MultiTOS Quick Start. User's Guide [PDF]

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' /I\ATARI MultiTOS* Quickstart [-Jser'sGuide

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PLEASENOTE:Everyefforthasbeenmadeto ensuretheaccuracy of the information in thismanual.However, AtariCorporation because is constantly improving andupdatingits computerhardwareandsoftware,it is unableto guarantee the accuracyof printedmaterialafterthedateof publication and liability for changes, disclaims errors,or omissions. Reproduction of allor anyportionof thismanualis notallowedwithoutthe specificwrittenconsentof Ataricorporation. Atari,theAtarilogo,TOS,andMultiTOS aretrademarks or registered trademarks of AtariCorporation. GEMis a registered trademarkof Digital Research, Inc.

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MultiTOSQuickstartGuide

Applicability TheMultiTOS'"operating is applicable environment onlyto the followingAtari computers: . AtariST Serieswith2 MBof RAMor greater(suchas MegaST2or Mega sT4) r AtariSTeSerieswith2 MBof RAMor greater(suchas MegaSTe2or Mega STe4) o AtariTTSeries e AtariStacyComputers o AtariFalconSeries AboutThis Guide Thisguideis an introduction to installing andusingAtari'slatestsystem for yourowner'smanual,and software,MultiTOS.lt is nota replacement assumesyouarefamiliarwithTOSmenus,windows,andbuttons,andwith likecopyingfilesandrunningprograms. operations

lntroductionto MultiTOS MultiTOSprovidesyourAtaricomputerwithmultitasking, the abilityto run morethanoneapplication at a time.Sinceyourcomputerspendsmuchof its makesmoreefficientuseof processing timewaitingfor userinput,muhitasking

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power.Whenoneapplication, say,yourwordprocessor, is waitingfor input,the restof yourcomputer's attentioncan be turnedto othertasks. MultiTOSincludesseveralimportant featuresthatmakemultitasking givesthe mostprocessingpowerto reliableand efficient.Adaptiveprioritization programrunning-thewordprocessor you'retypinginto the mostimportant progran receiveshigherprioritythanthe processor-hungry compression preventsone runningsimultaneously in the bac*ground. Memoryprotection programlrom interfering withanotheractiveprogram's datain memory.And if oneprogramquitsunexpectedly or crashes,MultiTOSprotectsother applications, whichcontinueto run;onlyin the mostextremecircumstances will youneedto restartyourcomputer. MultiTOSrunsexisting,correctly-written TOSprograms--as manyas your memoryallows.Someprogramsare alreadybeingupgradedto take computer's advantage of MultiTOSfeatures,andmoreprogramswrittenespecially for MultiTOSareon theirway,bothfromAtariandthird-party companies.

InstallingMultiTOS lf MultiTOSis alreadyinstalledon yourcomputer, skipthissectionand continuereadingfromMultiTOSConfiguration.An AtariFujicharacter andthe wordDESKTOPin the the Deskmenu(atthe upperleft-handcornerof your screen)meansyou'realreadyrunningMultiTOS. lf MultiTosisn'talreadyon yoursystem,you'llneedto installit. Before goinganyfurther,copyyourMultiTOSDistribution Disk(or Disks),and useonly the copy.Storethe original(s) in a safeplace,awayfrommoisture,dust,and magneticfields.Nowyou'rereadyto proceed. program, Double-click installation on INSTALL.PRG, theMultiTOS and followits prompts,You needto haveenoughdiskspacefor MultiTOSand relatedfiles(1.5megabytes is plenty),andyoumustchoosea directoryin which to placethem.By default,MultiTOSis installedin C:\MULTITOS; unlessyou havea goodreasonto changethis,justclickOK.Theprogramautomatically copiesthe correctfilesto the correctplaceson yourharddisk,and configures MultiTOSto run on yoursystem.

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MultiTOSConfiguration MultiTOSrelieson severalimportant filesforleaturesandconfiguration information. Be carefulnotto deleteor changethesefiles,or MultiTOSmaynot workcorrectly. Also,makesureMINT.PRG, thepartof MultiTOS thatactually is the lastitemsavedin your\AUTOfolder.Notethateven controlsmultitasking, if MINT.PRG appearsto be the lastitemin your\AUTOfolderftomthe Desktop, it maynotbe;the Desktopsortsthe itemsin a windowunlessyoutell it mayjust appearlast.INSTALLmakessureMINTis otherwise, andMINT.PRG last,but if yousubsequently needto addanotherprogramto your\AUTOfolder, moveMINT.PRG out,copyin the newprogram, andmoveMINT.PRG back.

The DifferentTypesof Programs MultiTOSrunsthethreemajortypesof programs: GEMprograms,which usegraphicalwindows, menus,andbuttons; DeskAccessories, specialGEM programsavailablefromwithinotherGEMprogramsviathe Deskmenu;and TOSprograms, whichuseonlyplaintext.Mostof yourprogramsare probably TOSprogramsare usuallyprogrammer's GEMprograms; toolsor minorutilities. Thethree-letter extenderin a program'snameindicateswhatkindof programit is;in the namePROGRAM.APP, .APPis theextender. .APP,.GTP, indicateGEMprograms, and,often,.PRGextenders and .TOS,.TTP,and .PRGextendersindicateTOSprograms. sometimes Although.PRGusually indicatesa GEMprogram,it is sometimes usedby text-onlyTOSprograms; checkthe program'sdocumentation to be sure. youcouldrunoneapplication BeforeMultiTOS, at a timeby doubleyoucouldaccessa Desk clickingon its icon.Withina GEMapplication, Accessory, likethe ControlPanel,fromthe Deskmenu.To run a secondGEM or TOSprogram,you hadto exitthe first.

RunningProgramswith MultiTOS MuhiTOScanrunas manyprogramssimultaneously as willfit in memory; GEMprograms,DeskAccessories, andTOSprogramscanall peacefully coexistunderMuttiTOS. Youcan movefromoneto the other,usingwhichever

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MultiTOS Qui ckstart Guide

you need.Whenoneprogramis busy,youcanset it asideandworkon something elseuntilit'sdone.Whenyoufinishwitha programand exitit,the memoryit occupiedis freedfor othertasks, All runningprogramssharethe screen,eachputtingup its ownwindows; withseveralprogramsrunning,windowsmayoverlapor be hiddenaltogether by oneanother.Theapplication fromyou is thatreceivesinput,likekeystrokes, calledthe foreground or toppedapplication, andotherprogramsrunning simultaneously arebackground, or untoppedapplications. UnlikeTOS,MultiTOSallowsyouto operateanywindow'sgadgetsto move,resize,or scrollthewindow,evenif thewindowis nottopped.Whenyou clickwithina window(butnoton its gadgets), thatwindowis topped,andso is the application thatownsit. Thetoppedapplication's menubar is displayed, unlessit doesn'thavea menubar--inthatcase,the menubar is unchanged. GEMProgramsand MultiTOS Running GEMprograms is straightforward: underMultiTOS simplydoubleclickthe program'sicon.TheMultiTOSDistribution Kit includestwo simpleGEM programs, on CLOCK.APP, andan analogclock ClockandLines.Double-click appearsin a window,butthe Desktop'siconsandmenubararestillvisible. Double-click on LINES.APP, demonstration appearsin a anda graphics window.Resizethe Lineswindowso thatyoucanseethe clockandsomeof From the Desktop.Bothprogramsandthe Desktoparerunningsimultaneously! likefile here,youcanrunstillotherprograms, or performDesktopoperations copies. DeskAccessoriesand MultiTOS As withTOS,youcanaccessyourDeskAccessories fromthe Deskmenu. UnlikeTOS,MultiTOScanloadDeskAccessories as youneedthem.DoubleYou clickon a .ACCfileto run it,just as youwouldanotherGEMapplication. maywantto keeponlythe essentialAccessories loadedat alltimes,and load otherswhenneeded.Youcando thisby puttingyour.ACCfilesin a directory otherthanthe rootof driveC:\.

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TOSProgramsand MultiTOS

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TOSprogramspresenta specialproblem for multitasking, becausethey usuallyassumetheyarethe onlyprogramsrunning,andthattheyhavethe wholescreento themselves. SinceTOSprogramsdon'tknowhowto sharethe screen,MultiTOSdoesit forthem,by givingthemtheirownscreen,withina window.Whenyoudouble-click a .TOSor .TTPprogram,MultiTOSruns anotherprogram,MlNlWlN,whichsetsup a windowin whichtheTOSprogram runs.MlNlWlNletsyouselectthesizeof the windowTOSprogramsaregiven, andthe fonttheyuse.You canchangethis information by choosingConfigure... in the leftmostmenuwhenrunninga TOSprogram.Note:TOSprograms font,whereall characters assumethey'reusinga monospaced arethe same width.MlNlWlNallowsyouto chooseproportionally spacedfonts,wherea w is widerthanan r,for example.lf youchoosea proportionally spacedfont,the programmay lookstrange,but is otherwise fine. ManagingMultipleApplications presentsits Whenseveralapplications arerunning,thetoppedapplication menubar andreceivesyourkeystrokes. The othersare in the background, whereyoucanstillmoveandresizetheirwindows,butyoucan'tclickon their menusor givethemkeyboardcommands. MultiTOSprovidesseveralwaysto youmayhaverunning, managealltheapplications andto choosewhichof themis topped. Theleftmostmenuin the menubar is calledthe Deskmenu,because that'swhatit'scalledwhenthe Desktopis topped.WhenanotherMultiTOSfriendlyapplication is run,andthe application hasits ownmenubar,the namereplacesDeskin the menubar--thisis onewayto tellwhich application's programis topped,Someolderapplications willnotdo this,butwillotherwise workfine. The Deskmenucontainsthe namesof all installedDeskAccessories and, below,the namesof all applications currentlyrunning,withthetopped indicatedby a checkmark. You cantop anotherprogramby clicking application on its namein thismenu;itswindows(if it hasany)springto the front,andits menubar (if it hasone)appears.

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HowManyProgramsCanI Run? Youcanrun as manyprogramsas youravailablememoryallows,butthere arereasonswhyyoumaynotwantto. Often,thereis verylittledifferencein withseveralprogramsrunning,sincemanyof these systemperformance programsarejust waitingfor input,Whenprogra'nsareactivelyprocessing, or readingandwritingdataon a disk,theyconsumemoreof yourcomputer's processing power.Youmaybe temptedto leavethingsrunningin the background becauseit'sso easy,but if theymaketoo manydemandson the willsuffer.lt's bestto shutdownanyprogra'nsyou'renot system,performance planningto use,justas youwouldexitthemin TOS.Thismakesthe most for the programsyoureallyneed. memoryandcomputing horsepower available programs workwelltogether. Experiment, of andseewhatcombinations ExitingPrograms the samewayyouwouldwithTOS: ShutprogramsdownwithMultiTOS savewhateveryou'reworkingon,thenselectQuit,clickthe closegadgeton a Thisgivesthe programa chanceto saveand window,typeexit,or whatever. yourcomputerto its closeanyfilesit hasopenandexitcleanly,returning normalstate.As always,it'sbestto saveyourworkand exitfromall running or turningyourcomputeroff. applications beforerestarting Occasionally, a programmayhangin a statewhereit is no longerrunning correctly, butdoesnotexit.when thishappens,youcanshutthe programdown fromthe Desktop,SelectlnstallDevicesunderthe Optionsmenu,thenopen driveU:\,anclthenthe PROCfolder.Thisfoldercontainsfilesthatrepresentall alongwithpartsof MultiTOS the programscurrentlyrunningunderMultiTOS, itself.To stopor kill a program,simplydragit to thetrash.Be verycarefulwith or are Killonlyprogramswhichhavenotresponded otherwise, thistechnique. Be carefulwhatyouthrowaway,becauseit is behavingincorrectly. otherwise possibleto shutdowna partof MultiTOSitself,afterwhichit can be ditficultto recoverwithoutrestarting.lf you aren'tsure whatsomethingis,donTkill it. Poorly-Behaved Programsand MultiTOS AlthoughAtarihas madeeveryeffortto accomodateevenill-behavedTOS programsthatare notcompatible programs, youmayoccasionally encounter

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withMultiTOS. Theseprogramsmaycrash,(exitunexpectedly) or hang,(keep runningwithoutacceptinginput,refusingto exit).Usuallywhenthis happens, MultiTOScontinuesunharmed, alongwithanyotherprogramsrunningat the timeof the crash.Sometimes, if a programcrashesin an especially spectacular way,it can interferewithotherpartsof MultiTOSoperation, or otherprograms.lf youseeerrormessages on yourscreen,or if younoticepeculiarbehaviorfrom Tryto isolatethe otherprograms, saveyourworkandrebootyourcomputer. problemto the particular programandactionthatcausedthe crash,andreport the problemto the program'sauthorsor publisher.

DisablingMultiTOS Whenyou encounter a programwhichdoesn'trun underMultiTOSunder youcantemporarily anycircumstances butyouneedto runnevertheless, disableMuhiTOS, andrestartyourcomputerwithTOS.To do this,saveany workin progress, shutdownanyrunningapplications, andrestartyour Youcan usethe Resetbutton,or holddownand computer.

holddownthe left andpress.lmmediately afterrestarting, key.Youwillbe asked,LoadMultiTOS?(y)es(n)o.Pressthekey, willstartup withoutMultiTOS. andyourcomputer

SubtleCaveats Withthe powerof MultiTOScomesresponsibility, Sincesomeolder programsexpectto be the onlythingrunning,theymaynotguardagainstsome thingswhichcan happenwhentheirbac*sareturned.Youcanavoidthese problemsby not usingoneprogramor the Desktopto interferewithanother or opendocumentfiles activeprogram.Forexample,don'tmoveconfiguration programmayassumethefiles whileit'srunning;the foryourwordprocessor Similarly,be carefulwith are in theiroriginalplace,andbehaveunpredictably. programsthatmanipulate diskdatadirectly;don'truna harddisk programin the background andsavea fileto the samedisk,or defragmentation programsbecome As moreMultiTOS-aware the resultscouldbe unpleasant. willbe minimized. available, theseproblems

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MultiTOSUpdates Future,improvedMultiTOSversionswillbe availableas upgrades. Since mostof MultiTOSis loadedfromdisk,youwillbe ableto upgradetheseparts just as youinstalled withoutopeningyourcomputer. the originals,

MultiTOS QuickstartGuide http://www.atariworld.org

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