Floppy diskettes require careful handling. You might already be familiar with how to take care of diskettes from reading your Color Computer Disk System manual. If not, or as a reminder, review the following points:
Most diskettes have a square notch cut from one corner. This is a write protect notch. If you place a special adhesive tab (supplied with diskettes) over both sides of this notch, your computer can no longer write (store) data on it. This feature protects diskettes from inadvertent destruction of data.
OS-9 has its own method of referring to your disk drives. What your Color Computer Disk System manual calls Drive 0, OS-9 calls Drive /D0. This is your first drive if you have more than one floppy disk drive connected to your system. Subsequent drives are named lDl, /D2, and so on.
If you have a hard disk attached to your system, OS-9 refers to it as Drive /H0. A second hard disk drive is named /Fil.
Before you can store information on a diskette, you must format it. Formatting is the process of magnetically arranging a disk's surface so that OS-9 can store and locate information. The following steps tell you how to format a diskette. Format at least two diskettes at this time to use in making backups (copies) of your two OS-9 system diskettes. If you have other important diskettes to backup, format as many diskettes as you require.
1. If you have not already done so, place a write-protect tab on your System Master diskette. Then, turn on and boot your computer as described in Chapter 2.
3. Select a diskette that does not contain data or that contains data you do not want to keep. Make sure it does not have a foil tab covering the write-protect notch. Put it in your disk drive (Drive /DT in place of your OS-9 System Master diskette and type:
4. Press (1] to begin formatting. OS-9 asks you for a D i 5 k N a m e : . Type any name, using a maximum of 32 characters. For example, you can type 5 ENTER to name the diskette "s."
Next OS-9 verifies that the diskette is formatted properly. The screen shows each track number in hexadecimal notation during verification. A track is a concentric ring around the diskette on which information is stored.
Getting Started With OS-95. When formatting is complete, OS-9 shows you the Number o f good sectors. This number depends on the type of disk drive you are using. Fbr a 35 track, single-sided drive, the number should be $000276 (hexadecimal 276 sectors). The OS-9 prompt and cursor reappear. Remove the newly formatted diskette from the drive, and store it in a safe place until you are ready to use it.
Format as many diskettes as you need by following Steps 3 through 5.
1. If your computer is off, turn it on, and boot OS-9 as outlined in Chapter 2.
2. At the system prompt (o S 9 : ), type f o r m a t / d 1 ENTER . The screen shows:
3. Insert a blank disk, or one which does not contlhin data you want to keep, into Drive /D 1, and close the latch. Be sure the diskette does not have a foil tab covering the write-protect notch. Press 0.
4. OS-9 formats the diskette; then asks you for a Disk Name:. Type any name, using a maximum of 32 characters. For example, you can type 5 ENTER to name the diskette "s."
Next OS-9 verifies that the diskette is formatted properly. The screen shows each track number in hexadecimal notation during verification. A track is a concentric ring around the diskette on which information is stored.
5. When formatting finishes, OS-9 shows you the Number o f g o o d 5 e c t o r 5 . This number depends on the type of disk drive you are using. For a 35-track, single-sided drive, the number should be $000276 (hexadecimal 276 sectors). The OS-9 prompt and cursor reappear. Remove the newly formatted diskette from the drive, and store it in a safe place until you are ready to use it.
Format as many diskettes as you need by following the same procedure.
BACKUP is one OS-9 command that you can expect to use frequently. It is the command you use to make copies of your diskettes. We strongly recommend that you now use the following instructions to make copies of your OS-9 system diskettes. You can only copy diskettes that are created in the same type of disk drive you are using. Your OS-9 system diskettes are 35 track, single sided.
BACKUP uses two terms you need to understand. They are source and destination. A source diskette is the diskette that contains the program, file or data that you want to backup. The destination diskette is the blank formatted diskette you prepared to receive the copied data.
1. If your computer is off, turn it on, and boot OS-9 as outlined at the beginning of Chapter 2.
This tells OS-9 to make a backup of the diskette in Drive /D0. The screen displays the following prompt:
3. Leave the System Master diskette in Drive /DO to make a backup of it. To back up one of your other diskettes, for example the BASIC09/CONFIG diskette, remove the System Master diskette and replace it with the diskette you want to copy.
5. Replace the source diskette with the destination diskette. Then, press the space bar to continue BACKUP.
When you back up one diskette to another, any data previously existing on the destination diskette is overwritten (destroyed). OS-9 gives you a chance to make sure you have inserted the proper destination diskette by displaying the message:
"Scratched" means that OS-9 is going to replace any data on the diskette with new data from the source diskette. BACKUP also gives the destination diskette the same name as the source diskette-the destination becomes a duplicate of the source.
7. Remove the formatted diskette from Drive /D0, and replace it with the source diskette that contains the data you want to copy. Press the space bar.
8. Remove the source diskette and replace it with the destination diskette. Press the space bar.
9. Continue switching diskettes as the screen instructs you until you see:
The diskette now in your drive, the destination diskette, is a duplicate of the source diskette. If you copied the System Master or the BASIC09/CONFIG diskette, store it in a safe place, and use the copy as your working diskette. Reserve the original diskette for making future backups.
1. If your computer is off, turn it on, and boot OS-9 as outlined at the beginning of Chapter 2.
This tells OS-9 to make a backup of the diskette in Drive /D0. The screen displays the following prompt:
3. Leave the System Master diskette in Drive /DO to make a backup of it. To back up one of your other diskettes, for example the BASIC09/CONFIG diskette, remove the System Master diskette and replace it with the diskette you want to copy. 4. Press 0 when you are ready to continue.
When you back up one diskette to another, the process overwrites or destroys any data previously existing on the destination diskette. OS-9 gives you a chance to make sure you have inserted the proper destination diskette by displaying the message:
Getting Started With OS-9
