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Summary of Contents for Megamate

Page 1: ...MicroSolution Computer Products 132 W Lincoln Hwy DeKalb IL 60115 815 756 3411 Mir ro50Iution Computer Products User s Guide ...

Page 2: ...Megamate User s Guide ...

Page 3: ...le of Contents 1 0 Introduction 1 1 1 1 Conventions Used in This Manual 1 1 1 2 System Requirements 1 2 2 0 Installation 2 1 2 1 Card Installation 2 1 2 2 Software Installation 2 2 3 0 Using Megamate 3 1 3 1 Megamate s Drive Letter 3 1 3 2 nOKB 1 4MB and 2 8MB Disks 3 2 3 3 Initializing Disks 3 2 3 3 1 MMFORMAT 3 3 3 3 2 BACKFMT 3 4 Appendix A Quick Start A 1 Appendix 8 Troubleshooting 8 1 B l Sym...

Page 4: ... 2 and nOKB laptop formats in your PC XT or AT Megamate 2 8 lets you use 2 8MB 3 5 inch diskettes too Before you start the installation of megamate take just a moment to read about the conventions used in this manual 1 1 Conventions Used in This Manual To make reading this guide a little easier we have clarified certain conventions and phrases J means that you should press the RETURN or ENTER key ...

Page 5: ...ructions in this section will guide you step by step through the installation procedure Perform the following steps to install the megamate card 1 With the power off and the computer unplugged remove any screws necessary to allow you to get access to the expansion slots in your computer 2 Make sure the interface card is set according to the following table megamate megamate 2 8 J1 A J1 C 12 B 12 I...

Page 6: ...n or hold down CTL ALT and press DEL on the keyboard 2 2 Installation 3 0 Using Megamate Megamate is usedjust like your other floppy disk drives It has its own drive letter You can access it from your programs by referring to the drive letter The DOS utilities DIR COPY CHKDSK CD MD RD etc can be used with megamate The DOS commands FORMAT DISKCOMP and DISKCOPY will work with megamate if you are run...

Page 7: ...d Initializing double density diskettes to 1 4MB format will result in unreliable operation as will initializing high density diskettes to nOKB format The same holds true for extended density diskettes Two programs are included for initializing diskettes with megamate MMFORMAT and BACKFMT MMFORMAT is a command line driven disk initialization utility similar in usage to the DOS FORMAT command BACKF...

Page 8: ...access key to a different combination of keys The access key is initially set to Ctrl Alt F What would you like BACKFMT to do when it completes the initialization ofa diskette You can select how to be informed when BACKFMT finishes initializing a diskette Would you like the diskette to be verified after formatting You should always have the diskette verified for normal operation If you tell BACKFM...

Page 9: ...complete You may notice the drive light going off on a drive being background formatted when you access another diskette drive This is normal because only one diskette drive can be used at a time BACKFMT will give priority to another program if it is accessing a diskette drive When the program seems to be done with the diskette drive BACKFMT will continue The BACKFMT menu is not available while yo...

Page 10: ...view section 2 2 for information on software installation The activity light on megamate never illuminates When you are trying to access megamate nothing happens Eventually a drive not ready or other failure message appears megamate 1 4MB version only This can occur ifthe setting ofjumpers J I and 2 on the megamate card does not match the software configuration Make sure that you have run MEGAPREP...

Page 11: ...ard in your computer uses the I O addresses that megamate is using Remove the megamate card and the MEGAMATE SYS software to see if the problem goes away Ifit does there appears to be an I O address conflict If it doesn t megamate is not the B 2 Troubleshooting source of the problem Read Appendix C and try another jumper option if necessary With megamate installed on an AT T PC 6300 the activity l...

Page 12: ...thing like device megamate sys 08 7 3 NODMA megamate 2 8 Try selecting an alternate DMA channel for the megamate card Review Appendix C for information about DMA channels 8 4 Troubleshootin J 1 1 The CompatiCard IV 8105 Version X XX message does not ap pear before your computer boots even though you have enabled the 8105 ROM The computer boots normally megamate 2 8 only This will occur if another ...

Page 13: ...es for the megamate card we can prevent conflicts with cards already in your computer Megamate is shipped to you with the address selected the way that works with most computers If you experience problems using megamate which seem to be related to an I O port conflict you will need to try one of the other two configurations Please note that while there are actually four possible configurations one...

Page 14: ...n that should be sufficient to allow the use of the additional features of CompatiCard IV The complete CompatiCard IV documentation and a software diskette can be purchased from Micro Solutions for a nominal fee Read the following sections to learn how to make the most of your megamate2 8 card C 2 Card Ootions C 2 1 Summary of Switch Settings This section is meant to be a quick reference for the s...

Page 15: ...e installed CompatiCard IV as a Secondary Controller but it does not work After reading the section on troubleshooting you conclude that the problem may be from another card in the computer trying to use the same electronic address Set 11 to a different secondary address B C or D and try again C 2 3 BIOS Address SWl l 2 3 You must set the address the computer will use to read the BIOS ROM This is ...

Page 16: ...ON OFF Factory setting 3 3 ON ON Optional in PC AT only not XT 2 2 OFF OFF Must also jumper for Interrupt 6 Table C 6 DMA Channel Switch and Jumper Settings SWl 5 off and SW1 6 off is a special case that should be used only as a last resort When both switches are off the DMA channel must be jumpered for channel 2 and the interrupt must be jumpered for 6 on header 12 of the card This option defeats...

Page 17: ... available The original type used in the AT has only one spindle speed of 360 RPM 360KB density and 1 2MB density are achieved by using data transfer rates of 300Kbps and 500Kbps respectively Almost all aftermarket drives have two spindle speeds available 300 RPM and 360 RPM With a dual speed drive the data transfer rates to achieve 360KB and 1 2MB densities would be 250Kbps and 500Kbps CompatiCar...

Page 18: ...Type Add to CONFIG SYS 5 25 inch 360KB device driver sys Id 16 If OIt 40 Is 9 h 2 5 25 inch 1 2MB device driver sys Id 16 If 1 It 80 Is 15 h 2 3 5 inch nOKB device driver sys Id 16 If 2 1t 80 Is 9 h 2 3 5 inch 1 4MB device driver sys Id 16 If 7 1t 80 Is 18 h 2 Table 6 4 DRIVER SYS Commands to Retain Drive A after Auto Boot Assume your computer has one 360KB drive and you use CompatiCard IV to add ...

Page 19: ...ard ODtions are using a 3 5 inch IAMB or 2 8MB drive set the switches accordingly For all other drive types e g nOKB and 8 inch or when no drive is in use set both switches OFF If you connect a 1 2MB 5 25 inch drive to connector P2 of CompatiCard IV using a twisted cable you will use the preceding tables to find that the drive position number is O Using this information you find that you should se...

Page 20: ...I card address setting B D for the x in the line below Add the following line to the CONFlG SYS file making sure that it precedes the line referencing MEGAMATE SYS device mm28bios sys Ix 3 Save the modified CONFIG SYS file on your DOS system disk Make sure the CONFlG SYS MEGAMATE SYS and MM28BIOS SYS files are all in the root directory so that DOS can find them when the computer starts up At this ...

Page 21: ...o Solutions and ask for megamate technical assistance Please have the following information handy before calling The serial number of your megamate The make and model of the computer you are using Our technical assistance staff will be happy to answer your questions Monday through Friday during normal business hours at 8 15 756 3411 T hni 1 C l lnnnrt 1 _ 1 ...

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