ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN MICROpendium September 1995

MICROreviews - Hyper Copy, AMS Copy, TI Nopoly, TIA Print

by Charles Good

HYPER COPY by Mike Dodd: In the July 1988 issue of MICROpendium Mike Dodd wrote about a mysterious author working on a fast copy program for the Geneve. Mike wrote, "The author does not wish to reveal his/her name at this time; however, any comments sent to me will be forewarded." That software author turned out to be Mike Dodd.

Hyper Copy is one of the very few applications that runs directly out of MDOS on a Geneve. You can't use it on a 99/4A system, even one with an 80 column card. It is the fastest disk copier anywhere for Geneve and 99/4A disks. Although Hyper Copy has been available for several years, it has not yet been reviewed in Micropendium. I have talked to several Geneve users who didn't know of its existence. Hyper Copy is so good that all Geneve users should own it.

The first time I used Hyper Copy to copy a DSDD disk I was amazed as I watched what happened. The Geneve sucked the entire contents of the master DSDD disk into the Geneve's vast memory in just one pass and then spit it out to the unformatted target disk. The whole copy process using a CorComp disk controller took only 58 seconds! Verification is not total with this type of fast copy. Most disk errors are reported, but some go undetected. You can set verification "on" and this will completely check the target disk guaranteeing 100% reliable copies. However verification "on" greatly inclreases copy time. With verification "off", copying a DSSD disk also takes 58 seconds. A SSSD disk takes 29 seconds. These are really fast times, and all include formatting and minimal verification of the target disk.

Some comparisons, all with target disk formatting and some sort of verification using a CorComp controller:

    --Rediskit (my favorite 99/4A track copier, sharware by James Schroeder): DSDD 82 seconds, DSSD 75 seconds, SSSD 36 seconds.
    --Track Master 1 (another 99/4A track copier, sharware by Barry Boone): DSDD 96 seconds, DSSD 91 seconds, SSSD 53 seconds.
    --"Diskcopy" command directly from MDOS on a Geneve: DSDD 485 seconds, DSSD 312 seconds, SSSD 155 seconds.
    --Copy QM (a one pass IBM disk copier running on my 386 DX40): time to copy a 360K disk, which is the same as a DSDD TI/Geneve disk- 60 seconds.

Yes, Hyper Copy is the fastest whole disk copier I have ever tested, as fast or faster than my best IBM disk copier. And it can do some additional tricks, not found on most other fast copiers, that make disk copying even faster. Hyper Copy will copy to and from a horizon ramdisk and it will copy one master to multiple drives. You can for example copy a disk to the Geneve's internal ramdisk or to a Horizon ramdisk. Then you can copy from the ramdisk to floppy drives 1,2,3, and 4 with formatting of the copy disks. (You need a CorComp or Myarc controller to use floppy drive 4.) This makes lots of copies of one master disk really fast! Adjustments you can make within Hyper Copy for interlace and skew allow the copy disks to run at maximum loading speed on the Geneve, often faster than the original. I don't really understand these adjustments, so I just accept the suggested defaults.

When you buy HyperCopy you get on one SSSD disk versions that support the TI, CorComp, and Myarc floppy disk controller cards. There is no version of Hypercopy that is usable with floppys controlled by the Myarc HFDC, which is too bad.

If you own a Geneve and copy disks you really should own Hyper Copy. It is a commercial product now available for $15 from 9640 news. This is a reduction in price from when Hyper Copy was offered a few years ago by Genial Computerware.

AMS COPY by Jack Mathis: Here is a new whole disk copy program for 99/4A users. It requires the AMS memory expansion card and is distributed as public domain software to AMS purchasers. It is very easy to use in part because it does not first require you to initialize the AMS card by running the AMS program ABOOT.

AMS Copy has the look and feel of the disk copying part of DM1000. In fact it is the author's stated intent to incorperate AMS Copy into a new version of DM1000 for the AMS card. You can select "Sector" or "Bit Map" copying. As many sectors as possible are sucked into the AMS before being read out to the target disk. With a 128K AMS card you can copy a SSSD disk in one pass. With a 256K AMS card you can copy a DSSD (720 sector) disk in one pass or a DSDD disk in two passes. You need a 384K AMS card for one pass copying of DSDD disks. The unusual thing about this disk copyier is that the contents of the disk remain in memory. You can make multiple copies of the same master disk without spending unneeded time reading the master disk into memory again and again. Unfortunately the multiple copy feature only works with one drive. You can only specify a single output dirve. To make multiple copies you remove the previous target disk from this drive, put a new target disk in the drive, and press a key.

Here are some time comparisons copying all sectors of the same DSSD master disk with formatting of the target disk. AMS Copy- first copy 330 seconds, second and subsequent copies 255 seconds. DM1000 v3.5 and DSKU v4.2 both took 333 seconds. Rediskit, my favorite 99/4A track copier, can do this job in 75 seconds. These speed comparisons are somewhat misleading. Rediskit always formats the target disk, even if it is already correctly formatted. Times the other copy programs listed here will be faster if time is not taken to format the target disk. They only take the time to do a format if they sense the target disk is not already formatted to the same capacity as the master disk.

So why use AMS Copy if Rediskit is so much faster? Because of reliability, particularly in making reasonably fast multiple copies of the same master disk. Sector copy programs such as AMS Copy will never make a bad copy. You are guaranteed that your copy will contain no errors that prevent it from being read on someone else's computer. When you use fast copy programs such as Rediskit or HyperCopy there is increased risk of destination disk errors that will not be reported by the copy program. AMS Copy will detect and tell you about all master or target disk errors. For 100% safe disk copying AMS Copy is one of the fastest copy programs available.

TI NOPOLY by Jon Dyer and Joe Delekto: This game requires an AMS card with 128K or more memroy. It is public domain and you get it as part of the software package that comes with the AMS card. TI Nopoly does an excellent job illustrating how speed and graphics of assembly games can be enhanced by having the entire game reside in the AMS bank switched memory. First you run ABOOT and then you load TI Nopoly from the "Load and Run" or "Load and Retain" options of the ABOOT menu.

Everything you need to keep track of the game is displayed on screen. The upper left shows the game board and the location of the player's pieces on the board periphery, from two to eight players. In the center of this game board is a graphic of the current player's position. These graphics have been accurately copied from the original monopoly game board. As a playing piece moves around the board each board position graphic is shown VERY rapidly until the piece reaches its destination. These board position graphics are quite well done and make game action visually very attractive.

In the upper center of the board are the dice. The middle right shows a status menu of choices. The lower screen half shows data of each player's owned properites, the information found printed on the back of property cards in the original board game. The player who has the current turn can view the information for each property one at a time by cycling through owned properties using the arrow keys. Property data displayed includes Current Rent, Mortage Value, Improvements (number of houses built), and Cost Per House.

Prior to rolling the dice a player may do any of the following with properties he owns by pressing a key: (S)ell properties or houses back to the bank, (M)ortgage, (B)uild houses, or (D)eal. A player can also do these things after dice roll if he needs to raise extra cash to pay rent. If you press (D) you get these options relating to properites of other players: (T)rade, (Buy), and (T)rade. These are all menu prompted and the computer keeps track of the results.

To roll the dice you press (R) and you see and hear the dice as they roll on screen. If you land on an unowned property you are given the opportunity to (B)uy or (C)ontinue without buying. If you land on your own property you are told so and your turn ends. If you land on someone else's property the rent you owe is immediately deducted from your money and given to the propoerty owner.

Other features of the original board game are all there and functional: jail and get out of jail free cards, income tax, luxury tax, community chess and chance cards, etc. If you land on Free Parking you get all the tax money collected, or $50. If you roll doubles you get to roll again. If you are in jail you get to roll first and only if you don't roll doubles are you asked to pay to get out of jail. This slight deviation from the original rules saves you from wasting a get out of jail card or fee when you roll doubles anyway.

There are some program bugs. Sometimes the sprite of a player disappears as it travels around the playing board and reaches the current dice roll's destination. It is still there and will reappear. Sometimes the game will let you purchases houses even if you don't own all the properties in the group and sometimes (this is VERY annoying) the game won't let you purchase houses even though you do own the necessary properties.

I have played several TI Nopoly games with my 14 and 9 year old children and the kids say they like the game also. I sometimes play a 2 player game all by myself, making the decisions for both players. Games seem to go quite fast. Just press the (R)oll key and the current player zooms around the board. One does not normally consider speed to be important in Monopoly, but the two other Monopoly games I know of for the 99/4A are painfully slow. Even with its somewhat significant bugs I consider TI Nopoly the most enjoyable of the various 99/4A Monopoly look alikes.

TIA PRINT by Bruce Harrison TIA SIGNS source unknown: TIA Print is simple to use public domain program will print almost any TI Artist black and white picture using almost any 9 pin epson compatible printer. It uses 25 sector TIA pucture files with the "_P" file ending. The resulting output is properly proportioned (a circle looks like a circle) and fills an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper.

TIA Print loads as either EA5 or as XB LOAD. You are asked to verify your printer name and are then asked for the drive containing the TIA picures. Drives can be 1-9 or A-Z. The program then presents you with a list of only the "_P" 25 sector files on that drive. Move the cursor around with the arrow keys and press <enter> when the cursor is next to a picture file name you want to examine. That picture is then displayed in black and white on screen. If there is a color file for the picture (a _C file) it is ignored. If you like what you see press P and your picture is printed. Press any other key and you are back to the list of "_P" pictures so you can examine another picture on screen.

Printing takes awhile, between 2 and 10 minutes. Large blank areas are recognized as such and the printer will quickly line feed past these parts of the picture. This saves printing time. MAX RLE and other TI software will print TIA pictures, but nothing does it as conveniently from a menu list of pictures and almost nothing else prints them SO BIG!

I have an application that is perfect for TIA Print. I have 4 DSSD disks of full TIA signs that somebody donated to my user group's library several years ago. Each sign has a fancy border and often has a cute graphic in addition to the lettering. These signs contain cute and sometimes serious messages and are designed to fill a full sheet of paper. Now I have convenient and free software that will do this. The 112 signs on these 4 disks include "Things I Gotta Get Done" followed by some blank lines for you to fill in, "If you want quick answers ask the boss, If you want right answers ask the secretary", "Ask me, I might say YES", "It makes the day long when you get to work on time.", and many others.

Send me $1 and I will send you TIA Print on a SSSD disk. It comes with fully commented source code, a couple of original TIA pictures for you to view and print, and user friendly documentation. When you get it, give Bruce a phone call and tell him how much you appreciate his public domain programming efforts on our behalf. Send me an additional $4 and I will send you the four DSSD disks full of TIA Signs.

-----------

ACCESS:

Southwest 99ers. This user groups manufactures and sells AMS memory expansion cards which come with two of the programs reviewed here. A 265K card costs $100. P.O. Box 17831, Tucson AZ 85731. Voice phone 520-747-5046.

9640 News (Berry Miller, source of HyperCopy). P.O. Box 752465, Memphis TN 38175. email bw.miller@genie.geis.com

   

©Copyright 2000-2004 by Bill Gaskill - All Rights Reserved.
Commercial use of any information or images from this web-site is strictly prohibited
All other use with permission of author only!!!

Modifications and Updates by Tom Wills