H Y P E R D I S K by H Y P E R W A R E V e r s i o n 4 Program and Document Copyright (C) 1987-1990 by Roger Cross. PRN# 150755-140287 CONDENSED MANUAL HyperWare License Agreement This software is protected by both United States copyright law and international treaty provisions. Therefore, you must treat this software "just like a book," with the following single exception. HYPERWARE authorizes you to make archival copies of the software for the sole purpose of backing up our software and protecting your investment from loss. By saying, "just like a book," HYPERWARE means that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it is being used at another. Just like a book that can't be read by two different people in two different places at the same time, neither can the software be used by two different people in two different places at the same time. You may not make copies of the software documentation or disk, except as described above. You may not distribute, rent, sub- license, or lease the software or the documentation. You may not alter, modify, or adapt the software or documentation, including but not limited to translating, decompiling, reverse assembling, or creating derivative works. You may not use the software in a network, timesharing, multiple CPU, or multi-user environment unless each user is licensed by HYPERWARE. Multi-user and multiple purchase agreements are available. HyperDisk Parameters You can control the operating characteristics of HyperDisk via the command line parameters that you specify during installation. Some parameters can be specified for installation only and may not be altered later. These are noted as "Installation Only." Other parameters may be changed at any time at the DOS command line or using batch files. Type: HYPERDK [parameters] and any parameters will be reset to the new specifications. Parameters which are not re-specified on this command line will remain unchanged. The parameters listed as "default values" are automatically selected by HyperDisk upon installation unless an alternative option is specified by you. H HARD DRIVES ONLY Set to cache only hard (fixed media) drives. F FLOPPY DRIVE CACHING Set to cache all drive types. Default setting. E ENABLE/UPDATE HYPERDISK Enable caching of the selected drive types. If caching is already enabled, any modified data will be written to the disk/diskette. Default setting. CONDENSED MANUAL D DISABLE HYPERDISK Disable caching of all drive types. You may enable it later via hotkey or command line. V VERIFY READ Verify the disk and/or diskette after each disk and/or diskette write. This replaces the DOS Verify command. You should NOT use DOS Verify with HyperDisk. N NO VERIFY Do not verify the disk and/or diskette after each write. Default setting. C:nn SIZE of HyperDisk Specifies the amount of memory (in K bytes) to initially install for the HyperDisk cache. For example, a value of 2048 means 2 megabytes. The cache size may be varied after installation using the /XC, /XD, and /XA options, but the size cannot become larger than the value set with the C:nn option upon installation. The default value for the 286 Advanced, 386 Advanced, Extended and Expanded models is all of the remaining memory. The default value for the conventional model is 128K. W WRITE THROUGH HARD Write all data through to the hard disk immediately rather than wait for the TIMER DELAY or BACKGROUND UPDATE. HyperDisk performance will be somewhat less than STAGED WRITE mode since HyperDisk must write data to the disk immediately, rather than waiting until the system is idle or the cache is full. Default setting. Q WRITE THROUGH FLOPPY Same as above except for floppy drives. Default setting. S STAGED WRITE HARD Delays writing hard drive data changes until the computer is idle, then writes all changes to disk. WARNING: See Appendix C before selecting this option. A STAGED WRITE FLOPPY Same as above except for floppy drives. WARNING: See Appendix C before selecting this option. T:nn TIMER DELAY When using STAGED WRITE, this parameter specifies the computer idle time before writing the modified HyperDisk cache data to disk. You may specify a value of zero (0) for a 500 millisecond delay. Units in seconds. CONDENSED MANUAL K HOTKEY ENABLE Enables or disables the use of HyperDisk's Hotkeys. /K or /K:+ enable the Hotkey functions. /K:- disables the hotkeys. K:aclr HOTKEY SHIFT STATES Allows you to alter HyperDisk's Hotkey shift states. Normally, the and keys must be depressed before you select a Hotkey letter. However, any combination of , , and may be used. Use only the first letter of the shift name. Example to select and specify: /K:cl M:nn MEDIA CHECK RATE Specifies the time period for floppy diskette media verification. Removable media devices (floppies) are checked periodically to confirm that the media in the drive still matches the media image in the cache. The default value is 3 seconds. Units in seconds. Z:nn SECTORS per BUFFER Specifies the number of sectors per cache buffer. A track is mapped to one or more buffers. This value is auto-selected by default. Z:0 specifies full-track caching. You may re-specify this parameter after installation, however for the extended memory models you cannot increase the sectors per buffers beyond that specified at installation. If you wish to experiment, install with full track buffering. Generally the auto-selected value will provide the best overall performance. XC:nn RESIZE CACHE BUFFER Re-size the cache buffers to nnK bytes. You cannot specify more memory than was originally installed. /XC without a numeric parameter will restore the cache to its start-up value. XD:nn DELETE CACHE BUFFERS Delete nnK of memory from the current cache buffer. Use this parameter in conjunction with /XA or /XC to adjust the cache buffer size for the best utilization of your system memory. Note for Conventional model: To obtain the best configuration of your system memory allocation map, install with the /XD parameter selected, also specify the largest cache size (/C:nn) you will desire at any time during the session. After the system has "booted" (all of your device drivers and TSRs are installed) run: d:>hyperdkc /XC This procedure allows you to install HyperDisk before any other TSRs, such as FASTOPEN. /XD without a parameter will allocate no memory to the cache buffers. CONDENSED MANUAL XA:nn ADD CACHE BUFFERS Add nnK of memory to the current cache buffer. You cannot specify more memory than was originally installed. Use /XA in conjunction with xd:nn to adjust the cache buffer size for the best utilization of your system memory. XF:file EXECUTE COMMAND FILE Directs HyperDisk to execute the commands contained in the designated "file," where "file" is a standard DOS path and file name. You can use this function to store common procedures or personalized caching properties. Create a file which contains the command line and parameters desired for a specific user or application. The command file may contain multiple lines and comment may be delimited by a semicolon. Example: d:>hyperdkc xf:c:\anyfile.ext Example anyfile.ext format: /eh:0 ;comment: enable only first hard drive /ot /oc ;comment disable command tone and change line /xb:9 ; update disk every 1/2 second XU UNINSTALL CACHE Attempts to uninstall HyperDisk from memory. After writing any pending updates to the disk, HyperDisk will release the cache buffers, restore the system interrupt vectors to the same as before it was installed and release the memory used by the program code and tables. If you installed other Device Drivers and/or TSRs after HyperDisk, which use the same vectors as HyperDisk the uninstall operation will fail and only the cache buffers will be released and the cache shutdown (i.e /XU acts the same as /XD). I:n FLUSH INDICATOR Allows you to select a "beep" indicator tone whenever HyperDisk is updating the modified data to disk. This is useful if you have a system that does not have a drive indicator light. Select a tone frequency, nn (in Hz) that you prefer. Default is disabled, I:0. Also see the "P" parameter. CONDENSED MANUAL P:nn FLUSH INDICATOR PERIOD Allows you to specify how frequently the FLUSH INDICATOR should sound, where nn is seconds. Example: p:5 will beep every 5 seconds during the update flush operation. R RESET HyperDisk HIT Will reset the HyperDisk Cache Hit percentage after the report is displayed. OR OVERRIDE REPORT Allows you to disable the output report that is normally generated whenever you execute HyperDisk from the command line. This option is useful if you are running HyperDisk from batch files and do not want the report to fill the screen. Also, specifying /OR:- will disable the installation report delay. OT OVERRIDE TONE Disables the acknowledgment tone. /OT or OT:+ disables the tone, /OT:- restores the tone. OK OVERRIDE DISPLAY METHOD Allows you to select the display method. HyperDisk normally displays data directly via the Video BIOS. /OK or OK:+ forces I/O directly to the Video BIOS, while OK:- forces DOS I/O. Alternately, the standard output device may be redirected to any device or file. Default is direct to Video BIOS. Example: c:>hyperdk ok:- HyperDisk will display the report via DOS Standard Output device. Example: c:>hyperdk >CON Output is redirected to CON (console) device. OK:nn OVERRIDE COLORS/ATTRIBUTES Allows you to select the Colors/Attributes for the Current Display. Color displays provide 16 foreground (text) colors to be applied on either 8 (CGA) or 16 (EGA/VGA) background colors. Monochrome display provide a variety of display attributes, some allow 2 or more intensities, underlining, blinking, etc. For CGA displays there are 120 useful combinations, EGA/VGA displays 240, Monochrome displays vary and are generally less than CGA. Value nn be entered in either decimal or hexadecimal formats. CONDENSED MANUAL Decimal example: c:>hyperdk ok:30 Hexadecimal Example: c:>hyperdk ok:x1E Both selects yellow text on blue background. Alternately, you may select the colors manually by specifying. Example: c:>hyperdk /OK:0. OKC:nn OVERRIDE COLORS ONLY Same as /OK:nn except, only Color Display attributes are affected. Useful for system with both monochrome and color displays. OKM:nn OVERRIDE ATTRIBUTES ONLY Same as /OK:nn except, only Monochrome Display attributes are affected. XI ENABLE ADVANCED UPDATE For AT, PS/2 and some XT class computers. Enables asynchronous update of the disk and diskette modifications. /XI:+ enables function, /XI:- disables. Default is enabled. XIH ENABLE ADVANCED HARD DISK UPDATE Same as above /XI, except affects hard disk drives only. XIF ENABLE ADVANCED FLOPPY UPDATE Same as above /XI, except affects diskette drives only. XP:nn BACKGROUND UPDATE PERCENT Specifies an upper limit on the percentage of modified buffers before updating the disk and diskette on every access. The oldest data (LRU data) will be update on each cache access until the modified buffer percentage falls below nn. Default is 75%. XB:nn BACKGROUND UPDATE TIME Specifies a upper limit on the age of the oldest modified buffer. After nn system timer ticks (55 milliseconds) update the oldest modified buffer to disk. The background update functions are most useful in systems which are seldom idle, such as network severs. Default is disabled (/XB:0). CONDENSED MANUAL XW CHECK REDUNDANT WRITE Check for redundant disk/diskette write operation. This function compares the write data to the current image being held in cache memory, if it is the same the update operation is not performed. Only diskette drives which support media change signaling are supported (720K, 1.2M, 1.44M, etc.). /XW or /XW:+ enables redundancy checking, /XW:-disables. Default is enabled. Note: HYPERDKX Model does not support this function. XWH CHECK REDUNDANT HARD WRITE Same function as /XW, except affects hard disk drives only. XWF CHECK REDUNDANT FLOPPY WRITE Same function as /XW, except affects diskette drives only. XS SHADOW RAM LOAD Load HyperDisk in Shadow RAM memory. If you have a Chips and Technologies NEAT 210 or 300 Series Chip Set based computer, or use a XMS type product that supports Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs) such as 386Max 4.03+. HyperDisk will load in this special memory using none of the lower 640K of conventional memory. Note for Chips&Tech. computers: HyperDisk attempts to load high in the E000:0000-FFFF memory area, therefore this area must not be used by other programs, adapters, ROMS or EMS memory banks! Additional options may be selected, however they relate to more system specific settings. They are listed below under the section, "Technical Control Options." Technical Control Options U EXPANDED MEMORY BUFFERING If you are using an EMS Emulator that does not support Direct Memory Access (DMA) to the EMS Memory Page Frame, or you are using a product which accesses the EMS memory asynchronously (some Networking products, some Print Spoolers, etc.) then do not alter the default configuration. However if you are sure than no other products access EMS asynchronously and do not wish to use the Advance Update mode (/XI), you can save some conventional memory (normally 8.5K) by deselecting this option /U:-. Default is enabled, installation only. EH:n:.. ENABLE SPECIFIC HARD DRIVES Allows you to enable only specified hard drives. n refers to the physical drive number starting with 0. You may specify as many drives as needed, each delimited by a colon. CONDENSED MANUAL EF:n:.. ENABLE SPECIFIC FLOPPY DRIVES Same as above except for floppy drives. DH:n:.. DISABLE SPECIFIC HARD DRIVES Allows you to disable the specified hard drives. n refers to the physical drive number starting with 0. You may specify as many drives as needed, each delimited by a colon. DF:n:.. DISABLE SPECIFIC FLOPPY DRIVES Same as above except for floppy drives. OH:nn HOTKEY VECTOR METHOD Provides direct control of the Hotkey Vector method. If your machine is a AT type machine, you may select either interrupt 09 or 15. Interrupt 15 is compatible with foreign keyboard support. If your application has conflicting key assignments you may disable HyperDisk Hotkeys by specifing OH:0. OB:nn BYPASS SECTOR SIZE Allows you to fine tune performance when using a small (32K) to medium (384K) cache size. Normally, this value is disabled by HyperDisk. Specify nn, in sectors, range: 0 to 128, to restrict the maximum sized block to be stored in the cache. Example: If you set ob:10, all transfer requests greater than 10 sectors will be passed on to the system BIOS and will not be stored in the cache. This option is useful if you are moving a large amount of data through a small cache in which the cache would immediately be flooded with new data before the previous data could be reused. Setting ob:0 will disable this option (default). OC MEDIA CHANGE SIGNAL Allows you to disable the diskette drive media change signal test. All diskette drives, other than 160/320/360K types, support a media change detection function. Basically, a signal from the drive indicates that the media latch has been opened or the diskette has been removed from the drive. By default, HyperDisk uses this signal to detect when a diskette has be changed. Use this option if you suspect that your diskette drive has an unreliable media change signal. /oc or oc:+ will disable Change Media signal testing; /oc:- enables it. Y DIAGNOSTIC DUMP Will create a diagnostic file on the current disk and directory of the resident HyperDisk program memory. The function is to aid in problem determination. CONDENSED MANUAL Advanced Models Only: HYPDK286.EXE or HYPDK386.EXE The following parameters are only available on 80286/80386 based machines using the Advanced 286/386 Extended Memory Models of HYPERDISK: G:n ADVANCED A20 GATE TYPE Installation only. In order for HyperDisk to access extended memory in the most effective way, a system address control signal, A20 Gate, must be controlled. The IBM AT used the 8042 keyboard processor for this task. However, this method proved to be interminably slow. Consequently, several computer manufacturers (including IBM when they introduced the PS/2 line) developed other methods to control the A20 Gate signal. Normally, HyperDisk will automatically search your system to determine the A20 Gate control method. If for some reason HyperDisk is not able to recognize the system, you may use this parameter to tell HyperDisk what type of computer you have. Specifying G:0 will disable the search and use the system BIOS transfer routines. Normally, these values are auto-selected by searching the machine for identifying features. If the identity is unclear, a system hang may result. If you encounter such problems, first try method g:2 (FastA20). If this method fails, use g:0, or switch to the Extended model HYPERDKX.EXE. The following table of values are applicable: 0 None, use BIOS 1 Standard AT-8042 method 2 Fast A20-8042, usable on most machines 3 PS/2 series 4 Dell 300 series, and others 5 Chips and Technologies Neat (212) Chip Set 6 QuadramXT 7 Inboard 386/PC 8 AT Micro-Channel Model 6 9 HP Vectra 10 AT&T 6300 Plus Methods are searched automatically from high (9) to low (0). See READTHIS file for additions. OG OVERRIDE A20 GATE EXIT (only for systems 2 and 9, above) Specifies that HyperDisk should only open the A20 Gate when it is being used. /OG:+ selects open A20 on demand, close on exit; /OG:- selects open on demand, leave open. If your application "Wraps 1 Megabyte" you should select /OG:+. This parameter is used with CP/M applications. Default is to leave A20 Gate open. CONDENSED MANUAL XM XMS MEMORY ALLOCATION MODE Requests HyperDisk to use the Extended Memory Manager for allocating extended memory buffers. If your system uses HIMEM.SYS (an XMS of Lotus-Intel-Microsoft-AST), HyperDisk will allocate and de-allocate memory using XMS. However, the memory transfer method itself will not utilize XMS unless you select the XT parameter as well. XM:- will de-select XMS memory allocation, and return HyperDisk to the default method, INT 15h Function 88. XT XMS MEMORY TRANSFER MODE Requests HyperDisk to use the Extended Memory Manager (XMS) allocation and memory transfer method. See the /XM parameter, above. Recommended for AT&T PCs.