Archive-name: apple2/doscmd
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: February 8 1998
Version: 1.03
URL: http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/dos.html
Apple II DOS & Commands FAQ
This document attempts to give a detailed and correct set of Apple II
DOS command line commands, covering those found in official releases
of DOS 3.3 and ProDOS. It may also get into usage notes, non-command
line OSs (GS/OS), etc, eventually.
Copyright (c) 1997 by Nathan Mates (email: nathan@visi.com), all
rights reserved. This document can be freely copied so long as 1) it
is not sold, 2) any sections reposted elsewhere from it are credited
back to this FAQ with the FAQ's copyright info and official WWW
location (http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/dos.html) left in place.
This FAQ may not be sold, bundled on disks or CD-ROMs, reprinted in
magazines, books, periodicals, or the like without prior consent from
the author and copyright holder, Nathan Mates. Exceptions are
explicitly granted for Joe Kohn's Shareware Solutions II newsletter,
and Jim Maricondo's Golden Orchard CD-ROM collection. Email me for
permission otherwise.
Further, please do NOT make a copy of this FAQ and post it on the web;
I'm continually updating and fixing sections of it. A html link is
fine.
Disclaimer: I've tried to make this FAQ as accurate as possible, but
there's the chance that it's not perfect. I apologize in advance for
any slipups. Until I am confident that all information is 100%
accurate, you are advised that you are following all info at your own
risk. I will fix any problems found with this FAQ, but will not be
held liable for the results of problems.
Last-modified: February 8, 1998
Version: 1.03
Table of Contents
Section 1: General Intro to this FAQ and the command line environment
Section 2: History and features of DOS 3.x and ProDOS
2.1 History of DOS 3.x and ProDOS
2.2 Features of DOS 3.x
2.3 Features of ProDOS
Section 3: Commands quick reference
A listing of all commands, one per line, to facilitate finding
the appropriate commands.
Section 4: In depth explanation of commands, optional params
4.1 DOS 3.x file names and types
4.2 ProDOS file names and types
4.3 Extended command line parameters for DOS 3.x commands
4.4 Extended command line parameters for ProDOS commands
4.5 Detailed explanation of commands: -, APPEND, BLOAD, BSAVE,
BRUN, BYE, CAT, CATALOG, CHAIN, CLOSE, CREATE, DELETE, EXEC,
FLUSH, FP, FRE, IN#, INIT, INT, LOAD, LOCK, MAXFILES, MON, MTR,
NOMON, OPEN, POSITION, PR#, PREFIX, READ, RENAME, RESTORE, RUN,
SAVE, STORE, UNLOCK, VERIFY, WRITE
Section 5: Miscellaneous questions and answers
5.1: Which OS am I in?
5.2: How do I format a disk?
5.3: How do I copy/move files/disks?
5.4: Can I put DOS 3.x on my hard disk?
5.5: Can I speed up DOS 3.3 or ProDOS?
5.6: What about file/disk undeletion?
5.7: How do I view a text file?
5.8: What does "UNABLE TO LOAD PRODOS" mean when I boot a disk?
5.9: How do I switch drives/disks?
5.10: I don't have an OS for my Apple II. Where do I get it
from?
_________________________________________________________________
Section 1: General Intro to this FAQ and the command line environment
This FAQ attempts to be a reference for the commands supported by DOS
3.x (x=2, 2.1, or 3) and ProDOS at the command line level, as well as
general usability issues. It does not cover where to acquire a copy
and/or upgrade to any version of any OS; you should visit the
comp.sys.apple2 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html section 7.2 and other
referenced sections.
Note that ProDOS does not have any command line support in the base
OS; all command line functionality is part of the Applesoft BASIC
environment provided by launching the 'BASIC.SYSTEM' 'System' file.
Without BASIC.SYSTEM, ProDOS only has a Machine Language Interface
(MLI) for interfacing with apps; during the rest of this FAQ, I have
been lazy in referring to things as 'ProDOS' commands when they are
ProDOS's BASIC.SYSTEM commands.
Applesoft BASIC commands are not included in this FAQ; they have a FAQ
of their own at http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html.
This FAQ has a set of conventions as to items presented. Items
presented in square brackets '[' ']' are optional. 'filename' is a
legal filename for the OS being used, and for ProDOS, 'dirname' is a
legal directory/path name, 'volname' is a ProDOS volume name. I list
all commands in uppercase; DOS 3.x is case sensitive and commands must
be uppercased. ProDOS is case insensitive, but for consistency,
commands are still uppercased.
_________________________________________________________________
Section 2: History and features of DOS 3.x and ProDOS
2.1 History of DOS 3.x and ProDOS
Apple's DOS (Disk Operating System) was written to support their Disk
][ drive when it debuted in early 1978. Version numbers for software
were not as strict as they are now; the code started at v0.1, and
incremented that by 0.1 per revision. When delivered to Apple, it was
at version 3.0, and after Apple was done with their last
modifications, v3.1 was the first version shipped. As the disk drive
was single sided, all support for Apple 5.25" disks has been
singlesided only.
With various bugfixes, DOS was at version 3.2.1 by 1979. These early
releases supported only 13 sectors/track * 35 tracks for a total of
113.75K per disk side. With technological improvements to the disk
interface card, 16 sectors could be fit in, for a total of 140K/side.
DOS 3.3 was the revision capable of handling these 140K disks, and was
released in 1980.
ProDOS was comissioned to be the 'Professional Disk Operating System',
abbreviated 'ProDOS', and was first part of the Apple III's
'Sophisticated Operating System' (SOS, for an unfortunate acronym
related to the general state of the Apple III). ProDOS was designed to
be a replacement for DOS 3.3, and added many features not part of
original DOS 3.3 such as support for disks other than the 5.25" drive,
as well as directories and timestamping of files. A number of people
have continued to use DOS 3.3 for various reasons, though ProDOS and
various GS versions of it (ProDOS 16 and GS/OS) have become much more
popular among Apple IIGS owners, as well as HD users.
2.2 Features of DOS 3.x
DOS 3.x as released from Apple supports only the 113.75 and 140K 5.25"
disk formats. It supports up to 105 files per side, no directory
support, with very loose rules on filenames. It was initially bundled
with Apple's disk ][ drives, so it won a lot of support for being free
and usable. Since 1980, DOS 3.3's 140K per 5.25" side has become the
reigning standard for the DOS 3.x versions. DOS 3.x 'System Master'
disks could boot and run on any machine with at least 16K of memory
(though 24-32K was rather recommended)
It did have a number of unsuccessful patches to fix a problem with the
APPEND command not properly finding the end of a file before beginning
to write; I know of no 100% fixes for that bug.
Due to some double-buffering while reading and decoding files off
disks, DOS 3.x was not as fast as it could be. A few companies sold
modified versions of DOS 3.3 to avoid the extra copy and thus
dramatically speed up disk access; Beagle Bros's ProntoDOS and many
others were widespread. DOS 3.3 could also be modified to do other
things, such as use a few more tracks on disk for extra space,
relocate itself into the top 16K of memory on a 64K machine, but
again, these were all third party patches, nothing official from
Apple. Some of these patches and features came at the expense of the
INIT command.
2.3 Features of ProDOS
ProDOS allowed directories to be created and files stored in them,
time/date stamping of files, and support for disks other than the
original Disk ][ drive-- up to 32MB per disk volume (partition). It
did go with far more restrictive filenames (possibly as an attempt to
move 'towards' MS-DOS), and case insensitive filenames at the cost of
everything appearing in uppercase.
Apart from the very earliest versions, ProDOS has required a 64K Apple
II. When the Apple IIGS came out, the need for a 16-bit OS was
apparent, so with a quick wrapper around ProDOS, 'ProDOS 16' was
created, turning the existing ProDOS to 'ProDOS 8'. Versions 2.x of
ProDOS 8 require an enhanced //e, //c, IIc+ or GS.
ProDOS incorporates most to all of the disk read speedups provided by
DOS 3.3 third party enhancements, so it does not need to be patched to
sped up.
ProDOS also has the ability to not reside on a disk when first
formatted (at obvious disk space savings), but be copied on later and
the disk will be bootable if copied correctly to the root directory as
well as an application to run at boot. Similar functionality could be
gained in DOS 3.x by using certain utility programs, but is not
standard.
ProDOS's 'BASIC.SYSTEM' commandline functionality gained a few
features over DOS 3.3, such as support for typing commands in
lowercase. A few lesser-used commands were removed, most notably the
ability to switch to 'Integer Basic', as well as disk formatting.
_________________________________________________________________
Section 3: Commands quick reference
A listing of all commands, one per line, to facilitate finding the
appropriate commands. Only the required part of each command is shown
here; optional parts are detailed in the sections on DOS 3.x optional
params and ProDOS optional params.
Commands common to both DOS 3.x and ProDOS:
CATALOG Shows a directory listing. [ProDOS: see also cat]
LOAD filename Loads a Applesoft BASIC program.
SAVE filename Saves a Applesoft BASIC program.
RUN filename Loads and runs a Applesoft BASIC program.
BLOAD filename Loads a binary file.
BSAVE filename,Aaddr,Llen Saves a binary file.
BRUN filename Loads and executes a binary file
OPEN filename Opens a text file. For BASIC programs only.
CLOSE [filename] Closes specified (or all) open text files.
READ filename Reads from a text file. For BASIC programs only.
WRITE filename Writes to a text file. For BASIC programs only.
APPEND filename Appends to a text file. For BASIC programs only.
POSITION filename Sets position in text file. For BASIC programs only
.
EXEC filename 'Executes' a text file, as if every line was typed.
DELETE filename Attempts to remove a file from disk
LOCK filenname Quick file protect from change or deletion
UNLOCK filenname Undoes a LOCK
RENAME file1,file2 Renames 'file1' to 'file2'
IN#slotnum Redirects input from the specified slot
PR#slotnum Redirects output to the specified slot
VERIFY filename Checks existence, DOS 3.3 checks if is readable
DOS 3.x only commands:
INIT filename Formats disk, current BASIC program saved as boot app.
MON [,C][,I][,O] Traces DOS 3.3 commands
NOMON [,C][,I][,O] Cancels tracing of DOS 3.3 commands
MAXFILES n Reserves buffers for disk i/o
FP Switches to Applesoft BASIC, erases program in memory
INT Switches to Integer BASIC, erases program in memory
ProDOS's BASIC.SYSTEM only commands:
CAT 40-column directory listing.
PREFIX [dirname] Displays current directory or changes current dir.
CREATE filename Creates a file with optional type
- filename Executes Applesoft, binary, text, system file
BYE Exits to ProDOS application switcher
FLUSH Writes all buffers to disk
CHAIN filename Runs another Applesoft program, variables intact
FRE Faster Applesoft string garbage collection
STORE filename Writes Applesoft variables to a file
RESTORE filename Reads Applesoft variables from a file
MTR Jumps to monitor (same as 'CALL -151')
_________________________________________________________________
Section 4: In depth explanation of commands, optional params
4.1: DOS 3.x file names and types
DOS 3.x filenames can from 1-30 characters in length, and must start
with an uppercase letter. They cannot contain commas, colons, but can
contain control characters. (Return (control-M) is a pain to type, and
thus usually out). DOS 3.x has essentially 8 filetypes, noted by the
character in the directory listing: Applesoft Basic (A), Integer Basic
(I), Text file (T), Binary (B), 'S' (source? -- rarely used) type
files, and 'R' (relocatable-- also rarely used) files, plus a second
'A' and 'B'.
A sample directory listing from a CATALOG is shown below:
DISK VOLUME 254
*A 006 HELLO
*I 018 ANIMALS
*T 003 APPLE PROMS
*B 010 BOOT13
The leftmost column contains either a '*' or is empty. A '*' means the
file is 'LOCKed' against accidental deletion or overwriting, a blank
space means that it can be saved over or deleted at will. The next
column is the filetype, as noted above. The third column, of three
digit numbers, represents the file size on disk in number of 256-byte
sectors used. [If this size is greater than 255, the number is modulo
256]. Finally, the filename is given.
4.2 ProDOS file names and types
ProDOS is far more limited in its filenames. Names are up to 15
characters, must start with a letter, and can contain letters, digits
[0..9] and the period. Filenames are essentially case insensitive,
though they are always displayed as uppercase on disk.
ProDOS also allows directories and volume names; components are
separated with the forward slash ('/') used by OSs whose designers
weren't being idiotic, like MS-DOS.
ProDOS allows far more types, allowing 256 'major' types, with each
major type capable of having up to 65536 subtypes. Unlike MS-DOS, the
filetype is not part of the actual filename, nor can two different
files with the same name but different types exist. In a BASIC.SYSTEM
and similar directory listing, the major type is listed as either a
2-digit hexadecimal value preceede by a $, or for certain other common
types, a 3-letter acronym is used. The most common types that are
encountered are:
'SYS': System files, such as ProDOS and certain applications
'DIR': Directory
'BIN': Binary file
'BAS': Applesoft BASIC file
'TXT': Text file
Filetypes are not considered part of the filename, so there can only
be one file with a given name, regardless of the type. A sample ProDOS
directory listing is shown below:
STARTUP BAS 12 20-AUG-96 20-AUG-96 3:14 5645
This is the 80-column version generated by CATALOG; the 40-column
version by CAT omits the right 40 columns from the listing. Again, we
have the first column being either blank or a '*' for locked files,
the filename ('STARTUP' here), then the filetype (BAS), number of
512-byte blocks used, creation and modification dates and time, and
finally the filelength of 5645 bytes.
4.3 Extended command line parameters for DOS 3.x commands
Certain commands under DOS 3.3 require a you to specify the address
and/or length; this is noted with an ',Aadr' or ',Llen' after the
filename. The address and length can be either decimal or hexadecimal
(proceeded by a '$'), and must range from 0 to 65535 (0..$FFFF hex).
See the extended syntax below for which files require which
parameters.
'Random access' text files may have the record specified when
accessing them by ',Rn', or the byte within a field specified by
',Bn'. For more information on accessing text files from within Basic,
please see the Applesoft Basic FAQ at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html
Pretty much all DOS 3.x commands that deal with files can have any of
3 extra parameters specified in any order with commas after the
filename: [,Dn] [,Sn] or [,Vn]. ',Dn' sets the drive number for this
and subsequent DOS commands; DOS 3.x only supports 2 drives per slot.
',Sn' sets the slot number for this and subsequent DOS commands.
Specifying a slot/drive combination that does not exist will return an
error. Both the slot and drive number 'stick' until changed, even if
the disk is physically swapped for another.
The third parameter, ',Vn' sets the "volume number" for DOS 3.3 to
'expect' on a disk when accessed. This volume number is specified when
formatted with INIT, defaulting to 254 if not specified. ',V0' will
match any disk volume number, which is the default.
4.4 Extended command line parameters for ProDOS commands
While ProDOS lost the ',Vn' parameter, the ',Sn' and ',Dn' can be
specified for all commands accessing files. In addition, a number of
commands (APPEND, BLOAD, BSAVE, CREATE, OPEN) can take a ',Ttype'
parameter, specifying the type of file to match against instead of the
default of TXT, BIN, BIN, DIR, and TXT respectively.
In addition to the DOS 3.x ',An', ',Llen', 'Bn', and ',Rn' parameters
when appropriate, certain commands can also take a few other
parameters: ',En' for ending address, ',Fn' for field number, and
',@num' for BASIC line number.
4.5 Detailed explanation of commands
Please note that I only list any additional commandline params; for
optional (and OS-specific) command line params, please see above.
- filename
[ProDOS only] This command is simply the 'dash' character, followed by
a filename. Loads and executes a file of type BIN, BAS, TXT or SYS.
APPEND filename
[Basic programs only, not from command line.] Parallel to the OPEN
command, but positions the file for writing to the end. This is not
guaranteed to work under DOS 3.3. For more information on accessing
text files from within Basic, please see the Applesoft Basic FAQ at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html
ProDOS extended syntax: 'APPEND filename[,Ttype][,Llen]': allows
overriding of the default filetype of TXT, and also specifies where to
append from.
BLOAD filename[,Aadr]
Loads a binary file from disk to address and length specified when
saved. The optional ',Aadr' parameter allows you to specify a new
location for the first byte of the file when loaded. No relocation of
program code is performed, however.
ProDOS extended syntax: 'BLOAD
filename[,Aadr][,Blen][,Llen][,Elen][,Ttype]'. Allows you override the
address, length, filetype, and from where in the file the chunk you
want should be loaded.
BSAVE filename,Aadr,Llen
Saves a binary file to disk, writing len bytes from the starting
address.
ProDOS extended syntax: 'BSAVE
filename[,Aadr][,Blen][,Llen][,Elen][,Ttype]'. The address and length
can be omitted; if so, they default to what was last explicitly
specified for the file.
BRUN filename
Does a BLOAD on a file, and then does a machine language jump to the
starting byte, attempting to execute the file. If the file is not
designed to be executed, it may crash or behave oddly.
ProDOS extended syntax: my copy of 'Apple ProDOS-- Advanced features
for programmers' notes that all of the extended params for BLOAD are
usable, except for the type.
BYE
[ProDOS only]. Exits to the currently installed program switcher
provided by ProDOS. May not be available on the earliest versions of
BASIC.SYSTEM.
CAT [pathname]
[ProDOS only]. 40-column directory listing.
CATALOG
Directory listing. DOS 3.x's directory listing fits in 40 columns
wide, while ProDOS's CATALOG is 80 columns wide. See also CAT
CHAIN filename
DOS 3.x integer basic: loads another program, starts executing it with
all the variables unchanged from the first. Not really usable with DOS
3.x and Applesoft Basic
ProDOS extended syntax: 'CHAIN filename[,@line]'-- works with
Applesoft BASIC programs properly, allows you to specify a starting
line number for program execution
CLOSE [filename]
Closes any OPENed text files, flushes any pending changes to disk. If
a filename is specified, that file is closed; if no filename is
specified, any and all open files are closed.
CREATE filename[,Ttype]
[ProDOS only] Creates a file on disk with the specified name and type.
If the type is omitted, a subdirectory (type='DIR')is created.
DELETE filename
Attempts to delete a file. Files cannot be deleted if the disk is
write protected, the file is LOCKed, or an error occurs.
EXEC filename
Takes a text file on disk, and redirects input from it as if all lines
had been typed at the command prompt. It continues until all of the
file is parsed this way, not stopping for errors if this is not a
valid set of commands.
ProDOS extended syntax: 'EXEC filename[,Fnum][,Rnum]'-- allows you to
specify the number of the first line in the file executed
FLUSH
[ProDOS only] Writes any pending (i.e. cached) disk writes to their
physical media.
FP
[DOS 3.x only] Switches to 'Floating Point' (i.e. Applesoft BASIC), if
that is available, also dumps any Basic programs out of memory, even
if Applesoft was active to start with.
FRE
[ProDOS only] Faster string garbage collection than that provided by
Applesoft Basic in ROM. Useful mainly from within Basic programs.
IN#slotnum
Redirects input to come from the specified slot, or use slot 0 for the
keyboard. This parallels the Basic command of the same name, since
both DOS 3.x and ProDOS hook themselves into the i/o vectors, and need
to stay attached, even with input coming from elsewhere. Like all OS
commands, within an Applesoft Basic program, this command should be
preceeded by the control-D character.
INIT filename
[DOS 3.x only] Formats a disk, and saves the currently loaded Basic
program in memory as the program run on boot of that disk with the
specified name.
INT
[DOS 3.x only] Switches to Integer Basic, if available, dumps any
Basic programs from memory.
LOAD filename
Loads a Basic program from disk. Under DOS 3.x, if you load a program
with the 'wrong' Basic from what is currently loaded, the Basic is
switched, if available.
Note that Basic on machines with cassette ports (][, ][+, //e) has a
'LOAD' command of its own, where it tries to load from the cassette
port. If a filename is specified, then DOS handles it, otherwise it
passes it to Basic.
LOCK filename
Sets a flag on the file so that it cannot be accidentally overwritten
or deleted. Does not protect from disk initialization, and is easy to
undo with an UNLOCK
MAXFILES n
[DOS 3.x only] Allocates memory space for the specified number of
files to be open at once. The default is 3. BASIC.SYSTEM moves memory
around as needed, so this command does not exist under ProDOS.
MON [,C][,I][,O]
[DOS 3.x only] Provides a running trace of DOS 3.x commands for
'Commands', 'Input' and 'Output'.
MTR
[ProDOS only, and also only available with BASIC.SYSTEM v1.4 or
higher, I believe]. Goes to the builtin monitor ('*' prompt), just
like typing 'CALL-151'.
NOMON [,C][,I][,O]
Cancels any pending traces of things by MON. ProDOS accepts by ignores
this command, as there is no builtin MON.
OPEN filename[,Llen]
[Basic programs only, not from command line.] Opens a text file from
within a program. It can be read from or written to with the
appropriate subsequent commands. The optional length parameter is used
to specify that a text file is to be opened in 'random access' mode.
For more information on accessing text files from within Basic, please
see the Applesoft Basic FAQ at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html
POSITION filename[,Rn]
[Basic programs only, not from command line.] Moves the disk file
pointer for the specified file the specified number of fields forward
from its current position. If the file is not open, it is OPENed
first. If the ',Rn' parameter is omitted, the file pointer is not
changed. For more information on accessing text files from within
Basic, please see the Applesoft Basic FAQ at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html
ProDOS extended syntax: the ',Fn' parameter may be used to the same
effect.
PR#slotnum
Sends subsequent output to the specified slot, or the 40-column screen
if '0' is given for the slotnum. If output is sent to a slot
containing a disk controller, the system attempts to boot from drive 1
of that slot. Like all OS commands, within an Applesoft Basic program,
this command should be preceeded by the control-D character.
PREFIX [pathname]
[ProDOS only] Gets or sets the current pathname prefix. If a prefix or
slot/drive location is specified, it is used as the new prefix; use a
leading slash on a pathname to specify an absolute path, or omit it
for a path relative to the current. There is no '..' "backup" operator
provided. If no pathname or drive/slot location is specified, the
current prefix is returned.
READ filename[,Rnum]
[Basic programs only, not from command line.] Specifies that
subsequent input should come from an already OPENed file. If specified
from a random access file, the ',Rnum' jumps to the specified record
number. For more information on accessing text files from within
Basic, please see the Applesoft Basic FAQ at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html
ProDOS extended syntax: the ',Fnum' lets you go to the specified line
number, and/or ',Bnum' to go to the specified byte position from the
current. If multiple params are specified, the record number is jumped
to first, then field, then byte.
RENAME oldfilename,newfilename
Renames the first specified file to the new name. This is one of the
few cases where two filenames are required, separated by a comma.
RESTORE filename
[ProDOS only] Loads a file of Applesoft Basic variable declarations
saved with a STORE. Applesoft implements its own RESTORE command for a
rather different purpose; the filename is used to flag that this is a
DOS command.
RUN filename
Loads the specified Basic file, and runs it. [Clears all variables,
starts execution at lowest numbered line.]
ProDOS extended syntax: 'RUN filename[,@line]' -- optional paramter
for starting at a line other than the first line. See also CHAIN
SAVE filename
Writes the current Basic program (no variable declarations) to disk.
Note that Basic on machines with cassette ports (][, ][+, //e) has a
'SAVE' command of its own, where it tries to save to the cassette
port. If a filename is specified, then DOS handles it, otherwise it
passes it to Basic.
STORE filename
[ProDOS only] Stores all current variable declarations (simple and
arrays), but not function declarations to disk. Can be loaded back
later with a RESTORE.
Note that Basic on machines with cassette ports (][, ][+, //e) has a
'STORE' command of its own, where it tries to save to the cassette
port. If a filename is specified, then DOS handles it, otherwise it
passes it to Basic.
UNLOCK filename
Undoes a LOCK, allowing overwriting or deleting of a file.
VERIFY filename
DOS 3.x reads every sector of the file to make sure that the file is
readable. ProDOS merely checks to see if the file exists or not; does
not perform a read test.
ProDOS extended syntax: 'VERIFY' with no filename displays a copyright
notice.
WRITE filename[,Rnum]
[Basic programs only, not from command line.] Specifies that
subsequent output shoud go to an already OPENed or APPENDed file. If
specified from a random access file, the ',Rnum' jumps to the
specified record number. For more information on accessing text files
from within Basic, please see the Applesoft Basic FAQ at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/asoft.html
ProDOS extended syntax: the ',Fnum' lets you go to the specified line
number, and/or ',Bnum' to go to the specified byte position from the
current. If multiple params are specified, the record number is jumped
to first, then field, then byte.
_________________________________________________________________
Section 5: Miscellaneous questions and answers
5.1: Which OS am I in?
The best method of checking is to use a command not found in both DOS
3.x and ProDOS, such as 'CAT'. If that command works, you're in
ProDOS. If not, try 'CATALOG'-- if the 'CATALOG' fails, you have
neither standard DOS 3.3 nor standard ProDOS loaded.
5.2: How do I format a disk?
Under DOS 3.x, use the INIT command to format a disk, write the
current memory image of DOS 3.x to the disk, and the current Basic
program as the startup program. If the INIT command is not recognized,
you are either in ProDOS or you are using a nonstandard patchset to
DOS 3.x that removed the INIT command.
ProDOS has no builtin disk formatting code; it was removed to make
space. You will need to use an application capable of doing the
formatting-- common ones are those found on the ProDOS 8 system
utilities disk provided by Apple, Copy ][+, Shrinkit, Appleworks, or
several other programs. After formatting a ProDOS disk, you will need
to copy the 'PRODOS' file and at least one 'SYS' file with name ending
in '.SYSTEM' (e.g. BASIC.SYSTEM) to make it bootable, or you'll get an
'UNABLE TO LOAD PRODOS' error on trying to boot that disk.
5.3: How do I copy/move files/disks?
This functionality is not built in to either DOS 3.x or ProDOS from
the commandline; you will need to run an application to do so. ProSEL
8 published by Charlie's Appleseeds can do a good job at that. Copy
][+ does not follow the rules, and is NOT safe to use on hard drives
with ProDOS-- it tends to corrupt the disk if any GS/OS 'extended'
files are present.
In a pinch, if you only need to copy files, you can manually LOAD/SAVE
or BLOAD/BSAVE to load and then save files from one disk to another,
but this is extremely tedious, does not tend to work (unless uses
extra params under ProDOS) on large (>35K) files or non-basic/binary
files, and errprone.
5.4: Can I put DOS 3.x on my hard disk?
Not by any publically available methods to my knowledge. DOS 3.x was
designed for only 5.25" disks, though it is possible to put up to 400K
on a DOS 3.x volume. With 254 volume types available, you could creake
up to about 98MB on a HD. DOS 3.x also does not have any builtin
support for any drives other than the 5.25" drive-- you'd have to
manually hack the OS to talk to a different drive. In any case, you're
still limited by a lot of 400K volumes, lack of subdirectories, and
having to rewrite the OS yourself.
ProDOS is much more HD friendly, in terms of being able to talk to
volumes up to 32MB in size, subdirectory support, and the like.
A somewhat workable solution is to use DOS 3.3 Launcher. It lets you
copy unprotected DOS 3.3 140K disks to your hard drive, and run DOS
3.3 under ProDOS. Such functionality does have some requirements,
though: programs must only use 48K of RAM (the upper 16K is reserved
for ProDOS, which is running at the same time), not do any copy
protection or disk hackery, and generally behave themselves. DOS 3.3
Launcher is available from the normal Apple II ftp sites:
ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/pub/apple2/utils/dos3.3.shk
5.5: Can I speed up DOS 3.3 or ProDOS?
Due to some double-buffering while reading and decoding files off
disks, DOS 3.x was not as fast as it could be. A few companies sold
modified versions of DOS 3.3 to avoid the extra copy and thus
dramatically speed up disk access; Beagle Bros's ProntoDOS and many
others were widespread. Sorry, I do not know where any copies of these
speedups can be found legally online. [And I'm not going to help
anyone break the law.] ProDOS incorporates most to all of the disk
read speedups provided by DOS 3.3 third party enhancements, so it does
not need to be patched to sped up.
5.6: What about file/disk undeletion?
File undeletion capabilities are available for DOS 3.x via various
programs (sorry, no idea if any are available legally online). ProDOS
prior to version 1.4 (or maybe 1.2) scrambled filetables on deletion,
so it is much harder to recover data if deleted under that. ProSEL and
other commercially available programs can undelete ProDOS files.
There is no disk undelete functionality available-- if a disk is fully
reformatted (all sectors/blocks overwritten), all previous data is
obliterated. If only the directory track(s) are erased, it might be
possible with a lot of work-- ProSEL 8 published by Charlie's
Appleseeds has a number of tools for dealing with ProDOS disks.
5.7: How do I view a text file?
Along with copying files/disks, this is another area not directly
supported by either DOS 3.3 or ProDOS without addon programs. Under
ProDOS, 'Sneeze' is reported to be a good file viewer:
ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple8/Pgms/SNEEZE.SHK
5.8: What does "UNABLE TO LOAD PRODOS" mean when I boot a disk?
As noted above, ProDOS is not automatically installed on every disk
formatted under ProDOS. All that is writted to disk is a very short
boot program that looks for a system (type 'SYS') file in the root
directory called 'PRODOS'. If that file is present, it is loaded, and
ProDOS installs itself. If there is no PRODOS file found, the error
message of "UNABLE TO LOAD PRODOS" is displayed on the screen.
To make such a disk bootable, all you need to do is copy the file
'PRODOS' from a working ProDOS boot disk to the root directory of the
disk you want to be able to boot from, assuming there is enough free
space to copy that file.
You will also want to copy at least one other system (type='SYS') to
the root directory of any disk you want to boot, as ProDOS scans the
root directory for the first SYS file with name ending in ".SYSTEM" to
execute, or it'll be unhappy. A good candidate for such a file is
Apple's "BASIC.SYSTEM", providing the Basic interpreter and command
line interface to ProDOS.
If you choose to use Macs and Disk Copy to download System 6.x, make
sure to use Double Sided/Double Density (DSDD - 720K or 800K) disks--
1.44MB (HD) disks will be written to as 1.44MB disks, which most GS
drives cannot deal with. Also, if your GS is refusing to boot off the
install disk (with an 'UNABLE TO LOAD PRODOS' message), and you have a
Quadra or Powermac, you may be a victim of Apple's costcutting in 3.5"
drives-- those drives may report disks as successfully written, but
GSs will be unable to read them. Switch to an older Mac with a usable
drive, or use a null modem program to transfer the files.
5.9 How do I switch drives/disks?
DOS 3.3 and also ProDOS allow you to specify which disk you want to
use by specifying its physical location when accessing it. This is
done with the slot-changing ',Sx' (1<=x<=7) and/or drive-changing
',Dy' (y=1 or y=2) parameters at the end of a command. Each slot may
have up to 2 drives connected to it. Slot 6 is normally used for 5.25"
drives, and slot 5 for 3.5" [or to a lesser degree, Slot 3 Drive 2 if
/RAM5 is used] disks, but system configurations may vary.
The slot/drive selections are 'sticky'-- they'll remain in effect
until you select another slot/drive to use.
Under ProDOS, you can also use the PREFIX command to change to a
slot/drive combination [PREFIX[,Sx][,Dy]] or to a volume by volume
name [PREFIX /volname].
5.10 I don't have an OS for my Apple II or want an update. Where do I get it
from?
[Copied from the comp.sys.apple2 FAQ section 7.2 at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html . Consult that FAQ for
help on downloading, etc.]
First, consult the following chart to help determine what you should
be looking to run on your Apple II-- there's a lot of possible OSs.
Downloads usually require you to have comm programs up and running on
your Apple II and/or Mac with a 3.5" disk that fully supports 800K
disks (a lot of Powermacs are flakey in that area). Without such an
ability, see below for places to purchase/copy it from. See csa2 FAQ
Section 2.* on the Apple II models or csa2 FAQ section 7.7 on
determing RAM to determine what your Apple II has if the limitations
in the following are confusing.
* Any Apple II, 5.25" drive, 32K or more RAM: DOS 3.3. This is not
legally available online to the best of my knowledge, as Apple
still holds the copyright and distribution restrictions on it.
However, Diversi-DOS, a Shareware enhanced version (may require
48K or 64K RAM) of it with many speedups is available online:
ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple8/OS/divdos41c.bxy
* Apple II+ or better, 5.25", 3.5", or HD, 64K RAM: ProDOS 8
v1.0-1.9. [Avoid v1.3 if using a ][+ or unenhanced //e].
ftp://ftp.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/A
pple_II/Apple_II_Supplemental/Apple_II_System_Disk_3.2.bxy [Note:
have not verified that this is ProDOS 1.9]
* Apple //c or IIc+, Enhanced //e, GS, 5.25", 3.5", or HD: ProDOS 8
v2.x. A shrunk 800K 3.5" disk with this version is at
ftp://ftp.apple.com/dts/aii/sys.soft/8bit.system.4.0.2/sysdisk402.
bsc [Not available in 5.25" format online]
* Apple IIGS, 3.5" disk or HD, 512K or more RAM: ProDOS 16. Very old
and slow. Not available anywhere online legally to my knowledge.
* Apple IIGS (ROM version 01 or 3), 3.5" disk or HD, 768K or more
RAM: GS/OS version 5.0.4. Get the .bsc files from
ftp://ftp.apple.com/dts/aii/sys.soft/gs.system.5.0.4/
* Apple IIGS (ROM version 01 or 3), 3.5" disk or HD (HD highly
recommended), 1MB or more RAM: GS/OS version 6.0.1. Download from
ftp://ftp.apple.com/dts/aii/sys.soft/gs.system.6.0.1/ or a Mac
'Disk Copy' format at
ftp://ftp.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/A
pple_II/Apple_IIGS_System_6.0.1/ See the csa2 FAQ's Section 9
(System 6.0 Mini-FAQ) for more info on bugfixes, updates, problems
with this version.
All of the above were always distributed as full versions of the
system software; there is no need to 'upgrade' thru system 4 or 5 to
get to 6. Consequently, don't look for any patches to save download
time; those never existed.
[Note: there are some other versions of the System Disks not listed
above; the ones listed are the latest versions, which you should be
running to get as many features and as few bugs as possible. Most of
the older (and especially the very buggy) versions are not available
online for that reason.]
Without an operating system, you can't run a comm program to download
the operating system, so you're in a bit of a quandry. One method is
to call 1-800-SOS-APPL and try and find an Apple II user group in your
area. They should be able copy things for you.
If you are unable to find a local user group, one of the next best
options is to contact Steve Cavanaugh (section 10.2), who is licensed
to copy ProDOS 8 [runs on pretty much all Apple IIs with at least 64K
of RAM], along with a 5.25" disk full of comm programs, etc. The comm
program disk costs only $3, which is a great deal. Ask him for more
details if interested.
Alltech Electronics (see csa2 FAQ section 10.2) is licensed to sell
many of the above, such as GS System Software 5.0.4 and 6.0.1, Apple
// System Disk 4.02, and ProDOS 1.1.1. Contact them for details on
pricing, etc.
_________________________________________________________________
Email suggestions to nathan@visi.com. As always, let me know of any
mistakes, updates, corrections, additions, etc.
There are a lot more questions with answers not included directly in
this FAQ; please see http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq for more of
them.
Copyright 1997 by Nathan Mates (Nathan Mates)
--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/ <*>
# What are the facts? Again and again and again-- what are the _facts_?
# Shun wishful thinking, avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors
# think-- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? -R.A. Heinlein