Installer v2.03 =============== (c) Garry Lancaster, 2001 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. From version 2, Installer also includes support for "Packages" and further enhancements to the Z88's operating system. These are mainly of interest to developers, and more comprehensive documentation can be found on the Z88 Forever! website. However, it is useful to know what these packages are doing on your Z88, so please read the short description of them later on. Version 2 also includes numerous minor improvements to the previous release, and a new facility "SlowMo" which is handy for slowing down those tricky games! With v2.03, there is a "fix" for the Z88 operating system which allows you to run multiple instances of the Diary application (one for work, one for home?) rather than being restricted to just one. Adding the card for the first time ---------------------------------- The first time you insert the Z88 Forever! compilation (containing Installer v2.03) into your Z88, certain special features should be enabled. To do this, do one of the following: (a) reset your Z88 (make sure all your data is backed up first!) OR (b) enter Installer and type theses special commands: <>CHON <>OZPL (these must be typed; you cannot just select them from the menu) Once this is done, all the special features provided by Installer are active, and future applications that use them will work correctly. Note that every time you do a reset, Bootstrap will automatically set them up again, so you'll never need to follow this procedure again. Upgrading from a previous version --------------------------------- Simply install the new card and run Installer v2.03, and the new features will be automatically enabled. Installing an application ------------------------- Applications which can be installed by the Installer popdown 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 into RAM, enter the Z88's Filer popdown and mark the relevant .APP file by pressing ENTER or TAB. Then, activate Installer by pressing []ZI ([] represents the square key). Alternatively, start Installer, choose the Install menu option, 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, or using its hotkey. You can install as many applications as you like, provided you have enough free 16K banks in your RAM devices. To check this, you can use the FreeRam utility (which is also on Z88 Forever) - this shows a graphical display of the RAM available. A 16K bank is 8 dots wide and 8 dots high in this display, and only entirely free 16K banks can be used by applications. 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, 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 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 the Free banks option. This is a protected option (so you must type the command in full) and releases all reserved banks in every slot so that they can again be used for files or general workspace. Slot information ---------------- The slot information display that appears when you start Installer shows the size of any ROM or RAM cards (EPROM cards are ignored). RAM cards that have been modified by Installer will also show the amount of RAM which is currently used by applications or reserved for future use. This display can be updated after changes using the menu option. You will also notice a column headed "Safe", which will contain either a question mark (?) or asterisk (*) for every slot that contains RAM. This column indicates whether applications installed in this slot will be safe from corruption by OZ during a soft reset operation, since during this process the Z88 uses some memory before Bootstrap has a chance to properly re-protect any installed applications. If the safe column is marked with "*", then all is well. If, however, it contains a "?", if you need to do a soft reset you should always uninstall and reinstall applications in that slot afterwards, in case they are affected. To make a slot safe, and avoid having to remember to do this, you should delete one or more of the oldest files on the RAM device and re-enter Installer, until a "*" appears in the column. Uninstalling an application --------------------------- Every time you install an application, a file with the application name and an extension of .APU is created. To uninstall an application, you simply mark this .APU file in the Filer and activate Installer with []ZI, in a similar way to installation. Alternatively, use the Uninstall option from Installer's menu, and type in the application name (without the .APU extension). The program will not allow you to uninstall an application if there are any applications or packages 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, and deregister all packages. 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, use the Purge menu option in Installer. This is a protected command, so you must type it in full. Only slots containing no active applications or packages will be purged. SlowMo ------ This facility allows you to slow down the Z88 by up to 100%. This might seem a strange thing to want to do, but it could be useful if you're finding one of the many available games a little tricky! To activate the SlowMo, type <>SLOW (or select the command using the Z88's MENU key), then enter the percentage speed reduction you would like. To turn the SlowMo off again, select the command again and just press ENTER when asked for the percentage value. Packages -------- Packages are special programs that are designed to be usable by many different applications (as "shared libraries"). They aren't of much interest to most users, since they are handled automatically by Installer and the applications that use them. However, you should be aware of them and how to deal with them. All packages are provided with a particular application (for example, Installer itself provides a package called "Packages", and ZSock provides a package also called "ZSock" which is required by all Internet applications). You can check which packages are currently in use with the "Packages" option on the main menu. Full details of what this information means are provided in the documentation included with the Installer toolkit. If you have installed an application into RAM that comes with a package, you will need to deregister the package before Installer will let you uninstall any application in the same slot. To do this, type <>PD (or select the command using the MENU key); if all is well, this will display "deregistered" next to the appropriate package name. If it shows "in use" instead, an application is using the package - KILL off any likely applications in the Index before trying again. It's also possible to deregister a single package - use the <>PK option and enter the package ID (shown on the "List Packages" display). Finally, if you move the ROM card containing Installer into a different slot in your Z88, applications wont be able to use any packages until you have re-run Installer, so you ought to do this as soon as you have moved the card. Special Features ---------------- These menu options provide a means to turn the various facilities provided by Installer on and off. Full details are in the Installer Toolkit documentation. Do not use these options unless you know what you're doing!! 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 File Type Mismatch Selected file was not a valid .APP or .APU file 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 Installer, or have any other comments or suggestions to make, please contact me via the Z88 Forever! website. Garry Lancaster, 14th May 2001