README.GBR for ATonce-Software version 3.0 - October 1990 ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION IN THIS FILE MUST BE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE THE AT-EMULATOR IS PUT INTO OPERATION FOR THE FIRST TIME ============================================================================= This file contains the following information: 1. Contents of the ATonce System Disk 2. The ATonce Installation Program INSTALL.PRG 3. The Utility Programs CGA, MDA, V400, INVERS 4. The Utility Programs SSCR and HSCR 5. The Utility Programs VHIGH and VLOW 6. Special key-combinations and their function 7. ATonce and MicroSoft WINDOWS 3.0 8. The DOS DMA-Interface 9. Speed-Bridge and ATonce 10. proVME HyperCache and ATonce 11. ATonce and Autoswitch Overscan 12. The Multi-Atari-Manager "HyperSwitch" 13. Trouble Shooting 1. The system disk contains the following files and folders: ------------------------------------------------------------ Root-directory: ATONCE.PRG - AT-Emulation program INSTALL.PRG - Installation program for ATonce. (ATONCE.PRG must be in the same directory!) INSTGER.RSC - Help file for INSTALL.PRG (German) INSTGBR.RSC - ----"---- (English) README.GER - this file (German) README.GBR - ----"---- (English) UPDATE.GER - About the installation of a software upgrade (German) UPDATE.GBR - ---"--- (English) Folder LASER: PDRV_DB.OVR - Overlay for laser printer SLM804 see LASER.GBR PDRV_FX.OVR - Overlay for laser printer SLM804 see LASER.GBR LASER.GER - Information about the use of the laser printer SLM804 (German) LASER.GBR - ---"-- (English) Folder TOOLS: HDT.SYS - Device driver for hard disk partitions EMM.SYS - Expanded Memory Emulator (EMS 1.0) CONFIG.SYS - Example for a MSDOS configuration file CGA.EXE - switches to CGA Video Emulation MDA.EXE - switches to Hercules Emulation (SM124 only) V400.EXE - switches to Olivetti/T3100 Emulation (SM124 only) INVERS.EXE - switches the monitor from normal- to inverted display and vv. (SM124 only) VHIGH.EXE - switches on long VBL pulse VLOW.EXE - switches on short VBL pulse ACSI.H - Includefile for the DOS DMA-Interface DEMO.ASM - small demo program for the use of the DMA-Interface DEMO.EXE - executable program GEMDOS.EXE - leave the AT-Emualtor - back to TOS-operation HCON.EXE - enable HyperCache HCOFF.EXE - disable HyperCache SSCR.EXE - switches on SoftScroll HSCR.EXE - switches on HardScroll CLICK.EXE - switch keyclick on/off Folder HYPERSWI.TCH: SWITCH.ACC - Accessory for HyperSwitch SWITCH.RSC - Help file for SWITCH.ACC HSWITCH.OVR - Help file for SWITCH.ACC 2. The ATonce Installation Program INSTALL.PRG ----------------------------------------------- This Program is a GEM application and makes it very easy to set all the important operating parameters of the AT-Emulator. After the start-up the following main menu appears: DESK File Option Country as sub-menu you will find: DESK File Option Setting the Quit Keyboard ---------- Keyboard Parameter ! Floppy ------------ Floppy Disk Parameter ! Harddisk --------- Allocation of the TOS Partitions ! Mermory/Mouse ----- Extended/Expanded Memory/Mouse ! Graphic Emul. ----- Graphic Parameter ! Color 40x25 ----- Color Selection (SC1224 only) ! Color 80x25 ------- -----------"------------ ! Color Graphic ----- -----------"------------ ! +------------------------------- Quit the installation program (1) Keyboard - Choose between German and ASCII keyboard - Set the key repeat rate - Set the keyboard response delay (2) Floppy - Allocation of the physically existing drives to the DOS drives A and B. - Setting of the step rate of a possibly existing external 5.25" floppy drive (please note that some 80 track drives can be switched to 40 track mode, but that in this case the step rate must be reduced (e.g. to 12 msec). - If this possibly existing external 5.25" drive is a 40 track drive this must also be set, as otherwise the emulator bios assumes that an 80 track drive is connected up and it will therefore create double steps when 360kB floppy disks are used. - With the box "HD" you can decide whether you want to use High Density Floppy drives - 3.5" 1.44MB or 5.25" 1.2MB. (3) Hard Disk - Free allocation of up to 24 TOS partitions to DOS drives. The following points must be taken into consideration: a.) DOS can only be booted from the DOS-drive A or C. b.) Only TOS partitions with a maximum of 512 Bytes/Sector will be accepted. c.) It is your own responsibility that each TOS partition is assigned to one single (!) DOS drive. d.) If you want the system to boot from the DOS drive C, then this drive must be formatted under DOS with FORMAT C:/S This process will delete all data on the relevant TOS partition. e.) Never use FDISK or similar programs. f.) The DOS drives E,F etc. will only stand by if you declared the device driver HDT.SYS in the MSDOS configuration file CONFIG.SYS before. Simply add the command: DEVICE=HDT.SYS Naturally HDT.SYS must be copied into the DOS boot drive before. (If there are any other device driver declaration before this command in CONFIG.SYS - e.g. RAMDisk etc. - then the additional DOS drives will only apprear from a higher drive label on. - You can choose between three different boot modes: a.) Floppyboot: Here the operating system is always booted from floppy disk. The system will ask you to insert a DOS boot disk. b.) Harddiskboot: The operating system boots from the DOS drive C without any attempts of the system to boot from a floppy before. WARNING: This mode should only be selected if you can indeed boot from drive C. c.) Floppy/Harddiskboot: The system will first try to boot from drive A. If this is not possible it will try drive C. Mode b.) has the advantage that the boot process is rather fast because the system does not even try to boot from the floppy disk drive. Mode c.) equals the boot behaviour of a PC/AT compatible computer. - If you solely want to use TOS partitiones of the GEM type, then this can also be selected. - Further information about the allocation of TOS partitions to DOS drives: In order to be able to always map the same TOS partitionen to the corresponding DOS drives we chose the proceedure of the direct physical allocation, this means that not the logical but the physical TOS partitions will be allocated. Here is one example to make this clearer: +--------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+ ! Atari !-------! Hard Disk 1 !--------! Hard Disk 2 ! +--------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+ Adapter 0 Adapter 1 2 Partitions 3 Partitons DOS drive TOS partition/adapter Meaning C 1/0 2nd partition on hard disk 1 D 2/1 3rd partition on hard disk 2 E 0/0 1st partition on hard disk 1 F 1/1 2nd partition on hard disk 2 The partitions on each hard disk are numbered from 0 to N-1. This allocation proceedure has the great advantage that the DOS drives are always allocated to the correct TOS partitions, even if for example another hard disk is connected to the system (assuming that the adapter numbers were not changed !). - In the column MD you can decide whether the corresponding partition is TOS compatible or not. If you want to use "DR DOS" or if you want to have under MSDOS partitions that are larger than 32MB you have to click on the "C" so that it is light gray. Partitions that are not TOS compatible must be prepared with FDISK and FORMAT under DOS. (4) Memory/Mouse - If your Atari contains more than 1MB memory the additional memory (above 1MB) can be used as extended memory. From this extended memory in turn a part can be reserved for the expanded memory emulator EMM.SYS. Example: Mega ST4 - 3072 kB additional memory e.g. 2000 kB Extended Memory 1072 kB Expanded Memory In order to be able to use the expanded memory the expanded memory emulator EMM.SYS must be loaded. Just enter the command DEVICE=EMM.SYS into the MSDOS configuration file CONFIG.SYS. Naturally EMM.SYS must be copied onto the DOS boot drive before. - The Atari Mouse can be used as Microsoft Mouse under DOS. You can choose whether COM1 or COM2 (or none) is used for the emulation. Then the serial interface is always on the corresponding other COM port. In order to be able to use the Atari Mouse as Microsoft Mouse a mouse driver must be loaded. Any Microsoft compatible driver can be used. e.g. enter the command DEVICE=MOUSE.SYS into the MSDOS configuration file CONFIG.SYS. Naturally MOUSE.SYS must be copied onto the DOS boot drive before. (The mouse driver is not part of the delivery of vortex ATonce!) (5) Graphic Emulation The user must always distinguish between the Atari monochrome (SM124) and the Atari color (SC1224) monitor. - on the color monitor only CGA emulation is possible. - on the monochrome monitor you can choose between several emulations. In addition you can choose between inverted and normal display. The low- and high intensity text displays of the AT are emulated through two different fonts, the low and the high font. You have the choice between running the emulation in this way (L & H) or using only one of the two fonts for the low and high intensity text displays. - On the monochrome as well as on the color monitor you have the possibility to switch the attribute on or of. As the video emulation is fully software controlled it is sensible to switch this attribute off if programs are used which display the complete contents of the screen blinkingly. - If the Atari has a Blitter chip it can be used under DOS to accelerate the graphic video output. (6) Color Assignment This option is only available on the Atari color monitor SC1224. Through the sub-menu Country ATonce can be switched to the correct language. 3. The Utility Programs CGA, MDA, V400, INVERS ---------------------------------------------- It is often useful to be able to change the video emulation without having to leave DOS before (in order to configure ATonce anew). The settings determined in these programs are RESET-proof, which means that even after pressing the reset-key or ALT-CTRL-DEL they remain valid. CGA: Switch to CGA video emulation V400: Switch to Olivetti/Toshiba video emulation MDA: Switch to Hercules video emulation INVERS: Switch to invers video - also possible by pressing simultaneous the Left-Shift and the Undo-Key. 4. The Utility Programs SSCR and HSCR ------------------------------------- The emulation of the PC text modes is rather time consuming. Here, too, we have tried our best to squeeze everything possible out of the Atari. In order to give you several possibilities here we have implemented two scroll modes. - the SoftScroll, which performs a regular and continual Scroll, but takes a little more computing time. and - the HardScroll, which scrolls a little "jumpier", but which is therefore considerably faster. The default setting after the start-up of ATonce is SoftScroll. The selected setting is reset-proof. 5. The Utility Programs VHIGH and VLOW -------------------------------------- In order to guaranty a flicker-free screen display some programs synchronize their accesses to the video RAM to the vertical blank of the video controller (VBL). They may be waiting here for a certain length of the VBL impulse. As the video part is emulated by the ATonce through software it is not possible to create a one-to-one copy of the VBL pulse. The default setting is VLOW, meaning a short VBL impulse. If a program "hangs" after the start up it might be that it is waiting in an endless loop for a long VBL impulse. In this case reset ATonce and start the program VHIGH before restarting the other program. (One program where this is the case is e.g. the Editor from Norton Utilities NE.COM). VLOW and VHIGH are not reset-proof. After the reset the video part is always in a state that equals VLOW. 6. Special key-combinations and their function ---------------------------------------------- Help - Move Hercules Graphic Screen to the left. Undo - Move Hercules Graphic Screen to the right. Left Shift + Help - Keyclick on/off. Left Shift + Undo - Inverted video on/off (only SM124). Left Shift + Alternate + Undo - Switch back to GEM-DOS (same function as GEMDOS.EXE). Alternate + help - If HyperSwitch is active you can switch with this key-combination back to the "last" ST computer. Left Shift + "*" in the numeric block - If the SLM804 is active this key-combination prints a hardcopy of the screen. 7. ATonce and MicroSoft Windows 3.0 ----------------------------------- Since ATonce is a true AT-Emulator the so called Protected Mode is fully supported (this mode is also known as Virtual Mode). Windows 3.0 is one of the few programs which allows you to use the extended memory of an AT machine as program memory. Advices for the installation of Windows 3.0: - You need a ST with more than 1MB RAM (e.g. Mega ST4) to run Windows 3.0 in Protected Mode. - Install with INSTALL.PRG the size of the extended memory you want to use. e.g. 3072KB when using a Mega ST4 computer. - Insert in the DOS configuration file CONFIG.SYS the HIMEM.SYS driver which comes with Windows 3.0 (version 2.60 or larger). DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS You can use EDLIN to insert this line. - If you use the SM124 monitor choose the "Olivetti/AT&T monochrom .." adapter in the Windows 3.0 setup program. - Before you start Windows 3.0 you must start V400 or you have to install the Olivetti mode with INSTALL.PRG as the ATonce startup video emulation. - WIN loads Windows 3.0 in the Protected Mode, WIN /R loads Windows 3.0 in the Real Mode. 8. The DOS DMA-Interface ------------------------ Under DOS there is a direct interface to the Atari DMA channel (ACSI) available. This interface can for example be used to integrate your own hard disk driver. The definition of the interface can be looked up in the file ACSI.H, the correct use is explained in the program DEMO.ASM. 9. Speed-Bridge and ATonce -------------------------- ATonce does not work together with the Speed-Bridge for the PC-Speed. For the installation without soldering into the MEGA ST and the STE we have developed two plug-in adapters for the ATonce. 10. proVME HyperCache and ATonce -------------------------------- ATonce should also run together with the HyperCache of proVME without any problems. Please note the following points during the installation: (1) Another 64pin socket must be soldered onto the ATonce: Side view onto the ATonce PCB: Side with components ========= <-- Socket ! ! ! ! ! ! ! --> . . . . . . . . . . . v ! =================================== ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! <---- Pins ! ! solder here The soldering must be done extremely carefully. Great care must be taken that there are no unwanted "bridges" or shorts between two pins. This extended ATonce PCB is plugged into the socket on the ST motherboard. (This socket was build in for the installation with HyperCache instead of the 68000 CPU!) (3) Now plug the HyperCache into the socket which was soldered onto the ATonce as discribed in (1). (4) Ready. Note: We found that in some STs there may be a conflict between the Hyper- Cache and the Blitter. These problems have nothing to do with the ATonce! We recommend to switch off the Blitter whenever you want to work with HyperCache. IMPORTANT: ATONCE MUST NOT BE PLUGGED INTO THE 16 MHZ 68000 CPU OF THE HYPERCACHE !! You will find two programs in the folder TOOLS which enable you to switch the HyperCache on (HCON.EXE) or off (HCOFF.EXE) under DOS. 11. ATonce and Autoswitch Overscan ---------------------------------- On the monochrome monitor SM124 during the Hercules graphic emulation ATonce also supports the AutoSwitch-OverScan graphic expansion of OverScan GbR. However, this must already be active before ATonce is started. Under DOS ATonce switches OverScan on and off automatically. IMPORTANT: PLEASE NOTE THAT IN CASE YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE ATARI LASER PRINTER SLM804 UNDER DOS THE HARDCOPY-FUNCTION WILL NOT BE WORKING CORRECTLY UNDER THE HERCULES GRAPHIC MODE. THIS IS BECAUSE THE LASER PRINTER DRIVER (NO MATTER IF IT IS SDUMP.PRG OR SLM804.ACC) WILL NOT SUPPORT THE OVERSCAN MODE. IF YOU USE HYPERSWITCH OVERSCAN MUST NOT BE ACTIVE ! 12. The vortex Multi-Atari-Manager "HyperSwitch" ------------------------------------------------ HyperSwitch is a useful utility if you wish to work fast and practically simultanously with several operating systems on an ST computer. With the aid of HyperSwitch up to 8 "logical" ST computers can be started on one "physically" existing Atari ST. Through an accessory in GEMDOS and a special key combination in MSDOS you can switch quickly between one logical Atari, the operating system running there and the application running in this operating system, and another logical Atari, the operating system and the application running there. The minimum precondition for the use of HyperSwitch is a Atari ST computer (with vortex ATonce installed) with at least 512KB RAM (in this case in addition to the Atari you need a hard disk with 20MB or more). If the total RAM-size of all logical ST computers is larger than the physically available RAM the status data of the logical STs are swapped to the hard disk. The switch-time depends on the RAM size and the storage capacity of the physical ST computer as well as the number and RAM size of the logical STs and is normally not longer than a few seconds. The following example explains the functioning of vortex HyperSwitch: You have decided to install 3 logical STs on your physical ST computer. On the first ST you are running WORD5 (under MSDOS4.01) where you edit your text. On the second ST you are using the text-editor TEMPUS (under GEMDOS) and finally on the third ST you are using the MicroSoft Flightsimulator (also under MSDIS4.01). With a special key-combination you can switch now directly from the position in the text that you edit with WORD 5.0 to the position where you left TEMPUS. If you click on the HyperSwitch accessory you can choose now whether to switch back to WORD 5.0 or to the Flightsimulator. In both cases you will find the logical ST in exactly the same condition when you left it. ... your Cessna 182 is still airborne. Common advices: (1) HyperSwitch is not a Multitasking Operating system. An logical ST which is switched into the backround is "frozen" and not running. As soon as you switch it back it will be "defrosted". (2) The maximum RAM size of a logical ST computer equals the RAM size of the physical ST minus 40KB for HyperSwitch. (3) One logical ST "knows" nothing about the other logical ST(s). Therefore it is strictly forbidden to access one file from several logical STs, especially when this file is opened or accessed by a write operation. If you are not careful here you will destroy data ! This means for example that it is not allowed to edit the same text under MSDOS 4.01 / WORD5.0 and under GEMDOS / TEMPUS. We recommend the use of different hard disk partitions for the different logical ST computers. If you switch back to a logical ST which runs under GEMDOS, you should press the ESC-Key to force a media-change. (4) In the following text we distinguish three conditions in which a logical ST computer can be: Installed: The RAM size and the Swap mechanism are installed. The corresponding line in the accessory is printed bold. Initialized: The line in the accessory is printed bold and has a little hook. This means that this logical ST is now available and can be activated. Active: The logical ST that runs at this moment. In the HyperSwitch accessory the line of this logical ST is printed inverted and in the box "Active Atari" you will find the number of this logial ST. HyperSwitch consists of the following three files: SWITCH.ACC SWITCH.RSC HSWITCH.OVR To use HyperSwitch all three files have to be copied from the system disk into the root directory of GEMDOS partition C. After the next reset (initialized through a key-combination or through pressing the reset-button) the HyperSwitch accessory is available. It will automatically perform another reset to activate the first logical ST computer. If you click on the HyperSwitch accessory you will find several information: Active Atari: The number of the logical ST that is running now (that is active). Atari total: Amount of installed logical ST computers. Memory free: Remaining available RAM for further logical STs. Memory total: Total RAM which is available for HyperSwitch on this physical ST computer. A table shows the logical STs. This table contains the following information: Atari: Number of a logical ST. If this line is printed bold the corresponding logical ST is installed. Size [KB]: RAM size of a logical ST. The maximum size is shown in "Memory total". Swap: "Off": status data are not swapped to the hard disk when switching from one logical ST to another. "On": when switching from one logical ST to another the status data are swapped to the hard disk. The filename and the partition where the status data are swapped to can be selected in the INSTALL menu of the HyperSwitch accessory. This menu can be accessed by clicking on the INSTALL-button. Init: The little hook shows that the already installed logical ST is initialized and ready for operation. Before you can initialize the next logical ST it has to be installed (by pressing the INSTALL-button and selecting the various parameters in this menu). After this installation the line of this logical ST can be clicked on. The ST computer will now make a reset. If you click on the HyperSwitch accessory this logical ST will also be displayed with the little hook. Application: "-" : This logical ST runs under GEMDOS. "ATONCE" : This logical ST runs under ATonce/MSDOS. If you click on the QUIT-button the accessory window will be closed. If you click on the COLDBOOT-button the physical ST computer is reset. IMPORTANT: the contents of all logical STs that are initialized at this moment will be lost. If you click on the INSTALL-button in the main window of the HyperSwitch accessory another window comes up in which you can install the logical STs. This meue offers several possibilities: To select a logical ST simply click on the corresponding line. An arrow will appear on the left side. To install the RAM size you have to click on the "< >" or "<< >>" buttons. The value in the "Free" field shows the RAM available for other logical STs. If you click on the Swap-button you can decide whether the status data is swapped to the hard disk or not. If you set swap to "on" you can give the swapfile a name (or use the default name) and you can choose the partition to which it will be swapped to. A swapfile for a logical ST with 4MB RAM is 4MB in size ! You must ensure that there is enough space on your hard disk. If you created a configuration where you installed logical STs which use the swap mechanism and which do not use this mechanism, HyperSwitch needs a special temporary file (SWAP .TMP). You can also decide in which partition of your hard disk this file will be stored. Swapfiles are always stored in the root-directory of the partition selected. If you now click on the INSTALL-button your configuration will be saved. In addition HyperSwitch automtically creates the swapfiles and the SWAP.TMP file. Afterwards HyperSwitch resets the ST computer. IMPORTANT: the contents of all logical STs that are initialized at this moment will be lost. If you click on the DEFAULT-button HyperSwitch will display two logiacl STs, each with 50% of the memory in total available, and no swapfiles. If you click on the SWITCH-button you will come back to the main window of the HyperSwitch accessory. The TEMP-INST-button has a very special function. With this button you can load swapfiles of "older" logical STs. This is a very powerful feature which enables you to "defrost" (bring back to life) any logical ST you stored in a swapfile at any time in the past. As soon it is loaded you will have the same logical ST with the same program running that you had "froze" at an earlier date. To use the TEMP-INST (temporary installation) button first select a logical ST. Then click on the TEMP-INST-button and type in the filename and the partition of the swapfile you want to load. You do not need to alter the RAM size of the logical ST computer. To switch from one logical ST to another HyperSwitch offers two possibilities: Under GEMDOS: through the HyperSwitch accessory. To activate another logical ST simply click on the bold printed line with a hook. Under ATonce/MSDOS: Press the Alternate and the Help key simultanously. This will take you back to the previous logical ST. Further advices: When leaving our factory the parameters of HyperSwitch have the following values: two logical STs, each with a RAM size of approx. 500KB, no Swap files, first logical ST initialized (with hook) and active. If you install on a Mega ST4 8 logical ST computers you need 32MB (!) capacity for the swapfiles. If you rename SWITCH.ACC to SWITCH.PRG you can use HyperSwitch as a normal GEM-application. If you want to copy HyperSwitch into the AUTO-folder it is sensible that SWITCH.PRG be the first file in this folder. To do this first save the contents of the AUTO-folder, and then erase all files in the AUTO-folder. Afterwards copy SWITCH.PRG as the first (!) file into the AUTO-folder and then all other files you have saved previously saved. If you choose a logical ST too small (not enough RAM) programs may not run or prompt that they need more RAM. If HyperSwitch brings an error message <> it has not enough RAM to work properly. This is not a dead-lock. You have to erase the HSWITCH.OVR file and use the one which is on your system disk. Naturally all settings you made in HyperSwitch are lost. 13. Trouble-Shooting -------------------- In this last chapter we want to give some hints what you can do if problems occur. (1) The installation of ATonce in an ST1040FM where the CPU sits under the floppy drive. We have noticed that there are several version of this special ST1040. Sometimes Atari used very thick floppy drives which also have a shield at the bottom. We found two ways how to fit the ATonce into the ST properly: o Take off the shield of the floppy drive. It is still tight, but there should be enough room for the ATonce now. o De-solder the 68000 CPU and put a socket in the motherboard. Solder another socket on top of ATonce (similar to when you want to use HyperCache). Plug ATonce into the socket on the motherboard and then the 68000 CPU into the socket of the ATonce. The problems we describe now have their root in the ST computer. We know that it is very simple to say (especially for dealers) that the reason for any problem is ATonce ! This is not true. The ST is a brilliantly designed machine but sometimes manufactured very poorly. Unfortunately especially at critical points you will often find chips from Korea or Taiwan which normally do anything but fullfilling the specifications ! (2) The Mega ST sometimes does not start. The screen remains dark. If your Mega ST has the little PCB which was soldered on top of the 68000 CPU (by the way the reason for this is a design error in one of the asics) this problem can occur. Solder a 40 Ohm resistor between Pin 12 (68000 CPU/ATonce) and the first Pin of this little PCB. This means this Pin does not directly go to the 68000 CPU/ATonce but via the 40 Ohm resistor. (3) The Mega ST hangs when testing the RAM or crashes without appearant reason. This problem mostly occurs with Mega ST2 computers. You have to replace U33 and U36 (74LS373) with 74ALS373 from Texas Instruments or Motorola. Do not use chips from Goldstar or ST or SGS. (4) Several hard disks and/or a SLM804 are connected to the Mega ST. You have problems with the SLM804 and with the hard disk(s). This problem occurs also without ATonce ! Similar as described in (3) there is one chip of a taiwanese manufacturer that can cause problems. This chip is the DMA-Port-Controller. It is a 40 Pin DIL IC and comes from "IMP" (C100-110-001). It has to be replaced by another version of the DMA-Port-Controller "CO25913-38". Contact your dealer or Atari, they know about this problem. (5) The ST does not start after a crash or only brings the "POST MORTEM DUMP" message. Even when the ST computer is switched off the contents of the RAM-cells will remain for a fairly long time. When ATonce is loaded it takes over the reset of the ST computer. This is the reason why sometimes, especially when the Emulator crashes, even when you switch the ST off you will receive a POST MORTEM DUMP or a dark screen. To avoid this effect simply wait 60 seconds befor switching on the ST, or press ESC when ATonce shows the POST MORTEM DUMP. (6) Autoboot with hard disks from ATARI. The Autoboot mechanism of Atari manipulates the root-sector of the first partition (Icon C). If you assign this first partition to the logical DOS drive C and install MSDOS on DOS drive C you will loose the Autoboot- facility. To avoid this simply assign any other partition to the logical DOS drive C. (7) Mouse-Driver. Only use mouse-drivers that are fully compatible with the serial Microsoft Mouse. (8) The ATonce startup-Screen is not erased properly after DOS has booted. To solve this "problem" remove the ansi.sys driver in your CONFIG.SYS file. (9) The Break-Key does not function under DOS. Insert in the CONFIG.SYS file "BREAK=ON". ======================================================================== Your vortex Team October 1990 ======================================================================== Operating the Atari Laser Printer SLM804 with the AT-Emulator: ------------------------------------------------------------- (ONLY ST COMPUTERS WITH MORE THAN 1MB MEMORY!) With ATonce the Atari laser printer SLM804 can be used together with the Atari Diablo driver DIAB630.PRG and the hardcopy program SDUMP.PRG or the Epson FX80 compatible laser printer driver SLM804.ACC. Precondition is that your ST computer has more than 1MB memory available. To install the laser printer proceed as follows: (1) Configure ATONCE.PRG for your needs with the setup program INSTALL.PRG. IMPORTANT: YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT IN THE OPTION MEMORY/MOUSE THE TOTAL OF EXTENDED AND EXPANDED MEMORY IS ONLY SO LARGE THAT THERE IS ENOUGH MEMORY LEFT FOR THE LASER PROGRAMS. DEPENDING ON HOW MANY FONTS YOU HAVE LOADED YOU SHOULD RESERVE APPROX. 300-700KB FOR THIS PURPOSE. (2) Diablo Driver: -------------- Now install DIAB630.PRG with the programm SETUP630.PRG. IMPORTANT: SET THE OPTION MENU ON INTERNAL. Epson Driver: ------------- Create the batch file SLM804.BAT as discribed in the instructions for printer driver. IMPORTANT: MAKE SURE THAT YOU RESERVE A LARGE ENOUGH BUFFER. Depending on whether you start the emulator through the AUTO-folder or directly by clicking on, please proceed as follows: AUTO-Boot from Floppy or Hard Disk: (3) Copy ATONCE.PRG into the AUTO-folder. All the following programs are copied into the Root directory: Diablo Driver: -------------- PDRV_DB.OVR, DIAB630.PRG, SDUMP.PRG and all necessary font files. Epson Driver: ------------- PDRV_FX.OVR, SLM804.ACC, SLM804.BAT and all necessary font files, e.g. ELITE.DRF. Start by clicking on directly: (3) In this case the following files must be in the same directory as the driver: for Diablo Driver ATONCE.PRG, PDRV_DB.OVR, DIAB630.PRG, SDUMP.PRG and all necessary font files. or for Epson Driver ATONCE.PRG, PDRV_FX.OVR, SLM804.ACC, SLM804.BAT and all necessary font files. If the emulator is started now, assuming that everything was installed correctly and/or the laser printer is connected up, the usual start messages of the programs DIAB630.PRG and SDUMP.PRG or of SLM804.ACC should appear. Under DOS you have now the laser printer available on the parallel interface LPT1 (the internal centronics interface appears as LPT2). If SDUMP.PRG or SLM804.ACC respectively were installed correctly you will now have under DOS through the key combination (press the Shift- key and * in the numerical block at the same time) a hardcopy function which supports graphics available.