AdvanSys ASPI Disk Driver ------------------------- This file contains important information and last-minute changes regarding the AdvanSys ASPI Disk Driver. Introduction ------------ ADVDISK is an ASPI Disk Driver for MS-DOS. It is an installable device driver that is loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. To install, copy ADVDISK.EXE to your boot drive (C:) and add this line to CONFIG.SYS: DEVICE = C:\ADVDISK.EXE Current version supports 512 bytes, 1024 bytes and 2048 bytes sectors. The Advdisk partition is compatible with NT 4.0 format. ADVDISK partitioned disks can be read by WIN 95. WIN 95 formatted removable disk currently can not be recognized by ADVDISK. Command-line options -------------------- ADVDISK is actually two components, the resident driver (installed in CONFIG.SYS) and the executable (run from the DOS command-line). Each component has it's own set of command-line options. The resident driver recognizes these options: /P The driver will pause after loading. /X=h,i ADVDISK will, by default, attempt to use all fixed, removable, and magneto-optical disk drives it finds on the SCSI bus. If a particular device is being used by another driver, add this exclude option to the command-line, and ADVDISK will not control the device. For example: DEVICE = C:\ADVDISK.EXE /X=0,3 will exclude the device on host 0 with device ID 3 from control. /R=n ADVDISK will only reserve one drive letter for each REMOVABLE device. Under most circumstances, this is sufficient. However, if the media used by this device has more than one partition on it, ADVDISK will need to reserve more drive letters for each device. For example, if using media with two partitions use: DEVICE = C:\ADVDISK.EXE /R=2 If ADVDISK does not detect as many partitions on the media as specified to reserve, it will report "drive not ready" for the undefined partitions. The executable component of ADVDISK has it's own set of command-line options. /? or /H Displays a usage screen detailing all the command-line options available. MAP ADVDISK will display a map, showing which SCSI devices are associated with DOS drive letters, and their lock status. LOCK [drive: | ALL] This will lock a particular drive (or all ADVDISK drives) into place. Media must be present in the drive for this command to be successful. Once the drive is locked, the media can not be ejected from the drive using the eject button. This is only applicable for removable devices. UNLOCK [drive: | ALL] This command will unlock the particular drive, and allow for the media to eject normally. This is only applicable for removable devices. EJECT [drive: | ALL] The media will be ejected from the drive. If the drive is locked, this command will unlock the drive and then eject the disk. This is only applicable for removable devices. PARTITION ADVDISK has a simple disk partition program built-in. This program should be used for any unpartitioned media you wish to use with ADVDISK. The program will ask in an interactive manner which drive is to be partitioned. ADVDISK will not generate more than one partition on the media, and will not selectively remove partitions. It will re-partition disks simply by overwriting the old partition. PARTITION will completely wipe out any information already on the media and therefore should be used with care. It will ask for confirmation before partitioning the media. Using ADVDISK with real-time disk compression --------------------------------------------- Testing has not demonstrated any compatability problems with ADVDISK and real-time disk compression, such as Stacker, DoubleSpace, or DriveSpace. However, these utilities will swap drive letters to make the compressed drive seem to exist where the uncompressed used to reside. This can confuse ADVDISK's locking and status reporting features. To use these features, specify the drive letter that corresponds to the uncompressed drive when working with ADVDISK. --------------------------------------------------------------------- How to reach AdvanSys --------------------- By mail: AdvanSys 1150 Ringwood Court San Jose, CA 95131 Phone: 408-383-9400 FAX: 408-383-9612 Tech Support: 800-525-7440 BBS: 408-383-9540 (9600 baud, 8 bits, 1 stop, no parity) Interactive FAX: 408-383-9753 Copyright (c) 1996 Advanced System Product Inc. All rights reserved.