Msg: 6442 *Conference*

04-16-96 18:47:23

From: RON WIESEN

To : ANTHONY FEST

Subj: REPLY TO MSG #6440 (RAMPAC)

Doesn't sound too good Tony. What you did was correct to byte 454 and 455
(455th and 456th bytes) which correspond to Sector 227. Perhaps you have a weak
battery in the Rampac. Elsewise it sounds like a hard fault in the Rampac.
 
Manually read byte 000 and 001 of the Directory. These are the "format flag" of
the Rampac. They should be values 64 and 4, respectively. I suspect they are OK
because N-DKTR.BA "likely checks the format flag" before anything else. Maybe
not. If they are not values 64 and 4, I believe RAM100.CO issues:
  Format RAMdisk                     Kbytes free
  Are you Sure?

Answer with N for no. Then RAM100.CO issues:
  Format RAMdisk                     Kbytes free
  Fix?

Answer Y for yes. If RAM100.CO can "fix" the problem, it issues the normal file
list display. Otherwise it loops back to:
  Format RAMdisk                     Kbytes free
  Are you Sure?

You can remove the Rampack and invoke RAM100.CO for a dry run to see it issue
these messages. With no attached Rampac, RAM100.CO always reads value 131
regardless of what sector and byte it reads. The 131 is an "echo" of the
INP(131) and I/O circuitry of the laptop produces the echo where no I/O
hardware is attached to an I/O port.
 
The only other thing I can recommend is that you make a copy of N-DKTR.BA under
another name, add some BASIC code to it so that it avoids Sector 227 (avoids
ERR 6 etc.), and see if it can continue.
 
For battery "live" replacement, it's possible with a little care. Contact Tracy
Allen of EME Systems for how to do "live" replacement. Normal battery
replacement interrupts battery power in the Rampac so that all content is lost.
With "live" replacement there is no power interruption while a fresh battery is
installed so content remains intact. A new battery may "unstick" Sector 227 and
allow all the Rampac hardware to work well.