rbw@lanl.UUCP (01/29/87)
Thanks to Perry for the ASDG-RAM disk software. This has been on my most-needed list for some time. I think it downloaded here correctly, but I am having trouble getting it to work consistently. As soon as I get my problem fixed, the $10 is yours. I cannot get the ASDG-RAM to consistently survive voluntary reboots. I do not know if it will survive a guru or a hung machine for me. I am running V1.2 KickStart and WB (33.47) with 512K chip and 2M fast (Pacific Cypress) memory. I have set HighCyl=(anything odd from 63 to 241). All the proper files seem to be in the proper places, or it would never work. My Startup-Sequence file begins with (a) or (b) MOUNT VD0: MOUNT VD0: CD VD0: CD VD0: INFO WAIT 4 SECS INFO The remainder of the startup-sequence creates vd0:c and copies c: to it, followed by the usual kinds of Workbench things. When the disk survives, info shows data in the disk from the past; when the disk fails to survive, in case (a) above, info says the disk is being validated, and in case (b) above, it says that the disk exists (empty) with 2K of data stored in it. The inconsistent survivability of the disk seems to be independent of the exact command used on line 2 of the startup-sequence; I have tried CD VD0:, DIR > NIL: VD0:, and IF EXISTS VD0:C, in addition to others. Survivability seems to be independent of the size of the disk, from 63 to 241 cylinders. It seems to be independent of the size of the Startup-Sequence file (< or > than 512 bytes). As a test, I often reboot immediately after completing a boot sequence. I have no reason to expect that the data in the ram disk has been corrupted prior to rebooting, so I assume something in the startup activity must be trashing some critical locations in fast ram. Is this possible? If so, can I do anythingnything to prevent it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Bob Walker (rbw%a@lanl.arpa) Group T-12 Los Alamos National Laboratory
perry@well.UUCP (01/31/87)
In article <12068@lanl.ARPA>, rbw@lanl.ARPA (Bob Walker) writes: > Thanks to Perry for the ASDG-RAM disk software. This has been on my > most-needed list for some time. I think it downloaded here correctly, > but I am having trouble getting it to work consistently. As soon as > I get my problem fixed, the $10 is yours. > > I cannot get the ASDG-RAM to consistently survive voluntary reboots. > I do not know if it will survive a guru or a hung machine for me. I > am running V1.2 KickStart and WB (33.47) with 512K chip and 2M fast > (Pacific Cypress) memory. I have set HighCyl=(anything odd from 63 > to 241). All the proper files seem to be in the proper places, or it > would never work. My Startup-Sequence file begins with I think the subject line by Bob is uncalled for. (1) The ASDG Recoverable Ram Disk has been in use for over four months by all ASDG customers. This is a commercial quality product not some crock posted for a quick buck. If thirty people already posted comments praising how well the usenet version works, how can some people claim ``the asdg ram disk doesn't work''? Please check that you have downloaded the code properly using binary file transfer protocols if you uudecode on a unix machine before downloading. Please adhere to the guidelines on how to install the ram disk. They are there for a reason. (2) Bob, call Pacific Cypress and ask them if they continue to refresh their ram when the Amiga is reset, or if any spikes occur on their board during resets. I suspect this is your problem. Anyone else with Pacific Cypress products experience these troubles? What might be happening is if the Pacific Cypress board does not refresh the dram array when rests occur, the bits are simply dribbling away during some resets and not during others (some reset sequences might last longer than others). Or, maybe the Pacific Cypress board may act irrationally during re- sets (some chips coming up in undefined states). Or Bob, maybe you could go into more detail (in private email) about what you're doing? Perry S. Kivolowitz ASDG Incorporated