<-><-><->¢ XON2.COM Documentation ¢¢ WHAT IS IT?¢ XON turns on the SpartaDOS X¢ cartridge after it has been turned¢ off. It does reboot the computer. ¢ Just type XON2 from SpartaDOS or¢ whatever, or type L and XON2.COM from¢ Atari DOS or clones.¢¢ NEW VERSION!¢ The only change to this version¢ is the addition of a run address. ¢ This serves two purposes: it allows¢ the program to be run from a DOS¢ other than SpartaDOS, and it allows¢ the program to be installed as the¢ BOOT program on a SpartaDOS disk. ¢ More on this later.¢¢ MAC/65 SOURCE CODE¢ Here is the MAC/65 source code:¢ 1000 *=$3000¢ 1010 START¢ 1020 STA $D5E0 ;Turns on the X cart.¢ 1030 JMP $E477 ;Reboots the computer.¢ 1040 *=$2E0 ;RUNAD¢ 1050 .WORD START¢ The last two lines are the new part.¢¢ AUTORUN ANYONE?¢ With a run address, this program¢ can now be made to run automatically¢ when a SpartaDOS disk is booted,¢ without taking up space or time with¢ loading DOS. You can stick it on¢ your normal SpartaDOS X boot disk or¢ whatever.¢¢ HOW TO!¢ Just copy the file to the disk¢ and use BOOT d:XON2.COM where d: is¢ the drive. That is it.¢¢ ON OR OFF CONFUSION!¢ There has been some confusion about¢ when the X cart is OFF and when it is¢ not, so here's my CONCLUSION:¢ When you use the X, CAR, or¢ BASIC commands, you are NOT turning¢ the cartridge OFF strictly speaking. ¢ X.COM (or CAR.COM with BASIC or CAR)¢ loads into low memory and acts as a¢ "cart cop" while the application is¢ running. It banks the cartridge out¢ of memory and RAM, internal BASIC, or¢ the external cartridge in, depending¢ on the command used. When the SDX¢ library is needed (for disk access,¢ usually), the resident command banks¢ the cart back in, then out when done.¢ This makes the screen flicker¢ sometimes when X.COM is used, since¢ screen memory is usually in that RAM.¢ (The screen is moved to this RAM when¢ the X command is run, before the¢ application is run, which explains¢ why the screen blanks for a little¢ while.)¢ If you do a cold start while X.COM or¢ CAR.COM has the ROM banked out, there¢ is no chance for the resident program¢ to put the ROM back (its executing¢ days are over), so the machine cold¢ starts with the cart turned off. ¢ There is nothing that can be done at¢ this point, since the OS is handling¢ the reboot and it has never heard of¢ SpartaDOS X. If you cold start with¢ the COLD command and either the /N or¢ /C options, you voluntarily turn off¢ the cart for good. It is gone. The¢ way to turn it on is to write to¢ $D5E0, which is not a really a memory¢ location at all. Then, of course,¢ you must reboot to flush whatever is¢ in the computer and load SpartaDOS X.¢ =*=*=*=¢
