TRAKCESS V1.2 Upgrade Info, Errata and Notes  2/7/81

by Roxton Baker, Box 8272, APO San Francisco 96555

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1)  The manual is incorrect in stating that to change from an ASCII to hex display (in the scrolling RAM editor) "shift/CLEAR" should be used.  In fact, only "CLEAR" should be pressed.

2)  Trakcess V1.0 would not work with with Newdos/80 because of the unusual way Newdos/80 handles the INSTR function.  It returns a "0" if the sample string is not found at all within the searched string.  All other Disk Basics return a "1".  Trakcess V1.1 and later are compatible with Newdos/80.

3)  Trakcess sets its own memory size by placing a value into 4049H.  This should work with TRSDOS 2.3, Newdos 2.1 (after 5/79 or having been patched with Apparat Zap 013), and all VTOS, Newdos/80 and other new DOS.  If you are running an earlier DOS you may find that Basic eventually overwrites the Trakcess program - causing syntax errors, undefined lines, etc.  If you are running the later DOS and STILL have this problem, please write!

4) In V1.1 and later, to leave the scrolling RAM editor simply press shift/left-arrow.  This differs from V1.0 in that you no longer recycle to a prompt for a new address.

5) In V1.1 and later the (B)uild command Specify Sectors routine will let you just press <ENTER> for a sector's ID specs (IF it is not the first sector).  Pressing <ENTER> just adds 1 to the previous sector's SN, keeping TN, SL, and IBM/NBM the same.  This lets you build a track of similar, consecutively-numbered sectors very quickly.  V1.1 and earlier were incorrect in stating that up to 80 sectors could be specified for a track.  No more than 50 sectors may be specified.  V1.2 enforces this.
    Note that upon entry to the (B)uild command, Trakcess checks to see if a valid set of sector specifications exist.  This may be the case if you have previously done a Track (C)opy or a Sector (S)can.  You may use these specifications if you wish.

6) V1.1 and later have been modified to produce printer listings to both the printer and the screen, instead of just to the printer as before.  Only the LPRINT command is used, and the Device Control Blocks are not altered.  Therefore these later versions should not interfere with other utilities that DO use the printer and/or video DCBs.

7) If you have a software printer driver in high memory remember that Trakcess uses all RAM up to EBFFH.  Memory above that is safe from alteration unless you specifically tell Trakcess to load something in there, or you write into it yourself using the RAM editor.  This value was not arbitrarily chosen - it allows you to have a monitor such as RSM-2 or STAD in memory at the same time as Trakcess.  Load it before running Trakcess, and jump to it via the SYSTEM command '/60416'.  Return from RSM-2 to Basic using 'G6CC'.  It is likely that future versions of Trakcess will require more memory, however, so this may not be possible with them.

8) In V1.1 and later it is no longer possible to "pause" a memory dump to the printer with the space bar.  This never worked well in V1.0 and seems, on reflection, rather useless.

9)  Some people have been confused by the fact that Trakcess will "read" even an empty track under the (T) command, when in fact there aren't any sectors on the track.  Nothing wrong here.  Even if a track is empty, the FDC will try to make some sense of the random magnetic patterns it finds there.  Other confusion has resulted from people reading a track and expecting to find the contents of each sector neatly lined up, one after the other.  Track reads are not like that; they show you EVERYTHING on the track, including all sector ID information, 00 and FF fillers, CRC bytes, etc.  The blocks of sector data are in there too, and are easy to recognize once you know what to look for.

10) Version 1.2 and later have many more default values specified for user entries.  Most of these are identified in the prompt by an '*' next to the default value.  Thus (*Y/N) means that pressing <ENTER> is the same as pressing Y.

11) One user wrote concerning some spectacular system crashes he was experiencing with Trakcess.  His system was an early model and apparently had some hardware instabilities in the Expansion Interface (this used to be a big problem).  Surprisingly enough, all of his normal disk formatting etc. worked fine.  His solution was to more securely ground the keyboard unit circuit card to the EI box circuit card.


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Thanks for buying Trakcess, and thanks to those who have taken the time to correspond about errors they've found or problems they've had.  If you do write, be sure to mention which DOS you're using and any other pertinent facts you can think of.

Remember that TAS will be glad to put any subsequent versions of Trakcess on your original disk at any time.  Obviously, only the one original TAS disk can be supported.  Sublicensed copies must be upgraded by the purchaser of the one original disk.

If you like Trakcess and/or if you appreciate our "share the cost" method of selling it, help us publicize either or both.  Big ads are prohibitively expensive, and a single user's letter to the editor can be worth as much as a full-page spread.  Write to other vendors whose software you'd like to buy and ask them for the same deal.  If we can do it so can they.  This method is the most workable and realistic attempt yet at distributing quality software to as many people as possible, at as low a cost as possible, while protecting the vendor's rights and investment.  There is no reason why this multicopy method could not be the rule rather than the exception.  It needs only for you, the user, to demand it.

Remember that our multicopy sales method was devised to allow you to get together with a few other users and share the cost of Trakcess.  We don't care how you share it, but we've heard that some people are selling their licensed copies at a big profit.  Not too surprising - it takes all kinds.  But that wasn't the idea.

A note concerning some other software that has recently appeared on the market:  ads can be deceiving.  You already own the most fundamentally powerful disk access utility sold.  No other program, including "Super Utility" from Soft Sector Marketing, has anywhere near the capabilities of Trakcess in reading, writing, creating, and duplicating non-standard disks.  This is NOT to say that the other programs available are not excellent zappers of standard TRSDOS-format disks.  They are, and you should buy one.  Just be aware that when an ad says "copies ANY disk!" or "reads ANY sector!" the vendor is REALLY referring only to standard or slightly non-standard disks.  He merely neglects to say so.

Finally, as of this date I believe that Trakcess V1.2 will automatically copy any TRS-80 disk on the market, with one exception.  Even this one remaining disk can easily be duplicated with a few minutes work.  I have heard, and hope it is true, that fewer "protected" disks are being produced - largely because buyers object to them.  I urge that you not buy or recommend "protected" software.  If you support such vendors, the time will come when you find yourself with an expensive disk that you CAN'T back up in any way.  Don't pay people good money to treat you like that!
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