RAMLink Data Corruption Solution, and More FD/gateWay Learning

[intric8]

In my recent video where I demonstrate an epic 90s CMD GEOS C128 Battle Station, I mention that the data integrity of my RAMLink was quite unstable. In fact, it was so unstable that I said I was going to migrate my files entirely to the HD-200 instead for peace of mind.

And, honestly, there's no reason not to duplicate my files over there.

However, this week I purchased a brand new set of 4 RAM SIMMs of 16MB total (4MB each).

I got all of it for a measly $25 including shipping and it arrived in just a couple of days.

My hope was to eliminate or at least reduce the shaky data corruption I kept experiencing by swapping out the RAM. Simply unplugging the RAMLink from the computer - with the computer's power being off - would cause problems every single time. Or sometimes unplugging a device from the serial chain - again, all powered down - could cause data corruption with the RAMLink. It made no sense to me at all (it still doesn't). But I figured it was an inexpensive gamble.

The first challenge was removing the old RAM, which was REALLY stuck in those SIMM slots like they were glued. I was a bit terrified I was going to break something in the process.

Not only is the old RAM, well, old, but it is also a mix-and-match situation with at least 3 different brands. I don't know if they are all exactly the same speed, either.

I pulled the RAM Card out of the RAMLink entirely to get a better hold on things. Eventually the SIMMs broke free, though, and I got the new ones in there.

Getting the 1st two SIMMs out of there was the toughest, and creakiest!

The new SIMMs are definitely more attractive, which is always important when it comes to internal computer parts. Gotta love that "do not remove" sticker!

After firing up CMD’s RAM-Tools utility, I needed to delete the default partition that gets created whenever the device loses power. Then I created the DACC and a 10MB NATV partition.

Next I loaded Gateway. I proceeded to copy my default setup over to the RAMLink and then powered down the machine.

I took a deep breath and removed the RAMLink from the C128. Then I reattached it.

NONE OF THE DATA WAS CORRUPTED.

I did it a second time and got the same results. I think the problem this entire time had something to do with the ancient RAM I replaced! What luck!!


FD-2000 Native Disks

The 2nd thing on my list of To-Dos from that video was to create a 1.6 MB Native High Density (HD) floppy disk for gateWay, and move most of my data over to a single HD floppy disk.

Formatting an HD disk as a CMD 1.6 NATV partition is easy using CMD’s FD-Tools utility disk.

However it took me a while to figure out how to get gateWay to recognize the thing.

Here is what I learned.

1. In order for gateWay to recognize a 1.6 (or higher) HD or ED disk, you need to move the FD_Native_128 driver over to your boot drive/disk first. And you can’t just throw it on there. You need to put it near the top of your files where the other drivers reside.
2. Once you boot gateWay properly configured, you’ll need to convert the new FD disk to GEOS format. In other words, click on it on the desktop to do that conversion before moving files over to it and putting it to use.
3. Your FD-2000 can’t flip between being FD-1581 and FD-Native modes. It’s going to be whatever you booted it as, which will depend on the disk you have inserted in the drive during boot up. If you have both drivers on your boot disk and no disk in the drive, the 1st driver in the list will transform your FD-2000 into the mode it will be in. If you have a disk in the drive, that disk’s format (1581 or Native) will determine the drive’s mode. And once you’re in that mode, you can’t switch to the other mode unless you reboot.
   


Look at that glorious 1.6MB disk space. If you're curious about the date stamp, my RTC went ka-blooey. More on that later...

This means you can’t flip from 1581 to Native disks during the same session, which is a little bit of a downer. Why? Because if you are running all of your devices entirely in Native mode, if you ever want to add new software/files from a 1581 disk you’ll need to boot the machine in 1581 mode first. And, if you don’t have a 3rd mass-storage device (like the RAMLink or HD-200) this can start to feel a bit like a chicken and egg problem.

The way I got around it was as follows:

• Booted up in FD-1581 mode
• Moved files I have on 1581-mode disks over to my 10MB RAMLink partition
• Rebooted the machine off the RAMLink, with the FD set to Native mode
• Moved files from the RAMLink over to the new 1.6MB disks
• Deleted the dupes off the RAMLink

A bit of a janky process. However once done it’s totally seamless.

And, now I have boot disks in every format:

• 1571
• 1581
• 1.6 CMD Native
• RAMLink

Only thing left to do is to get the HD-200 all set up and I’ll be completely covered. Although now that the RAMLink is so solid, I’m not nearly in as much of a rush.

[intric8]

I'll need to keep monitoring things for the next week or so before I call this an official fix. But so far at least I'm very hopeful the RL is something I can depend on.

[Zippy Zapp]

Wow, good call on the RAM SIMMs. Glad it worked out. I will, some day, get to using my FD2000 clone in GEOS.