dmak@lynx.northeastern.EDU (07/14/88)
Does anyone own SHADOW (by Double Click Software, dist. by Antic Software),
the background file xfer desk accessory program yet?
I just recently bought it to effectively replace the one offered in Interlink
because of problems with that implementation. Shadow is actually usable
(in contrast to Interlink with slows the system down and has problems with
keyboard buffering). It's fast, reliable, and easy to use.
The problem I have is that for some reason, I can't install it on my
autoboot hard drive. When I perform the steps as listed in the manual,
and try booting the system, it just goes into an endless series of
reboots after the "Shadow initializing..." text comes on.
I believe the problem is in where SHADOW expects to find either
DESKTOP.INF or SHADOW.INF (in auto folder). My guess is it always assumes
either file would be on drive A. Kind of an inconvienence for me.
Any help from Paul Lee or Micheal Vederman (the developers)
would be greatly appreciated!
(I saw their announcement concerning support thru mail, but had difficulty
getting their address... as I am fairly new to this world of netting.)
Dave Mak
Again, no affil. w/ Antic/Double Click/the World.Chris_Tuttle@rubbs1.UUCP (Chris Tuttle) (07/28/88)
Well I find Shadow useless anyway.Mostly because you need more then a meg for real use of the program.If you download more then your buffer takes,TOO BAD IT ABORTS THE WHOLE THING! and most of my files are more then 400k which is the most memory I can handle on my 1-meg 520.But Shadow first says its initializing then sorta crashes and say that shadow is installed most likely SHADOW.INF isn't installed on the MAIN directory of your current drive(Mines drive C: because I boot from Hard Drive)
uace0@uhnix2.uh.edu (Michael B. Vederman) (07/29/88)
In article <1.22EEA4B4@rubbs1.UUCP> Chris_Tuttle@rubbs1.UUCP (Chris Tuttle) writes: > > Well I find Shadow useless anyway.Mostly because you need more then a meg for real use of the program.If you download more then your buffer takes,TOO BAD IT ABORTS THE WHOLE THING! and most of my files are more then 400k which is the most memory I can handle on my 1-meg 520.But Shadow first says its initializing then sorta crashes and say that shadow is installed most likely SHADOW.INF isn't installed on the MAIN directory of your current drive(Mines drive C: because I boot from Hard Drive) Dear Chris: Plz read your manual. SHADOW does not crash, but performs a cold boot in order to setup the reset-proof transfer area. This is necessary to allow SHADOW to continue up/downloading even after you press the RESET button, switch monitors, or change rezs. Not having SHADOW.INF on the root level makes no difference what-so-ever to SHADOW. SHADOW has built-in defaults to overcome such deficiencies. In addition, you can have a desktop icon for SHADOW (in place of SHADOW.INF). I agree that SHADOW will put the pinch on 520K systems, because of the need to have the file transfer buffer. However, in order to allow SHADOW to run during any program (.tos, .ttp, or .prg) means that you must have some place to save your data because you can not easily perform disk I/O on the interrupt level. If you are familiar with Interlink's 'background' file transfers, then you know the limitations of virtual spooling to disk, ie. you can only use GEM programs while up/downloading, and when it accesses the disk (via the desk accessory) the system halts completely. Interlink's next version will allow background transfers during all programs (supposedly) and will use a concept similar to ours, ie. a buffer to hold the largest expected file. In order for us to provide virtual file spooling to disk, we would have to rewrite ALL disk drivers to be re-entrant, and provide for a method of collision avoidance when the foreground program wants the disk, but the interrupt program (SHADOW) is using the disk (or vice-versa). We are working on disk I/O during interrupts, but TOS is not the best to patch up in this area. And thinking of all possible scenarios is quite a challenge, especially when dealing with interrupt level programming. Sorry if I sound like I am flaming, but we HAVE (despite some beliefs) put much time, thought, design, and sweat into SHADOW. BTW - I hate seeing the replies before the real message.. damn usenet BTW-BTW - For all you SHADOW owners, look for a patch program posted here this weekend (upgrades to 1.01) - Mike -- for (;;) : Use ATARINET, send an interactive do_it(c_programmers); : message such as: : Tell UH-INFO at UHUPVM1 ATARINET HELP University Atari Computer Enthusiasts : University of Houston UACE