----------------------- Manual for N_SYSCOM 1.1 ----------------------- It is now possible to see the Gemdos, Bios, Xbios and GEM (AES and VDI) actions your computer is doing on screen. N_SYSCOM.ACC can only be run as an accessory; settings can be changed (not saved however) by clicking on the "System Command" menu. You can choose between showing or not showing the system commands. Clicking on "Yes" leads to the question about the position you want the information showed. "Top" means at the top of the screen, "Menu" means just under the menu bar and "Bottom" means at the bottom of the screen. The momentary value will be the default button. Defaults at startup are "No" and "Bottom". Information will be displayed with the system 8x8 font; this information is written to the screen directly, which is the reason N_SYSCOM only works with the highest, monochrome resolution. Writing to the screen is done with a VBL routine, which writes the information each time the screen has renewed 4 times, so about 72/4 times pro second. The VBL routine is installed in the first entry in the VBL queue with the XBRA id "NSC1". The vector allready installed there will be executed after this VBL routine is ready. N_SYSCOM installs its own Gemdos, Bios, Xbios and Gem vector. This is done with the same XBRA id "NSC1". The opcode send to one of those system vectors is translated in a 'normal' readable code and printed on screen. The opcode is then send to the original system vector, so no commands are lost ... Showing the information on the screen takes time. Some measures with Quick Index 1.6 show that your Atari is working at about 95% of the original velocity when N_SYSCOM is installed; there is practically no loss when no information is shown ... N_SYSCOM works with all TOS versions and in High resolution (640*400) only ... There are no bugs known about this program except the ones described above, which are no bugs actually. This program is strictly Public Domain, so it may not be sold in any way. N_SYSCOM.TXT should always be accompanied by N_SYSCOM.ACC and the other way around. Use it at your own risk (though, what can happen?). N_SYSCOM is written in assembler. The actual code is only 1000 bytes: the rest is data (all the 'readable' commands have to come from somewhere!). The source can be obtained for a small fee. Write to the author for further information. ------------------- Update N_SYSCOM 1.2 ------------------- N_SYSCOM 1.1 has a bug, which did not get my attention because it never happened to me... The line with the information is skipping 1 pixel sometimes and sometimes the whole infoline is filled with garbage. This happened because I added d0.b as d0.w to a0 (for those of you who know where I am talking about). That was all. I always use N_SYSTEM.ACC which has its own VBL routine, and this one clears d0.l, so adding d0.b as d0.w does not lead to any bug behavior. At the request of several people I added the option to save the settings. This is done by writing to N_SYSCOM.ACC at the bootdisk directly. If N_SYSCOM.ACC does not exist or does not have the proper filelength an alertbox will tell you so. I also added the possibility to slow down your computer in order to be able to follow what's going on in a more detailed way. The alertbox with the "Slow down computer" question has the options of "Much" (almost all computer action can be followed, but serious computing is out of the question), "Little" (make a IBM PC of your Atari) or "No" slowing down. VDI actions are still hard to follow even when "Much" is selected. "Much" slows your computer down to 6%, "Little" to 50%. Those values can vary when you're using other VBL installing programs. All the slowing down routine does is consuming CPU time. When too much VBL rou- tines are installed your computer will do nothing at all any more, and you'll have to reboot. The fact that the filelength is tested means that you may not pack, crunch and/or squeeze this file ... All the other options and possibilies of the 1.1 version are the same, except for the XBRA id, which is now "NSC2". The velocity has gone up to 97%. All the extras for the 1.2 version lead to an extra of only 400 bytes. The size of this accessory is rather ridiculous. N_SYSCOM takes a little more than 13K of your computers memory when it is installed. This program still is PD; I can take no responsibility for the (mis)use of it. Noud van Kruysbergen N.I.C.I. P.O. Box 9104 6500 HE Nijmegen email:kruysbergen@hnykun53.bitnet