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Text File | 1991-05-14 | 36KB | 887 lines

MAXI Form ^^^^^^^^^ User Notes (version 1.61) 91-May-14 Copyright (c) 1988-1991 Herne Data Systems Ltd. P.O. Box 250 Tiverton Ontario CANADA N0G 2T0 voice or FAX (519)366-2732 If you are not yet a registered user of MAXI Form, please consider becoming one. The cost is low (only $10.00 for individual users or $100.00 for unlimited user corporate/institutional site licenses) and the benefits are many. Payment can be made by cheque or money order in CANADIAN in CANADA or US funds elsewhere, or by VISA credit card. VISA orders will be charged at the rate of $10.00 CANADIAN plus $2.00 postage and handling. EuroCheque payments are also accepted in major currencies (e.g. #, FF, DM, Hfl, etc.) for the equivalent of $12.00 CANADIAN. MAXI Form is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442- 9427 or send a CompuServe message via Easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 1 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Features of v1.61 MAXI Form v1.61 has the following new features and improvements over v1.6: - Improved version of SMAX which can be disabled for secondary floppy disk controller cards. This allows MAXI to work with CompatiCard style external floppy controllers. - Revised signon screen and shareware notice. - Updated documentation. - VISA credit cards now accepted for registration fees. New Features of v1.6 MAXI Form v1.6 has the following new features and improvements over v1.54a: - Supports formatting of 800k double density disks in 1.2 meg drives. - Improved version of SMAX to allow use of 800k DD disks in 1.2 meg drives, and activation/de-activation without having to re- boot. - Supports user adjustable number of cylinders to format. - New address information for shareware registrations. - Improved disk verify method that writes data to a track when verifying it instead of just trying to read it. - Updated documentation. - Unlimited user corporate/institutional site licenses now available. 2 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Features of v1.54 MAXI Form v1.54 has the following new features and improvements over v1.52: - Supports formatting 420k disks in 1.2 meg drives. - Improved error detection and handling routines. - On screen display of type of disk being formatted. (This lets you know how MAXI interpreted your command line switches). - Automatically re-tries formatting a track up to 3 times before reporting an error (with verify option on). - Improved version of SMAX compatible with more hardware BIOS's. - Automatically determines if you have correct DOS version (3.20 or later). 3 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Fine Print This documentation package is provided solely for the benefit of getting new users familiarized with the features of the MAXI Form program. MAXI Form is intended to format blank disks only. Because it will destroy all existing data on a floppy disk, Herne Data Systems assumes no liability for losses caused by misuse or abuse of this product. This responsibility rests solely with the end user. Please note that MAXI Form relies on quirks in the MS-DOS/PC-DOS operating system and BIOS ROM's. Although it has been tested on a wide variety of systems with DOS versions 3.2x and later, it cannot be guaranteed to work with all systems, especially ones which have been heavily customized and modified (including the installation of non- standard disk drives and controller cards) by the user; nor can it be guaranteed to work with future releases of MS/PC-DOS. (Some DOS releases may require the use of the special device driver program SMAX.COM (outlined later in the documentation) for reliable performance with some hardware systems.) This documentation assumes that the reader is reasonably familiar with MS-DOS concepts and terminology and has a basic understanding of how to use his/her computer. NOTE: ==== MAXI Form is a copyrighted program written and produced by Herne Data Systems Ltd. It is distributed through user groups and bulletin board systems on the basis of 'user supported software' or shareware. While the program and this documentation file may be freely copied and distributed (provided that the copyright notices are NOT REMOVED), each end user is requested to register his or her copy with Herne Data Systems Ltd. with a one time fee of $10.00 (in either US or CDN funds, or the equivalent in any international currency). Payment of the registration fee entitles the user to a registered copy of the latest version of MAXI Form documentation package as well as technical support. An unlimited user corporate/institutional site license is available for $100.00. Payment is accepted by cheque, money order or VISA credit card. Herne Data Systems Ltd., PO Box 250, Tiverton, ON, CANADA, N0G 2T0 4 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction Are you tired of running out of space on your floppy disks? How would you like to fit 420k on a 360k disk, 800k on a 720k disk, 1.4 meg on a 1.2 meg disk, or an incredible 1.6 meg on a 1.44 meg disk? Sound impossible? Well not any more!! If you are using DOS version 3.2x or later, then the innovative new shareware program from Herne Data Systems called MAXI Form is just the thing for you. Using MAXI Form for all your floppy disk data storage needs is like getting an extra one and a half disks FREE with every box of floppies that you buy!! NOTE: In most cases, NO SPECIAL SOFTWARE DRIVER PROGRAMS ARE REQUIRED TO ACCESS THESE DISKS FROM DOS. However, in cases where reliable standalone operation cannot be achieved (it is a complex function of ROM BIOS details, DOS version and disk controller characteristics), the simple device driver SMAX.COM can be used to patch the BIOS code and provide resident support. MAXI Form is designed to be self documenting to the extent that it can be used by experienced MS-DOS users. This summary documentation provides a full description of how to access and use all of the features of the program. In order to use MAXI Form you will need a 100% IBM compatible computer (PC, XT, AT, PS/2, Convertible, etc) with at least one 360k 5.25 inch, 1.2 meg 5.25 inch, 720k 3.5 inch or 1.44 meg 3.5 inch floppy drive. The 1.44 meg drive can be used to format 800k 3.5 inch disks; and the 1.2 meg drive can also be used to format 420k disks or 800k 5-1/4 disks. (Please note that 420k disks formatted in 1.2meg drives may not work on all 360k drives. This is due to a physical limitation of the 1.2 meg drives, i.e. the read/write head is only half the size as that on a standard 360k drive.) External 5.25 inch drives for the PS/2 and most laptops are also supported under the given versions of DOS. With many BIOSes, you will need to use the TSR driver program SMAX.COM to read and write MAXI style disks (especially 800k, 5-1/4 inch disks). MAXI Form works with all standard display adaptors and monitors. 5 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting Up MAXI Form MAXI Form relies on command line switches to specify its input parameters. If you simply type in: MAXI <-- (note: in this documentation the symbol <-- is used to denote the "return" or "enter" key.) you will be greeted by an extended sign on message which gives the shareware registration details and a summary of the command line options. The general syntax for the command line options is: MAXI {drive:} [/3] [/H] [/L] [/8] [/T:xx] [/V] <-- Where: {drive:} is either A: or B: corresponding to the physical disk drive on which you wish to perform the formatting operation. Use of other drive letters will result in an error message. This parameter must be explicitly included. MAXI Form will not assume a default value for the drive. /3 is used to denote a 3.5 inch (720 k or 1.44 meg) disk drive. This will give an 800k disk or a 1.6 meg disk. (An 800k disk will be assumed unless /H is also used in a 1.44 meg drive). /H is used to denote a high density (1.2 meg) AT type 5.25 inch or 1.44 meg PS/2 type disk drive. This will give a 1.4 meg disk or 1.6 meg, respectively. (For a 1.6 meg disk, /H must be used in combination with the /3 switch.) /L is used to denote a 420k disk in a 1.2 meg drive. This should not be used in combination with the /3 or /H. /8 is used to denote an 800k disk in a 1.2 meg drive. This feature will format a normal double density 360k 5-1/4 inch disk to 800k when used in a 1.2 meg drive. In most cases, it must be used with the 80 track option of SMAX. /T:xx is used to specify the number of cylinders (xx) to format. The defaults are 42 cylinders for 360k, 5-1/4 inch drives; 82 cylinders for 1.2 meg, 5-1/4 inch drives and 80 cylinders for 3-1/2 inch drives. Changing this parameter will let you maximize disk storage space for specific hardware systems. (Some disk drives can handle more cylinders than others.) /V is used to denote a "format with verify". With this option, the 6 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- sectors on each track are written with test data just after the formatting to make sure that they are OK. A message will be displayed during the formatting cycle indicating if any tracks had detectable errors. Note that cylinder 0 is always tested for errors regardless of the setting of this switch. If errors are found on track 0, the formatting operation is aborted. /V will automatically re-try a format on a track up to 3 times before reporting an error. A format operation done without the verify option is considerably faster than one done with the verify option. The /3, /H, /L, /8, /T:xx and /V switches are optional. Spaces are not required between multiple switches. If only the drive letter is specified, then MAXI Form will default to a 420k disk with no verify. If an invalid command line option is specified, an error message will be displayed along with a summary of the valid options. EXAMPLES: Command line What it will do ---------------------+--------------------------------------------------- MAXI B: /3/H/V will format a 1.6 meg disk in drive B: (assuming the drive is a 1.44 meg, 3-1/2 inch drive) with verify on. MAXI A: /8/T:81 will format an 810k (81 cylinder), 5-1/4 inch disk in drive A:, assuming drive A: is a 1.2 meg drive. MAXI A: /L will format a 420k disk in drive A:, assuming drive A: is a 1.2 meg drive. MAXI B: will format a 420k disk in drive B:, assuming drive B: is a 360k drive. MAXI A: /H will format a 1.4 meg disk in drive A:, assuming drive A: is a 1.2 meg drive. Note: MAXI Form does not check to see what kind of drive is connected as the specified device. This allows you the flexibility of, for example, creating an 800k 5.25 inch disk in a 1.2 meg drive or an 800k disk in a 1.44 meg drive. DO NOT SPECIFY AN 80 TRACK DISK TYPE FOR A 40 TRACK (360K 5.25 INCH) DRIVE. THIS MAY CAUSE THE DRIVE TO PHYSICALLY JAM UP. 7 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Formatting Cycle When it is ready to go, MAXI Form will prompt you to insert a disk into the specified drive. It will display a message indicating the type of disk to be formatted, and in which drive. At this point, you can either insert the disk and press <-- to procede, or press the <escape> key to abort and return to the DOS prompt. As the disk is being formatted, the current cylinder and head being processed is displayed, along with a indication of the approximate percent completion. If the verify option was specified, indications of the number of media errors detected and the current re-try attempt (if re-tries are required on a given cylinder) are also given. When the formatting cycle is complete (i.e the required number of cylinders have been formatted, and the disk boot record data have been written), you will be asked to enter a volume label of 1 to 11 characters. (This is similar to the DOS FORMAT program with the /V option specified.) Type in the label, then press <--. If you do not wish to label the disk, press <-- alone. When the label has been written to the disk, MAXI Form will beep and prompt you for formatting additional disks of the same type in the same drive. 8 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Using SMAX.COM While DOS versions 3.2x and later can automatically handle the housekeeping required to access MAXI style extended capacity disks, the BIOS and hardware on many systems will not. SMAX.COM is a memory resident driver which is used to improve the compatibility of MAXI extended capacity disks with some combinations of hardware and DOS. It is not a true device driver in the conventional sense of DOS terminology. Rather, it is a simple TSR (terminate but stay resident) program which patches into the BIOS disk interrupt vector (interrupt hex 13) and changes the EOT (end of track, or last sector in a track) parameter to match the increased value of the MAXI extended capacity disks when it detects a disk read or write operation. * * * * SMAX may be freely copied and distributed to your friends for their PRIVATE, NON-COMMERCIAL use (so that they can read files which you may send them on MAXI formatted disks) provided that the copyright notice is not removed. Third party software developers or vendors wishing to include SMAX with their own commercial products require the prior written permission of Herne Data Systems along with a runtime distribution license. * * * * When to Use SMAX To determine whether or not you need to use SMAX with your system configuration, perform the following simple test. - Install SMAX on a cold system boot. - Format an extended capacity (420k/800k/1.4meg/1.6 meg) disk with MAXI Form. - Turn off SMAX or reboot your system without SMAX installed, then try to copy a number of relatively long files (eg. over about 20k bytes long each) to the new disk using the DOS COPY or XCOPY command or equivalent. - If you get an error message (eg. 'general failure reading drive ...' or 'sector not found') then you need to install SMAX to use the MAXI formatted extended capacity disks. 9 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * * * * If SMAX is required on your system, it should be installed BEFORE using MAXI for formatting the extended capacity disks and before reading or writing any previously formatted MAXI disks. This is most easily done by inserting the required command line into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. * * * * Installing SMAX To install SMAX automatically on a cold boot, type the following command at the DOS prompt (or insert the line into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file): SMAX <-- SMAX checks to see that you are using DOS 3.20 or later before installing itself. Once installed, SMAX remains resident in your computer's RAM and is active for all floppy drives on your system. The resident portion of SMAX requires only 512 bytes of memory. SMAX also accepts several command line options. These are: SMAX 0 Turns off SMAX so that it remains hooked into the interrupt 13h chain, but does nothing. If SMAX is not resident, an error message is displayed. Note that the '0' can be either the letter o (uppercase or lowercase) or the numeral zero. SMAX 1 Turns on SMAX that has been previously turned off with the 0 option. If SMAX is not resident, it is installed as for a first time installation. Note that the '1' can be either the letter i (uppercase or lowercase) or the numeral one. SMAX 40 Turns off the 80 track double density mode for 1.2 meg drives to allow them to access 360k/420k disks. SMAX 80 Turns on the 80 track double density mode for 1.2 meg drives. This allows 720k/800k 5-1/4 inch disks to be formatted and used in 1.2 meg drives with normal 360k DD media. On most systems, this feature is only supported for drives A: and B: due to BIOS limitations. In addition, it will also remove the ability for these drives to access 360k/420k disks. SMAX E Enables SMAX for secondary controlled drives. This is the default mode. 10 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SMAX N Disables SMAX for secondary controlled drives. The BIOS in some secondary floppy disk controller cards, such as those used with some external expansion drives, is not compatible with SMAX. This options allows SMAX to be used for internal, primary controlled drives, while not interfering with the use of secondary controlled drives. SMAX R Re-installs a previously un-installed copy of SMAX. This option re-hooks an existing copy of SMAX into the interrupt 13h chain without placing a new copy in memory. If SMAX is not resident, it is installed as for a first time installation. SMAX U Un-installs a previously installed copy of SMAX. This option removes SMAX from the interrupt 13h chain, thus deactivating it, but leaves the code resident in memory. If SMAX is not resident or it is not the last link in the interrupt 13h chain, an error message is displayed. SMAX ? Checks the current status of SMAX in memory, if present. If you attempt to install SMAX with no options specified (or with the ? option) when it is already resident, a status message will be displayed showing the currently active options. If you attempt to install SMAX with a command line option not listed above, you will get an error message. SMAX options can be changed at any time after it is resident in memory by running the appropriate command line. This will change the current parameters for the copy of SMAX in memory and will not result in another copy of SMAX being loaded into memory. Disabling SMAX SMAX will not normally interfere with the use of standard floppy DOS disks and it is completely transparent to hard disks. Both regular style DOS disks and MAXI extended capacity disks can be used interchangeably and transparently on any floppy drive in your system by most application software such as word processors, spreadsheets and databases. However, it is recognized that some programs, such as those which access the disk at the physical sector level or in an unconventional manner (including some hard disk fast backup utilities and some versions of the DOS FORMAT and DISKCOPY programs) do not work correctly with SMAX installed. For such cases, SMAX can be de-activated without re-booting the computer by using one of two command line options as summarized above: SMAX U <-- 11 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SMAX 0 <-- The U option will completely remove the SMAX code from the interrupt 13h chain and return everything to its previous state. The SMAX code remains resident in memory and can be re-activated later using the R command line option. The U option can only be used if SMAX is the last link in the interrupt 13h chain. This condition is required in order to be able to correctly re-establish the previous interrupt 13h chain. If SMAX detects that it is not the last link, it will display an error message telling you to use the 0 option instead. The 0 option will set a disabling flag within SMAX itself, without actually removing the code from the interrupt 13h chain. SMAX can then be re-activated using the 1 option when required. The 0 method is required when SMAX is not the last link in the interrupt 13h chain, since it does not disturb the existing chain. A special compatibility concern may arise when using two floppy disk controller cards: a primary card and a secondary or add-on card. The primary card may require SMAX to work correctly, while the BIOS in the secondary card (such as a CompatiCard, usually controlling external floppy drives) may become confused by SMAX. In this case, use the SMAX N option to disable SMAX for externally controlled drives. If you wish to install another interrupt 13h handler after installing SMAX, but wish to keep SMAX last in the chain, then the following procedure can be used: - Un-install SMAX with the U option. This releases SMAX from the chain, but keeps it in memory, and lets the other TSR hook in. - Install the other TSR. - Re-install SMAX with the R option. This re-links SMAX to the end of the interrupt chain. 80 Cylinder Double Density Mode The 1.2 meg disk drives used in AT class machines are capable of reading and writing 80 cylinders. Normally this feature is used only in high density mode (1.2 meg or 1.4 meg). However, in order to do this reliably, special (i.e. more expensive) high density (HD) diskettes are required. Some BIOSes will let you format and use 80 cylinder double density (DD) 12 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5-1/4 inch disks in 1.2 meg drives. However, most will not. With the 80 option of SMAX, you can take advantage of this to get up to 800k on a normal 360k double density disk with any BIOS! This is done by recording the data at the same bit density as normal 360k disks, but with twice the number of cylinders. In terms of reliability, the disks are just as reliable as 360k disks that have been formatted and used in 1.2 meg drives. Of course, the 80 cylinder DD disks will NOT be usable in 360k drives, but will be usable in the 80 cylinder DD, 5-1/4 inch drives used on some non- standard MS-DOS systems. The 80 option is not required if your BIOS normally supports reading and writing this disk type. To activate the 80 cylinder mode of SMAX, use the command line: SMAX 80 <-- (Because of limitations of BIOS flag storage areas, this feature is limited to drives A: and B: only. On most systems this is adequate because the standard AT type machine has only two drives with the 1.2 meg drive as A:.) The 80 cylinder mode will not affect normal 80 cylinder disks (i.e. 3-1/2 inch and 1.2/1.4 meg 5-1/4 inch). However, with the 80 cylinder mode activated, you will not normally be able to access 360k/420k disks in the 1.2 meg drive. To de-activate the 80 cylinder mode, use the command line: SMAX 40 <-- This will return the machine to normal 40 cylinder DD mode for 1.2 meg drives. 13 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Technical Details MAXI extended capacity disks work on the basis of creating a disk with extra sectors on each track, and extra tracks on each disk. On a normal DOS disk (e.g. 360k with 9 sectors per track), there is enough space on each track taken up with filler and padding bytes to provide another sector. Just by adding an extra sector per track, you can turn a 360k disk into a 400k disk. If you add a few more tracks (most modern disk drives are quite capable of getting more than 40 tracks), the capacity can be boosted to 420k or more! All of this occurs without data compression or encryption of any kind. We admit that some of the current generation of 'disk expanders' claim they can double the capacity of a disk. However, all of that is done with data compression. Such disks are not transportable (i.e. you cannot use them on another machine not equipped with the data compression board or software). Normal DOS disks and MAXI style disks can be used transparently and interchangeably on any system configured to use MAXI style disks. The main parameters for the MAXI style disks are outlined below. Other parameters (such as number of directory entries, allocation unit size, etc.) are the same as the corresponding standard DOS disk. DISK TYPE --------------------------------------------- PARAMETER 420k 800k 1.4 meg 1.6 meg -------------------------------------------------------------- sectors/track 10 10 17 20 default # tracks 42 80 82 80 # FAT sectors 2 3 9 10 sector interleave 1 1 1 1 --------------------------------------------------------------- 14 MAXI Form v 1.61 User Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM HERNE DATA SYSTEMS LTD: MAXI Disk: MAXI Disk is a deluxe menu driven version of MAXI Form. If you are confused by the vast array of difficult to remember DOS FORMAT command line options, MAXI Disk provides a convenient, easy to use menu interface for formatting standard DOS disks (360k/720k/1.2 meg/1.44 meg/2.8 meg) as well as the MAXI extended capacity disks, including bootable disks. (Bootable versions of the MAXI extended capacity disks may not work on all hardware/DOS configurations). MAXI Disk supports up to four floppy drives of any type, including the new 2.8 meg 3 1/2 inch types (with MAXI Disk, you can get up to 3.2 meg on a 2.8 meg disk). The default menu options are fully user configurable. Single user copies of MAXI Disk can be obtained for only $19.95 (US) or $22.95 (Canadian, including GST) (plus $2.00 shipping and handling for North American addresses, $4.00 for elsewhere. Ontario residents please add 8% provincial sales tax for a total of $26.79 CDN). Site licenses are available for $500.00 (US or CDN). MAXI Disk is also available in Australia and New Zealand for $34.95 (AUS) plus $3.50 shipping and handling from Brightspark Computers, PO Box 253, Morley, WA 6062, AUSTRALIA, phone (09) 375-1178. FreeForm: FreeForm is the ultimate menu driven floppy disk formatting utility which lets the user create a wide variety of MS-DOS and custom floppy disks with a PC, XT, AT or PS/2 compatible computer equipped with either 5-1/4 inch (360k or 1.2 M) or 3-1/2 inch (720k or 1.44 M) floppy disk drives. FreeForm gives the user complete control over all primary disk parameters such as sector size, sector numbering scheme, interleave factors and track ranges. In addition, customized disk formats can be created with up to three distinct user defined zones with different characteristics. These features can be used for DOS disk copy protection and data security as well as for creating non-DOS disks. Up to 100 sets of custom parameters can be stored in a default file for later recall and use by FreeForm. Single user copies of FreeForm are available for the price of $24.95 (US) or $27.95 (CDN) plus $2.00 shipping and handling. Payment for any Herne Data System product can be made by cheque, money order, or VISA credit card. Call, write or FAX for more information. Herne Data Systems Ltd., PO Box 250, Tiverton, ON CANADA N0G 2T0 Voice or FAX (519)366-2732 15