Analyzing The Disk - Alpha Microsystems AM-6000 Owner's Manual

Page 5-8
In addition to many other pieces of information about the status of the computer, SYSTAT shows how
much memory is assigned to each job. The SYSTAT command is explained in detail in the System
Commands Reference Manual.
If you decide to permanently change the amount of memory allocated to a job, you can modify the
system initialization file following the instructions below.
1. Make a copy of the initialization file and edit it, as discussed previously.
2. Scan through the file until you come to the SETJOB statement that attaches the terminal to the
specific job whose memory you want to change. The amount of memory you allocated to that
job is one of the parameters in the SETJOB statement, immediately following the terminal name.
The number reflected in the SETJOB statement, following the terminal name, is the
amount of memory currently allocated to the job. You can increase this number or
decrease it as long as you keep in mind how much total memory your computer has, and
how much memory the other jobs need.
3. The last statement in the system initialization file is MEMORY 0. This statement allocates to the
System Operator's job all the memory not specifically assigned to other jobs.
If you want to increase the amount of memory assigned to the job attached to the operator
terminal—the terminal the computer boots on, connected to Port #0—all you need to do is
subtract memory from some other job.
4. Save the TEST.INI file and exit AlphaVUE. Then, perform a test reboot by running MONTST as
described earlier in this chapter. You can then use the STAT or SYSTAT command to see how
much memory is assigned to each job.

ANALYZING THE DISK

A disk diagnostic program reads data from a disk. If it cannot read an area of the disk, it reports the
problem to you. Checking your disk frequently with disk diagnostic programs helps prevent data loss—
the sooner you catch a malfunction, the less data is likely to be affected.
The type of problem found by disk diagnostics is known as a "hard error," because it means data is lost.
A "soft error" means the computer had trouble reading the data, but data was not lost. Disk diagnostics
do not report soft errors.
If a diagnostic program indicates problems, you may need to restore data from a backup copy or
reconstruct the data on a damaged disk. If you have this type of problem, consult the section
"Recovering From Disk Errors" in the System Operator's Guide.
Before running any of the disk diagnostic tests, especially if you suspect a problem, it is a good idea to
use the SET DSKERR command:
SET DSKERR
SET DSKERR causes the computer to report the location of any hard errors the diagnostic program
finds. If you don't use SET DSKERR, the diagnostic tells you only that an error occurred, not where on
the disk it happened. You must run the diagnostic program from the same job where you used SET
DSKERR.
RETURN
AM-6000 Computer Owner's Manual, Rev. 00
Chapter Five