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- Chapter 2 - Getting Started
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- Instructions for ConIX installation and system configuration.
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- - CONTENTS -
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- 2. Getting Started........................................ 2-1
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- 2.1 Installing ConIX.................................... 2-1
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- 2.2 Loading ConIX from CP/M............................. 2-3
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- 2.3 Notes............................................... 2-4
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- ConIX Operating System Getting Started
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- 2. Getting Started
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- It is very important that you immediately make two copies of the
- ConIX distribution files which you have received with this manual.
- The first copy should be kept as a backup, to be used in the
- future in place of the original which should not be touched unless
- absolutely necessary. The second will be for use as the working
- copy. It should also contain a SYSGEN of CP/M on the operating
- system tracks. This will allow you to use ConIX on drive A: and
- reboot (reset or CTRL-C) as necessary.
-
- Next, you should put the working copy of the distribution disk
- into drive A: and then cold boot your system (hit the reset
- button). Once CP/M is loaded you will be ready to begin the
- required installation procedure as outlined below.
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- 2.1 Installing ConIX
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- Take a look at the directory of ConIX files, if you haven't
- already. You should see two files, among many, INSTALL.COM and
- CONIXR.COM. INSTALL is used to customize a copy of ConIX to your
- system's memory map. CONIXR is the ConIX Operating System stored
- in a page relocatable form. It can be executed just as an
- INSTALLed ConIX, except Memory Management will not be operational.
- This is an extremely important feature and must be available when
- you actively use ConIX as a part of your system.
-
- The INSTALL program simply reads the relocatable ConIX file and
- makes a new version based upon the amount of memory available in
- your system. The new ConIX differs from the original in that it
- is pre-relocated and will not have to recalculate its addresses
- for relocation when started up (a somewhat time-consuming
- operation). Instead, ConIX will be moved by a built-in loader to
- the area in memory predetermined at the time of installation.
-
- Before you install ConIX, you must be sure that your system's
- memory map appears exactly as it will when you will be using ConIX
- in the future. Some systems require patch programs to be loaded
- which permanently relocate themselves to the top of memory to
- perform some special function. Some common patches are RAM-disk
- and format conversion software. In such a case, be sure that all
- patches have been loaded into memory before INSTALL is executed
- (as should also be the case each time ConIX is initially loaded
- into your system).
-
- To install ConIX, type:
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- A>install
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- at which point you will be asked for the name of the relocatable
- ConIX data file. You may hit <RETURN>, and the default CONIXR.COM
- on the current disk will be assumed. You may specify a drive only
- (as B:) if the file is not on the current disk.
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- 2-1
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- Getting Started ConIX Operating System
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- You will then be asked to specify the filename of the INSTALLed
- version of ConIX. You may hit <RETURN> for CONIX.COM, which will
- be created on the current drive. (Note that you are required to
- use this filename since ConIX must access it when reloading during
- Memory Management.) To create the output file on another drive,
- simply specify the disk code alone (such as B:).
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- Next, you will be asked for the relocation address. This value
- will be used to determine the base relocation page, meaning that
- ConIX will reside in memory from this point and back toward
- location 0000. You would enter an address here if, for some
- reason, you'd want a buffer space between CP/M and ConIX for
- storage of data or machine code routines and patches. This memory
- would be protected since it is unused and not part of the TPA.
-
- You should hit <RETURN> for the default location, which is the top
- of memory as stored in memory at 0006h. ConIX will then be
- configured to reside directly next to CP/M, or any patches that
- are present in memory.
-
- INSTALL will then request the name of the default startup command.
- This command will be executed automatically whenever ConIX is
- initially loaded from CP/M. By default, this is set to
- ``PROFILE'', which will be maintained if <RETURN> is, and should
- normally be, hit.
-
- INSTALL also provides the user with the ability to disable certain
- ConIX functions that may cause incompatibility problems with non-
- standard CP/M 2.2 systems. The first is BIOS patching, which
- refers to the internal operation of ConIX to patch the BIOS in-
- memory jump table. This action facilitates the redirection of
- programs that perform I/O directly through the BIOS, effectively
- bypassing CP/M or ConIX, as the case may be.
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- The BIOS patching operation might cause problems on some non-
- conventional CP/M systems that do not fully support direct BIOS
- access. In such cases, it may be necessary to disable BIOS
- patching by entering ``off'' in response to the question asked by
- INSTALL. If BIOS patching is to remain enabled, simply hit
- <RETURN>.
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- The second possibly troublesome feature is the ExpanDisk Virtual
- Disk System. If BIOS patching has been turned off, ExpanDisk will
- automatically be disabled as well, since this feature must patch
- the BIOS in order to work.
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- Some systems, however, may allow standard BIOS patching, but not
- the interference in disk I/O system calls. (Standard patching
- under ConIX only affects the CONIN, CONOUT, CONST, LISTST, and
- LIST jumps.) On such systems, BIOS patching can be enabled, with
- the exception of ExpanDisk, which can be disabled by typing
- ``off'' in response to the appropriate question.
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- Another ConIX operation which may cause system incompatibility is
- BDOS Error Vector Patching. This feature may cause problems if
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- 2-2
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- ConIX Operating System Getting Started
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- the target system does not implement the BDOS error vector, which
- is a series of four addresses after the first JMP DECODE
- instruction at the top of the BDOS. These addresses point to the
- four routines that handle BDOS errors (File R/O, Disk R/O, Bad
- Sector, and Select).
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- In order for these vectors to be implemented under ConIX, they
- must be patched in the BDOS to point to the duplicate vectors
- within ConIX. If this feature is disabled, programs which patch
- the error vector to trap BDOS errors will no longer be able to do
- so (this is not really a very common practice).
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- All other functions of ConIX are implemented using standard CP/M
- conventions, and should cause no incompatibility problems with
- even the most complex systems. The prime requirement is that the
- resident operating system must support all CP/M 2.2 standard BDOS
- operations. If this is truly the case, ConIX should be compatible
- with such a system.
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- If you are performing a first-time installation of ConIX, you
- should hit <RETURN> in response to all the questions so as to set
- the default parameters. INSTALL will then generate the final
- executable version of ConIX.
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- The next step is to test the newly installed version (see the next
- section) to see if it performs properly. Should ConIX blatantly
- fail to execute, you probably have a system which is not truly
- CP/M 2.2 compatible. If this is the case, you should re-run the
- INSTALL program and try disabling various combinations of ConIX
- features. Once the installation procedure has produced a working
- copy of ConIX, it will not have to be repeated, unless your
- system's memory map must be changed for some reason.
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- 2.2 Loading ConIX from CP/M
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- The syntax for loading ConIX from CP/M is:
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- A>conix (commands)
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- If commands are specified, ConIX will execute these commands
- immediately after printing the signon message. For example:
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- A>conix dir
-
- The ConIX Operating System Vxx.yyz
- Copyright (C) 1985, Computer Helper Industries Inc.
- All rights reserved worldwide!
- .
- . directory will be listed
- .
- <A:00>
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- where the directory command, DIR, was executed immediately after
- ConIX was loaded.
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- 2-3
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- Getting Started ConIX Operating System
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- If you do not specify any commands for the initial load, ConIX
- will execute the default startup command PROFILE.COM (or whatever
- default was set by INSTALL). This program is provided on the
- distribution disk and, in its current form, simply prints a
- welcome message to the screen as:
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- A>conix
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- The ConIX Operating System Vxx.yyz
- Copyright (C) 1985, Computer Helper Industries Inc.
- All rights reserved worldwide!
-
- Welcome to ConIX System/One!
- <A:00>
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- Using the ConIX Command Language, you could write your own startup
- procedure which would automatically perform any needed tasks each
- time ConIX is initially loaded from CP/M. This is discussed
- further in the ConIX Programming Manual.
-
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- 2.3 Notes
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- It is believed that most CP/M 3.0+ systems and, in general,
- systems which do not use contiguous memory for the operating
- system and system dependent routines (via bank-switching), require
- some form of BIOS patching to be disabled. Usually disabling
- ExpanDisk is sufficient but, in some cases, it may be necessary to
- disable all BIOS patching.
-
- Additionally, systems that do not use standard CP/M 2.2 often do
- not implement the BDOS error vectors. We have also found that
- most in-memory patches (for ramdisk, format conversion software,
- etc.) neglect to maintain error vector compatibility. Error
- vector patching should probably be disabled on such computers.
- CP/M 2.2 systems which have been implemented according to the
- guidelines presented within the Digital Research documentation
- should not require any customization customization via INSTALL.
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- 2-4
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- σHAPTER3DOC