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RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -1-
16th July 1992
RECON v6.11
(C) Copyright 1990-1992, Peter Ogden
CONTENTS
--------
Caution.........................................................2
Note to users of previous versions..............................2
Limit of liability..............................................2
Purpose.........................................................2
License information.............................................3
Files included in the RECON suite...............................4
Compatibility...................................................5
Setting up......................................................5
Installing user options in RECON................................8
Running RECON..................................................12
Sequence of events.............................................14
Companion programs.............................................15
ACTIVE......................................................15
BTIME.......................................................15
CHKBOOT.....................................................15
Trouble-shooting...............................................16
RECON.CFG corruption........................................16
Erratic mouse flashing......................................16
Error - insufficient memory for editor......................17
Error - unable to load editor...............................17
Error - unable to create temporary file.....................17
Error - unable to create RECON.TMP..........................17
Error - unable to open RECON.CFG............................17
Error - null #Name encountered..............................17
Error - un-named config file in RECON.CFG...................18
About RECON....................................................18
Acknowledgements...............................................18
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -2-
**************************** CAUTION ****************************
Users of Delayed Write disk caches should read this document
thoroughly before using RECON. If RECON is not set up correctly
there is a slight possibility of damage to data on you hard disk.
*****************************************************************
NOTE TO USERS OF PREVIOUS VERSIONS
REBOOT (last version 5.10) has had a name change to RECON for two
reasons. The major reason is due to the built in command of the
same name in 4DOS v4.00. This has caused problems for those
people using 4DOS that are unaware that the built in commands of
4DOS can be disabled. The other reason is that there are several
other programs called REBOOT being distributed by other people,
and I feel RECON is a cut above those!
LIMIT OF LIABILITY
RECON is distributed as-is. The author disclaims all warranties,
expressed or implied. The author will assume no liability for
damages either from the direct use of this product or as a
consequence of the use of this product. Further, the author
reserves the right to revise this publication and to make changes
from time to time in the content hereof without obligation of the
author to notify any person or organisation of such revision or
changes.
PURPOSE
As application programs become larger and more complex, conflicts
between programs become more and more common. Some programs
simply require a larger amount of memory than is normally
available. The simple solution is to reboot the computer with a
different (non conflicting, or low memory use) configuration.
The RECON suite of programs have been written to perform this
task, and to preserve the users environment as much as possible
across these reboots, and with special handling for 4DOS.
RECON can reboot the computer with a new CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT (and any other CONFIG files the user wishes updated)
selected from a list of choices (maximum of 128 configurations
allowed). Delayed write (also called staged write) disk caches
are catered for. For users of 4DOS 3.0 and above, the command
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -3-
history list can be written to a file before booting (if you
don't use 4DOS currently, you should try it). The various
configurations are kept in a single file (RECON.CFG).
Note: 4DOS is a shareware replacement (by J.P. Software) for the
MS/PC-DOS COMMAND.COM. It enhances the existing commands,
adds more than 40 new commands, scrollable command history,
and heaps more. If you work with DOS at the command line or
write complex batch files, you should be using it! 4DOS is
available on good BBS's all over the world.
LICENSE INFORMATION
RECON is the copyrighted property of Peter Ogden. You are granted
a limited license to use, copy, and distribute the RECON suite of
programs provided the following conditions are met:
A. Copying and distribution fees may not exceed fifteen (15)
Australian dollars.
B. RECON may only be distributed in its original, unmodified
state.
This software is distributed under the user supported software
concept. Though RECON is copyrighted, you are encouraged to copy
and distribute this program to others. The user supported
software concept (also known as "shareware") is an attempt to
provide quality software at low cost. Both the user and author
benefit from this plan. The user will benefit by being able to
"test drive" software thoroughly before purchasing it. The author
benefits by being able to enter the commercial software market
while avoiding the high cost of commercial distribution.
This concept helps many independent authors and small companies
that would otherwise be discouraged from developing and promoting
their ideas. It can only work with your support. If you obtain a
user supported program from a friend and you are still using it
after a few weeks, then it is obviously worth something to you,
and a contribution should be sent.
If you like this product and find it useful, a registration fee
of twenty (20) Australian dollars is required for continued use.
A twelve month instant update plan is available (new versions
mailed to you as soon as they are complete) for an additional
AUD$ 25.00. Site licenses are available at a reduced rate
(contact the author).
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -4-
For further information and registration, please send any
correspondence to:
Peter Ogden
C/- ESB Consultancy,
P.O. Box 2259,
Boulder,
Western Australia, 6432
or FAX: +61-90-93-2220
or, for information, bug reports, or suggestions (not
registration) Netmail at 3:690/643.5 (FidoNet).
The latest version of RECON and 4DDBU are available for free
download from ESB Consultancy's BBS: Algorithms Anonymous (24
Hours) on +61-90-93-3145 (2400 Baud Only, 8 bits, No parity, 1
Stop bit).
FILES INCLUDED IN THE RECON SUITE
ACTIVE.EXE Program that reports the active (current)
configuration.
BTIME.EXE Program that adds or updates the Date/Time line
in RECON.CFG. In combination with CHKBOOT,
allows conditional processing in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT (see also CHKBOOT.EXE).
CHKBOOT.EXE Program that reads the Date/Time line from
RECON.CFG, compares it to the current Date, and
returns a DOS error level depending on a
supplied condition.
EXAMPLE1.CFG An example config file (simple).
EXAMPLE2.CFG An example config file (peer to peer network).
EXAMPLE3.CFG An example config file (complex).
HISTORY.DOC Version history of RECON.
RECON.DOC This document.
RECON.EXE The main RECON program.
REGISTER.FRM Registration form.
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -5-
COMPATIBILITY
RECON should run on any IBM PC, PC/XT, AT, 386, 486 or close
compatible with at least 128K RAM (512K for editing functions),
single floppy disk drive, monochrome or colour display, MS/PC-DOS
version 3.0 or later, with or without a mouse. Screen writes are
direct to video RAM (or if DESQview present, via a shadow buffer)
for reasonable speed of display.
SETTING UP
First, a file (named RECON.CFG) containing all your different
configurations must be created (or one of the included examples
modified to suit) using a standard ASCII text editor, either from
within RECON or manually. The general form of this file is:
#Name = Config 1
{ }
{ Lines to be written to the CONFIG.SYS }
{ }
---
{ }
{ Lines to be written to the AUTOEXEC.BAT }
{ }
{--- }
{#FPath = ... } (optional, can be
{ Lines to be written another config file } repeated as many
{ } times as required).
#Name = Config 2
{ }
{ etc... }
{ }
The RECON.CFG starts with the name given to this configuration
(which MUST be unique). It is followed by the CONFIG.SYS lines
(as you would normally have them in DOS's CONFIG.SYS), followed
by a divider line (consisting of, at least, 3 dashes '-'),
followed by the AUTOEXEC.BAT lines (also exactly as you have them
in DOS's AUTOEXEC.BAT). Optionally, you may have other text based
configuration files (e.g. 4DOS.INI) included after other divider
line(s) (see FPath command below).
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -6-
RECON.CFG and RECON.EXE should be in directories that are in the
PATH or you will always have to change to that directory before
calling RECON.
Where possible, RECON allows comments to be included in the
RECON.CFG. To include a full line comment, the character in
column one of the line must be a semicolon (;) (see sample
RECON.CFG's). Any comments entered after the divider (on the same
line) are also ignored. Blank lines may also be included in
RECON.CFG (not written to the configuration files).
All commands for RECON begin with a '#' symbol (except the active
configuration as noted below), must begin in column 1, are
followed by space, an '=' symbol and another space.
e.g., #Name = QEMM 6.02
The command may be in any mixture of upper or lower case (i.e.
#NAME = , #Name = , #name = , are all equivalent).
The current, active configuration is marked by the use of an
asterisk (*) instead of the hatch symbol (#) as the first
character of a RECON special command. All the commands related to
the active configuration must begin with an asterisk (*) (see
example RECON.CFG's).
RECON currently has nine special commands:
#Name This is the only command that must be in the RECON.CFG
file. This indicates the beginning of a configuration and
the name to use in the pop up pick list. The maximum
length of the name is 60 characters (any characters after
this are ignored). Any characters may be used in a name
except the slash (/) character (which could be confused
with a command line option).
#Descr (Optional). Allows a single line description to be given
for each configuration (maximum of 80 characters). This
line is displayed at the bottom of the screen as you
scroll through the pick list. The first 40 characters are
written to the 4DOS DESCRIPT.ION file if it exists.
#Flush (Optional). This is the command line you would type to
flush the delayed write (also called staged write) disk
cache. If more than a single line command is required to
flush the cache, a batch file may be named. If you use
4DOS, this line can be a compound command (maximum of 255
characters).
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -7-
This line actually causes RECON to EXEC another copy of
the command processor, so in fact, you could get RECON to
perform almost any function before booting.
***************************** NOTE ******************************
If you use a delayed write disk cache, you MUST include the
#Flush line in every configuration that loads the cache, as
without it, the configuration may not be written to the disk
completely before the PC is rebooted. If this occurs, there is a
chance that the file allocation table (FAT) could be damaged,
possibly rendering the data on the disk unreadable. See example
configuration files for examples of how to set up PC-CACHE v6/7,
HYPERDISK and SMARTDRV v4.
*****************************************************************
#Hist (Optional). This command line gives the full path and
filename of the command history file to store the
command history for this configuration. This allows
multiple (separate) command histories to be kept for
unique configurations. If no #Hist line is included, no
attempt is made to save the command history. Currently,
only 4DOS command history is handled.
#Date (Optional, added by BTIME) This line is ignored by
RECON. The Date and Time are added to RECON.CFG by BTIME,
and tested by CHKBOOT. ACTIVE also reads this line and
will display the time and date of the last boot if a
valid time and date are found. The time and date should
not be manually entered (format is important).
#Defs, (Optional, added by Install option) These lines contain
#Defs2 all the customisation information (colours, defaults
etc.) that the user selects with the Install option. This
line should not be manually edited.
#Reg (Optional, added by Install/Register option) This line
holds the registration information for registered users.
This line should not be manually edited.
#FPath (Optional for CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, required for
any additional config files). This line must be the first
line in any configuration file. It allows the user to
override RECON's default of writing the configurations to
the root directory on the boot drive, and informs RECON
of where to write additional configurations (other than
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT). See example RECON.CFG's for
an example of how this is used.
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -8-
RECON creates the CONFIG.SYS by reading from the line immediately
after the chosen #Name command (ignoring comment lines and blank
lines) up to (but not including) the divider line. The
AUTOEXEC.BAT is likewise created by reading from the line
immediately after the divider to the next divider line, #Name
command or the end of file (always ignoring blank lines and
comments). Other configuration files included in RECON.CFG are
created in a similar manner to AUTOEXEC.BAT, but the name of the
file is obtained from a #FPath command.
The #Descr, #Flush and #Hist lines can be placed anywhere between
one #Name line and the next.
All modifications to the configurations should be made to
RECON.CFG (not directly to the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files).
The wrong flush command may be used if you change the type of
disk cache in the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT directly. If you
must modify or create a new CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT directly,
be sure to update the copy in RECON.CFG, AND be sure that the
special command lines start with asterisks (*) rather than
hatches (#) where necessary.
RECON makes use of temporary files to perform many of its
functions. As writing files can be slow, RECON can be forced to
write it's temporary files to a specified drive. RECON makes use
of one of several environment variables. The first environment
variable RECON looks for is RECONTMP. For example, if you have a
RAM drive which is set up as D:
SET RECONTMP=D:\
If the environment variable RECONTMP does not exist or the
directory pointed to by RECONTMP does not exist, RECON will then
check for the environment variable TEMP. If the environment
variable TEMP does not exist or the directory point to by TEMP
does not exist, it will attempt to use the current directory. If
this directory cannot be used (e.g. if you are on a network drive
that you have no write privileges to), RECON will use the root
directory of the drive that contains the AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS.
INSTALLING USER OPTIONS IN RECON
Once the RECON.CFG file is set up, you may install the user
options for RECON. This can be done by running RECON and then
pressing:
Alt-I (or clicking on Install on the help line)
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -9-
This will then show you a screen offering several sections you
may change. The options available include: setting the colours
used, entering registration information, set the disk that the
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT are to be written to, mouse
operation, toggle use of special reset code for the DEC PCSA LAN
cards on or off, whether to default to a cold boot rather than a
warm boot, main screen setup (display of help and registration
line and wallpaper optios), set the filename of the editor to use
when modifying the configuration file, and whether to beep when
writing of files is complete. This information gets written to
the RECON.CFG file.
Press F1 for a help screen giving a short explanation of each
function key in the installation screen.
To enter registration information, press F2, or click on the F2
icon with the left button (or right button if set to left handed
operation). This will present an input window with two input
fields. Press F1 to enter your name or company name (be sure to
enter the name with the same spelling as that given on the
registration form) and either press <Enter> when complete or
<Down-Arrow> to go directly to the registration number field.
Press F2 to enter the registration number, followed by <Enter> or
if you have made a mistake in the name, <Up-Arrow> will take you
back to the name field. Once you have entered the information
correctly, press <Enter> once more, or click on OK. The
registration information will then be checked for validity. If
the information entered is incorrect, an error message will be
displayed and you will be asked to re-enter the information. If
it is correct, you will be returned to the main installation
screen and your name and registration details should be
displayed.
F3 allows you to choose the default drive to have the
configurations written to. The #FPath command if used in the
RECON.CFG file allows you to override this, by specifying a full
path and filename.
The main screen colours can be modified by pressing F4. This will
present a full screen that will allow you to change all the
colours used on the picklist screen. In the top right hand corner
a small simulation of the pick list is displayed, showing what
the colours will look like. If you press one of the function keys
to set the colours used in warning or message windows, a
simulation of these types of windows will be displayed.
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -10-
To set a colour, press the function key that matches the colour
you wish to change, and then press the up and down arrow to
change the background colours, or the left and right arrows to
change the foreground colours.
Wallpaper colours can be changed in a similar manner to the other
colours except for one important difference: the special colour
black on black selects a multicolour wallpaper background.
Colour selections selected for RECON will also be used for
ACTIVE.
If you use Digital Equipment Corporations PCSA LAN with DEC
network cards, special reset code is required. Pressing F5 will
toggle whether this code is used or not.
F6 pops up the mouse setup window. This allows you to customise
the way the mouse behaves:
Pressing F1 toggles the Fast Reset code on or off. Fast reset
speeds up the initialisation of RECON. Fast reset is an
option because some applications leave the mouse in an
unstable state that requires a full reset. If the mouse does
not appear, or does not work correctly, turn this option off.
F2 allows you to set the repeat delay (the time in
milliseconds between repetitions when the mouse button is
held). The default value for this is 200 mS. If you make this
too short, double clicks will result if you cannot press the
button fast enough, or if you set this too long, the repeat
rate for scrolling may be too slow.
F3 allows you to step through four options for the mouse
cursor. The options are: Hidden - the cursor starts up hidden
until the mouse is moved and will re-hide if not used for a
period of time; Blinking - the mouse cursor is on and
flashing and will hide after a period of disuse; Non-blinking
- the mouse is a normal solid cursor that will not remove
itself; Off - the mouse is completely disabled. If you have
trouble with the mouse flashing erratically (some mouse
drivers have trouble with this function), or disappearing
while in use, set the mouse to Non-blinking, or if you do not
wish to use the mouse, to off.
F4 allows you to swap the left and right button functions.
Normally the left button is the accept key (normally
equivalent to the <Enter> key on the keyboard), and the right
button the abort key (equivalent to <Esc>). If you are left
handed, and wish to use the mouse, you may swap the function
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -11-
of these buttons (beware, the mouse button function is
swapped immediately F4 is toggled).
F7 toggles whether a cold boot or warm boot is performed. Some
machines with special devices may require a cold boot to
successfully reboot. The default is warm as this results in a
faster reset cycle.
F8 pops up the main screen setup window. This allows you to
change the main screen layout:
F1 allows REGISTERED users to turn off the top line on the
picklist screen showing registration information. Some
businesses like to display the registration status after
paying for the right, others would rather not have the line
displayed at all. The unregistered copies will always display
this top line as a subtle (?!) reminder that the user has not
paid their registration.
F2 toggles the alt key help line off or on for the picklist
screen. If you turn this line off, the mouse cannot be used
to select these functions, and the description line moves
down to the bottom line.
F3 toggles the background wallpaper on or off. Function keys
F4 and F5 have no effect if background wallpaper is turned
off.
F4 allows you to set the wallpaper message. This can be any
displayable characters up to 80 characters in length. An
interesting background can be made up from the extended
characters 219, 178, 177, 176 (Hold the ALT key down and type
the three digit number on the number pad and release the ALT
key).
F5 allows you to change the number of characters each
subsequent line is offset from the last.
F9 toggles beeping at completion. This allows an audible
indicator of when RECON has completed writing its files. Choose
from None (no beeping), Always (always beeps at completion), or
Down Only (only beep if using the /D switch).
F10 allows you to configure RECON to use your favourite editor
rather than DOS's EDLIN. The editor filename entry can be entered
in one of three ways. If the editor can be found via the DOS
PATH, only the file name of the program is required (e.g. EDLIN).
If the editor to use is not in the path, then the full path,
filename and extension may be entered (e.g. C:\SYS\EDLIN.COM).
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -12-
Thirdly, you may enter a 4DOS alias. This last method requires
the command processor to be loaded (using up some extra memory)
and masks any errors that have occurred. Wherever possible the
most reliable way of enabling the editor option is to give the
full path. Most editors should be able to load in the memory
available, though an error message will be displayed if there is
insufficient memory to load.
Pressing Escape (or the right mouse button) at any time before
pressing Enter (or the left mouse button) to accept the setting
will abort the configuration without making any changes. The
mouse is fully functional throughout the configuration program,
with the left button being the 'accept' key (equivalent to the
'ENTER' key on the keyboard) and the right button the 'abort' key
(equivalent to the 'ESCAPE' key).
RUNNING RECON
RECON can be run in two ways:-
RECON
or RECON Name
If RECON is typed without specifying a name, a pick list will
appear on screen of the configurations defined in RECON.CFG. If a
name is given, the corresponding configuration is immediately
written and the computer rebooted.
The pick list allows the user to scroll through the
configuration names using the arrow keys (if more than 15
configurations exist, there is a 15 line window, and an elevator
bar will appear). If a mouse driver is loaded, a configuration
can be chosen by pointing to the required configuration and
clicking the left button once to select, and again to execute.
Alternately, pressing the first letter of the required
configuration will move the cursor bar to the next configuration
that begins with this letter. When the highlight is on the
required configuration, pressing Enter will start the write/boot
sequence. Pressing Escape, or the right mouse button, or the left
mouse button while on the Close Button (top left of pick list
border) any time before pressing Enter, or the left mouse button,
will abort without writing anything and without booting the
computer.
While in the pick list, six hot keys are available to edit the
configurations (listed on the bottom line of the screen if the
help line is enabled). Three hot keys add new configurations:
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -13-
Alt-A: Add new configuration. Allows user to add new
configuration by defining from scratch.
Alt-C: Copy the highlighted configuration and modify. Allows
the user to take a copy of an existing configuration and
modify it to suit.
Alt-G: Grab existing configuration and modify. Allows user to
take the existing CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT and create a
REBOOT.CFG entry from them. This entry is without #Flush,
#Desc commands etc, the user should add these.
Alt-E allows you to Edit an existing configuration. Alt-D allows
deletion of an existing configuration. Alt-M allows the
configurations to be moved, allowing the user to sort the
entries.
The RECON command can also be followed by any of the following
nine switches:
/H and /? (Help) both give a short description of RECON and
the switches available.
/N (No boot) informs RECON to write the configuration files
without booting, allowing you to boot with this different
configuration at a later time. This option should be used with
caution, subsequent use of RECON will use the updated
configurations cache flushing command and history updates,
which may not be consistent with the active items. See also
/D.
/T (Test first) only writes configuration and reboots if the
chosen configuration is not the current configuration.
/C (Cold boot) forces a cold boot regardless of the installed
setting.
/W (Warm boot) forces a warm boot regardless of the installed
setting.
/R (Return to directory) will return you to your current
directory after the configuration change. This is performed by
temporarily appending three lines: Drive Name, CD Directory
Name, RECON /A XXXX (where XXXX is the chosen configuration)
which changes to the appropriate drive and directory and
finally updates AUTOEXEC.BAT to remove these lines.
/A (Autoexec only) is a special command that only writes the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The main use for this switch is by /R.
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -14-
/D (Down) causes RECON to write the selected configuration,
updating AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS (if necessary), updates
the History file, and flushes the cache in readiness for
shutting off the computer (putting it down).
Note: the cache is not flushed if the /N or /A switches are used.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
RECON will perform the following sequence of events once the
configuration has been selected and the Enter key is pressed (or
if the configuration is given on the command line):
1. RECON.CFG is scanned for the chosen configuration.
2. If /A (Autoexec Only) is NOT given on the command line the
CONFIG.SYS is written.
3. The AUTOEXEC.BAT is written.
4. If /R is given on the command line then three lines are added
to the AUTOEXEC.BAT (Drive, CD Current Directory, RECON /A
XXXX where XXXX is the chosen configuration).
5. Any other configurations included in RECON.CFG (after
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT) are written.
6. Active markers are updated in RECON.CFG (*'s replace #'s for
active config).
7. If /N (no boot) is NOT given on the command line, the
following are performed:
8. If a #Hist line is found in this configuration, the 4DOS
history is saved to the file name listed and duplicates
are removed.
9. If a #Flush line is found in this configuration, the disk
cache is flushed using this command.
10. If /D (Down) is NOT given on the command line, the
following are performed:
11. If DEC PCSA LAN resetting required (enabled in
installation), the LAN card is reset.
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -15-
12. If /W is given on the command line, a Warm boot is
performed, if /C is given on the command line, a
Cold boot is performed, otherwise the PC is booted
using the default booting method selected with the
installation option.
COMPANION PROGRAMS
Three companion programs should be included in this package:
ACTIVE:
This is a program that reports the active configuration, and
various system information. It shows the operating system in
use, and the configuration name as listed in RECON.CFG. Any
description line included in RECON.CFG for this
configuration is displayed on the bottom line of the screen.
An errorlevel is returned dependent on the key pressed to
exit the program. The errorlevel returned is ascii value of
the uppercase of the key (Y = y = errorlevel 89).
BTIME:
This small program reads the current time and date from DOS
and writes it to the first line of RECON.CFG. This should
only be run from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, as its function is
to indicate the approximate time and date the computer was
last booted. CHKBOOT should be called before BTIME updates
the time in RECON.CFG. If the computer requires a program to
be run to set the DOS time, then BTIME should be run some
time after the timer program. Type "BTIME /?" (without the
quotes) for a short explanation of how to use BTIME.
CHKBOOT:
This program compares the current time and date against
the time and date set by BTIME in the RECON.CFG file and
returns an errorlevel dependent on conditions supplied on
the command line. CHKBOOT has five switches to control the
comparison of time and date:
/F (default) returns an errorlevel of 1 (true) if
this is the First boot of the day, or an
errorlevel of 0 (false) if not. This switch may
be omitted from the command line.
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -16-
/A:HH:MM returns true if the current time is After
(greater than or equal to) the time given as
HH:MM.
/B:HH:MM returns true if the current time is Before
(less than) the time given as HH:MM.
/D:DDD returns true if the current day is DDD (i.e.
Mon, Tue, etc.), AND it is the first boot of
the day. Can be used for once a week bootup
procedures.
/M:NN returns true if the current day of the month is
NN (i.e. 1 for the first of the month, 30 for
the 30th of the month, etc.), AND it is the
first boot of the day. Can be used for once a
month bootup procedures.
If an error occurs, then an errorlevel of 255 will be
returned. See the example RECON.CFG's for typical usage of
BTIME and CHKBOOT. Type "CHKBOOT /?" (without the quotes)
for a short explanation of how to use CHKBOOT.
TROUBLE-SHOOTING
RECON.CFG corruption:
If you are having trouble with RECON corrupting its RECON.CFG
file, there is a good chance you are using a disk cache that
delays writing to the disk. If so, there MUST be a #FLUSH command
in the RECON.CFG file that will flush or disable the cache. If
you are using a delayed write disk cache, and you have a #FLUSH
line, check that the cache program is either in the PATH, or the
full filename and path of the cache flush command is given (an
error should be displayed if the file cannot be found, but may
flash by so quickly that it is not noticed). See the example
#FLUSH commands in the example configurations.
Erratic mouse flashing:
Some mouse drivers are unable to react fast enough to flash the
mouse cursor on and off while still being active. The Logitech
mouse driver version 5.01 is known to cause some trouble in this
regard. Turn the mouse option to Non-Blinking or Off if problems
do occur. You may have to exit from RECON and restart.
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -17-
Error - insufficient memory for editor:
RECON remains resident in memory while the editor is called. If
this error occurs, remove as many memory resident programs as
possible to free up sufficient memory for RECON and your
favourite editor.
Error - unable to load editor:
This error message is not the same as the last. If this error
occurs, it is probably because the editor has not been correctly
specified in the installation. Where possible, the full path and
file name should be supplied for RECON to find the editor.
Error - unable to create temporary file:
This error message should only occur if there was a write error
while attempting to create it's temporary files. This could be
caused either by hardware problems, or a file already exists with
the same name (this is very unlikely as DOS's create unique file
is used to create temporary files).
Error - unable to create RECON.TMP:
When using the editing functions, RECON attempts to create a file
called RECON.TMP (a temporary file that is merged back into
RECON.CFG when you finish editing). If this error occurs, check
to see that there is not another file of this name in the
directory pointed to by one of the environment variables RECON
makes use of (RECONTMP or TEMP), or if no environment variable
exists, the current directory or the root directory of the drive
containing AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS.
Error - unable to open RECON.CFG:
This error message may occur if the RECON.CFG file is not in a
directory specified by the DOS PATH. Another possibility is that
the RECON.CFG file has been marked Read Only. RECON requires
read/write access to update RECON.CFG, remove the Read Only
attribute (ATTRIB -R RECON.CFG).
Error - null #Name encountered:
This may occur if you manually edit the RECON.CFG file and enter
a #Name = line without actually specifying a name. The #Name is
required for each configuration, and each must be unique. At this
point in time, RECON will not detect duplicate names and display
both in the pick list, though only the first configuration will
be written if either of the configurations is chosen.
RECON v6.11 User Manual Page -18-
Error - un-named config file in RECON.CFG:
This error will occur if you include extra (i.e. other than
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT) configurations in your RECON.CFG and
forget to include the #FPath command to tell RECON where to place
this configuration file. Add the #FPath command to the first line
of the additional configuration file (immediately after the
divider line). This may also occur if you add an extra
(unnecessary) divider line after the AUTOEXEC.BAT configuration
section - remove the extra divider line.
RECON may report other error messages, though those not covered
here should not occur unless some sort of hardware related
problem occurs (bad sectors on the hard disk, etc.). If an error
occurs that is not covered here that is not immediately obvious,
and you do not believe should have occurred, please send me a
copy of your RECON.CFG file, along with a note explaining the
conditions under which the error can be duplicated, to the
address noted above or via Fidonet Netmail to 3:690/643.5.
ABOUT RECON
For those that are interested, the RECON suite was written using
Turbo Pascal 6.0 (no matter what anyone else says, this is the
best version yet!) and Turbo Assembler 2.0, with assistance from
Turbo Debugger and Turbo Profiler. The unit libraries were
written by Glenn Crouch and Peter Ogden. The author would like to
thank Glenn Crouch, Graham Clark and Jason Cowie (beta tester
extraordinaire) for their patience and thoroughness in beta
testing RECON and its associated programs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
4DOS is a registered trademark of J.P. Software.
MS-DOS is copyright by Microsoft.
PC-DOS is copyright by IBM.
PC-Cache is copyright by Central Point Software Inc.
Hyperdisk is copyright by Roger Cross.
QEMM and DESQview are copyright by Quarterdeck Office Systems.
DEC and DEC PCSA are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
LZEXE is copyright by Fabrice Bellard.
PKLite is copyright by PKWare.
Turbo Pascal, Turbo Assembler, Turbo Debugger and Turbo Profiler
are copyright by Borland International.
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