  
                COSMOS/M Version 1.70

  Note  : For the most recent update information  regarding  1.70 
          version of COSMOS/M, please refer  to the Release Notes  
          contained in the User Guide (Vol. 1), appendix H.
          For installation procedure, please refer to appendix A
          of the User Guide.

  1. The input  files for the  verification problems 
     are included  as  a  self  extracting  archive  
     PROBLEMS.EXE. This file will be in the directory 
     where you  installed COSMOS/M.  To  extract the  
     individual files please do the following.
  
     a) Copy the file PROBLEMS.EXE to the directory you 
        desire.
  
     b) Type PROBLEMS at DOS prompt.
  
     We suggest that you delete the old input files and  
     extract the new files from the archive.
  
  2. Please  make  sure to reboot the computer before   
     running  COSMOS/M  version 1.70 or changing  the   
     configuration with 386CONF.
  
  3. COSMOS/M allows  you to configure  your printers in any 
     parallel  port (LPT1,  LPT2, LPT3,  LPT4). Plotters can 
     be connected to any serial port (COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4).
  
  4. The configuration program (386CONF.EXE) for COSMOS/M 
     allows you  to select various parameters for the plotter. 
     If you do not know how to  use these parameters,  please 
     refer to  your plotter manual. 
  
  5. We recommend 16 megabytes  of memory  for your computer  
     although COSMOS/M can be run with 8 megabytes with loss 
     of performance.
  
  6. COSMOS/M  requires a  Compaq Desk  Pro 386, 486 or  IBM 
     PS/2 or machines that are fully compatible with them.
  
  7. Finally, before running your COSMOS/M program, you must  
     create a  file  named  VALIDATE.COS  in  your  COSMOS/M  
     directory and type in the authorization string provided 
     to you with the hardware device shipment.
     You can run  CHK_AUTH  to check  the modules  you  have 
     installed and the node limit.
     Note that, if you wish  to use  both  1.65A   and  1.70 
     versions  of the program simultaneously, you would have 
     to have the two VALIDATE.COS files in their  respective
     COSMOS/M directories ( 1.65A and 1.70).
  
  8. NOTICE!
  
     Please note that the COSMOS/M database files created by 
     the 1.65 or 1.65A versions  of the  program will not be  
     compatible with the new 1.70 release. Thus to load your 
     existing problems into the COSMOS/M 1.70  you must read 
     the session (.SES)  files into GEOSTAR and then  re-run 
     the analysis modules.
  
     In some  rare instances  when loading your 1.65A GEOSTAR  
     session file into the 1.70 release, you may observe some 
     discrepancies in  your geometry,  loading  and  boundary  
     conditions, or  some other  aspects  of  your structure.  
     Should you encounter  such a problem,  we  are providing  
     you with a program called GFORM165.EXE which will assist 
     you in creating an equivalent input file (.GFM) from the 
     1.65A database. 
     To do this, simply follow the steps below:
  
     a) Make sure you have the complete  1.65A database files 
        of your model.
  
     b) Type  GFORM165  from  DOS  prompt  in the  directory  
        where your  database  files reside  and  issue the  
        problem name. The  program GFORM165  will load the  
        problem and create a  new file with  the same name  
        and the extension (.GFM).
  
     c) At this  time you can  run GEOSTAR 1.70, issue a new 
        problem name, and  use the "FILE" command to read in 
        the (.GFM) file and recreate the same exact  problem 
        as was originally produced by your GEOSTAR 1.65A.
  
   9. Use of VMI Graphics Card with GEOSTAR.
  
      If the VMI  graphics  card  is  being  used,  you  should  
      install the device drivers. This can be done by placing 
      the VMI installation disk  in A or  B drive and issuing  
      the command "A:INSTALLV." It automatically updates both  
      CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
  
      a) PGA
         If an IBM  PGA is  being  used ( which  the normal 
         VMI library does not  support ), then the  DOS SET 
         command should be used to set a variable called PGA 
         to the base address being  used by  the PGA. The PGA
         can work at either c600  or c640. If the PGA is using  
         the default location (c600) then the command would 
         appear as follows:  
  
                         SET PGA=C600                                            
  
         If  this  driver  detects  that  PGA  is  in the DOS
         environment, then  it will  assume  that a  PGA is  
         being used and  will avoid  commands that  the PGA  
         does not support.                                  
  
      b) VMI X-Series
  
         On the X/Series, there is a flash on  some  monitors 
         which can be eliminated by blanking the LUTs. This 
         procedure looks for  the DOS  environment variable  
         VMIWAIT which can be set with:
  
                  SET VMIWAIT=30
          
         (VMIWAIT = 30 would wait about 0.5 seconds) Values 
         from 5 to 50 are acceptable. The value read in 
         will be used as a parameter to vmwait which will 
         wait for the specified number of frames. The 
         blanking of the text screen LUTs assumes that you 
         have a VGA.
  
         If the board is an X/Series, the  bitmap  interface  
         is a very fast  way to read  pixels from the board  
         BUT. Sometimes  there are  other  hardware devices  
         that want to occupy the same memory location as the 
         bitmap interface.  If this  cannot be  resolved by  
         moving the location of  the bitmap interface, then  
         you have the use of 'blkrd' and 'blkwr' on which to 
         fall back. These  commands are  fine on  version 2  
         boards but are  very, very  slow on  the version 1  
         boards. If  you set  an environment  variable with  
         the DOS  command "SET  VMIBMI=1," then  the bitmap  
         interface is  used  for  the  X/Series; otherwise,  
         'blkrd' and 'blkwr' are considered.
  
