ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ T U R B O D S K 2 . 3 ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ (C) 1992-1995 Ciriaco Garc¡a de Celis Grupo Universitario de Inform tica Apartado 6.062, Valladolid (Spain) Internet: ciri@gui.uva.es FidoNet: 2:341/21.8 English of this file improved by: (C) 1993 Charlie Henze English - DESCRIPTION: TURBODSK is a Ram Disk controller for DOS and Windows 3 systems. This file contains information which is not available with online help. TURBODSK can dynamically allocate RAM to the disk. It requires DOS 2.0 or above; XMS 2.0+, EMS 3.2+, and conventional memory is supported. In spite of using EMS 3.2, TDSK can take advantage of the power of 386 and better systems and can run programs which make use of EMS memory, unlike most public domain RAM disks. - NOTICE: An incorrect assignment of numeric parameters (except disk size), may make a disk malfunction. To avoid problems, follow the advice given by help (TDSK /?) or allow TURBODSK to determine the numeric parameters automatically. - LICENSE: This program is FREEWARE and can be used without charge by individuals or corporations, although it is not allowed to charge something for the concept or it's usage. Distribution is only allowed to the shareware distribution companies who charge less than or equal to US $16 per disk (when 1 disk is requested). Individuals can distribute it but without charge. - WARRANTY: This program is provided "as is", without any explicit warranty. Use is free. Therefore, the author does not assume responsability for damages that may occur whether caused by bugs or incompatibility with any other software. - PERFORMANCE: Comparison between TURBODSK and the DOS RAM disks: RAMDRIVE VDISK TURBODSK (WINDOWS 3.1) (DR-DOS 6.0) v2.3 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Maximum size: 32 Mb 32 Mb 64 Mb Conventional memory support: Yes Yes Yes EMS support: Yes Yes Yes Extended memory drived by INT 15h: No Yes No XMS memory support: Yes No Yes Files can hold the root directory: 4-1024 4-512 1-65534 Sector size supported: 128-1024 128-512 32-2048 Dynamic memory allocation: No No Yes Cluster programmable size: No No Yes takes advantage of 32-but bus in 386+: No No Yes Conventional memory used (DOS 5.0): 1184-1232 2096-2608 432-608 Data transfer rate (in Kb/sec) measured by KBSEC.C, on machines under MS-DOS 5.0, without any TSR's (except KEYB and DOSKEY). Sectors are 512 bytes-sized: VDISK RAMDRIVE TURBODSK ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 8088-8 MHz: + Conventional memory................ 563 573 573 286-12 MHz (0 WS): + XMS extended memory (1)............ 1980 4253 4253 + Conventional memory................ 4169 4368 4368 386-25 MHz (without cache): + XMS extended memory (1)............ 6838 17105 17095 + EMS expanded memory (1)(2)......... 1261 8308 14937 + Conventional memory................ 7297 6525 14843 486-25 MHz (8 Kb internal cache): + XMS extended memory (1)............ 7370 10278 10278 + EMS expanded memory (1)(2)......... 2533 7484 9631 + Conventional memory................ 8256 8454 11664 Total.................................. 40267 67348 87642 Relative index......................... 45,9 76,8 100 (1) HIMEM.SYS from MS-DOS 5.0 installed. (2) EMM386.EXE from MS-DOS 5.0 installed. - UNDOCUMENTED SWITCHES: + With /F is possible to select the number of FAT copies (1 by default), up to a maximum of 2. + With the /I option, it is possible to set the international telephonic code of any country to select the language used by TDSK. In this v2.3 only the Spanish (Spain and Spanish language countries), German and English (the other nations) are used. If system is property configured (with COUNTRY order in config.sys) TURBODSK will use the correct language. /I=34, for example, forces the Spanish; /I=49 the German and /I=1 the English. + In DOS 5.0 it is possible to force the use of upper memory if loading with LOADHIGH, provided that the amount of memory requested does not exceed the available (in other case, conventional memory will allocate). + /M parameter switch output from color to monochrome (redirectable), while in CONFIG monochrome will be used by default. + /B parameter avoids to load TURBODSK if there is at least a hard disk available on the system. + After execution, an ERRORLEVEL code is returned with these meanings: 0: Disk not defined 255: Driver not installed from CONFIG.SYS 254: Incorrect drive letter indicated 253: Attempt to define inside Windows 252: Syntax error Other values below 128, are related to the handle used in both the extended or the expanded memory. - WARNING: With 4085 to 4087 cluster disks, the CHKDSK /F command (except in MS-DOS 3.3 and DR-DOS 6.0) are not able to correctly determine the FAT type of the disk. Additionally, it will report nonexistent errors, and will destroy stored data. - BITDISK: If TURBODSK still should require too much memory, BITDISK can be used instead. It requires only 256 bytes instead of 408. Most probably this driver is the smallest resizeable ram disk controller in the world. However, its usage still has some downsides: + Only XMS is supported. + To save memory, some variables were placed directly into the code. This may lead to errors under protected mode. But under testage no errors concerning this point occured. + Some internal or undocumented features of MS-DOS were used. In most other MS-DOS compatible operating system these features still are supported: BITDISK was tested under MS-DOS 6.20, DR-DOS 6.0 and NOVELL-DOS 7.0, and no errors occured there.