


d-Time (TM) Copyright 1994, Ballard Synergy




Ballard Synergy has used its 100 man years of experience with PC system
software to develop the first CD-ROM accelerator, which makes any CD-ROM
drive as fast as the hard disk. No matter whether you are running a single, double, tripple or quad speed CD-ROM drive, d-Time will dramatically increase your data access speed. There are numerous patents pending on this breakthrough technology. We are working with other CD-ROM publishers to provide Timelogs for all of the latest applications via the CD-ROM Accelerator Association, so that you can accelerate all of your favorite titles.



Ballard Synergy has created a unique way of recording the acceleration done to any CD-ROM title for your future use. We have coined the word Timelog to describe these records in order to be able to index them. Please note that it is not necessary to use a Timelog in order to use d-Time. Timelogs are for your convenience only. Timelogs are very useful when you use a program often, because they provide a way of keeping a backup copy of the information stored in the acceleration file.  


All currently produced personal computer systems (386 or better) have 4 types of memory: Conventional Memory; Upper Memory; Extended Memory; and Expanded Memory. 



Conventional Memory consists of the first 640KB of RAM. The key to your system's optimal performance is to have as much of the 640KB of Conventional Memory as possible available to your programs. In the real world this is difficult, as your operating system needs some of the Conventional Memory to store its code. One way to free up more Conventional Memory is to move device drivers and 'terminate and stay resident' programs into upper memory.



Upper Memory is the RAM area between 640KB and 1megabyte. This area is usually set aside for video card bios and system bios. There is usually room to store additional drivers and TSRs in Upper Memory, because it is unusual for the bios to occupy all of it.



Since the introduction of DOS 5.0 (and above) users are able to control which drivers are to be stored in Upper Memory. The commands to do so are "DEVICEHIGH=" and "LH" (Load High).



Extended Memory (XMS) is the area in RAM from 1 megabyte to 32 megabytes (some microprocessors are more advanced, and are able to access more than 32 megabytes). In order for your computer to use XMS, you must have a line which reads "device=c:\DOS\himem.sys" in your config.sys file. This line will be place there by DOS or by MS Windows during installation. This is the default for any system now being produced. More memory means more efficient use of your system and of the programs you are running. 



Expanded Memory (EMS) performed the function of Extended Memory before its introduction. Some older programs will still revert to Expanded Memory out of habit. The drivers that enable this type of memory are EMM386.EXE and EMM386.SYS, and which one is in use depends on the DOS version being run.  



d-Time has the ability to work with systems that have either configuration resident: Extended Memory only or a combination of Expanded and Extended Memory. d-Time will automatically detect the type of memory your system has, and will install itself accordingly.



Within this documentation you will find reference to both configurations in use with d-Time. Please do not confuse the d-Time XMS version with himem.sys or the EMS version with EMM386.EXE or EMM386.SYS.



VERSION 1.10 IMPROVEMENTS OVER VERSION 1.0: 



1) d-Time Version 1.10 has added support for enhanced IDE drives. 



2) d-Time Version 1.10 has improved Full Motion Video handling capabilities. 



3) d-Time Version 1.10 has added support for Novell DOS 7.0. 



4) d-Time Version 1.10 has better Windows support, including a Windows installation interface. 



5) d-Time Version 1.10 has a new driver that uses Extended Memory only. This driver 
will be automatically installed if d-Time detects that your system has no available 
Expanded Memory. 



6) d-Time Version 1.10 has support for Monochrome VGA 



7) d-Time Version 1.10 has improved documentation, including a new Users Guide, 
Online Help files, DOS README.TXT, and a Bulletin Board Support line. 



8) d-Time Version 1.10 has four informative Full Motion Video clips included to illustrate the acceleration which d-Time provides to CD-ROM applications. 



CUSTOMER SUPPORT



We have employed a courteous and knowledgeable technical staff to assist 
users having difficulty with d-Time. We made d-Time simple 
to run, gearing it for both novice and experienced PC users. A few 
necessary modifications to the CONFIG.SYS file are automatically performed 
during the process of installing d-Time onto your system. If you have a 
problem you are unable to solve by referring to the README.TXT, the 
Online Help files, or the Users Guide, our Technical Support staff or Bulletin 
Board Support line will be able to assist you with more in-depth explanations. 
Our hours are from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, Pacific 
time. The Technical Support number is (206) 656-8071. The BBS number 
is (206) 656-8125. 



There are many advantages to using a CD-ROM compared to a floppy disk. 
CD-ROMs are less expensive, they are more durable, and they hold much more
information. We also concentrated on making this product easy to operate, 
so the user can save valuable time and eliminate installation headaches. 



CD-ROM applications are the latest craze in today's computer 
industry. There are a wide variety of applications available on CD-ROM, 
including subjects concerning business, history, nature and the environment,
music, literature and the arts, as well as multimedia learning aides. In addition, 
there are hundreds of video games on CD-ROM that are both educational 
and entertaining for the user. More than 8,000 titles exist, and organizations 
are now creating their own CD's in house. 



Because of the huge demand for CD-ROM applications, CD-ROM drives are 
becoming an essential part of the computer. However, anyone who has tried to run 
software from a CD-ROM drive knows that the devices are notoriously slow. 
That's where d-Time comes into the picture. d-Time uses a new way of storing 
access patterns and data to RAM and/or a hard disk, which dramatically improves 
the performance of any CD-ROM drive on subsequent access to the same data. 



Thank you for purchasing d-Time. We hope you enjoy our product. 



REGISTERING d-Time 



Please take a moment to sign and return your registration card. 
This will allow Ballard Synergy to inform you of future releases 
of d-Time and other products that may be of interest to you. This 
will also enable us to let you know where to obtain additional 
Timelogs as they become available. 



d-Time SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 



You will need the following hardware and software in order to run d-Time: 



A 386 SX or better; A CD-ROM drive; 2 MB of RAM; CD-ROM applications; 
MSCDEX version 2.1 or higher; and MS DOS version 4.01 or higher. 



HOW ACCELERATION WORKS 



CD-ROM caching uses RAM to store frequently used data. Acceleration 
goes much further, using the entire system, including RAM and Disk Space, to 
speed up the CD-ROM. By creating an acceleration file on the hard disk, 
it is possible to have all applications share the disk space via d-Time. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF ACCELERATING WITH A HARD DISK 



Hard disk prices have dropped dramatically in the last year and can be 
purchased for less than $1.00 dollar per Megabyte. Contrarily, prices for 
RAM fluctuates daily and costs up to $60 dollars per Megabyte. 



INSTALLING d-Time 



Necessary Modifications Before Installing d-Time: 



If you have Microsoft DOS 6.2 with SMARTDRV.EXE v 5.0 loaded onto your 
system, d-Time automatically adds the /U option to SMARTDRV.EXE. Version 
5.0 is the only version that caches the CD-ROM drive. Using CD-ROM cache 
programs will counteract the acceleration mode by decreasing the system's 
performance. 



MEMORY MANAGERS 



To use Memory Managers other than those supplied with Microsoft DOS (HIMEM.SYS 
(extended) and EMM386.EXE (expanded)), please refer to your memory manager's 
documentation. 



After you have completed installing d-Time, please run the optimization 
software included with your Memory Manager. Refer to the list below if 
necessary: 



Type of Memory Managers 



1) QEMM = Optimize 


2) 386MAX = Maximize 


3) DOS 6.2 = Memmaker 


4) NETROOM = Customize 



d-Time installation software will help you install the acceleration 
driver. Once d-Time is loaded, the HELP WINDOW will change to 
display guidelines and relevant information during each option. This 
product will work with your existing hard disk caching software, 
but any other CD-ROM caching applications must be removed from your 
system. If you are still having problems installing d-Time, read the 
Troubleshooting Guide, or call our Technical Support at (206) 656-8071, 
or our BBS line at (206) 656-8125. 



To change accelerator settings after you have installed d-Time, go to the d-Time 
directory and type DTIME.EXE 



MENU COMMANDS 



Install/Update: Modifies the CONFIG.SYS file. If the disk based acceleration 
is enabled, it creates a hidden system file to store the data on the 
specified volume. CONFIG.SYS is always backed up to CONFIG.CDT. 



Remove: Removes the device driver line in the CONFIG.SYS, and can erase 
any hard disk acceleration files that presently exist. 



Help: Displays the README.TXT file, which includes the Troubleshooting Guide. 



Timelog: The Timelog option supplements d-Time by running concurrently 
with this application, and is highly recommended for users with slower 
systems. The Timelog command lets the user load pre-initialized data 
(if a Timelog file already exists), for the currently 
active CD-ROM. Timelog allows the user to create preinitialized data for other 
titles, and have them stored on hard disk. For easier recall, the 
user can choose any name for an accelerated title and have it saved under the 
Timelog Command. In case of an accidental flush, the user can recreate the 
data stored on the acceleration file by loading a Timelog. 



Timelog prompts the user to select a desired CD-ROM Timelog. It then asks 
permission to load the Timelog file for the CD-ROM. Timelog reads each
sector created for the specified file. This takes 1 to 10 minutes, 
depending on the degree of demand on the CD-ROM drive, and the amount of 
information previously stored. The escape key will cancel the loading option 
if you change your mind. 



For your convenience, several titles have already been accelerated, and have been 
included with d-Time ver 1.10. You'll find preinitialized Timelogs for many of 
the most popular CD-ROM applications. 



Benchmark: Allows the user to test performance levels of the CD-ROM 
drive and the hard drive. The hard drive needs to out-perform the CD-ROM 
drive to provide a noticeable speed increase using disk based acceleration. 



Flush: Allows the user to remove all data from the RAM based cache and/or 
the disk file. If the disk file is flushed, the system needs 
to be rebooted in order to re-enable disk based acceleration. 



Eject: Allows the user to eject the CD-ROM application from the selected 
CD-ROM drive. This option works only with CD-ROM drives equipped 
with electronic ejection. 



ACCELERATOR SETTINGS 



CD-ROM Drive: Allows the user to select the CD-ROM drive to accelerate. 
It is assumed that a CD-ROM drive is already properly configured into the 
system with the appropriate CD-ROM device driver. 



DOS RAM Cache: Allows the user to set the amount of XMS memory 
needed to allocate RAM based cache when in DOS. It is assumed that 
you have an XMS driver already loaded. If you disable the DOS RAM cache 
for any reason, it will disable all the other cache setting options. 
A disk acceleration file cannot exist without a DOS RAM cache.



Windows Cache: Allows the user to reduce the amount of XMS memory 
allocated to the RAM based cache when running Windows. On entry/exit 
to Windows the cache size is adjusted when necessary. A Windows cache 
will automatically default to the DOS RAM cache setting. You will not be 
able to disable this option by itself. The required minimal cache setting 
is 64K.



Read Ahead: Allows the user to set the amount of data to read ahead. 
The values for read ahead are: 0KB to 6KB for XMS; 0KB to 16 KB for EMS. 
Enter 0KB to disable this option. Reading Ahead will only help applications which 
repeatedly do consecutive single sector requests. Read Ahead could actually slow 
down performance if used on applications which don't need data from 
adjacent sectors. 



Disk Space: Allows the user to select both the disk volume to use for 
disk based acceleration and the size of the acceleration file. 
Compressed volumes cannot be used to store the disk file, but an 
uncompressed area on a compressed volume can be used. The partition 
size must be larger than 15MB.



Full Motion Video: Allows the user to store random access data to RAM or 
the acceleration file on a hard disk without filling it up with data that 
can be streamed at full speed directly from the CD-ROM. Also, this option 
saves disk space when using titles with extensive full motion video clips. 



Size Reduction: Allows the user to reduce the system RAM usage by 
the driver. An Expanded Memory Driver (EMS) is needed. This option 
is disabled when using the XMS driver version of d-Time.



CONFIG.SYS PARAMETERS 



The above Accelerator Settings correspond to the following parameters, which 
are listed in the device driver command line in the CONFIG.SYS. 



/D:[NAME] NAME is the CD-ROM driver name which will be accelerated. 
Usually the default name is MSCD001. 



/U:[UNIT] If you have more than one CD-ROM drive, the unit option 
tells d-Time which CD-ROM drive to accelerate. 



/M:[SIZE] The SIZE in Kbytes of DOS RAM Cache. The memory will 
be allocated in Extended Memory. The minimum value is 64 Kbytes 




/W:[WINSZ] Windows Size (WINSZ) in Kbytes of RAM Cache while in 
Windows. The minimum value is 64 Kbytes.



/R:[COUNT] The COUNT frames are read from the CD-ROM and placed in the 
read ahead buffer when one frame is requested by the title. The values 
0-3 (0K-6K) for XMS, 0-8 (0K-16K) for EMS, are valid. Large frames are 
better for streaming and small frames are better for random reads. 



/F:[FNAME] FILE name for a hard disk file. The disk file created 
on your hard disk is a hidden file. 



/X:[RATE] RATE is the CRITICAL Kbyte/Sec. transfer rate. The /X 
option detects when Full Motion Video clips are played by monitoring 
the CD-ROM drive's data transfer rate, and stops disk acceleration if the 
Full Motion Video is enabled. 



/T:[TICKS] The /T option monitors the value stored in the /X option. 
When playing full motion video clips, d-Time will check for the 
value of the /X and /T options. Once the driver discovers that 
the established /X and /T values are met (the rate is maintained 
for the specified number of ticks), the hard disk caching will 
be disabled until the values no longer equal the value of /X and /T.
This is done automatically to save the user hard disk space by 
caching only random access data, and to allow the synchronization 
of full motion video with sound in slow computer systems. Normally, 
only the first second of the full motion video clip will be cached to 
the hard disk. /T is the critical tick in 1/18th of a second 
(18 = 1 second). 0 disables Full Motion Video mode. 



/C: Always checks the CD-ROM drive for media changes. Without 
this option, RAM caching benchmarks will be improved by about 5%. 
However, choosing not to have this option could cause the driver to 
miss a media change. 



/S1 to /S7: Allows the user to reduce the amount of memory required 
by the driver. Using the /S option decreases the performance of the driver 
when using RAM only. 




SUGGESTED SETTING'S FOR OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE
EXPANDED MEMORY ONLY (EMS) DRIVER



DOS RAM cache:
A large amount of RAM cache is not necessary with CD-ROM acceleration. 64 KB is the recommended setting. 




Windows RAM cache:
Windows RAM cache should usually be half the size of DOS RAM cache, or 64 KB minimum. 



Read Ahead:
12 KB or 6 sectors is recommended to insure that data is available when requested. With the XMS driver, this setting should be set to 6 KB or 3 sectors. 



Disk Accelerator Space:
Ballard Synergy recommends 20 MB.  The more space you allocate, the better the performance.



Full Motion Video:
Choose enabled on double speed drives and above, disabled for single speed drives. Answering yes to this will store all pertinent data even if it's Full Motion Video.  Saying no will save a significant amount of space on the disk file.



Size Reduction:
Set at S5. Higher size reduction results in more base memory saved. (This option slows performance somewhat when using RAM only).This feature is not available with the XMS driver.




SUGGESTED SETTING'S FOR OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE
EXTENDED MEMORY ONLY (XMS) DRIVER



When you're using the XMS driver the DOS RAM cache and the Windows cache will maintain a setting of 64KB, and the Size Reduction will be disabled. We recommend that the acceleration file be set at 20MB or larger. The Read Ahead must be set to 0KB.




TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE 



The following information should help you become comfortable with 
using d-Time. This application has been thoroughly tested with a 
variety of hardware and software combinations before being released to 
the public. We strongly recommend that you use the installation 
software to modify the accelerator options. 



PROBLEMS WITH ACCELERATION: While using a CD-ROM based application 
or game, the animations play more slowly than they would from an unaccelerated 
CD-ROM drive. 



a) The hard disk you are using is not faster than your CD-ROM drive. Install the 
disk file on a faster hard disk. Remember to use Benchmark to compare the data 
transfer rates of the CD-ROM drive and hard disk. 



THE DISK FILE CANNOT BE CREATED. 



a) DOS 3.3 is only able to create partitions of 15MB or less. Newer versions of 
DOS (4.0 and up) can create larger partitions, but the minimum partition size 
required for use by d-Time is 16MB or larger.



b) You do not have enough expanded or extended memory available.



c) You have a compressed drive. The disk file can only be created on uncompressed 
drives. Please follow the directions of your compression software to reallocate 
your more uncompressed space on your host drive. 



d-Time IS NOT ACCELERATING THE CD-ROM DRIVE 



a) The Disk file has been flushed. You need to reboot the computer 
before d-Time will start accelerating again. 



b) d-Time is not installed. Install the driver, then reboot the computer. 



c) You have installed d-Time, but you have not rebooted the computer. 



d) You have a CD-ROM cache program enabled. You must disable 
the CD-ROM cache program. 



CANNOT READ CD-ROM DRIVE 



a) The CD-ROM driver is not installed. Try installing the CD-ROM 
driver, then reboot the system. 



b) If you use a memory manager other than Microsoft, ensure that 
MSCDEX.EXE has the /E option enabled. 



c) You need to allocate more Extended/Expanded Memory. Please 
consult your DOS instruction manual for more information. 





"d-Time (TM) CD-ROM ACCELERATOR IS DISABLED" 



a) This error message arises when there is a memory conflict 
or allocation problem. You no longer have any Expanded Memory available. 
To correct this error, you will need to run the d-Time configuration 
software and make the recommended adjustments 
which will be presented on screen.


 
b) d-Time will only allow you to use the adjusted resources that 
are available. 



c) You have allocated more memory for RAM cache than you have available. 



d) d-Time was installed before the CD-ROM driver in CONFIG.SYS. Make sure that the 
CD-ROM driver statement precedes the d-Time statement in CONFIG.SYS. 



MEMORY CONFLICTS: Windows 3.x or higher will not execute. 



a) Reduce RAM and/or disk file size. Do not forget to leave 
available memory for Windows. If you load d-Time and allocate all available XMS 
for RAM cache, you will not be able to run Windows. If you choose to have a large 
RAM cache you need to adjust the Windows cache size to half the size of the RAM cache.



THE DISK FILE WAS CREATED BUT IS INACTIVE. 



a) You do not have enough memory allocated to support the 
disk file. Please allocate more memory and reboot the system. 



TIMELOG ONLY LOADS INFORMATION TO A CERTAIN POINT, THEN STOPS. 



a) It's possible that the percentage that loaded will be sufficient to accelerate 
your program. However, you may want to go back to DTIME.EXE and increase 
the size of your disk acceleration file. 



HARD DISK HAS SEVERAL MEGABYTES OF FREE SPACE, BUT STILL CANNOT 
ALLOCATE ALL AVAILABLE SPACE. 



a) More Expanded or Extended Memory needs to be allocated. Consult your DOS book 
for a detailed explanation. 



FULL MOTION VIDEO RUNS TERRIBLY. IT'S JERKY AND OUT OF SYNC. 



a) There are several factors that may effect the performance of Full Motion Video on your system. The 
amount of RAM on your system is very important, and so is the speed of your system itself. The video card 
will make a difference also - the better the video card, the better Full Motion Video will perform. If you 
find that FMV seems to run in a disjointed, jerky manner, you can reduce the size of the video window. 
This should increase the speed, thereby helping Full Motion Video to appear much more seamless. 



I JUST INSTALLED d-Time, AND WHEN I RUN WINDOWS, EVERYTHING 
ELSE SLOWS WAY DOWN! WHAT DO I DO? 



a) You are running out of RAM. If you have 4 or 8 Mbs of RAM, Windows may need all of 
it. This is especially true if you're running other applications within Windows. 
You can solve this by getting more RAM, or by reducing the RAM cache and Windows cache 
to 64 KB each, and then reducing the acceleration file to between 10 and 20 megabytes. 



I DON'T SEE ANY ACCELERATION ON MY SOFTWARE. WHY IS THIS? 



a) d-Time must have read the CD title at least once in order to accelerate it. Run the 
title again.




b) On certain titles (for example, those with Full Motion Video) you may not 
be able to perceive the changes easily. However, if you run TIMESTAT.EXE, the 
program will tell you the hit/miss ratio. The more hits, the better d-Time is performing. 
Misses tell you how many times your program returned to the CD-ROM for data, and hits 
tell you how many times it was able to access the necessary data from RAM or the hard disk. 



TRADEMARKS 



d-Time is a trademark of the d-Time Division of Ballard Synergy. Other 
brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. 



