[comp.sys.amiga] Loading Workbench from the Hard Drive

mph@rover.UUCP (Mark Huth) (06/25/88)

Okay, I know that this has been answered before, but what is the magic
sequence required to boot a hard drive system and load Workbench from
the hard drive?  What I want to do is have the floppy sequence be as
short as possible.  Currently, the startup-sequence on df0: is:

system/FastMemFirst
BindDrivers
execute dh2:s/startup-sequence


dh2:s/startup-sequence:

cd dh2:
execute dh2:s/startup-assigns
setmap usa1
dmouse
rslclock
Loadwb
shell from s:shell-startup


The startup-assigns assigns sys: to dh2: and all the rest of the
logical devices found when a floppy Workbench boot has the assign
command execute (ie, c: s: l: devs: fonts:, etc.).  Also, the
startup-assigns file sets the path to include current directory,
sys:system, sys:utilities, ram:, and sys:.

When the script gets to the loadwb command I get a requestor telling
me that the disk isn't validated yet, and of course, the disk
validator is running (for about 10 -15 minutes - 40 meg disk).  After
the validator finishes, workbench loads and the script completes.

How do I get this script to work without having the validator hold
things up forever.  It doesn't happen if I just boot the cli and
shell, or if the loadwb command is located before all the assigns to
the hard disk (ie it is loaded from the boot floppy.)

Thanks,

Mark Huth

rss@ece-csc.UUCP (ML) (06/25/88)

In a previous article mph@rover.UUCP (Mark Huth) wrote:
>Okay, I know that this has been answered before, but what is the magic
>sequence required to boot a hard drive system and load Workbench from
>the hard drive?  What I want to do is have the floppy sequence be as
>short as possible....
...
>When the script gets to the loadwb command I get a requestor telling
>me that the disk isn't validated yet, and of course, the disk
>validator is running (for about 10 -15 minutes - 40 meg disk).  After
>the validator finishes, workbench loads and the script completes.
>
>How do I get this script to work without having the validator hold
>things up forever.  It doesn't happen if I just boot the cli and
>shell, or if the loadwb command is located before all the assigns to
>the hard disk (ie it is loaded from the boot floppy.)


As I understand it, the guilty culprit here is the "execute" command
which is writing a temporary file on your hard drive which is eventually
the cause of the tremendous delays incurred by the disk validator
when you issue the LoadWB command.  Rather than using "execute";
do a "NewCli FROM file".   Here's my startup sequence from df0:s

************************* cut here ****************************************
Wait 5				; Allow hard drive to come up to speed
Mount DH0:			; Bring it online
Assign LIBS: DH0:Libs		; Assignments to LIBS and L are so that
Assign L:    DH0:L		; I can run the ARP commands on DH0.
Assign DEVS: DH0:Devs		; To get at MountList before using ConMan
Assign C:    DH0:C
ConMan > NIL: -w
NewWsh "CON:0/10/640/190/Master Wshell/c" From DH0:S/BootSequence
EndCli > NIL:
************************* snip snip ***************************************

The initial "Wait 5" I put there because sometimes I found the "Mount"
command would fail when I first turned on the machine, apparently 
because the drive wasn't ready yet.  The initial ASSIGN statements (except
perhaps C: to DH0:C) aren't necessary if you are running your machine
with standard Amiga commands; they're only there in my sequence because
(a) I have the ARP commands installed on my hard drive, and they need
a run-time library in LIBS:, and (b) I use ConMan, which has a handler
in L:, plus an entry in DEVS:MountList.

Of course, like you, the bulk of my startup stuff is on the hard drive
(in DH0:S/Bootsequence), where I do all the usual sorts of things 
(load AREXX, AmiCron, DMouse [love that Dmouse!], CD DH0:, LoadWB, etc) 
and all works quickly.

Hope this helps,

      Mark Lanzo
thru  ..mcnc!ece-csc!rss

rodger@hpdml93.HP.COM (rodger anderson) (06/29/88)

>/ hpdml93:comp.sys.amiga / mph@rover.UUCP (Mark Huth) / 11:04 am  Jun 24, 1988 /
>Okay, I know that this has been answered before, but what is the magic
>sequence required to boot a hard drive system and load Workbench from
>the hard drive?  What I want to do is have the floppy sequence be as
>short as possible.  Currently, the startup-sequence on df0: is:

>system/FastMemFirst
>BindDrivers
cd ram: ; You need this here for the execute command.
>execute dh2:s/startup-sequence


>dh2:s/startup-sequence:

>cd dh2:
^^^^^^^ take this out, stay in ram.
>execute dh2:s/startup-assigns
>setmap usa1
>dmouse
>rslclock
>Loadwb
>shell from s:shell-startup

When you use the dos execute command, it creates a file in :T called
command-<something>.  If this is is on the floppy, it slows things
down as the script is read from the floppy.  If this is from the
hard disk, you may have the problems you describe.

>When the script gets to the loadwb command I get a requestor telling
>me that the disk isn't validated yet, and of course, the disk
>validator is running (for about 10 -15 minutes - 40 meg disk).  After
>the validator finishes, workbench loads and the script completes.

>How do I get this script to work without having the validator hold
>things up forever.  It doesn't happen if I just boot the cli and
>shell, or if the loadwb command is located before all the assigns to
>the hard disk (ie it is loaded from the boot floppy.)
I have heard you can also use newcli instead of execute, and eliminate
the creation of a temporary file, but I haven't tried this yet.

>Thanks,
Your welcome.

>Mark Huth
>----------
-- 
Rodger Anderson (rodger@hpdml93)

mlelstv@faui44.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Michael van Elst ) (06/29/88)

In article <782@rover.UUCP> mph@rover.UUCP (Mark Huth) writes:
>.
>.
>When the script gets to the loadwb command I get a requestor telling
>me that the disk isn't validated yet, and of course, the disk
>validator is running (for about 10 -15 minutes - 40 meg disk).  After
>the validator finishes, workbench loads and the script completes.
>
>How do I get this script to work without having the validator hold
>things up forever.  It doesn't happen if I just boot the cli and
>shell, or if the loadwb command is located before all the assigns to
>the hard disk (ie it is loaded from the boot floppy.)
>
>Thanks,
>
>Mark Huth

I got the same problems when I tried to use a startup-sequence similar
to this:

>>  Mount DH0:
>>  DH0:c/Execute DH0:s/startup-sequence

The problem is that in order to run a nested script an intermediate file
'Command-T-n' is generated in the :T directory. When the script execution
reaches a LoadWB the workbench program sends (ACTION_INHIBIT) to all
filesystem tasks.

Thus, a filesystem that has been written to cannot update its rootblock,
i.e. it is not validated.

The first solution is to use RAM: as the directory for the intermediate file.
Disadvatage: the Ram-Handler has to be loaded from disk.

The second solution (I have used for 3 months) is to
>>   DH0:c/RUN DH0:c/Execute DH0:s/startup-sequence
Disadvantage: the second CLI Task cannot accept any input.

The third solution (and the best one):
Wait for the rootblock to get updated before you start Workbench.

This requires a 'WAIT 3' in your second startup-sequence (that one on
your harddisk). If you have more drives you may have to increase
the time you wait.

--
Michael van Elst

E-mail: UUCP: ...seismo!unido!fauern!faui10!mlelstv
E-mail: UUCP: ...uunet!unido!fauern!faui10!mlelstv	<- when seismo ceases
							   operation

mph@rover.UUCP (Mark Huth) (07/06/88)

In article <3673@ece-csc.UUCP> rss@ece-csc.UUCP (ML) writes:
>In a previous article mph@rover.UUCP (Mark Huth) wrote:
>...
>>When the script gets to the loadwb command I get a requestor telling
>>me that the disk isn't validated yet, and of course, the disk
>
>As I understand it, the guilty culprit here is the "execute" command
>which is writing a temporary file on your hard drive which is eventually

Thanks, Mark Lanzo

I have actually been told that a WAIT 5 after the execute of the hd
startup sequence would fix the problem.  It does.  I've simply added
WAIT 5 between Execute and LoadWb.  This cures the validator problem.

Mark Huth