Compact Reference Guide CDOS Version 3.0 for the Holmes Engineering/PCSG "Chipmunk" Portable Disk Drive. By: Portable Computer Support Group (214) 351-0564 Table of Contents: Page Section 0. Overview 1 Section 1. How to plug it in 3 Section 2. How to start it up 4 Section 3. List of RAM function keys 5 Section 4. List of Disk function keys 7 Section 5. How to save a file 8 Section 6. How to load a file 9 Section 7. How to back up a disk 10 Section 8. Moving from folder to folder 10 Section 9. How to load all files from a folder 11 Section 10. Two drive systems 11 Section 11. Running on battery power 12 Section 12. Syntax additions to Basic 13 Section 13. Disk BASIC messages 18 Section 14. The fine print 19 (Note: sections 12-14 appear in CHIPMK.DO2 - app. 9K) *************************************** Page 1 OVERVIEW OF THE ENHANCED CAPABILITIES OF HOLMES/PCSG'S CDOS OPERATING SYSTEM Your new Chipmunk is manufactured by Holmes Engineering of Murray, Utah. Holmes Engineering has a long standing reputataion for producing hardware items of outstanding design and construction. The operating system was the subject of an intensive joint developmental effort by Holmes and Portable Computer Support Group. The result of this joint effort is a portable disk drive for the Model 100/200 and related computers that performs in a fashion that can only be characterized as excellent. Just like Main Menu - Use your disk files menu exactly like the RAM files menu you are familiar with. Move the wide bar cursor to the file you want to work with and press ENTER. But better ! - Both the CDOS RAM files menu and the disk files menu let you kill, rename, and size files at the touch of a function key. Further, another function key tells you when you created a file and when you last updated it. No arbitrary limitations - Record size is limited only by the number pf variables you can fit on a single line of BASIC code. If they were all strings you could have records of over 10,000 bytes in length. File size is restricted only by disk space available. Single files can be up to 360K in size. Up to the system limit of 15 files can be open at any given time. As fast as RAM - Disk BASIC writes a 10K sequential file (100 records of 100 bytes each) in 20 secs. Exactly the same as RAM. Saves or loads a 10K disk file from the CDOS menu in less than 3 seconds. *************************************** Page 2 Dynamite BASIC - PCSG's Disk BASIC gives you all you need to implement random access files. The syntax is the epitome of simplicity. Use a normal OPEN statement, but if you leave off the access mode (APPEND, OUTPUT or INPUT) it is assumed to be a random file. Or you can specify RANDOM. It works the same way. Define your record with a FIELD statement. Your variables are assigned to a record and automatically padded or trimmed before a write, no need for "LSET" type kluges. Integers and reals are automatically converted to packed string type before being written. No need for the complicated MKI$ or CVD type kluges you find in IBM PC-DOS BASICA. A single GET statement loads every variable in a record. New BASIC keywords - RANDOM, FIELD, GET, PUT, LOC, LOF, LFILES, DSKI$, DSKO$ plus extended functionality in the existing BASIC syntax to allow totally consistent handling of disk files. Note that DSKI$ and DSKO$ have been included simply for 100% compatibility with the DVI, and are not needed for normal random access. Incredibly compact - Thanks to the use of sophisticated "overlay" techniques, all this power and capability consumes a mere 5K of your precious RAM, whilst opening up hundreds of thousands of bytes of storage on a single disk. Supports tree structed directories - Nest sub directories (folders) to any level. PCSG Disk BASIC. Easy to use, sophistiocated, fast and very compact. The kind of product you have come to expect from the acknowledged leaders in software for the Model 100. *************************************** Page 3 COMPACT REFERENCE GUIDE FOR CHIPMUNK CDOS VERSION 3.0 Section 1. How to plug it in First, back up any files in your Model 100 that you do not already have copies of. This is simply a precaution. Under normal circumstances no data will be lost. Now, switch off your Model 100. Flip it over onto its back. You will observe two small covers: 1) The battery compartment in the corner of the machine. 2) The expansion cover at the center edge of the machine. Pry open the expansion cover with a coin or screwdriver. Now take the Chipmunk cable from the shipping box. This is the broad gray ribbon cable. Unroll the cable. Then take from the shipping box the circuit board taped to a piece of black plastic. The black plastic is a replacement expansion cover with a cutout for the Chipmunk cable. Untape the green circuit board from the black plastic cover and remove the foam spacer. Inspect the circuit board very carefully. You will observe two incomplete rows of silver pins on one side of the board. Insure that none of these pins are bent. Plug this board into the expansion socket in the Model 100. This will only fit one way. Be very careful not to bend or damage any pins as you are inserting it. Plug one end of the gray ribbon cable into the socket on the expansion board. Do not force it. It will only go in one way since the plug is keyed. Look over the circuit board to insure that it is firmly plugged in, and that the cable is plugged in and firmly attached. Carefully turn the computer over so that it is face up. Take the Chipmunk from the shipping box. Place it behind the Model 100 on your desk. Take the power supply from the shipping box and plug it into an outlet and connect it to the Chipmunk. *************************************** Page 4 Insure that the Chipmunk and the Model 100 are still both switched off. Connect the other end of the gray ribbon cable to the Chipmunk. It is also keyed and will only go one way. YOU MUST NOW WAIT FIFTEEN MINUTES FOR THE CHIPMUNK TO CHARGE BEFORE IT WILL WORK PROPERLY. Section 2. How to start it up Switch on your Model 100 and switch on your Chipmunk (the Chipmunk ON-OFF switch is at the back, by the power supply plug). Pull the cardboard packing from the drive. Take the supplied diskette from the shipping box and remove the plastic wrapper. Insert the diskette into the drive slot with the label upwards and the metal slider to the back. Press it gently home until it clicks down. Now simply reach down the back of your Model 100, and firmly press the recessed "Reset" button by the RS-232 connector. The lower red disk drive light will illuminate briefly, and the Model 100 screen will show the CDOS menu. If this does not happen, check all connections and power switches and try again. If you still have no luck, call us at 214-351-0564. NOTE: Before using any disk you must first format it. See RAM function key F7. *************************************** Page 5 SECTION 3. LIST OF RAM FUNCTION KEYS F8 - Menu. Will show you the prompt "Remove CDOS (Y/N)?" If you answer Y, you will go back to the standard Model 100 menu, and you will not be able to use any of the features of CDOS until you press "RESET" again. ALWAYS remove CDOS before shutting off your Model 100. F7 - Frmt. No disk can be used by CDOS until you have formatted it. On two drive systems you can only format in drive 0: After pressing F7, you will see the prompt: "Format 0: (Y/N)?" If you answer Y, the drive will activate and the screen will show the progress oif the formatting and checking. When it is finished the screen will say : "Format done. Name disk as:" You can give the disk any name you wish up to eleven characters. If you do not give it a name it will be called "*". If you get an "OM" error, you must free up some RAM by killing some files before formatting. F6 - Name. Use this key to change the name of a file in RAM. There is no need to type in the extension. (eg .BA) F5 - Kill. Use this key to kill the file that the widebar cursor is resting on. *************************************** Page 6 F4 - Info. If the widebar cursor is resting on a ROM program, this will show the date, time and available RAM. Otherwise it will show the size of the file that the wide bar cursor is resting on. F3 - Save. Use this key to save a file on the disk. See Section 5 of this guide. F1 - Disk. Pressing this key will show the disk files menu, provided the drive is ready and has a disk in it. SHIFT/BREAK Use this to get back to the RAM files menu from a situation you don't like. ENTER Works just like the standard Model 100 Menu, but enables you to run BASIC programs containing Disk BASIC statements. *************************************** Page 7 SECTION 4. LIST OF DISK FUNCTION KEYS F8 - Menu Same as on the RAM files menu. F7 -Drv1. Changes the current drive. If you only have one drive it will give the message: "Drive not ready". F6 - Name. Works the same way as on the RAM files menu, but changes the name for a disk file. F5 - Kill. Erases the disk file that the widebar cursor is resting on. F4 - Info. Displays the size, the date created, and the date last updated of the disk file that the widebar cursor is resting on, F3 - All. Loads all the files from the folder, see Section 9 of this guide. F2 - Load. Loads the file that the widebar cursor is resting on into RAM. See Section 6 of this guide. F1 - RAM. Shows the RAM files menu. SHIFT/BREAK Works like in the RAM files menu. Aborts current activity. ENTER Loads and immediately executes the disk file that the cursor is resting on. *************************************** Page 8 SECTION 5. HOW TO SAVE FILES TO DISK Saving a file is simply done by moving the widebar cursor to thefile you wish to save to the disk, and pressing F3-Save. You will be shown the disk files menu, and the prompt "Saving:(filename)" will appear in the top left of the screen. The function key labels will be changed as follows: F1 - RAM : Returns you to the RAM files menu. F2 - Save : Saves the file into the displayed folder. F4 -Fold : Allows you to create a new folder to save your file to. Simply press F3-Save a second time to save your file. If a file of the same name already exists on the disk, the screen wil check that you want to overwrite it. To save your file to a different folder other than the one showing on the screen, simply move into that folder before pressing F-3 Save for the second time. See Section 8 of this guide for how to move from one folder to another. To create a new folder for the file you are saving, press F4-Fold. The screen prompts you for a name for the new folder. Type in a name and press ENTER. The new folder is created and displayed on the screen. Press F3-Save to put the file you are saving into that folder on the disk. *************************************** Page 9 Section 5-1. Saving all files If the widebar cursor is resting on one of the built-in files of the Model 100 when you press F-3 Save, CDOS assumes you wish to save your entire RAM. The screen will ask "Save all (Y/N)?" If you answer y for yes, you will be shown the disk files menu just like for a regular save, but in the top left corner, it will say "Saving: ALL". Just like when you are saving a single file, you can move through your folders to the one you want to save to, or you can create a fresh folder by pressing F4-Fold. When you are in the folder you want to save all your files to, just press F3-Save a second time. SECTION 6. HOW TO LOAD A FILE On the disk files menu, move the widebar cursor to the file you wish to load. Then simply press F2-Load. If you wish to execute that file immediately, press ENTER to load and execute automatically. Section 6-1. Loading all files On the disk files menu, simply press function key F3-All. All the files on the menu will be loaded one by one until your model 100 is full up. If a file being loaded has the same name as one already in RAM, the screen will verify that you want to overwrite the old copy. *************************************** Page 10 SECTION 7. BACKING UP A DISKETTE 1. Make sure that all your RAM files are saved to disk, then wipe your RAM (see note in Section 9 of this guide). 2. Put your source disk into the drive, and load all files from the first folder to be backed up. 3. Put your destination (backup) disk into the drive and save all the files in RAM to it (see Section 5-1 of this guide). Repeat the above three steps until all the files on your source disk have been saved to the backup disk. SECTION 8. MOVING FROM FOLDER TO FOLDER Access the folder you wish to save by placing the widebar cursor on its name and pressing ENTER or F2-Load. To make another folder become the current folder, simply go the disk files menu by pressing F1-disk, move the widebar cursor to the folder you wish to access and press ENTER or F2-Load. To exit from a folder to its parent folder, press the SHIFT and up arrow keys simultaneously. To exit all the way to the root or main folder, press the CTRL and up arrow keys simultaneously. *************************************** Page 11 SECTION 9. HOW TO LOAD ALL FILES FROM A FOLDER Simply move to the disk files folder that you wish to load into RAM and press F3-All. The files will be loaded into your RAM one by one. If you wish to clear out your RAM before loading a folder, you can either kill them one by one (F5-Kill), or you can wipe your RAM. NOTE: WIPING RAM - First, make sure that your RAM files have all been saved, then wipe your RAM by holding down the CTRL and PAUSE keys and either switch your M-100 off and then on again, or press the recessed RESET button at the rear of the machine. Note that you must be holding down the PAUSE and CTRL keys as you switch on the M-100 in order to wipe the memory. If the drive is switched on and connected to the M-100, you will not lose your date and time unless you are holding down extra keys other than CTRL and PAUSE. SECTION 10. TWO DRIVE SYSTEMS CDOS version 3 supports two drives. You need a two-drive adapter box available from PCSG at 214-351-0564. When you order your second drive, don't forget to order the adapter box as well. *************************************** Page 12 SECTION 11. RUNNING ON BATTERY POWER The upper LED red light on the front of the drive is the "Power Low" indicator light. A power low condition also causes a message to appear on the bottom line of the menu. This message dissappears when you press any key, but reappears whenever you access the disk while the power remains low. A BASIC program can detect a power low condition with the following expression - IF INP(130)AND1 THEN(low power light is on) The power low message and light appear after over an hour of continuous disk access after the batteries have been fully charged. You can continue to use the drive for a further fifteen minutes or so. But when the power drops even further, the drive will cease to function. The drive shuts down before the power becomes so low that the data on the disk is corrupted. This will cause a not ready error in BASIC and can be detected like this: IF INP(130)AND2THEN(drive is locked out from low power) To avoid that shut-down condition, simply plug the drive into an outlet when the power low indicators show. End of CHIPMK.DO1 Continues w/CHIPMK.DO2