Re: PLEASE HELP!

[dempson@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <a264936@pro-haven.cts.com>,
Charles Claypoole <charlesc@pro-haven.cts.com> wrote:
>         
>         I just received my Focus 170 IDE internal hard drive.   I installed
> and everything seems ok.   I already have a Ramfast D in s#7 with at TMS
> Pro 170.   Slot 7 D 1 & 2 are my bootup "H1".   So, the problem I am having
> is, I cannot access the 6 ramfast volumes, and the 6 Focus <f1-f6> volumes
> in basic <prodos>.  Now, I can in GSOS, but that shouldnt be the only way
> to get higher than the 3rd volume of the Focus.  PLEASE HELP!   

You will not be able to access all volumes of both drives
simultaneously.  ProDOS-8 only supports 14 volumes (2 per slot).

With SmartPort-compatible interfaces, ProDOS-8 2.0 and later can remap
volumes to unused slots.  It will not re-use S3,D2 (/RAM), or any
unused drives on slots containing disk controller cards (e.g. if you
have a 3.5" drive on S5,D1, and nothing for S5,D2, then it will not be
re-used by drives being remapped from another slot).

The RamFast also has its own way of remapping partitions to other
slots, which is completely incompatible with ProDOS-8 2.0 and later.
If you are using the RamFast's own remapping, you have to patch ProDOS
to disable ProDOS's attempts to remap volumes.

If you are using ProDOS's remapping, you have to avoid using the
RamFast's method.

The RamFast can only remap partitions that it has direct access to, so
your only option for remapping the Focus volumes is to use ProDOS's
remapping.  This always starts at the highest slot, so ProDOS will be
giving you access to all of the RamFast partitions first, and is
probably running out of available slots by the time it gets to the Focus.

At a guess, I'd say your system is configured as follows:

Slot 7: RamFast (6 volumes)
Slot 6: 5.25" controller?
Slot 5: SmartPort (single 3.5" drive, 3.5" drive and RAM disk, or two
        3.5" drives)
Slot 4: Mouse
Slot 3: 80-column firmware (possibly with accelerator or video card)
Slot 2: Modem
Slot 1: Focus? (6 volumes)

(It doesn't matter which slot your Focus is in - it could be in 1, 2
or 4 and the result would be the same.)

With this arrangement, you have 5 unit numbers available for remapping
(S2D1, S2D2, S3D1, S4D1, S4D2).  The RamFast will use four of them
(plus the two in its own slot), leaving one available for remaping
the Focus (giving you access to three of its partitions in total).

You could get access to two more partitions of the Focus by disabling
your slot 6 disk port.  You won't be able to get access to the last
one, except by rearranging your slots so that the Focus is in a higher
slot than the RamFast, or by disabling the SmartPort in slot 5.


It sounds like you need a utility program that can change the ProDOS-8
SmartPort volume remapping on the fly.  I have already given some
thought to this, as I would find it quite useful (I have volumes that
end up in annoying places which aren't compatible with some programs,
and there are a few high numbered partitions I would like to be able to
access at times).

It shouldn't be too hard to do the actual remapping.  The tables are
buried inside ProDOS, but it should be safe to patch them (there is
unlikely to ever be a new release of P8, and if there was, a simple
version number check would prevent any dangerous behaviour).  The main
problem is writing a reasonable user interface for it.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand