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Amiga Collections: Topik
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Topik - Disk 04 - Disk and Technical Stuff (19xx)(Topik Public Domain)(PD)[WB].zip
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Topik - Disk 04 - Disk and Technical Stuff (19xx)(Topik Public Domain)(PD)[WB].adf
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Supra
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SupraNews
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1989-06-22
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We are constantly in the process of refining the hardware and software for
your hard disk. As such, this file contains any information on updates or
changes that have been made since the last revision of the SupraDrive manual.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
First please note that this 5.1 version is a major update to the SupraBoot
software. Commodore has been working with several hard disk manufacturers
to establish a standard for the format of hard disks. At Supra, we are
pleased to announce that we are adopting this standard. The SupraBoot 5.1
software still features the ease of use our supporters have come to expect,
but you can now mount a drive formatted using our software with the
interface and mounting software of any manufacturer that supports the
Commodore standard. Likewise, you will be able to mount a formatted drive
from a standard-supporting manufacturer with a Supra interface and
SupraBoot disk.
For offices, user groups, or friends with many different systems, the
new compatibility provided by this standard may help make life simpler.
As a little added bonus, when used with the FastFileSystem and our DMA
interface on the Amiga 2000, our new software is also up to an eight
times faster than SupraBoot version 4.3. Even non DMA interfaces gain
as much as triple the speed, particularly evident when copying large files.
So where's the catch? Well, there's only one. The new Commodore standard
calls for certain special control structures to be written to cylinder
zero on the hard disk. Among other things, these structures identify the
drive and its partitioning information. However, the new structures are
not compatible with the partitioning information stored by versions 4.3
and earlier of the SupraBoot software. That means earlier SupraDrives
cannot be mounted by the 5.1 SupraMount, unless they have first been
reformatted or zeroed using the 5.1 SupraFormat. Please refer to your
Supra Operator's Manual for instructions on using SupraFormat.
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For those of you with Amiga 500's and 1000's, we have implemented a new
device driver that incorporates a pseudo-DMA protocol with blind reads.
That translates into a three-times speed increase on all read operations.
This device driver is in the "devs" directory and is named
"scsidisk.device". To use this device driver, involk SupraMount with
the "-s" option. This is how SupraMount can be called from the
Startup-Sequence on the SupraBoot 5.1 disk:
SupraMount -s
Unfortunately, this new device driver may not be compatible with all
controller and drive combinations. If you experience problems, change
your Startup-Sequence by deleting the "-s" option. This will cause
SupraMount to use the default "harddisk.device" driver.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hurray! We are now supporting Workbench 1.3 and the FastFileSystem.
Unfortunately, as of this writing, Commodore hasn't yet released Workbench
1.3. That means this boot disk does not contain the FastFileSystem, or
any other 1.3 files. However, when 1.3 is officially released, you can
copy the FastFileSystem to "SupraBoot:L/FastFileSystem". Then edit the
lines in the "SupraBoot:s/Startup-Sequence" that read:
Type s/startup-text
Ask " "
Copy "Workbench 1.2:" to dh0: all
For Workbench 1.3 they should be changed to read:
Type s/startup-text_1.3
Ask " "
Copy "Workbench 1.3:" to dh0: all
Next run the SupraFormat program in the System drawer of the SupraBoot disk
and set the File System gadgets for each partiton to NEW. Also turn on the
ZERO gadgets for each partiton. Finally, select the DO ZERO gadget to zero
the partitions on your drive. Note: this will wipe out all the data on
your drive, so be sure you have all your files backed up. Now reset your
system and let the Startup-Sequence do the rest of the work for you as it
copies all of the system files onto the hard disk.
We hope you enjoy the extra speed and convenience your SupraDrive adds to
your system.