halp@TCGOULD.TN.CORNELL.EDU.UUCP (06/05/87)
I recently purchased an AE 1 meg Ramfactor (together with Transwarp and Ramcharger battery backup for the Ramfactor). They all work fine, BUT, in contrast to
AE Ramworks, it apparently is not possible using the AE supplied software to
partition the Ramfactor such that part is AppleWorks desktop while the rest is
a ramdisk that can be used by AppleWorks. A telephone call to AE confirmed this, told me it was due to AppleWorks interaction with Ramfactor (it's like the
Apple memory cards, I believe) [what else could it be due to], and invited me
to change AppleWorks 2.0 myself so that the desired partitioning would be
possible. I am unable to use this :-) generous offer from AE due to complete
incompetence on my part.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to do it? (it's a snap on Ramworks and
AppleWorks 2.0, using the software supplied by AE).
Bruce P. Halpern
halp@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu D57J@CORNELLA.BITNET HALP@CRNLTHRY.BITNET
tel: 607-255-6433 smail:Uris Hall,Cornell Univ.,Ithaca NY 14853-7601 USAeww@OBERON.LCS.MIT.EDU.UUCP (06/08/87)
Utter confusion on my part! Wherein lays the problem with Ramfactor? 1. What Appleeworks version are you running now? 2. Does Appleworks 2.0 overwrite the ram that you are attempting to use as a ramcard? (desktop) 3. Couldn't you set a subdirectory that would be safe? 4. I have found mysterious the automatic complete overlay load of Appleworks 2.0 on boot into ram (Ramworks) and nowhere on the /Ram directory does it appear when cataloged. Would appreciate info about the system (2.0 + Ram- works)
halp@TCGOULD.TN.CORNELL.EDU.UUCP (06/09/87)
All things being equal, AppleWorks takes whatever memory is available. The
AppleWorks 2.0 manual ("Apple II Using AppleWorks", 0300374A), page 40,
states it as "Essentially, the Desktop is as big as your computer's free
memory when you start AH AppleWorks. At that time, the program reserves any
leftover memory for your desktop." AppleWorks 2.0 does this automatically
for the Apple memory card, and for similar RAM cards, such as Applied Engineering's RamFactor. This is all fine, if one wants the biggest possible desktop.
However, if one wants some of RAM as desktop, and some as a RAMdisk, it's not
so fine.
To solve this problem, Applied Engineering developed software that produces
a RAMdisk of the desired size (if enough RAM is available) in an Applied
Engineering RamWorks RAM card, and modifies AppleWorks (including 2.0) such
that it creates a desktop that is limited to a size comparible with the
RAMdisk. Unfortunately, while this all works for the Applied Engineering
RamWorks RAM board, it does not work for their RamFactor board.
Instead, the RamFactor board looks like a 'real' hard disk. It can be
partitioned with separate operating systems in each partition. When
equipped with its own power supply and battery back-up (RamCharger), the
RamFactor card resembles a hard disk even more, in that its contents remain
when the computer is turned off. The firmware on RamFactor operates such
that only one partition can be active at any one time. Thus, although
a RamFactor partition can be used to limit the size of AppleWorks desktop,
the other partitions can not be accessed if the partition that supplies the
AppleWorks desktop is active.
[If any Applied Engineering Wizards are observing, please feel free to
correct me]
Bruce P. Halpern halp@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu D57J@CORNELLA.BITNET
TEL:607-255-6433 smail:Uris Hall, Cornell U.,Ithaca NY 14853-7601