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Copenhagen, Denmark, 5. feb. 1994
About this document
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This document is structured into several parts.
* A Brief Introduction
* A Word of Warning on the use of AMOS
* Benefits of Registering AMOS
* Information to Crackers wishing to look at AMOS
* Disclaimer and Legal Matters
* AMOS User's Guide
* Noteworthy Quirks in AMOS
* Future Plans for AMOS Releases
* Registration/Support Sites
Please refer to CONTENTS.TXT for a complete list of the files contained as
a part of the AMOS archive.
What is AMOS?
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Short version:
--------------
AMOS is a DOS-program, that enables you to read and write your HPFS-formatted
harddisk drives from native DOS.
Long version:
-------------
AMOS is a DOS program for OS/2 users. For the program to have any value, you
need to run an OS/2 system with at least one drive formatted using the HPFS
file system.
The HPFS file system is IBM's shot at a file system, the purpose of which is
to replace the FAT file system, which is outdated, slow and gives only a small
degree of data security.
In spite of all the good things about HPFS, it has at least one major drawback:
HPFS drives cannot be read or written from "real" DOS. Normally, this is no
problem, since OS/2 takes care of all HPFS handling and maintenance. But in
some situations, it would be very nice indeed to have at least some degree of
access to your HPFS-drives from real DOS...
For example:
* You wish to install a patch for OS/2. This normally requires that you
reboot the machine, using the two first disks of OS/2. Using AMOS, you
simply boot DOS, either using a boot disk or Dual Boot/Boot Manager, and
then copy the needed files.
* You have made an error in OS/2's CONFIG.SYS. Sometimes, OS/2 simply halts
the system with the annoying message "Please correct the error and restart
the system". Without AMOS, you once again have to go through the tedious
process of booting the two floppies, after which you discover that IBM has
forgotten to supply a text-mode editor with OS/2.
* Your youngest daughter unplugged the computer - and it takes half an hour
for OS/2 to CHKDSK! Simply clear the dirty flag, and you are up and
running...
* You accidentialy deleted an important HPFS-partition using FDISK. Even if
you immediately re-establish the partition, OS/2 cannot read data from the
partition. Most of the time, AMOS can.
* You deleted a partition. This caused the drive-letters to change, and
since these are hardcoded into your CONFIG.SYS file, OS/2 cannot boot.
Only option is to re-install, if OS/2 is located on HPFS. With AMOS, you
simply correct the driveletters in CONFIG.SYS using the built-in editor.
* Something has gone terribly wrong, and you simply cannot make OS/2 boot.
All of your data reside on an inaccessible HPFS-drive, and you cannot get
them away from your HPFS-drive. Use AMOS!
* You simply want to play the newest DOS-game, a game that of course uses
VCPI or some other weird DOS-extender that OS/2 doesn't like. Just start
AMOS, and copy the desired files from your HPFS-drives to your FAT gaming
partition...
* You want to know more about your HPFS-drives. You might want to investigate
EA's, harddisk fragmentation, file fragmentation, etc - and you don't want
to spend several hundred $ on commercial programs less powerful than AMOS.
* You want to CHKDSK your boot-drive. Normally, you would have to boot
the install disks to do so - now, simply set the Dirty flag for the drive,
and boot OS/2.
A Word of Warning - Read This Carefully!
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AMOS is *NOT* perfect. What I have done in AMOS is to reverse engineer HPFS
by looking at HPFS-drives, and deduct the format of HPFS-drives from that
information.
Since this is the case, something has most certainly slipped my attention -
something that may cause you loss of data.
Therefore, use AMOS for what it is made: An emergency tool. AMOS can be
invaluable on the day where you would have lost all of your data, but if you
use it in a production environment, use it with great care.
Please refer to the section "Quirks in AMOS", as well as your DOS manual,
for safe operation.
Benefits of registering
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The unregistered version of AMOS can read your HPFS-drives, but can not make
any changes on them. By registering, you get access to write functions for
HPFS-drives as well.
Most important: when you register, you can EDIT your CONFIG.SYS, even if it
is located on a HPFS-drive. And of course you can clear the Dirt Flag on your
HPFS drives as well!
Further, the unregistered version has a delay of 10 seconds when you start it
up. In the registered version, this delay is removed.
Last, but not least, registering makes me keep the spirits high. If nobody
registers, development of AMOS will of course cease...
Information to crackers
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Most, if not all shareware utilities on the market today, are being "cracked"
by some wise guys who do not wish to pay for their software. This section
is devoted to this kind of people:
* Do NOT try to patch AMOS - it's unique protection scheme makes patching
impossible, and might endanger data on your hard drives.
* Do NOT try to alter AMOS.EXE in any way; AMOS will probably detect this, and
abort with an error message.
* Do NOT distribute any altered versions of AMOS. When an unsuspecting user
tries to register an altered version, AMOS refuses to register. If you
have only a cracked version of AMOS, you can always get the newest version
by download from the BBS, or by file requesting AMOS from the below
mentioned systems.
! Some wise guy cracked an earlier version of AMOS. He only succeeded in
removing the delay from the startup-sequence, and fortunately no harm has
come from his attempt (As far as I know). I do, however, strongly advice
against use of any such cracked copies of AMOS. After all, AMOS accesses
your harddisk at the lowest level - one single byte of code changed by
an incompetent (or unlucky!) cracker might spoil it! Register instead ;)
Disclaimer and legal matters
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The AMOS software and documentation is subject to the following licensing
terms and conditions.
* AMOS is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties,
expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties
of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author
assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may
result from the use of the AMOS software.
* AMOS is distributed as a "shareware program" and is provided at
no charge to the user for evaluation for a period not extending 30
days, after which You are required to register. Feel free to share
it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as
part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is
to provide personal computer users with quality software without
high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to
continue to develop new products.
* The distribution archive is to be considered an evaluation copy only.
If you continue to use AMOS after a trial period of 30 days, please
register.
* The AMOS distribution package, all programs, the documentation
and support files are copyrighted 1993-94 by Allan Mertner. All
rights are reserved. You may copy this package for backup purposes.
You may also copy and share unmodified copies of the whole
distribution package, providing that the copyright notice is
reproduced and included on all copies.
* You may not sell the product for a fee and/or distribute the product
along with other products without written permission, nor may you
modify or remove the Copyright Notices from the programs or the
documentation files. User clubs, if they are NOT commercial, are
allowed to ask a small amount of money for distribution and storage
when they want to share this package amongst their members.
* It is expressively forbidden to modify, adapt, translate, reverse
engineer, decompile and/or disassemble the software in the AMOS
package. Patching the medium at places that carry the software is
seen as a program change and is also forbidden.
* The registered software is licensed to run in conjunction with one
user and one PC only.
* Commercial installations are required to pay the commercial registration
fee for AMOS. Please refer to Register.Doc.
AMOS user's guide
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Introduction
------------
Basically, AMOS is a command shell like the one you know from DOS or OS/2.
When you first start it, you get a command prompt that looks like the OS/2
prompt, and should look something like this:
C:>AMOS [Enter]
(AMOS Reads a lot of information)
[C:\]_
Batch command feature
---------------------
Invoking AMOS with a command as parameter, and optionally a preceding /C,
makes AMOS invoke that command before returning either to the command line
or DOS.
Example 1:
The DOS command
AMOS Copy f:\txt\*.doc c:\temp
starts AMOS, which then in turn executes the specified COPY command
before awaiting further user-input.
Example 2:
The DOS command
AMOS /C Dir f:\temp\*.wk3
starts AMOS, executes the DIR command showing all *.wk3-files on f:\temp,
and returns to DOS.
Using AMOS
----------
Sometime in the future, it is my plan to make AMOS a device driver, which
simply mounts your HPFS-drives for use with DOS. Actually, work on the
device driver is progressing pretty well...
Do NOT try to make any write operations using AMOS in an OS/2 DOS box. OS/2
does not permit direct sector writes from DOS-boxes (Reports "Unknown
function", which I find rather cute). If you do try, AMOS will kindly
remind you that writes in DOS-boxes is not possible.
All other functions do perform very well in DOS-boxes, though.
For now, just use your normal DOS and OS/2 commands. DIR works. COPY, DEL
and TYPE do as well. With OS/2 wildcards. Even EDIT works, given that the
file you wish to edit is no larger than 30k (I made this primarily for
CONFIG.SYS-editing). Try it out. If in doubt, try it anyway :-)
AMOS Command Line Use
---------------------
The command line in AMOS offers about the same capabilities as does DOS'
DOSKEY. You can enter commands, and execute them by pressing [Enter] as
usual. AMOS stores the last 2048 bytes of commands in a command buffer.
By pressing the [Up] arrow, the commands of the buffer are read and
displayed, and can be executed as usual.
If you want to locate a specific command from the buffer, write some of the
desired command, and press F8. AMOS then searches backwards in the buffer,
until a command matching the entered command is found. Pressing F8 again
locates the next command in the sequence, etc.
For a list of the 20 last commands in the buffer, press F7.
When you exit AMOS, the command buffer is saved to disc in the file AMOS.SAV.
When next started, AMOS reloads the command buffer, and you don't have to
enter all of your commands fra scratch again :-)
Example, beginning with an empty buffer:
On screen User input
C:> AMOS [Enter]
(AMOS starts up)
[C:\] DIR E:\TXT [Enter]
(Listing of files in E:\TXT)
[C:\] CD TEST\DLL [Enter]
[C:\TEST\DLL] CD \TEXT [Enter]
AMOS Error 1: The path \TEXT does not exist.
[C:\TEST\DLL] [Up Arrow]
[C:\TEST\DLL]CD \TEXT (correct to CD TEXT, [Enter])
[C:\TEST\DLL\TEXT] DIR [F8]
[C:\TEST\DLL\TEXT]DIR E:\TXT [Enter to accept command]
(Listing of files in E:\TXT)
[C:\TEST\DLL\TEXT] CD [F8]
[C:\TEST\DLL\TEXT]CD TEST\DLL [F8]
[C:\TEST\DLL\TEXT]CD \TEXT [Enter to accept command]
[C:\TEXT] [F7]
1: CD \TEXT
2: DIR E:\TXT
3: CD TEXT
4: CD \TEXT
5: CD TEST\DLL
6: DIR E:\TXT
[C:\TEXT] EXIT [Enter]
(AMOS exits, saving command buffer)
C:>
AMOS Command Summary
--------------------
Syntax Description
ADDEA Arg EAName EAContents
Adds a type STRING Extended Attribute to one or more files
as specified in Arg.
This can be useful for file descriptions, even though OS/2
doesn't do much to support EA's.
Example:
ADDEA * TestEA Hello There! Adds an EA named TestEA to
all files in the current dir.
Content of the EA will be
"Hello There!".
CD