mason@hillst.dec.com (Explaining is not understanding) (11/19/87)
I run a 512KE with 2MB of memory and a PCPC MacBottom 20 serial disk. I have installed 4.2/6.0, and after much finagling, discovered the right combination of system/finder on the startup disk and the HD. I queried PCPC about futures, and they indicated that an upgrade to their software (2.9) was not likely. They stated that the combination I found would work, but was not the best. My combo is 3.2/5.3 on floppy, 4.2/6.0 on HD. This was the only combination I found which would boot properly, and allow the use of Suitcase (with Suitcase in the system folder on the floppy, and in the root on the HD as per Steve Brecher). What they also said was that I might encounter "some problems" with various pieces of software. They conceded that any failures would be hard (crashes, not insidious corruptions), but they could not be more specific as to other problems or problematical software. I have already found that the FadeToBlack DA won't work right. That got me to thinking (no mean feat). There must be others out there running the serial disk. If so, why don't we pool our experiences with incompatible software. I will collect and post periodically if you want to mail to me. BTW - my understanding of the mechanism of floppy boot and transfer to HD could be better. A detailed explanation would be useful. For example, PCPC indicated that "...some of the software from the floppy will remain in memory after the HD takes over...", and "...the Control Panel and Keycaps DAs won't work right..." the way I have my system set up. Well, they seem to work fine (Control Panel supposedly won't show you the keyboard or mouse options - mine seems normal. I haven't tried Keycaps yet). They also seem to think that Multifinder won't do well with their software, but so far so good for me. I am not prepared to purchase my "baby II" or "modular SE" and 80MB hard drive yet, so I have to make do with this setup. If you are in the same boat, let me know, and maybe we can do ourselves a favor. Thanks, Gary "My personal thoughts only, and only SOME of those."