Micro Solutions Backpack User manual

backpack
CD-ROM Drive
User’s Guide

Rev. 09.96.04
Part Number: MAN-CDDS
Micro Solutions, nc., provides this manual as is, without warranty of any
kind, either express or implied. Micro Solutions, nc., shall not be liable for
errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in con -
nection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE STATEMENT
Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits
for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These
limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful inter-
ference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can
radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance
with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communica -
tions. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a
particular installation. f this equipment does cause harmful interference to
radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equip -
ment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by
using one or more of the following measures:
·Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
·ncrease the separation between the equipment and receiver.
·Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from
that to which the receiver is connected.
·Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for
help.
MODIFICATIONS
Changes or modifications not expressly approved by Micro Solutions could
void the user's authority to operate this equipment.
SHIELDED CABLES
Shielded cables must be used with this equipment to maintain compliance
with FCC regulations.
backpack is a registered trademark of Micro Solutions, nc.
Windows and Windows 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
Micro Solutions, nc.
132 West Lincoln Highway Technical Support BBS: 815.756.9100
DeKalb, llinois 60115 Technical Support FAX: [phone]
Phone: [phone] Automated Fax Response: 815.754.4600
FAX: [phone] WebSite: http://www.micro-solutions.-
com

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................
1.1 System Requirements...................................................................................
2. INSTALLATION....................................................................
2.1 Drive nstallation..........................................................................................
2.2 Software nstallation.....................................................................................
3. USING BACKPACK.............................................................
3.1 Backpack’s Drive Letter...............................................................................
3.2 The NONSTOP Option.................................................................................
3.3 Playing Audio CDs.......................................................................................
3.4 Changing the nternal Drive D....................................................................
3.5 Backpack Device Driver Parameters............................................................
4. Microsoft CD-ROM E tensions...........................................................
Appendi A Troubleshooting...................................................................
A.1 Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions Error Messages.......................................
A.2 DOS Error Messages...................................................................................
A.3 Technical Support........................................................................................
Appendi B CD-ROM Tutorial..................................................................
B.1 Program/Data CDs.......................................................................................
B.2 Audio CDs....................................................................................................
Appendi C Installation Under OS/2.......................................................
Appendi D Hardware Warranty..............................................................
Appendi E Software License Agreement..............................................

Introduction
Congratulations on your decision to purchase backpack , the easy-to-install
CD-ROM drive for PCs, XTs, ATs, PS/1s, PS/2s, laptops, notebooks and com-
patibles. This manual provides information regarding the installation and use of
backpack..
System Requirements
Check the system requirements listed here to make sure you have everything
needed for proper operation of backpack:
·BM PC, XT, AT, PS/1, PS/2, laptop, notebook, or compatible com-
puter with:
·100% BM compatible parallel printer port.
·128K memory.
·DOS version 3.1 or above or
·Windows, Windows 95 or Windows NT.
Note: backpack is Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) Aware. f the parallel port
is equipped with EPP and the computer B OS has support for EPP, back-
pack will detect this and use the feature to improve its performance.

Installation
1 Using Backpack

The backpack drive and software must be installed before you can use the
backpack drive. The step-by-step instructions in Sections 2.1 and 2.2 will help
you perform the installation.
Drive Insta ation
nstalling the backpack drive is a straightforward process. t consists of plug-
ging the drive into your computer’s parallel printer port. The instructions in this
section will guide you step by step through the installation procedure. Perform
the following steps to install the backpack drive:
1) Locate the parallel printer port connector on your computer. f you have
more than one parallel printer port, it doesn't matter which one you use
for backpack.
2) f you have a printer connected to the parallel printer port, disconnect it
and attach the printer cable to the connector labeled “Printer” on the
backpack drive.
3) Connect the cable supplied with the backpack to the connector labeled
“Computer” on the back of the backpack drive.
4) Connect the backpack cable to the printer port on the computer.
5) Plug the backpack power unit into a wall outlet and attach the power ca-
ble to the power connector on the backpack drive.
6) Set the backpack power switch to the ON position.
Once you have completed the installation successfully, your computer should
work exactly as it did before. f it doesn't, review the installation procedure and
check for mistakes.
Software Insta ation
The SETUP program on your backpack master diskette will install the soft-
ware for you automatically. This procedure assumes your diskette drive letter is
“A”. f you use a different drive letter, substitute it in the procedure. Use the fol-
lowing procedure to run SETUP:
Using Backpack 2

DOS Insta ation Procedure:
7) Start your computer as you normally would.
8) Place your backpack master diskette into drive A. Make sure you have
your DOS system prompt “A:\>“ before you proceed to the next step.
9) Run the SETUP program with the following command at the DOS prompt
(A:\>):
A:\>setup¿
“¿” means that you should press the RETURN, or ENTER, key.
Answer the questions about your disk drive letters.
Windows Insta ation Procedure:
10)Turn on the computer and load Windows as you normally would.
11) Place your backpack master diskette into drive A.
12)From Windows PROGRAM MANAGER choose: File-Run and type in
A:SETUP.
13)Click OK.
NOTE: The backpack OS/2 nstallation Procedure is included in Appendix C
of this User’s Guide.
f your backpack CD-ROM does not contain the 16-bit sound board option,
the following information in this paragraph does not apply to your installation.
Backpack CD-ROM models that contain the 16-bit sound board include instal-
lation software on multiple High Density 3.5” diskettes. When running the
SETUP program from Disk 1, you will be prompted when it is time to insert
Disk 2.
The backpack diskette includes a file called README.TXT which contains
information gather since this guide was written. You can view or print this text
file using NOTEPAD under Windows. Under DOS, you can use the DOS ED T
utility to view or print README.TXT.
The software shou d now be insta ed on your boot drive. Remove the back-
pack master diskette and put it in a safe p ace. Restart the computer before
using the backpack drive. Either power the computer off and then back on
or ho d down CTRL, ALT, and DEL on the keyboard. Under Windows,
make sure to “Shut Down” the system before rebooting.
You have now completed the installation, and the backpack CD-ROM drive is
ready to use. The remaining chapters in this guide can be referred to when
needed.
Using Backpack 3

Using Backpack

Backpack is used just like any other disk drive. t has its own drive letter. You
can access it from your programs by referring to the drive letter. The only re -
striction is that you can't write to the CD-ROM drive. f you have never used a
CD-ROM drive before, a brief tutorial is included in Appendix B of this User’s
Guide.
Backpack’s Drive Letter
Just as your existing disk drives are referred to by letters (A:, B:, etc.), back-
pack also has a drive letter associated with it. The letter to be used is assigned
by DOS and is determined by which letters are already in use on your system.
Backpack will get the next available letter in alphabetical order. n a typical
hard disk system where the floppy drives are A: and B: and the hard disk is C:,
backpack will be drive D:.
If you are using MS-DOS of Windows 3:
When your computer is powered up, the Microsoft CD-ROM extensions pro-
gram will display a message on the screen to tell you the backpack letter. The
message will look like this:
Drive D: = Driver BPCDDRV$ unit 0
n this case, you will refer to the backpack CD-ROM drive as drive D: when
you are accessing it through any software packages.
You can check the backpack drive letter at any time by one of three methods:
A) nsert the backpack master diskette in drive A and type:
A:cddrives¿ or
B) From the hard drive in DOS, type:
2 Troubleshooting

C:\bpcdrom\cddrives¿ or
Additional backpack CD-ROM statistics, including the parallel port mode that
has been detected and used by backpack can be obtained by using the /x
switch:
C:\bpcdrom\cddrives /x¿
If you are using Windows:
The CD-ROM drive will appear as an icon in Files Manager, or My Computer
and Windows Explorer
The NONSTOP Option
This Section only applies if you are using MD-DOS or Windows 3
When the DOS system loads the backpack software driver, it will scan the par-
allel printer ports looking for backpack drives. f it doesn't find at least one
backpack CD-ROM drive, it will issue an error message and wait for you to
press the ESC key to acknowledge the message. This could become annoying if
the backpack drive isn't always connected to the computer.
The NONSTOP software option can be used to suppress the error message that
is displayed if no backpack drive is found when the system starts. Perform the
following steps to specify the NONSTOP option:
14)Using a suitable text editor or word processor (in nondocument, or DOS
text mode), bring up the CONF G.SYS file from your hard drive for
editing.
15)Locate the line that references BPCDDRV.SYS and add NONSTOP to the
end of it, as shown below:
device=\bpcdrom\bpcddrv.sys nonstop
Be sure to type a space before NONSTOP.
3) Save the modified CONF G.SYS file on your hard drive.
Troubleshooting 3

4) Restart the computer by holding down CTRL, ALT, and DEL.
Note: f backpack is connected and powered on, but still reports the error “A
backpack CD-ROM Drive was not found...” during boot, refer to the Trou-
bleshooting section (Appendix A) of this User’s Guide. Do not install the NON-
STOP option since it will only suppress the error and will not correct the con-
flict.
P aying Audio CDs
To play audio CDs on the backpack CD-ROM drive, you can use Microsoft
Windows 3.1 or above, Windows 95 or any suitable DOS audio player software.
Playing An Audio D Under Windows 3
Before using audio CDs with Windows, you must inform Windows that you
have a CD-ROM drive with audio capability attached. Perform the following
steps from the Windows main screen:
16) nsert an audio CD in the backpack drive.
17)Open the Program Manager window.
18)Double click on the MA N icon in the Program Manager window.
19)Double click on the CONTROL PANEL icon in the MA N window.
20)Double click on the DR VERS icon in the CONTROL PANEL window.
21)A list of installed drivers will appear. f the list contains [MC ] CD Audio,
the driver has already been installed and you should click on the CAN-
CEL button and skip the next steps. f the driver is not installed already,
proceed with the following steps.
22)Click on the ADD button. A list of drivers will then appear.
23)Click on [MC ] CD Audio and then click on the OK button. Windows may
prompt you to insert one of your Windows installation diskettes at this
point. f it does, insert the diskette and follow the instructions on the
screen.
24)Exit Windows; then restart Windows to load the new driver.
4 Troubleshooting

To play an audio CD under Windows, perform the following steps:
25)Double click on the MED A PLAYER icon in the ACCESSOR ES win-
dow. A window similar to an audio CD front panel will appear.
26)Select DEV CE, then CD AUD O, to inform the media player to use the
CD-ROM drive.
27)Use the buttons on the media player to start the CD.
P aying An Audio CD Under DOS:
To play an audio CD under DOS, invoke your DOS audio player software from
the DOS prompt. You can also use the TRKPLAY.EXE utility under DOS. TRK -
PLAY.EXE is supplied on your backpack master diskette in the \UT L TY di-
rectory. TRKPLAY.EXE is found in the \UT L TY directory on Disk 2 if you are
installing the backpack CD-ROM drive which includes the 16-bit sound board.
Troubleshooting 5

Playing An Audio D Under Windows 95 or NT:
Make sure that you have already installed “Multimedia” support for Windows
95 (under Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs - Windows Setup). Choose
“Start - Programs - Accessories - Multimedia - CD Player.”
Changing the Interna Drive ID
This section is relevant only if you are connecting more than one backpack to
your computer.
Each backpack drive is assigned an internal drive D when it is manufactured.
The D is a number between 0 and 99 and initially is the last two digits of the
unit's serial number. When more than one backpack is connected to a com-
puter, the backpack driver software assigns DOS drive letters in ascending
drive D order. The lower the drive D number, the lower the DOS drive letter.
For example, assume that you have a computer with two floppy drives (A: and
B:) and a hard drive (C:). Assume also that you are connecting the following two
backpack CD-ROM drives:
Serial number xxxxxx35
Serial number xxxxxx17
Drive letter D: will be assigned to the drive with serial number 17 and drive let -
ter E: will be assigned to the drive with serial number 35.
There are two situations in which you may need to alter a backpack drive D
number:
28) f you are connecting two backpack drives to one computer and they hap-
pen to have the same last two digits in the serial number. n this case
the backpack software will locate only one of the drives and assign it
a drive letter. The other drive will not be recognized. Assigning a new
drive D to one of the drives will allow both drives to be recognized.
Note: All backpack tape drives have D numbers 00 or 01.
2) f you are connecting two backpack CD-ROM drives to one computer
and you would like to reverse the drive letters. Since drive letters are
assigned according to drive D numbers, the order of the drives can be
reversed by assigning new drive D numbers.
6 Troubleshooting

Drive D numbers are used only for establishing the order of backpack drive
letters; they serve no other purpose. Perform the following steps to change a
drive D number:
Troubleshooting 7

29)Connect the backpack drive whose D number you will be altering to a
parallel printer port. Disconnect all other backpack drives from the
computer.
30)Move the backpack power switch to the OFF position for a few seconds,
then move it back to the ON position.
31)Place your backpack master diskette into drive A:. Make sure that you
have your DOS system prompt “A:\>“ before you proceed to the next
step.
32)Run the SET D program with the following command:
A:\setid
The program will ask you to select a new drive D.
5) After you exit the program, remove the backpack master diskette from
drive A:.
4) Move the backpack power switch to the OFF position for a few seconds,
then move it back to the ON position.
5) Attach all the backpack units to the computer.
6) Restart the computer by holding down CTRL, ALT, and DEL.
Backpack Device Driver Parameters
By default, the backpack device driver will test the computer’s parallel port upon
boot-up and automatically determine which configuration adjustments to make.
n the event that backpack does not function properly on a computer’s parallel
port, you can add the options described below under “BACKPACK Options.”
If you use DOS or Windows
The options described below can be used at the very end of the backpack CD-
ROM’s device driver line in the CONF G.SYS file.
device=\bpcdrom\bpcddrv.sys /d:bpcddrv$
8 Troubleshooting

This is the default syntax for the backpack CONF G.SYS line. This should allow
backpack to operate properly on almost all computers. The /d:bpcddrv$ parameter
specifies the name of the backpack CD-ROM device driver in memory and must
not be altered. This parameter does not assign the D: drive designation to back-
pack. See Section 4.0 of this User’s Guide for modification of the backpack drive
letter.
Options can be combined on the same line, if necessary. For example:
device=\bpcdrom\bpcddrv.sys /d:bpcddrv$ NOEPP T1=10
would cause the backpack device driver software to bypass the backpack Enhanced
Parallel Port usage and add 10 more timing delays to the data transfer signals
from the backpack to the computer’s parallel port.
Always reboot the computer after saving changes to the CONF G.SYS file.
If you use Windows 95 or Windows NT
Open the Control Panel with Start, Settings or by opening Control
Panel in the Main Program Group. Double-click on the backpack icon.
The backpack Controls window will provide options similar to those below.
BA KPA K Options
NONSTOP This option is detailed in Section 3.2 of this User’s Guide, and
does not apply to Windows 95.
NOEPP This option turns off backpack’s testing and usage of
Enhanced Parallel Ports (EPP). f the parallel port chip in your
computer exhibits EPP properties, but is not fully EPP
compatible, then this parameter may be necessary to allow
backpack CD-ROM to function on that computer’s parallel
port. Be sure to turn the computer’s power and the backpack
CD-ROM drive’s power OFF after saving this particular
modification to the CONF G.SYS. This will allow the
backpack /O chips and the computer’s parallel port chipset
to be reset to a non-EPP mode.
Troubleshooting 9

NOEPP mode can be selected with a check box under
Windows 95.
UN D R This option turns off backpack testing and usage of
bidirectional parallel ports. f the parallel port chip in your
computer cannot properly transfer data in bidirectional mode,
it may be necessary to force the backpack into unidirectional
operation on that computer’s parallel port.
Unidirectional mode can be selected with a check box under
Windows 95.
T1=xx Values of 1 to 25 are valid for this parameter. This option will
place additional signal speed delays on the backpack CD-
ROM when sending data into the computer’s parallel port. f
the computer’s parallel port is not capable of transferring data
at the speed calculated by the backpack device driver during
boot, this addition of timing delays may be necessary. The
higher the value, the more timing delays are added.
T2=xx Values of 1 to 25 are valid for this parameter. This option will
place additional signal speed delays when receiving data from
the computer’s parallel port.
T8=x Values of 1, 2 or 3 are valid for this parameter. This option
adds additional EPP signal speed delays on the backpack
CD-ROM when sending data on an Enhanced Parallel Port. f
the computer has an EPP port, but the port is not capable of
transferring data at the optimum EPP speed, additional signal
delays may be necessary.
10 Troubleshooting

Microsoft CD-ROM E tensions
This Section only applies if you are using MS-DOS or Windows 3
Microsoft CD-ROM extensions (MSCDEX.EXE) is an executable program for
MS-DOS (version 3.1 or higher) that works in conjunction with the backpack
device driver (BPCDDRV.SYS) to allow your computer to access CD-ROM
discs as if they were DOS formatted disks. This program is written by Microsoft
and is specifically designed to work with Microsoft MS-DOS. Computers with
anything other than MS-DOS operating systems may experience unpredictable
results unless the operating system manufacturer provides an alternative to the
MSCDEX program.
The SETUP program automatically modifies the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to run
the MSCDEX program so your computer can access the backpack CD-ROM
drive. However, some parameters can be changed, so this section explains the
function of each parameter. Use a text editor such as EDL N or ED T to modify
the appropriate line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
Syntax
MSCDEX /D:BPCDDRV$ [/M: <value>] [/E] [/V] [/S] [/L:<letter>]
/D:BPCDDRV$
The /D option specifies the name of the backpack CD-ROM device driver
and must not be altered.
/M
The /M option determines how many sector buffers MSCDEX will allocate
when it installs itself. The larger this value is, the more sector cache entries
are available and the less MSCDEX will have to read directly from the CD-
ROM drive. The larger this value is, the better the performance will be.
f the /M option is not specified, the default value is 6.
/E
The /E option instructs MSCDEX to use expanded memory for some of its
buffers. Note that you must have expanded memory available for this option
to work. f no expanded memory is available, the following error message
will appear:
Expanded memory not present or not usable.

/V
The /V option instructs MSCDEX to display a summary of memory usage.
/S
The /S option tells MSCDEX to patch MS-DOS to allow the sharing of CD-
ROM drives on MS-NET based servers.
/L:<letter>
The /L option can be used for software that requires that the CD-ROM drive
be identified by a particular drive letter. The following would cause the CD-
ROM drive to be assigned drive letter M:.
MSCDEX /D:BPCDDRV$ /L:M
2 Installation Under OS/2

Troubleshooting
Backpack should not affect the operation of your existing computer software
and hardware. f there seems to be a problem using the computer or backpack
after installation, read the following problem descriptions to see if they match
the problems you are experiencing. Review the README.TXT file included on
the software diskette (see Section 2.2) and see if your problem is discussed
there. f you can't resolve the problem, review Section A.3 Technical Support.
When you are trying to access the drive, an “Invalid drive specica-
tion” essage appears on the screen.
This can occur if you are not using the correct drive letter to access back-
pack. Be sure the letter you use is the one indicated on the screen when the
computer starts. Review Section 3.1 for information on drive letters.
This can also occur if you have not run SETUP to install the backpack
software or if you have not restarted the computer after running SETUP. Re-
view Section 2.2 for information on software installation.
This can also occur if there are not enough drive letters available to DOS in
your computer’s configuration. f drive letters D: and E: are already as-
signed to other devices in your computer, you will need to allow DOS to use
additional drive letters. f your CONF G.SYS file contains a LASTDR VE
command, change the drive letter specified to a higher letter. f your CON -
F G.SYS file does not have a LASTDR VE command, add the line: AST-
DRIVE=M to the beginning of your CONF G.SYS file on your boot drive.
The backpack drive doesn't work. The essage “A backpack CD-
ROM drive was not found” appears when the co puter starts.
This will occur if the power to the backpack drive is not on when the
computer is started. Make sure the backpack power switch is in the ON
position and that the power unit is plugged in securely.
This can also occur if a hardware conflict exists. Make sure you don't have
two printer cards set to the same port address, and make sure you have a
completely BM compatible printer port.
This can also occur if the backpack CD-ROM drive’s device driver soft-
ware has difficulty programming an Enhanced Parallel Port into high-speed
mode. Review the NOEPP option in Section 3.5 backpack Device Driver
Parameters in this User’s Guide.