 ******************  Copyright  Notice  ****************** 
 *                                                       *
 *  All program code is the copyright of David Lawrence  *
 *                                                       *
 *********************************************************

      Help file for !FasterPC V2.400 (08 August 1994)


 This help file contains information about two specific
 areas of !FasterPC.

 1. The operation of the configuration utility

 2. The potential error messages and their solutions

 The information supplied here is a resum of the relevant
 chapters of the User Guide and the reader is referred to
 that document for full details.


 
 1. !FasterPC Configuration
 
 The !FasterPC configuration utility allows the user to
 define and also create the number and size of PC 
 Winchester partitions to be used with the application.
 The configuration utility is only memory resident when
 you request it. In order to maintain a seemless interface
 with the main application, the configuration utility does
 not install itself on the icon bar, but only exists as a
 window on the desktop. When you have finished with it,
 close its window and the utility will terminate.

 
 Starting the Configuration Utility
 
 To start the configuration utility open the !FasterPC
 icon bar menu and select the 'Config...' option. Once 
 started, the utility will open its only window but will
 not install itself on the icon bar.

 
 The Configuration Utility Window
 
 The configuration utilities window has deliberately been
 designed to look similar to the hard disc file section of
 Acorn's !PCem configuration window. This is for the
 convenience of users of both applications.

 
 Number of Configured Hard Disc Drives
 
 The number after the 'Hard disc drive files:' heading
 indicates how many of the drive files listed in the boxes
 below it will be included in the configuration file if
 the save button is pressed. To increase the number of
 hard disc drive files, click on the number with the
 select button. The maximum number of drive files is four.
 To decrease the number, click with the adjust button. The
 minimum number of hard drive files if zero, i.e. you
 would be emulating an IBM PC with only a floppy drive.
 Each row in the dark grey box below the number of hard
 disc drive files refers to a PC Winchester partition.

 
 Referencing an Existing Winchester Partition
 
 To include an existing partition in the configuration,
 either type its full path name into the central white
 icon or drag its icon from a filer directory window onto
 the central white icon and drop it there. The icon will
 immediately change to display the full path name of the
 file that you have dropped and the following icon will
 display the file's size in megabytes. Note that the file
 type of the file that you drag and drop in this way must
 be DOSDisc (file type &FC8). If it is not, then the
 configuration utility will reject the file and display an
 error message.

 
 Creating a New Partition
 
 To create a new disc partition, you must type the full
 path and file name of the partition file into one of the 
 central white icons. Once this is done, you have to set
 the desired size of the file by clicking on the white 
 icon next to the path name that you have just entered and
 typing the required file size, in megabytes. This then
 defines the file's location and size. Clicking on the
 create icon to the left of the partition file name will 
 cause the configuration utility to actually create the
 file. Note that an error will be reported and the file
 will not be created if a file of the same path/name
 already exists, or if the current directory structure
 does not match your requested location, or if the utility
 is unable to access the disc or directory that you have
 specified, or if there is insufficient disc space left to
 hold your file.

 
 Saving the Configuration
 
 Once the configuration window is set up to your
 satisfaction, clicking on the save icon causes the
 configuration utility to check your settings, to see if
 you have asked for more drives than you have defined
 paths/files for. If everything appears to be correct, the
 configuration utility performs three actions:

  saves your settings in the file 'Drives' in !FasterPC's
   'resources' directory
  obeys the file 'Drives', setting the system variables
   to their new values
  sends a message to !FasterPC, telling it that the
   configuration has been changed

 Clicking on the set icon causes the system variables to
 be set and sends a message to !FasterPC, as above, but
 does not modify the Drives file. This allows the user
 to temporarily modify the selected partitions.

 The disc partitions created by the configuration utility
 are ready for partitioning and formatting using the
 standard MS DOS utilities FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM.

 
 Quitting the Configuration Utility
 
 To quit the configuration utility, click on the close
 window icon on the window's title bar. The utility will 
 quit and its window will disappear.


 
 2. !FasterPC's Error Messages
 
 There now follows a list of the possible error messages
 that !FasterPC can detect. Each listed error has a
 section describing the conditions that can cause the
 error and also a section giving some hints on how to
 avoid the error.

 
 Illegal or unsupported opcode detected
 
 !FasterPC has tried to execute either an unimplemented
 8086 or 80186 instruction, non-executable data, or an
 instruction for an 80286 or higher processor.

 If you have not enabled the 80186 option on !FasterPC's
 icon bar menu then enable it and try your PC program
 again. If the fault is still present then check the
 documentation associated with the program and ensure
 that it should run on an 8086 (IBM PC XT or compatible).
 If this is the case you could contact me following the
 guidelines mentioned below for an investigation.

 
 Attempt to change to an unsupported video mode detected
 
 The PC software that you are running has tried to switch
 to a video mode that is not supported by !FasterPC in
 its current configuration. This may be because the
 software does not check whether the required video
 adaptor is present before performing the mode change,
 or because you have an adaptor enabled that is not fully
 supported (EGA, VGA or Tandy).

 Try disabling any optional video adaptors, one at a time,
 and re-running the PC program to see if the problem has
 gone away. If this fails, try enabling the video override
 option (if present) in the display submenu to see if this
 will solve your problem.

 
 Unsupported palette function detected
 
 The PC software that you are running has tried to use an
 unsupported VGA palette function. It thinks that this can
 be done as you have enabled the VGA adaptor and not all
 of the palette functions are implemented. This should be
 quite a rare error as the majority of BIOS palette calls
 are to do with reprogramming the palette, and these calls
 are fully implemented.

 Try disabling the VGA (and also possibly the EGA) adaptor
 to see if your program will run in another video mode.

 
 The Emulator is trying to execute jump vectors
 
 For some reason, !FasterPC is executing code that is in
 the 8086 jump vectors (RAM locations 00000h to 00400h).
 This is probably because it has become confused and mis-
 interpreted a previous instruction.

 Try running your program several times to see if the
 problem always occurs and whether is always occurs at
 the same place. If this is the case, the problem is
 repeatable, and you might like to contact me following
 the guidelines mentioned below for an investigation.

 
 Unable to change to required FasterPC screen mode
 
 This error is reported when !FasterPC has been unable
 to change to one of its special screen modes. These
 modes are supported by the VGAmodes module present in
 the application directory, and RMLoaded when the
 application is started. It is possible that you do not
 have sufficient memory available for the VGA screen modes
 before trying to run the emulator. !FasterPC requires
 80k bytes of screen memory to run in 50Hz mode and 300k
 to run in VGA mode.

 Open the task window and drag the coloured bar
 representing the screen memory until it is at least 80k
 or 300k as required and try again.

 
 User forced exit from !FasterPC
 
 This error is reported if the user performs a forced exit
 from !FasterPC by using the two Alt keys and mouse menu
 button mechanism. This exit is provided to allow crashed
 or 'difficult' DOS programs to be exitted. The normal
 exit, left Alt key and mouse menu button is to be
 preferred if it works.

 This message is more of a warning message rather than an
 error. If a DOS program repeatedly causes you to have to
 use this exit mechanism, you  might like to contact me
 following the guidelines mentioned below for an
 investigation.

 
 An unknown error has occurred
 
 This error is reported if !FasterPC exits without a valid
 reason code. This is a 'catch all' error handler and the
 author has never seen this error reported during the
 development period.

 If you get this error and are able to repeat it, you
 might like to contact me following the guidelines
 mentioned below for an investigation.

 
 Reporting errors for investigation
 
 The occasion may occur when you are unable to correct a
 possible fault with !FasterPC and some PC software that
 you are trying to run. Refer to the section in the User
 Guide, chapter 'Errors and Solutions' for the procedure
 to be followed to get your problem investigated.


                          To contact the author, write to:

                                           D. J. Lawrence,
                                           33 High Street,
                                           Farnborough,
                                           Hampshire
                                           GU14 6ES
                                           United Kingdom

