ST INIT v 3.1 M J H March 1991 INTRODUCTION This program will allow you to select which desk accessories and whichprograms contained within the auto folder should be loaded when the ST is initialised. It will work with floppy disks and auto-booting harddisks. This program is released as shareware, if you have any trouble with this program just leave a message for me at the address given at the end of this file. If you use this program you do so at your own risk! I will not be held responsible for any damage to disks, or the information contained on disks or the computers and T.Vs (monitors) HOW TO INSTALL ST_INIT.PRG To use, place the program in the AUTO folder of your boot disk or HardDrive if it has auto-boot capability. Make sure the program is the first one to be run. To do this, move all programs on to another disk or ramdisk and copy them back into the AUTO folder in the order that you want them to be run in. Note that ST_INIT.PRG will display ALL files in the order that they are stored on the disk. USING ST_INIT.PRG When used with floppy disks, the program also reads the boot sector and checks whether it is executable or not. It does NOT re-write the boot sector - that is left for you to do with a proper virus killer program. The program can also read a new disk. This means that it is not necessary to turn the ST off if you have booted with the wrong disk. Just insert the disk and press 'N' until you have found the correct disk to boot from. Only single key presses are required. The only time it is necessary to press return is when entering the date and the time. No punctuation is allowed when entering the date or the time, just enter the numbers ie 2nd January 1989 is entered as 020189[return]. COMMANDS Use the cursor keys to move the cursor about the screen and the spacebar or the return key to select or de-select programs and accessories. A - Toggle Auto-Boot program (TOS 1.4 onwards) A file must have already been installed as auro-booting via the desktop for this to work F - Change screen frequency (Colour Only) NOTE some TV's can handle 60hz, if yours can't, just press 'F' again to reset to 50hz N - Re-read the disk (Floppy disk only) R - Change screen resolution (Colour Only or TT030) S - as above T - Set the date and the time V - Turn off/on the verify flag for floppy disks. Esc - Exit. The program will rename the files selected or de-selected by you. If there is a DESKTOP.INF file in the root directory, the program will alter the resolution flag to match the selected screen resolution and re-write the DESKTOP.INF file back to the disk. LIMITATIONS The program can only control 114 desk accessories, and 38 programs in the AUTO folder. I don't even use half this many so i'm not really interested in having the ability to handle more. You will only be able to get about 20 on a floppy disk anyway. If there is an error with the disk when trying to rename the files, the program will simply ignore it and continue on to the next file afterdisplaying an error message, rather than hanging around waiting for the disk to sort itself out. This means the file may not be renamed when exiting the program. This program should run without any problems on any ST as it only uses legal calls to the Operating System. *** Version 1 was called 'ACCLOAD', and was only capable of handling up to 160 desk accessories, and was tested on floppy disks and hard drives for over a year. Version 2 had the following additions: 1) Flashing cursor 2) Free Ram Indicator 3) Ability to change screen frequency 4) Date and time continuously displayed on the main screen 5) Ability to control which files in the auto folder are to be loaded and run. 6) A much nicer presentation screen Version 2 was modified to handle the bug in TOS version 1.6 with regards to the DESKTOP.INF file, so that the STE 1.6 ROMs can be set to medium res by the desktop. - Completed 23/2/90. Subsequent version 2.x were mainly bug fixes, and the title screen was created using the A-Line routines instead of using graphic blocks which reduced the file size by 70% Version 3.0 (February 1991) This version was introduced to handle some of the newer features of the new TT030 machine. This machine has two lots of memory banks called ST and TT memory - this program will detect which type of machine it is running on and display the free memory for both types of RAM. Also, the TT introduces 2 new screen resolutions and still retains the ability to display ALL of the current ST resolutions, and this program will allow you to select any of the valid resolutions, while still allowing either colour or Hi res only on the ST. Other additions : A new command [A] is available to allow you to toggle whether the file installed in the DESKTOP.INF file will be Auto-booted or not. This feature is only available in TOS version 1.4 and higher. The cursor can now be controlled with the mouse, the left button acts as though the [SPACE] bar has been pressed and the right mouse button acts as though the [ESC] key has been pressed. NOTE - IF YOU TRY RUNNING THIS PROGRAM FROM THE DESKTOP, WHEN YOU EXIT YOUR MOUSE WILL BE SENT TO NEVER-NEVER LAND! The screen resolution now defaults to the flag set in the DESKTOP.INF file. However, version 3.0 was not too intelligent in detecting this - one problem was this - if the machine was booted in colour, and a disk with the DESKTOP.INF file was configured for hi res (ie especially TOS 1.6), the program would not let you change resolutions - this was VERY anoying on certain STE machines with a certain bug. Say no more. Version 3.1 (hopefully) fixes this problem, and also adds yet another new feature - if there is no key or mouse movement for a period of just over 2 minutes the program will exit and process any changes already selected (if there are any). ********************************************************************** All versions of STINTxxx.PRG have been tested on the following machines (mainly with Hard Drives) : 1040 STF (TOS 1.2) 1040 STE (TOS 1.6) MEGA ST4 (TOS 1.2 and TOS 1.4) TT030 (TOS 3.01) Remember - there could be a few glitches with certain floppy disk set-ups, however I didn't find any on mine when I tried it, but if you do find any bugs or quirks please let me know and I will try to fix them Version 3.* Written in 100% assembler using DevpacTT from HiSoft. Please send your contributions $20.00 or whatever you feel it is worth to the address at the end of this file. Thanks Mike.. 11/3/91 Mike Horwell Barbary Park Trematon Cornwall England PL12 4RT tel. 0752 840012 +44 752 840012