Atari DOS 2.5: XF551 User manual

~ )1\.ATARr
DOS 2.5: XF551 "
DISK DRIVE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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YOUR ATARI XF551 DISK DRIVE AND DOS ................ ,
What DOS Does . . . . . . .. .......... ... ..... . . . ......... v
DOS 2.5 and Your ATAAI Personal ComputerSystem ........... vi
How to Use This Manual. . ............................... vii
SECTION 1: YOUR ATARI XF551 DISK DRIVE ..
. . ... . 1
Connecti ng Your XF551 Disk Dr i ve ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1
Connecting More Than One Disk Dr ive . . ............ . . .. .... 3
Taking Ca reof Your Diskettes ......... . . .... . . ............ 4
SECTION 2: GETTING STARTED WITH DOS 2.5 .......... 7
Loading DOS . . ......... .
.......... . .............. 7
The DOS Menu ............... . . . ........... 10
looking ata Disk Directory. . . . .. . . . .......•....•....... 13
Duplicating a Diskette ............•.. _• . • .• • . . • • • ...... 14
FormattingaDiskette .............. . .... . ••...•. . _ ..... 17
Namingand Referring 10 Files ....... ... • • . • •• .. . •. . ...... 19
Running aCartridge From DOS ...... . . .••. •• •• . . .•....... 22
Copying Fil es. . . . . . . ............................. 24
Erasing Files ........................ _ ................. 27
SECTION 3: SELECTING A DOS MENU OPTION ......... 29
A. DISK DIRECTORY ................. . ................ 30
B. RU N CARTRIDGE ................................... 34
C. COPY FI LE. . . . . . .. . . . •. . . . • . . . . .. . • . . .. 35
D. DELETE FI L E(S ) ...... . ... .. ................. . .. .... 38
E. RENAME FI LE. . . . . . . . • . . . . .. . . . ................ 39
F. LOCK FILE ..... . .. . ..........•................. ... 41
G. UNLOCK FI LE . ....... • ... .•. ... . ..•.. . . . . . . .•..... 42
H. WRI TE DOS FI LES. . . . . • . . . . . ........ ... ... . 42
I. FORMA T DISK ........•....•....•..•....• . . . . •..... 43
J. DU PLICATE DIS K .......... .... ... . .. . . .. . .......... 44
K. BINARY SAVE .............. .. ..... . . . . .. .... . ...... 47
L BINARY LOAD ......... . . . ............ . .. . ... .. .... 53
M. RUN AT AD DR ESS .............. ... ......... .. ...... 54
N. CREATE MEM.SAV ........ •• •• .• • •• •• •. • ••• .•• • ..... 55
O. DU PLICA TE FILE .. . .. .... ..... .. . .. .... ...... . 59
P. FORMATSI NGLE. .. . ...•....•..... . .............. 61
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SECTION 4: USING BASIC COMMANDS
WITH DOS 2.5 ..... . ...... . . ... 63
BASIC Commands Used With DOS . . ......... . ..••...... 63
Tokenized and Untokenized Files . . . . . . .• . ......•.. . ... 63
Input/Output Control Blocks ............................. 66
Using the OPEN/CLOSE Commands ............ . ......... 67
Using the INPUT/PAINT
Commands ................ . . .. ... 6B
Direct Accessing With the NOTElPOINTC ommands .... . . .... 70
The PUT I GET Commands ................. ........ . . .... 74
Using the STATUS Command .. . .......................... 76
Substituting the XID Command for DOS Menu Options ........ 76
Accessing Damaged Files ............................... 79
The AUTORUN.SVS File . .. .... .... 80
APPENDICES ............. . . .... 83
A: ALPHABETICAL DIRECTORY OF
BASIC RESERVED WORDS
USED WITH DISK OPERATIONS
..........•..•......... 83
B: NOTATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
USED WITH DOS
2.5
C: ERROR MESSAGES 87
AND HOW TO RECOVER. . . . . . . . • • .. . • • • • • • . . . . . 91
D: DOS
2.5 MEMORY MAP
FOR 64KRAM SYSTEM ...................••........ 101
E: HEXADECI MA L TO DECIMAL
CONVERSION TABLE
.................. . .... ..... . 103
F: HOW TO SPEED UP
DATA TRANSFERS
TO DISK DRIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . .
105
G: HOW TO TELL DOS HOW MAN Y
DISK DRIVES YOU HAVE
.................. •. ........ 107
H: USING DOS
2.5 WITH AN ATARI 810
DISK DRIVE OR WITH DOS 2.0S FILES ................. 11 1
I: STRUCTURE OF A
COMPOUND BINARY FILE .. . . . . . ...........•........ 117
J: GLOSSARY OF TERMS ...................•...... . .. 119
K: DOS 2.5 AND THE ATARI130XE RAMDISK ....•......... 1 25
L: THE DOS 2.5 DISK UTILITIES .. . ...................... 129
M: ATARI XF551 DISK DRIVE SPECIFICATIONS ............. 141
N: POWER CONNECTION IN
THE UNITED KINGDOM
.................... . ........ 143
INDEX .. ...... ......... ..... ...•..•.. ..•....•.. •.. .... 145
CUSTOMER SUPPORT . . . . .. . ..•.... .. ... • . .. ...... 149
Iv

YOUR ATARI XF551 DISK
DRIVE AND DOS
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
The AlA Rie XF 551™ Disk Dri ve is an extremely efficient, high-
speed storage devi ce wh ich greatly enhances your ATARI XETM
or XLTM Computer system. Your ATA RI Comp uter's memory
re tains the information and instructions you enter through its
keyboard. But the computer's memory is limit ed in size, and
wit hout a sto rage device like the XF 551 , its contents are erased
each time you turn off the computer.
You r ATARI XF551 Disk Drive enables you to store and manage
large amounts of information in separate files on diskettes.With
your ATARI XF 551 , you can ca ll up your files by name, c opy or
erase them, and manage them in many other way s.
What DOS Does
To store information on diskettes you need software that
allows your
computer and dis k drive to communicat e with
each other about your file s. That is where the Disk Operating
System -DOS for short -fits int o the picture. DOS (pr o-
nounced " doss ") is a program that enables yo ur compute r
and
disk drive to work together in stor ing, retrieving, and
otherwise managing your diskette files. DOS itself is organ·
ized in files c
onta ined on the Master Di skette .
You must load 005 int o yo ur c omputer before it can work
with your disk drive. Some ready-made comp uter programs
already contain a version of DOS, sparing you the trouble of
loading it separately. B ut with other programs, especially
those in cartridge form, you have to load DOS along with the
program if you plan to use a disk drive w it h the program. In
an y case, you need DOS for many essential tasks: to prepare
blank diskettes
to store your files, for exa mple, and to make
backup copies of im po rtant files and di ske tt es.
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DOS 2.5 and Your ATARI Personal
Computer System
With just a few restrictions, DOS 2.5 is compatible with the
earlier
AlAR! DOS 2.08. You can also convert DOS 3 files to
OOS 2.5 formats. This means that you can use DOS 2.5 to
manage files originally stored and managed using the older
versions
of DOS.
You can use OOS 2.5 with the AlARI XF551 and the ATARI810™
Disk Drives. However, your system must include at least
one XF551.
DOS 2.5 allows you to format diskettes and store information
in either single
or enhanced density. With enhanced density
you can record about 50 percent more data on each diskette
than you can
with DOS 2.05. But you can manage enhanced-
density storage only if you have an
AlARI XF551 Disk Drive;
the
810 Disk Drive is not capable of formatting or managing
data stored in enhanced density (including the files on your
DOS
2.5 Diskette-this is why you must have an XF551 Disk
Drive
to begin working with DOS 2.5 ). If your computer s ys-
tem includes an 810 Disk Drive that you will often use to
access your files, you may want to format all your diskettes
in single-density.
Note: DOS
2.5 woo<s exactly the same with both the ATARI
XF551 and 1050 Disk Drives. If you happen to be using this
manual
with an ATARI1050 Disk Drive you can substitute
"1050" for "XF551"
in all sections discussing DOS 2.5.
If your system includes both
an XF551 and an 810 , and you
are using DOS 2.08 files
with DOS 2.5 , see Appendix H. If you
are working
with DOS 3 files, see Appendix L.
With either or both disk drives, use single-sided, double-
density diskettes.
vi

DOS 2.5 works with any ready-made cartridge-based program
that runs on your ATARI Computer-even programs that pre-
date DOS 2.5, including the AtariWriter™ word processor and
ATARI BASIC. With these and other cartridge-based programs,
you can always use DOS 2.5 instead of DOS 2. 0S to prepare
data diskettes and manage files.
Many diskette-based programs designed for use with the
earlier DOS 2. 05 c an also be converted from DOS 2. 0S to
DOS 2.5, although you may have to continue to use DOS 2.0S
with certain protected diskette programs (see your program
user's manual if you are unsure whethera program isprotected ).
How to Use This Manual
This manual is designed to serve everyone from the beginning
computer user to the advanced programmer. It includes two
sections that introduce the XF551 Disk Drive and DOS , a
detailed guide to all the capabilities for DOS 2.5, a section of
more technical information primarily for programmers, and
several appendices. Appendix J, a brief glossary of terms
used in talking about DOS , may be particularly helpful to the
beginner. As you work with this manual, consult the glossary
whenever you are unsure of a term's meaning.
If you just purchased your first disk drive, you should start with
Section 1, " Your ATARI XF551 Disk Drive," which provides simple
instructions for setting up and using your drive.
Section 2, "Getting Started with DOS 2.5, ~ introduces you to
the most frequently used functions of DOS. With step-by-step
instructions, it explains how to load DOS into your computer,
prepare diskettes to store files, duplicate diskettes, name and
refer to your files, and copy and erase files. Most importantly,
it explains how to make a System Diskette, or working copy
of DOS. This is a very important procedure that you should
not neglect before going on to learn more about DOS . To go
through the examples and exercises in this section, you will
need at least three blank diskettes, one to make your System
Diskette and two to use as practice data diskettes. Since some
vii

of the exercises involve the use of AlARI BASIC, you will also
need a BASIC cartridge
if you have an AlARI 4OO™, 8OO™ , or
1200XLTM Computer. If you have an XETM Game System,
130XE'"",
65XETM , or BOOXLTM , your computer is equipped with
built-in BASIC.
Section 3, "Selecting a DOS Menu Option," covers every func-
tion on
the DOS 2.5 Menu and provides step-by-step examples
of how to use each one.
Section 4, "Using BASIC Commands
with DOS 2.5 ," will be of
interest primarily to the advanced user or programmer.
The appendices cover a number
of both technical and nontech-
nical topiCS.
You may find the following especially useful:
• See Appendix C if you run
into any error messages as
you get started with DOS 2.5.
• If you have more than one
disk drive, see Appendix G.
• If y
our computer system includes an AlARI 810 Disk
Drive or
if you have diskette files created and stored
using the earlier
ATARI DOS 2. 05 , see Appendix H.
• If you have
an AlARI130XE Computer, see Appendix K.
• If you have diskette files created and stored using AlARI
OOS 3, see Appendix L
• If you live in the United Kingdom, see Appendix N for
additional installation information.
viii
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SECTION 1
YOUR ATARI XF551
DISK DRIVE
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When you unpack your AlAR! X F551 Disk Drive, be sure you
have the following items:
• ATARI XF551 Disk Drive
• Serial 1 /0 Cable
•
AC Power Adapter
• DOS 2.5 Master Diskette
• Warranty/Registration Card
If you are missing any of these items, contact your dealer.
You should save the packing materials
for shipping or storing
the disk drive.
Connecting Your XF551 Disk Drive
Your XF551 and yourentire system should be set up in a location
with asturdy level surlace close to an electrical outlet. Don't set
up the system where it will
be exposed to dust , grease,
extreme sunlight,
or high humidity .
Follow these steps to co nnect an XF551 to your ATARI XE or
XL Computer:
1. Make sure the drive, the computer , and all other peripherals
connected to the computer are switched off.
2. Plug one end of the drive's Serial 1 /0 Cable into the con-
nector marked Peripheral on the back of the comp uter .
Plug the
other end into one of the two connectors marked
1 /0 Connectors on the back of the drive.
3. Plug one end of the AC Power Adapter into the connector
labeled Power In on the back of the disk drive. Plug the
other end into an electrical outlet.
1

Back Panel of Computer
© • •
Serial 1 /0 Cable
Power Adapter
4. Tum on the disk drive. The BU SY light on the front of the
dr i ve will go on briefly. When the BU SY light goes off , you are
ready
to insert a diskette.
Warning: Your
AlARI XF5 51 Disk Drive should be placed 12
inches or more from your television. Your TV creates a strong
magnetic field that could affect the information recorded on
d
iskettes.
You r disk drive is now ready to receive the DOS 2.5 Master Disk-
ette. It is recommended that you read the next sec
ti on of this
manual before proceeding.
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Connecting More Than One Disk Drive
You can connect up to four XF551 Disk Drives to your AlARI XE
or XL Computer. Multiple disk drives (and other components)
are connected to each otherin adaisy chain,using the Serial 110
Gables supplied with each component. Connecting additional
disk drives makes many disk operations more convenient.
Note:
You may connect a total of six peripherals (including
disk drives, printers, and modems) to your ATARI XE or XL
Computer.
To connect two or more XF551 Disk Drives follow these
instructions:
1. Connect a Serial 1/0 Gable between
the connector marked
Peripheral on
the back of the computer and one of the 1/0
Connectors on the back of the first disk drive. Then con·
nect another Serial 1/0 Gable to the remaining 110 Con·
nectar on the first drive and to either 110 Connector on the
second drive. Connect
up to three more disk drives in the
same way.
2. Plug one end
of the AC Power Adapter into the connector
labeled Power
In on the back of the disk drive. Plug the
other end Into an electrical outlet. Repeat for each drive In
your system.
3

Setting Drive Select Switches
You must set the drive select switches so you and your com ·
puter can correctly Identify each drive by a number. The drive
select switches are on the back panel
of the disk drive.
Each combination
of switch positions corresponds to drive
numbers 1, 2, 3,
or 4. You can assign drive numbers in any
order you like but one drive must be set as Drive 1 and drives
may not have the same number.
The following table shows the switch settings for each drive
number.
In this table ~ is the up position and iii is the down
position. Use a pen or small screwdriver to move the switches.
Drive Switch Setting
1
2
3
4
Taking Care of Your Diskettes
Diskettes are coated with a sensitive magnetic material that
holds your data and Is read by the disk drive. To ensure long
life and reliability, you must handle your diskettes properly.
Each diskette
is pennanently enclosed in a protective enve-
lope and stored
In a paper sleeve. Most diskettes have a
small write-protect notch on one edge
of the protective enve-
lope. By covering this notch with one
of the small adhesive
tabs provided by the diskette manufacturer, you can
aVOid
accidentally erasing or writing over any data on a diskette.
See Section 2 for more infonnation on write-protecting your
diskettes.
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Remember these rules for proper care and handling of
diskettes:
•
Do not insert or remove diskettes when the drive's BUSY
light is
on.
• Never tum your disk drive
on or off with a diskette in the
drive,
and never leave diskettes in the drive when the
system is off.
• Keep diskettes away from sources
of magnetism (such as
monitors, televisions, electric motors,
and telephones).
• Keep diskettes away from extreme heat and moisture,
and out of direct sunlight.
• Never touch a diskette's magnetic media inside its pr!>
tective casing.
•
Do not use a pencil or ball·point pen to write on a label.
Use felt-tipped pens or write on the label before attach·
ing it to the diskette.
•
Do not bend your diskettes. Handle them with care when
inserting or removing them from the drive.
• Store diskettes in their paper sleeves in a covered disk·
ette box.
labeling Your Diskettes
Most diskettes come with a set of labels you can attach to
each diskette. Be sure to label every diskette on which you
copy or store programs or files.
5

SECTION 2
GETTING STARTED
WITH
OOS2.5
LJDDOOOOLJOtJOOIJ
Lo ading DOS
Follow Ihese steps to load DOS 2.5 with ATARI BASIC (il you do
not want to load BASIC,see "DOS With and Without BASIC ," on
the following page):
1. Make sure that yourcomputerand disk drive are turned off. If
you have an ATARI 400, BOO, or 1 2QOXL Computer, in se rt an
ATAR I BASIC cartridge into your computer 's cartridge slo t.
Make sure that there is no diskette in your disk drive. If you
have an ATARI XE Game System, 130X E, 65XE ,or BOOXL with
built-in BASIC, be sure there is no cartridge in your comp uter,
and no diskette in your disk drive.
2. Turn on your disk drive- if you have more than one disk
drive in your syst
em you must always use Drive 1 to toad
DOS . The drive makes a whirring sou nd when turned on,
and the
BUSY light goes on.
Cau t ion: Never insertor remove a diskette in your drive while
the BUSY light
is on.
3. When the BUSY light goes off, turn the latch on the front
of your ATARI X F551 Di sk Drive to the open (horizontal)
position. Remove your
DOS 2.5 Master Diskette from its
protective paper sleeve and insert it in your drive, with the
label facing up and toward you, until it clicks into place.
Then tu
rn the latch to the closed (vertical) pOSition.
7

4. Tum on your computer. The disk drive's BUSY light goes
on again as
OOS loads into your computer. If you tum up
the volume on your TV, you can hear it beep as DOS loads.
5. When the READY prompt (from
ATARI BASIC) appearson
your screen, type DOS and press 1Reti.m I.
DOS Wi th and Without BASIC
Naturally,you won't always be using DOS 2.5with ATARI BASIC.
To load DOS without BASIC if you have an ATARI 400,800,or
1200XL Computer, simply follow the steps explained above wi
th -
outinserting your BASIC cartridge and omit step 5.
1f you have an ATARI XE Game System, 130XE , 65XE, or 8OOXL,
your computer is equipped with built·in BASIC. BASIC is loaded
into your computer whenever you turn iton, including when you
load DOS -unless you first insert a program cartridge in the
computer's cartridge slot
or you hold down the ~ key on
your
computer console as you turn it on.
As you've seen, going from BASIC to DOS is easy -
justlype
DOS and press 1 Retl.rn J. Going from DOS backto BASIC is just as
easy; see "Running a Cartridge From DOS.
II
Boo t Errors
Loading a program into a computer when you first turn it on is
call
ed booting up. If a problem occurs when booting up your sys-
tem, the following appears on your screen:
8

When you start your system, a boot errorcan occur for the follow-
ing reasons;
• The inserted diskette does not have DOS
on it.
• The diskette was inserted incorrectly.
• The diskette has been scratched,warped,or marred.
In this
case, use another diskette.
• The diskette
is an enhanced-density diskette in an ATA RI
810 Di sk Drive.
The following conditions will also cause a boot error, but no indi-
cation of it will appear
on the screen.
• The disk drive was turned on afterthe computer was turned
on.
• The disk drive is not properlyconnected to the computer
console.
• The Power Adapter plug has loosened from its wall socket.
• The Power Adapter plug has loosened from the disk drive
POWER IN socket.
• The drive swi
tc h setting is not correct.
If you have checked and found none ofthese problems,take the
following steps;
1. Insert the DOS 2.5 Master Diskette or System Diskette (work-
ing copy of DOS 2.5)
in Drive 1and reboot the system.
2. Remove the DOS diskette.
3. Reinsert the problem diskette and save any accessible 'iles
on another diskette using the process for copying files (see
C.,COPY
FI LE, in Section 3).
4. With the problem diskette
in Drive 1, use the DELETE FILE(S)
function to erase all the files.
5. Try using the diskette again. If this fails, the diskette will have
to
be reformatted (see I. . FO RM AT DISK,in Secti on 3).
9

The DOS Menu
Once you've loaded DOS into your computerand, if necessary,
typed DOS and pressed (
AetuTl I. the DOS Menu appears on your
TV or monilor screen. The menu presents a list of DOS func-
tions. The prompt below the menu invites you to make a selec-
tion. You choose the function you want to use by pressing the
lettercorresponding to your selection and pressing I
FIeWTl J. DOS
then asks you for the information it needsto proceed (see
"Prompts and Responses
," later in this section ).
DI SK OPERATING SYSTEM II VERSION 2.5
COPYRIGHT 1984 ATARI CORP .
A. DISK DIRECTORY
B. RUN CAFITRIDGE
C. COPY FILE
D. DELETE fllE{S)
E. RENAME FILE
F. LOCK FilE
G. UNlOCK FILE
H. WRITE DOS FILES
I. FORMAT DISK
J DUPLICATE DISK
K. BINARY SAYE
l. BINARY LOAD
M. RUN AT ADDRESS
N. CREATE
MEM . SAY
O. OUPLICATE FILE
P. FORMAT SINGLE
SELECT ITEM
OR ( Aeb.rn )FOR MENU
•
Here is a summary of the DOS 2.5 Menu options. Those marked
with an • are introduced later in this section; all are explained in
detail in Section 3.
• A. DISK DIRECTORY
This option allows you to call up a complete or selective list
of the files on a diskette, showing th e filenames, extenders
(if any), the
number of sectors allocated to each file, and the
number of free sectorsstilt available on the diskette.
·8 . RUN CARTRIDGE
10
(Can ONLY be used with built-in BASIC or with a cartridge
installed in the
computer console.)This option allows you to
return control of your system to buill-in BASIC or to the car-
tridge inserted in the cartridge sl
ot (the left cartr idge slot in
the ATARI800
Compu ter).