detert@lognet2.af.mil (CMS David K. Detert) (08/14/89)
Boy, what a concept and what a program, at least on my 1.5 meg A-1000.
I just finished packing what I could and the savings are tremendous. I
haven't done extensive timing tests, but so far it looks there isn't
much, if any, discernable increase in processing times. I just packed
OnLine! 2.0 and it shrunk 80k (much more room for other 'junk'). It also
loaded much quicker, probably because it's a large program. Anyway,
after I do some more testing I fully intend to send off some shareware
dollars, this one looks like it's going to be worth it.
One thing interesting was that it would not pack itself, it ran out of
buffer space and was going at a -3 percent at that, I wonder why. It also
wouldn't touch SHOWANIM and one other program I had in my c directory (I
can't remember what it was). In both cases it said it came upon a hunk type
that hasn't been implemented yet. The RESIDENT command also didn't like
being packed. It got packed ok, but then it couldn't load to run. I can't
remember the error code. Also, I didn't pack things that were smaller than
the loader header. I kept those that were small and went simply for storage
space savings. I'll pass along any other tid bits I find over the next few
weeks. BTW. My system is floppy based, I'm not sure what speed results
one would get with a hard disk, etc. I have selected commands in a c2
directory that I copy to RAD: in my startup-sequence (that way I just do
a copy all and save time). I just remembered that my startup time decreased
>from 1:58 to 1:47 seconds (from initial screen to lights out on DF0:).
Cheers and thanks again for another UseNet goody, Dave
CMSgt David K. Detert MILNet: detert<at>lognet2.af.milmnelson@vmsa.cf.uci.edu (08/14/89)
In article <21660@louie.udel.EDU>, detert@lognet2.af.mil (CMS David K. Detert) writes... >Boy, what a concept and what a program, at least on my 1.5 meg A-1000. >I just finished packing what I could and the savings are tremendous. I . . . >dollars, this one looks like it's going to be worth it. >One thing interesting was that it would not pack itself, it ran out of ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >buffer space and was going at a -3 percent at that, I wonder why. It also ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ It will do this if you try to pack a program which has already been packed. I think the version available has been packed (notice the cycling colors as it starts up - indicating that un-packing is in progress). > >CMSgt David K. Detert MILNet: detert<at>lognet2.af.mil
jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu (08/15/89)
In article <21660@louie.udel.EDU>, detert@lognet2.af.mil (CMS David K. Detert) writes: > One thing interesting was that it would not pack itself, it ran out of > buffer space and was going at a -3 percent at that, I wonder why. It also The powerpacker program itself is already crunched. It makes sense that crunching a crunched program isn't likely to get any more savings... the author also seems to be a little protective of his code (you can't DECRUNCH it... I wanted to do that & recrunch it without those gaudy flashing colors when it loads but no luck). > wouldn't touch SHOWANIM and one other program I had in my c directory (I > can't remember what it was). In both cases it said it came upon a hunk type > that hasn't been implemented yet. These were probably either SYMBOL or DEBUG hunks (I only tried to crunch one program that had a hunk type other than these that it didn't recognize). Run it through the included HUNKLAB to get rid of them & try crunching again. The only thing I don't like about PowerPacker is you need a lot of memory... you need significantly more memory than the size of the program being crunched. Not very convenient for some things... seems like there should be a crunch to/from disk option. > weeks. BTW. My system is floppy based, I'm not sure what speed results > one would get with a hard disk, etc. I have selected commands in a c2 > directory that I copy to RAD: in my startup-sequence (that way I just do > a copy all and save time). You can really save a lot of time by making an ARChive of all those commands and then PKAX'ing it into RAD in the background. (I.E.: make an archive CSTUFF.ARC. At the beginning of your startup sequence do COPY CSTUFF.ARC RAD: then CD RAD: then RUNBACK PKAX RAM:CSTUFF.ARC and then delete the stuff at the end of your ss. Or something like that. That's what I did; my startup sequence including about 30 CLI commands, FastFonts, PopCLI, ConMan, and Browser takes less than 40 seconds). > Cheers and thanks again for another UseNet goody, Dave > > CMSgt David K. Detert MILNet: detert<at>lognet2.af.mil -- James A. Treworgy jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu jtreworgy%eagle@WESLEYAN.BITNET
kudla@pawl.rpi.edu (Robert J. Kudla) (08/16/89)
Has anyone seen the source for this program, or should I be paranoid and assume it's a virus hazard? It works in a manner similar to a virus..... -- Robert Jude Kudla <kudla@pawl.rpi.edu> <kudla@acm.rpi.edu> <fw3s@RPITSMTS> Pi-Rho America \\ /// Disclaimer: You know what I meant. 2346 15th St. \\ /// Troy, NY 12180 /X\ \\\/// keywords: mike oldfield yes u2 r.e.m. new order (518)271-8624 // \\ \XX/ steely dan f.g.t.h. kate bush .....and even Rush
jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu (08/16/89)
In article <6788@rpi.edu>, kudla@pawl.rpi.edu (Robert J. Kudla) writes: > Has anyone seen the source for this program, or should I be paranoid > and assume it's a virus hazard? It works in a manner similar to a > virus..... I don't think that anyone would go to that much trouble to produce a polished program just to have it tack a virus onto everything it touches. (Anyway I've use it since about 6 months ago and nothing has happened). If you're worried, just keep backups. -- James A. Treworgy jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu jtreworgy%eagle@WESLEYAN.BITNET
jeff@cpoint.UUCP (Jeffrey J. Griglack) (08/16/89)
Can anybody tell me where to get this? Is is Public Domain or
Shareware? If so, please do not give me an FTP address, I do not have
that capability (mailing it to me would be greatly appreciated, though).
What are the implications of using it on a comercial product? I have
not followed this conversation from the start, but I assume that, if
it has packed itself, that anything packed with it does not need to be
unpacked. Please respond by email.
Thanks,
Jeff
--
=============================================================================
Jeff Griglack
{decvax, cybbax0, mirror}!frog!cpoint!jeff
=============================================================================kudla@pawl.rpi.edu (Robert J. Kudla) (08/17/89)
In article <2515@cpoint.UUCP> jeff@cpoint.UUCP (Jeffrey J. Griglack) writes:
What are the implications of using it on a comercial product?
Presumably you'd have to give the author a cut of the profits or
whatever. Certainly you just can't take and use it without giving him
some sort of credit.
Though I did see a program that worked *remarkably* similar to this
one (well, not the program, but its results) on a German pirate
(shhh!) utilities disk that virtually flew across my desk last year or
so.... That was why I thought maybe it might have a virus on it, but
now I see it wasn't done by someone with an overly clever name and I
can probably trust it.
--
Robert Jude Kudla <kudla@pawl.rpi.edu> <kudla@acm.rpi.edu> <fw3s@RPITSMTS>
Pi-Rho America \\ /// Un-PC quote: Piracy is amoral; pirates who
2346 15th St. \\ /// stop because they write code are hypocrites.
Troy, NY 12180 /X\ \\\/// keywords: mike oldfield yes u2 r.e.m. new order
(518)271-8624 // \\ \XX/ steely dan f.g.t.h. kate bush .....and even RushUH2@PSUVM.BITNET (Lee Sailer) (09/19/89)
I have hit two "incompatibilities" so far. One, after packing, my copy of REVERSI vistis the guru. (It's the Reversi that insults you while you play, "You're losing. Try harder.") Also, tho' packing Word Perfect seems to be OK, packing Print causes the machine to crash. I'm running a 512K 1000 with ARP 1.3 and Dmouse 1.20. Just thought people might be interested. I'm gonna send in my ten bucks, so maybe it'll get fixed.