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===============================================================================
MM MM DDDDD OOOOOO SSSSS 555555 0000 0000
M M M M D D O O S 5 0 00 0 00
M M M M D D O O S 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
M M M M D D O O SSSSS 555555 0 0 0 0 0 0
M M M M D D O O S 5 00 0 00 0
M M M D D O O S 5 5 0 0 0 0
M M M DDDDD OOOOOO SSSSS 55555 . 0000 0000
Myarc Disk Operating System
Copyright (C)1996 9640*News and Contributors
Version 5.00 released July 13, 1996
===============================================================================
THOUGHTS AND CONCERNS:
---------------------
This new MDOS contains some long-awaited fixes as well as a few
needed additions. Besides SCSI devices, the new MDOS is capable of
supporting the PFM and Rave devices, the Psystem, and more.
Some of you may wonder, "why is MDOS 120K and why does it use so much
memory?" It's true - MDOS does use a good portion of the Geneve's
memory. Mike's SCSI code increased MDOS' need for memory by 16K.
8K for code, 8K for buffers. In addition, MDOS 2.50S, 4.00S and now
5.00 _REQUIRE_ the additional 32K fast ram for SCSI access.
Some of you have suggested removing some routines such as TREE or
FORMAT. The fact is that removing these and/or other routines would
not allow us to shrink MDOS. The bulk of the code is found in the
libraries of functions which make up MDOS; device handlers, video
routines, DSR routines, and more. To shrink MDOS by 8K would require
a lot of code shuffling, something which could "break" MDOS/GPL and the
programs they run.
So we face the memory issue once again. In the future it may be
possible to have MDOS detect whether a SCSI or HFDC is in the system
then use only the memory/pages needed for the cards. However, if you
have one or both of these cards and you need more memory, then buying
expansion RAM is the way to go. Whether you buy a memex, Myarc 512,
Rave, or 384K upgrade you will eliminate your memory shortage.
Is that a realistic option - buying memory? I would think so. But to
show you that I'm not pushing you to buy more memory, here's the
system I use to PROGRAM and run GPL/EXEC/Advanced BASIC on!
* Geneve w/32K fast RAM
* HFDC, 40MB and 20MB hard drives
* Myarc Floppy controller
* SCSI controller
* Horizon RAMdisk (800K)
See - I'm using a very basic system. In fact, I've NOT upgraded so that
I can continue to run/develop programs that will work on a basic
system. Trust me...additional memory is nice, but MDOS 5.00 will
work equally well without it.
Anyway, enough editorializing...let's dig into the good stuff!
*--------------------------------*
* NEW/UPDATED COMMANDS/ROUTINES: *
*--------------------------------*
- SCSI Support added/refined, will work with SCSI hard drives and
ZIP/EZ drives!
- SHIFT-SHIFT-CONTROL works with all versions of PFM.
- Fixed bug present in MDOS 2.50, caused MDOS to lock during powerup.
- PFM devices not present in 2.50S added to 5.00
- RAM count for pages >C0-EF modified to count them as FAST RAM.
- Re-added Jeff Whites keyboard filter to the MDOS keyscan routine.
Keyboard processing now operates the same as GPL and EXEC 2.11
- REMAP
Typed in alone, remap now displays the current mappings for
each drive number. To save space, only the drive number and
map letter (as shown in REMAP_TXT) are displayed.
- SETDSK
Typed in alone, setdsk now displays the current parameters for
each drive.
(new) - PSYS
Use this command for Psystem emulation. Jerry Coffey has tested
this with the psystem development system and is putting together
a package for Geneve users. Syntax is as follows:
PSYS displays current setting
PSYS ON Enable psystem emulation
PSYS OFF Disable psystem emulation (DEFAULT)
*----------------------------*
* FIXED COMMANDS / ROUTINES: *
*----------------------------*
- GENMOD SUPPORT
Jeff White fixed SCSI Genmod support, MDOS 3.00 bravo is born!
- COPY CON
Creation time stamp routine corrected, no longer uses the last
time/date created in the buffer but goes out and checks the current
time.
- SAVE PROGRAM (under Advanced BASIC / Extended BASIC)
Fixed problem with SAVing files. Before, saving a file over an
existing file would blast the create date. Now the creation
date is preserved, even if the file being saved is a different
type than that on the disk (ie, saving a XB IV254 file over the
existing PROGRAM file).
- CHKDSK /F
Jeff White fixed the display routine for hard drives with
capacities in excess of 99MB.
Now writes back the corrected bitmap if bad sectors are found
on the FLOPPY being verified. If the disk is write-protected,
MDOS will display an error message.
- DISKCOMP
Bad sectors on source/target disks caused this routine to
increment the TOTAL number of sectors by one for each bad sector,
thereby causing the routine to loop indefinitely (verified w/2.21)
Now both source and target disks are checked for errors. Should
an error occur, it is reported, and that sector skipped.
- DISKCOPY
Bad sectors caused the DISKCOPY command to fail similarly to the
way DISKCOMP failed (verified w/2.21)
The bugs have been removed, and this command will copy disks
properly. Bad sectors are skipped on the source. The bad sectors
not read on the source are written to the target using whatever is
in memory at the time of the copy.
Errors on the TARGET diskette will cause the DISKCOPY to skip writin
of that particular sector. This means that the data did not copy
correctly, and it is time to (a)reformat the target disk or
(b) throw the target disk away and get a new disk!
- CALL DIR(), EXTENDED BASIC w/OTHER RAMIFICATIONS!
After TWO days of searching I finally tracked down a long-present
DSR bug. This bug caused the CALL DIR() to lock up whenever it
was used with an emulate file or a HFDC floppy.
In the process of debugging, I learned that the CALL DIR code
is located in two areas, one for all floppy support, the other
for HFDC. The HFDC CALL DIR code is not used but could be added
at a later date. Directorys are not display, but that too could
be added later.
Removing this bug should stabilize other HFDC Floppy operations.
- CHKDSK *
Checks for fractured files on FLOPPIES only. Because code for
this operation is floppy-specific, hard drives are not supported.
- RAVE RAMDISK SUPPORT
1) A Rave RAMDISK using the default MDOS configuration will give
you 32K more memory showing up at pages >B9, >BD, >BE, and >BF.
2) I could not automatically check for the Rave - there was no
room for the routine. So, to use the Rave as a RAMDISK, you
have to do some sector editing.
Search MDOS 5.00 for HEX String: >9640
To activate the rave RAMdisk, replace the string with >0000.
3) A formatting routine is available for the Rave but is not
included here.
* End Of Document, Written July 13, 1996 @ 10:45pmby Timothy A Tesch