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1994-05-23
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419 lines
DISK-EMU
Floppy disk drive emulator
Version 1.00
(c) 1.994 Carlos Fernández Sanz
Emporium programming group
93:341/101.2@SubNet, 2:341/31.29@FidoNet, cfsanz@nebula.encomix.com
English docs
1. Description of the program and its characteristics
-----------------------------------------------------
Shortly: DISK-EMU is a resident program that emulates a flopy disk
drive in RAM memory.
The emulation is carried out through the BIOS, making it compatible
with all the programs that do not access the hardware directly (except
the copiers, no other does so).
DISK-EMU must not be considered as a RAM disk. Although the drive
emulated is what is usually considered as a RAM disk, that is not the
real purpose of this program.
Just to show why DISK-EMU is not a simple RAM disk, I will comment
some of its features:
-The emulation is at the BIOS level, not DOS level. So, every
program that works with a floppy disk drive also works with
the DISKEMU drive.
-DISK-EMU allows you to change a disk on the fly. So, you can
quickly install programs with various installation diskettes.
-It is possible to make exact images of the emulated disk drive,
which is much more quickly than copying file by file.
The images have CRC, so it is possible to detect any possible
error in the disks.
-DISK-EMU compress the images, so it can be used as an storage
method for programs of various diskettes instead of the
typical compression programs.
-You can enter the DISK-EMU menu during the installations in
any video mode, text and graphics as well. DISK-EMU will
correctly restore the screen when coming back.
-You can enter a shell to DOS from the DISK-EMU menu. e.g. to
delete some files in the middle of an installation (to gain a
little more space).
-DISK-EMU drives can be write protected, just like the normal
disk drives. Besides, there is an special protection mode
(pseudo), which protects the disk "cheating" the programs.
This is very useful when programs need to write in the disk
although you do not want so.
-The emulated drives can be of any kind, from the usual ones of
360 kb, 720 kb, 1.2 Mb and 1.44, to those of 2.88 Mb, or any
non-standard formats, e.g. 100 tracks with 20 sectors/track...
2. Hardware and software requirements to use DISKEMU.
-----------------------------------------------------
Not too much really, nowadays. At least (and enough) the following:
-386SX or better.
-10 kb of conventional memory, and the one necessary
for the disks to be created. Tipically 1.44 Mb. Memory
can also be used for the resident swapping, but the
hard disk can be used for that purpose.
-Very likely a EGA or VGA for installations in graphic
modes. I have not tested it with a CGA, so I can not
assure if it works with it.
-An XMS or EMS memory driver. Any of them can be used.
3. Distribution conditions of DISK-EMU.
---------------------------------------
DISK-EMU is distributed as shareware. This means that the
evaluation copy is freely distributed. The user can test it for a time
(usually, about three weeks) to decide whether he/she likes the program
or not. if he/she likes it, he/she must register, which will give him/
her some privileges which are detailed below. If he/she does not like
it, he/she just simply must stop using it. This way of distribution is
of absolute confidence for the user, since he does exactly know what he
is paying for, and very cheap for the programmer, which also gives a
benefit to the user, who pays less.
Concerning DISK-EMU, registering it gives the following benefits:
-Of course, the right to use the program whenever you want,
with no limitations. The registered version must not be
distributed, being the user the responsible of guaranteeing
this. The registered versions are protected by the law like
any other program, and its distribution is a crime that can be
severely punished.
-Free upgrades to every little modification. I mean, all the
1.x versions. I use the "traditional" numbering system, in
which changing the main number means really important changes.
So, it surely will be some versions 1.x. To receive this
upgrades sending a diskette and an envelope with a right stamp
and the address already written on it will be enough.
-An upgrade to the following important revision. This upgrade
will be automatically send to all the registered users the
moment it is finished, with no delays.
-Electronic mail support, you can choose between SubNet (this
is the best way), FidoNet or Internet. Ordinary mail can also
be used, although it is too slow.
-The registered version has options not available in the
shareware version.
-The suggestions of registered users will always be in my mind.
-The diskette with the registered version of DISK-EMU also has
many other programs with utilities having something to do with
DISK-EMU. Most of them are free. Some others are shareware too.
The shareware version can be distributed in any media, including
the diskettes that go with magazines, CD-ROMs, BBS, networks like Inter-
net, service catalogues of shareware selling, etc, as long as:
1. None of the files that go with the program is deleted.
Other files and advertisements can be added.
2. The asked price is the same of the one of any other program.
To register, send 1.800 pesetas (from Spain) or 20 US dollars
(from outside Spain). Accepted payment methods are:
-Deposit in the following bank account:
Name: Carlos Fernández Sanz
Bank: Caja de Madrid
Office: 1119
Account: 3001052409
The receipt of the deposit or a photocopy of it must be sent
to the address detailed below. To make the send faster, the
desposit can be notified by electronic mail. If this happens,
add the quantity of the last two numbers of your phone number,
just to identify your deposit quickly. If you use FidoNet send
the message direct, do not route it.
-Bank cheque.
-Simply, send money. Take care! If you do so use a registered
letter.
-Postal order. This way is very slow, since I have to go to the
central post office, and so I do not go until I have some
waiting.
-Cash on delivery. Only if no other way can be used. The
additional costs of the delivery are paid by the user.
Whatever the method you choose is compulsory to send perfectly
filled the form included in the file ORDER.DOC.
The address is:
Carlos Fernández Sanz
C/Fermín Caballero 60, 3-B
Madrid 28034
Spain
4. Guarantees of the distribution of DISK-EMU.
----------------------------------------------
There is no guarantee in the shareware version. The user is the only
responsible of the use of the program, not being the author responsible
of any harm or mistake the use of DISK-EMU can produce.
I do guarantee that the registered version includes all what is
described in this document and just the way it is described.
5. Parameters that can be used with DISK-EMU
--------------------------------------------
By default, DISK-EMU creates a drive of the same size of the
physical drive A:, using extended memory preferably (if there is no
extended memory, expanded memory would be use), and it uses RAM memory
as a container for the swapping methods. Its behaviour can be modified
through the command line with the following parameters:
Parameter Meaning Default value.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 Do not create any virtual disk. Create the disk.
360, 1220, Size of the virtual disk. That of the physical
720, 1440, drive.
2880.
N:drive Number of drive to be emulated 0
T:tracks Tracks of the virtual disk. That of the physical
drive (40 or 80).
H:heads Heads of the virtual disk. 2.
S:sectors Sectors per track of the virtual That of the physical
disk. drive (9, 15 or 18)
B:bytes/s Bytes per sector. 512
D:dir. Working directory. C:\
K:code Code of the hot-key. This code can Alt-Tab
be obtained through the menu.
E Use EMS first than XMS Use XMS
*FO Format the disk when creating it. Do not format.
It only works on standard disks.
*M Reduce the memory usage taking it Use the neccesary.
from the shell.
F Use hard drive to swapping zones. Use EMS/XMS
U Uninstall a previous installed
version.
*R:file Load the image file. It is possible
to make a batch process with this
parameter.
*W:file Save the current image in a file.
*WP:file Save the current image in a file.
The image will be saved compressed.
? It shows a help screen.
The parameters marked with an * only work in the registered version.
The parameter R will have two different behaviours: If a DISK-EMU
copy is already in memory, it loads the image. If there is no DISK-EMU
copy in memory, the disk is copied in the one to be installed.
All the commands of reading/writting files can be cancelled by
pressing ESC.
Those commands that can be dangerous warn the user. For instance, to
load a disk it is necessary to delete the one already loaded. The user
will be warned appropiately.
All the parameters can go after / or - (e.g. /R, or -R).
6. The DISK-EMU menu.
---------------------
It is accessed through the key combination choosen with the
parameter K, its default value is Alt-Tab. To exit the menu and return
to the current program, ESC will be used.
DISK-EMU will stop the running program, saving all the information
necessary to let it continue after calling DISK-EMU. This includes the
program itself (which is overwritten in memory with the non-resident
part of DISK-EMU), the screen (text mode or graphic mode so well), DTA,
and so on. Which happens when activating the menu is not important at
all for the user (although it is interesting for programmers).
The menu is divided in three parts, which are "Image", "File" and
"System". In the screen there is also an information panel with all the
characteristics of the current virtual disks, if there is any.
In this panel is shown the following information:
If there is no virtual disk, it simply has a warning. If there is
a disk:
Drive: Number of the physical drive substituted. This is
better explained below.
Tracks: Number of tracks.
Heads: Number of heads.
Sectors/Track: Number of sectors per track.
Bytes/sector: Number of bytes per sector.
Total sectors: Total number of sectors in the disk.
Total bytes: Total number of bytes of the disk. The formula used is
HEADS * TRACKS * SECTORS/TRACK * BYTES/SECTOR. The less
experienced user would ask why this number is not the
same that the DIR command of DOS returns when the disk
is empty. This is because the first sectors of the disk
are used by the DOS to manage the disk space.
Protected: The disk can be protected against writting or not.
There is also a third way of working (I have called it
pseudo) that has the disk protected but cheats the
programs that try to write in the disk, returning an
"OK" as the result of a writting operation. Some
programs try to write configuration files during
installations (and also other things) in the disks, and
they do not let the user decide whether he wants it or
not. This pseudo mode is very useful if this happens.
Active: The disk can be active or not. In the latter, the drive
accesses are sent to the BIOS, and then the real drive
is the one that works.
The menu options are the following:
"IMAGE" file.
-Create | A submenu appears with options to choose the
virtual disk| size of the disk. It can be a standard disk, or
| it can have its own characteristics. To create a
| virtual disk the current one must be erased, if
| there is one.
-Delete disk | Deletes from memory the virtual disk and it puts
| the physical drive to work again.
-(Un)protect | It toggles between the protection options,
disk | already explained before.
-(De)Activate| Activates or deactivates the disk.
-Change drive| This option is only available in the registered
| version.
| By default, DISKEMU substitutes the physical
| drive 0, which is the drive A: under DOS.
| However, any other drive can be substituted (are
| valid from 0 to 3). The physical drive 1 is the
| drive B:. However, in the systems with only one
| floppy drive, DOS assigns a 0 to A: and B: as
| well, so in this systems it is not possible to
| simply announce the drive change. To solve this
| problem to possible solutions are available:
| 1. Change the CMOS and set that there is another
| drive, although it is not present.
| 2. Load the DRIVER.SYS, that comes with MS-DOS.
| For instance, DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS /D:1 /F:7 makes
| DOS assign a drive letter to the physical drive
| 1 (this can be the DISK-EMU drive) and set its
| characteristics to those of a 1.44 Mb one. The
| way DRIVER.SYS works is explained in the manual
| of the operative system.
| The letter can be E:, F:, etc., although DOS
| still handles the drive as a floppy disk drive,
| so all the commands for this drives still work
| perfectly.
| Systems with two drives can install the DISK-EMU
| drive as the physical drive 2 (with /D:2 in
| DRIVER.SYS), to have access for every drive at
| the same time.
"FILE" menu.
-Read image | DISK-EMU will show a list with the image files
| stored in the current working directory, and it
| will let the user choose one to load it. Besides,
| it will tell the operative system a disk change
| has taken place, just to make everything work in
| the same way as a disk had been changed in the
| real drive. In the shareware version only the
| first five images will be listed.
-Write image | This option writes an image, without compressing
| it, but with CRC, in the working directory.
| Besides the name, a description can be inserted,
| this description appears with the option of read
| image, to make the identification easier.
-Write | Just the same that the previous one, but the
without CRC | images does not have CRC. This option is used to
| create images that are going to be used and
| deleted inmediatedly, and which are not suitable
| of storing, because they are not sure. However,
| not being necessary to calculate the CRC they
| are stored more quickly.
-Write with | This option is only available in the registered
compression | version.
| Images are saved compressed, saving a lot of
| space.
-Delete an | It permits deleting an image from the hard drive,
image | which is very useful if the space is needed to
| continue with the installation of a program.
"SYSTEM" menu.
-Credits | It shows a screen with the names of the people
| who have helped in the development of this
| program.
-Change | It allows the user to change the key combination
hot-key | selected to invoke the menu. First of all the
| main key is to be pressed (letters or numbers)
| and after that the secondary key(s) (CTRL, ALT,
| etc). DISK-EMU will return the associated code
| of this combination, code that can be used with
| the parameter K for future installations.
-Shell to DOS| This option is only available in the registered
| version.
| It exits temporarily to DOS. After doing whatever
| necessary in DOS (even another program can be
| called) type EXIT to return to the menu.
-Uninstall | Uninstalls DISK-EMU from memory, if it can be
| done so.
7. Some aditional tips about DISK-EMU.
--------------------------------------
Although the way of working with DISK-EMU is already perfectly
described, some other things must be discussed.
Firstly, the virtual disk must be formatted, just as any other disk.
This can seem funny, but the disk needs the formatter to save some
important information at the beginning of the disk. Fortunately, it
only takes ones second to format a DISK-EMU disk.
To format the disks I highly recommend the widely spread FDFORMAT.
It is free and is distributed with source. It is available at most BBS.
It is much better than the FORMAT of DOS, with DISK-EMU as well as with
any physical disk. The disk with the registered version of DISK-EMU has
a copy of it, just in case you have any problem finding it.
Although DISK-EMU uses compression, it was not thought of as a way
of storing files, but disks. For files, it is better to use any other
wonderful utilities designed for it, like PKZIP or ARJ.
DISK-EMU must not be loaded before any other program that receives
real time messages (e.g., networks, communication programs, etc). When
entering the menu, DISK-EMU stops all this programs, so data may be
lost. Besides that, programs like DesqView must not be loaded before.
The correct way (if you want to access the menu, if you do not want to
do it is not necessary to do so) is by loadin DISK-EMU within a window.
8. Contacting the author
------------------------
My main electronic address are:
SubNet : 93:341/101.2
FidoNet : 2:341/31.29
InterNet: cfsanz@encomix.nebula.com
If are unable to contact me through those addresses, you may try
the following ones:
SubNet : 93:341/901.16
FidoNet : 2:341/18.107
InterNet: cccanto@eui.upm.es -> This one belongs a friend, but
you can use it. He will forward the messages to me.
Of course, snail mail is also a posibility. In that case, please
please send a envelope with the correct stamp and your address.
9. Credits
----------
Besides me, Carlos Fernández Sanz, as the author of the program,
some other people have colaborated in the developing of DISK-EMU:
Betatesters:
Rafael Imedio 93:341/101.2 2:341/31.0
Francisco J. González 93:341/101.3 2:341/31.11
Paco Romero 93:341/901.0 2:341/53.0
Pedro de Paz 93:341/501.0 2:341/52.0
Nacho Rapallo 93:341/108.0 2:341/31.7
Antonio Cordero 93:341/108.0 2:341/31.7
Roger Manuel 93:341/108.0 2:341/31.7
Francisco J. González has helped me a lot with the translation
into English of the program and its documentation.
Luis Crespo (the author of Visual Player) told me his experience
on the distribution of his fine program.
Ciriaco García de Celis, with his wonderful book "El Universo Digi-
tal del IBM PC, AT y PS/2" gave me a lot of useful information about
TSRs.
I also want to greet everyone who came to the computer meeting some
friends made in Madrid, I will see you in Barcelona in our way to the
the Assembly '94 this summer:
Javier y Juan Carlos Arévalo, from Iguana. Arturo Ramírez-M (you
are very good at DOOM), Jon Beltrán de Heredia (I wait impatiently for
your assembly book), Arcadi Magre, Francisco Carrascosa, Oscar Esteban,
Aitor Garay, Patxi Olarte, Reddevil, and some others that I forget.
Greetings also go to Mstislav, Daf, Undo.