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ID:SS SUPERSTOR: QEMM-386/SUPERSTOR TROUBLESHOOTING
Quarterdeck Technical Note #249
by Robert Gaustad
Revised January 12, 1993
THE QEMM-386/SUPERSTOR TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
This troubleshooting guide is designed to help the individual who has QEMM-386
(or QEMM-50/60 or QRAM) and SuperStor 2.04 or SuperStor Pro installed on his
or her machine and has run, or wants to run, OPTIMIZE. If you have not yet
run OPTIMIZE, please read the General Information section below, then proceed
to either Section 1 or Section 2 depending on if you installed QEMM-386 BEFORE
or AFTER installing SuperStor.
Throughout this document we will refer to QEMM-386. With the exception of
QEMM-386's Stealth feature the same solutions presented for QEMM-386 will also
apply to users of QEMM-50/60 or QRAM. The OPTIMIZE program is the same for
all three products. Note that the STEALTH option exists only with QEMM- 386.
To avoid confusion we will refer to COMPRESSED and UNCOMPRESSED drives
whenever possible. The COMPRESSED drive will always be the one that SuperStor
creates to hold most of your programs and data. The UNCOMPRESSED drive will
usually be the smaller BOOT drive. When you install SuperStor, it copies only
a few files to the UNCOMPRESSED drive.
The troubleshooting guide below is in four sections. At the end of each
section, you will be directed to the proper step in the "OPTIMIZING WITH
QEMM-386 AND SUPERSTOR" section below. The sections are as follows:
1. QEMM-386 and SuperStor - General Information
2. SuperStor Installed First
3. QEMM-386 Installed First
4. Optimizing with QEMM-386 and SuperStor
*********************************
***** IMPORTANT *****
BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THE FOLLOWING TROUBLESHOOTING
GUIDE READ THE GENERAL INFORMATION SECTION BELOW
*********************************
SECTION ONE
QEMM-386 AND SUPERSTOR - GENERAL INFORMATION
I. Your UNCOMPRESSED drive is always drive C: during bootup BEFORE the
SuperStor driver is executed. If you have installed SuperStor to compress
your whole hard disk drive you will have a difficult time accessing the boot,
or UNCOMPRESSED, portion of the drive after SuperStor has executed. Even
though you have chosen to compress the whole hard drive SuperStor leaves a
tiny UNCOMPRESSED partition. A computer cannot boot up on a COMPRESSED drive
so it needs this small partition to boot with.
If you have compressed the whole hard drive, once SuperStor is executed and
creates the COMPRESSED partition it hides the UNCOMPRESSED partition and makes
it seem as if drive C: (the COMPRESSED SuperStor partition after boot) is not
just the boot drive but the only drive. The only way to access the hidden
UNCOMPRESSED partition is to use the SuperStor program diskette to execute the
program ADD2SWP.EXE. This will be detailed in "OPTIMIZING WITH QEMM-386 AND
SUPERSTOR" below.
II. If you have configured SuperStor to reserve space on the UNCOMPRESSED
drive to be accessed by a different drive ID you will be able to access the
UNCOMPRESSED partition easily. You are given the option to reserve this space
when you are running the SSTOR program to create your COMPRESSED drive(s). In
version 2.04 the default is NO. If you press ENTER when encountering this
option SSTOR will set-up SuperStor to compress your whole hard drive.
If you have not yet installed SuperStor 2.04 Quarterdeck recommends that you
select YES to override the default. Beginning with SuperStor Pro version 1.0,
the default is YES. You only have to press ENTER at this prompt. When the
program then asks you for a size to make the UNCOMPRESSED drive enter 2048 to
add two megabytes to that drive size.
III. To determine which drive is COMPRESSED or UNCOMPRESSED start the
SSTOR.EXE program in the C:\ADDSTOR directory. Under the heading "System
Device List" will be information pertaining to all drives on your computer.
IV. If before you installed SuperStor your hard disk drive had more than one
partition, i.e., a C: and D: partition, then DEVSWAP.COM swaps drive names
differently. If you had a C: and D: partition and you COMPRESSED the C: drive
only then your drives will be set up as follows when SuperStor is installed:
C: becomes E:
D: is still D: unless you compress that as well. If you do compress
D:, it becomes F:
If you had 3 partitions, i.e., C:, D: and E:, and you compress them all, then
they will be as follows:
C: becomes F:, D: becomes G:, E: becomes H:
The troubleshooting guide below is based on a one partition drive. If your
drive has multiple partitions then you must determine what drive C: swaps to
and use the appropriate drive name.
V. If you are using a disk caching program with SuperStor, be very careful to
determine whether it is compatible with SuperStor or not. For instance
Microsoft Windows' 3.1 SMARTDRV.EXE will lock up your system if you load the
SSTORDRV.SYS driver LOADHI.SYS. At the time of this writing, Norton NCACHE
version 6, will not work under any circumstances with SuperStor installed on
your machine.
**************************
BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT YOU READ THE README.TXT FILE IN YOUR ADDSTOR
DIRECTORY FOR ANY POTENTIAL CONFLICTS WITH OTHER PROGRAMS AND DRIVERS.
**************************
VI. You should always have a bootable floppy diskette available which will
execute SuperStor and give you access to your COMPRESSED drive. To create
this insert an unformatted floppy diskette into the A: drive and type the
command:
C:\FORMAT A:/S <ENTER>
When this disk has been formatted copy the SuperStor drivers, your CONFIG.SYS,
and your AUTOEXEC.BAT files from the hard drive to the floppy diskette by
typing the following:
COPY C:\SSTORDRV.SYS A:
COPY C:\DEVSWAP.COM A:
COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS A:
COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT A:
Once those files have been copied over check the contents of them. The
CONFIG.SYS file should contain at least the following lines:
FILES=40
DEVICE=\SSTORDRV.SYS /NOHIGH (SuperStor Pro requires /NOUMB instead)
DEVICE=\DEVSWAP.COM
If you want QEMM-386's LOADHI.SYS driver to load SuperStor version 2.04 into
High RAM you must place the "/NOHIGH" parameter at the end of the SuperStor
device line. If you are using SuperStor Pro you must use the "/NOUMB"
parameter instead of "/NOHIGH." SuperStor does not automatically place either
of the parameters on the line. The line should read as follows:
DEVICE=\SSTORDRV.SYS /NOHIGH (SuperStor 2.04)
or
DEVICE=\SSTORDRV.SYS /NOUMB (SuperStor Pro)
The AUTOEXEC.BAT file should contain at least the following lines:
PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\QEMM;C:\ADDSTOR
PROMPT=$P$G
These files on the boot floppy will allow you to access your SuperStor
COMPRESSED drive and navigate the hard drive.
************************
SECTION TWO
SUPERSTOR INSTALLED FIRST
If SuperStor is already installed on your hard drive and you now install QEMM-
386 and run OPTIMIZE then you must follow the section below.
I. If you install QEMM-386 and run QEMM-386's OPTIMIZE program on a system
with SuperStor already installed, SuperStor will fail to execute during the
first reboot of the OPTIMIZE program. The reason this happens is that QEMM-
386 has been installed on the COMPRESSED drive and NOT the BOOT (or
UNCOMPRESSED) drive. Before OPTIMIZE executes the first reboot it places
LOADHI.SYS /GS statements in front of every device driver in the CONFIG.SYS
file. This is done so that OPTIMIZE can determine how much memory a driver
needs to load.
II. The CONFIG.SYS file is executed from the BOOT (or UNCOMPRESSED) drive and
since QEMM-386 and its companion files are installed only on the COMPRESSED
drive QEMM-386 and LOADHI.SYS /GS fail to load during boot-up. Because DOS
cannot find LOADHI.SYS, and OPTIMIZE has added LOADHI.SYS to the SuperStor
line, SuperStor also fails to start-up leaving you with only the small
UNCOMPRESSED BOOT drive available.
III. It is an easy process to correct this situation. All you have to do is
create a new, temporary, CONFIG.SYS file on the UNCOMPRESSED drive, now drive
C:, and then reboot. To do this first rename the old CONFIG.SYS file by
typing:
RENAME CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.XXX <ENTER>
Now, create a new CONFIG.SYS file by typing the following:
COPY CON CONFIG.SYS <ENTER>
The cursor will now be below the "C" in COPY. Now, type:
DEVICE=\SSTORDRV.SYS <ENTER>
DEVICE=\DEVSWAP.COM <ENTER>
NOTE: IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER DRIVERS, SUCH AS A DISK PARTITIONER, THAT ARE
ESSENTIAL TO BOOT YOUR MACHINE INCLUDE THOSE IN THE TEMPORARY CONFIG.SYS
FILE. IF YOU DO NEED TO BOOT WITH A DISK PARTITIONER MAKE SURE IT LOADS
BEFORE SSTORDRV.SYS. DON'T WORRY ABOUT ANY OTHER DRIVERS YOU MAY HAVE HAD IN
THE ORIGINAL CONFIG.SYS FILE: ONCE YOU HAVE HAVE REBOOTED THE MACHINE YOUR
ORIGINAL CONFIG.SYS FILE WILL BE INTACT.
Now, press the F6 key and <ENTER>. You will see the following message:
ONE FILE COPIED
IV. Reboot the machine.
Because of SuperStor program designs the untouched CONFIG.SYS file on the
COMPRESSED drive will automatically overwrite the temporary CONFIG.SYS file on
the UNCOMPRESSED drive. The contents of both CONFIG.SYS files will then be
the same as before you installed QEMM-386 and ran OPTIMIZE.
*********************
FULL DISK COMPRESSION
*********************
IF YOU INSTALLED SUPERSTOR TO COMPRESS YOUR WHOLE HARD DRIVE, PROCEED TO
STEP 2 IN "OPTIMIZING WITH QEMM-386 AND SUPERSTOR."
************************
PARTIAL DISK COMPRESSION
************************
IF YOU INSTALLED SUPERSTOR TO COMPRESS ONLY A PORTION OF YOUR HARD
DISK DRIVE, PROCEED TO STEP 2 IN "OPTIMIZING WITH QEMM-386 AND SUPERSTOR."
ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED STEP 2, PROCEED TO EITHER STEP 4 OR 6, DEPENDING
UPON WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE LEFT ADEQUATE ROOM ON YOUR UNCOMPRESSED
PARTITION TO HOLD ALL QEMM-386 AND DOS FILES.
******************************
SECTION THREE
QEMM-386 INSTALLED FIRST
If QEMM-386 is currently installed on your hard disk drive and you now install
SuperStor, you then need to follow the instructions in the section below.
IMPORTANT NOTE: As of SuperStor Pro 1.0, Addstor recommends that if you have a
memory resident program, such as a memory manager, installed and running, you
must disable the memory resident program BEFORE installing SuperStor. At
Quarterdeck, we have installed SuperStor Pro successfully with QEMM-386
running. [To be on the safe side the WHAT side?, however,] If you choose to
follow their advice, disable QEMM-386 [your memory resident programs] by
placing a REM statement at the beginning of the line that loads such a
program. For example, to disable QEMM-386, make the line read:
REM DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM ST:M (your specific parameters may
differ)
I. After you install SuperStor on a computer you then have to run SSTOR.EXE
to do the actual compression of your hard drive. The default of SuperStor
2.04 is to compress all of the hard drive space. As of SuperStor Pro 1.0, the
default is to leave a portion (the size is specified by the user) of the hard
drive uncompressed. No matter which version you are using, you should make
sure you leave at least a 2 MB portion uncompressed. If you do this, read the
following information but keep in mind, that, in your case, you will have
ready access to the UNCOMPRESSED portion of your drive. At the end of this
section you will be directed to the next pertinent section of this
troubleshooting guide. If you accept the default of SuperStor 2.04 to
compress the whole hard disk drive or if you override the default of SuperStor
Pro, SuperStor does the following:
A. Creates a tiny boot partition which is hidden and not readily
accessible after boot-up. This partition contains COMMAND.COM,
CONFIG.SYS and necessary SuperStor files. If QEMM-386 is
already installed on the computer, SuperStor places the file
QEMM386.SYS in the root directory of the small boot partition.
B. Changes the QEMM-386 device line from:
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM
to
DEVICE=C:\QEMM386.SYS RAM
C. Adds two lines to the CONFIG.SYS file to invoke SuperStor and its
drive swapping program. Those lines read as follows:
DEVICE=\SSTORDRV.SYS
DEVICE=\DEVSWAP.COM
The first line loads the SuperStor disk compression program creating a large
COMPRESSED drive partition. The second line swaps drive names so that the
BOOT or UNCOMPRESSED drive (C: at boot time) becomes D: and the COMPRESSED
drive becomes C:.
If you have accepted the default of compressing the whole drive, the drive
letter D: is not readily accessible. How to access the UNCOMPRESSED drive
will be explained in detail later in this troubleshooting guide. If you have
only compressed a portion of the hard disk drive you already have access to
the UNCOMPRESSED portion of the drive.
II. When SuperStor is installed on the computer it does NOT:
A. Create a QEMM directory on the UNCOMPRESSED partition and copy over
all pertinent QEMM-386 files.
B. Create a DOS directory on the UNCOMPRESSED partition and copy over
all pertinent DOS files.
C. Copy over the AUTOEXEC.BAT file from the COMPRESSED drive.
III. The net result of the above is that after installing SuperStor,
compressing the hard disk, and rebooting the machine, QEMM-386 will execute,
but any lines in the CONFIG.SYS that precede SSTORDRV.SYS and that have
LOADHI.SYS statements will fail. This is because SuperStor did not create the
QEMM directory on the UNCOMPRESSED drive and copy LOADHI.SYS, as well as other
QEMM-386 files, to that directory. Once SSTORDRV.SYS has executed and
DEVSWAP.COM has swapped drive names, the lines following that do have
LOADHI.SYS statements in them will execute. However, if the user attempts to
run QEMM-386's OPTIMIZE program, the attempt will fail and a message will
display on the screen telling you that some files are missing with which to
perform OPTIMIZE. After following the instructions below in "Optimizing with
QEMM-386 and SuperStor" those files will then be in the correct directory for
OPTIMIZE to perform.
*********************
FULL DISK COMPRESSION
*********************
IF YOU INSTALLED SUPERSTOR TO COMPRESS YOUR WHOLE HARD DISK DRIVE PROCEED
TO STEP 1 IN "OPTIMIZING WITH QEMM-386 AND SUPERSTOR."
************************
PARTIAL DISK COMPRESSION
************************
IF YOU HAVE INSTALLED SUPERSTOR TO COMPRESS ONLY A PORTION OF YOUR
HARD DISK DRIVE PROCEED TO STEP 1 IN "OPTIMIZING WITH QEMM-386 AND
SUPERSTOR."
ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED STEP 2 PROCEED TO EITHER STEP 4 OR 6, DEPENDING
UPON WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE LEFT ADEQUATE ROOM ON YOUR UNCOMPRESSED
PARTITION TO HOLD ALL QEMM-386 AND DOS FILES.
******************************
SECTION FOUR
OPTIMIZING WITH QEMM-386 AND SUPERSTOR
BEFORE FOLLOWING THE STEPS BELOW MAKE CERTAIN THAT YOU HAVE READ ALL THE
INFORMATION ABOVE PERTAINING TO THE ORDER AND METHOD USED TO INSTALL QEMM-386
AND SUPERSTOR ON YOUR COMPUTER. ALSO MAKE SURE ANY IMPORTANT FILES HAVE BEEN
BACKED UP. THIS INCLUDES BOTH THE CONFIG.SYS AND AUTOEXEC.BAT FILES AND ANY
OTHER FILES YOU FEEL ARE IRREPLACEABLE.
* IF YOU HAVE CONFIGURED SUPERSTOR TO COMPRESS YOUR WHOLE HARD DISK DRIVE,
PLEASE FOLLOW THE STEPS BELOW FROM 1 TO 16. IF YOU INSTALLED QEMM-386 AFTER
INSTALLING SUPERSTOR YOU MAY SKIP STEP 1.
* IF YOU HAVE CONFIGURED SUPERSTOR TO COMPRESS ONLY A PORTION OF YOUR HARD
DISK DRIVE BUT DID NOT LEAVE ENOUGH ROOM ON THE UNCOMPRESSED PORTION TO COPY
ALL QEMM-386 AND DOS FILES TO THAT PORTION, PLEASE FOLLOW THE STEPS BELOW
FROM 4 TO 16.
1. On the C: COMPRESSED drive, edit the QEMM-386 device line in the
CONFIG.SYS file to read:
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM
Save the CONFIG.SYS file.
2. Place the SuperStor program diskette into drive A:. Log onto drive A:
and type:
ADD2SWP C: <ENTER>
The program will then report:
ADD2SWP has completed, your PC needs to be rebooted.
Press the [ENTER] key to reboot the PC
3. Remove the diskette and press ENTER. After the computer completes
its reboot you will then have access to both your COMPRESSED and
UNCOMPRESSED drives.
4. Start SSUTIL.EXE by typing:
SSUTIL <ENTER>
at the C: prompt, and run SHRINK DISK from within that program.
Select an amount to shrink the COMPRESSED disk by. Quarterdeck
recommends a minimum of 1024 Kb with 2048 Kb preferred.
5. EXIT and REBOOT.
THE NEXT STEPS CAN BE FOLLOWED IF YOU HAVE CONFIGURED SUPERSTOR TO COMPRESS
ONLY A PORTION OF YOUR HARD DISK DRIVE AND LEFT ENOUGH ROOM FOR ALL QEMM-386
AND DOS FILES OR IF YOU HAVE JUST FOLLOWED STEPS 1-4.
6. Log onto drive D: the UNCOMPRESSED drive. Create a QEMM
directory by typing the following:
CD\ <ENTER>
MD QEMM <ENTER>
7. Copy all QEMM-386 files from the COMPRESSED drive into the QEMM
directory on the UNCOMPRESSED drive by typing:
COPY C:\QEMM D:\QEMM <ENTER>
8. While still on the UNCOMPRESSED drive D: create directories pertaining to
all other drivers loading from the CONFIG.SYS file. For example, if
you have a couple of lines in your CONFIG.SYS file that read:
DEVICE=C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS
then create a MOUSE directory and a DOS directory on the
UNCOMPRESSED drive. Then, copy the MOUSE.SYS and ANSI.SYS drivers
from the CONPRESSED drive to their respective directories on the
UNCOMPRESSED drive by typing:
COPY C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.SYS D:\MOUSE
COPY C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS D:\DOS
Do the same for all other drivers loading from the CONFIG.SYS file.
9. Log back on to drive C:, the COMPRESSED drive. Edit the CONFIG.SYS
file in the following ways:
A. Move the two SuperStor device lines to the bottom of the
CONFIG.SYS file.
B. If you haven't already done so, place a blank space and the
"/NOHIGH" parameter (for SuperStor 2.04 only) or the "/NOUMB"
parameter (for SuperStor Pro only) at the end of the
SSTORDRV.SYS device line.
C. Place a REM and a blank space in front of the line that reads:
DEVICE=\DEVSWAP.COM
so it now reads:
REM DEVICE=\DEVSWAP.COM
Save the CONFIG.SYS file but do NOT reboot yet.
Below is an example of a generic CONFIG.SYS file, with the
QEMM-386 and SuperStor lines in the proper order and the REM in
front of the DEVSWAP.COM line.
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS
DOS=HIGH
FILES=40
BUFFERS=20
DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE
DEVICE=\SSTORDRV.SYS /NOHIGH (SuperStor 2.04 Only)
or
DEVICE=\SSTORDRV.SYS /NOUMB (SuperStor Pro)
REM DEVICE=\DEVSWAP.COM
IMPORTANT NOTE: YOU MUST PLACE THE "/NOHIGH" PARAMETER (for SuperStor 2.04)
OR THE "/NOUMB" PARAMETER (for SuperStor Pro) AT THE END OF THE \SSTORDRV.SYS
DEVICE LINE TO ALLOW OPTIMIZE TO SUCCESSFULLY LOAD THE DRIVER INTO HIGH RAM.
THE SIZE OF THE DRIVER, SSTORDRV.SYS, CAN VARY WHEN IT IS LOADED INTO HIGH
RAM. THE LARGEST SIZE WE HAVE SEEN AT QUARTERDECK IS 71K.
10. Still on the COMPRESSED C: drive, edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and
reverse all drive designations from C: to D: or D: to C:. For
example if a line reads:
C:\MOUSE\MOUSE
change it to read:
D:\MOUSE\MOUSE.
Make sure you also reverse the drive designations in your path
statement, i.e.,
PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\QEMM;C:\ADDSTOR
becomes:
PATH=D:\;D:\DOS;D:\QEMM;D:\ADDSTOR
If you are using the CALL command to CALL batch files from the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, make sure that the drive designations in the
CALLed batch file are also reversed. For instance, if you have a
line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that reads:
CALL C:\NETWORK\LOADNET.BAT
and logs you onto a network make sure you reverse the drive
designations in both the above line and in the batch file
LOADNET.BAT.
11. Save the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and copy to the D:\ drive by typing:
COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT D:\ <ENTER>
12. Reboot the computer.
13. Run OPTIMIZE by typing:
OPTIMIZE <ENTER>
at the C: prompt.
14. After OPTIMIZE is complete edit the CONFIG.SYS file on the
UNCOMPRESSED drive and remove the REM and blank space in front of
the DEVSWAP.COM device line. It's very important that you edit the
CONFIG.SYS file on the UNCOMPRESSED drive which will be C:. After
editing save the file and copy it to the COMPRESSED D: drive by
typing:
COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS D:\ <ENTER>
15. Edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the UNCOMPRESSED C: drive and once
again reverse the drive designations. Be very careful that you
find ALL drive designations. Some lines may have more than one
drive designation in the same command so watch out for that. Also
any line that has a QEMM-386 LOADHI statement only has to be
changed after the LOADHI statement. For example the line may read:
C:\QEMM\LOADHI D:\MOUSE\MOUSE
You only have to reverse the D: which follows the word LOADHI. That
line will now read:
C:\QEMM\LOADHI C:\MOUSE\MOUSE
After editing the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the UNCOMPRESSED C: drive
save and copy it to the COMPRESSED drive D:.
16. The OPTIMIZE process is now complete. Reboot the computer which
will once again swap your drive names and your work is done.
************************************************************************
* Trademarks are property of their respective owners. *
*This technical note may be copied and distributed freely as long as it*
*is distributed in its entirety and it is not distributed for profit. *
* Copyright (C) 1993 by Quarterdeck Office Systems *
************************ E N D O F F I L E *************************