Zenith Z-100 Series User manual

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THE QUALITY GOES IN BEFORE THE MANE GOES ON
DESKTOP COMPUTER SYSTENS
Z-100
USER'S MANUAL
WINCHESTER
SUPPLEMENT

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User's Manual
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Page 2
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
Table of Contents
Installing Operating Systems
Introduction ..
Hardware Features
Winchester Disk Drives
Power Up .
The Utilities ..
The PREP Utility
Features of PREP ..
PREP Operation
The VERIFY Utility ..
VERIFY Operation
The PART Utility
Partitions
Features of PART
PART Operation ..
Modifying the Default Boot Partition...
Partition Maintenance .
Finishing PART
Establishing the Default Boot Partition
Z-DOS ..
Booting from the Winchester
CP/M-85
Booting from the Winchester
Booting from the Winchester No Default
Partition ..
..3
.4
.4
..6
9
10
11
11
18
19
22
22
23
23
.. 27
,.30
. 38
. 40
.. 40
. 41
. 43
. 43
. 48
. 48
. 49
,.50
50
52
54
56
. 57
. 61
Other Operating Systems .,
Backing Up the Winchester Disk
Z-DOS ..
CP/M-85
The SHIP Utility
Appendix A
Appendix B
Index

page 3
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
Introduction
With the addition of the internal Winchester drive, your Z-100
Desktop Computer from Zenith Data Systems achieves a level
of performance rarely encountered in desktop computers.
The Winchester drive is an option that will allow you to store
the equivalent of several dozen floppy diskettes inside your
Computer, ready for immediate access in your daily business
needs. Besides additional on-line capacity of stored records,
the speed at which that information may be accessed is in-
creased by a factor of ten to twenty.
This manual has been prepared as a supplement to the "Oper-
ation" and "Disk Operating System" sections of your Z-100
Series Desktop Computer User's Manual.

Page 4
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
Hardware Features
After you read pages 1.13 and 1.14 of the Operation section
of the User's manual, you will notice an important difference
between your Desktop Computer and the two-drive unit de-
scribed in the manual.
One of the two disk drives has been replaced by a Winchester
drive. In place of the Diskette Load Slot, Disk Drive Door,
and LED Disk Access Indicator, you will see only an LED
Disk Access Indicator.
You need to know and understand a couple of important facts
about the care of your Winchester drive.
• Never drop your Winchester drive system or subject it to
any other physical shock. If the Computer is accidentally
dropped, even from only two to three inches, the Winches-
ter drive may fail to operate. If this occurs you should con-
tact your local ZDS representative for service.
• The built-in disk of your Winchester drive cannot be phys-
ically removed from the drive. However, information can
be removed, stored, and replaced with other data. You
will learn how to do this later in this supplement and in
the Winchester section of your operating system manuals.
WINCHESTER DISK DRIVES
A Winchester Disk Drive System, such as the one in your
Z-100 Desktop Computer, is only one of a family of disk sys-
tems generally called "hard disks."
The disk itself is a carefully machined and polished non-
magnetic metal platter that is coated with a magnetic material,
similar to that used by floppy disks and audio and video tape.
Hard disks come in a variety of sizes, capacities, and config-
urations. Many have multiple disks and some are even remov-
able, being enclosed in "disk packs," or "cartridges."

Page 5
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
Hardware Features
The "read/write" head (which records and "reads" information
to and from the surface of the disk) "floats" on a cushion of
air above the disk as it turns. The distance between the head
and the surface is so small that even a tiny smoke particle
could cause irreparable damage to the disk. For this reason,
most disks, including your Winchester disk system, are sealed
against contamination.
In contrast to the floating head of a hard disk, the head of
a floppy disk drive actually rides on the surface of the disk.
The read/write heads of both systems have the same function
and are described on page 1.16 of your User's Manual.
The organization of the individual hard disk is similar to a
floppy disk and is also described on page 1.16 of your User's
Manual. Mowever,a hard disk system may have more than
one platter, and the system may use each side of each platter.
Therefore, each side will have its own read/write head. Each
head is in alignment with the heads for the other platters or
sides, and all are moved together. Refer to Figure 1.
HLI B
CYLINDER
TRACK I
TRACK 0
h
Figure 1
The Elements of a Hard Disk Q~
,@U
READ/'uVRITE
HEAD S
JUL~
' ~5~Q
PLATTERS

page 6
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
A track is that portion of the disk that passes under a read/
write head. If you have four read/write heads on four different
platter sides, you will have four tracks that are passing under
the heads at one time. These four tracks make up a "cylinder."
A cylinder has as many tracks as there are heads in any
particular hard disk system.
In addition to being divided into cylinders, tracks and sectors,
a hard disk may be "partitioned." A partition is a group of
tracks or cylinders that you use as a "logical" drive for a par-
ticular application or operating system.
A logical drive acts like a floppy disk. Because a partition
is considered to be a logical drive, it will be treated the same
as any individual floppy disk drive. It will be uniquely identified
with a drive name, such as A or B. It may contain an operating
system, such as CP/M®-85 or Z-DOS™, or may be used
strictly for data storage.
The Winchester design in your Desktop Computer uses a
single head per platter side and is totally sealed. But before
you can use it, the disk surfaces must be prepared (formatted
— like a floppy disk) and partitioned. You will find a diskette
packed with your system that contains four utility programs:
PART, PREP, SHIP, and VERIFY. You will use these pro-
grams to prepare and partition your system a little later in
this documentation.
POWER UP
A Desktop Computer shipped from the factory is set up to
"boot" from the Winchester disk. However, the first time you
use your system, the Winchester will not be ready to use be-
cause it will not yet contain an operating system. It is also
possible that it may not have been prepared or partitioned,
although this will normally be done before the Winchester
ttCP/M-85is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc.
' Z-DOSis a trademark of Zenith Data Systems Corporation.

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WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
HBI'dwBf8 F88tuf88
drive is shipped from the factory. Use the following procedure
to start your system for the first time or whenever you do
not want to "boot" from your Winchester drive.
If your Computer is set for auto boot and your do not see
the hand prompt when you reset or turn on the system, disable
the normal power-up sequence by pressing the g>=~ key
immediately. Once the screen warms up, it will display the
message:
BootAbort
and you will see the "hand prompt." You will also see the
power-on indicator (in the RESET key) light.
You may now boot from the floppy disk drive and run the
programs on either the Customer Demonstration Disk or the
Utilities disk.
To use either diskette, follow these general instructions:
Make sure your Computer is turned on and the hand
prompt is showing. If your system is set for auto boot,
remember to press theQ>ggg key to disable thepower-
up sequence from trying to access the Winchester disk.
If your system does not display the hand prompt, refer
to the "In Case of Difficulty" section on page 1.25 of the
User's Manual.
Refer to page 1.13 of the User's Manual and insert either
the Customer Demonstration diskette or the Winchester
Utilities diskette (with the label closest to you and facing
up) into the floppy disk drive in your system. NOTE: Re-
move the tab that is covering the write protect notch if
one is present on the Customer Demonstration diskette.

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WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
Hell'dlaf8 F8 8 tUI"88
Close the disk drive door and press the Q key and then
the [g key. You will see the following on the screen:
Boot fl
Press the g~g g key. The disk access indicator for
the floppy disk drive will glow. After a moment, the first
messages will appear on the screen.
If you are using the Customer Demonstration diskette,
turn to page 1.20 in your User's Manual for the messages
and instructions.
If you are going to use the Winchester Utilities diskette,
read the next section, a discussion of how to use these
four utilities.

page 9
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The Utilities
Four utility programs — PART, PREP, SHIP, and VERIFY
— are supplied on a minimum system Z-DOS diskette. Two
copies of the diskette are supplied, so you need not worry
about "backing up" your diskette before you use it. Note, how-
ever, that the system on this disketteis not designed for nor-
mal Z-DOS use, and should be used only for these utilities.
The PREP utility is supplied so that you may initialize the
surface of your Winchester disk should the need ever arise.
It will also allow you to check for bad sectors and "lock out"
any that are found. In addition, PREP will pre-allocate two
"standard"partitions(describedlater)for immediateuse.
The VERIFY utility is supplied so that you may check the
surface of your Winchester disk for bad sectors and "lock out"
any that are found. Where PREP destroys the data you have
stored on your disk, VERIFY does not.
The PART utility is supplied so that you can redefine the parti-
tions of your Winchester disk if those that are preset do not
meet your needs.
The SHIP utility is supplied so you can place the heads in
your system over an unused portion of the Winchester disk.
This utility should be used whenever you move your Desktop
Computer, even a short distance.
You should read pages 2.5 to 2.7 of the Z-100 Series User's
Manual and then boot your Winchester Utilities disk as de-
scribed in the "Power Up" section of this supplement. When
you seetheZ-DOS prompt on your screen, you are ready
to run PREP, PART, SHIP or VERIFY.

Page 10
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The PREP Utility
The surface of the Winchester disk must be initialized before
you can use it in a system. This is similar to the FORMAT
command and procedure discussed in the Z-100 Series User's
Manual, except that typical operating system information
(headers, labels, boot code and directories) for a specific sys-
tem is not written onto the disk. In addition, PREP will test
the surface and set up standard partitions. Two are set up
— approximately equal in size — so it is not necessary to
run the PART utility unless you want to use some other parti-
tioning arrangement. Also, the disk will normally have been
prepared at the factory as part of the final testing procedure,
so you should not need to use PREP.
You need to be aware that while PREP does test the surface
of the disk for retention of data, it will also destroy any data
that you have recorded on the Winchester disk system. If you
do not want to destroy the data on your disk, but still want
to test the disk for data retention capabilities, you may run
the VERIFY utility. This utility does not destroy the current
data and partitions that are set up on your Winchester disk,
but it does test for and flag those sectors that are bad so
that they can be "locked out" later. See "The VERIFY Utility"
for a discussion of this process.
Before you can run the PREP utility, you must install a jumper
on the Winchester disk controller card in your Desktop Com-
puter. If the jumper is not installed, your Winchester disk can-
not be accidentally initialized. Therefore, the jumper (not in-
stalled) acts as a safety feature for any files that may be on
the disk. If you wish to run PREP, refer to Appendix B (at
the back of this Supplement) to install or remove the jumper.

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WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The PREP UtIIity
FEATURES OF PREP
The PREP utility enables you to:
• Initialize the surface of your Winchester disk.
• Test the data retention capabilities of your Winchester
• Isolate questionable disk sectors.
• Divide the surface of the Winchester disk into two equal
partitions (normally with one used for Z-DOS and one for
CP/M).
PREP OPERATION
disk.
If your Winchester disk does not contain initialization informa-
tion (for instance, the disk may not have been initialized or
the information may be incorrect or damaged), PREP will
prompt you to enter characteristics in order to identify the type
of Winchester disk you have in your Desktop Computer. Then
PREP will display messages that tell you what is happening
as it "prepares" and tests your disk. A chart of typical Win-
chester disk parameters is supplied in Appendix A along with
the specific answers that you should enter for each of the
five prompts.
CAUTION: Using PREP will destroy all the files that may exist
on your Winchester disk. Winchester disks supplied by Zenith
Data Systems or Heath Company will normally have been
prepared with PREP at the factory. If your disk has been pre-
pared, you will need to use PREP only if you consistently
encounter an unreasonable number of disk access errors. Do
not use PREP until you have backed up the information on
your Winchester disk to floppy disks.
To start the PREP utility, type:
PREP
and press the ggjggg] key. You will see a display similar
to the one illustrated in Figure 2.

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WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The PREP Utility
PREPversion 1.00
Copyright(C)1982, Zenith Data Systems
ThePREPutility helps you to:
• initialize surface of Winchester disk
• test data retention
capabilities ofWinchesterdisk media
• isolate questionabledisk sectors
• divide the surfaceof Winchester disk into two partitions
of equal size (one Z-DOSpartition and one CP/Mpartition)
PREP mayprompt you to specify five Winchester disk characteristics
in orderto identify the type of Winchester drive you have installed.
Then PREPdisplays messages as it operates on the disk.
CAUTION:Using PREPwill destroy all files on your Winchester disk.
Winchesterdisks supplied by Zenith or Heath are normally prepared
by PREP beforethey are shipped. Users of these disks will need to use
PREP only ifthey are consistently encountering an unreasonable number
of diskaccess errors. Do not use PREP until you have transferred
your Winchesterdisk files to floppy disks.
Do you wish toproceed with PREP (Y/N)?
Figure 2
The Introductory Display for PREP
At the bottom of the display, you will see:
Do you wish toproceed with PREP (Y/N)?

page 13
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The PREP Utility
If you press the g] key, the program will be halted and control
of the Computer will be returned to Z-DOS. If you press the
Q key, PREP will continue operation.
To exit PREP, press the g]key. The Z-DOS system
prompt will be displayed.
To continue with PREP, press theQ key. You will see:
Please type P to proceed
This display gives you one last chance to change your
mind. The reason for this second prompt is the nature
of PREP. PREP will destroy any and all information that
has previously been recorded on the Winchester disk.
To continue with PREP, press the Q key. If you press
any other key, PREP will be stopped and you will see
the Z-DOS system prompt.
If the disk has been previously prepared and PREP de-
tects no errors in the boot code or "superblock" (explained
later), then the following five disk parameter questions
will be skipped and the tests will be run. However, If the
disk has not been previously prepared or if an error is
detected in the boot code or superblock, then you will
be asked to enter five disk parameters. Your answers
will depend upon the type of Winchester drive installed
in your Desktop Computer. You will find a list of possible
drives and the appropriate responses for each question
listed in a table in Appendix A of this supplement.
In the examples that follow, the responses supplied are
for the Miniscribe 2012 (the standard 10 megabyte drive
supplied in Winchester versions of the Desktop Com-
puter).
The screen will display:
Enter nutaber of heads in hex;

WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The PREP Utility
Enter 4 (the hexadecimal equivalent of the number of
read/write heads) and press the tl ag] key. Next, the
screen will display:
Enter number ofcylinders in hex:
This number is equal to the total number of tracks divided
by the total number of read/write heads. Enter 132 (the
hexadecimal equivalent of the number of cylinders) and
press the ~ ~ key.The screen will now display:
Enter reducedwrite current cylinder in hex:
Toward the hub of a hard disk, where the circumference
of each track is smaller, some Winchester systems re-
quire that less electrical current be applied to the write
head to avoid having magnetic pulses overlap adjacent
tracks. The Miniscribe Mod II 2012 does not require re-
duced write current. Therefore, a value greater than the
largest cylinder number will be entered. Enter 200 (the
number in hexadecimal of the cylinder where the current
applied to the write head is reduced to avoid overwriting
track bounds) and press the ~g g] key. Next, the
screen will display:
Enter pre-compcylinder in hex:
Disk storage devices operate by creating magnetically
polarized areas on the disk surface that correspond to
the presence or absence of "bits" (the smallest unit of
measure in computer data and memory) in the information
being stored. Since "like" charges repel and "unlike"
charges attract, it is possible for the charged areas on
the disk surface, which represent the data, to "shift"
slightly if they are closely spaced after being recorded.
If such a shift occurs, reduced reliability will result.
Precompensation refers to the intentional shifting of data
during the recording process so the combined result of
precompensation and the natural shift (which cannot be
prevented) places the data in the desired position. On

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WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
T'a
ae PRF.P Utility
the outer tracks of the disk, the spacing between bits is
great enough so no significant shifting occurs and pre-
compensation is not required. However, since the inner
tracks have a smaller circumference, the bits are closer
together and precompensation is requried to maintain ac-
ceptable reliability. Enter 80 {the cylinder number where
precompensation must start) and press the ~gg ]key.
Next, the screen will display:
Enter steprate code inhex;
Enter 1 {the rate code in hexadecimal at which the read/
write heads "step" between tracks) and press the
g~gg] key.
Now that you have supplied the necessary information for your
hard disk, the program will initialize the surface of the disk
for the tests that follow. The initialization process is similar
to that used by the Z-DOS and CP/M-85 FORMAT utility in
that the surface of each disk is organized into tracks and sec-
tors. In addition, a "map" is also prepared for keeping track
of any sectors that are found to be bad.
During the initialization process, you will see the following dis-
play on the screen:
Initializing the disk.,
If you have not installed the jumper on the controller board,
the system will immediately display:
Error duringformatting of the drive.
and return to the Z-DOS prompt; the disk will not be affected.
Remember, to run the PREP utility, you must install the jumper
on the controller board as explained in Appendix B.
When the disk has been fully initialized, you will see:
..completed

Page 16
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The PREP Utility
Now the disk will be tested seven times. Each test is known
as a "pass." The seven passes of the test that are now per-
formed are conducted to check the integrity of the disk's stor-
age capacility. During each pass, PREP will "write" a pre-
determined code in each sector (the LED drive access light
will flicker) and then will "read" back that code to verify that
it remained correct (the LED drive access light will appear
to be constantly on). PREP will keep you informed of its prog-
ress by displaying the message:
Media test inprogress. Pass n
where n represents the current pass number. This phase of
PREP takes about an hour and a half because of the large
number of sectors on the Winchester disk system.
PREP uses a different code on each pass itmakes through
the test. If PREP finds questionable areas on the disk, it stores
the address where the error occurred, and later places these
addresses into a bad sector table.
When PREP has finished the seven passes,two "superblocks"
and two bad sector tables are recorded on the disk. While
it is doing this, you will see:
Initializing the disk...completed
A "superblock" is a portion of the disk surface (on cylinder
0) that is used to keep track of the disk "partition" names,
the operating system name assigned to each partition, a flag
that is used to show whether the partition has been formatted
or not, and a pointer (or number) for the first sector of that
partition. The superblock is recorded twice on the Winchester
disk. Each copy is written with a different disk head so that
the copies are physically isolated from each other. If some-
thing occurs to damage one copy of the superblock, the other
may remain usable.

page 17
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The PREP Utility
During the test passes, PREP kept a record of any bad sec-
tors. After the tests are finished and the superblocks have
been written, PREP will write the bad sector table. As with
the superblock, the table is recorded twice, each with a sepa-
rate read/write head. The bad sector tables are used to "flag"
all known bad sectors and "lock them out," or prevent them
from being used by the system for data storage. It is normal
to have a small number of bad sectors out of the five to twenty
thousandlocated on the typical Winchester disk.
When the tests are completed, PREP will return control to
the minimum Z-DOS system and you will see the Z-DOS
prompt. Remember, since this is a minimum operating system,
do not use it for normal operation.
Remove the Format Enable jumper as explained in Ap-
pendix B of this Supplement. Do not proceed with any
other operations until you have removed the jumper and
replaced it in its proper place on the board.

page 18
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The VERIFY Utility
The VERIFY utility enables you to verify the integrity of your
Winchester disk. However, the tests performed by the system
are not "destructive." That is, they will not destroy the data
that is recorded on your disk.
Several things could cause a sector to "go bad" during normal
operation of your system. They include subjecting the Com-
puter system to a physical shock (most common cause of
sector failure), power failure during the middle of a disk opera-
tion (unlikely), or electronic component failure (very rare).
When a power failure causes a sector to go bad, you may
be able to recover the use of that sector by reformatting the
partition, just as you would reformat a floppy disk. However,
you will want to use the BACKUP utility before you do this.
See the discussion on BACKUP and RESTORE found later
in this supplement.
When a bad sector is located by the VERIFY utility, its location
will be stored in memory. At the end of the test, those sectors
that are found to be bad are added to the bad sector table
that was established by the PREP utility. However, the bad
sector(s) located by VERIFY will not be "locked out" until you
run your Z-DOS or CP/M-85 FORMAT program and reformat
the partition.
One advantage of VERIFY is that you can use the utility to
check your disk if you suspect that you have one or more
bad sectors. If none are found, the system will let you know,
and you can continue to use your programs without having
to go through the BACKUP and RESTORE processes de-
scribed later in this supplement.

Page 19
WINCHESTER SUPPLEMENT
The VERIFY Utility
VERIFY OPERATION
To use the VERIFY utility, boot the Utilities disk and type:
VERIFY
and press the ~ g g] key. You will see a display similar
to that shown in Figure 3.
VERIFYversion 1,00
Copyright(C)1982, Zenith Data Systems
TheVERIFY utility helps you to:
• Locate sectorsthat have failed since you last ran PREP
Do you wish to proceed with VERIFY (Y/N)?
Figure 3
The VERIFY initial display
At the bottom of the display, you will see:
Do you wish toproceed with VERIFY (Y/N)?
If you press the g] key, the program will be halted and control
of the Computer will be returned to Z-DOS. If you press the
Qkey, VERIFY will continue operation.
To exit VERIFY, press the g] key. The Z-DOS system
prompt will be displayed.
To continue with VERIFY, press theQkey.Youwill see:
Enter bad sector address, or zero to end: