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HDCPM - boot and run CP/M plus from hard disk

Started by d_kef, 16:48, 30 December 21

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GUNHED

There is also a great CP/M Plus version from Dobbertin, providing a 444 KB RAM drive C: and 0,7 MB formats on drive B. It works very stable and has some further enhancements (quicker text output).


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d_kef

Funny....I just found that yesterday...
In fact I did some tests and it seems that Dobbertin's version is compatible also with D'ktronics RAM disk (or at least WinAPE's implementation of D'ktronics RAM disk).
HDCPM v1.00 is not able to detect the Dobbertin driver but it'll be relatively easy to include support for it in v1.01.
Also the RAM drive letter is C: in CP/M 2.2 and M: in CP/M Plus.
You can still use it with HDCPM v1.00 but you can't change the drive letter (M:)
I used the Dobbertin's PATCH30 utility and was able to produce a working C10CPM3.EMS system file. I then used HD manager to transfer the file to my hard disk and it works just fine.


d_kef

angelcaio

#27
Hi. I try to install HDCPM in .img files. I have followed the steps in the manual to create them with the hex editor  https://hexed.it

Hi have select and format the CPMDSK01.IMG disk :

But both optios  4. Boot sector information, 7. Manage boot sector  and 8 Transfer CP/M to disk  return: Error  Invalid File System
Partition table information return: Warning MBR not foundAny idea? Thanks

d_kef

Quote from: angelcaio on 16:12, 14 January 22Hi. I try to install HDCPM in .img files. I have followed the steps in the manual to create them with the hex editor  https://hexed.it Hi have select and format the CPMDSK01.IMG disk : But both optios  4. Boot sector information, 7. Manage boot sector  and 8 Transfer CP/M to disk  return: Error  Invalid File System Partition table information return: Warning MBR not foundAny idea? Thanks



That's strange....
The only thing I can think of is that the hard disk is somehow in a read only/write protect mode. This happened to me only when I tried to use a .ide disk image, with WinAPE, that was read only. As soon as I removed the read only setting everything worked fine.
My CP/M hard disk driver is accessing the hardware with ATA commands reading and writing sectors directly. So if it can read the disk image sectors it can also write them even if the CP/M disk image is marked as read only on the FAT level. In an emulated environment (like WinAPE) the OS  (Windows) might prevent this kind of access if the file is read only.
Did you try this also with your X-Mass? Did you see the same behaviour there?




angelcaio


I will not have access to my CPC with X-MASS for two or three weeks
I have verified that the FAT partition where Winpe accesses is read/write and the image file is as well.
I have also tried to generate the file from WinApe, with the ACMEDOS ROM in memory, but it does not generate anything, although I have been able to copy the MAKEIMG.BAS and MAKEIMG.BIN files
Is it possible to download an 8MB .IMG file from somewhere to test it instead of the one I generated?
Thanks

d_kef


QuoteI have also tried to generate the file from WinApe, with the ACMEDOS ROM in memory, but it does not generate anything, although I have been able to copy the MAKEIMG.BAS and MAKEIMG.BIN files
That's true. Unfortunately only UNIDOS is able to produce the image file. I also did some tests with ACMEDOS and CubeMDOS and both fail.
ACMEDOS doesn't save a file at all.
CubemDOS saves a file that is 0KB.
In all cases the time needed to finish was about 1.5 hour.


QuoteIs it possible to download an 8MB .IMG file from somewhere to test it instead of the one I generated?
I've attached two image files in the first post of the topic.
CPMDSK01.IMG is bootable and contains all the files of the 3 CP/M Plus system disks.
CPMDSK02.IMG is empty (formatted) and can also be used as a template.


d_kef

angelcaio

Quote from: d_kef on 13:14, 17 January 22
That's true. Unfortunately only UNIDOS is able to produce the image file. I also did some tests with ACMEDOS and CubeMDOS and both fail.
ACMEDOS doesn't save a file at all.
CubemDOS saves a file that is 0KB.
In all cases the time needed to finish was about 1.5 hour.

I've attached two image files in the first post of the topic.
CPMDSK01.IMG is bootable and contains all the files of the 3 CP/M Plus system disks.
CPMDSK02.IMG is empty (formatted) and can also be used as a template.

d_kef



YES, it work!!!!!
Mani thanks.
When I can try the xmass I'll let you know


HAL6128

Quote from: d_kef on 13:14, 17 January 22hat's true. Unfortunately only UNIDOS is able to produce the image file. I also did some tests with ACMEDOS and CubeMDOS and both fail.
Does it mean that UniDOS is more compatible to "create" a file filled with bytes? Maybe a bug in CubeMDOS? Should report to SOS.
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zhulien

Where can I download the ROM and doc file?


zhulien

#35
Ah I missed the line saying they are in the disk file

GUNHED

For HDCPM the tool takes 1,5 hours (using UniDOS) to create a 9 MB file.


Instead of waiting 1,5 hours would it be possible to attach this file here and use the PC to copy it on the SF2 mass-medium?


... and this was my post #3000.  :o
http://futureos.de --> Get the revolutionary FutureOS (Update: 2023.11.30)
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angelcaio

#37
Quote from: GUNHED on 00:19, 23 January 22
For HDCPM the tool takes 1,5 hours (using UniDOS) to create a 9 MB file.


Instead of waiting 1,5 hours would it be possible to attach this file here and use the PC to copy it on the SF2 mass-medium?


... and this was my post #3000.  :o

Hi. Look in the first post. In this attach two .IMG files Of course, you can also copy it to CPMDSK03 and 04

angelcaio


My experience with HDCPM:


1.- In WinApe under Windows 10 and Windows 11 with CPMDSK0x.IMG into the DOM:
All four drives are recognized and show the directory and when a file is created or copied it appears in the directory and can be read. But when you exit CP/M and re-enter with |HDCPM, this file is gone!


2.- In WinApe under Windows XP SP2 with CPMDSK0x.IMG disks into the DOM:
Everything works perfectly: Mount all four drives, and the recorded files remain on the next boot.


3.- Under WinApe in any Windows with the DOM (WITHOUT FORMAT) connected to USB through an adapter:
Everything works perfectly: Mount the only drive C:, and the recorded files remain on the next boot.


4.- In real hardware: CPC 464 (big keys) with X-MEM and X-MASS with the DOM:
- With the DOM formatted in FAT and with the four CPMDSK0x.IMG files: The CPC does not start
- With the DOM partitioned with four unformatted partitions: The CPC does not start
- With the DOM without partitioning: Everything works perfectly, after  HDMGR.COM is used,  but with a single C: (It would be great for me that, at this time, the HDMGR.COM utility would allow partitioning)


Still, I'm pretty happy with my 8 MB partition (I'm using USERS AREA for the first time).

TotO

Have you tested to have four master partitions and not one primary and three slaves on the DOM?
"You make one mistake in your life and the internet will never let you live it down" (Keith Goodyer)

angelcaio

Quote from: TotO on 15:48, 23 January 22
Have you tested to have four master partitions and not one primary and three slaves on the DOM?
Yes. Four master partitions of 9 mb each and the rest of the DOM without partitioning

d_kef

#41
Quote from: angelcaio on 15:36, 23 January 22
My experience with HDCPM:


1.- In WinApe under Windows 10 and Windows 11 with CPMDSK0x.IMG into the DOM:
All four drives are recognized and show the directory and when a file is created or copied it appears in the directory and can be read. But when you exit CP/M and re-enter with |HDCPM, this file is gone!
Yes I'm pretty sure I had this problem in the past and I decided to run WinAPE only in WinXP.

Have you tried to run WinAPE in Windows XP compatibility mode?

Quote from: angelcaio on 15:36, 23 January 22
4.- In real hardware: CPC 464 (big keys) with X-MEM and X-MASS with the DOM:
- With the DOM formatted in FAT and with the four CPMDSK0x.IMG files: The CPC does not start
- With the DOM partitioned with four unformatted partitions: The CPC does not start
- With the DOM without partitioning: Everything works perfectly, after  HDMGR.COM is used,  but with a single C: (It would be great for me that, at this time, the HDMGR.COM utility would allow partitioning)


I will soon release v1.01 which fixes some bugs regarding .IMG recognition. Keep an eye on this topic.
Regarding the partitioning with HDMGR I have this in my todo list. Maybe in v1.02.


d_kef

angelcaio

Quote from: d_kef on 21:57, 23 January 22Have you tried to run WinAPE in Windows XP compatibility mode?

I just did it and in Compatibility Mode for XP SP2 it works fine. The file remains after exiting to AMSDOS and returning to CP/M in Winape

zhulien

where does the 8mb hard drive limit come from within CP/M?

d_kef

#44
Quote from: zhulien on 08:04, 27 January 22where does the 8mb hard drive limit come from within CP/M?

The disk size (user data area) for a disk with 512 Bytes sector size, in CP/M Plus is determined by two parameters in the DPB: DSM=number of blocks -1 and BLM=block size mask.
From the CP/M Plus System Guide:
QuoteDSM is one less than the total number of blocks on the drive.
DSM must be less than or equal to 7FFFH. If the disk uses 1024 byte blocks (BSH=3, BLM~=7), DSM must be less than or equal to OOFFH. The product BLS* (DSM+l) is the total number of bytes the drive holds and must be within the capacity of the physical disk.
It does not include the reserved operating system tracks.
So the theoretical maximum disk size is (DSM=7FFFH, BLM=7FH=>BLS=16KB blocks) 32768*16384=536870912 or 512MB
Of course for every disk you also need to reserve RAM for the disk allocation table. For a 512MB hard disk the amount of needed RAM for a banked system is (DSM+1)/4 bytes => 32768/4=8192 or 8KB.

So I chose an 8MB disk size basically following the rule of thumb  :D
It seemed to me a good compromise between disk size and memory reserved.

d_kef



angelcaio

Quote from: d_kef on 09:38, 27 January 22So I chose an 8MB disk size basically following the rule of thumb 
It seemed to me a good compromise between disk size and memory reserved.

Now I understand why with the four partitions C: to F: (32Mb) the TPA drops to 59Kb.
Seems like a good compromise between storage and available RAM

d_kef

I've just released HDCPM v1.01


The main changes in this release are:

       
  • Some bugs where fixed.
  • Added support for Dobbertin RAM disk driver.
  • Added compatibility with Dobbertin HD20 Harddisc. -Thanks @GUNHED for bringing that to my attention.
    Well in fact I don't own a HD20 unit so I'd be gratefull if someone could check that my statement about compatibility is indeed correct  :D
  • Added MAKEIMG.EXE utility for creating an image file from within SYMBOS.
    That's my first attempt to code anything with Quigs so be gentle with me  ;)
More info and the new DSK file can be found attached at the first post of this topic.


Here is a small video on how to use the new MAKEIMG.EXE utility:




d_kef


GUNHED

What is the 'MAKEIMG.EXE' utility actually doing? You click at the image and it's written? But it's already on C:. Sorry, if I miss the point here.
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http://futureos.cpc-live.com/files/LambdaSpeak_RSX_by_TFM.zip --> Get the RSX-ROM for LambdaSpeak :-) (Updated: 2021.12.26)

d_kef

No it's not!
You select the disk and one of the 4 possible names for the image file.
It is even possible to create an image in the slave IDE drive and use it as a template (although in the video there is only one hard disk).


d_kef

Prodatron

Quote from: d_kef on 17:33, 29 January 22

       
  • Added MAKEIMG.EXE utility for creating an image file from within SYMBOS.
    That's my first attempt to code anything with Quigs so be gentle with me  ;)
Wow, this is very nice!
AFAIK you did this without any help from Trebmint or Edo, so this is a good achievement and it seems, that it is possible to use Quigs without an external training course :)
Thanks for sharing the video, I wonder if you used some Inline-Assembler code in this app or Quigs functions only.

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