Getting Started
Page 3-5
AM-6000 Computer Owner's Manual, Rev. 00
computer—since you are using a different system initialization command file the devices may be defined
differently.
For example, if your computer contains one hard disk drive, split into three logical devices, and one
diskette drive:
•
When your computer boots from the hard drive (the usual state of affairs), the hard drive would
be referenced as three disk devices named DSK0:, DSK1:, and DSK2:. The diskette drive is
named FLP0: if it takes 3.5 " diskettes, and MIN0: if it takes 5.25" diskettes.
•
If you modify your computer to boot from the diskette drive, the hard drive might be referenced
as three disk devices named WIN0:, WIN1:, and WIN2:, and the diskette drive is named DSK0:.
Remember, this is only an example. Your computer may be set up to reference the hard disk as more or
less than three logical devices. If you want to see a list of the hard and diskette disk devices on your
computer, type SYSTAT and press
RETURN
; the end of the display lists the available disks. DEVTBL can
show you the relationship between physical devices and logical drives.
At some time in the future you might decide to change the number of logical devices on your hard disk.
This is a sophisticated procedure, so for detailed instructions, see the document "Configuring Winchester
Disk Drivers" in the System Operator's Guide, and follow the FIXLOG reference sheet in the System
Commands Reference Manual.
The System Disk
The System disk, DSK0:, is where the system software is stored, and where the computer looks for it
when the computer boots. Usually, DSK0: is on your hard disk, but you can also set up your system to
boot from a diskette, in which case the diskette drive would be DSK0:.
If you have a magnetic tape drive included with your computer., you also have the option of booting
from this device if you are unable to boot from your hard drive. Booting from a tape medium is known
as a "warm boot," and is usually reserved for special circumstances when it's not possible to boot from
your normal System Disk on the hard drive. In such a case, the streamer device is not called DSK0: after
the warm boot. Instead, the warm boot will transfer that name to a disk device you specified when you
created the special warm boot monitor on the tape.
DISK ACCOUNTS
Disk accounts are an organizational feature your Alpha Micro computer uses to help you keep track of
your data. Instead of making you search through one enormous list of files for the specific one you're
looking for, the AMOS operating system is designed to group files into "accounts."
Accounts are identified by a two part account number. The two numbers are separated by a comma and
enclosed in brackets. The first number is called the project number, the second part the programmer
number. [1,2], [200,0], and [34,11] are examples of account numbers. Since they are actually octal
numbers, the digits 8 and 9 aren't used, and the highest possible number is [377,376] and the lowest is
[0,1].
