
                     The Star Commander,  Beta Version #4

                          written by Joe Forster/STA

          The ultimate PC-1541 copy utility with optional turbo mode


This is still only a beta release of The Star Commander! Look out  for  further
releases! Read the online help carefully for  features,  differences  from  the
other Commanders, the description of the X1541  interface  and  other  details!
Please report bugs and ideas to me as I want to release the final  Version  1.0
as soon as possible! Sorry for all kinds of bugs that appear in  the  Commander
but I'm in a hurry - as always!



INTRODUCTION:

This is a Norton Commander like program being designed  to  copy  binary  files
between the PC and the 1541 drive and handle the .T64 and .D64 image files  for
the superb C64S emulator (by Miha Peternel). I started writing it because I saw
the many shit converters/copiers all around that are hard to use, full of major
bugs and are slow (the only exceptions are Trans64 and perhaps 64Copy).  Forget
them and use the Commander instead.



ADVANTAGES:

- it is comfortable to  use  the  so  well  known  environment  of  The  Norton
  Commander, isn't it? You don't have  to  press  a  sequence  of  strange  key
  combinations only a familiar one  and  you  can  always  clearly  see  what's
  happening on the screen

- here's a benchmark of The Star Commander, Beta Version #4 using  my  original
  1541 drive (maybe I can still improve it):

  ͻ
     Whole disk copy     from the 1541 drive     to the 1541 drive   
  Ķ
       Normal mode               7:50                  9:55          
  Ķ
       Turbo mode                2:25                  2:25          
  ͹
   210 block file copy   from the 1541 drive     to the 1541 drive   
  Ķ
       Normal mode               2:20                  2:25          
  Ķ
       Turbo mode                1:00                  1:00          
  ͼ



CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #3:

- the CBM and PC fix mode panels transformed into multi-mode panels which means
  that you can copy now directly from any format to another

- the reselection of selected files when rereading the directory is now fixed

- changing the labels of image files didn't work - now it does

- two new configuration options and some other changes for comfort

- no need to connect the 2-15 pins of the parallel port and you won't  see  the
  "Interface not found" error anymore

- no need to press Enter when changing drive

- all DOS names are turned to uppercase while you are typing them

- a new external calibrator routine inside the release package (run  it  before
  the Commander!)

- the LED on the connected 1541 blinks at every transferred block



KNOWN BUGS:

- you must NOT let the Commander search for a drive that is switched off

- pressing ESC while reading/writing in turbo mode  from/to  a  connected  1541
  drive freezes the Commander most of the time - in this case reset your 1541



COMING SOON:

- support for other parallel ports (LPT1-3)

- bug fixes - of course...

- automatic timing calibration of the 1541 read/write routines

- changing the labels of PC disks as well



CONNECTING A REAL 1541 DRIVE TO YOUR PC:

The PC-1541 connection is done using the well known X1541 interface.

WARNING: as the 1541 read/write routines are roughly calibrated to  my  386DX40
they might NOT work on your PC (if it is much slower or much faster than mine)!
There is an external calibration routine in the package that displays you  with
what command line parameter you have  to  start  the  Commander.  In  the  next
releases this will be done automatically. Until then you will have to make  the
calibration manually: the default value for this  parameter  is  10,  for  fast
machines it should be higher and for slow ones lower. If you managed to use the
connected 1541 drive without error then save the setup and the  Commander  will
remember the calibration. Sorry for this! Please mail  me  if  the  calibration
routine worked for you or not!

The Commander uses smart techniques to speed up reading and writing  even  when
you are not using the turbo mode (e.g. speeding up 1541 IRQ's means faster head
stepping and saves about 2% of read/write time; reading a disk unlinearly saves
about 15% of time - on my 1541 drive it reads a whole disk to a disk image file
in 7 minutes and 50 seconds instead of slightly more than 9 minutes!). You  can
use the BAM copy disk option to speed up the disk copy even  more  BUT  if  the
disk or disk image file contains used data in free sectors  they  will  NOT  be
copied!

The Commander is equipped with turbo transfer mode which means it will transfer
data from/to the connected 1541 drive about 2-3  times  faster.  It  has  turbo
command routines as well which speed up deleting files and validating disks  to
2-10 times the original speed (it depends on the number and length of the files
on the disk) and disk format takes about 12 seconds.



BETA TESTING:

As I do not have the possibility to test the program on many kinds  of  PC's  I
ask you to be my beta tester and write to me if you

- found a bug in the program (you will possibly find some, as it is still under
  development)

- have an idea what improvements I should make in the future

- saw a grammatical error, misspelling, wrong punctuation, wrong  justification
  or something misunderstandable in the online help

- know good FTP sites with C64 areas to which I should upload this program

- are just interested in this program or you simply like it and want to see  it
  ready as soon as possible



HELP:

As I got a PC only a year ago I am still a rookie in programming on the PC  and
making release packages. As The Star Commander is freeware instead  of  sending
money and registering I ask you to send me programming infos (mainly on DOS and
assembler language) and help me in making the packages  containing  the  future
releases of the Commander. Please help me in the following topics:

- changing the volume labels of PC disks in TP7



NOTES:

I don't get as many feedbacks as I think I should! Please  don't  be  lazy  and
send me some letters if you found something in the Commander you think I should
know about!



ADDRESSES:

Please do NOT hesitate and

- write an E-Mail to this Internet address:

        "sta@ludens.elte.hu"

- or write a Hungarian/English mail to this address:

        Kovcs Balzs
        Budapest, Orsolya u. 5. IV/12.
        1204, Hungary


        18th December, 1994                     Joe Forster/STA
