Jim, thinking out loud here, Sure, the directory structure for a single large disk could get fixed to address the issue. I wonder though if we might want something else.
What if we had a smallish (360kB) drive B, intended for file sharing? Use case: Someone imports and configures all of Wordstar. Great! Now, copy those files to B: (360kB). Use RXCUTL to make a backup of the disk, and then post or email the disk image. This would be an improvement over posting the files in a zip. ..Steve On Thu, Oct 29, 2020 at 5:45 AM Jim Anderson <[email protected]> wrote: > So I recently wanted to try printing from WordStar 3.3 and discovered that > worked quite nicely. I also discovered that WordStar 4.0 has support for > the early HP LaserJets (and, therefore, possibly my HP 4000N may understand > it), and also the spell check may be better integrated and/or at least > configurable for VT100 unlike the version of SPELSTAR that is on > classiccmp.org (and reliably check spelling, although I have figured that > problem out - more below). Naturally I went on to try putting WordStar 4.0 > in USER 4 on my REXCPM since I still had more than half the disk space > available :) > > I ran into a few issues which I thought I'd mention here for the benefit > of others, and resolved some of them (but not others). > > First, a hardware thing: in order to run RXCUTL.BA (the utility for > backing up and restoring the REX and CP/M parts of the REXCPM memory), you > need to unload the REX hook (Ctrl-X from the M100 menu screen) and then > power-cycle the M100 to reset the REX module's state. Well, I was trying > to run a backup tonight and kept getting the error (I forget the exact > message) you get if you forget the power-cycle step (which I had definitely > not forgotten - multiple times). Turns out, while I've got my DMP-105 > hooked up to the parallel port and powered on, when I turn the M100 off > there's power being fed back into the M100 from the printer through the > parallel port and this keeps the REX from resetting. I only figured this > out because it *also* causes the 'low battery' LED on the M100 to > illuminate when the power is switched off. Weird, and probably nothing can > be done about this - I haven't even checked with another parallel printer > to see if this is unique to the DMP-105 or not. I just thought I'd mention > it in case anybody else runs into such a thing. > > So, WordStar 4.0 - I discovered in the process of copying this over that > IMPORT.COM was only copying the first 64kb of any large files over 64kb > in size. Further testing shows that this only happens when using > IMPORT.COM with my NADSbox - if I use mComm on my phone it imports the > full file (the largest was 163kb). I don't know if this is a limitation of > the NADSbox or just some weird interaction between it and IMPORT.COM - of > course, there isn't really any other way to test pulling a large file over > 64kb from the NADSbox that I'm aware of... > > This got me worried about backup integrity because I'd been making backups > using RXCUTL.BA to my NADSbox and those files are enormous (545kb for the > REX backup and 3457kb for the CP/M backup). What if it doesn't write good > data for large files? I know I did a full backup and restore as a test in > the first few days after I got my REXCPM but I don't remember if that > restore was done using mComm, LaddieAlpha, or the NADSbox. I tested > tonight making backups to mComm and to the NADSbox (this is why I was > whining about the speed again earlier tonight :) ) and diffed the resulting > files - they are identical. Whew, my backups are good. I'll test later > what happens if I restore one of these backups from the NADSbox and try to > remember to post my results - it will be interesting to see if it only > supplies the first 64kb or if it goes the distance. > > Last point - what led me to this whole backup/restore thing is that while > I was copying over WordStar 4.0 into a new user area I've run into a CP/M > limit and put too many files into A: for the directory structure to > handle. Sorry, I should have counted them to see how many there were, but > I'm sure it's a documented figure. It may be that 4mb is overkill for > REXCPM unless you're planning to store mostly very large files (or unless > there's a fix for the directory structure limits?), like maybe using > WordStar to write a big novel or something, or writing very large > programs. I forgot to count the number of files I had in all user areas at > the time (I've since made a backup and deleted a bunch of cruft) but I did > note that there was still 1430kb free. > > Okay, the above statements about large files etc. may not be so valid - > doing a little late-night googling right now, I'm finding some info which > indicates that the file system allocates a directory entry for every 16kb > of a file (as a workaround for the fact that each directory entry can only > keep track of 16 1kb blocks)... this means that even if you load it up with > large files you're going to run out of directory space as a 160kb file > would consume ten directory entries. It also seems that the directory can > be different sizes on different systems and disk formats... so: > > I guess this is a question for Philip Avery - how big is the directory > structure in the 2mb and 4mb REXCPM images? Can it be made bigger in the > 4mb image? If so, is this something one could do oneself (not being an > expert on filesystems, but being adventurous and willing to play with a hex > editor), or best left to the professionals? :) > > > > > > > > jim > >
