Welcome to Stacker 2.01!

This file contains information not included in your User Guide.

Stacker has been tested extensively with a wide variety of
hardware and software products and has been found to be
compatible. Check the table of contents below to see if any of
the information applies to you. Also be sure to check "Chapter 8:
Using Stacker With" in your User Guide.


==================================================================

Table of Contents

1. Some notes on operating Stacker...
1.1 How Long Will It Take To Install Stacker?
1.2 Using INSTALL and SDEFRAG with Disk Caching Programs
1.3 Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor Users
1.4 Stacker Drive Size - Maximums
1.5 Stacker Version 1.x Users
1.6 Compression Ratios
1.7 Backing up your Stacker drive
1.8 Copying your entire Stacker drive

2. Corrections and additions to the Stacker User Guide...
2.1 Be Ready With... (page vi)
2.2 Inserting the AT/16 Coprocessor (page 20)
2.3 Preparing Your System For Stacker (page 34)
2.4 Files on the uncompressed part of your disk (page 53)
2.5 INSTALL - Advanced Options (page 55)
2.6 STAC - The Command Assistant (page 83)
2.7 SCREATE (page 91)
2.8 SDEFRAG (page 94)
2.9 SDEFRAG - Disk Space Requirements (page 96)
2.9.1 Not enough 'physical' space
2.9.2 Not enough 'logical' space
2.10 STACKER - The Device Driver: new options (page 108)
2.11 SpinRite - New procedure (page 142)
2.12 Anti-Virus Programs (page 144)
2.13 QEMM Optimize (page 148)
2.14 Eliminating extra Drive Letters (page 162)
2.15 SATTRIB - Syntax Note (page 165)
2.16 SSWAP - Example Correction (page 165)
2.17 Message Explanation Corrections (pages 183-184)

3. Operating Systems...
3.1 DOS 5
3.1.1 Upgrading before installing Stacker
3.1.2 Upgrading after installing Stacker
3.1.3 Loading Stacker high on a 386 machine
3.1.4 Loading Stacker high on a 286 machine
3.1.5 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor
3.2 DOS DISKCOPY Command
3.3 DOS FASTOPEN Command
3.4 DR DOS 5.0 and 6.0
3.4.1 Eliminating extra drive letters
3.5 Zenith DOS
3.6 Toshiba DOS 3.2

4. Microsoft Windows in 386 Enhanced Mode...
4.1 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor
4.2 Temporary Windows swap files
4.3 Permanent Windows swap files

5. Disk Utilities...
5.1 Norton FILESAVE and ERASE PROTECT, PC Tools DATA MONITOR
5.2 Disk Repair Utilities
5.3 Disk Technician
5.4 Disk Optimizer (Defragmentation) Programs
5.5 Central Point Anti-Virus

6. Disk Caching Programs...
6.1 Caching Stacker Drives
6.2 Super PC-Kwik Cache

7. Expanded Memory Managers...
7.1 Stacker's EMS Feature
7.2 QEMM-386 Optimize
7.3 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor on a 386
7.4 Netroom 1.12
7.5 Netroom 2.0

8. Networks...
8.1 Novell NetWare
8.1.1 Novell NetWare file servers
8.1.2 Novell NetWare workstations
8.1.3 Arcnet Network Adapters
8.2 Lantastic File Servers

9. Disk Controllers & Computers...
9.1 Adaptec Disk Controllers
9.2 WD 7000-FASST SCSI Controller
9.3 ALR VEISA Personal Computers
9.4 Installing Stacker on an IBM PS/1
9.5 Plus Passport Removable Hard Disks
9.6 Computers that boot from ROM
9.6.1 Toshiba 1000 series computers
9.6.2 Tandy 2500XL with ROM DOS computers
9.7 Notebook computers without floppy disk drives

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


==================================================================


1. Some notes on operating Stacker...


1.1 How Long Will It Take To Install Stacker?

The amount of time required to install Stacker depends
on several items: the speed of your computer, the size
of your hard disk, how much data you have, and the
version of Stacker you're using (software or
coprocessor).

Below is an example installation. The time required
will depend on your particular system configuration.
Computer type: 80386
Computer speed: 25 MHz
Hard disk size: 80 MB
Number of files: 2,000
Stacker product: AT/16
Installation time: 25 minutes


1.2 Using INSTALL and SDEFRAG with Disk Caching Programs

We recommend temporarily disabling disk caching software
before using INSTALL or SDEFRAG. You may re-enable it
after INSTALL or SDEFRAG is finished.


1.3 Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor Users

If you are using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor on a 386
system, please be sure to read the following sections of
this file:
3.1.5 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor
4.1 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor
7.3 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor on a 386

These sections discuss using the XT/8 Coprocessor with
DOS 5.0, Windows, and expanded memory managers.


1.4 Stacker Drive Size - Maximums

With DOS versions 4.x and later, and COMPAQ DOS 3.31,
Stacker drives can be as large as 512 MB (256 MB
physical disk space).

With DOS 3.x, Stacker drives can be no larger than 32 MB
(16 MB physical space).


1.5 Stacker Version 1.x Users

Stacker 2.01 Software can be used with version 1 Stacker
Coprocessor cards. Except for the software drivers, the
version 1 Stacker coprocessor is the same as the version
2 XT/8 coprocessor.

To tell the Stacker 2.01 Software INSTALL program to run
as the Stacker XT/8 INSTALL program type the following:

INSTALL /XT

SSWAP is now compatible with DR DOS 5.0 and 6.0.

To display a map of your Stacker drives, type STACKER
with no options. This replaces the SWAPMAP utility.


1.6 Compression Ratios

Reference programs, such as Bibles, dictionaries, and
encyclopedias are often stored compressed on non-Stacker
drives. In most cases, Stacker cannot compress these
files again. This results in a low compression ratio
for these files and possibly for the entire Stacker
drive, depending on the proportion of your Stacker drive
used by these programs.


1.7 Backing up your Stacker drive

The best way to back up your system with Stacker is to
back up your Stacker drive(s) just like you would back
up any other hard disk drive. Your host drive (the
uncompressed drive that holds your Stacker drive) should
also be backed up, but you should exclude the STACVOL
files. You can do this with most backup utilities by
excluding STACVOL.*.


1.8 Copying your entire Stacker drive

Because Stacker drives actually reside in DOS files, you
can copy them from one host drive to another (assuming
that it will fit on the destination!). You can find out
the file name for any given Stacker drive by running
SCHECK or STACKER. Once you have the name of the volume
you want to copy, just follow these four steps:

SATTRIB -R -S -H
COPY
SATTRIB +R +S +H
SATTRIB +R +S +H :\

For example, if your STACVOL file was named
C:\STACVOL.DSK and you wanted to copy it to drive D,
you would enter these commands:

SATTRIB -R -S -H C:\STACVOL.DSK
COPY C:\STACVOL.DSK D:\
SATTRIB +R +S +H C:\STACVOL.DSK
SATTRIB +R +S +H D:\STACVOL.DSK

NOTE: Stacker will only mount STACVOL files if they are
in the root directory of the host drive.

NOTE: You must properly configure the STACKER driver in
your CONFIG.SYS file to reference the new Stacker
volume. See "STACKER - The Device Driver" in the
Stacker User Guide for more information.


==================================================================


2. Corrections and additions to the Stacker User Guide...


2.1 Be Ready With... (page vi)

Instead of having the contents of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS files, have the contents of the file
SINFO.TXT as produced by SINFO. At the DOS prompt, type:

SINFO

and press Enter. After the file SINFO.TXT has been
produced it will automatically be loaded into SEDIT so
that you can view it. After reviewing the information
press the ESC key to exit SEDIT and return to DOS.

NOTE: Any time you wish to view the SINFO.TXT file you
may use any text editor, including SEDIT.


2.2 Inserting the AT/16 Coprocessor (page 20)

The Stacker AT/16 card WILL operate in an 8-bit slot.
If you have a 16 bit slot, you should use it for your
Stacker AT/16 to get the maximum possible performance.
However, if you have no remaining 16 bit slots, or if
you have an XT with no 16 bit slots at all, your Stacker
AT/16 will operate when plugged into an 8 bit slot - the
only impact is that the coprocessor's performance will
be slightly lower.


2.3 Preparing Your System For Stacker (page 34)

If you have an anti-virus program loaded in your
CONFIG.SYS file, disable it before installing Stacker.
After installation is complete, you may re-enable it.
Refer to Anti-Virus Programs in Chapter 8: Using Stacker
With... for more information.


2.4 Files on the uncompressed part of your disk (page 53)

After "Stacking an existing disk with its data" some
files will be kept on the uncompressed drive (such as
device drivers). These files need to be there; DO NOT
delete them.

Several of the screens presented during INSTALL differ
from those shown in the User Guide. These changes
simplify Stacker installation.


2.5 INSTALL - Advanced Options (page 55)

The cluster size of a Stacker drive CANNOT be changed
after the Stacker drive has been created.


2.6 STAC - The Command Assistant (page 83)

If you are using STAC on a computer with a monochrome,
LCD, or plasma monitor, you may have difficulty reading
your monitor. If so, press F10 and then Enter to return
to the DOS prompt, then restart STAC with the monochrome
command. To do so, at the DOS prompt enter:

STAC /M


2.7 SCREATE (page 91)

The size option of SCREATE (/S) is specified in MB,
where 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes. The maximum value that
can be specified with the /S option is 256 MB.


2.8 SDEFRAG (page 94)

If no drive letter is specified on the command line,
SDEFRAG optimizes the current drive. Remove any disk
caches and disable any memory resident programs before
using SDEFRAG.

On the "Grow and Shrink Stacker Drive" menu of SDEFRAG,
the selections now are "Change the size of the Stacker
drive" and "Make more uncompressed space available."


2.9 SDEFRAG - Disk Space Requirements (page 96)

If SDEFRAG does not have enough disk space to operate,
it will report this condition along with the amount of
space required to operate. This condition may require
that you make more 'logical' or 'physical' space
available. Each of these messages and the necessary
procedures are described below.

2.9.1 Not enough 'physical' space

"SDEFRAG requires ## free bytes in the STACVOL file for
Stacker drive x before it can operate. Remove some
files and try again."

Use the following procedure to determine the amount of
'physical' space that SDEFRAG requires to operate.

1. Run CHKDSK on the Stacker drive to see how much space
is used by directories. Add 100,000 to this number.

2. Run SCHECK to see how many bytes free there are in
the STACVOL file. This is shown in the right hand
column of SCHECK's display.

The number you get from step 2 must be equal to or
greater than the number from step 1. If it is not,
remove files from the Stacker drive until you have
enough space.

2.9.2 Not enough 'logical' space

"SDEFRAG requires ## free bytes on the Stacker drive x
before it can operate. Remove some files and try
again."

Use the following procedure to determine the amount of
'logical' space (in bytes) that SDEFRAG requires to
operate.

1. Note the number displayed by SDEFRAG.

2. Run SCHECK to obtain the number of bytes free on the
Stacker drive. This is shown in the left hand column
of SCHECK's display.

3. Remove some files from the Stacker drive and run
SCHECK again. Repeat this process until enough bytes
are available.


2.10 STACKER - The Device Driver: new options (page 108)

There are several new options for STACKER - The Device
Driver. To use one of these options, include it in the
STACKER.COM line in your CONFIG.SYS file.

/C Change default cluster size from 8K to 4K. Use
this switch only if ALL Stacker drives have a
cluster size of 4K. This switch is required to
obtain the driver size reduction described in the
section "STACKER - The Device Driver" of the
Stacker User Guide.

/NB No Buffers (Stacker software only).
This parameter reduces the amount of internal
buffering in the Stacker device driver. Because
there's less buffering, you may see a slight
decrease in disk performance. By using /NB in
conjunction with Stacker's /EMS parameter you can
reduce the resident size of the Stacker device
driver by 8K if your Stacker drives have 8K
clusters. (The driver size reduction will be 4K
if all your Stacker drives have 4K clusters and
you use the /C parameter described above). You
cannot use /NB if you have a Stacker coprocessor.

/ND No double-buffering for DR DOS 5 and 6.
Use the /ND parameter if your hard disk controller
is NOT a bus-master controller. If you are unsure
whether your disk controller is a bus-master, it
probably is not. If you DO use a bus-master disk
controller and it does not support virtual DMA, DO
NOT use the /ND switch to increase disk
performance. The /ND parameter should not be used
in conjunction with the /NW parameter.

/NW No warning.
Using DR DOS 5 or 6, if you configure Stacker to
use EMS for its cache, or if you load the Stacker
device driver into high memory, the following
message is displayed by the Stacker device driver
when you start your computer:

"Note: In DR DOS, loading Stacker high (or using
/EMS) may slow disk access. Please see the Stacker
README file for help."

If you do not use the /ND parameter and wish to
suppress the warning message, place the /NW (no
warning) parameter on the Stacker DEVICE statement
in the CONFIG.SYS file.


2.11 SpinRite - New procedure (page 142)

SpinRite must be used on your host drive, the drive
containing your Stacker drive. It should not be run
while the Stacker device driver is active. As instructed
in the SpinRite manual, boot your computer with a clean,
bootable floppy disk. Since a Stacker drive's data is
contained within its STACVOL file on the host drive, one
run of SpinRite will test both the host drive and the
Stacker drive(s) contained on that host.

If SpinRite detects a defective area on your hard drive
and reports that the area cannot be moved because the
area is contained within a STACVOL file, perform the
following steps to allow SpinRite to repair your disk.

1. Exit SpinRite.

2. Remove the hidden, system, and read-only attributes
of the STACVOL file by using Stacker's SATTRIB
command. For example, if drive C is the Stacker drive
and drive D is the uncompressed drive, type the
following:

SATTRIB -H -S -R D:\STACVOL.DSK

3. Run SpinRite on drive D, allowing it to repair
defective areas on the disk.

4. Add the hidden, system, and read-only attributes back
to the STACVOL file as shown in the example below:

SATTRIB +H +S +R D:\STACVOL.DSK

5. Reboot the system.

NOTE: If you are using DOS 5, you can also use ATTRIB.
Prior to DOS 5, the ATTRIB command did not allow
the hidden and system attributes to be changed.
For more information on SATTRIB, refer to SATTRIB
in Chapter 10: Advanced Topics.


2.12 Anti-Virus Programs (page 144)

In general, anti-virus programs should be loaded AFTER
the Stacker device driver.


2.13 QEMM Optimize (page 148)

The QEMM Optimize program configures your device drivers
and memory resident programs to be loaded into high
memory. This process requires that your system be
rebooted several times. If you have Stacked your boot
drive, drive C, the Optimize program included in QEMM
versions 5 and 6 operates properly.

NOTE: Your system will automatically be rebooted a few
extra times during the Optimize process.


2.14 Eliminating extra Drive Letters (page 162)

Stacker requires at least one extra drive letter. This
drive letter cannot be eliminated.

If you replace an uncompressed drive with a Stacker drive
in order to eliminate an extra drive letter, you will
not be able to cache the Stacker drive with a third-
party caching utility.


2.15 SATTRIB - Syntax Note (page 165)

A filename and extension MUST be specified. They are
NOT optional.


2.16 SSWAP - Example Correction (page 168)

The example DEVICE statement on page 168 is incorrect.
It should read:

DEVICE=C:\STACKER\SSWAP.COM C:\STACVOL.DSK


2.17 Message Explanation Corrections (pages 183-184)

The explanation for the message "Insufficient driver
memory" should read: "Increase the amount of cache
specified..." NOT "Decrease the amount of cache
specified..."

The explanation for the message "Invalid BPB" should
read:

"The number of bytes per sector on the drive selected is
greater than 512" NOT "... greater than 1024."


==================================================================


3. Operating Systems...


3.1 DOS 5

Stacker is compatible with DOS 5. Here are some tips
for using Stacker with DOS 5.

3.1.1 Upgrading before installing Stacker

If you are considering upgrading to DOS 5, we recommend
that you do so BEFORE installing Stacker. This process
is MUCH easier than installing Stacker first (see
following).

3.1.2 Upgrading after installing Stacker

If you don't have enough space to install DOS 5 on your
uncompressed boot drive, we've included a batch file on
this diskette to help you. It's called STACDOS5.BAT.

NOTE: This procedure works for the MS-DOS 5 Upgrade.
If you are using another version of DOS 5, such
as IBM DOS 5, please contact Stac technical
support for upgrade instructions.

To use STACDOS5.BAT, do the following:

1. Make the Stacker directory your current directory
(the directory containing STACDOS5.BAT).

2. Run the STACDOS5.BAT batch file by typing STACDOS5.

3. Follow the instructions presented. STACDOS5 will
guide you through the entire upgrade process in as
little as 10 minutes.

3.1.3 Loading Stacker high on a 386 machine

You can use the DEVICEHIGH command to load the Stacker
device driver into high memory on systems using 80386
and higher processors. For example, under MS-DOS 5.0
the following statements in the CONFIG.SYS file will
load STACKER.COM into high memory automatically when you
start your computer.

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICEHIGH=C:\STACKER\STACKER.COM C:\STACVOL.DSK

NOTE: The DEVICE statement for EMM386 must have either
the RAM (as shown above) or NOEMS switch in order
to access the upper memory area.

NOTE: The order of HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE is
important and they both must be present in the
CONFIG.SYS file before you can use the DEVICEHIGH
command. If the NOEMS switch is used with EMM386
and the /EMS switch is specified on the Stacker
DEVICE statement, Stacker will be unable to load
its cache into EMS memory. To correct this,
remove the NOEMS switch from the EMM386 DEVICE
statement, and replace it with the RAM switch.

3.1.4 Loading Stacker high on a 286 machine

You cannot use the DOS 5 DEVICEHIGH statement in the
CONFIG.SYS file to load the Stacker device driver into
high memory. However, you can load the Stacker device
driver into high memory on a 286, if you have an
expanded memory board that provides the functions of the
LIM 4.0 expanded memory specification in hardware and a
program such as QRAM, MOVE'EM or 386MAX. Refer to your
Stacker User Guide for more information.

3.1.5 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor

If you are using the Stacker XT/8 coprocessor on a 386,
be sure to use the X (exclude) parameter on the
EMM386.EXE DEVICE statement in the CONFIG.SYS file to
keep it from using the area of memory occupied by the
XT/8 coprocessor. (See section 7.3 Using the Stacker
XT/8 Coprocessor on a 386 for the exclude range which
corresponds to the base address of your XT/8 card.)

For example, if your XT/8 coprocessor base address is
cc00, EMM386.EXE should be configured as follows:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE X=cc00-cfff


3.2 DOS DISKCOPY Command

When using the DISKCOPY command with Stacked floppy
disks, DO NOT mount the floppy disks. If the disks are
mounted, DISKCOPY will not operate properly. Also, if
you wish to DISKCOPY a Stacked floppy, the destination
disk does not have to be a Stacked floppy. It will be
Stacked as part of the DISKCOPY process.


3.3 DOS FASTOPEN Command

The Stacker command (used to display a drive map and to
mount Stacked floppy diskettes and other removable
disks) cannot be used when FASTOPEN is installed. If
you are using a disk caching program, FASTOPEN may be
unnecessary and can be disabled.


3.4 DR DOS 5.0 and 6.0

Stacker is fully compatible with DR DOS 5.0 and 6.0.

3.4.1 Eliminating extra drive letters

There is a section in your Stacker User Guide which
describes a method for eliminating extra drive letters.
We do not recommend its use with DR DOS 5.0; it works
fine with DR DOS 6.0.


3.5 Zenith DOS

Zenith DOS 3.3+ is NOT compatible with Stacker on
partitions larger than 32 MB. However, Zenith DOS 4.01
IS compatible with Stacker.


3.6 Toshiba DOS 3.2

If you plan on installing Stacker on a system that is
running Toshiba DOS 3.2 please call Stac's Technical
Support department first. Our support staff has
developed special procedures that will assist you in
installing Stacker under Toshiba DOS 3.2. Later
versions of Toshiba DOS require no such special
assistance.


==================================================================


4. Microsoft Windows in 386 Enhanced Mode...

Stacker is fully compatible with the 386 Enhanced mode
of Windows.


4.1 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor

If you are using the Stacker XT/8 coprocessor on a 386
and plan to run Windows in 386 Enhanced Mode, you'll
need to add an EMMExclude statement to the SYSTEM.INI
file in your Windows directory. (See section 7.3 Using
the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor on a 386 for the exclude
range which corresponds to the base address of your XT/8
card.)

For example, if your XT/8 coprocessor base address is
cc00, in the SYSTEM.INI file, add the following
statement under the heading [386Enh]:

EMMExclude=cc00-cfff


4.2 Temporary Windows swap files

If you are using temporary Windows swap files, you can
place swap files on an uncompressed portion of your disk
to reduce fragmentation of your Stacker drive. Do this
by adding the following line to the SYSTEM.INI file,
located in your Windows directory, under the heading
[386Enh]:

PagingDrive=

where is an uncompressed drive with more
than 2 MB of available disk space. If the drive does
not have this amount available, Windows will not operate
properly. If your uncompressed drive has less than 2 MB
of available disk space, you can use SDEFRAG /G to make
more uncompressed space available.

For example, if drive C was your only drive before
Stacker, installing Stacker creates drive D, which then
becomes the uncompressed portion of your disk. Use the
following PagingDrive parameter.

PagingDrive=D

NOTE: If you built your Stacker drive by building an
empty Stacker drive, or if you have manually
removed the SSWAP command, then your uncompressed
drive may have a different letter.


4.3 Permanent Windows swap files

If you decide to use a permanent swap file (which must
be on an uncompressed drive) after you've already
created your Stacker drives, you may discover that you
don't have enough room. You can make more uncompressed
space available by using SDEFRAG /G.


==================================================================


5. Disk Utilities...


5.1 Norton FILESAVE and ERASE PROTECT, PC Tools DATA MONITOR

Programs such as Norton FILESAVE, ERASE PROTECT, or PC
Tools DATA MONITOR affect the amount of available disk
space that DOS reports to you. When you delete files
from your disk, these programs save them in a special
place so you can recover from accidental deletions.
These programs tell DOS that the space is available to
be used even though they are still storing the deleted
files. This can cause DOS to report an artificially
high amount of available disk space. This amount may
differ from the Projected Bytes Free reported by
Stacker's SCHECK command or by the DOS CHKDSK command.


5.2 Disk Repair Utilities

Stacker is fully compatible with all the popular Disk
Repair Utilities. Before using a disk repair utility
(e.g., Norton Disk Doctor or PC Tools DiskFix), run
SCHECK to check for errors on the Stacker drive.

After using a disk repair utility to mark bad clusters
on a disk drive which hosts one or more Stacker drives,
you must reboot your system, or unmount and remount the
Stacker drives.


5.3 Disk Technician

Disk Technician requires unused uncompressed space in
order to run. It needs approximately 2% of the drive
you are Stacking. For example, if you Stack a 40 MB
drive, Disk Technician needs approximately 800 K of
available uncompressed space. When you "Stack an
existing disk with its data" using INSTALL, you can
specify an amount of space to keep uncompressed. This
amount defaults to 1.0 MB if you Stack the boot drive,
and 100 K for all other hard disks. Use the Advanced
Options feature of INSTALL to change this setting.

If you need to make more uncompressed space available
after creating the Stacker drive, you can use the
Stacker disk optimizer, SDEFRAG, with the /G
(grow/shrink) option to do this.


5.4 Disk Optimizer (Defragmentation) Programs

Use Stacker's disk optimizer, SDEFRAG, to optimize your
Stacker drives when they become fragmented. Other disk
optimizers, such as Norton Speed Disk or PC Tools
Compress, are not effective on Stacker drives.

NOTE: If you use a disk caching program, temporarily
disable it before using SDEFRAG. You may re-
enable it after SDEFRAG is finished.


5.5 Central Point Anti-Virus

If you have Stacked your boot drive and you're using the
BOOTSAFE anti-virus program, you must tell it to check
your host (uncompressed) drive. Run STACKER to see
which drive was drive C: at boot time. Then make sure
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file has a line like this:

BOOTSAFE X:

where X: is the drive that was drive C: at boot time.


==================================================================


6. Disk Caching Programs...


6.1 Caching Stacker Drives

When using disk caching programs (such as Norton Cache,
Hyperdisk Cache, and PCP Fast) with Stacker you must
configure the cache to cache ONLY the host drive (the
uncompressed portion of your drive). This has the
effect of caching the Stacker drive because the Stacker
drive is built from a file on the host drive.

Configure your system to exclude all Stacker drives from
the list of cached drives. There are two ways to do
this:

1. Arrange your CONFIG.SYS to load your disk caching
program BEFORE Stacker.

2. If your disk caching program must be loaded from the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, configure it to cache the host
drive, not the Stacker drive.

NOTE: We recommend temporarily disabling any disk
caching software before using SDEFRAG or INSTALL.
You may re-enable it after SDEFRAG or INSTALL is
finished.


6.2 Super PC-Kwik Cache

If you have an older version of Super PC-Kwik, and you
have Stacked your boot drive (drive C), you may see a
warning message from Super PC-Kwik about a boot sector
mis-match. If you get this message, ignore it. To
suppress the pause after the message appears, use the /K-
option on the Super PC-Kwik line in your CONFIG.SYS
file.


==================================================================


7. Expanded Memory Managers...


7.1 Stacker's EMS Feature

Some programs do not use EMS memory correctly. They may
interfere with Stacker's use of EMS and cause EMM
exception errors. If this happens to you, try disabling
Stacker's EMS feature by removing the /EMS switch from
the Stacker DEVICE statement in the CONFIG.SYS file.


7.2 QEMM-386 Optimize

Stacker 2.01 is fully compatible with QEMM-386 Optimize.
If, however, you are using QEMM 6.00 or 6.01 and
Stacker's /EMS switch, and if your boot drive has been
compressed, you should create a file named OPTIMIZE.EXC
in the QEMM directories on both the compressed and
uncompressed boot drives before running OPTIMIZE. This
text file should contain the single line that follows:

SSWAP.COM

This will tell OPTIMIZE not to attempt to load SSWAP
into high memory, working around a LOADHI.SYS bug which
has been fixed in QEMM 6.02. If you do not create this
file before running OPTIMIZE, SSWAP will create it for
you, but the first attempt to run OPTIMIZE may hang your
PC. In this case do the following:

1. Reboot your PC.

2. Run UNOPT.BAT from the QEMM directory to restore
your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.

3. Run OPTIMIZE again now that the OPTIMIZE.EXC file
exists.


7.3 Using the Stacker XT/8 Coprocessor on a 386

If you are using the Stacker XT/8 coprocessor on a 386
system, and you are using a memory manager, add an
EXCLUDE parameter to the memory manager DEVICE statement
in the CONFIG.SYS file. Be sure to do this so the memory
manager doesn't use the memory area required by the XT/8
coprocessor card. The range of memory addresses depends
on the base address of the Stacker XT/8 card. The base
address is found on the Stacker DEVICE statement in the
CONFIG.SYS file and is identified by the /B parameter.
The exclude parameter format depends on the memory
manager. The following table lists the formats for the
"EXCLUDE" parameters for several popular memory
managers:

Product EMM Driver Format
-------- ----------- -------------------
QEMM-386 QEMM386.SYS EXCLUDE=
386MAX 386MAX.SYS EXCLUDE=
DR DOS EMM386.SYS EXCLUDE=
DOS 5 EMM386.EXE X=
WINDOWS EMM386.EXE X=

The following table lists the seven possible memory
ranges, based on the base address of the XT/8
coprocessor card:

Base Address to Exclude

------------ ------------------
c400 c400-c7ff
c800 c800-cbff
cc00 cc00-cfff
d000 d000-d3ff
d400 d400-d7ff
d800 d800-dbff
dc00 dc00-dfff

For example, if you are using QEMM-386 and the Stacker
XT/8 coprocessor base address is d000, add this line to
the QEMM386 DEVICE statement in the CONFIG.SYS file:

EXCLUDE=d000-d3ff


7.4 Netroom 1.12

Netroom version 1.12 does not properly retain the device
attributes of the drivers it loads into high memory.
Stacker should not be loaded into high memory using
Netroom 1.12.


7.5 Netroom 2.0

If you have an AT/16 coprocessor board and you're using
Netroom 2.0, you must include the HIGH_IO command in the
RM386.SYS line of your CONFIG.SYS file.


==================================================================


8. Networks...


8.1 Novell NetWare

8.1.1 Novell NetWare file servers

Stacker cannot be installed on a Novell network file
server. However, Stacker can be installed on the local
hard disk of a Novell network workstation.

8.1.2 Novell NetWare workstations

If you try to run one of the Stacker utilities and you
get a "Bad command or file name" message, your
workstation is probably configured to ignore the PATH
statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. To fix this
problem, use the Netware MAP utility to map one of your
Novell search drives to the directory containing the
Stacker software. See your network administrator if you
need assistance.

8.1.3 Arcnet Network Adapters

Arcnet network cards often use a base address of 2E0.
To avoid a conflict with the Stacker AT/16 coprocessor
card, determine the base address of the network card
before installing Stacker. Do this by running the
Arcnet Netware IPX program with the I option. During
Stacker's INSTALL, do not use the base address of the
network card for the Stacker AT/16 card.


8.2 Lantastic File Servers

Stacker can be used on DOS-based networks such as
Lantastic. Lantastic file server drives can be Stacked.
All of the necessary Lantastic files will be put on the
new Stacker drive. Stacker drives on a Lantastic
network file server can be accessed by network
workstations that do not have Stacker.

NOTE: Reports of available disk space will not
accurately reflect the projected amount of space
available on the server's Stacker drives, but
will instead match the amount reported as
available by the DOS CHKDSK command.


==================================================================


9. Disk Controllers & Computers...


9.1 Adaptec Disk Controllers

If you are using Windows 3.0 in 386 enhanced mode, and
you are having problems using your Stacker drives, your
disk controller might require the following setting in
your SYSTEM.INI file in order for disk drive interrupts
to be processed correctly. Add the following setting
under the heading [386enh]:

VirtualHDIrq=off


9.2 WD 7000-FASST SCSI Controller

If you are using the Western Digital 7000-FASST SCSI
controller and you wish to load STACKER.COM into high
memory, you must use the /W option on the WD device
driver statement, 'DEVICE=SSTBIO.SYS' in the CONFIG.SYS
file. This will enable the necessary support for
expanded or extended memory environments within the SCSI
controller device driver.


9.3 ALR VEISA Personal Computers

Early versions of ALR VEISA computers may require an
update to the motherboard circuitry to reliably execute
certain valid instruction sequences used by the Stacker
device driver. Contact ALR technical support at 714/458-
0863 to find out if this is necessary.


9.4 Installing Stacker on an IBM PS/1

1. Start IBM DOS from the fourth quadrant screen. Click
on "Backup and Restore Your Fixed Disk" and press
Enter. Follow the prompts that you are given to
backup all of the files on your fixed disk.

NOTE: The number of diskettes will vary depending on
the amount of data on your hard drive.

2. From the fourth quadrant screen choose "Customize How
System Starts".

3. The third line from the bottom of the screen says
"Read Config.sys:". Click on "From Disk".

4. The next line down says "Read Autoexec.bat:". Click
on "From Disk".

5. The last line says "Disk to read from:". Click on
"C:".

6. Press Enter to save the changes and exit.

7. Restart your system by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del.

NOTE: You may get an "Error in CONFIG.SYS" message
when the computer boots. Ignore it.

8. If you boot into the built-in menu, instead of
booting to the DOS prompt, press Shift+F9 to get to
the DOS prompt.

9. You can now install Stacker by inserting the Stacker
diskette and typing

A:INSTALL /B=C

and then pressing the Enter key.

NOTE: If you have a black and white system you must
also add a /M parameter to the above line
before pressing the Enter key.

CAUTION: Do not choose the default of "Reboot to
remove resident programs". This could
cause the computer to boot directly into
the built-in menu instead of completing
the Stacker installation. All other
defaults are fine.

At the end of the Stacker installation program let
Stacker reboot to access the Stacker Drive.

10. If you boot into the built-in menu, instead of
booting to the DOS prompt, press Shift+F9 to get to
the DOS prompt.

11. Insert the Stacker diskette in drive A: and enter
the following:

A:SEDIT C:\CONFIG.SYS

12. At the end of the CONFIG.SYS file add the line:

INSTALL=D:\SHELLSTB.COM

13. If you have an "INSTALL=D:\SHELLSTB.COM" line before
the STACKER device lines, disable it by moving the
cursor to the beginning of the line and typing REM
followed by a space.

14. Press Ctrl+Z to save the CONFIG.SYS file.

15. Restart you system by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del for the
changes to take effect.

16. As your computer restarts Stacker's SSWAP utility
will inform you that the CONFIG.SYS file on your
system's boot drive needs to be updated. It will also
ask if it is OK to perform the update. Press F9 and
then Enter to allow it to do the update. Your system
will restart one last time and the installation of
Stacker will be complete.


9.5 Plus Passport Removable Hard Disks

DOS does not recognize Plus Passport drives as removable
drives. If you have Stacked a Plus Passport hard disk,
be sure to MOUNT it before using it. For example, if
your Stacked Plus Passport drive is drive J, type the
following at the DOS prompt to access the Stacker drive.

STACKER J:

Be sure to UNMOUNT it before removing it from the base
housing. For example, if your Stacked Plus Passport
drive is drive J, type the following at the DOS prompt.

STACKER -J:


9.6 Computers that boot from ROM

If you have a computer that boots from ROM and you're
having trouble installing Stacker, try the following:

1. Configure your system to read the CONFIG.SYS file and
AUTOEXEC.BAT file from your C drive. Your system
will have a special setup program to do this - read
your computer system's user's manual.

2. Install Stacker with this command:

A:INSTALL /B=C

This command tells Stacker's installation program
that the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files are on
drive C instead of in the ROM.

9.6.1 Toshiba 1000 series computers

Toshiba 1000 series computers boot from ROM. Before you
install Stacker, run the Toshiba setup program (SETUP10)
and configure the boot priority to read the CONFIG.SYS
file from your hard disk.

9.6.2 Tandy 2500XL with ROM DOS computers

Tandy 2500XL computers with ROM DOS boot from ROM.
Before you install Stacker, run the Tandy setup program
(SETUPXL) and configure the boot priority to read the
CONFIG.SYS file from your hard disk.


9.7 Notebook computers without floppy disk drives

Use the following procedure to compress the boot
partition of the hard disk in your notebook computer:

NOTE: We suggest that you consult the documentation for
your notebook computer and learn how to boot it
from ROM before proceeding with these
instructions.

1. Use the following steps to run Stacker's INSTALL
program on another PC and personalize the files on
your Stacker diskettes:

A. Insert the Stacker Program Disk into a floppy
drive. Switch to the floppy drive, type
INSTALL, and press Enter.

B. The first screen will present you with the
option to view this README file. Press C to
"Continue with Installation".

C. The next screen will ask you to enter your name
and company's name to personalize your copy of
Stacker. Enter the requested information. Once
your name and company are entered you will be
asked if the information is correct. If it is
correct press Y. Otherwise press N, correct the
information and then press Y. After you press Y
the files on your Stacker diskettes will be
personalized.

D. The next screen will ask you where to copy the
Stacker files. The title of the screen is
"Copying Files From The Diskette(s) To Your Hard
Disk". At this point press Esc and then Y to
exit Stacker's installation program.

2. Create a Stacker directory on the C drive of the
notebook.

3. Laplink the Stacker files from the Stacker floppies
to the Stacker directory of the notebook.

4. Use SEDIT or another text editor to add the following
line to the end of the CONFIG.SYS file on the
notebook.

DEVICE=C:\STACKER\STACKER.COM C:\STACVOL.DSK

5. Use SEDIT or another text editor to add the
following to the end of the PATH statement in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the notebook:

;C:\STACKER

6. Change to the Stacker directory on the C drive of the
notebook.

7. Enter the following command to create a temporary
1 MB empty Stacker drive:

SCREATE C:\STACVOL.DSK /S=1

NOTE: This step requires that the notebook's C drive
has at least 1 MB of free disk space.

If your notebook has no other drives after drive C
then the new drive will be drive D. Otherwise it will
assume the next available drive letter. The remainder
of these instructions assume that the new drive is
drive D.

8. Reboot the notebook to load the Stacker device driver
and mount the empty D drive.

9. Enter the following command to copy the Stacker files
to the new drive:

COPY C:\STACKER D:\

10. Use SEDIT or another text editor to add the
following to the end of the Stacker DEVICE statement
in the CONFIG.SYS file on the C drive:

C:\STACVOL.000

11. Change to the D drive.

12. Enter the following command to compress the C drive:

SCREATE C:\STACVOL.000 /I /C=C /=P

13. Reboot the notebook to mount the compressed drive C
as drive E.

14. Change to the Stacker directory on drive E.

15. Enter the following to remove the temporary D drive.

SREMOVE D:

NOTE: SREMOVE will warn you that there is data on
the drive. Do not worry about this. Type
YES and press Enter. SREMOVE will ask you
again to make sure you want to remove drive
D, the temporary drive. Again you should
type YES and press Enter.

16. Use SEDIT or another text editor to remove the
reference to STACVOL.DSK from the Stacker device
statement in the CONFIG.SYS file on the C drive.
After this modification the line should appear as
follows:

DEVICE=C:\STACKER\STACKER.COM C:\STACVOL.000

17. You will probably want to add the following line to
the end of the CONFIG.SYS file on drive C to make the
new compressed drive appear as drive C. This
prevents you from having to modify your path
statement and batch files to account for the new
drive letter.

DEVICE=C:\STACKER\SSWAP.COM C:\STACVOL.000 /SYNC

18. Reboot the notebook. If you added the line from
step 17 to the CONFIG.SYS file, then as your computer
restarts Stacker's SSWAP utility will inform you that
the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on the
compressed drive need to be updated. It will also ask
if it is OK to perform the update. Press F9 and then
Enter to allow it to do the update. Your system will
restart one last time and the installation of Stacker
will be complete.




==================================================================


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

(c) Copyright 1990-92, Stac Electronics, Carlsbad, CA.

U.S. patents 5,016,009 and 5,003,307. Other patents pending.
Stacker is a trademark of Stac Electronics.

All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders.