

        
                            
                                                       
                                                 CAMPURSOFT      
                            
                            
                                                  PRESENTS    
                           
                            
                                              PARADOS Ver.1.0     
                            
                            
                                           By QUANTUM COMPUTING        
                           
                            
                                               Programmed by     
                          
                            
                                               Richard Wilson   
                  









                       
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                                                STS SOFTWARE 
                             
                             
                                                  Presents 
                             
                             
                             
                                             PARADOS version 1.0 
                             
                               High capacity disk operating system for the CPC 
                             
                             
                                                 Program by 
                              
                                               Richard Wilson 
                             
                             
                                              Documentation by 
                             
                                                Paul Fairman 
                             
                             
                             
                             
                        
                             
                          
                             
                             
                                         Distribution: STS Software






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                                       INSTALLATION OF YOUR PARADOS ROM                                      
                                                                                                   
PARADOS is supplied on a single ROM chip. This must be carefully inserted into any slot of         
your Rom -box with the exception of slot 0. Ensure that your CPC is switched off before            
fitting ANY chip in your Rom-box.                                                                  
                                                                                                   
One of the most powerful features of PARADOS is that it can be fitted in ROM slot 7. It does       
not require the AMSDOS ROM - PARADOS replaces it. With PARADOS in slot 7, you are given            
more compatibility with programs.                                                                  
                                                                                                   
The ROM can easily be damaged by fitting it into the Rom -box the wrong way. The < on the          
ROM label should face a corresponding notch on the ROM socket of your ROM -box. If it does         
not, then see where the notch on your other ROMs is located and fit PARADOS accordingly, 
ensuring that no legs are bent or otherwise damaged. If you have ON-OFF switches on your 
Rom-box, obviously the slot PARADOS is in should be switched ON. Treat all ROMS with               
great care - they are delicate!                                                                    
                                                                                                   
Once installed, switch your computer on, and a new message should appear:                          
                                                                                                   
         PARADOS V1.0. (c) QUANTUM Computing.                                                      
                                                                                                   
If not, switch the computer off and check the fitting instructions again.                          
                                                                                                   
Enter |DRIVE to see the PARADOS program - the | is obtained by pressing SHIFT @.                   

                                                                                                   
CONVENTIONS                                                                                        
                                                                                                   
The menu system employed by PARADOS has many options. In this manual, these options                
are denoted by their name with a capital letter. For example, the word Configure would             
mean you need to press SHIFT C. The letters that you press are always inverse in the               
menus. Configur e has a sub -menu consisting of Drive and Format. Configure Format would           
mean that you need to press SHIFT C F, hold down SHIFT, press C and then F.


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These are the formats that PARADOS supports. The format name, capacity, number of                        
directory entries, type ( single sided or double sided) number of sectors per track, and the             
sector IDs are shown. Every format is supported in either drive A or B.                                  

FORMAT               CAPACITY        DIRECTORIES          TYPE      SECTORS/TRACK   SECTORS                
PARADOS 80           396k            128                  SS        10              &91-&9a        
PARADOS 41           203k            64                   SS        10              &81-&8a        
PARADOS 40D          396k            128                  DS        10              &a1-&aa        
ROMDOS D1            716k            128                  DS        9               &01-&09        
ROMDOS D2            712k            256                  DS        9               &21-&29        
ROMDOS D10           796k            128                  DS        10              &11-&1a        
ROMDOS D20           792k            256                  DS        10              &31-&3a        
ROMDOS D40           396k            128                  SS        10              &51-&5a        
S-DOS                396k            128                  SS        10              &71-&7a        
DATA (SS 40 )        178k            64                   SS        9               &c1-&c9        
DATA (DS 40)         356k            64                   DS        9               &c1-&c9 E      
DATA (SS 80)         356k            64                   SS        9               &c1-&c9 E      
DATA (DS 80)         716k            64                   DS        9               &c1-&c9 E      
SYSTEM (SS 40)       169k            64                   SS        9               &41-&49        
SYSTEM (DS 40)       346k            64                   DS        9               &41-&49 E      
SYSTEM (SS 80)       346k            64                   SS        9               &41-&49 E      
SYSTEM (DS 80)       704k            64                   DS        9               &41-&49 E      
IBM (SS 40)          169k            64                   SS        8               &01-&08        
IBM (DS 40)          346k            64                   DS        8               &01-&08 E      
IBM (SS 80)          346k            64                   SS        8               &01-&08 E      
IBM (DS 80)          704k            64                   DS        8               &01-&08 E      
ULTRAFORM            203k            64                   SS        9               &10-&19        

With PARADOS supporting twenty two formats, which one should you use? For 3" disks, you                  
can use DATA SS 40, which is the standard CPC disk format. There is also ULTRAFORM and                   
PARADOS 41 for 3" disks, both offering 203k per disk. Obviously these formats will not be                
recognised by other CPCs without PARADOS.                                                                
                                                                                                         
It is preferable to use a double sided, 80 track format for 3.5" disks, which give you                   
between 700k -800k per disk. The best formats are ROMDOS Dl and ROMDOS D2 as far as                      
reliability is concerned. Other formats may offer a larger capacity, but they may be 
unreliable, particularly ROMDOS D10 and D20. ROMDOS D1 gives 128k directory entries and                  
716k a, disk, which is sufficient for most purposes. If you need more directory entries, for             
disks containing many small files egg letters or clip art, then ROMDOS D2 allows up to 256k   
directory entries. We would advise through experience that you stick to these two formats.               
                                                                                                         
PARADOS occupies just six bytes of user memory during normal use. These are bytes &bafa-
&baff, just below the firmware jumpblock. The last two, the bytes at &bafe and &baff
form the drive definition bytes which is the Configure option in PARADOS. The default                    
settings are &00 and &03 which translates to DRIVE A: 40 tracks, single sided, DRIVE B: 80
tracks, double sided.


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PARADOS UTILITIES PROGRAM                                                                                 
                                                                                                          
PARADOS offers a powerful utilities program where the user can perform various disk                       
operations such as formatting, renaming, copying etc. All of the different formats are                    
accepted from within the program, and all, with the exception of ELECTRO formats, are                     
automatically detected by PARADOS.                                                                        
                                                                                                          
To enter the utilities program, type |DRIVE.                                                              
                                                                                                          
You will see the main part of the screen left blank (this is filled with filenames when you               
Log a disk), the menus at the bottom, and the Information block on the right hand side.                   
                                                                                                          

THE ELECTRO FORMATS                                                                                       
                                                                                                          
Formats marked 'E' in the format list above are ELECTRO formats. The ELECTRO formats are                  
additional, special formats. There is only one reason you would want to use an ELECTRO                    
format, and that is if you own the disk utility XEX OR. XEXOR recognises the PARADOS ROM,                 
but only supports the ELECTRO extended formats.                                                           
                                                                                                          
Supplied with XEXOR is SETB.COM, a program used for configuring CPM Plus to read/write                    
the ELECTRO formats. This allows you to use programs such as NSWP with large format 3.5"  
disks.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                          
There is no way that PARADOS can auto-detect for ELECTRO formats - it must be told            
specifically that it is handling them, and which type. This is because the sector IDs for the             
formats are all the same. For example, if you are using DATA DS 80 format, the most useful                
of the ELECTRO formats, then Configure in PARADOS must be set to 80 tracks, double sided                  
on drive B, and ELECTRO formats must be enabled on the Configure Format menu.                             
                                                                                                          
When you Log onto a disk using the SHIFT L command, the main screen area will be filled   
with the filenames of the files on that disk. If the file has attributes differing from the               
default settings, then PARADOS shows this by highlighting part of the extension. The first                
character of the extension highlighted denotes the file is set to READ ONLY and the second                
character highlighted means the file is set to SYSTEM (hidden).                                           
                                                                                                          
You can move the bar selector using the up and down keys. This is used to move onto                       
particular files, to tag them etc. Whichever file the selector is on is referred to as the
current file. The main display of PARADOS will scroll if there are too many files on the disk             
to be displayed on one screen.


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PARADOS MENU SYSTEM                                          
                                                             
The menus in PARADOS are split into three parts:             
                                                             
1. MAIN menu - operations are performed on the current file.  
2. SHIFT menu - operations to be performed on the disk as a whole  
3. CONTROL menu - operations to be performed on 'tagged' files. 
                                                             
The MAIN menu is displayed on entry to PARADOS. Hold down either SHIFT or CONTROL to 
display the othe r two menus. You must hold down either SHIFT or CONTROL whilst pressing 
the option letter on these menus, for example, hold down SHIFT whilst pressing L to Log a 
disk.                                                        
                                                             
MAIN - Attributes, Copy, Erase, Filespec, Move, Rename, Tag, Un -tag 
                                                             
Attributes        Set th e attributes of the current file. A file can be either DIRECTORY or 
                  SYSTEM: DIRECTORY files are standard, but SYSTEM files do not show up 
                  when CAT is used.                          
                                                             
                  A file can be either READ/WRITE or READ ONLY: READ/WRITE files are 
                  normal and can be deleted, renamed from BASIC. READ ONLY files are 
                  marked with a * when CAT is used. Such files cannot be deleted from BASIC. 
                                                             
                  Incidentally, the word SYSTEM when referring to the Attributes has nothing 
                  to do with the disk format SYSTEM.         
                                                             
Copy              Copies the current file to another disk. This activates a powerful file 
                  copier, which will use as much memory as your CPC has available as a copy 
                  buffer. If the destination disk is found to have a file under the same name 
                  as the source disk, PARADOS will ask you whether you wish to o verwrite this 
                  file. PARADOS will not create BAK files.   
                                                             
                  Files of any length or type can be copied without problems. PARADOS will 
                  prompt you to insert the source disk and destination disk as required. 
                                                             
Erase             Erase the current file. If the file is READ ONLY, PARADOS will ask for extra 
                  confirmation before erasing the file.      
                                                             
Filespec          When a disk is logged, all the files in user 0 are displayed. The Filespec 
                  command can be used to look in other user groups and to show only certain 
                  files. For example, you could specify *.BIN to show all files with the 
                  extension BIN or S*.* to show all files that begin with the letter S. Use the 
                  left and right cursor keys when in this option to select between User and 
                  Filespec.                                  
                                                             
                  When you Erase a file, the file is placed in a normal ly un-used user group - 
                  user 229. Using Filespec, you can look in user 229, press CONTROL T to tag 
                  the deleted files, and then press CONTROL M 0 to Move the files back to 
                  user group 0 - effectively un-erasing the files.


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Move              Moves the current file into a different user group.                             
                                                                                                  
Rename            Renames the current file. PARADOS will ask for confirmation before              
                  renaming READ ONLY files. Press CLR when typing a new filename to clear         
                  and re-enter a name.                                                            
                                                                                                  
Tag               Tag the current file. The options such as Copy in the CONTROL menu are 
                  performed on files that are tagged. PARADOS shows which files are tagged        
                  by displaying a * after the filename.                                           
                                                                                                  
Un-tag            Un-tag the current file. If the file was previously tagged, then the * next to  
                  it will vanish.                                                                 
                                                                                                  

SHIFT - Backup, Configure, Format, Log, Sort, Un -log, Verify                                     
                                                                                                  
Backup            This feature wasn't implemented by our programmer due to lack of space in       
                  the ROM chip.                                                                   
                                                                                                  
Configure         A more specialised and complicated option (get ready!) Configure is split       
                  into two parts:                                                                 
                                                                                                  
                    Drive    Sets details about the disk in both drives. A disk can have either     
                             40 or 80 tracks, and is either single sided or double sided.         
                                                                                                  
                             Formats such as ROMDOS D1 are double sided and can only be           
                             used with 3.5" disks. They are also 80 track formats. Because they   
                             use 80 tracks - twice that available on 3" disks - and both sides    
                             simultaneously - twice that a 3" disk uses - you get four times the  
                             storage capacity.                                                    
                                                                                                  
                             Only 3.5" disks are double sided and have 80 tracks, but they can    
                             also act as 3" disks, that is being single sided and having 40 
                             tracks. For further details of the two different 'modes' 3.5" disks  
                             can be used in, please see below.                                    
                                                                                                  
                             The default settings are DRIVE A: 40 tracks, side 0 and DRIVE B:     
                             80 tracks, double sided. Both drives should be set to single         
                             stepping at all time s - double stepping is a specialised option, if 
                             you don't know what it means, you don't need it!                     
                                                                                                  
                             IMPORTANT: Some programs, in particular games, may overwrite         
                             the PARADOS workspace, the six bytes it needs to work with.          
                             Read fails may be produced on disks i f this occurs. If this is the  
                             case, reset the Drive settings to the default ones above.


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                    Format   Format Most users will not require this option. It allows you to 
                             use ULTRAFORM, originally a AA type -in by Rob Scott. It enables 
                             you to format 3" disks to 203k. PARADOS will automatically detect 
                             this enhanced 3" format giving 50k extra space on 3" disks. 
                                                                       
                             In addition, the Configure Format option also allows you to 
                             enable or disable the ELECTRO formats (see above), and use IBM 
                             formats.                                  
                                                                       
                             In Configure, use the up an d down cursor keys to move onto the 
                             drive details you want to change, and press RETURN to toggle 
                             between the options.                      
                                                                       
Format            Format a disk. PARADOS asks which drive, and then displays a list of the 
                  available formats for this drive, depending on the setti ngs in Configure. You 
                  are also offered the option of verifying the disk while it formats. 
                                                                       
                  If the drive you select to Format is set to 80 track, double sided, then the 
                  full twenty two formats will be available. When this menu is displayed, it 
                  even scrolls up and down! The menu shrinks for 40 track, double sided or 80 
                  track single sided settings in Configure Drive, and shrinks even further when 
                  dealing with 40 track, single sided disks e.g. 3" disks. 
                                                                       
                  Once formatted, PARADOS will ask if you wish to format an other disk. If you 
                  select yes, PARADOS will format to the same drive and format as before. 
                                                                       
Log               Log a disk in either drive. Once logged, the Information section will be 
                  updated to display the details about the disk.       
                                                                       
Sort              The main display of PARADOS, the d isk directory, can be displayed in either 
                  alphabetical order, or in the order which the files were created on the disk. 
                  This option toggles between the two.                 
                                                                       
Un-log            Un-log the currently selected disk as if PARADOS had just been entered. 
                  This resets the mai n part of the screen and the Information section. 
                                                                       
Verify            Checks each sector on a disk. The user is alerted to any errors which means 
                  that the disk is corrupt. Be sure that the Configure menu is set up correctly 
                  for the format of the disk, otherwise Verify may show the disk is faulty 
                  when it thinks it's dealing with a different format than the disk actually is. 
                  If the 'read fail' box appears, press C to cancel that track.


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CONTROL - Attributes, Copy, Erase, Move, Tag, Un -tag                                                 
                                                                                                      
Attributes        The same as the MAI N option, except that all tagged files are set to the           
                  specified attribute, rather than just the current file.                             
                                                                                                      
Copy              Copy all the tagged files to another disk. See the copy command above for           
                  further details.                                                                    
                                                                                                      
Erase             Delete all of the tagged files. Again, ad ditional confirmation is required to      
                  delete files set with the READ ONLY attribute.                                      
                                                                                                      
Move              Move all the tagged files to a new user group. Confirmation is needed to            
                  move files that are READ ONLY.                                                      
                                                                                                      
Tag               Tag all files displayed on screen. The command will not tag files outside the       
                  file specification defined by File spec.                                            
                                                                                                      
Un-tag            Un-tag all of the files displayed on screen.                                        
                                                                                                      

MODE 1 OPERATION                                                                                      
                                                                                                      
Under PARADOS, a 3.5" disk can operate in one of two modes - MODE 1 or MODE 2. MODE 1                 
is the standard mode - you will h ave 178k per disk side, similar to 3" disks. The disk will          
only use 40 of the 80 tracks available to it, and both sides are treated totally separately,          
just like 3" disks. However, 3.5" disks aren't 'flippy': you can only insert them one way in the      
drive. PARADOS offers the facility to side select from within Configure Drive menu - a 
unique facility for CPC operating systems - but you may also use any side select switch       
provided with your drive.                                                                             
                                                                                                      

MODE 2 OPERATION                                                                                      
                                                                                                      
This is where PARADOS becomes more useful. When using MODE 2, the enhanced mode,          
your 3.5" disks can store almost 800k on a disk. In MODE 2, all 80 tracks are used for                
storage, and both sides are used simultaneously. When using MODE 2 you must have your                 
side switch set to side 0, and Configure Drive must also be on side 0, otherwise read fails    
will be produced.                                                                                     
                                                                                                      
IMPORTANT: Only your 3.5" drive can perform MODE 2 operation. Although PARADOS offers                 
to use 80 track, double sided (MODE 2) formats in drive A, this is for users with an ABBA             
switch (availa ble from STS), which can make your 3.5" drive think it's drive A, and your 3"          
drive acts as the B drive. Do not attempt to use MODE 2 formats on 3" disks!


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INFORMATION SECTION                                                                             
                                                                                                
The Information section, on the right hand side of your screen, gives the details of the 
currently logged disk. This is updated whenever a new disk is logged, or when disk              
operations are carried out. It contains the following information:                              
                                                                                                
Drive             Which drive is logged, either A or B. Also shows if the directory is Sorted or 
                  Un-sorted.                                                                    
Format            The format the disk is, any one of the many formats PARADOS supports.         
User              The user group PARADOS is currently looking at.                               
Files             Wildcard of what files are being displayed.                                   
                                                                                                
No. of files      The number of files on the disk.                                              
Used entries      How many directory entries are used ...                                       
Total entries     ... and how many are available on the particular format.                          
                                                                                                
Free space        How much 'k' is left on the disk.                                             
Used space        How much 'k' is used on the disk.                                             
Total space       How much 'k' is available on the disk.                                        
                                                                                                
Tagged files      Number of files that have been tagged.                                        
Tagged space      How much 'k' the tagged files take up.                                             
                                                                                                
Free buffer       The Total buffer minus the Tagged files.                                      
Total buffer      How much space is available in the copy buffer - PARADOS automatically 
                  recognises Ram expansions up to 256k, and a silicon disk giving up to 360k    
                  of copying buffer. The Total buffer varies depending on how many files        
                  there are on the disk when logged.                                            
                                                                                                
                                                                                                
STS Software have spent months testing PARADOS to a far higher standard than the average        
user is ever likely to use it to. Although few people will appreciate it, PARADOS is one of     
the most proficiently programmed piece of software ever written for the CPC. The entire         
PARADOS system had to be coded in just 8k of ROM space - not an easy task.                      
                                                                                                
The PARA DOS ROM consists of two parts: PARADOS itself and the normal disk ROM. It can          
actually replace the standard disk ROM in the CPC, because PARADOS occupies space in the        
ROM which was used by DR LOGO 3. This has the fortunate limitation of you not being able        
to use DR LOGO 3 under CPM when PARADOS is installed in ROM slot 7. DR LOGO 2 may still         
be used, however.                                                                               
                                                                                                
There is just one bug in PARADOS. You will notice it when you play around with the              
different menus: the letter 'y' is left over from Verify in the SHIFT menu. This in no way 
effects the operation of PARADOS.                                                               


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Manual supplied by David Cantrell.               
Scanned and OCRed by Themis Papassilekas.        
This manual is distributed with permission from Richard Wilson. 
                                                 
Visit Richard’s website: http://winape.emuunlim.com/ 
                                                 

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