How to use CrossDOS with an MS-DOS formatted hard drive (CrossDOS Version 4.02 or higher) This instruction guide will help you to configure CrossDOS to properly access a true MS-DOS hard drive partition when using CrossDOS Version 4.02 or higher. Such partitions can be found on MS-DOS formatted SyQuest cartridges and removable external hard drives. CrossDOS should correctly access most hard drive formats although it is possible to find a format created by a manufacturer that does not conform to MS-DOS hard drive partition standards. CrossDOS can also access most hard drive partitions created by ATOnce and the Power PC boards. IMPORTANT! Currently CrossDOS with only operate with a true MS-DOS formatted partition. Pseudo MS-DOS partitions (actually files) such as those created by the BridgeBoard are not supported at this time. We do not recommend that you format the hard disk as an MS-DOS formatted disk using CrossDOS. Please use a pre-formatted MS-DOS hard disk as formatted by your MS-DOS system. Step 1 Determine the unit number of the hard drive you wish to connect to your Amiga hard disk controller card. It will probably a number from 0 to 7. Copy this down as "Unit = ". Step 2 With the power off, make sure that the hard disk you wish to access is correctly connected to the Amiga hard drive controller card on your system. With the power on, you can probably use the hard drive preparation program that comes with your hard drive controller card to verify that the hard drive can be detected by the card. DO NOT FORMAT THE DRIVE! Step 3 It is time to modify a mountlist entry to match the parameters of your hard drive setup. Copy the example mountlist entry we supply called DHC: found in the file "devs:mountlist.msdosFS" to your "devs:mountlist" file. Step 4 Here comes the difficult part. In the file "devs:mountlist" make the following changes to the DHC: entry. Modify the "Device =" parameter to match EXACTLY the name of the device driver that your hard disk controller card uses. If you do not know it, consult the manufacturer of the card for this information. "Device =" allows the file system to know which drive controller to use. For example, Commodore uses "scsidev.device", GVP uses "gvpscsi.device" and ICD uses "icddisk.device". HINT If you currently have another hard drive connected to your hard drive controller card that is AmigaDOS formatted, you may use a program we provide to help you determine some of the values for the parameters in Steps 4 through 8. Determine the device name of this AmigaDOS formatted drive (such as DH0:) and use it in the following command (found on your CrossDOS product disk) to list the device parameters for this entry: MSDOS_FileSystem:diag/devinfo DEVICENAME You can use the same "Device = ", "Flags = " and "BufMemType = " parameters for your new entry. the "Unit = " parameter may not be the same since it may point to the new drive. Step 5 Modify the "Unit =" parameter to match the unit number of the hard drive that you found in Step 1. Sometimes the controller manufacturer will use a different numbering scheme. If this is the case, consult the manufacturer of the card for this information. "Unit =" allows the device driver to know which drive to use. Step 6 Modify the "Flags =" parameter to match the flags required by device driver. If you are not sure which flags to use, consult the manufacturer of the card for this information. Step 7 Modify the "BufMemType =" parameter to match the cache buffer memory type required by device driver. Almost all controllers use a BufMemType of 1. If you are not sure, consult the manufacturer of the card for this information. Step 8 Modify or add any more valid mountlist parameters that are needed by the hard disk device driver to operate properly. Usually this step is not needed. If you do not know if a parameter needs to be changed, leave it alone. The default setting we provide will probably work just fine. If you are not sure, consult the manufacturer of the card for this information. IMPORTANT! DO NOT modify the following parameters: "DosType = ", "FileSystem = ", "GlobVec = " or "Stack = " parameter at this time. Step 9 Next, set up some of the parameters to point to the first block of the MS-DOS formatted portion of the drive. This is achieved by making sure that the following equation is satisfied: Beginning block # of the MS-DOS formatted portion = (# of Surfaces) * (# of Blocks per track) * (LowCyl #) Set "Surfaces=<# of heads>" and "BlocksPerTrack=<# of blocks per cylinder>" of the drive you are using. If the entire drive is MS-DOS formatted (such as a SyQuest cartridge), then the MS-DOS portion probably begins on the very first block of the disk so set "LowCyl=0". If the MS-DOS portion is only a part of a Amiga formatted drive (such as with the ATOnce and Power PC boards), set "LowCyl=" where the MS-DOS formatted portion starts. The "HighCyl=" will be ignored since CrossDOS will automatically set it to the proper value once it has validated the partition. If you wish, you may set "HighCyl=" of the partition. Step 10 Determine if the hard disk partition you wish to access was created with "FDISK" (or a similar program) and "FORMAT" on a PC compatible. If it was created with "FDISK", make sure "DosType = 0x4D534800". If it was only formatted using "FORMAT", then set "DosType = 0x4D534400". Step 11 Hopefully you have modified a correct entry for the MS-DOS partition you wish to access. Now "mount" the device DHC: on your Amiga. Open up a shell, and type the following command: mount DHC: You should now be able to access the DHC: device as an MS-DOS partition. Step 12 If the hard drive you have has more than one MS-DOS partition, you can "mount" these partitions by copying the mountlist entry for DHC: for each partition. Change the device name of each entry using the following rule: DHC: refers to the first partition of the hard drive, DHD: device refers to the second partition, etc. (DHC: and DHD: correspond to the C: and D: partition names on a MS-DOS system). Each mountlist entry should be identical with the exception of the device name. IMPORTANT! The first partition name MUST end in the letter 'C', the second partition in 'D', etc, to properly access the partitions in the correct order. Hopefully this guide should cover the installation procedure adequately for you to access your partition successfully. If you do have questions, call us at (313) 459-7271 between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. We are currently evaluating methods to make this installation as effortless and automated as possible. We hope to incorporate these changes in a future version of CrossDOS. (No date announced) Thank you for purchasing CrossDOS. CONSULTRON