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A L . . . . . . . . . . . R |-2 | | | | | [z][h]LANDMARK SOFTWARE[] | [z]=1142 Pomegranate Court Sunnyvale CA 94087 408-733-4035[][~LM] | [b]IMPORTANT:[] SPEED and SETUP are neither public domain nor shareware programs. Rather, they are commercial programs. The two programs are sold as a package for $29.95. Companies wishing to bundle either or both program should contact Landmark Software for bundling prices. Dealers should ask about our DealerPak. Corporate users should contact us about multiple copy agreements and site licenses. [b]What Systems Can Use SETUP?[] SETUP is intended for AT's, AT-compatibles, and certain AT-like 386 machines. A message reminding you of this will appear if you try to run SETUP on a PC, XT, PC Jr or any member of IBM's Personal System 2 (aka PS/2) family. [b]What Does SETUP Do?[] On an AT class machine, setup parameters--specifying the number and type of floppy & hard drives, the amount of memory, etc.--are stored in battery-backed-up ram. Each time you change your system configuration or change your battery, you have to go through the setup process. With the setup program that IBM provides, you have to reboot the system just to determine the current setup values. And you have to wade through an annoying list of questions and answers. Landmark's SETUP program eliminates all that: You can run SETUP at any time, without rebooting, to see or change the setup parameters: If you just want to see the current settings, just run the program and you'll see all the current settings shown on a single screen; you can then simply exit from the program by pressing the [b]ESC[] key--there's no need to reboot. If you do want to make changes, you [b]just use the up and down cursor keys to highlight the item you want to change; the left and right cursor keys will then toggle through the permissable values[]--while displaying the original value to the left as a reminder of the original setting. Except for the time & date, none of the other setup items actually gets changed until you press the '[b]S[]' (STORE) key. So there's plenty of opportunity for you to change your mind. There's even an '[b]R[]' (REDISPLAY ORIGINAL SETTINGS) key that let's you start over--all the tentative settings are changed back to the way they were. Within the program the [b]F1[] (HELP) key will display a screen of help information. And upon exit from the program a message will appear that summarizes what's been done--and may suggest a Print Screen or a reboot. The command '[b]SETUP ?[]' will display a list of most of the available command line options. | | - 1 - | | |-2 | | | | [b]Additional Information about SETUP[] SETUP is intended to be self-explanatory. There's no installation procedure and no instructions are needed. But here are a few tidbits that may be of interest: You'll want to keep SETUP on your hard disk to make it convenient to check your setup parameters. So you'll want to put SETUP.COM in a directory that's on your path. If you also have other programs called SETUP, you may wish to rename our SETUP.COM as ATSETUP.COM or LMSETUP.COM ('LM'=Landmark). Because a battery failure will make your hard disk inaccessible, we recommend that you keep a second copy of SETUP.COM on a bootable floppy disk so you'll be able to get your system back in operation quickly. One of the nice features of SETUP is that it reads the hard disk drive type table stored in ROM. This lets you find out what hard disk characteristics correspond to each drive type number even if your machine's ROM definitions differ from IBM's (as is the case with the Compaq 286) or has a longer table of drive types (as is the case with the AST Premium/286). The abbreviation '[b]WPC[]' means 'write precompensation cylinder'. In rare instances, a machine's ROM may differ so much from the IBM standard that SETUP is unable to locate the drive type table and hence is unable to determine how many drive types are supported. In these cases the '[b]SETUP X[]' command will permit you to specify the maximum drive type so you'll be able to set the appropriate hard disk drive type. Note, however, that since the program couldn't locate the table, it can't read the specifications for each drive type from the ROM: You'll have to know the correct drive type number from the documentation that came with your system. Unlike most setup programs, Landmark's SETUP does not require you to know what type of video card is in your machine--we figure it out automatically based on the result of the machine's Power On Self Test. Just pay attention to any special messages that SETUP may display. For instance, you may see a message telling you that the diagnostic status byte is non-zero (which means that your current setup data, in battery-backed-up ram, is invalid in some respect) and that you should therefore use the '[b]S[]' (STORE) option even if you aren't explicitly changing anything: One of the effects of the 'S' (STORE) option is that it makes the equipment byte stored in battery-backed-up ram consistent with the equipment byte defined by the Power On Self Test (POST). Technically-inclined users may wish to try the '[b]SETUP D[]' command which displays the actual contents of battery-backed- up CMOS ram, including all the reserved fields. This shows, for instance, which of the two conventions for storing the hard disk drive types is being used. Also shows system & model class. | | - 2 - | | |-2 | | | | | [b]Changes in Version 1.13 (3-16-89)[] Reduced the minimum legitimate number of cylinders from 306 to 256 to allow for the low cylinder counts that arise due to sector translation with certain drives that in actuality have more than 1024 cylinders; once again this change was necessitated by an Advanced Logic Research (ALR) system bios' hard disk table entry that specifies 266 cylinders, 63 sectors, 15 heads and a landing zone at cylinder 1224. The maximum legitimate number of cylinders remains at 4096. [b]Changes in Version 1.12 (11-2-88)[] Expanded the maximum legitimate number of sectors per track from 36 to 63 in order to accommodate Advanced Logic Research (ALR) system bios' hard disk table that specifies 63 sectors per track for certain drive types intended for ESDI drives using sector translation. The purpose of sector translation is to keep the apparent number of cylinders at or below 1024. See Version 1.11 changes for related discussion. Whenever the number of sectors per track is different than the standard 17, the actual number is now shown along with the number of heads and cylinders. [b]Changes in Version 1.11 (7-12-88)[] SETUP reads the actual drive parameter table contained in the BIOS of whatever machine it is being run on. To determine the number of drive types supported by a particular BIOS, we look at each successive entry in the table until we come to one that is neither all zeros nor a legitimate entry. In determining the legitimacy of an entry, one of the tests involves the number of sectors per track. Previous versions of SPEED required a number in the range of 17 thru 35. We've now expanded this range to 11 thru 36. A table optimized for certain ESDI drives might legitimately specify 36 sectors per track: ESDI drives usually have between 32 and 36 sectors per track, sometimes depending on the controller as well as the drive. The reason for accepting values below 17 is more bizarre: Many if not all recent DTK 286 BIOS's contain a typo in the drive parameter table: Type 30 erroneously specifies 11 sectors per track instead of the correct figure of 17 sectors per track. This error by DTK caused earlier versions of SETUP to think that there were only 29 drive types in the DTK BIOS instead of the actual figure of 47 drive types. We work around this DTK error by treating an 11 sector-per-track specification as legitimate for purposes of determining the number of drive types. When you select any | | | - 3 - | | |-2 | | | | | drive type that specifies fewer than 17 sectors per track, however, you'll see '[b](INVALID SECTORS-PER-TRACK)[]' displayed next to the drive type number. This should be sufficient warning that such entries should not be used. This modification enables SETUP to display the drive types beyond the one that contains the erroneous sectors-per-track data. [b]Changes in Version 1.10 (7-21-87)[] You may now specify a [b]3.5" 1.44 meg drive[] as the type of diskette drive. In CMOS this is stored as a drive type of 4. As before, the other permissable diskette drive types are 360K (type 1), 1.2 meg (type 2), 3.5" 720K (type 3), and 'not installed' (type 0). This is the only change in Version 1.10. { Please be aware that specifying the correct diskette drive type setting is usually necessary, but NOT sufficient, to make a 3.5" 1.44 meg drive operate properly. And with some 3rd party device drivers, you don't have to set the diskette drive type at all--although this may depend on the BIOS in your particular computer. } Unlike the case of 5.25" 1.2 meg (80-track) diskettes vis-a-vis 5.25" 360K (40-track) diskettes, the 3.5" 1.44 meg drives are supposed to read and write both 720K diskettes and 1.44 meg diskettes with no compatibility problems because both have 80 cylinders--only the number of sectors per track varies (9 sectors/track for the 720K vs. 18 sectors/track for the 1.44 meg). But not all 3.5" 1.44 meg drives are created equal; some, like the Teac FD35HFN-30, "have no means of identifying the density type of the installed diskette" while others, such as the Sony MP-F73W series, "contain a mechanical sensor to detect the existence of the extra hole of a High Density (1.44 meg) diskette and can set itself to the 1.44 meg mode automatically". Different brands and models of drives may pose different installation problems. You may well have to make some implausible changes to the jumper settings--such as removing the FG jumper on the Teac FD35HFN-30 drive. Depending on the BIOS in your particular machine, you may be able to make the drive function as a 1.44 meg drive without adding ANY device driver to your CONFIG.SYS (for example, on an AST Premium/286). Even then, however, you may not be able to handle 720K diskettes (the only kind produced by an IBM PS/2 Model 30, for instance). Or you may find that you can't use the drive at either capacity without a special 3rd party device driver for 1.44 meg drives--instead of the DRIVER.SYS driver that comes with IBM DOS 3.3. Lastly, you'll need High Density (HD) diskettes and a good deal of luck, particularly without a 3rd party device driver. As an example of how widespread the problems are, we don't think DOS 3.3 by itself, with or without using DRIVER.SYS, is sufficient to | | | - 4 - | | |-2 | | | | | make a 1.44 meg drive work in a genuine IBM AT (the original 6 MHz model). And we certainly wouldn't place a bet on any other model without trying it. As of mid-1987, this is definitely the 'bleeding edge' of technology. For end users, we recommend buying your 1.44 meg drive as a kit that includes all necessary software and comes with an unconditional money-back guarantee. No vendor has the resources to test every possible AT-class machine. { [b]Update Note:[] Landmark can now provide 1.44 meg 3.5" diskette drive kits for 386, 286 and 8088 class machines. The least expensive upgrade is for a 286 or 386 machine that currently has only one diskette drive; the kit for this configuration includes a 1.44 meg drive with a grey bezel which becomes drive B, a 5.25" mounting bracket already installed, and non-copy-protected software to make it all work: a device driver for CONFIG.SYS and a program to format 1.44 meg and 720K 3.5" diskettes; except when formatting, you don't have to specify the diskette capacity--the system automatically detects the type of diskette that has been inserted; $199 plus shipping with 10 day money-back guarantee if it doesn't work in your machine. If you'd like your dealer to install it, we think a fair price would be $249 installed--have your dealer call us. We also sell the software separately for $75--works with Mitsubishi drives and most others, but not Toshiba or Sony drives. We can also provide a card that lets you use up to four diskette drives of any type in virtually any classic bus PC/XT, AT or 386 machine: $149. } [b]Changes in Version 1.09 (6-29-87)[] Our algorithm for determining the number of drive types supported by a particular BIOS has been upgraded to allow for the possibility of a sectors-per-track value other than 17 (for example, 25 or 26 for machines that include an RLL controller as standard equipment, or perhaps 32 for machines that come with an ESDI controller). Our algorithm has long allowed for the possibility of drive specifications that differ from IBM's definitions even in the first 15 types (as, for example, in the BIOS of the Compaq 286 machines). And for the possibility of 'all zero' specifications other than for drive type 15 (for example, the AST Premium/286 has a group of all zero specifications followed by additional non- zero entries). Our latest algorithm, fully implemented for the first time in Version 1.09, will always determine a maximum number of drive types provided it was able to find the beginning of the table in the ROM BIOS. And you can override the resulting maximum number by using the '[b]SETUP X[]' option which permits you to specify the maximum drive type. The bottom line is that you may now be able to use just 'SETUP' on some machines that previously required 'SETUP X'; the major advantage in such cases is that 'SETUP' reads the | | | - 5 - | | |-2 | | | | | specifications for each drive type from the ROM BIOS (allowing you to determine what each drive type actually means on your machine) whereas 'SETUP X' always says 'specifications unknown' for each type. When SETUP is run on a clearly inappropriate machine, a message appears reminding you that SETUP is intended only for AT's, AT compatibles, and certain AT-like 386 machines. In earlier versions of SETUP, this message was triggered for PC's, XT's and PC Jr.'s. With the introduction on 4-2-87 of IBM's new line of PS/2 machines, we've now extended this so that the message also appears for the so-called PS/2 Model 30 (an 8086 machine that differs drastically from other members of the PS/2 family: It can't take the same plug-in cards because it doesn't have a Micro Channel bus, it can't run the same video software because it has only a crippled version of the VGA, it can't use the same diskettes because it has only 720K drives instead of 1.4 meg, and it can't run the OS/2 operating system because it has an 8086 instead of an 80286 or 80386). And the message also appears for the PS/2 Model 50 (80286), Model 60 (80286) and Model 80 (80386); these machines do not follow the original IBM AT layout of CMOS data. [b]If you'd like us to develop a version of SETUP for IBM's PS/2 family, please let us know via a phone call.[] We've also added a '[b]SETUP Z[]' option which bypasses checking the type of machine; this is useful if you have a BIOS that incorrectly identifies the type of machine; but please don't use SETUP Z on an IBM PS/2: You'll likely have to rerun IBM's setup program to restore the original CMOS data. { The system class, model class and manufacturer (if available) now appear on the first line of the diagnostics screen that appears when the '[b]SETUP D[]' command is used. } [z][g]Landmark Software[] [b]1142 Pomegranate Court[] [b]Sunnyvale, CA 94087[] [b]408-733-4035[] | | | - 6 - | | |-