Category : Tutorials + Patches
Archive   : STAC0694.ZIP
Filename : 4012.TXT
STACKER NOTE STACKER NOTE
STACKER DRIVE DOES NOT UPDATE OR HCONVERT HANGS
(Applies to Stacker 4.0)
STAC FAX 4012 (05-17-1994)
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BACKGROUND
If you upgrade to Stacker 4.0, yet do not see a gain in disk
space, your drive may not have been updated to the Stacker 4.0
format. Normally you will receive an error message concerning
CHKDSK errors, or your Actual Compression Ratio (ACR) is not
aligned with the Expected Compression Ratio (ECR). These
conditions are covered in StacFax 4010. In some instances you may
receive no messages, and your ACR and ECR are matched. In this
case the HCONVERT program may not have updated your Stacker
drive. This is probably due to excessive fragmentation on the
drive.
SOLUTION
- Determine if your drive has been updated
- Check the drive for errors
- Defragment the drive
- Update the drive with HCONVERT
- Recompress the drive to obtain additional space
Determine if your drive has been updated
1. Go to the Stacker directory and type: SYSINFO
2. The information concerning your system will be displayed in
a text editor. Press
search text screen. Type the word PHYSICAL in the space
provided, and press
3. You will see your system's drives listed. Locate the second
column from the right titled "version".
4. Stacker drives will have a number in the "version" column.
a. A "3.0" in the column means that your Stacker drive has
not been updated to the latest format. If so, follow the
procedures below to update your drive.
b. A "5.0" in the column means that your Stacker drive has
been updated, but has not been recompressed to gain
additional space. If so, exit the editor, open the Stacker
Toolbox, select Optimize, and then choose Full-MaxSpace.
c. A "5.01" in the column means that your Stacker drive has
been updated and recompressed. If you have not gained any
space after the upgrade, see StacFax 4010.
Check the drive for errors
1. From the Stacker directory type: STACKER
2. Note the lines in the drive map that profile your Stacker
drives. For example:
Drive C was drive C at boot time [D:\STACVOL.DSK = 123.4MB]
This shows that the C drive is a Stacker drive and that D is
the uncompressed host drive. Write down the drive lettter
and filename in brackets. In this example it is
D:\STACVOL.DSK.
3. Run CHKDSK against the drive letter you noted in brackets in
the previous step. If there are errors, run CHKDSK /F, or a
disk repair utility, to correct the errors.
Defragment the drive
From the Stacker directory type:
SDEFRAG /Q drive:
where drive: is the drive letter of your Stacker drive. In this
example it is C.
IMPORTANT
Immediately proceed to the next step. Do
not write to the drive.
Update the drive with HCONVERT
1. Insert Stacker Disk #1 into its drive and go to that drive.
2. Type: STACKER -drive:
where drive: is the drive letter of the Stacker drive. In
this example it is C.
3. Type:
HCONVERT /C drive:\STACVOL.XXX
where drive:\STACVOL.XXX is the drive and filename you wrote
down before. In this example you would type:
HCONVERT /C D:\STACVOL.DSK
4. Remove the Stacker Disk from its drive and restart your
system to mount the Stacker drive.
Recompress the drive to obtain additional space
The drive should now be converted to Stacker 4.0 format. In order
to gain additional space, open the Stacker Toolbox, select
Optimize, and then choose Full-MaxSpace.
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Copyright 1994 Stac Electronics
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