Notes for Micro Solutions CompatiCard(tm) Users July 29, 1992 Sydex, Inc. P.O. Box 5700 Eugene, OR 97405 (541) 683-6033 The CompatiCard(tm) line of diskette adapters from MicroSolutions, Inc. (DeKalb, IL 60115) represents one of several options available to add extra diskette drives to a system. This document describes spe- cial steps that may be necessary in order to use CompatiCard drives with Sydex products. First, it's important that the exact type of CompatiCard be iden- tified; DIFFERENT MODELS ARE OPERATIONALLY DIFFERENT. At the time of this writing, Micro Solutions offers three models of the CompatiCard: The CompatiCard I supports up to four diskette drives and can be identified by its absence of DIP switches. This model also has a 37-pin external drive connector mounted on the card bracket. Documentation accompanying the CompatiCard identifies it simply as the "CompatiCard" (no model number). There is no BIOS ROM on the card. The CompatiCard II is a trimmed-down version of the CompatiCard I and supports only two drives. Like the CompatiCard I, it has no DIP switches or BIOS ROM; it does not have an external drive con- nector. The CompatiCard IV is a much later product than either the Com- patiCard I or II and features 2.88M drive support. This card also has a BIOS ROM and two sets of DIP switches located at the top of the card. This card also has an external drive connector. Any of the CompatiCards can be configured either as the primary dis- kette controller, or as an add-on secondary controller. Normally, a DISKETTE.CFG file should not be necessary if a CompatiCard is being used as the primary diskette controller. However, if you have dif- ficulty accessing all of your diskette drives, it will be necessary to explicitly specify your diskette configuration with a DISKETTE.CFG file. Page 1 FOR COMPATICARD I OR II Before proceeding with this discussion, please read the section titled "Specifying a Diskette Configuration" in the documentation that accom- panies your Sydex product. Each drive used by the CompatiCard I or II must be completely specified in the DISKETTE.CFG file. Fortunately, most of the informa- tion needed for the DISKETTE.CFG file is already present in your system's CONFIG.SYS file. Note that the CompatiCard I and II are non- standard in their support of high-density diskettes and require that COMPATICARD (abbreviated CO) be specified in the DISKETTE.CFG file for each drive connected to them. Begin by looking for the line in CONFIG.SYS that contains a reference to CCDRIVER.SYS. The line will have a form similar to the following: DEVICE=CCDRIVER.SYS /x,y,z ... where "x", "y" and "z" are numbers. Each set of "/x,y,z" describes one diskette drive. The first number, "x", indicates the BIOS unit number. It also in- directly indicates the CompatiCard port address as follows: Port Address BIOS Unit "x" ============ ============= 3F0H 0 - 3 370H 4 - 7 360H 8 - 11 3E0H 12 - 14 The "y" of the set is the drive type and can have the following values: Type Number "y" Drive Type =============== ========== 0 360K 1 720K 2 1.2M 3 1.2M DUAL 4 8INCH 5 720K 6 not supported 7 1.44M The "z" of each set is the step rate of the drive and should be used directly with the SEEK keyword. Page 2 If a CompatiCard II has been configured with nonstandard IRQ and DMA settings, this will also be shown on the CCDRIVER.SYS line in CONFIG.SYS: DEVICE=CCDRIVER.SYS /x,y,z ... IRQ a DMA b If "IRQ" is present on the CCDRIVER.SYS line, specify INTERRUPT in DISKETTE.CFG and use the value given by "a", above. Similarly, use the CCDRIVER.SYS DMA value for the DISKETTE.CFG DMA value. The physical unit assigned to a drive and designated by the UNIT keyword in DISKETTE.CFG is always in the range of 0 through 3. To get the physical unit number for any drive: 1. Consult the port address table shown above. Locate the line which shows the port address for your particular CompatiCard configuration. 2. Take the first BIOS number (0, 4, 8 or 12) and subtract it from the "x" value for the drive. This will yield a number between 0 and 3, the physical unit number of the drive. As an example, consider a system with a CompatiCard II installed as a secondary controller. Two drives--E:, a 360K unit, and F:, a 1.44M unit--are installed. The following line is found in CONFIG.SYS: DRIVER=CCDRIVER.SYS /8,0,6 /9,7,6 From this line, we obtain the following DISKETTE.CFG file: DEFAULT: (to define drives A: and B:) E: 360K BIOS 8 PORT 360H UNIT 0 SEEK 6 COMPATICARD F: 1.44M BIOS 9 PORT 360H UNIT 1 SEEK 6 COMPATICARD Note that the "DEFAULT:" line indicates that drives connected to the primary controller are to use default parameters as determined by the configuration routines. FOR COMPATICARD IV The CompatiCard IV can be used in place of a system's primary diskette controller to add four drive or 2.88M support to a system. If the Com- patiCard IV is used as a primary with the on-board BIOS enabled and card address jumper J1 is set to the "A" position, a DISKETTE.CFG file should be unnecessary. Page 3 However, if the CompatiCard IV is used as a secondary controller in addition to the normal system diskette controller, a DISKETTE.CFG file must be present. In addition, if the on-board BIOS has been disabled, the following line must also be present in CONFIG.SYS: DEVICE=CC4BIOS.SYS The first step in determining values for drive configuration state- ments in DISKETTE.CFG is to ascertain the I/O port address of the Com- patiCard IV being used. This can be done by inspecting jumper J1 on the CompatiCard IV: J1 Setting Port Address BIOS Unit ========== ============ ========= A 3F0H 0 - 3 B 370H 4 - 7 C 360H 8 - 11 D 3E0H 12 - 14 Next, the physical unit (UNIT keyword) must be determined from the way the diskette drives are connected to the CompatiCard. If a drive or drives are connected to connector P2, the drive connected after the "twist" in the drive cable is physical unit 0; the drive connected before the "twist" at the end of the cable is physical unit 1. If a drive or drives are connected to connector P3 or P4, the drive connected after the "twist" in the drive cable is physical unit 2; the drive connected before the "twist" at the end of the cable is physical unit 3. To determine the BIOS unit of a drive, consult the Port Address table shown above. Locate the line corresponding to your CompatiCard's J1 setting and take the first number under the "BIOS Unit" column heading and add it to the physical unit number of the drive. For example, a Compaticard having J1 set to C, a drive connected to the straight end of the cable on connector P2 would have physical unit number 1 and BIOS unit 9. If factory settings for jumper J2 have been changed, DMA and INTERRUPT specifications must be included for the affected drives in DISKETTE.CFG. If a DMA channel other than 2 has been set with jumper J2, this DMA channel must be included in the DISKETTE.CFG line for a drive. Similarly, if the interrupt number set by jumper J2 is not In- terrupt 6, this information must be included in DISKETTE.CFG. The COMPATICARD keyword must NOT be used with the CompatiCard IV. Page 4 As an example, consider a CompatiCard IV being used as a secondary con- troller. Jumper J1 is set to position "D" and there is one 1.44M at- tached. The drive is connected after the "twist" in the cable to con- nector P2. Factory settings for J2 have not been disturbed. The added drive is known as G:. The following DISKETTE.CFG file would be used to describe the con- figuration to all Sydex products: DEFAULT: (for primary drives A: and B:) G: 1.44M PORT 3E0H UNIT 0 BIOS 12 CHANGE Note that the CHANGE keyword is used to specify that a "diskette changed" status is available from the drive. Normally, only 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M drives support this feature. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS If the drive activity light is not illuminated when the drive is ac- cessed, the port address, physical unit or BIOS unit has been incor- rectly specified. If the drive can be accessed, but encounters data errors, the drive type is probably incorrect. Note that the Com- patiCard II does not support single-speed 1.2M drives; a 1.2M drive must be described as "1.2M DUAL" to operate correctly. If SEEK has been specified for any drive, it should not be less than 6 milliseconds, unless you are certain that the drive can operate at faster speeds. Because older technology was used in 8" drives, a slower SEEK rate may need to be specified for them. Page 5