README72.TXT -- Help file for ADAMserve 72
by Richard F. Drushel  drushel@apk.net  13 August 2000


(1) PC Setup.

ADAMserve requires (minimum) an XT-class PC with 256K RAM, two 180K floppy
disk drives, a serial port, a 20MB hard disk, and MS-DOS 2.0.  A parallel
port is required if you wish to bypass printing to the ADAM printer.

ADAMserve is known to run perfectly under Windows 95, Windows 98, OS/2 2.1
and 3.0 Warp.  ADAMserve runs in a limited fashion under Windows NT 4.0:
the ADAMserve hard disk can be accessed over the serial link, but PC floppy
disk I/O is completely blocked.  As of this writing, ADAMserve has not been
tested under Windows ME or Windows 2000.

Connect the PC serial port to the ADAM serial port using a null modem cable.
An RS-232 line tester with status LEDs is a good item to put in-line, because
it can help you debug cabling problems.  It is probably best to test the
null modem connection using PC and ADAM telecommunications programs (e.g.,
ProComm, Telix, IMP, ADAMlink) *first*, before trying to run ADAMserve.  If
you can type at one keyboard and see characters on the other screen, and vice
versa, then the serial link is working; if not, ADAMserve won't work.

Start the PC side of ADAMserve before booting the ADAM.  The PC file is called
SERVE72x.EXE, where x specifies the PC floppy mapping and PC serial port to
be used:

    x    date     A:     B:  serial
   =================================
    A  9609.02  1440K  1200K  COM1:
    B  9609.02  1440K  1200K  COM2:
    C  9609.02   320K   320K  COM2:
    D  9609.02  1200K  1200K  COM2:
    E  9609.02   320K   720K  COM2:
    F  9609.02  1200K  1440K  COM2:
    G  9609.08   720K   320K  COM2:

You can use the startup command line option /B to run in monochrome mode;
default is color (black and cyan).

You should put ADAMserve into its own directory, e.g., C:\ADAMSERVE.  Make
sure that the two EOS hard disk image files EOSHD0.DSK and EOSHD1.DSK are
present in this directory.

You must have the following line in your CONFIG.SYS file when you boot your
PC:

    DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS  (or whatever path leads to ANSI.SYS)

Ignore the "File not found" error message at startup; it is from an as-yet-
unimplemented configuration file feature.


(2) ADAM Setup.

ADAMserve requires (minimum) a stock ADAM with one tape drive and a third-
party serial board (Eve, Orphanware, or Micro Innovations).  A full printer/
power supply is necessary if you wish to print to the ADAM printer; otherwise,
you may use a bare power supply and redirect printing to a PC parallel
printer.

After the PC side of the server is running, put the ADAMserve boot tape/disk
into any drive and pull the reset switch.

ADAMserve has built-in drivers for all third-party serial boards.  However,
you must configure your boot tape/disk to specify which serial port you are
using for ADAMserve.

Block 0 boot of the ADAMserve boot disk has a reserved byte to specify the
server serial baseport.  Offset 2 (0-based) has one of following values:

    44h      Orphanware port 68
    4Ch      Orphanware port 76
    54h      Orphanware port 84
    5Ch      Orphanware port 92
    18h      MIB2 port 1
    10h      MIB2 port 2

Boot disk images are provided for all 6 serial baseports.  However, you can
use a block-editing utility like File Manager to change the baseport byte if
you wish.


(3) Using ADAMserve:  ADAM Side.

The ADAMserve boot will load HARDDISK from the boot tape/disk.  Once HARDDISK
is running, you can use it to launch programs from the hard disk or from
tapes or (PC) floppy disks.  For example, to run a program stored on Volume
5, change the Logical Drive to 5, then select "Boot From Hard Disk".  From
the menu of boot blocks, select the appropriate boot block.  Your application
will then run.  To boot from an external drive, insert the tape/disk, then
select "Boot Software" and select the appropriate drive.

From application programs, you can change the current Logical Drive of the
hard disk by typing Shift-Tab (hold down both keys at once).  You will hear
a beep, then the current Logical Drive will be advanced by one (9 wraps back
to 0).

To return to HARDDISK from any application, type Shift-Undo (hold down both
keys at once).  This reboots HARDDISK from the server hard drive.


(4) Using ADAMserve:  PC Side.

The ADAMserve server program accepts the following function keys:

    <escape>    flushes the server receive buffer (may be useful
                after an I/O error).

    C/c         ADAMcalc 'fudge'.  Performs proper page eject when 
                printing with either serial printer or "other" printer
                (parallel printer) in ADAMcalc.

    P/p         PowerPaint 'fudge'.  Ignores the hiword of block
                number (necessary for PowerPaint disk I/O).

    Q/q         quits to DOS.

The two 'fudges' are toggles:  repeated typing turns them on and off.  You
should use the appropriate toggle before launching either ADAMcalc or
PowerPaint from HARDDISK.

Note that status information is displayed:  blocks being read or written,
and any error messages.


(5) Assembling the Source Code.

Instructions for assembling both the PC and ADAM source code for ADAMserve
are given in the respective ZIP archives containing the source.


(6) Known Bugs.

A small wrinkle seems to exist in the 1200K server floppy disk I/O:
sometimes it can't read a 1200K disk correctly if it's the very first
disk ADAMserve reads after it's started.  If you read from a 160K or
320K floppy disk *first*, all subsequent attempts to read any 1200K
disks are successful, regardless of whether you mix/match 160K/320K/1200K
disks subsequently.

The ADAM printer emulator to parallel printer does not support
underline printing from SmartWriter.

ADAM software which attempts to do raw ADAMnet I/O (by directly manipulating
device control blocks), or does block I/O at levels below _READ_1_BLOCK,
will not work with ADAMserve, due to incomplete ADAMnet emulation.  Such
software can often be patched, however, to be "better behaved".  If you find
such software, please let me know, and maybe I can patch it.


--RFD


