STARTUP-SEQUENCE HELP

			      by Doug Groat


    ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ##


    Are you having a bit of trouble with your disk drive grinding when you
  boot up? If it is a normal DOS disk, i.e. not your favourite
  shoot-'em-up, blast-'em-from-space, joystick-punishing epic, then the
  tips below may just help you, and at the same time help you understand a
  little bit more about the computer we use.

    When a disk is put in the drive to load up, all the files that are
  mentioned in the startup-sequence are loaded one at a time, or in
  sequence. What sometimes happens is that before a program is completely
  finished loading, it may signal, by the way the program is written, that
  it is alright to go onto the next process. Remember that most programs
  are really made to be used on their own, not in a set order, or in a
  combination with other programs. So if a program sends a signal back,
  it actually may only be 75-80% fully loaded and still reading that last
  bit of program from your disk. The next program begins to load because
  it got the signal that the previous program has finished, starts to read
  from your disk, finds that the other program is still reading the disk,
  so simply, a battle begins between the two programs as they both attempt
  to read from the disk at the same time.  Crunch, grind - you begin to
  wonder if your disk drive is about to give up and not work any more.

    Where this mainly happens is where there is a lot of information in
  the startup-sequence, or a lot of programs to load. Have a look at the
  startup-sequence below:

	Addbuffers df0: 10
	Binddrivers
	c:SetPatch >NIL:
	cd c:
	echo "    A1000 Phoenix  DOUG-WORKSHOP   Release 1.3.2 version 34.20*N"
	Sys:System/FastMemFirst
	SetClock load
	wait 03
	FF >NIL: Siesta.font
	wait 03
	autocli -b -q3 -k -lc0
	wait 03
	failat 11
	path ram: c: sys:utilities sys:system s: add
	LoadWB
	cd SYS:
	utilities/do
	wait 05
	endcli >NIL:

    This is the startup-sequence from my 'Utilities' disk. As you can see
  there are a few programs to load and run. To avoid disk thrashing as
  much as possible, I have added several lines in - wait. What this tells
  the computer to do is to wait a few seconds before it loads in the next
  program. This usually gives enough time for the previous program to be
  completely loaded. This then, gives enough time to avoid those awful
  grinds and battles that sometimes occur.

    So, how do we determine where and how much time to signal the wait
  process to have effect? Unfortunately there is not a simple way. But
  with a little trial and error, you should be able to eliminate all of
  that annoying disk grind.

    Locating the problem
    One way to go about determining where the problem areas lie is to do
  the following excercise, to your startup-sequence, (that is, of course
  AFTER you have made a backup, RIGHT!!!), with your favourite text editor-

	echo "addbuffers"
	Addbuffers df0: 10
	echo "Binddrivers"
	Bindrivers
	echo "setpatch"
	c:SetPatch >NIL:
	echo "cd c/"
	cd c:
	echo "    A1000 Phoenix  DOUG-WORKSHOP   Release 1.3.2 version 34.20*N"
	echo "fastmem"
	Sys:System/FastMemFirst
	echo "setclock"
	SetClock load
	echo "fast fonts"
	FF >NIL: Siesta.font
	echo "autocli"
	autocli -b -q3 -k -lc0
	echo "failat"
	failat 11
	echo "add paths"
	path ram: c: sys:utilities sys:system s: add
	echo "loadWB"
	LoadWB
	echo "cd SYS:"
	cd SYS:
	echo "opus"
	utilities/do
	echo "endcli"
	endcli >NIL:


    What I've done is add an ECHO command before each line of the original
  startup-sequence gets processed. Now once you save this modified
  version, then re-boot your disk, you will be able to see, on screen,
  when each and every file is loaded. Then by watching the screen, and
  listening for the disk drive to start grinding, you can make a mental
  note as to the programs or areas that are causing problems. [Ed:
  Workbench 2 users can simply put at the top of their startup-sequence
  the command: SET ECHO ON   which does all the above inserting of echos
  for you.]

    Once you have determined the programs that are the problem areas, you
  should then load up your text editor, remove all the echo statements,
  (unless for some reason you wish to keep them in), and insert a wait
  command the line prior to the offending programs. The amount of time to
  get the processing to wait is determined by the amount of disk grind you
  are getting. Usually 05 seconds will be more than adequate.  If you
  have to wait longer than that, then you should perhaps look at another
  program of the same type you wish to load.

    NOTE: I am not saying that ALL programs that cause disk thrashing are
  dogs, and that the programmers wouldn't have a clue! Please don't take
  it that way! It is sometimes just that the 'finished loading' signal is
  sent a fraction early, or that sometimes there is a break in the loading
  of the program that can lead to a bit of confusion for the operating
  system. Look at the programs that are in my startup-sequence. I find
  these programs excellent, and can thoroughly recommend them.


    ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ## 25 ##