Msg: 7135 *Conference*

04-23-97 09:58:06

From: RON WIESEN

To : TONY SUDNEY

Subj: REPLY TO MSG #7133 (RAMPAC)

Good deal Tony.  I wonder what you mean by "slightly changed menu" of RAM100.CO
- different than menu of RAMDSK.CO perhaps?
 
So for Rampac use by your M200, you've got a M200 specific LOADER.BA which
extracts from Sector 002 and Sector 001 a 1279-byte block of m/l code specific
to the M200.  Sector 002 and Sector 001 span file RAMDSK.CO in the Rampac.
That's fine.
 
For your M102, you've got RAM100.CO and it works.  Earlier you had used a M10x
specific LOADER.BA which extracted "wrong stuff".  What you need now is to
modify this LOADER.BA to get the "right stuff" from the Rampac.  Renaming it to
avoid confusing it with the M200 specific LOADER.BA would help as well.
 
Save RAM100.CO in the Rampac - there it spans two sectors - we know not where.
Use RD.BA to find out which two sectors.  Then modify the OUT S,2 and OUT S,1
statements of the M10x specific LOADER.BA so it no longer extracts stuff from
Sector 002 and Sector 001, but instead extracts from the two sectors that
RAM100.CO spans.  With RAM100.CO saved in the Rampac, proceed like this.
 
Get RD.BA in the M102.  Attach the Rampac.  Run RD.BA and while mapping ensues,
note the outline surrounding an area for the 255-sector Map.  During mapping,
the icon letters and their meaning are shown here.  You're interested in the
capital letter C which is the icon seen at the starting sector of a many-sector
file of the .CO type.  The underscore _ is the icon seen at a continuation
sector - these are remaining sectors of many-sector files.
 
Below the sector Map is a 64-position Bar where reports appear.  When mapping
is done the Bar reports "Rampac Diagnostic bla bla bla LABEL for Help".  On the
sector Map, the cursor begins at Sector001 which is top-line, second position.
The icon at Sector001 is an underscore _ and the icon directly right of it for
Sector002 is a capital letter C  -  of this much I'm sure.
 
To get the idea of tracing the chain of sectors in a many-sector file, trace
RAMDSK.CO like this: RightArrow moves cursor to Sector002 where a capital
letter C icon is seen which means the first sector of a many-sector .CO file (I
know it's RAMDSK.CO but we'll prove it).  Press the lower case f key and the
Bar scrolls and reports "RAMDSKCO(01285\002)" which is file name RAMDSK.CO with
a total size of 1285 bytes (2 for Top, 2 for Len, 2 for Exe, 1279 for
executable code block) that span 2 sectors.  Press CTRL+DownArrow keys together
and the Bar scrolls as the report expands to "RAMDSKCO(01285\002)>002>001end."
which shows the entire chain of sectors to the ending sector.  Meanwhile on the
Map, lines link the related icons and the cursor ends on the icon of the ending
sector of the file.  In this case one line shows linkage from Sector002 to
Sector001 and the cursor ends up on Sector001.
 
To find RAM100.CO use the RightArrow, LeftArrow, UpArrow, and DownArrow to
navigate the cursor onto each capital letter C icon.  Then press the lower case
f key to see the file name on the Bar.  Keep navigating and using the lower
case f key until the Bar reports "RAM100CO(01406\002)".  Then press
CTRL+DownArrow keys together to expand the report for the chain of (two)
sectors.  Jot down this report.  Press the F8 key to terminate RD.BA.
 
Invoke BASIC.  Type LOAD"LOADER" or whatever you might have named the M10x
specific BASIC program.  Type EDIT.  Look for the OUT S,2 and OUT S,1
statements.  Change these per the report you jotted down.  For example if the
report is "RAM100CO(01406\002)>100>099end." then change the statements to be
OUT S,100 and OUT S,99.  Press the F8 key, and when Ok appears, type MENU.  Now
save LOADER.BA, or whatever you've named it, to disk or to tape.  YOU'RE THERE
DUDE  -  PREPARED TO COLD LOAD RAM100.CO FROM THE RAMPAC, SHOULD THE NEED
ARISE!
 
BTW Tony: have no concern about RD.BA in regard to running it in a M200, or
even importing it to an IBM PC - unless it finds itself in a M100 or in a M102
(it knows and reports which), it just reports "Wrong laptop" and terminates.
Every 3 months I attach a printer and run RD.BA for each Rampac I own -
pressing CTRL+PRINT keys together prints a lengthy and comprehensive report.
If the report shows no Hung or Jointed sectors and no broken chains I just file
it away in case I need to do "reconstructive surgery" to recover stuff.  If the
report shows trouble, I know how to proceed and I have the prior 3-month report
for reference.  Maybe once a year is sensible for you.
 
For fun, have no Rampac attached and run RD.BA.  Press ENTER at the beeping
"Directory Flag" report and at the "Directory Link" report.  The sector Map
then appears and it shows one Hung sector (capital letter H icon) and 254
Unknown (question mark ? icon) sectors.  Navigate the cursor to the Hung
sector, use any trace command (e.g., CTRL+DownArrow), and watch the fun as a
Joint of 254-Ways into Sector131 is traced and Sector131 is reported as Hung
(linked to itself).