Release Type: Product Release
Platform Name: All NoteBIOS platforms
Product Name: PhDisk
Version #: PhDisk 4.32
Build Date: 8-13-99
RELEASE NOTES
INTRODUCTION:
PhDisk is the Phoenix NoteBIOS 4.0 Power Management Save to Disk
preparation utility. It can work based on Phoenix Phdos without DOS
(standalone PhDisk), and it can work under DOS also. For more information,
please refer to Phoenix PhDisk reference manual.
PhDisk operates for all versions of Phoenix BIOS supportive of
the STD (Save To Disk) feature. PhDisk will support graphical hibernation
and multiple partition if the miser CDL is 1.75.
INSTALLATION PROCEDURE( Creat a bootable floppy for standalone PhDisk):
1: Create a directory.
2: Copy phdisk.exe, phdos.sys, phdboot.bin, makeboot.exe,
makephd.bat, save2dsk.bin(If BIOS supports Graphcial Hibernation)
into the directory.
3: Insert a floppy into a floppy drive.
4: Run makephd.bat.
5: Follow the instructions displayed on the screen.
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS:
To build this PhDisk.exe, you will need to use the Microsoft
assembler (MASM),Microsoft Visual C/C++ compiler/ linker. Suggested
versions are:
1. MASM - version 5.10a
2. Microsoft Visual C/C++ - version 1.52
To build phdos.sys and phdboot.bin, you will need exe2bin.exe
BUILD PHDISK.EXE(automaticly build all three versions of PhDisk):
1. Create and change directories into a PHDISK directory on
local work station.
2. Copy source files located in the source code directory into
the PHDISK directory.
3. Copy MASM.EXE (ver 5.10a) into the PHDISK directory.
4. From Windows or Windows 95 execute Microsoft Visual C++1.52.
5. Select Project, then Select Open.
6. Select PhDisk.mak from the PhDisk directory on the local drive,
and then select OK.
7. When prompted for "d:\release\PhDisk.mak external file YES/NO",
answer YES.
8. Select Project and then Select Build.
The makefile will make all three versions PhDisk.
The .EXE files will be found in the subdirectories.
BUILD PHDOS.SYS, PHDBOOT.BIN, MAKEBOOT.EXE, PHDBOOT.BIN.
1. Creat and Change directories into makeboot.
2. Copy source files located in the source code directory into
the makeboot directory.
3. Rename MAKEPHD.MAK to MAKEFILE because NMAKE uses that name as
a default in order to build. Type NMAKE and hit return.
Phdisk 4.32 Date 8-13-1999
Two SPRs SCL01232 and SCL01233 were fixed and closed AND a problem
found in reformating the S2D partition was also fixed.
Phdisk 4.31 Date 7-01-1999
Extended partition corruption in very rare cases fixed.
Phdisk 4.3 Date 6-02-1999
Fixed SPR:
1-
Problem: Phdisk 4.2 corrupted the Master Boot Record when it was run on
some platforms with some old BIOSes that did not support Graphical Hibernation.
Fix: This problem was fixed by adding more precautions to handle old BIOSes with
no BIOS signature for the new header or graphical hibernation(BIOS Signature NOT FOUND),
AND by modifying procedures that created the New Header in different cases
such as: BIOS Signature (for the new header)is FOUND but Graphical Hibernation
is not supported or BIOS Signature is FOUND but Compression is not supported
and so on.
2-Mulitple Partition Support is DISABLED in Phdisk 4.3.
Phdisk 4.3 creates an S2D file on the first Primary DOS Partition of the Primary
Master HDD ONLY.
Phdisk 4.2 supports compression and decompression: Date 2-18-1999
1- Phdisk 4.2 supports compression and decompression to speed up
the S2D process by updating the compression information in the Phdisk
header.
Phdisk 4.2 gets the minimum size for save to disk partition or file
through an int15 call and uses it to create an S2D file or
partition.
2- Formatting the save to disk partition has been commented out in the
source code to achieve faster creation of the S2D partition. This
feature is more visible and useful when large S2D partitions are created.
3- The default selection for the first menu option has been removed.
Now if a user presses the return key instead of typing 1, no action
will be performed.
This feature is only for the first menu option. Other default values
are still the same as previous versions.
Dated:12-08-98
For Int13 Extension Support:
PhDisk 4.xx supports int13 extension. If user creates save to disk
partition beyond 8G, please delete the save to disk partition
first before using FDISK of DOS. Because the FDISK can not recognize
the type of save to disk partition as LBA address mode.
For Multiple Partition Support:
PhDisk uses the following algorithm to assign the drive letters to logical
partitions that in only hard drive 80h( Primary master hard drive).
1. Assign the C to the active partition if it exists.
2. If the active partition does not exist, assign the C to the first
primary partition.
3. Assign drive letters D, E, F... to the extended partitions.
4. Assign the drive letters to the OS partitions that still have no drive
letters.
FIXED SPRS:
o Get the time and date using BIOS function call and combine them
to make the date and time for save2dsk.bin.
FIXED SPR: Dated:11-23-98
o Create corresponding menu for phdiskp and phdiskf.
But for this version, we have no standalone feature for phdiskf
and phdiskp.
FIXED SPR: Dated:11-16-98
o Modify the algorithm of drive letter assignment, assign the
correct drive letter to the logical partition.
FIXED SPRS AND ECRS: Dated:11-06-98
ADDED NEW FEATURES
Make the the PhDisk 4.1 work under both Dos and PhDos. PhDisk 4.1
contains all functions of PhDisk3.4.1 and PhDisk4.03.
o User can input the drive letter from commnad-line if the
the system supports multiple partition.
o Added the "EXIT" on the main menu if phdisk is run under Dos mode,
and give user warning message "Warning: The system should be reset
after creating and deleting save to disk area." before return
to DOS mode.
o Chnage the name "MINIDOS.SYS" to "PHDOS.SYS". Because
PHDOS is based on Phoenix minidos.sys and it is different from
Phoenix minidos.sys.
BUG FIXED
o When save to disk is at the beginning of hard drive, Reformat
command will format one more sector. Modify the address for
formatting, make phdisk format correct address.
ADDED NEW FEATURES Dated:10-16-98
o Standalone PhDisk searched the image file from the floppy only.
PhDisk can search the same directory as PhDisk.exe's right now.
BUG FIXED
o Display the correct number (1, 2, 3) of main menu instead
of (1, 2).
ADDED NEW FEATURES Dated:10-06-98
o Added the command-line support for standalone PhDisk. When
PhDisk is run under DOS, PhDisk can accept parameters from
command line. If there is no any parameter input, PhDisk will
display main menu. The version does not support dirve letter
input from command line for multiple partition feature.
ADDED NEW FEATURES: Dated:9-18-98
o Remove the upper limit for size input of s2d area. User can
input larger size of s2d area than 128MB.
ADDED NEW FEATURES: Dated:7-09-98
o Added the new signature check for the multiple partition, If
the signature is found in the BIOS, PhDisk will support the
multiple partition function.
ADDED NEW FEATURES: Dated:5-11-98
o Stand alone PhDisk can work based on Phoenix PHDOS.SYS without
any OS.
o PhDisk supports main menu, user can choose the items from the
menu getting rid of command-line parameters.
o PhDisk can create file in any OS partition including extended
OS partition if PhDisk finds the signature from the BIOS.
o PhDisk creates new partition header and loads Graphical
Hibernation file into the end of save to disk area from the
floppy if PhDisk finds the signature from the BIOS.
BUGS FIXED: Dated:4-06-98
o PhDisk cannot create SaveToDisk file if primary partition
locates at high HD address. Use "& 0xc0" and " <<2 " to get the two
highest bits of cylinder from sector number of patition table entry.
o In FAT32 of OSR2, the total free cluster is recorded in
second sector of OS partition, right after boot sector.
o PhDisk gives wrong message if all partition table entries have been
occupied. Add corresponding message when there is no partition table
entry.
Dated:3-30-98
This PhDisk does not support int13h extension.
This PhDisk does not support drives larger than 8 giga bytes
BUGS FIXED: Dated:3-29-98
o It seems that Windows NT uses self CHS translation logic, not
a BIOS CHS translation. So PhDisk that uses BIOS interface
can not see partition information correctly. Get ride of
end_cylinder compare.
o Far jump of MBR souce code of PhDisk could not work well.
So NTFS can not be installed in 3.8-4.0G NTFS partition.
Pushes the address 0000:7c00 onto the stack and uses retf,
retf pops the address off the stack and give the control to that
location.
BUGS FIXED: Dated:2-11-98
o After PhDisk /c /f /e for many times, PhDisk /c /f /e
still can work. Write the correct address of S2D file in the
root directory entry. When deleting the S2D file, modify the
FAT directly and don't use DOS function call 41h.
ADDED NEW FEATURES: Dated:1-28-98
o PhDisk supports Int 13 extension.
The MBR of PhDisk supports Int 13 extension.
BUGS FIXED: Dated:1-28-98
o The root directory for FAT 32 should be movable.
ADDED NEW FEATURES: Dated: 8-1-97
o Command line option /E or /EXIT supports the PhDisk to go back to
DOS directly without system reboot.
BUGS FIXED Dated: 3-25-97
o Fixed bug for 404 core Big Memory support feature:
In 404 code, INT15 E801 get extended memory size call returns
a 'smaller than physically installed' value in AX, BX register.
Now uses CX, DX rather than AX, BX to calculate the ext. memory size.
For 405 and later core, AX=CX, BX,DX returned in this function,
so should not have any impact.
ADDED FEATURES: Dated: 2-14-97
o Enhanced support for Windows 95 FAT32 file system.
The new A1 type partition which contains a pointer
directly to the S2D File space will NOT be created if a
new BIOS signature which supports new FAT32 S2D File algorithm
was found in the BIOS ROM image, otherwise it acts just exact
same as version 3.0.
Command line option /I reports anticipated size of
0xA1 partiton if Created.
o FILEBASESED PhDisk save to Disk requires a new version of the Bios
in order to work with FAT32 without A1 partition.
404 Code Base:
miser\sav2Dsk\common.404\s2dpart.asm rev 1.4
miser\sav2Dsk\common.404\s2ddos.asm rev 1.4
miser\sav2Dsk\common.404\s2dhdman.asm rev 1.7
405 Code Base:
miser\sav2Dsk\common.405\s2dpart.asm rev 1.4
miser\sav2Dsk\common.405\s2ddos.asm rev 1.6
miser\sav2Dsk\std.405\s2dhdman.asm rev 1.1
miser\sav2Dsk\pci.405\s2dhdman.asm rev 1.1
510/512:
miser\sav2Dsk\common.405\s2dpart.asm rev 1.4
miser\sav2Dsk\common.405\s2ddos.asm rev 1.6
miser\sav2Dsk\pci.510\s2dhdman.asm rev 1.2
600 and above:
Working on.
BUGS FIXED:
KNOWN RESTRICTIONS:
o The help screens do not mention the size option within the
/CREATE command line option. Further, no mention is made
regarding the size value being expressed in "K" (1024) units.
o If the system is not allowed to reset following the deletion of an
STD area, the BIOS may overwrite user data. Dynamic locating of
the STD area (within the BIOS) needs to be implemented, before
this restriction can be removed.
o PhDisk will not create an STD file on a "compressed drive". The
STD area will be created on the physical drive 0 and located in the
correct partition. The correct partition is defined as the active
boot DOS partition (if one exists). If an active boot DOS partition
does not exist, then the correct partition is defined as the first
DOS partition.
o PhDisk will not create an STD file on a non-DOS partition. Note
that a Win95 partition is a normal DOS partition and will allow
the creation of an STD file.
o If PhDisk is operated from beneath any multi-tasking OS, potential
hard disk corruption may result.
o If PhDisk is operated with a "delayed write disk cache", it is
important to allow the system to reset after creating/deleting
an STD area.
o Due to differences in the way space is calculated under partition
and file systems, the "required space" will never equal the actual
disk space used. For the actual formula(s) on disk space usage,
refer to the PhDisk documentation.
o When creating a File based S2D area the A1 partition created
will take up 1 Cylinder of disk space ~ 2 to 8 Mbytes depending
on drive geometry C,H ,S
o PhDisk Ver 3.2 will not support Int 13h Extension API's
which (Windows 95 Oem Service Release 2 ) may use on Large
(typicaly greater than 4 GB )Disk drives which exceed 1024 cylinders.
TEST RECOMMENDATIONS:
o It is highly recommended that all testing be done with a "scratch"
hard disk. If errors are found, it is possible that the contents
of the hard disk will be lost/corrupted.
o Extensive testing is required, for user safety. If errors occur,
hard disk loss/corruption will happen.
o The STD file will have System, Read-Only, and Hidden attributes.
As a result, you will be unable to view it via the normal DOS DIR
command. You will need to use the DOS ATTRIB command to reset the
flags, prior to viewing the size/existance of the file. Under Windows 3.2
or Windows 95 the file manager or Explorer can be set to view hidden
files.
o The STD file will be named SAVE2DSK.BIN and will be located in the
root directory of drive C:. If using a compressed drive, it will
be located in the root directory of the remapped drive.
o Due to the three different versions, care should be taken to
confirm that each version has appropriate text.
o Due to the large changes required to implement support of
FAT32 file system , full testing is suggested. While partition
handling was not impacted, it can not be guarenteed that this
area is bug free.
o When PhDisk deletes a File based S2D area and Windows 95
Scandisk is subsquently run Scandisk may report an error in
the boot area let Scandisk correct it .
REFERENCES:-
o Phoenix PhDisk reference manual.
o "DOS Programmers Reference" by Terry Dettmann, Que Publishing
(regarding disk partitioning and file layouts)
o Microsoft FAT32 )n-Disk Format Version 0.85
PREVIOUSLY RELEASED COMPONENTS:
o Version 1.04 of PhDisk (pre file based STD)
o Version 2.0 of PhDisk (engineering release)
o Version 2.1 of PhDisk (engineering release)
o Version 2.2 of PhDisk (production release)
o Version 2.4 of PhDisk (production release)
o Version 2.5 of PhDisk (production release)
o Version 2.6 of PhDisk (production release)
o Version 2.7 of PhDisk (production release)
o Version 2.8 of PhDisk (production release)
o Version 3.0 of PhDisk (production release)
o Version 3.1 of PhDisk (production release)
COMPRESSED FILES:
None
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From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
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