deal from compression.
If any user does compress their Workbench, and find they have problems, then
we cannot be held responsible.
EPU Disk Stakker can allow upto 50% compression of a particular device or
partition, depending on the library you choose and the programs that are to
be compressed. We recommend the NUKE library as it is the most efficient
overall.
The Installer routine will ask you whether to choose INTERMEDIATE or EXPERT
user for installation. If you choose Intermediate then the NUKE library will
be chosen and used automatically, i.e. you wont be able to pick a library.
If, however, you choose Expert then you can choose a library for compression.
5.0 Hard Disk Users
===================
Compressing you hard drive partitions could not be easier thanks to the well
written Installer routine.
Again, we advise you NOT to compress your Workbench partition. However, you
should install the EPU program and libraries to your Workbench partition.
This is the first requester: It asks you which device you want to install
EPU to, you should choose your Workbench.
The routine is as follows,
Lets pretend you have three partitions: Workbench, HD1 and HD2. Say, you
wanted to compress HD1 as it was ¾ full and could do with more space.
1. Boot your hard drive as normal
2. Insert your Stakker disk into the floppy drive
3. Double-Click on the Install EPU Stakker Icon
4. Choose Intermediate or Expert (see Introduction)
5. Choose where to intall EPU - Workbench should be chosen
6. Choose the libraries you want to install (we advise NUKE but it is always
wise to choose to install NONE as well - for de-compression)
7. The installer will copy some files to your Workbench (it is NOT
compressing)
8. Choose the Partition you want to compress: We'll choose HD1
9. Choose the library to compress (from the libraries you have installed to
your Workbench) - Again, NUKE is recommended.
10. Check that the right library has been chosen
11. Press PROCEED to compress your drive and then wait for all disk activity
to finish
12. The installer will compress all files, will create TMP (temporary) files
if the protection on a file is set to Read/Execute only and then will
delete the TMP files.
REMEMBER that the compressing may take some time! Depending on the size of
your hard drive it may take up to a few hours. As an example, to compress a
110MB Partition with NUKE took us about 2½ hours. Be prepared to wait!
The installer will delete any temporary files from your compressed drive so
wait until ALL disk activity has finished and until you are told you can
reset, or turn your computer off.
5.1 How Do I Compress Another Partition at a Later Date?
If you have more than one partition and you decide at a later date to
compress another partition then you will follow the above routine. Make sure
you install the EPU program etc to your Workbench Partition, choose the
library you want to use for compression, choose the other partition (let's
say HD2) and then compress. Easy! If you have compressed your Workbench
partition it is not so easy: See the Advanced Users Section.
5.2 What Happens to the Compressed Drive During Use?
The compress drive will pack and unpack your files on the fly. It may be a
little slower than normal (depending on the library you choose - FAST, for
example, is very fast at unpacking files but it does not give a very good
overall compression rate) but you should see no difference in use.
All files copied to the drive will be compressed when EPU is in operation.
EPU will not be in operation if you have booted from a floppy disk and you
copy files to the compressed partition. EPU loads when you boot up your hard
drive as normal.
5.3 What About Copying Files from a Compressed Drive to Non-Compressed
Drive?
EPU should automatically decompress all files when copying to a drive. For
example, if you were copying files from HD1: which was compressed with the
NUKE library to a disk in DF0: then the files would appear un-compressed
on the floppy disk.
There are, however, two exceptions to the rule;
A. If you change the line in the startup-sequence so it does not
unpack, then all files copied to a un-compressed drive will STILL
be compressed. [The command for the startup-sequence line would
be
EPU device HD1 lib NUKE Pack Hmode
- this would stop it
un-compressing when copying files]
B. If you have inserted a line into your startup-sequence that makes
EPU compress all files when copying to a certain device then it
will do so.
For instance, you could have
EPU device DF0 lib NUKE HMode
in your startup-sequence. This would mean that all files copied
to the DF0 drive WOULD BE COMPRESSED, regardless of whether the
files being copied to it are compressed or de-compressed.
5.4 Is it OK to Re-ORG or Disk Salvage my Compressed Drive?
Yes. There should be no problem with hard disk optimisation or file
un-deletion, for instance. Carry on as normal.
5.5 How do I Uncompress the Partition?
You could use the Un-installer routine - see a later section or read the
notes in the advanced section.
6.0 Floppy Disk Users
=====================
For Floppy Disk installation the process is very similar to hard disk
installation, except you need two drives.
First things first, we recommend you NOT to compress your Workbench disk,
especially if you are not an advanced user.
To compress a floppy the floppy MUST be bootable, which means it must have a
startup-sequence. The disk also needs about 130K free to fit all the EPU
files and have enough space to create some TMP (temporary) files, which will
be deleted later.
1. Compile the floppy disk you want to compress. Make sure it is bootable
and contains a startup-sequence. Leave at LEAST 120/130K free.
2. BOOT from the disk you want compressed, with the Stakker disk in another
floppy drive.
3. Double-click on the Stakker Disk Icon and then Double-click on the
EPU Stakker Install Icon.
4. When choosing the device to install EPU you should choose the disk for
compression (the disk you booted from, NOT the Stakker disk!).
5. Choose ONE library to copy onto the disk (saves space!). Our recommended
choice would be NUKE.
6. When choosing the device for COMPRESSION, choose the disk you want
compressed (the disk you booted from). When using floppies the disk you
compress HAS to be the same as the disk you installed EPU to.
7. Choose the library you copied over earlier.
8. Sit back and wait for the disk to be compressed. It may take about 15-20
minutes as a rough estimate.
9. Boot from the disk for EPU to be loaded. REMEMBER you can't access the
files from the compressed disk if EPU is NOT loaded.
After the floppy disk has been compressed the use of the disk is very
similar as before. You could now add more files onto the disk when making a
disk compilation, for example.
7.0 A Few Tricks!
=================
7.1 Moving Files
Sometimes, some files that have been compressed operate slightly slower
under certain conditions. This has not been noticed by Stuart (Technical
Manager) but I have noticed some slowness with compressed fonts and programs
like Pagestream. So how can you avoid it?
A. You could move the files to an uncompressed drive. If you have a large
Workbench partition why not make a drawer called FONTS: and have all
programs assign their fonts to that drawer? The same is true for clipart
or picture files.
B. You could compress all your partition with your fonts and clipart and
then UNCOMPRESS certain drawers. The fonts will be as normal. But beware:
if you copy any new fonts to this drawer then they will be compressed.
To avoid this copy the fonts to your un-compressed fonts drawer, within
the compressed partition, without booting from Workbench. You could copy
them to RAD:, boot from RAD then move them to the drawer. Long-winded but
it may be worth saving the extra milliseconds for screen updates in the
rather slow Pagestream.
See a following section about uncompressing drawers.
7.2 Icons Protected
Very occasionally your hard drive icon may be replaced by a normal Amiga
Disk Icon (maybe once a month - but don't ask how!). It has happened to us
before but because of this we are able to help you:
Make your hard disk icon Write and Delete protected (RE only). This will
prevent the icon from being replaced or deleted!
8.0 Note to Advanced Users
==========================
There are quite a few bits and pieces that should be addressed to the more
advanced users out there. Firstly, let's discuss the actual EPU programs:
EPU (v1.4) and Recomp are the programs that look after and decompress your
device. EPU controls the compression, Recomp is a command that compresses or
un-compresses your drive.
You can actually compress your hard drive/floppies "manually" if you feel
more confident,
1. Copy the EPU#?.handler(s) from the L/ drawer on the Stakker: disk to
your SYS:L/ drawer.
Copy the EPU and RECOMP (and execute if you need it) to your SYS:C/.
Copy the relevant library (xpkNUKE.library ?) from the Stakker:libs to
your SYS:Libs/ drawer.
2. Add the necessary line to your Startup-sequence,
epu device HD1 lib NUKE Hmode
- Change HD1 to any device (except NULL or PIPE)
- Change NUKE to the library you require
* NOTE you don't enter the semi-colon (:) after ther device!! *
* Read the EPU documents for more info on the EPU commands (eg Hmode) *
3. EITHER, reboot to load EPU or enter the following line in SHELL
> epu dev HD1 lib NUKE Hmode
- Change HD1 to any device (except NULL or PIPE)
- Change NUKE to the library you require
* NOTE you don't enter the semi-colon (:) after ther device!! *
* Read the EPU documents for more info on the EPU commands (eg Hmode) *
4. Enter the following in your shell
> Stack 500000 [500000 should be enough for any device]
* The Stack is VERY important. It MUST be entered before you try to
compress your drive and MUST be large enough for your drive *
5. Enter the following into your shell, for compression
> Recomp HD1: all
* NOTE you need to enter the semi-colon (:) after the device!! *
6. Wait for the compression to end
7. Type into your shell,
> Delete HD1:#?/#?eputmp
- Change HD1: for the relevant device
* This will delete ALL the TMP files that have been created from all
your directories on the compressed drive. *
For FLOPPY DRIVES the same routine is carried out EXCEPT that the files for
EPU are copied to the destination drive (make sure they are R-E- protected).
8.1 Compress Other Devices
The same routine as above can be used to compress other devices such as a
TAPE backup device etc.
You could either,
A. If you run the device (tape backup) from Workbench then you could enter
the relevant details into your hard disk startup-sequence for that
device.
B. If the device is self-bootable you would need to copy the EPU files to
the device and compress the drive as normal, adding the EPU line to it's
own startup-sequence.
8.2 A Compressed WB
You shouldn't really compress your WB. If you REALLY need to then you can
still use the Installer routine BUT it is advisable to copy over ALL the
libraries in case you want to compress another partition later.
You have to be VERY careful. Why? Simply because that once a WB partition or
disk has been compressed any new libraries, files, additions to the
Startup-sequence are compressed EVEN IF THEY ARE PROTECTED!! Therefore if
you change the startup-sequence and re-save it, it will not load as it will
be compressed.
You have been warned!
8.3 Loading Files From a Compressed Disk with NO EPU Loaded
You can't read files from a compressed drive when the EPU program has not
been loaded. The loading is done automatically, through the startup-sequence
on bootup. However, if you have loaded a floppy disk then you won't be able
to access the compressed files on your hard disk.
Is there a way round this? Yes, and it is fairly simple: As the EPU program,
and it's relevant handlers and libraries, should not be compressed on your
workbench partition then type the following from shell,
> Assign LIBS: HD0:Libs (assuming you have assign etc on your floppy disk)
> Assign L: HD0:L (If not then use a disk that has)
> HD0:c/EPU dev HD1 lib NUKE Hmode
> Assign LIBS: DF0:Libs
> Assign L: DF0:L
After this you should be able to access, copy and run most of the files on
the compressed drive.
8.4 The xpkNONE.library
The NONE library is the library for uncompressing your hard drive. It is
used in exactly the same way as the other libraries except it returns your
drive to normal.
The NONE library can also be used to de-compress certain directories.
8.5 Uncompress your Device
So here is how to uncompress your disk/device/partition in order to remove
the existing compression:
1. Boot your hard drive as normal
2. Enter the following from Shell
> epu device HD1 kill
- Change HD1 for your device/drive/partition
* This will kill the existing library *
> epu device HD1 lib NONE
> Stack 500000
> Recomp HD1: all
* The partition will now be un-compressed using the NONE library *
> Delete HD1:#?/#?eputmp
* This will delete all TMP files on the un-compressed device *
3. IMPORTANT : REMOVE THE STARTUP-SEQUENCE LINE FOR EPU
The above can be used for ANY device. Boot the device and follow the above
but incorporate the name of the device for the HD1.
8.6 Uncompress a Directory
If you require your FONTS directory to be un-compressed, here's how:
1. Boot your hard drive as normal
2. Enter the following from Shell
> epu device HD1 kill
- Change HD1 for your device/drive/partition
* This will kill the existing library *
> epu device HD1 lib NONE
> Stack 500000
> Recomp HD1:FONTS
- Change FONTS for any directory of your wish
* The Directory FONTS will be un-compressed using the NONE library *
> Delete HD1:FONTS/#?.eputmp
* This will delete all TMP files on the un-compressed directory *
The above can be used for any directory on any compressed device.
8.7 Re-Compress a Device with a Different Library
You can re-compress an existing compressed drive with another library.
Following these lines,
1. Boot your hard drive as normal
2. Enter the following from Shell
> epu device HD1 kill
- Change HD1 for your device/drive/partition
* This will kill the existing library *
> epu device HD1 lib FAST Hmode
> Stack 500000
> Recomp HD1: all
- Change FAST for the library of your choice
* The partition will now be un-compressed using the FAST library *
> Delete HD1:#?/#?eputmp
* This will delete all TMP files on the un-compressed device *
3. IMPORTANT : CHANGE THE STARTUP-SEQUENCE LINE FOR THE NEW LIBRARY
e.g. epu device HD1 lib NUKE Hmode (would be changed to....
epu device HD1 lib FAST Hmode (change FAST for NUKE
The above can be used for ANY device. Boot the device and follow the above
but incorporate the name of the device for the HD1.
9.0 Un-Compression
==================
If you have compressed a device such as your hard disk or a floppy disk and
you want to un-compress this at a later date, this can be done!
Our un-compressor will ask you which device your EPU program is installed to
(i.e. where your startup-sequence is), then will ask you which device you
want to be un-installed and will automatically de-compress this device.
Make sure you have enough space on the drive for de-compression!
The un-installer will add a line into your startup-sequence that will assign
EPU to NONE for that device. If you are reasonably advanced with your Amiga
you can edit your startup-sequence and delete ALL references for EPU on that
device.
It is relatively simple...just click on un-install and wait for it to
finish.
10.0 Finally
============
Installation is really easy actually. We have tried to cover a number of
different scenerios so you do not get stuck.
If you do get stuck, want some advice or help then contact us on,
================================
NATIONAL AMIGA USERS GROUP
P.O. Box 151
Darlington
County Durham DL3 8YT
Tel/Fax : (0325) 352260
Internet : bux8@unn.ac.uk
Here for you....
Always
!
================================