Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!mattd From: mattd@Apple.COM (Matt Deatherage) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: Copying System 5.0 to /ram5 Message-ID: <44521@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 4 Sep 90 17:38:42 GMT References: <44454@apple.Apple.COM> <13181@netcom.UUCP> Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA Lines: 51 In article dragon@pawl.rpi.edu (Carl L. Norden) writes: >In article <13181@netcom.UUCP> avery@netcom.UUCP (Avery Colter) writes: >>And copying file-by-file with Copy II Plus did not work. > >There is a good reason for that. GSOS writes some files a slight bit >different from Prodos 8 & 16. The only files that act 'dangerous' on these >older systems seems to be 'FINDER.DATA' (& ROOT) and sometimes ICN files. If >can avoid copying these, C2+ should have no trouble. > This is absolute bunk. The only difference in the way ProDOS 8 and the ProDOS FST write files is that the ProDOS FST will automatically sparse files if it can. This will only affect programs doing direct block-level access to read their files; all file system reads and writes will behave as expected with sparse files. The Finder only does file system reads for $C9 and icon files. There is nothing "dangerous" about these files or GS/OS in general. >>It would seem that /ram5 is automatically formatted on startup though; >>that is the only plausible reason why my machine sits there for 3 seconds >>before booting the 3.5 drive when it's at 800k, and 6 seconds when it's >>at 1600k. > >Not really at startup. Anytime the Apple GS is turned on, it will. Hitting >cntl-Reset, or Open apple Reset WON'T usually do it. (Though Open apple/ >Closed Apple/Cntl-Reset Will. This totally destroys EVERYTHING in memory.) >That delay is not just formatting the ramdisk. That takes less time than >you can imagine. Think about how fast C2+ formats them...) Most of the time >is spent by the Memory Manager while it allocates and verifies the memory. But >that is really unimportant. > It doesn't destroy everthing in memory; it resets a power-up byte so that some things which survive rebooting (like the RAMdisk) don't survive and are re- allocated. "Most" of the time delay is the Memory Manager pre-zeroing the bytes allocated to the RAMdisk, not "verifying". The actual allocation is pretty quick because at that point virtually no other memory is allocated. >P.S. Does anyone out there know how to use the Memory_Manager StartUp routine? > Every time I use it, I keep getting an error of $201, which isn't possible!! > (That's without using GSOS or ProDOS 16. I prefer ProDOS 8... Tis faster }:) > MMStartUp will return an error if you call it from an unallocated block. See ProDOS 8 Technical Note #27, "Hybrid Applications". GS/OS is much, much faster than ProDOS 8, but to program with it you have to have your facts straight. > -Dragon -- ============================================================================ Matt Deatherage, Apple Computer, Inc. | "The opinions represented here are Developer Technical Support, Apple II | not necessarily those of Apple Group. Personal mail only, please. | Computer, Inc. Remember that." ============================================================================