F522 - - New features for the v 5.0 upgrade: - - 1. Full support for the Atari XF551 disk drive, including Double - sided/Double density and high speed transfer. - 2. Complete XF551 compatibility with previous disk drives. Double - density drives can read files on Double sided disks (just as - Single density drives can read Enhanced density disks). - 3. High speed transfer and skewed sectors for US Doubler, XF551, and - SUPERMAX. - 4. Full sector count displayed, no more 999+. - 5. Full support for Newell 256K memory upgrade for 800XL. - 6. Hold down [Esc] during boot up to reserve the 130XE memory banks - for your program. 256K and 320K computers can use BASIC XE and a - RAMdisk. - 7. Bug in RAMdisk reboot (coldstart) routine fixed. - 8. The right margin is no longer set to 37. - - - Using SUPERDOS with an XF551. - - The Atari XF551 disk drive is the first 2 sided/Double density drive - available for the Atari computer. No standard for its disk format has - emerged yet. DOS XE (when it appears) is not compatible with DOS 2.5 and - 2.0. We think this is a fatal flaw and DOS XE will be rejected by the - Atari community the same way the incompatible DOS 3.0 was. SUPERDOS - offers a compatible alternative. 2 sided/Double density is handled much - the same way Enhanced density was. A normal 1 sided/Double density is set - up and then it is extended. - - Files which are contained entirely on side one can be accessed normally - by any Double density drive (i.e., US Doubler, Indus, SUPERMAX, RANA, - etc.). Files which are wholly or partly on side two are bracked in the - directory listing and can only be accessed by a 2 - sided/double density drive. - - - Using SUPERDOS with a RAMdisk. - - A RAMdisk is a portion of memory configured to emulate a disk drive. The - computer uses it like a drive. RAMdisks are much faster than physical - drives and are very convenient for many jobs. Note, however, that the - RAMdisk is erased when the computer is turned off. Be sure to copy your - RAMdisk contents to a physical disk before turning off your computer. - - SUPERDOS sets up a RAMDISK in the "extra" memory of the 130XE and most - memory expansions. SUPERDOS supports Peterson, SUPERMAX, Mega, and Byrd - 320 Kbyte expansions for 130XEs; Bucholtz, RAMbo, and Newell 256 Kbyte - expansions for 800XLs; and Axlon 128 Kbyte expansions, Byrd, Chu, Mega - and other Axlon compatible 288K byte memory expansions in 800s and 400s. - - RAMdisk users are advised to make an extra "reboot" SUPERDOS disk. Use - this extra disk to boot the computer without losing the contents of the - RAMdisk. It works like this: you can reboot your computer without turning - it off with a coldstart switch modification or by POKEing 580, 1 and then - pressing [Reset]. This reboot process does not erase the "extra" memory - area and the contents of the RAMdisk are preserved. - - However when SUPERDOS loads, it automatically re-initializes the RAMdisk - which erases it. Here's how to prevent that: from SUPERDOS load AUX.SYS. - Press X to turn RAMdisk Enable off (0). Press P to re-initialize DOS. - Press Z to return to SUPERDOS. Place a blank disk in your drive - (initialize it if necessary) and press H to Write DOS and SDUP to the - blank disk. Label this new disk REBOOT SUPERDOS. - - Always place the REBOOT SUPERDOS disk in drive one before doing a - coldstart. The 5+ indicator in the Status line will be blank, but as soon - as you access the RAMdisk, it will be restored. - - - Using SUPERDOS with an 800/400. - - SUPERDOS works fine with Atari 800s and 400s (expanded to 48K). Since - these computers do not have the extra 16 Kbytes of memory "under" the - Operating System, SUPERDOS can't store SDUP there. If you have an Axlon - compatible memory expansion, SUPERDOS will store SDUP there. - - If you only have 48K bytes, you will have to decide how you want SUPERDOS - to handle SDUP. You can have SDUP remain on disk, or you can make it - "resident" at the bottom of memory. - - If you leave SDUP on disk, it will free up more memory for your program, - but will take some to load if you need it. Additionally when it does - load, it will overwrite some of the program area and destroy the data - there. Be sure to save your materials before calling SDUP. - - If you make SDUP resident, you will have less memory for your program, - but SDUP will be available instantly and it will not overwrite your - program. - - It is recommended that you make two SUPERDOS disks, one with SDUP - resident, one with it not resident. Here's how to do it: SUPERDOS is - shipped with SDUP not resident. Make a copy of your master disk and label - it SUPERDOS NOT RESIDENT. From SUPERDOS, load AUX.SYS. Press Y to make - SDUP resident. Press P to re-initialize SUPERDOS. Press Z to return to - SUPERDOS. Put a blank disk in drive one (initialize it if necessary) and - press H to write SUPERDOS and SDUP to the blank disk. Label this disk - SUPERDOS RESIDENT. - - Boot your system with the appropriate disk for the job you want to do. - - (end of changes) -