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1994-11-27
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________________________________________.
\_____ \____/ ___________ |____ \ |__
| | \ \ \ \ \/ | _ \ | \
|_____ /_ /____ /_ /\ _|___|_ /___ /
+------\/--\/-----\/--\/--\/-------\/RtX!\/+
CrossDOS Plus Version 5.06
==========================
TYPED BY SHARD - DTL
This manual describes any changes, highlights and special features for this
version and revision of CrossDOS Plus.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
New features in this Release
Running CrossDOS or CrossPC from the Product Disk
Installing CrossDOS or CrossPC
Undocumented CrossPC Features
Configuring an MS-DOS Hard Drive
Changes from Versions 3 and 4 of CrossDOS
Notes for Floptical Users
Manual Corrections
Troubleshooting - CrossDOS
Electronic Registration
Technical Support
Electronic Bulletin Board Service
Copyrights, Disclaimers and Trademarks
NEW FEATURES IN THIS RELEASE
----------------------------
Improvements - CrossDOS
Improvements - CrossPC
Improvements - Configure an MS-DOS Hard Drive
Improvements - Dr CrossDOS
Improvements - Install
Improvements - READ.ME
Improvements - CrossDOS
CrossDOS now has its own disk icon! When CrossDOS recognizes an MS-DOS
disk, a disk icon appears with "CrossDOS TM" on the label. That's not all!
If you are using 2.0 or higher, opening the disk icon will display icons for
files and directories without needing to perform a Show/All Files first.
We now support disks formatted to 10 sectors per track used primarily on
Atari systems.
Improvements - CrossPC
We've significantly increased the speed of the serial port emulation. Our
tests show the serial port to be reliable up to the baud rates on the
machines listed below.
Machine CPU Speed CPU Type Baud
-------------------------------------
A3000 25MHZ 68030 38.4K
A500 7MHz 68000 4.8K
Your machine may exhibit higher or lower values depending on your
configuration. The general rule-of-thumb to use is: the more CPU power, the
faster the speed.
We've successfully used the following communication programs on CrossPC.
Procomm
Telix
Compuserve Information Manager
Prodigy
Laplink
We now display the information in the CrossPC debug window on the PC screen
at boot time.
We've increased the MS-DOS hard drive speed by about 10%.
We've improved the mouse driver emulation to be compatible with more PC
applications.
Improvements - Configure an MS-DOS Hard Drive
We've improved the MS-DOS hard drive configuration program. It now tries to
support drives that are non-RigidDiskBlock formatted. It also displays more
information at each step for your peace of mind.
Improvements - Dr CrossDOS
We've made Dr CrossDOS more intelligent in its diagnosis. If you're having
difficulties, please use it before calling our technical support line.
Improvements - Install
We now provide an Uninstall option to try to remove as many files associated
with CrossDOS and CrossPC as we can find. Use this option sparingly. There
is NO need to do an uninstall before doing an install or reinstall. A
reinstall will copy over the earlier releases of files with later releases.
Improvements - READ.ME
We have converted our READ.ME files into AmigaGuide documents for easier
searches.
RUNNING CROSSDOS OR CROSSPC FROM THE PRODUCT DISK
-------------------------------------------------
Both CrossDOS and CrossPC can be executed from this product disk
(particularly if you are running on a floppy based system). Just
double-click on the appropriate icon.
To start: double-click on the "PC0" icon. Your internal floppy drive will
now be configured as an MS-DOS drive with the name "PC0:". You can now read
and write preformatted MS-DOS disks.
If you need to format an MS-DOS disk, double-click on the Format icon in the
system drawer. Choose the device to format from the device list and answer
any of the questions and options given.
Double-clicking on the CrossPC icon begins the PC-XT emulation. Place an
MS-DOS 720K boot disk in your internal drive and it should boot up. (Please
note that 68000 users are only configured with 256K of PC memory in the
emulation.)
It's that simple.
INSTALLING CROSSDOS OR CROSSPC
------------------------------
You may choose to install both products using the Install program on the
disk. This is particularly efficient if you have a hard drive. If you do
wish to install, DO NOT move the files over manually! The Install program
makes many intelligent choices depending on your system configuration.
Once installed, you can use most features immediately. A few features such
as MS-DOS hard disk access may require additional operations be performed
before you use it. For further information see Configuring an MS-DOS Hard
Drive
UNDOCUMENTED CROSSPC FEATURES
-----------------------------
New ToolTypes
Obsolete ToolTypes
Mouse Software
New ToolTypes
Although CrossPC and CrossDOS can share data from the same MS-DOS disk,
there can be problems if it is accessed at the same time. To reduce this
risk significantly, we implemented a 'lockout' feature as the default when
using CrossPC. When CrossPC is running with a CrossDOS device (such as PC0:
or PCC:) we disable access to it from the Amiga side. When CrossPC is
rebooted (CTRL-ALT-DEL), it will free the CrossDOS devices to be used by the
Amiga.
If you wish to share the disks simultaneously between CrossPC and CrossDOS
you can set the DISKSHARE ToolType in the CrossPC icon. CAUTION: If the
proper precautions are not followed YOU WILL CORRUPT THE DISK. See Appendix
C in the manual called Hard Drive Considerations for an in-depth discussion
about this problem.
It is recommended that you do not use DISKSHARE unless you are confident you
know what you are doing. Since AmigaDOS and CrossPC both don't know when
the other is writing to the drive, it is possible to corrupt your floppy or
hard drive partition, losing some or all of your data. If you do need to
use the partition from both AmigaDOS and CrossPC simultaneously, remember
that whenever you write to the disk, you must make the other operating
system aware that you have changed the disk. Under AmigaDOS a Diskchange
command to the drive will work, under MS-DOS a CTRL-C or executing CHKDSK
has a similar effect.
STARTPRI=xx
The default priority of CrossPC is -10. By specifying STARTPRI=xx in the
ToolTypes of the CrossPC icon, the priority of CrossPC is set to xx. The
limits for this are -100 to 0. CrossPC will ensure that the priority is
between these two limits. Increasing the priority may not provide you any
more speed unless you are running other tasks. You will probably never need
to use this ToolType.
Obsolete ToolTypes CPU1 (Manual Edition 1 only)
This is no longer used. If it is present, it is ignored. The only use for
the CPU1 ToolType was if you had an early GVP accelerator card. Now CrossPC
automatically detects this, and executes the appropriate code. If you do
have one of these GVP cards, CrossPC will state that it is using CPU type
68010 instead of 68030.
Mouse Software
It is no longer necessary to use MOUSE.COM. The equivalent code is executed
whenever RightAmiga-Help is pressed. This makes it easier to use the mouse
if you haven't put MOUSE.COM onto an MS-DOS disk. MOUSE.COM is still useful
if you want the mouse to be enabled automatically from the AUTOEXEC.BAT.
You can disable the mouse driver by pressing RightAmiga-Shift-Help. We
recommend that you do not enable or disable the mouse within an application.
This insures for proper recognition of the mouse by applications.
NOTE: PC applications that can use the mouse REQUIRE that the mouse driver
be active before executing the application.
CONFIGURING AN MS-DOS HARD DRIVE
--------------------------------
CrossDOS and CrossPC now support MS-DOS formatted hard drives. If the drive
you configure is already formatted, there are certain hard drive formats
that are not 'true' MS-DOS. In this case, we do our best to decipher the
disk but 'all bets are off'.
We do require that you install both products using our Install program.
Also, select Configure MS-DOS Hard Disk for CrossDOS & CrossPC to have us
try to create a proper mountfile to match.
You will be asked in the Install program whether you want to configure one
of two types of hard disks.
One: A 'true' MS-DOS hard disk configured as the entire disk. This type is
useful if you wish to transfer data between the Amiga and a stand-alone PC.
We do HIGHLY recommend that this type of hard disk be formatted on the PC
first then brought to the Amiga for configuring.
Two: An 'image' of an MS-DOS hard disk within an Amiga hard disk partition.
This type is particularly useful with CrossPC.
Once the hard drive is configured, DO NOT use our Format command or the
standard Amiga Format command to format it. Instead, treat it like an
unformatted MS-DOS hard disk. This means you must use the FDISK and FORMAT
commands provided by MS-DOS to partition and format the hard disk
respectively. Failure to heed this warning may cause unpredictable results.
For example, if the configured hard disk is to be used with CrossPC, perform
the following steps:
1. Execute CrossPC and boot off an MS-DOS boot floppy.
2. Run FDISK to partition your configured hard drive. It will reset
CrossPC after FDISK.
3. Execute CrossPC and boot off an MS-DOS boot floppy again.
4. Run "Format C: /s/v" to format the C: partition and place system files
on it.
5. Transfer other files from the MS-DOS boot floppy to the C: partition.
6. Reboot CrossPC you should be able to boot off your hard drive.
For further information refer to Appendix C in the manual Hard Drive
Considerations that discusses the different hard drive types and special
considerations.
CHANGES FROM VERSIONS 3 AND 4 OF CROSSDOS
-----------------------------------------
This section is important for users who have an earlier version of CrossDOS.
There have been changes to CrossDOS for a multitude of reasons. These
reasons range from efficiency, speed, robustness and more. We hope you like
the changes. Most of the code is more efficient in both speed and code
size. Those code pieces that are larger are due to feature additions.
The CrossDOS product has two versions of code for most of its programs. One
version is Amiga 1.3 and 2.0 compatible. The other is 2.0 ONLY compatible
(identified by a ".2" on the end of the name). The 1.3/2.0 code is fatter,
as you would guess, and generally has a few less features. We recommend
that you install CrossDOS on the operating system version you wish to run
on. If you wish to use it under both operating systems, you should install
it under 1.3.
New CrossDOS Utilities
We've Renamed the Default Floppy Devices
MountMF is Gone!
MFORMAT, MDISKCOPY and Kill are History!
TxFilter and IntlTrans have been Combined!
TDPatch12 and TDPatch13
New File System Name
The file system code (the cornerstone of the CrossDOS product) has changed
name from MSDOSFILESYSTEM to CrossDOSFileSystem. If you install CrossDOS
onto your system we will copy this new file system to your L: directory. We
also copy this same code to L:MSDOSFileSystem so that your old configuration
may still work.
We've Renamed the Default Floppy Devices
The old MS-DOS devices defaulted to the names DI0: through DI3:. We now use
PC0: through PC3:. If you like the old names better, all you have to do is
rename the mountfile from PC0 to DI0. This rule applies to the other
devices too. You can name the floppy mountfiles to virtually any name that
does not conflict with any other device name.
New CrossDOS Utilities
We include new utilities to support CrossDOS better as well as benefit the
entire Amiga system. We have utilities such as Mount, Format and DiskCopy
that are designed to replace the system utilities of the same name. They
will operate on MS-DOS disks as well as Amiga disks. They operate just as
the commands they are replacing but they have some additional features to
make life easier.
Although they are designed to replace the standard Amiga utilities, you can
elect to rename these utilities to CDMOUNT, CDFORMAT and CDDISKCOPY. We
recommend that you replace your system commands to utilize these commands to
the fullest.
MountMF is Gone!
We've replaced this command with an advanced Mount command that uses
mountfiles. It can be used by either double-clicking on the mountfile (such
as PC0) or executing a mount of all the devices in a drawer at boot time (we
can do this in the Install program).
We do not encourage using MountMF but we do have a new replacement for it.
Our install program will try to find your old MountMF and replace it. This
allows you to use it if it is already used in a boot script.
MFORMAT, MDISKCOPY and Kill are History!
MFormat and MDiskCopy have been replaced with the full-featured Format and
DiskCopy respectively. Alternate floppy formats used with MFormat have been
replaced by special project icons located in the system/Alt_Formats drawer.
We do not encourage using these alternate formats unless you have to. The
Format utility will automatically sense the optimum disk format unless you
override it by using one of these alternate formats. We also recommend it
be used from the product disk. Refer to the READ.ME file in that drawer for
more information.
The Kill utility has been somewhat dangerous to use in the past and it is
now somewhat useless. CrossDOS is now more efficient. If there is no
MS-DOS disk in the drives, we try to deallocate all the memory we can. In
fact, CrossDOS uses no CHIP memory unless it senses an MS-DOS floppy disk in
the drive.
Our Install program will delete these files as well as the project icons
that are associated with them (such as Kill.DI0).
TxFilter and IntlTrans have been Combined!
We've combined the functions for setting the text filters and international
translation tables. In fact, they should be even easier to use with more
features. These functions have been combined into a commodity called
CrossDOS located in your system drawer. Refer to the manual in Chapter 4
for more details.
Our Install program will delete TxFilter and IntlTrans as well as the
project icons that are associated with them.
TDPatch12 and TDPatch13
The trackdisk.device code resident in Kickstart code versions 1.2 and 1.3
has a couple bugs that need fixing as well as adding a new feature found in
version 2.0 of the trackdisk.device. TDPatch12 and TDPatch13 correct this
problem for KickStart V1.2 and V1.3 respectively. The installation program
will detect the version of KickStart you are running and transfer the proper
patch version to your C: directory. The mfm.device will automatically
execute this file for you if it is needed.
NOTE: TDPatch will not work in conjunction with NOCLICK or TRACKSALVE or the
Applied Engineering device driver earlier then Version 1.2. we supply a
small program called KillClick (in the diag drawer) to stop the 'clicking'
on the drive for KickStart 2.0 ONLY!
NOTES FOR FLOPTICAL USERS
-------------------------
CrossDOS and CrossPC now support floptical drives. If you do not know if
you have a floptical drive you probably don't have one. A floptical drive
can support the MS-DOS 720K, 1.44M and its own 20M floptical disk format.
It can also support an Amiga 20M hard drive format.
We do recommend that you install both products using our Install program.
Also, select the Configure MS-DOS Hard Disk for CrossDOS and CrossPC to
allow us to attempt to create a proper mountfile. When you are configuring
the floptical, make sure you have a preformatted MS-DOS disk in the drive at
the time. Any MS-DOS disk should do (such as an 720K disk). This is needed
to sense the proper information from the drive.
Formatting with the floptical drive is slightly different too. This is
because the floptical cannot properly sense the size of the unformatted disk
in the drive. There are two ways to format in the floptical drive.
One: Insert a preformatted MS-DOS disk in the drive with the same formatted
size as you want to format. If you want to format a 1.44M disk, for
example, insert a preformatted MS-DOS 1.44M disk in the drive first. Then,
execute the Format program. Proceed with the program until you come the
requester that says "Ok to format volume ... " then insert the actual disk
to be formatted and proceed.
Two: Double-click on the format project icon in the :system/Alt_Formats
drawer that corresponds to the desired format. For example, double-click on
the MSDOS 720K.Format icon to 'force' the format of the disk to 720K.
Proceed through the format.
Choose the method that makes you comfortable. Experimentation is your best
teacher.
NOTE: At this time, GVP controllers will not permit a format of a blank
floppy using the Format program. In order to low-level format a blank
floppy you need to use their FAAASTPREP program, select "Manual
Installation" then select "Low Level Format". When completed, exit
FAAASTPREP and perform a Format with the "Quick Format" option.
MANUAL CORRECTIONS
------------------
The following is a list of important manual corrections to editions 1 and 2.
Manual Edition 2 can be identified by the last line on the title page (first
page after the front cover). Manual Edition 1 can be identified by the lack
of any edition text on the title page.
Manual Edition 1
Manual Edition 2
Manual Edition 1
Chapter 1; Section Getting Started - CrossDOS; Page 6; the Install program
cannot be run from the CLI.
Chapter 3; Section Using CrossDOS; Page 10; The section about showing icons
on MS-DOS disks using the Show/All Files of the Windows menu is not
necessary under 2.0. Default icons are automatically displayed. See
Improvements - CrossDOS for further information.
Chapter 5; Section Troubleshooting - CrossDOS; Page 29; the heading to the
fourth paragraph should read "DF0:BAD or DF0:????"
Chapter 7; Section Getting Started - CrossPC; Page 36; the Install program
cannot be run from the CLI.
Chapter 9; Section Tech Notes - CrossPC; Page 41; the last paragraph, last
sentence should read "For hard disks, DosType should be set to 0x4D534800."
Chapter 9; Section Tech Notes - CrossPC; Page 50; Item 5 should read: 5.
Start CrossPC with an MS-DOS boot floppy. Run FDISK. After you partition
the disk, CrossPC will reboot.
Chapter 9; Section Tech Notes - CrossPC; Page 50; Add the following: 7. You
will need to format each partition you created with FDISK. To format the C:
partition to be bootable execute the following command
Format C: /s/v
8. You can now reboot CrossPC and you should be able to boot off the C:
partition on your newly allocated hard drive.
Manual Edition 2
Chapter 3; Section Using CrossDOS; Page 10; The section about showing icons
on MS-DOS disks using the Show/All Files of the Windows menu is not
necessary under 2.0. Default icons are automatically displayed. See
Improvements - CrossDOS for further information.
Chapter 8; Section Tech Notes - CrossPC; Page 46; the second to last
paragraph second sentence should have the phrase LeftAmiga-Help changed to
RightAmiga-Help.
TROUBLESHOOTING - CROSSDOS
--------------------------
Here are some ideas to help you should you have trouble using CrossDOS.
General
Ensure you have configured the drive in which you wish to use the MS-DOS
disk by Mounting it. The device names correspond to the device names given
by Commodore. For example, PC0: is the MS-DOS device name corresponding to
DF0: and PC1: is the MS-DOS device name corresponding to DF1:.
Avoid file names longer than 8 characters.
Avoid file extensions longer than 3 characters.
Avoid space in file names or file extensions.
Make sure you do not mix disk types and format types. For example, do not
do a low density format on a high density disk or visa versa. Do not try to
read a high density formatted disk in a low density drive.
When using Workbench, avoid transferring files with file extensions. Rename
them first if necessary.
Ensure the file formats you want to use between both the Amiga program and
the MS-DOS program are compatible. For example, an Amiga FinalCopy file is
not readable by an MS-DOS WordPerfect wordprocessor.
Should you exhibit read or write errors with no specific pattern, try
cleaning the floppy drive heads of both the Amiga and MS-DOS computers.
The easiest way to check an MS-DOS disk from the Amiga is to run the DiskChk
program included with CrossDOS. The following is a list of most of the
CrossDOS error codes.
Error Messages
No. Name Description
1 IOERR_OPENFAIL device/unit failed to open
2 IOERR_ABORTED request aborted
3 IOERR_NOCMD command not supported
4 IOERR_BADLENGTH not a valid data length
20 TDERR_NotSpecified general catchall error code
21 TDERR_NoSecHdr couldn't find any sectors on track
22 TDERR_BadSecPreamble bad sector header
23 TDERR_BadSecID bad sector header
24 TDERR_BadHdrSum sector header had incorrect CRC
25 TDERR_BadSecSum data had incorrect CRC
26 TDERR_TooFewSecs couldn't find enough sectors
27 TDERR_BadSecHdr bad sector header
28 TDERR_WriteProt can't write to a protected disk
29 TDERR_DiskChanged no disk in the drive
30 TDERR_SeekError couldn't find track 0
31 TDERR_NoMem ran out of memory
32 TDERR_BadUnitNum asked for a unit > 3
33 TDERR_BadDriveType not a recognized drive
34 TDERR_DriveInUse someone else allocated the drive
35 TDERR_PostReset user hit reset; awaiting doom
36 MDERR_OutofTracks out of physical tracks
37 MDERR_InvParam invalid parameter (MD_SETPARMS)
38 MDERR_IndexNotSync index signal not available
39 MDERR_WrongTrack drive head on wrong physical track
Possible Problems and Solutions
I changed the MS-DOS disk on the 5 1/4" drive and still get the old
directory from the previous disk.
The 5 1/4" drive doesn't support the disk change signal. When you
change disks, execute the CLI DiskChange command or our DiskChg command
on the drive before your next access of the new disk.
I copied a file to an MS-DOS disk but can't find it when reading the disk on
my PC.
Avoid using spaces in file names. The MS-DOS computer ignores
everything after the space character.
I opened the MS-DOS disk from Workbench but I see none of the files that I
know are there.
MS-DOS files don't usually have icon files associated with each file.
The Amiga uses these icon files to draw the icons in Workbench. You
can access the files by either selecting the Window/Show/All Files from
the Workbench menu (not available under 1.3) or use any application
file requester or directory utility. Improvements - CrossDOS
DF0:BAD. or DF0:????
This is OK. The task that handles the AmigaDOS device called DF0:
can't recognize foreign disk formats such as MS-DOS.
Disk Ejected Too Soon.
Disk removed before all information was written to it. Put the disk
back into the drive and Retry might recover without corruption. We
recommend you wait at least 3 seconds from the last disk access before
removing the disk.
Disk Full.
Exceeded the capacity of the system disk. Remove unnecessary files
from the disk.
Error=-4.
TDPatch13 needs to be applied. Ensure you aren't running NoClick or
TrackSalve. TDPatch12 and TDPatch13
Error=21.
Could not find any sectors on the specified track. Probably not an
MS-DOS standard density formatted disk readable by your drive.
Error=22.
Sector not aligned with index signal from disk. Usually not
disastrous. Retry might recover.
Error=23.
Sector not found. Disk might be corrupt. Retry might recover.
Error=24.
Sector identification information corrupt. Retry might recover.
Error=25.
Sector data might be corrupt. Retry might recover.
Error=38.
Index signal from the drive not received. Amiga needs service to
correct a hardware problem.
Not a DOS Disk.
Ensure the disk is an MS-DOS disk capable of being read by your drive.
The disk may be an AmigaDOS disk or MS-DOS high density formatted disk
in a low density drive.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
-----------------
Electronic Registration
We would like you to help us in reducing the errors. Errors are caused by
manually entering product registration information into our database. This
occurs primarily because hand printing may be somewhat hard to decipher.
Our electronic registration is available through the install program or by
double-clicking on the Register icon. Fill in the correct information
requested and print it off by selecting the "Print and Save" button. Send
the printed registration sheet and the Proof-of-Purchase card to the address
listed on the sheet.
Technical Support
Should you have any difficulties, double-click on the program Dr CrossDOS.
It will try to diagnose the problem. If you are still having difficulties
you can contact us at:
CONSULTRON
8959 Ridge Rd
Plymouth, MI 48170-3213
(313) 459-7271 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST Weekdays
NOTE: Make sure you send in your product registration with Proof-of-Purchase
card. We will send you a Product Certificate with a unique Customer
Identification Number. You must use this number when calling or
corresponding for technical support. No technical support will be given
without this number.
ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD SERVICE
---------------------------------
We've provided an electronic bulletin board service to better serve you. It
may contain update patches should there be any. Other public domain or
shareware files are available that may be useful to you. We also have demo
versions of most of our programs that allow you to "try before you buy".
The telephone number of our BBS is:
(313) 459-7271 6:00 PM - 10:00 AM EST Weekdays
and all day on weekends and U.S. holidays
Our service is 2400 baud 8N1
Thank you.
Copyrights, Disclaimers and Trademarks
COPYRIGHTS
----------
CrossDOSFileSystem, mfm.device, MountMF, TDPatch12, TDPatch13, DiskChk,
DiskChg, Registration, ConfigDisk, Install, Dr_CrossDOS (c) Copyright
1988-1993 CONSULTRON. All Rights Reserved.
CrossPC
(c) Copyright 1992-1993 IBeM Distributors. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced
and distributed under license from IBeM Distributors.
Mount, DiskCopy, Format, CrossDOS, Installer and Installer project icon,
AmigaGuide, amigaguide.library, (c) Copyright 1991-93 Commodore-Amiga, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Reproduced and distributed under license from
Commodore.
gadtools13.library
(c) Copyright 1992 Dreamers Guild, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced
and distributed under license from Dreamers Guild, Inc.
DISCLAIMERS
GADTOOLS13.LIBRARY, MOUNT, FORMAT, DISKCOPY, INSTALLER AND AMIGAGUIDE
SOFTWARE ARE PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE; NO WARRANTIES ARE MADE.
ALL USE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY IS ASSUMED.
TRADEMARKS
CrossDOS and CrossPC are trademarks of CONSULTRON. AmigaGuide is a
trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc.
CrossDOS Plus -- Alternate Floppy Formats
-----------------------------------------
The advanced Format utility (the 1.3/2.0 version only) allows a different
format to be forced on an MS-DOS floppy disk. Forcing a format on other
disk types such as AmigaDOS will not succeed.
Forcing a format is optional. Normally the Format utility will format the
disk to the optimal size. If you can, don't force a alternate format. If
you do need to force a format, make sure you know what type of disk you are
planning to use. Forcing a format will override disk size checking.
Floptical drive users may need to force a disk format because the software
mechanisms for checking the size of the media in the drive are not
available. Follow one of the two procedures detailed in the section Notes
for Floptical Users for formatting disks.
We recommend that if you must force a format, that you use the icons on the
product disk. Installed versions can be used if the 1.3/2.0 version of the
Format command is installed.
Alternate Format Types
The following are the types of alternate formats supported. Double-click on
the icon that matches the format desired. Do not modify any of the
ToolTypes in the icon. This may result in an improper format.
MSDOS 720K.Format
This is the standard format for an MS-DOS 3 1/2" low density disk. If you
are using the standard Amiga drive don't use this icon but rather use the
Format utility instead.
This format is useful for floptical drive users because the software cannot
sense when a low density disk is in the drive.
MSDOS 1.44M.Format
This is the standard format for an MS-DOS 3 1/2" high density disk. If you
are using the standard Amiga high density drive don't use this icon but
rather use the Format utility instead. If you do not have an Amiga high
density drive, forcing this format will fail.
This format is useful for floptical drive users because the software cannot
sense when a high density disk is in the drive.
Floptical 20M.Format
This is the format for a MS-DOS 20 Meg floptical disk. This format is not a
hard drive format but a compatible floppy format. Do not use this format if
your floptical device is configured as a hard disk.
If you do not have a floptical drive, forcing this format will probably
fail.
This format is useful for floptical drive users because the software cannot
sense when a disk the size of a floptical is in the drive.
ATARI 720K.Format
This is the standard format for an Atari ST 3 1/2" low density disk. Use
this if you must but most Atari-STs can read the standard MS-DOS 720K
format.
MSDOS 360K.Format
This is the standard format for an MS-DOS 5 1/4" low density disk. If you
are using the standard Amiga drive don't use this icon but rather use the
Format utility instead.
Notes for Floptical Users
Formatting with the floptical drive may require forcing a disk format. This
is because your SCSI host controller cannot properly sense the size of the
unformatted disk in the drive. There are two ways to format using the
floptical drive.
One: Insert a preformatted MS-DOS disk in the drive with the same formatted
size as you want to format. If you want to format a 1.44M disk, for
example, insert a preformatted MS-DOS 1.44M disk in the drive first. Then,
execute the Format program. Proceed with the program until you come the
requester that says "Ok to format volume ... " then insert the actual disk
to be formatted and proceed.
Two: Double-click on the format project icon in the system/Alt Formats
drawer that corresponds to the desired format. For example, double-click on
the MSDOS 720K.Format icon to 'force' the format of the disk to 720K.
Proceed through the format.
Choose the method that makes you comfortable. Experimentation is your best
teacher.
NOTE: At this time, GVP controllers will not permit a format of a blank
floppy using the Format program. In order to low-level format a blank
floppy you need to use their FAAASTPREP program, select "Manual
Installation" then select "Low Level Format". When completed, exit
FAAASTPREP and perform a Format with the "Quick Format" option.
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