BASIC Installer =============== (c) Garry Lancaster, 2000 Introduction ------------ Installer is a utility that allows you to run proper Z88 applications and popdowns without having to go through the tedious process of blowing them to EPROMs. Instead, it uses free space found in your Z88's RAM to hold the applications, where they can be run exactly as if they were on a ROM card. BASIC Installer is a cut-down version of the full "Installer" popdown provided on the Z88 Forever! compilation ROM. It performs some of the basic functions of Installer, and is intended for those people who don't have any EPROM cards at all, and so cannot use the full version. There are several limitations to this version, however. Firstly, there is no support for packages or other Z88 enhancements, so applications which require this will not be able to run (at the time of release, however, there are no such applications yet available!) Secondly, since Bootstrap is not provided with this version, if you perform a soft reset for any reason, any installed applications will be vulnerable to being overwritten by the operating system. Therefore, after a soft reset you should always uninstall all the applications you have previously loaded. Installing the Z88 Forever! compilation --------------------------------------- A version of the "Z88 Forever!" compilation which includes the full versions of Installer and Bootstrap is now available. You can install this card using BASIC Installer, and then use the full version of Installer in future. Doing this will allow you to run applications that use the new operating system features included with Installer. However, once you have installed this particular card, you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO UNINSTALL IT AGAIN, so you should be sure that you have a lot of free RAM (the "Z88 Forever!" compilation takes up 32K that you won't be able to get back again). The only way to uninstall this card is to backup all your files and then do a HARD RESET on your Z88... Installing an application ------------------------- Applications which can be installed by the BASIC Installer are supplied in two or more files, depending on the amount of free space they require. The main application information file has an extension of .APP, and the files containing the application itself have extensions from .AP0 up to a maximum of .AP7 (16K applications have only a .AP0 file, while 32K applications have both an .AP0 and .AP1 file, etc). To install an application, choose option 1 and type in the name of the application file (without the .APP extension). If you now look in the Index, you will see the application in the list, and can start it by pressing ENTER in the usual way. There will probably be no key listed by it - this is because the Z88 only re-creates its hotkey list when a card is changed. You can install as many applications as you like, provided you have enough free 16K banks in your RAM devices. If you have enough free space in total to install an application, but not enough completely free banks, you will probably have to close some applications and delete some files until space is available in the right places. Please note that no applications can be installed in the internal :RAM.0 memory (even if you have 128K or 512K available there). This is because the Z88 only checks slots 1-3 for applications. Reserving banks for use with applications ----------------------------------------- If you want to install a large number of applications in RAM, or if you have limited available RAM (perhaps only a 128K card), you will probably often find that although you have enough space in total to install an application, you do not have any totally free banks. To overcome this problem, BASIC Installer includes a menu option to reserve banks for use with applications before you transfer the files to the Z88. It is most effective to use this option just after a hard reset, when the maximum free space is available. Simply choose option 3 and select the number of banks that you will require for your applications, and they will be reserved for application use. You can do this as many times as you like. It is now possible to transfer the application files and install them in the usual way. During installation, reserved banks are used up first before other free banks are sought. Note that if an error occurs during installation, or when you uninstall the application, banks are not reserved again; you must choose the reserve banks option again. Freeing reserved banks ---------------------- If you wish to release reserved banks back to the general Z88 memory, use option 4. Uninstalling an application --------------------------- To remove an application and reclaim the memory it uses, choose option 2 and type in the application name. The program will not allow you to uninstall an application if there are any applications active in the same slot. This is a safety feature, designed to prevent some nasty crashes! To be able to uninstall an application, first KILL off any applications using the same slot in the Index. Uninstalling all RAM applications --------------------------------- If you accidentally delete an .APU file, the Installer program has no way of knowing how to uninstall a particular application. In this case, you can choose to uninstall every RAM application at the same time. To do this, simply choose option 5, which will attempt to remove all installed applications in the Z88. Only slots containing no active applications or packages will be purged. Error messages -------------- It is possible for various errors to occur when installing and uninstalling applications. The most common errors are: Already Exists The application is already installed (an .APU file was found) No Room Not enough free 16K banks could be found for installation File Not Found One of the installation files is missing End Of File One of the installation files is invalid Cannot Satisfy Request Could not find a valid application to uninstall; or application or package was active in same slot Obtaining installable RAM applications -------------------------------------- Most of the application ROMs on the Z88 Forever! website are now available in RAM-installable format. Z88 software developers can also obtain a kit containing details of the application file format, and a tool for creating .APP files quickly and easily. Comments -------- If you encounter any problems using BASIC Installer, or have any other comments or suggestions to make, please contact me via the Z88 Forever! website. Garry Lancaster, 13th March 2000