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Text File | 1994-10-03 | 19.8 KB | 459 lines

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ========================== Zeridajh IDEFS 0.90 user guide This program is FREEWARE ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ========================== ---------------- - Introduction - ---------------- Zeridajh IDEFS (ZIDEFS) is a full replacement for the software supplied with the 'old' Ian Copestake Software IDE disc interface (designed by Stefan Froehling and Peter Szymanski). Zeridajh IDEFS has been completely written from scratch and provides numerous small and several big improvements : Support for partitions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZIDEFS supports up to 4 partitions (or 'virtual drives'). This means that an IDE harddisc may now hold more than one drive (in the original software only one drive could be stored on a harddisc). It is immediately important in this respect to understand the difference between a 'harddisc' and a 'drive' (in the original software they were more or less synonymous) : + A harddisc is the piece of hardware you can hold in your hand and which can, in this day and age, store up to several Gb of data. I.e. it is a hardware entity. + A drive, however, is a software entity, which has, e.g., a number (from 4 to 7, for 'hard' drives), a name, and an icon on the icon bar (which looks like a harddisc) through which it can be accessed from the desktop. A drive stores its own file structure and free space map. Each drive's data is stored somewhere on one of your harddiscs (and is then also referred to as a 'partition'). As FileCore filing systems (e.g. ADFS, RamFS and also IDEFS) can only access a maximum of 512Mb per drive, partitioning means that IDE harddiscs over 512Mb may be fully used, simply by storing 2 or more drives on them (which was not possible with the original software). There is, however, a maximum total of 4 drives, i.e. the maximum amount of data you can store is 4 x 512Mb = 2Gb (which could be in the form of 4 drives on only one harddisc if you wanted to). Partitioning is not only useful for harddiscs over 512Mb in size. It is also useful for making a clear seperation of your files, e.g. you could store data files and applications each on their own drive. Also, by using seperate drives you spread the risk of data loss due to corruption of a drive's free space map. When you have everything on one drive and its free space map goes bad, you lose everything on that drive. Having seperate drives spreads your risk (at the penalty of extra space used for the additional drive's free space maps). Refer to 'Partitions' for details on how to create partitions. Optimal transfer speeds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The original software suffered from sub-optimal transfer speeds. There are speed improvements of roughly 5 to 10% on word-aligned transfers (relatively more on writes than reads). Non-word-aligned transfers are only very marginally slower than their word-aligned equivalents (only around 2%), while in the original software they were very much slower (around twice as slow due to very simplistic and suboptimal coding). Better drive compatibility ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZIDEFS has much better IDE driver code. It is compatible with more IDE harddiscs than the original software and also supports at least some of the newer drives adhering to the new ATA 2 (or 'Extended IDE', aka EIDE) standard. ZIDEFS has been made to work with some 'positively gruesome' harddiscs. Optional drive write-protection ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can write-protect any drive, either by using the appropriate *-commands (*IDEProtect and *IDEUnprotect) or by setting the 'Options -> Read only' option in the filer icon bar menu. This option is off by default. Optional transfer address range checks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are (optional) checks on address ranges presented to the low level harddisc transfer routines. This is an extra safety measure against free space map corruption and the like, which may occur when erroneous transfer address ranges (inevitably) lead to address exceptions in the middle of write operations (e.g. leaving the free space map 'half written' and thus corrupting it, leading to massive data loss). It seems some FS code, in my opinion wrongly, relies on FileCore to always deliver sane address ranges, although ADFS for example also seems to take the sensible route and do a check itself before plunging into a disc transfer. The overhead incurred in a check is totally negligable. Address validation may be switched on/off using the appropriate *-commands (*IDEValidate and *IDENoValidate) or by setting the 'Options -> Validate' option in the filer icon bar menu. This option is off by default. Filer supports 'fancy' Free ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 'fancy' free space indications available in RISCOS 3 (provided by the Free module) are supported by the new filer. Other differences ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are major SWI differences between the original software and ZIDEFS. The SWI numbers are different. Absent are the original software's _FormatTrack and _IdentDrive SWIs, and support for _DiscOp's 'Write Track' reason code. The functionality of all of these (only _IdentDrive was actually useful, and then only occasionally), can be achieved, if needed, by informed use of the new _Execute SWI. Additional new SWIs in ZIDEFS are _DriveOptions and _DriveInfo (the latter is only for internal use). For detailed descriptions of the SWIs refer to the 'Reference' guide. The *IDEPowersave command available in the original software is absent. Any required power saving features may be achieved by understanding and using the new _Execute SWI (not all IDE harddiscs have power saving features, indeed some that don't react adversely to the applicable IDE commands). Every effort has been made to pack all the added functionality of ZIDEFS into as small a space as possible (not least because the IDE interface podule can only handle up to 8k EPROMs). So far everything still fits, and there's some room left, despite the numerous additions. New supporting software ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ None of the original supporting software is needed anymore : + For partitioning of harddiscs (which wasn't previously possible), new software is supplied. Refer to 'Partitions' for details. + For drive initialisation, a patch for !HForm (which you can find on the RISCOS 3 App2 disc) is available. Refer to 'Initialising drives' for more information. !FormatIDE and !HFormIDE no longer work. + For HD performance testing, if needed, the original !HDTest application may be used (ZIDEFS is still compatible with this application). + The !IDEIdent application no longer works. For harddisc info, you can use the supplied 'DeviceID' program. Future plans ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Extensions I'm (still) thinking of adding to the software are along the lines of smart data buffering and transparent data compression (a-la MS-DOS 6.00). Also, support for IDE CD-ROM drives seems interesting. None of these are particularly trivial however. --------------- - The package - --------------- There are several files in the ZIDEFS package : 'ZIDEFs' ~~~~~~~~ Is the FS module. You should not normally run this seperately, it is only included for reference and special applications. Note that this module assumes it is loaded from the podule ROM (i.e. it is passed its I/O base in r11). When loaded from elsewhere, i.e. from disc, it defaults to podule 0. I.e. if your IDE interface podule is not in slot 0, do *NOT* load this module from disc, as it will access the wrong podule (with amusing or less amusing effects !). 'ZIDEFiler' ~~~~~~~~~~~ Is the filer module. Like the FS module, you should not normally run this seperately. If loaded from disc, in a special application, it should always be loaded after the ZIDEFs module. 'ZIDERom' ~~~~~~~~~ Is the ROM image containing the ZIDEFs and ZIDEFiler modules, along with the necessary extra podule 'loader' code and information. You can blow this file straight into an 8k '2764' EPROM and use it to replace the original EPROM on the IDE interface podule. The podule, sadly, cannot access more than 8k of EPROM address space, but the socket *will* take larger EPROMs (up to 27512, 64k). If you use a larger EPROM, ensure the ZIDERom data is duplicated at all 8k boundaries within the EPROM. NOTE !!! Keep the original EPROM in a safe place until you have ZIDEFS up and running smoothly. You never know. If you cannot blow EPROMs yourself, ask a friend, your local Acorn dealer, or an electronics shop to do it for you. 'Guide' ~~~~~~~ Is what you're reading now, the 'user guide'. 'Reference' ~~~~~~~~~~~ Contains the 'reference guide'. SWI details, error descriptions, etc., everything you always wanted to know, but were afraid to ask (and rightfully so). 'Updates' ~~~~~~~~~ Contains details of past updates to the code. Read this if you are upgrading from an older version of ZIDEFS. 'ATBusDocs' ~~~~~~~~~~~ Contains electronic and protocol specs of the AT bus (aka IDE). Refer to this for an interesting read and for info on what can be done with the powerful _Execute SWI. This document is not the latest and most up-to-date (the ones that are are too big to include in the ZIDEFS package), but will help you on your way. 'Partition' ~~~~~~~~~~~ Is a program that enables you to partition your harddiscs. Refer to 'Partitions' for more information. 'PatchHForm' ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Is a patch program for RISCOS 3's !HForm application (on the App2 disc), to enable it to initialise ZIDEFS drives. Refer to 'Initialising drives' for details. 'DeviceID' ~~~~~~~~~~ Is a program that can show a harddisc's identification data. It can also save the data. I would like you to send me a copy of your harddiscs' identification data if you are running ZIDEFS successfully (also see 'Final remarks'). -------------- - *-commands - -------------- *Configure and *-commands provided by ZIDEFS are adequately described using *Help (use *Help IDEFS or *HELP IDEFiler for a list of commands). ------------- - The filer - ------------- The workings of the filer should prove to be self-explanatory. Most of it is similar to what you're used to. Refer to 'Introduction' for details on the 'Options' submenu (if you haven't read the introduction yet, you really should ...). -------------------------------------- - Cut the crap, how do I get started - -------------------------------------- Ok. The recipe is as follows : - Blow 'ZIDERom' into an 8k EPROM and use it to replace the EPROM on your IDE interface podule. See the discussion of 'ZIDERom' ('The package' section) if you need more information. - Configure your system. You will need to read 'Configuring'. - Partition your harddiscs. Refer to 'Partitions' for this (if you didn't already get sent there, which you would've if you'd read 'Configure'). - Initialise your drives. See 'Initialising drives'. Same caveat as before. - You're there (in case you hadn't figured that out already). --------------- - Configuring - --------------- Ok, you've got the new EPROM in. Before anything else, ZIDEFS needs to be configured properly. There are 4 *Configure commands available to do so : *Configure IDEFSDiscs <Discs> *Configure IDEFSDrives <Drives> *Configure IDEFSDrive <Drive> *Configure IDEFSDirCache <Kbytes>[K] If you don't know yet, refer to their corresponding 'help', e.g. *Help IDEFSDiscs, for information on what configurations these commands set. Proceed as follows : - How many IDE harddiscs have you got attached to the IDE interface podule (i.e. 1 or 2). Use *Configure IDEFSDiscs to specify this. - How many drives/partitions do you want (i.e. 1,2,3 or 4, see 'Partitions' for more information). Use *Configure IDEFSDrives to specify this. - What drive should be the default IDEFS drive. Use *Configure IDEFSDrive to set this. 4 is nearly always the setting to use. - How much directory cache should be used for IDEFS drives. 8k is a default value. 16 or more is recommended. Don't overdo it though, it eats up your RMA space. - Now HARD-RESET YOUR COMPUTER (CTRL-BREAK or CTRL-RESET) to let the configurations take effect. You needn't worry about partitions not being defined or drives not being initialised yet. ZIDEFS is intelligent in dealing with this. - Now go on and create your partitions (see 'Partitions'). -------------- - Partitions - -------------- Now you've properly configured ZIDEFS, you either have : - As many drives as you have harddiscs (i.e. the *Configure IDEFSDiscs and *Configure IDEFSDrives settings are the same). This means you don't have to define any partitions, because in this situation, each harddisc is automatically 'fully occupied' by a single drive (drive 4 is on your master harddisc, and drive 5, if present, is on your slave harddisc). So you can skip the rest of this section and go directly to 'Initialising drives'. - Or you have configured more drives than harddiscs. In this case you need to specify where on your harddiscs your drives are to be stored. Read on. The 'Partition' program enables these partitions to be defined. Run it. Some details on your harddiscs will be shown, and, if any old partition table is found, its details are displayed for your reference. You are then asked if you want to change the partition table. Press Y. Every harddisc has a size (the harddisc info at the top of your screen shows this). This space is to be divided between your partitions. You are now asked, for each configured drive, in ascending order (starting with drive 4), on which harddisc you want the drive to be stored, and how large it should be (in Mbytes), so : - Enter the harddisc on which the drive is to be stored. - Now if you want just that one drive on the specified harddisc, enter the full harddisc size. - If, instead, you want more than one drive on a harddisc, enter the required size. The program remembers how much space is left on each harddisc after the allocations already made and won't allow you to speficy more. Do not worry about the number of Mb's sometimes being 1 smaller than expected. This occurs because the actual partitioning is by harddisc cylinder counts, not by size in Mbytes. The program always ensures that your harddiscs are fully used, up to the last byte, if you fully divide their space between your partitions (i.e. you enter the full amount of 'Mbs left' given for the last drive you store on a harddisc). Finally, you are asked if you want to write the new partition table. Press Y. If you are unsure, or if you've made some kind of mistake, press N and the existing partition table (if any) will not be overwritten. It is not harmful in any way to inadvertently write an incorrect new partition table, simply re-run the program and do it right. You can also press Escape at any point in the program, which will cleanly terminate the program. Now you have defined your partitions and have written the partition table, again HARD-RESET YOUR COMPUTER (CTRL-BREAK or CTRL-RESET). ZIDEFS will now know everything about your drives it needs to know, and you can proceed to initialise them for use unser RISCOS. Proceed to 'Initialising Drives'. ----------------------- - Initialising drives - ----------------------- Now you have properly configured ZIDEFS and have defined your partitions, you can initialise your drives. With the original software, you used one of the supplied !FormatIDE or !HFormIDE applications. These can no longer be used with the new software. Instead, a patch for !HForm (on the RISCOS 3 App2 disc) is supplied : - Make a copy of !HForm - Rename !HForm's !RunImage to !RunImage0 - Copy the 'PatchHForm' program to the !HForm directory - Set the current directory to !HForm - Run 'PatchHForm' If all is well, you now have a patched !HForm. NOW STRICTLY FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS (note that the patched !HForm has not been patched for anything else except to initialise your ZIDEFS drives !) : - Run !HForm. Ignore any references to 'ADFS' that you are going to see. - You will first be asked 'Format which drive (4 - 7) ?'. Enter the drive you wish to initialise. - Drive information will now be presented. Note that the number of cylinders shown will not necessarily be the same as the actual harddisc's cylinder count. This is because the number of cylinders shown is the actual size of the partition, not the harddisc. - If you get 'Do you wish to retain this shape ?', say NO (unless you're lazy and you're sure it is correct (it then should exactly match the drive info given directly above it)). - 'Which make of harddisc (1 to 4) ?'. Always choose 4 (Other). - 'Sectors per track ?'. Enter the number given behind 'Configuration :' at the top of your screen, if it's not already given as the default. - Idem with 'Heads ?'. - Idem with 'Cylinders ?'. - 'Drive parameter init flag'. Choose default, or whatever you want. Its setting is ignored by ZIDEFS. - 'Parking cylinder ?'. Choose default, or whatever you want. It's an irrelevant setting. - You are now asked to enter defects. Always directly choose A (no more defects). This is because defects on IDE discs are handled by the IDE harddiscs themselves. Any extra defects occuring in an IDE harddisc's lifetime (if you're unlucky enough to get them) should always be mapped out using the *Defect command. - Selected parameters are now displayed. Check and double-check. - 'Format or just initialise the drive (F/I) ?'. Always choose I. NEVER choose F, formatting is useless for IDE harddiscs, and !HForm isn't patched up to do so. - 'Soak test the hard disc for defects (Long/Short/None) ?'. Always choose N. - 'Are you sure you want to do this to drive ADFS:<drive> (Y/N) ?'. Choose Y. - 'Large file allocation unit ?'. Choose default, or, if you know what they're talking about and you need another setting, choose your own. - !HForm should now proceed to initialise the drive and exit without errors. Once you've initialised all your drives this way, reset your computer again and you're ready to rock 'n roll ! ----------------- - Final remarks - ----------------- This software is Freeware. It may be copied freely, as long as it is not charged for beyond coverage of incurred media and moderate handling costs, and is copied completely and unchanged. All rights to this software remain the author's at all times. You may not change this software or use any part of it in other products without the author's approval. This software is provided 'as is'. It is not guaranteed to be useful for any particular purpose. I cannot be held responsible for any damages, either direct or consequential, arising out of the use or the inability to use this software. ZIDEFS has been developed and tested using several harddiscs, and I have been running it happily myself since its first version, which appeared around 2 years ago. If you want to contact the author, e.g. for any comments or bug reports you might like to make, or to obtain the latest version of the software, you are welcome to do so. Details are included below, please read them carefully. NOTE : If you are successful in running ZIDEFS, please send me a copy of your harddiscs' identification data. Use the 'DeviceID' program for this. This is because I'd like to know the IDE harddisc types that ZIDEFS runs successfully. Please also send this along with any bug reports or other correspondence, if at all possible. Snail mail ~~~~~~~~~~ John Kortink Nutterbrink 31 7544 WJ Enschede The Netherlands Please include an SAE, coverage of return postage, and, if you want a new version of the software, a floppy disc. If any of these are missing, I may choose not to reply. Examples of postage coverage : sufficient Dutch stamps, IRC's, or small cash (e.g. £1). Never send any type of cheque. If you send a floppy disc, send a DD one, as I cannot yet handle HD discs on my Archimedes. Please note I cannot hold on to floppy discs awaiting new versions of the software, i.e. always first check with me that there is a new version. Email ~~~~~ J.Kortink@inter.NL.net john@dialis.hacktic.nl FIDO 2:283/307.7 Email is preferred over snail mail.