-read.me 6/16/86 TurboROM patches for Kaypro Software This disk contains files that are used to "patch" several appli cation programs that were either bundled by Kaypro or are specific to the Kaypro. The files that are requied for the patches are located on USER area 0: 1. TRPATCH.COM Executable program that does the patching. 2. TRPATCH.DAT Data file that contains the patch info. To use the patch program, the files TRPATCH.COM and TRPATCH.DAT should be copied to the same drive and user as the application programs. At the operating system prompt enter "TRPATCH" and a RETURN to execute the TRPATCH.COM program. The TRPATCH program will present a menu of files to patch; just follow the instructions. The files on USER area 1 are the assembly language source files that are used for the patches. These source files are provided for the curious and are not required for the proper operation of the TRPATCH program. <<< WARNING >>> Do not use the TRPATCH.COM program to patch your original copies of your application programs. Use the TRPATCH.COM program only on backup copies of the programs (if something goes wrong you don't want to risk destroying your originals). The current version of the TRPATCH.DAT file contains patches for the following programs: +------------+-----------+-------+ | Progarm | Version | Notes | +------------+-----------+-------+ | Automite | Vers 1.60 | 3 | | Automite | Vers 1.61 | U,3 | | CalcStar | Vers 1.46 | U | | DataStar | Vers 1.42 | U | | FastBack83 | Vers 1.1 | 1 | | FastBack84 | Vers 1.1 | 2 | | FastRest83 | Vers 1.1b | 1 | | FastRest84 | Vers 1.1b | 2 | | Formgen | Vers 1.42 | U | | MasterMenu | Vers 4.51 | 3 | | MasterMenu | Vers 5.22 | 3 | | MasterMenu | Vers 5.30 | U,3 | | Redit | Vers 1.03 | U | | Report | Vers 1.03 | U | | Rinstall | Vers 1.03 | U | | WordStar | Vers 3.30 | U,4 | +------------+-----------+-------+ Notes: (1) These patches are used to modify FASTBACK and FASTREST for use on an '83 Kaypro with an added hard disk drive. (2) These patches are used to modify FASTBACK and FASTREST for use on an '84 Kaypro with an added hard disk drive. (3) These patches ensure that the 25th line is cleared correctly. (4) This patch for WordStar is specific to the versions of WordStar bundled with the "U ROM" software. The patch will work with nearly all variations of WordStar 3.30, however the TRPATCH program will probably indicate that the version ID does not match. (U) These patches are used to modify the versions of these applications that were bundled with the "U ROM" machines from Kaypro. Background Information On the Patches Many of the application programs bundled by Kaypro with the "U ROM" computers are incompatible with the Advent TurboROM. There are there areas of compatibility problems addressed by the TRPATCH.COM patches: 1. Function key definitions. The "U ROM" operating system software (BIOS) handles the translation of the arrow and keypad keys completely dif ferently than the operating system software used with any previous Kaypro computer. The TurboROM fully supports the arrow and keypad conventions established by the previous (pre-U ROM) computers. All of the "U ROM" application patches, except for MASMENU and AUTOMITE, modify the arrow key translation. 2. CRT screen handling TurboROM treats the CRT screen as either a 24 line scrolling region with a fixed 25th status line or as a 25 line scrolling screen with no status line. Although, this des cription seems reasonable and follows conventions set by terminal manufacturers, the handling of the CRT screen by the original Kaypro ROM and the associated application pro grams is at times different and inconsistent at best. The patches for MASMENU and AUTOMITE deal primarily with the CRT handling problem. 3. Subtle problems Some of the application programs such as AUTOMITE and various versions of the MASMENU program have some very odd operating system dependencies. The dependencies usually result in the programs not exiting to the operating system in a reliable manner to ensure that a "Warm Boot" is exe cuted. Changing the CCP portion of the operating system from Digital Research's CCP to ZCPR1 or Plu*Perfect Systems 2.2E tends to aggravate the subtle problems with these pro grams. FASTBACK / FASTREST Fastback and Fastrest are low cost and very fast hard disk backup and restore utilities written for the Kayrpo 10. These programs can back up a 10M hard disk in 8 to 10 minutes. The backup utility does not require pre-formatted diskettes!!!. Fastback works fine with and without the TurboROM. FastBack is not picky about the hard disk drive. Fastback can be used to backup a stock Kaypro 10 hard disk drive and then restore the data to the same Kaypro after dropping in the TurboROM and a 20M drive. We've also used Fastback to load and unload our RAM Disk very quickly. Fastback and Fastrest are hard coded for the Kaypro 10. The patches provided here, modify Fastback and Fastrest to run on both '83 and '84 Kaypros that have had hard disks added. These patches read and write using the first floppy disk drive and this drive MUST be a double sided 48TPI drive. Fastback is a commercial product available from: eSOFT (Phil Becker) 4100 South Parker Road #305 Aurora, CO 80014 (303) 699-6565.