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SAM Coupe Disk Drive Manual                                    7

WRITE-PROTECT  

 
"I am just a 

computer card –  
do not spindle, 
fold, tear or 

mutilate"  
(Berkeley 

University 
graffiti) 

 

THE SYSTEM  
DISK 

 

"Build a system 
that even a fool 

can use, and only a 
fool will want to 

use it.  
 

(Arthur Bloch - 
"Murphy's Law") 

 

In addition pressing F9 causes the system to 
'boot'. Boot is computer jargon for: "copy 

the Disk Operating System into memory, and 
load and run an AUTO file if present." 

 
If you have a particularly important disk, 

you can prevent accidental erasure or 
formatting. Turn the disk bottom side up. In 

the bottom right-hand corner there's a black 
switch. Use a finger-nail to press the 
switch down, leaving a hole showing in the 

disk. This write-protects the disk: you can 
only load programs from it - not erase or 

format the disk. MAKE SURE THAT YOUR MASTER 
SYSTEM DISK IS WRITE PROTECTED BEFORE GOING 

ANY FURTHER. 
 

The computer takes control of the disk drive 
from a number of different points. SAM BASIC 

contains the essential commands. But we also 
store some of the control instructions on a 

disk - the System Disk - and these are 
loaded into the computer's memory at the 

beginning of each session with a disk drive. 
 

The advantage of this is that we - or others 
- may later want to add new disk drive 

facilities. By keeping some of the DOS (the 
Disk Operating System) "soft" on a disk, it 

means that we will easily be able to offer 
upgrades without recalling machines. 

 
Take your System Disk: make sure that it is 
write-protected (see previous section). On 

one side of it, you'll see an arrow. This 
shows you how to insert it into your drive. 

Press it fully into drive 1. You'll notice 
that the disk eject button pops out of the 

drive and the drive light goes on for a 
moment. When the drive light switches off 

press the eject button and you'll eject the 
disk. Now push the System Disk back into the 

drive. 
 

Next, press the F9 function key. This sets 
your DEVICE as D1 and issues the command 

'BOOT' which tells the computer to load the 
disk operating system (SAMDOS) into memory. 

On the System Disk there is an AUTO file, 
and when F9 is pressed this is LOADed and 

RUNS giving you a menu of options. After the 
list of menu options the number of disk 

drives and how much memory you have fitted 
is displayed. Your screen will look similar 

to this: 

 

Содержание SAM drive

Страница 1: ......

Страница 2: ...3rd edition NO PART OF THIS MANUAL MAY BE REPRODUCED OR ADAPTED BY ANY MEANS UNLESS FOR THE PURPOSES OF REVIEW OR FOR THE USE OF THE OWNER OF THIS MANUAL IN ENTERING PROGRAMS INTO THEIR SAM COUPE EVER...

Страница 3: ...a file and Verifying 12 Loading a file 12 Escaping from a program 13 Renaming a file 13 Copying a file 13 Making back ups 13 Erasing a file 14 Short cuts to loading 14 Wild cards 14 File name extensi...

Страница 4: ...d can be placed back into the computer memory the RAM whenever you re ready To find the file you want on tape you have to start at the beginning and carry on until the end or until you reach what you...

Страница 5: ...when you buy your disks the manufacturers have left them empty of track and sector information so that they can be used with any type of computer Before you use them you ll need to FORMAT them to tell...

Страница 6: ...start saving and loading with it But you re not yet The problem is that the computer needs to be told whether it s dealing with a cassette recorder or a disk drive Read and understand this section but...

Страница 7: ...on a disk the System Disk and these are loaded into the computer s memory at the beginning of each session with a disk drive The advantage of this is that we or others may later want to add new disk d...

Страница 8: ...so The new disk will be formatted wiping out any information stored on it so only use a brand new blank disk After formatting the disk will be verified to make sure that it is in good condition You wi...

Страница 9: ...the disk which you can load into Flash and work with Flash saves screens to disk as CODE files If you wish to view a screen saved from Flash outside of Flash or load a Flash screen into your own prog...

Страница 10: ...reen4 49 SCREEN 8 astro 49 SCREEN 9 king 49 SCREEN 10 flash 4 BASIC 9800 11 flash1 13 C 32768 57344 12 flash2 83 C 105312 42000 13 fontld 2 BASIC 10 14 font 1 C 21648 328 15 dumpld 2 C 20224 512 16 UD...

Страница 11: ...ARRAY Numeric data array ARRAY Character array You may not fully understand the significance of all these types of file yet but don t worry The essentials of disk operation are explained in this manua...

Страница 12: ...as they have special uses we ll come to this later Now check that the file has been correctly SAVEd by typing VERIFY Squares An OK message at the bottom of the screen will confirm the SAVE Now clear...

Страница 13: ...ry you are prompted to Enter target disk press any key To make a new copy of the file on the same disk simply press the SPACE bar now Or if you want your copy on a different disk insert that now and p...

Страница 14: ...ASE D2 file name Now you ve done it the hard way let s start making things easier for you First loading Instead of typing in the LOAD command with the file name you can type for example LOAD B Remembe...

Страница 15: ...e up to 10 characters long including spaces But to help you organise your files the Coupe allows you to use file name extensions in much the same way as a business computer For example you might tag a...

Страница 16: ...he disk in drive 1 and then copy the contents of the disk in drive 2 to the disk in drive 1 sector by sector in other words very accurately but very slowly This command can only be used on a two drive...

Страница 17: ...of another file say old file COPY OVER new file TO old file The above will copy the contents new file to old file old file will keep its original name This will work even if old file is PROTECTed You...

Страница 18: ...s if you do you are likely to corrupt the disks If you wish to make changes SAVE the program in memory to a disk created on the Coupe DISCIPLE and PLUS D users will be familiar with snapshot files The...

Страница 19: ...as POKE 92772 10 After making any changes you want to using SAM Basic return to the program by typing CALL MODE 1 Later when you look at the DIRectory you ll see that the snapshot files might be list...

Страница 20: ...ks from your drives in case a sudden surge of electricity corrupts the data 5 Do not insert or remove a disk from a drive when the drive light is on Do not press the reset button with a disk in a driv...

Страница 21: ...with another disk try loading files from the first disk again it might be just one file that s corrupted But if the message re appears you ll need to re FORMAT the disk Hope you ve kept backups LOADIN...

Страница 22: ...file server system 7 type PRINT PEEK DVAR 7 to see the current SAMDOS version number UGD Design Save This program allows you to create user defined graphics and to save them as a file Once saved you c...

Страница 23: ...ers Once you have finished you save them as a file called say SUPER UDG If you now write a BASIC program and wish to use the characters you have created at the beginning of your program include the li...

Страница 24: ...17 20 Reading a sector see READ AT D ARRAY see File types RENAME 13 18 20 Demonstration programs 8 23 DEVICE 6 7 10 12 14 20 SAVE OVER 6 11 13 16 23 DIR 5 10 17 19 21 2 SCREEN 9 11 19 DIRectory see D...

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