esker@abaa.uucp (Lawrence Esker) (08/01/89)
I am posting this for my brother who does not have access to the net. He
has been having persistent problems with data integrity on 'JLink' virtual
drives in the IBM side of the bridgeboard. (This a a re-post from two weeks
ago, it apparently did not get through since not a whisper of reply did I
receive, not emailed nor posted.)
Problem Description:
It seems that when my brother writes some ibm [insignificant machine gets
small letters :-)] data to an established sub-directory then go off and do
other operations, the directory keys can get screwed up. The current data
files and some of the previous files are inaccessible on his next use of the
machine. Many times the entire sub-directory can get lost. The problem may
not show up for weeks at a time and he can not localize the data loss to any
specific sequence of operation. If a user can't depend on the reliability
of disk storage, the (ibm virtual drive) system becomes useless. Does
anyone share this problem. Can anyone help?
Since attempting to resolve the problem, I have encountered an article on
the bridgeboard in "Compute's Amiga Resource". It said you must always
unlink the virtual drive before closing the ibm window or turning off the
machine (nothing about ibm or Amiga reboot.) This doesn't help for the ever
popular ibm hang-up condition needing a Ctrl-Alt_Del.
Anyway, why does it matter if virtual drives are unlinked? The Amiga PCdisk
server should do automatic writes of pending data after the ~0.5 sec
timeout. Similar to doing a floppy or A2090A HD write and watching the
disk access ~0.5 secs after all is finished. If its the responsibilty of
the hard disk device to get data written out, then maybe this is a bug with
his GVP hard disk system. We don't have a clue.
This raises another question I had no answer for. Why is a virtual drive on
the ibm a single Amiga file. A significant reliability issue IMHO. A
single problem can destroy a whole (ibm) disk and DiskDoctor can't help.
Also makes Amiga backups a b*#%ch. My brother is now using an ibm
equivalent to DiskDoctor (chkdsk) and Backup, but he still loses important
data once in a while.
Is there a way to force PCdisk to complete pending writes once the ibm has
crashed, before rebooting it and remounting the virtual drives? Maybe
executing PCdisk a second time?
Other Possible Bugs:
The command AREAD does not seem to transfer data between an Amiga file and a
virtual drive. It just sits and loops forever. Is this a real bug? Since
both source and destination go through JLink and PCdisk simultaneously, I
can see possible interaction problems. It would be nice if there was an
Amiga utility that could understand, extract, or insert data directly into
the Amiga file of the ibm virtual drive.
Another apparent bug in JLink. If the bridgeboard is started up, JLink
used, and the ibm is rebooted for whatever reason, then going back to the
Amiga windows via A-N & A-M or exiting the ibm causes all the windows there
to be in a strange character set. Including the CLI with the ibm started via
workbench. This only occurs if JLink was used during the first boot.
My Brother's System:
Amiga 2000 B, v4.4 or later. (Mine is v4.4, purchased before his).
Amiga 2088 BridgeBoard. (I don't have one, so I can't help much).
GVP Impact 40, 40 meg hard disk.
Normal 1/2 Meg Chip, 1/2 Meg Semi-Fast, no SuperFatAgnus.
No IBM peripherals.
Virtual drive c: is system files.
Virtual drive d: is his personal files.
Virtual drive e: is his wife's WordStar Psychology term papers.
I think you can see the reason for needing a puke ibm along with his Amiga
and the urgency for more reliable data storage.
(flame on)
His dealer, Systems Plus at Kenrick Plaza St. Louis, has been totally
useless. They also have a habit of charging for every visit just to say "We
can't find any problem and we're charging $100 to swap the bridgeboard."
They also told him that Amiga said dealers could NOT copy the 2286 software
onto his 2088 disk due to difference in documentation despite being informed
of Paul H.'s post on the net encouraging it. My brother intentionally went
to a dealer instead of (my suggestion) of mail order for the support he is
not getting now.
(flame off)
Amiga Customer Support in NJ offered no help either. To quote; "The lady
sounded like a secretary who just looks up keywords in a database. I must
not have said the right words because she couldn't find anything related to
my problem." We're hoping that the Amiga engineers, marketeers, or hackers
(ie. experts) here on the net can help.
--
---------- Lawrence W. Esker ---------- ^k i /From: flamer@name/j <ESC> :wq
\ * * * ******* /
\ * * * * * / Sr. Hardware/ASIC Design Engineer
\ * * * * * ***** / Allen-Bradley Communications Div.
\ * * * * * * / Phone: (313)668-2500 (313)973-8561
\ ******* * * ******* / Compuserve: ?????-????
----------------------------- (A new job for LWE, please!)
UseNet Smart: esker@abaa.uucp or abaa!esker@itivax.iti.org
UseNet Other: __!uunet!mimsy!rutgers!citi!itivax!abaa!esker
Nothing left to do but :-) :-) :-)higgin@cbmvax.UUCP (Paul Higginbottom) (08/02/89)
In article <626@uranus.UUCP> esker@abaa.UUCP (Lawrence Esker) writes:
$...having persistent problems with data integrity on 'JLink' virtual
$drives in the IBM side of the bridgeboard.
$Problem Description:
$It seems that when my brother writes some ibm [insignificant machine gets
$small letters :-)] data to an established sub-directory then go off and do
$other operations, the directory keys can get screwed up. The current data
$files and some of the previous files are inaccessible on his next use of the
$machine. Many times the entire sub-directory can get lost. The problem may
$not show up for weeks at a time and he can not localize the data loss to any
$specific sequence of operation. If a user can't depend on the reliability
$of disk storage, the (ibm virtual drive) system becomes useless. Does
$anyone share this problem. Can anyone help?
Yes. The JLINK software creates a virtual drive file that must grow
if new data added requires it (i.e., there's no more room with the file
at its current size). When this occurs, the JANUS software has to open
the virtual drive file and append the new data. THE FILE ONLY GETS CLOSED
IF YOU DO AN UNLINK!!! The problem may therefore not exhibit itself if
new data was added but the virtual drive file didn't have to grow (there
was still room left in it due to your deleting some other stuff perhaps).
One fix: add tons of dummy stuff to the virtual drive, then delete it all
then unlink it. From that point forth the virtual drive should not be
required to grow since it's already huge.
Another fix: using the new JANUS 2.0 software, you can create a [bootable]
DOS drive space on the Amiga hard drive that looks like, smells like [etc.]
a real PC hard drive as far as MS-DOS is concerned. You even specify
cylinders, heads, etc. for the new MakeAB command that creates the space.
This solution does not require the first fix.
$... Why is a virtual drive on
$the ibm a single Amiga file. A significant reliability issue IMHO. A
$single problem can destroy a whole (ibm) disk and DiskDoctor can't help.
The manual recommends that you have a separate partition for the PC
data, to prevent accidental removal of the file, etc. However, most people
have no problem with just allowing it to coexist with other stuff.
$Is there a way to force PCdisk to complete pending writes once the ibm has
$crashed, before rebooting it and remounting the virtual drives? Maybe
$executing PCdisk a second time?
No - I recommend you use the new software.
$Other Possible Bugs:
$The command AREAD does not seem to transfer data between an Amiga file and a
$virtual drive.
Problems with AREAD/AWRITE have been fixed for the new 2.0 software (they
were re-written).
$(flame on)
$His dealer, Systems Plus at Kenrick Plaza St. Louis, has been totally
$useless. They also have a habit of charging for every visit just to say "We
$can't find any problem and we're charging $100 to swap the bridgeboard."
$They also told him that Amiga said dealers could NOT copy the 2286 software
$onto his 2088 disk due to difference in documentation despite being informed
$of Paul H.'s post on the net encouraging it. My brother intentionally went
$to a dealer instead of (my suggestion) of mail order for the support he is
$not getting now.
$(flame off)
Thank you for this feedback - I will look into it.
I hope this helps,
Paul.