187 lines
9.9 KiB
Plaintext
187 lines
9.9 KiB
Plaintext
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_____________________________________________________________________________
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| Disk Disintegrater [sic] ][.1 Enhanced Docs |
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| Disk Disintegrater ][.1 Enhanced By Ziopoth |
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| Docs written by Data Latch & Edited by M. Hata |
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|_____________________________________________________________________________|
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The History of Packing:
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----------------------
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In the beginning, most Apple programs were single files. In those days,
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all pirates had to do to upload and download programs was to call up an AE
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line and send the program across. But as software became more sophisticated,
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programs began to require full disks. To send an entire disk just could not
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be done with AE! So pirating software had to get more sophisticated to keep
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up with the new programs. At that point, the Stack (of Corrupt Computing)
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wrote his first Disk Splitter, which was a program that split a full disk into
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a sector map and 1-6 binary files. This made it possible to upload a full
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disk with AE by first splitting it, then unsplitting it back to its original
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state after downloading. Although this program ignored unused sectors, it did
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no data compression. Thus began the succession of programs that ultimately
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led to Disk Disintegrator ][.1 Enhanced.
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Disk Splitter worked, but it was unfriendly and the files it created took
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up a lot of disk space. It was followed by a number of similar programs which
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began to use various data compression methods. First there was Disk Rigger 1.0
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and the its modifications (none of which were successful). Although it did
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compression and some fancy tricks, it simply did not work. Other programs were
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Disk Slicer by the Rocker and Disk Divider by M. Hata. Disk Rigger 2.0 was the
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next widely accepted program after Disk Splitter, but it had been the standard
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for only a short period when Dalton came out with his revolutionary Dalton's
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Disk Disintegrator 1.0. This program had a bug when working with ][e's with
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one drive, so DDD 1.1 was released. Because its data compression techniques
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created files which were smaller than those of any other splitting/packing
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program, Dalton's set a new standard which lasted for quite some time. The
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better the compression, the less space was required to store the split files
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and the faster they could be transferred. Then a challenger invented a new
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technique: instead of splitting a full disk into several binary files, it
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combined these files into one long file. Dalton incorporated this idea into
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his next major revision: DDD 2.0. DDD 2.0 had another big bug. It would not
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compress a disk if the end of track $22 was blank (the most common reason being
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a TSL on that track). The bug was fixed in DDD 2.1, which is the current
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standard. Everyone is happy with this version--unless you own a hard drive,
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and can not use your volumes conveniently. To correct this problem, the Shadow
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wrote a program called Disk Cruncher (current version 1.1) which is a nice
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program (much like Dalton's in many respects), that has light-bar file
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selection and volume support, but a less efficient packing routine. The next
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entry into the field was Krackerjack's Fireworx. Krackerjack has shown his
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programming expertise through Krackerjack's Autograph, but his packer simply
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doesn't stack up against Dalton's in speed, data compression, and reliability.
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It took about six and a half minutes to unpack a fairly full disk, and the disk
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in question did not work after unpacking!
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Finally, then, we are up to the present moment, as The Assembly line
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proudly unveils: Disk Disintegrater ][.1 Enhanced. The screen has vaguely
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the same look as Dalton's Disk Disintegrater 2.1, but the only internal
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similarity is the incredibly efficient packing packing algorhythm written by
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Dalton.
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Actual Docs:
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At the main menu, the available options are displayed. Most of these
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will require no explanation. Others will be briefly explained.
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OPTION 1: Pack a disk. This will create a single file version of the disk you
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wish to send over the phone. It will be compatible with Dalton's 2.1
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file, and follow the same naming format (i.e. Filename<XXX>).
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OPTION 2: Unpack a disk. After selecting this option, you will be shown a
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portion of the Catalog on the disk in the source drive (as many files
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as will fit on the screen). A light bar can be moved up and down
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until you reach the file you wish to unpack. If there are more files
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than can be displayed on the screen, the message "[more]" will be
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displayed above and/or below the files on screen to indicate the
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location of the remaining files. When you reach the file, hit
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[RETURN] and the file will be unpacked. Hitting ESC will bring you
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back to the main menu.
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OPTION 3: Catalog a disk. After selecting this option, select the drive to
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Catalog. Free space will be displayed at the bottom.
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OPTION 4: Format a floppy disk. You may initialize the target disk using this
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option.
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OPTION 5: Change the source and target disks. These default to slot 6, drive
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1, volume 000. If these are satisfactory, no changes will be needed.
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OPTION 6: Reconfigure. This option will allow you to configure DDD 2.1E to
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your own needs. Here is where lower case can be disabled, and more
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importantly, the buffer size can be changed. The default size for
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the buffer is the maximum memory available (unless previously
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configured to a different size). There are two main reasons for
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changing the buffer size. The first is that, if your DOS is residing
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in the language card, you will not want to use the language card's
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memory, or DOS will be overwritten, and you will have a headache
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instead of a packed disk. The second, real reason for this option is
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to allow people with Siders to disable auxiliary memory. We can hear
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the Sider owners chanting in unison, "Why would I want to do
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something like that?" Unfortunately, since no one donated a Sider to
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the Assembly Line, we can not figure out a way to make DDD 2.1E work
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with both a Sider and auxiliary memory. If you wish to donate a Sider
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or information on how to make it work, see the number at the bottom
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of this doc. Remember: if you wish to use DDD 2.1E and a Sider, you
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MUST disable auxiliary memory.
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Note: After re-configuring DDD 2.1E, if you save it to disk, it MUST
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be saved to the same disk it was loaded from.
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OPTION 7: Reboot. You must reboot to leave the program, since DOS has been
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clobbered. After selecting this option, you can either boot from the
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source or target slot (it will always boot from drive 1). This is
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convenient if you wish to boot your hard drive instead of your floppy
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drive.
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Error Codes:
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-----------
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Since DOS is not active, if a DOS error occurs, instead of receiving a DOS
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error message, you will receive an RWTS error. Here is a summary of the error
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codes and what they mean:
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Error #: Cause of error:
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------- --------------
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$08 Error during initialization
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$10 Write protect error
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$20 Volume mismatch error
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$40 I/O error
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Notes to hard drive owners:
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--------------------------
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This program will probably benefit you more than anyone else. All
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possible efforts were made to accommodate you. The light-bar file selection
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and volume support make it a breeze to use with your hard disk. Sider owners:
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make sure to read the above note, and do not rant and rave about a bug in DDD
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2.1E that does not exist. You were informed here! Also notice also that this
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program does work correctly with large volumes, unlike DDD 2.0+.
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Things not to do with your hard disk:
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1) Do not use the Format option on a volume.
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2) Do not unpack a disk to a volume.
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This will not make you or your users very happy.
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3) Do not pack a large volume (you CAN pack a small volume!).
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Credits:
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-------
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Dalton, for the original programs, and the packing routine in DDD 2.1E.
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Snowman Inc., for the disassembly of DDD 2.1.
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Wozniak and Jobs, for you-know-what.
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The Assembly Line, for giving us something else to give credit to.
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The authors, for giving credit where credit is due.
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If you wish to contact the Assembly Line, call:
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The Third Dimension : 10 meg AE/Cat-Fur/BBS
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[214] 296-3660
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Another ware from: The Assembly Line:
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------------------------------------
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Copy ][+ HD. Supports volumes for you hard drive owners.
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In the process from: The Assembly Line:
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--------------------------------------
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Cat-Fur X.0. If you wish to help with this enormous task, please contact
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Ziopoth or Data Latch on the Third Dimension. It is disassembled, but we need
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additional help in commenting.
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Members of the Assembly Line:
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----------------------------
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(in alphabetical order)
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Data Latch
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M. Hata
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Spectre
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Ziopoth
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* Note: Dalton misspelled "Disk Disentigrator" as "Disk Disintigrater," and
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since this is a modification to his program, we maintained his
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misspelling.
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Distributed by The Watcher
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(official distributor for the Assembly Line)
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