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Oric MICRODISC Manual

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Summary of Contents for Oric MICRODISC

  • Page 2 THE ORIC MICRODISC M A N U A L...
  • Page 3 Oric can accept no responsibility for such omissions and/or errors, nor for damage or loss resulting from work carried out on the product by persons other than those authorised to do so, by Oric Products International Limited.
  • Page 4 SAFETY All dangerous voltages are contained within the power supply unit which plugs directly into the mains electricity supply. If you suspect this unit of being faulty D O N O T attempt to remove the outer case and plug the unit into the mains with the inside exposed.

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    C O N T E N T S Page C H A P T E R 1 A B O U T T H I S U S E R G U I D E C H A P T E R 2 A B O U T D A T A S T O R A G E Why do we need data storage? Magnetic disc storage...
  • Page 6 ILLUSTRATIONS Magnetic disc surface (40 tracks 10 sectors) F I G U R E 1 A 3 inch microdisc and a 5.25 inch flexible disc F I G U R E 2 A system with four disc drive units F I G U R E 3...

  • Page 7: About This User Guide

    C H A P T E R 1 About this User Guide This user guide is intended to help you in the correct use of the ORIC microdisc system, and is aimed at existing and future users of ORIC-1 and A T M O S microcomputer users.

  • Page 8: About Data Storage

    (if you have not already got one) which plugs into the computer. The ORIC-1 B A S I C P R O G R A M M I N G M A N U A L - - Chapter 2 tells you about tape recorders.

  • Page 9: Magnetic Disc Storage

    (like the cover of a record), this prevents damage to the surface. There is a slot in the jacket to allow the read/write heads to access the disc surface. The 3 inch microdisc, apart from being smaller is permanently enclosed in a rigid plastic case which makes it more robust than the flexible disc.
  • Page 10 Sector (256 bytes long) 10(K) 1(A) 9(J) 2(B) 8(H) 3(c) 7(G) 4(D) 6(F) 5(E) Track 39 Track 0 Figure 1 - - Magnetic disc surface (40 tracks, 10 sectors)

  • Page 11: Disc Files And Directories

    0 for the storing of certain essential information about the disc itself. For the more technically minded user, here is a list of items stored in the O R I C microdisc system sector: - - T h e...
  • Page 12 A 3 inch microdisc Magnetic disc Mechanical Write protect drive hole sticker Write protect Access slot slot for read/write Permanent heads protective paper jacket A 5.25 inch flexible disc Figure 2 - - A 3 inch microdisc and a 5.25 inch flexible disc...

  • Page 13: The Disc Drive Unit

    - - The n u m b e r of sectors currently free for storing data on (excluding directories) - - The location of the first directory sector and the first data sector free. The Disc Drive Unit Probably the most obvious difference between disc and tape storage is the speed of operation with a disc system, it is possible to write data to a disc and read data from a disc many times faster than from a tape system.

  • Page 14: The Oric Microdisc System

    In addition to the D O S , there is also a lot of information on the system disc, in the form of 'help' pages and we shall tell you how to use these in Chapter 5.

  • Page 15: The Disc Drive

    The addition of a disc system to your microcomputer does not reduce the amount of free R A M available to you for storing programs or data, the A T M O S (48K) and ORIC-1 (48K) microcomputers still give you a minimum of 37K bytes free.
  • Page 16 M O N I T O R M I C R O C O M P U T E R T E L E V I S I O N mains SLAVE DISC SLAVE DISC S L A V E DISC M A S T E R D R I V E U N I T 3 D R I V E U N I T 2...
  • Page 17 A 5.25 inch 'floppy' disc drive connects with the microcomputer in the same way as the O R I C microdisc drive, however the power supply arrangement may be different. Currently, all disc drives supplied by O R I C are single sided and all discs...

  • Page 18: Getting Started

    If you have purchased a microcomputer and a microdisc system you will find separate instructions for setting up the ORIC-1 or A T M O S , in the packing with the microcomputer. You will also need some spare 3 inch microdiscs and your dealer will almost certainly be able to supply these.
  • Page 19 4 way D I N socket for a 3 inch microdisc drive. Connect the jack plug into the power socket on the computer, and a D I N socket into the 4 way D I N plug on the back of each microdisc drive.
  • Page 20 Front view of drive with disc being inserted 34 way socket 'Ribbon' cable 34 pin plug Reset button ' DI N' power socket Rear view of drive Figure 4 - - O R I C Microdisc drive unit...

  • Page 21: Making A Backup Copy Of The System Disc

    O R I C DOS V1.1 (for the ORIC-1 or A T M O S ) . ORIC E X T E N D E D BASIC V1.0 (for the ORIC-1) or V1.1 (for the A T M O S ) .
  • Page 22 Before making a backup copy of the system disc you will need to format MASTER a disc, so insert one of your new discs in the disc drive (Number 0). Now type in the instruction which is !FORMAT 0 RETURN (the drive you are using is N u m b e r 0).
  • Page 23 Before you use the microdisc there are one or two important points you should be aware of regarding disc handling, typing instructions on the keyboard, protecting your data, and making mistakes.

  • Page 24: Using The Microdisc Functions

    Optional items which you may or may not wish to use in the instruction are indicated thus [ O P T I O N ] All characters typed in as part of a microdisc instruction must be in C A P I T A L S Every instruction starts with the character ! which is followed by the c o m m a n d word and finally the data.
  • Page 25 Handling magnetic discs. The following are a few do's and don'ts which apply when handling 5.25 inch floppy or 3 inch microdiscs. Do not touch any part of the disc magnetic surface which is exposed by (5.25 the gap in its protective cover. inch flexible discs only).
  • Page 26 Mistakes and error messages. There is always the possibility that something could go wrong, either because you m a k e a mistake in typing commands, or in the way the system responds which could mean that a fault has developed. To help you identify the problem and in some cases put it right, there are a number of error messages which are displayed on the screen in the event of some (not all) problem situations arising.
  • Page 27 Correct " J O B . 1 A " Filename including an extension on the default drive. " 2 - P R O G 2 5 " Filename with no extension on disc drive 2. "2-5JOB. MY" Filename with extension on drive 2. Incorrect "...
  • Page 28 Specifying disc drives Some instructions contain (source drive) and (target drive). The drive (number) being read from is the source and the drive (number) being written to is the target. If you do not specify a drive number where the instruction requires one, the system will allocate the default drive.

  • Page 29: H E L P Pages

    (by 'page' we mean a screenful of information). The information contained on these pages is mainly in the form of examples of microdisc instructions, and is intended to supplement the information contained in the remainder of Chapter 5 rather than be an alternative User Guide to this manual.
  • Page 30 You are not restricted to selecting one item of information, in fact you can select as many as you like. For example let us suppose you want to see items 1, 4, 5 and 12, just type in !HELP1 SPACE 4 SPACE 5 SPACE 12.

  • Page 31: Backup A Complete Disc

    BACKUP a complete disc D E S C R I P T I O N To copy the entire contents of one disc onto another disc. There are two procedures: one for a system with one disc drive unit and one for a system with two or more disc drive units.
  • Page 32 !BACKUP (source drive number) TO (target drive number) All the data will now be read from the source disc and written onto the target disc. When backing up is completed a message to that effect will be displayed. 3. R e m e m b e r to remove both discs and store them.

  • Page 33: Copy File(S)

    COPY file(s) D E S C R I P T I O N C O P Y is p r o b a b l y the most versatile and therefore the most complex function of the D O S . It allows you to copy the contents of an existing (old) file or set of files, to a new file or set of files.
  • Page 34 CAUTION Make sure you specify the correct disc drive numbers so that the source drive is part of the old filename and the target drive is part of the new filename. O P T I O N S There are three options which you can specify as part of the instruction and they are described as follows.
  • Page 35 !COPY "0-JOB*.B?" TO "PROG1", M will select all files (on drive 0 disc) which satisfy " J O B * . B ? " and merge them into one new file called " P R O G 1 " . wildcard If you are not sure about characters and ambiguous filenames,...
  • Page 36 When using C O P Y (with or without the Merge option), if the 'new' already exits is filename already exists on the disc, the message File displayed and the copy instruction is cancelled. There is one exception and that is when the ,O (Overwrite) option is specified, in which case the message is not displayed and the instruction is carried out.
  • Page 37 To merge all files whose names begin with J O B and which have extensions from drive 0 into a file called B O X . 2 0 5 on drive 2 with write protection. ! C O P Y " 0 - J O B * . * " T O " 2 - B O X . 2 0 5 " , P , M R E T U R N Note - - the file B O X .

  • Page 38: D E L E T E A File Or Set Of Files

    D E L E T E a file or set o f files DESCRIPTION To remove a specified file or set of files from the disc, and to remove the name(s) of the file(s) from the directory. The area previously occupied by the deleted files is free to be used again.

  • Page 39: Directory Listing

    DIRECTORY listing DESCRIPTION We mentioned previously that the name of every file stored on disc is also listed in the directory sector. In addition, the length of each file in sectors and its write .protect status is also listed. This function allows you to display a list of all files, a set of files or one file, together with the file length in sectors and the write protect status.
  • Page 40 The bottom line gives the number of sectors used up by files, followed by the n u m b e r of sectors free which can still be used for files and finally, the total n u m b e r of sectors on the disc excluding those used for systems and directory information.

  • Page 41: Drive Default Setting

    DRIVE default setting D E S C R I P T I O N Some instructions ( C O P Y for example) give you the option of specifying a disc drive number or not. If you do not specify the drive number, the system automatically selects the default drive as defined by this function.

  • Page 42: F O R M A T A Disc

    F O R M A T a disc D E S C R I P T I O N To format, initialise and name, a disc in a specified drive unit. I N S T R U C T I O N Type in !FORMAT <drive number>...

  • Page 43: L O A D A File From Disc

    L O A D a file f r o m disc D E S C R I P T I O N This function loads a B A S I C or machine code file. If the program you wish to load was saved: a) with the A U T O option (for a B A S I C program) b) with a transfer address (for a machine code program) then the program will automatically 'run' as soon as it is loaded.
  • Page 44 P R O T E C T a file D E S C R I P T I O N Changes the write protect status of a specified file or set of files. I N S T R U C T I O N !PROT <ambiguous filename>...

  • Page 45: P R O T E C T A File

    R E N A M E a file D E S C R I P T I O N T o c h a n g e the n a m e of a file held on disc I N S T R U C T I O N ! R E N A M E <Filename>...

  • Page 46: S A V E A File To Disc

    S A V E a file to disc D E S C R I P T I O N To save: - - A B A S I C program as a file - - A machine code program as a file - - A block of memory as a file INSTRUCTIONS Save a BASIC p r o g r a m...
  • Page 47 2. If the filename specified, already exists on disc, a message to this effect is displayed. Following are some examples of instructions. RETURN !SAVE ' P R O G ' , AUTO a B A S I C program is stored under the filename P R O G .

  • Page 48: System Disc Drive Reconfiguration

    SYSTEM disc drive reconfiguration DESCRIPTION This function enables you to tell the computer how many disc drives are connected and whether each one is single sided or double sided, 40 track or 80 track. In addition, you can also change the name of a disc. This function is different from all the other DOS functions in that it is not held in m e m o r y , but remains on disc until it is called up by the c o m m a n d word.

  • Page 49: O P E N A File

    O P E N a file (for writing or reading) CLOSE a file (from reading or writing) PUT data in a file GET data from a file DESCRIPTION (in general) These four instructions are concerned with data (as opposed to arrays and programs) and are interdependent to a large degree.

  • Page 50: C L O S E A File

    NOTES If you specify the R option, the filename must already exist on the disc If you specify the W option, the filename must NOT already exist on the disc. CLOSE a file (from reading or writing) DESCRIPTION C L O S E a file which is currently O P E N , (for reading from or writing to). If the file was open for writing to, a new file is created by CLOSE.
  • Page 51 NOTES This instruction can only be used after an O P E N instruction has specified the name of a file for writing data into, i.e. with the ,W option. The data must be specified in the form of expressions. An expression can be numeric or string and expressions must be separated from each other by commas.

  • Page 52: S T O R E A B A S I C Array

    S T O R E a B A S I C array D E S C R I P T I O N To store an array of B A S I C variables (string, real or integer) under a specified filename.

  • Page 53: R E C A L L A B A S I C Array

    R E C A L L a B A S I C array DESCRIPTION To read a BASIC array (string, real or integers) and load it into R A M under your own array name. INSTRUCTION !RECALL <new array name>, <filename> RETURN NOTES If you do not specify an extension to the filename, the system...
  • Page 54 Appendix E R R O R N U M B E R S A N D M E S S A G E S N o r m a l l y when an error occurs a message is printed indicating this. H o w e v e r this action can be suppressed by P O K E 1277,1 or re-enabled P O K E 1277,0.
  • Page 55 E R R O R 8 - - w i l d c a r d ( s ) n o t a l l o w e d !LOAD A wildcard filename was used where it is not allowed e.g. "...
  • Page 56 17 - - E R R O R u n k n o w n a r r a y !STORE and ! R E C A L L may generate this error. These commands require that the arrays they specify must previously be DIM'ed. E R R O R 18 - - target d r i v e not source d r i v e The change disc option (C) of !COPY requires that only one drive is...
  • Page 57 E R R O R 26 - - d i s c w r i t e - p r o t e c t e d It is not possible to change the contents of a disc if the write-protect tab is in the protected position.

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