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Chapter 6___Using the Supra Hard Disk Interface With SpartaDOS

Supra Corp. (formerly MPP) has released a parallel interface for hard disk
drives (Winchester type).  As previously promised, SpartaDOS is ready to be the
DOS of choice for hard disk use.  If you already have a Supra Hard Disk System
up and running under another DOS, then skip the section on formatting and
proceed to the section entitled 'Configuring for SpartaDOS'.  If you are
starting from scratch, then please read on.


Formatting the Hard Disk
The hard disk system stores important information about the type of hard drive
being used on the first track of the disk.  This information is written when
the disk is formatted by the FORMWIM program.  When the computer is powered up,
the interface tries to read this information.  If the information is not
present (your drive has not been formatted before), the interface assumes that
the hard disk is not usable and turns the computer system back to normal (ie.
NO HARD DISK).  Thus, there are two methods to format the hard disk, depending
on 1) if the disk has already been formatted by FORMWIN (go to the 'Configuring
for SpartaDOS' section) or 2) not (read on).




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The first time the hard disk system is powered up the hard disk is totally
blank.  Since the drive information is not present, the interface will disable
the hard disk and attempt to boot off of floppy drive 1.  You must have a
floppy drive set up as drive 1.

If this is NOT the first time (and the first track has not been trashed), the
hard disk interface will attempt to boot from the 'fake' floppy on the hard
disk drive.  If the system still needs to be booted from the floppy disk (set
up as drive 2), hold down the <HELP> key while powering up the computer.  This
will allow the system to recognize the hard disk drive, but still boot from
floppy disk drive 2.

Before powering up the computer system, make sure there is a correct floppy
disk drive attached and configured for drive 1 or drive 2 as per the
information in the preceding paragraph.  Turn on the hard disk sub-system and
wait for it to come up to speed.  Insert the SpartaDOS 3.2 master diskette into
the correct disk drive.  Remove all cartridges and hold down the <OPTION> key
to disable BASIC.  Turn the computer on (hold down the <HELP> key also if this
is not the first time the system has been powered-up).  If everything is
correctly connected and turned on, the computer should boot from the floppy.

The first step in setting up the hard disk system is to format the hard disk.
Use the external command 'FORMWIN'.  This program will ask for drive number 0
or 1, enter 0.  The next prompt will ask for drive type (0 through 8).  Choose
the drive type number from the following table that corresponds to the type of
hard disk attached to the hard disk system.

     NUMBER    SIZE      TYPE            SPECIFICATIONS
     ----------------------------------------------------
       0        5 Meg    ST-506           153 Cyl/4 Hds
       1        5 Meg    TM-501/ST-706    320 Cyl/2 Hds
       2       10 Meg    TM-502/ST-712    320 Cyl/4 Hds
       3       10 Meg    ST-506           230 Cyl/6 Hds
       4       11 Meg    TM-503           306 Cyl/6 Hds

  (Select '2' if you have a Supra Corp. Hard Disk System)

The format program will warn you that all data on the hard disk will be lost,
answer 'Y'.  The hard disk will be formatted and then verified for bad tracks.
This process will take from 10 to 20 minutes.

When the format program is finished, turn only the computer OFF.  Now attach a
floppy drive configured as drive 2 and re-boot the computer while holding the
<HELP> and <OPTION> keys down.  Now you must configure the hard disks for
SpartaDOS.


Configuring for SpartaDOS
First, use the XINIT command to initialize drive 1 and write SpartaDOS 3.2 to
it (the 'fake' floppy).  You should initialize the drive 1 portion of the hard
disk as a 40 track, single sided, double density drive.  Answer 'N' to
UltraSpeed sector skew.

Next use the HDINIT command to initialize drive 3 (the large portion of the




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hard disk).  All that is required is a volume name and the drive number (3).
Drive 4 will be initialized if you are using a second hard disk drive connected
to your XEBEC controller board.

Now the hard disk is totally configured and you should never have to initialize
it again.  Now re-boot the computer, and simply watch the speed as SpartaDOS
loads in.


Using the Hard Disk
The hard disk sub-system (the physical drive unit) is the only sensitive part
of a hard disk system.  When the hard disk sub-system is running it should
never be moved or bumped.  The heads in the hard disk are extremely close to
the surface of the hard disk and any movement may cause the heads to hit the
media surface causing a literal head crash.

The hard disk system should be turned on in a specific sequence.  First turn on
the hard disk sub-system and wait for it to come up to speed (the motor sound
should be steady).  If the computer is turned on before the hard disk is ready,
the computer will either try to boot off of floppy drive 1 or give 'BOOT
ERROR'.  To boot the computer from a floppy disk, put the diskette into disk
drive 2 and hold down the <HELP> key while turning the computer on.

The following is a description of the utility programs by SUPRA CORPORATION for
use with the hard disk.

FORMWIN   This program formats and verifies the whole hard disk.
LOCK1     This program write protects the 'fake' floppy drive.
OPEN1     This program unprotects the 'fake' floppy drive.
LOCK34    This program write protects hard disk drives 3 and 4.
OPEN34    This program unprotects hard disk drives 3 and 4.
ADDLF     This program adds line feeds to all carriage returns that are issued
          to the parallel printer port on the interface.
RMVLF     This program stops the adding of line feeds to carriage returns
          issued to the parallel printer port.
PARK      This program positions the heads at the innermost track.  A good
          practice before moving the hard disk system.
BYPASS    External - Causes Supra Hard Disk Interface to use floppy drive one
          instead of hard disk drive one.



Some Notes About SpartaDOS
You may also use the SpartaDOS commands LOCK, UNLOCK, PROTECT and UNPROTECT, to
prevent accidental erasure of your files on the hard disk system.  The BYPASS
command from SpartaDOS allows the use of a floppy as drive 1.  SpartaDOS will
support 128 files per directory with an unlimited number of directories, and up
to 16 megabytes as one drive.  Use and enjoy.













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