============================================================================== MJSoft's Kicker -- MKick 1.8 (c) 1992-1995 Martin Mares, MJSoft System Software ============================================================================== What is MKick ------------- MKick is a replacement of KickIt, ZKick, LKick and Rekick kickers for use on machines with kickstart 1.2 or 1.3 in ROM (It also tries to be as powerful as SinSoft's SKick). The main advantages of MKick are: - ability to relocate any Kickstart to CHIP, FAST (C0-RAM), NON-AUTOCONFIG RAM or EXPANSION RAM if a relocation table is supplied. - standard operation (like ZKick) if the relocation table is not available. - reading of both KickIt and ROM Image Kickstart formats (encrypted beta-ROMs for A600 must be converted by MakeKick) - patch function using supplied patch table (may correct known Kickstart bugs). - can be started from both the command line and the Workbench. - Graphic User Interface (GUI). - Small code size, because it's written completely in assembly. - loaded Kickstart survives user reset and crashes (when the ExecBase is not destroyed). - C0-RAM salvage: many Kickstarts perform destructive tests of C0-RAM (FAST RAM). MKick stores critical bytes in its own storage and restores their contents after memory tests. - If you have Kickstart 39.106 or higher, the alert timing constant (execbase+$20E) won't be lost during reboot. - Non-autoconfig can be added automatically without using special resident utilities. - ROM Kickstart can be relocated to RAM. This speeds up system operation on the most of accelerated systems (e.g. GVP A530 Turbo). In this case, you needn't the Kickstart image file, MKick will load it directly from your ROM. - Waits for all disks to be validated before performing any operation. - New memlist named Kickstart is created if the KS image is not stored in one of original memlists. This prevents MonAm from treating KS image as out-of-memory space. - Ability to get rid of resident modules by simply pressing the left mouse button at correct time (see below). - ExecBase can be moved to expansion or non-autoconfig fast memory, which slightly increases system speed. (In such case, it is sometimes not possible to survive reboots -- see discussion in MKick.doc.) - CPU vectors can be relocated to fast memory, which increases system performance (only possible on 68010+). Copyright --------- MKick and all the utilities in this package, including their documentation, with the exception of KickStat are Copyright (C) 1995 Martin Mares, Prague, Czech Republic. The KickStat utility is Copyright (C) 1995 SinSoft and is included with permission of its author. This archive can be freely redistributed as long as all of its files are included in their original form without any additions, deletions or modifications (excluding addition of other README-style files and icons) and no more than a nominal fee is charged for its distribution. All copyright notices in the programs and accompanying documentation files must remain intact. It's especially forbidden to add various '.displayme' files and BBS advertisements. This style of distribution is generally known as FREEWARE. There's one exception to these rules -- the author allows all the utilities to be included in SKick archives. This package is provided as is, any warranties cannot be applied. Any usage of this program or other parts of this archive will be done at your own risk! Contents -------- README - this file README.BUGREPORTS - how to write MKick bug reports README.3.1 - additional information concerning 3.1 Kickstarts HISTORY - history of development MKick - the kicker itself MKick.info - icon MakeKick - utility for creation of Kickstart header files Kick2RTB - converts Kickstart header files to SKick format MakeKickDisk - makes special boot disk for fast booting of Kickstarts SwitchScript - utility for easy switching of startup scripts SumKick - calculates checksum of Kickstart image KickStat - shows information about currently running Kickstart KickInfo - utility showing information about Kickstart file FastEBPatch - set of patches for operation with ExecBase in exp. RAM AddModule - utility for easy addition of resident modules *.doc - Documentation KSHD/*.kick - Kickstart headers for various Kickstarts KSHD/*.kshd - source files for Kickstart headers Delta/* - delta files to recover patched Kickstarts (see delta/README for more info) Included Kickstart headers -------------------------- The Kickstart header files containing the relocation table and information needed to load the Kickstart are supplied for following Kickstarts: Kick33180.A500 standard 1.2 for A500/A2000 Kick34005.A500 standard 1.3 for A500/A2000 Kick37175.A500 standard 2.04 for A500+ Kick39046.A500.BETA beta-version of 3.0 Kick39106.A1200 standard 3.0 for A1200 Kick39110.A500.BETA beta-version of 3.0 Kick39115.A3000.BETA beta-version of 3.0 Kick39115.A3000SK.BETA beta-version of 3.0, SuperKickstart file Kick40003.A3000.BETA beta-version of 3.0, SuperKickstart file Kick40038.A600.BETA beta-version of 3.1 Kick40063.A600 3.1 ROM for A600 Kick40068.A600 3.1 Rekick file for A600 Kick40068.A1200 3.1 ROM for A1200 (requires 68020+) Kick40068.A4000 3.1 ROM for A4000 (requires 68020+) Kick40070.A600 3.1 Rekick file for A600 Kick40070.A3000 3.1 SuperKickstart for A3000 (requires 68020+881) Kick40070.A4000 3.1 ROM for A4000 (requires 68020+) Kick40070.A4000T 3.1 ROM for A4000T (requires 68020+) For 3.1 Kickstarts, see notes in README.3.1. If you have a Kickstart which is not included in this list, try to download latest version of SKick if it contains RTB and PAT files for your Kickstart and convert them by the MakeKick utility (AUTO option). System requirements: -------------------- - Amiga 500, 1000 or 2000 - Minimally 1 meg of RAM (all possible combinations) - Kickstart 1.2 or 1.3 in ROM - arp.library in the LIBS: directory Installation: ------------- (1) Create DEVS:Kickstarts and copy all your Kickstart images to it. This directory is searched automatically in the GUI mode (can be overriden by the KICKDIR option if you want). (2) Find proper Kickstart header files (you may find a list of them above). Rename Kickstart files to match the names of the header files -- for kick39115.A3000.BETA.kshd, the Kickstart image should be renamed to kick39115.A3000.BETA. (It's also possible to rename the header files according to names of Kickstart images, but it's a bit confusing.) THERE ARE NO KICKSTART IMAGES IN THIS ARCHIVE If you don't know the exact name of .kick file to be used, consult the KickInfo utility (see its doc for how to do it). (3) Copy the executable files to some place, preferably to some that is included in PATH. It's better to copy the MKick executable itself to C: to allow using it before any paths are set. (4) If you want MKick to work automatically, insert it as a FIRST line of your Startup-sequence. It allows MKick to handle all operations requiring system reboot (switching from one Kickstart in RAM to another one etc.) without user intervention. When you hold down the left mouse button during system reboot, the GUI screen will appear. (5) If you want your startup scripts to be switched according to Kickstart version, install the SwitchScript utility (see its .doc for how to do it) Thanks: ------- - to Commodore-Amiga for the Operating System. - to SinSoft for his SKick and a lot of good ideas. - to Tomas Zikmund, Petr Cisar and Stefan Stuntz for beta-testing. - to many people for sending me their bug reports Final words: ------------ Known bugs: MKick probably doesn't work with 68040 CPU, because I have no beta-testers with such machine and I have no documentation for this CPU. Send bug reports and comments to mj@k332.feld.cvut.cz (Before sending bug reports, you should read the README.BUGREPORTS file). Excuse me for my bad English and all bugs.