COLD-START WARNING!
 
The new Node Rampac will likely become a popular RAMdisk storage device for
the Tandy portables.  It's unique size and form factor lend itself to easily
removing it from one computer and plugging it into another, thus moving the
contents of the Rampac from one machine to another - or easily swapping several
Rampac's in the same machine, each dedicated to some specific set of files and
programs.  However, there's a slight problem...

Removing a Node Rampac from the computer while the computer's power is on, can
lead to a cold start in the computer, and worse, a loss of data in the Rampac!
Once removed, and connected to a different computer, or the same one, the first
time you attempt to access the Rampac with the RAMDSK.CO software, it will ask
if you want to reformat the Rampac, and you can't get away from that prompt
without answering it. (at least, I couldn't!)  Reformatting, of course, cleans
out the directory sector, making all of the storage space available, in effect,
cold-starting the Rampac!

If you do that, and you have no backup for the RAMDSK.CO program that is sent
to you already installed in the Rampac, then you're out of luck - the Rampac
will be brain-dead until you get a replacement program, either from Node or
from Paul Globman, the author.

So if a loss of data AND the operating software would put a crimp in your
plans, I suggest you make some provisions to deal with it before it happens,
and AVOID, AVOID, AVOID removing or installing the Rampac from the computer
while the computer's power is on.

Let me suggest that early on, as soon as possible after receiving the Node
Rampac with the RAMDSK.CO software, you "Load" RAMDSK.CO into RAM as a file,
and save it to your alternate file storage device, whether that's a TDD, a PC,
a cassette drive, or whatever.  At least if you DO suffer a mandatory reformat,
you can reload the software and make the Rampac operational again.

Read carefully the section of the instructions labelled "Program Backup", and
heed the advice.  Backup the program as soon as possible!  Don't wait until you
get around to it, do it right away!

Let me repeat that:  DO IT RIGHT AWAY!  You'll be sorry if you don't!


(from Tony Anderson, 76703,4062)



Here is some additional followup information from Paul Globman, author of the
RAMDSK.CO program, the RAM-based operating software for the Node RAMpac and
Node Datapac.


7/27/90

If the laptop became cold-started as a result of plugging the RAMPAC in with
power on, the "boot" program should extract RAMDSK.CO from the RAMPAC without
any problem.  With RAMDSK.CO in memory you now can restore your RAM files (if
they were backed up to the RAMPAC).

In a cold started unit, a disk backup of RAMDSK.CO may not be easily reckoned
with.  From a cold started laptop, it may be easier to recover RAMDSK.CO, and
load DOS into RAM from RAMPAC, than to cold boot the disk to get a disk backup
of RAMDSK.CO.

If the RAMPAC appears unformatted, you should be able to get away from the
"Format, Are you sure?" prompt by pressing the "N" key.  That will return you
to the menu without formatting the RAMPAC.

The sector latch is volatile so when plugging the unit in with power on,
sector 0/byte 0 is probably the only byte "at risk".  Unfortunately that is
the flag byte for the format status.

If you go to BASIC and enter...

  OUT129,0:OUT131,64:OUT131,4<cr>

That will set the "format" flag, and if the remainder of sector 0 is intact
then you should be able to run RAMDSK.CO and continue as if nothing ever
happened.

While it is advisable to save RAMDSK.CO to a backup media, it is MOST
important that RAMDSK.CO be the very first file saved in the RAMPAC (for the
"boot" program to work).  So if you must reformat the RAMPAC, save RAMDSK.CO
first, before doing anything else. Having RAMDSK.CO saved FIRST in the RAMPAC
is the key to cold start recovery using the 8 line loader program that is
provided.

Your warnings in the RAMPAC.001 file are not without merit, but the "disaster"
you warn about can often be easily recovered from.

BTW, using the first byte of sector 0 as a format flag would not have been my
first choice, but that is what the ROM uses.  ROM compatability was THE
primary priority in writing the ROM replacement software.