TopDown Loader v2.7 - Shareware Release Instruction Manual Software and Manual Copyright 1989 John Eidsvoog revision: Wednesday, November 8, 1989 DESCRIPTION: TopDown Loader is a program for the Atari ST series that runs from an AUTO folder at boot-up time. It forces the other AUTO programs and all accessories to run at the top end of memory. This leaves the bottom of memory available for programs that require a particular "load" address to run, such as Zoomracks, Art & Film Director, and early versions of the MidiTrack ST series. This means that now you can run these programs with as many accessories as you like (up to 6, more with MultiDesk) with no problem. A side benefit of TopDown is that the boot-up procedure goes faster. This is because the operating system clears all available memory every time a program runs. TopDown restricts the memory available during boot-up so the time needed to clear memory is very short. This is especially evident on STs using older ROMs with memory upgrades. The following tests were done while booting from hard disk, timing from when TopDown runs until it removes itself as the desktop comes up: Without TopDown With TopDown 5 AUTO prgs, 3 accs: 1040ST with 1.0 ROMS: 21.9 secs 8.9 secs Mega ST4: 15.4 secs 5.1 secs 13 AUTO prgs, 6 accs: Mega ST4: 33.1 secs 16.5 secs NOTE: It should be pointed out that usage of TopDown for faster bootups has been made all but obsolete by the shareware program, PinHead, by Charles F. Johnson. PinHead does a far better job of speeding up the running of programs, not only during bootup but when running programs from the desktop also. Look for it on GEnie, CompuServe, or your local BBS or user group. ----------------------------------------------------- INSTALLING TopDown: What is an AUTO folder? When the Atari ST boots up (starts up by turning on the power or hitting reset), it looks for a folder called AUTO on the boot disk. This would be the floppy disk in drive A, or one of your hard disk partitions if you have an auto-boot program installed on your hard disk. If it finds one, it will then attempt to run all programs within the AUTO folder that have the extension .PRG. These programs must be TOS applications as GEM has not been initialized at this level. In other words, don't copy all of your programs into the AUTO folder and expect them to work. The order in which the PRGs are executed is NOT alphabetical, but the order in which they were originally written to (copied into) the AUTO folder. TopDown will provide you with the best performance if it is the first program in the AUTO folder. The easiest way to do this is to use Auto Organizer, contained on the CodeHead Utilities disk. If you do not own Auto Organizer, you should first format a new boot disk. (For a hard disk, save your AUTO programs and delete your AUTO folder.) Next, install a folder named AUTO onto the new floppy (or hard disk) by selecting "New Folder..." from the "File" menu. And finally, copy the rest of your AUTO programs into the AUTO folder, one at a time, in the order you would like them to run. Of course, if you previously did not use any AUTO folder programs, TopDown will now be the only program in the AUTO folder. NOTE: If you use a reset-proof ramdisk that automatically re-boots when it first installs, it is best to install it before TopDown. If you use the program FATSPEED, it must also run before TopDown. If you are booting from floppy, you should now copy the accessories that you wish to use onto the new boot disk, in the main directory. If you are booting from hard disk, your accessories are already there, you're done. If you have no accessories and no AUTO programs, you don't need TopDown so you're outa here, dude. ----------------------------------------------------- USING TopDown: Every attempt was made to make TopDown completely automatic, requiring no user input. This was just not possible as there is no way of knowing how much memory each program needs. I have provided the next best thing. When you boot up, TopDown will ask you: How many kilobytes (K) are needed by AUTO programs and accessories? (0 to bypass) 300 A typical amount might be 300, but to avoid confusion it is best to start with an amount that is definitely more than you need (TopDown will tell you later how much is really needed). The amount used last will appear as a default value. You may use the backspace key or "Esc" to help edit this amount. When you hit "Return", TopDown will take over and force your AUTO programs and accessories to load into the top (300K or whatever you entered) of memory. When the desktop comes up, a dialog box will appear stating: Amount of top-end memory left = 76K Recommended reserve amount = 234K 76K is an an arbitrary amount for this example. This is the amount of memory that is wasted at the top of memory. You could now reset and enter the recommended amount in an attempt to end up with about 10K of top-end memory left. In this example, using a value of 234 the next time should give about 10K left over. The 10K is needed by the operating system for redraws of menu dropdowns and such. If you leave too little memory at the top, you will find that the menu dropdowns will not redraw correctly, as well as many other possible problems including crashes and bombs. The thing to watch out for is not starting with a high enough value. This situation will be shown by a ">" instead of an "=" before the recommended amount. If, for instance, your accessories require 200K and you only allowed 100K, some of them may not install correctly. TopDown may still show some top-end memory available, but the last program(s) will not install or may crash. To avoid this problem, make sure you always start with a value that is more than enough. Then work down from there. NOTE: It is still possible to use too small an amount and NOT have a ">" appear. ----------------------------------------------------- While configuring TopDown you may use the function keys F1-F4 to alter the following settings: F1 - toggles between "Stop for prompt" and "Automatic drive-thru". This determines whether TopDown will stop for your input next time it runs. To interrupt an "automatic" setting, you must hit a key before TopDown runs. If you press "Undo" before TopDown runs, it will not stop for your input, but do a temporary "Automatic drive-thru", regardless of the F1 setting. This is useful if TopDown is followed by another program which uses type-ahead, such as "Desk Manager", by Charles F. Johnson. F2 - sets the time in 1/10 seconds for the exit dialog box. Allows you to enter the number of tenths-of-seconds that the dialog box stays on the screen. A setting of 0 will cause the box not to appear at all. If the mouse is moved during this pause or a key is pressed, the box will disappear immediately. F3 - toggles between "Sound off", "Whistle", and "Bell". This specifies the type/presence of sound at exit time. Everyone's got their own preferences and there's no disputing taste. F4 - toggles between "No auto re-sizing" and "Automatic re-sizing". If "automatic" is turned on, the "Recommended amount" is saved as the last reserve amount. The next time you use TopDown, that size will be used (or appear as default). Don't forget to increase the reserve amount if you add more accessories. F10- when pressed before or during TopDown's run, F10 will cause a temporary bypass (not installing). None of the settings are changed including the reserve size. F10's function does not appear on the screen. You may also run TopDown from the desktop, but you will only be allowed to configure the settings. You will be asked if you want to save them when you exit (hit return). NOTE: In order for TopDown to save its configuration, it writes data to itself, every time you run it. For this reason, it must be named TOPDOWN.PRG or you will get the message "Error trying to write to TOPDOWN.PRG". If you must call it something else, then either you must use a disk editor to change the imbedded name "TOPDOWN.PRG" to your file name, or you can't save the configuration. ----------------------------------------------------- Version 2.3 Update information: TopDown has a search routine to find some important GEMDOS memory lists. There have been some reports that people were getting the message: "Unknown ROM version". This will happen if the search routine fails. Version 2.3 uses hard addresses for all known ROM versions to alleviate this problem but still contains the search routine so that it will hopefully work with future ROMs. Version 2.4 Update information: My apologies to anyone who suffered from the "Error recovering malloc" malady in version 2.3 (this would be only those with early ROMs). It was a stupid mistake caused by typing d0 instead of a0 (a big difference to the microprocessor). Version 2.4 corrects this problem. Version 2.5 Update information: Version 2.5 fixed two bugs. You will no longer get an "Error trying to write to TOPDOWN.PRG" when Auto-resizing is enabled and your desktop's top window is other than your boot drive. The other problem was with accessories that search for a file ending in .ACC (DCFormat, for one) while loading into MultiDesk. Version 2.6 Update information: TopDown was configured to work with an early beta version of Atari's 1.4 TOS ROMs. Unfortunately they changed many things during development and TopDown broke with later versions. This has been fixed. Version 2.7 Update information: Due to the existence of PinHead, TopDown has now been released as shareware (as opposed to a commercial product). Also the exit dialog box will disappear (before the time limit) by pressing a key, in addition to moving the mouse. The automatic installation and non-installation messages will no longer clear the screen (or print in the middle), which would produce an ugly display with other AUTO programs, but rather will print below the last text that was output to the screen, scrolling the screen up if necessary. ----------------------------------------------------- TopDown is a shareware program. The idea of shareware is that you may distribute TopDown freely to anyone (please, as much as possible). This method of distribution saves money for you the user and me the developer by eliminating marketing, manufacturing, and production costs. If you make use of TopDown, you are expected to register yourself as a TopDown owner by sending a payment of $15 (or more) to: John Eidsvoog P.O. Box 74090 Los Angeles, CA 90004 This will register you as an owner to receive updates and support for TopDown. Please specify TopDown in your correspondence, and if you would like to receive acknowledgment of your registration, include a self-addressed stamped envelope. TopDown is no longer affiliated with CodeHead Software. All CodeHead Software products are commercial programs which must be purchased through normal commercial channels. CodeHead Software has never and will never release any shareware programs. Thank you for supporting the shareware concept.