|
Reference Disks (refdisk downloads - RAW IMA format)
TG0 Utility LDF.COM or TGSFX.COM
DSK Utility LOADDSKF.EXE
Create Refdisk/Diags from EXE
Under OS/2
Under DOS
DIR Under MS-DOS Mode Win NT/9x
Restoring Special Byte Code
FORCEDOS under NT4
Refdisk Requires Cold Start
Can the Wrong Refdisk Damage My PS/2?
Copying Option ADFs CORRECTLY
Accessing Advanced Diags from the Refdisk
Functions and Relationship of COMMAND.COM and CMD.COM
SC.EXE Trivia
Running SC.EXE from HD
Common Refdisk Files
Create Refdisk/Diags from EXE
Note: This method doesn't apply if you grab your
disk image HERE.
Download the file (rf*.exe for refdisk, rd*.exe for diags) onto your hard
disk. Put a blank, formatted 1.44 MB floppy (caution, some options or early
refdisks use 720 KB disks) into A:. Then run the executable and follow the
instructions...
Under OS/2
Run the self-executable. The following messages will appear:
Self-extracting diskette image processor (OS/2), Version 1.03
...
Please enter a drive letter compatible with a 1.44M 3.5" disk,
or press ESC to quit:
At this time, enter "a" for your A drive, or "b" if you have a 1.44MB B drive)
and press ENTER to continue.
This screen pops up:
IBM PERSONAL SYSTEM/2 REFERENCE/OPTION DISKETTE
...
Press ENTER to continue...
Repeats four or so times.
Watch for this line! It will dump you out if you only
hit enter.
If you agree, type Y and press ENTER...
Next it prompts you to do the following actions:
Insert a blank high-density diskette in drive A:.
Press ENTER to extract, or ESC to exit -
Wait until the following screen appears:
100 percent
Extraction Complete
And finally the following screen will appear:
Press "Y" to do another copy:
Just hit enter to end this program if you don't need another copy.
Under DOS (and compatible Windows versions)
The procedure is mostly the same, but if you don't want to use the first
floppy drive, you have to specify the target drive at the command prompt. Eg.:
rf90954a.exe b:
The first screen is then confirmed simply by pressing ENTER.
DIR Under MS-DOS Mode Win NT/9x
I have created MANY ref/diags disks with W95/NT 4.0 using Windows
Explorer/NT Explorer, and NONE of them refused to work. Just double click on
the file, and the DOS window pops up. Do NOT do a "DIR" under MS-DOS mode! If
you want to surf through the new refdisk, close the MS-DOS window and return to
Explorer.
Note: Microsoft uses a 8 byte block on the
diskette for labeling purposes in Win95. During execution of the "DIR"
command, this 8 byte block is written to by Win95.
IBM uses this same 8 byte block on the diskette for ID purposes. Write
protecting the diskette prior to the "DIR" command has shown to safeguard
against this exposure. Or, you could exit the MS-DOS mode without doing a
"DIR"...
Restoring Special Byte-Code
Warning! Do NOT go to MS-DOS mode under W95 and
do a "DIR" command! This will nuke the special byte code created on the
refdisk. To put the code back on, use Bob Eager's REFSTAMP.
FORCEDOS under NT
With some refdisks/option/flash disks, I had trouble under Win NT 4.
However, going to the MS-DOS prompt and typing "forcedos *.exe" the self
extractor would work.
If you run the self-extractor from a path that contains at least one long
file name, you will have this problem. You can also solve it by copying the
self extracting program to a path with names equal to or shorter than 8
characters.
Refdisk Requires Cold Start
The correct procedure for using the Personal System/2 reference diskette is
to power on the system with the diskette inserted in the diskette drive. Soft
booting the reference diskette (ie. Ctrl-Alt-Del) may cause false errors as
well as a false indication that a power-on password is already present when you
try to set one.
Can the Wrong Refdisk Damage My PS/2?
Normally, no. For non-Flash based systems (50, 55SX, 56, 60, 65, 70, 73, 80
for example) the system has ADFs for the planar, and the POS circuitry
identifies the specific features available to the systems programs. If you use
the wrong refdisk, the system will tell you that you have been bad, and MUST be
punished... (actually, it says the refdisk is not the correct one for the
system, the system is now locked, and you must Ctrl-Alt-Del to get it to work
again)
Note: For certain Flash-based systems,
specifically the 9585 (X vs K / N models) and any system with an upgrade planar
(50 thru 80), you CAN duff it up. Reply made upgrade planars under their name
(and specific BIOS) AND under the IBM name (and specific BIOS). We are not sure
if IBM played about with the POS registers with the re-branded Reply boards,
but it sure looks like the ADF resources are different... YMMD
Warning: Making "cooked" reference diskettes to
"add features" that are not officially supported by your system (even if the
hardware supports it) may really mess things up and might cause your system to
reject valid reference diskettes. For more, see
the near disaster that
resulted from hacking a refdisk on a P75...
Copying Option ADFs to the Refdisk CORRECTLY
Just copying the ADF to the refdisk will NOT always
work. Before installing a new adapter, run Systems Programs (or Setup to
non-IBM types), choose "Copy an Options Diskette" from the main menu, and stick
in a floppy with the new ADF(s) (*.ADF, C*.ADF, I*.ADF, and *.DGS) on it when
prompted. Now when you install the new adapter, the refdisk HAS the new ADF(s)
on it, and it can autoconfigure without flashing that annoying "The description
file for the adapter in Slot x was not found".
If you are installing an IBM option, you may need both the ADF -AND- *.DGS
(IBM adapters have *.dgs files). Early systems use a single floppy for all
setup and diagnostic files, while later systems use two floppies, one for setup
files, the other for diagnostic files.
Note: Non-IBM adapters do not have a *.DGS file
and will not show up under Advanced Diagnostics. You will need the stand-alone
diagnostics from the adapter's manufacturer.
Note: If you are running an IBM adapter without a
*.DGS, it will still work, just that you can't run diagnostics on it.
Functions and Relationship of COMMAND.COM and CMD.COM (from WBST)
Each RefDisk has its own, unique COMMAND.COM which:
Checks for correct system unit type (via Int 15h AH=C0h
call and test of the returned values, primarily the Model-Submodel-Revision
bytes, but possibly others for specific feature support).
Displays the announcement "splash" screen
Implements any delay -or- key-press processing before entering Main Menu
display
Invokes CMD.COM when CTRL-A is pressed [Advanced Diagnostics].
Note: CMD.COM must accept a parameter to
distinguish between "Advanced" and "Test the Computer" invocations.
SC.EXE Trivia
>Time for wild speculation and downright baseless opinions. Which version
of IBM PC Dos would work best with the 1990 vintage SC.EXE?
From Peter:
The pre-1992 versions of the reference / diagnostic disks were
mainly based on PC-DOS 4.0 (4.01) - which caused several problems with bigger
harddisks. IBM replaced the versions with a PC-DOS 5 based system after
complaints.
The SC.EXE however should not query the DOS version number, because the
modified COMMAND.COM used on the reference disks does not return any DOS
version number at all. So it will -most likely- run under any DOS version 4.0
and above. I -at least- had no problem booting up a Mod. 70 for example under
PC DOS 7 - putting the refdisk in A: and type "SC" at the A:> prompt.
Run SC.EXE from HD?
From Rich Wolos
Probably don't qualify for any titles, but we did put the refdisk
files on several Model 70 hard drives at the shop. (in \refdisk directory).
Found we usually could run SC.EXE (set config) to add/remove memory, also
adapter cards if the ADF's were there, and also setclock.exe and few others.
Someone discovered you could type c:\refdisk>command and that would bring up
the opening refdisk menu.
Common Refdisk Files
SHARE.EXE
COMMAND.COM & CMD.COM
Discussed HERE
BACKUP.EXE Backs up reference and diagnostics disk, or does it back
up the CMOS contents to floppy?
CONFIG.SYS
DIAGS COM The big enchilada that calls up the *.dgs files and runs
diagnostics.
KP.COM Keyboard password utility (KP.COM) locks the keyboard
temporarily without turning the system off.
LLFORMAT.COM Called up by DIAGS.COM (?)
PASSWORD.COM Power-On Password application?
POSTERR.COM Brings up a simple message in case of a POST error...
RECV35.COM (Thanks, David Beem!) A parallel port Interlink (before
there was such a thing). IBM sold an option of a dongle that was attached to
the DB25 PS/2 parallel port & had a Centronics 36-pin connection on the
other side. The option included a diskette with the file send.com for running
on the other system with the printer cable to connect to the dongle. On the
PS/2 you could map the others' drives to copy files (It was marketed as a way
to transfer files from the older 5-1/4 format to the new 3.5 format used on the
PS/2.). Look at the Data
Migration Facility
SETCLOCK.COM Sets the date/time. Runs from command line.
SETRATE.COM Sets typematic rate for KB. Runs from command line.
SC.EXE The big enchilada for setting configuration. Will run and
configure from command line in a pure DOS (MS or PC) environment.
UPDATE.EXE Updates BIOS in CMOS? Or does it update CMOS info on
floppy?
USERINT EXE User Interface
DSPREVL.EXE "Display Release Level" (?) where it shows BIOS and
ref/diags levels.
IBMCACHE.COM The installation program IBMCACHE.COM copies
IBMCACHE.SYS
from the backup copy of the Reference Diskette to the root
directory of fixed disk drive C, and creates or modifies the fixed disk
CONFIG.SYS tile to contain a statement with this format:
device = \ibmcache.sys [sssss] [/E] [/Pn]
[sssss] is the cache size in K Bytes, and is specified as a decimal value.
The valid range is 16 to 512 if low memory is used, 16 to 15360 if extended
memory is used. The default cache size is 64KB for low memory, 128KB for
extended memory.
[/E] tells IBMCACHE.SYS to use extended memory. The default condition is for
IBMCACHE.SYS to use low memory.
Note: High-speed communications may overrun and create data Errors if the cache
is in extended memory. Also, IBMCACHE.SYS is compatible with VDISKSYS, but may
possibly conflict with other extended memory applications.
[/Pn] is the cache page size in sectors. Valid values for n are 2, 4, and 8.
The default page size is 4. Some application programs may perform better with
different page size values.
IBMCACHE.SYS IBMCACHE.SYS is a device driver that allows a portion of
the computer memory to be used as a fixed disk cache (see the DOS manual for
information about device drivers and the Buffers command). It can speed up
application programs by keeping in the cache fixed disk data that is accessed
repeatedly. When an application program requests fixed disk data that is
already in the cache, the data is sent directly to the application program.
This is quicker than if the data had to be read from the fixed disk again. Only
one IBMCACHE.SYS device driver can be installed. It uses about 8KB of memory
plus the size of the cache. All fixed disks attached to the computer are
supported.
INSTALL.COM I think this is "User Install" where you can install
utilities like KP.COM and PASSWORD.COM.
DASDDRVR.SYS Full description
HERE.
INSTDBUF.COM Installs DISK386.SYS
DISK386.SYS Slight details
HERE.
UNDOSCN.EXE
CHKPARM.EXE
|