SpartaDos
X Review Page
The Power of MS-DOS for the Atari 8-Bit by Charles A. Cole The SpartaDOS-X cartridge (SDX for short), developed and sold by ICD, Inc. (1220 Rock Street, Rockford, Illinois, 61101-1437) has been available for several years now but doesn't seem to be as popular as its older cousin, SpartaDOS 3.2. Just why this should be so is something of a mystery when you consider the power contained in the SDX cartridge. I read a magazine article shortly after the release of SpartaDOS-X which called SpartaDOS 3.2 the most pirated piece of 8-bit software ever release, and accused ICD of dirty tricks in switching to a cartridge that could not be freely copied and placed on pirate BBSs around the country. After using SpartaDOS-X for the past 2 years, however, I honestly don't believe this is what the folks at ICD had in mind at all. You just couldn't cram as much power onto a disk as what is contained in the cartridge, without having to swap between several disks every time you wanted to do something. Another advantage to a cartridge-based DOS-- especially for users without expansion memory--is that no user RAM is used by the DOS as it is with a disk-based DOS. As upgrades are made to SpartaDOS-X, you can even change the main ROM chip. I'm currently using Version 4.19, released 1-16-89. SpartaDOS-X has so many features that I could not possibly cover them all in this article, so I'll concentrate on the "most used" and "most annoying" features. Nothing in this world is perfect, and SpartaDOS-X is no exception--it does have bugs which need to be worked out. So, here goes! Main SDX Features Format. This is an area where SpartaDOS-X really shines. All you have to do is type "FORMAT"; a menu instantly pops onto your screen, offering the following choices: Drive Number. SDX accepts drive assignments as either numbers (1- 9) or letters (A-I), making it familiar to both Atari and MS-DOS users. Skew. You can choose between Standard and High Speed. High speed sector skew works with Atari XF551, Indus GT, and Happy drives, allowing a drive to read/write much faster. Mode. The format mode can be selected between Sparta and Atari. The Sparta mode makes disks compatible with SpartaDOS 3.2, and Atari makes them readable by Atari DOS 2.0 and all of its clones. Volume. When using SpartaDOS mode, you can give each disk an individual name, up to 8 characters. The cartridge also assigns a random, four-digit hex number to each disk for ID purposes. Density. You can choose between single, dual (Atari 1050), or double. The SpartaDOS dual density isn't compatible with Atari DOS 2.5, however. Tracks. Choices here are 40 SS (Single-Sided), 40 DS (Double- Sided), 77 SS, 77 DS, 80 SS, and 80 DS. This makes SpartaDOS X compatible with 3-1/2 inch, 5-1/4 inch, and 8 inch disk drives. Format. After working your way through the above choices, you are now ready to format the disk. You can leave the format menu at any time up to this point by pressing the ESCAPE key. Build Directory. The directory structure is automatically written to a floppy disk during the format. This option allows you to perform a high level format of a hard drive or RAMdisk from SpartaDOS-X: a very convenient feature for hard drive users. CONFIG.SYS. In order to make SDX fully compatible with all systems, you may need to write a CONFIG.SYS file on the disk you will normally use the most. Hard drive users can write this file to their boot drive. Unless you have something out of the ordinary in your system, though, you can get by without this file, because the cartridge automatically boots itself when the computer is turned on, even without a disk in the drive. The following additional hardware items are supported through a CONFIG.SYS file: OSRAM for a stock XL/XE computer (the default). Banked RAM for use with RAMBO XL, AXLON, or compatible memory upgrades. NONE, for a stock Atari 800. INDUS, for compatibility with an Indus GT drive. ATARIDOS, for compatibility with Atari DOS 2.0 and all of its clones. RAMdisk, which will format any size RAMdisk as any drive number. You can even assign multiple RAMdisks in 16K blocks. When you do a cold boot with an external RAMdisk, such as the ICD Multi I/O box, this module does not reformat it. CLOCK, for ICD R-Time 8 cartridge owners. Without this driver, the TIME/DATE line defaults to the SDX ROM revision time and date. JIFFY, a clock driver for those who do not own the R-Time 8 cartridge. You are then prompted for Time/Date input upon bootup. XEP80, a driver for the Atari XEP80 adaptor. ARC Utility. Before SpartaDOS-X was officially released, ICD was allegedly going to incorporate a database program into the ROM. The database was changed to an ARC utility, however. But this is no ordinary ARC--it's faster than the disk-based versions. ARC is called from the command line processor, with options to add, move, update, delete, extract, print, list, suppress compression, high speed (screen off), and encrypt/decrypt. An encrypted archive cannot be read or extracted by anyone who does not know the password you used. ARC uses four compression/decompression methods, automatically selecting the most appropriate without any use input. Attributes. Formerly known as Lock/Unlock or Protect/Unprotect, you now set an Attribute as desired. In addition to locking and unlocking files, this command allows you to create hidden files. An example of a hidden file would be the high score data module for a game. If you don't want this file to always show up in your directory, but still be there so the game can update it, you can mark it as a hidden file. BASIC. Turns the internal BASIC on in an 800XL or 130XE machine. When used with an 800, you piggy-back the BASIC cartridge into the top of the SDX cart, and turn it on with the CAR command. Cartridge. Turns on any CARtridge, such as Basic XL, Basic XE, Action!, or a game which is piggybacked on top of the SpartaDOS-X cartridge. Change Directory. Change Directory (CHDIR) is the same as the MS- DOS "CD" command. It can also be entered as "CD" or "CWD," and us used to change the default directory or subdirectory. Check Disk. Check Disk (CHKDSK) is exactly the same as the MS-DOS version and tells you the disk volume name, its hex code number, the number of bytes per sector of its format, the total bytes available on the disk, and the number of free bytes available. Change Time/Date. Change Time/Date (CHTD) stamp of a file or files will change files to the time and date set on the internal clock with the Jiffy command or the R-Time 8 clock cartridge's current settings. I find this command convenient when UNARCing files that I have downloaded from an on-line service or BBS, as a record of when it was downloaded. If the file was originally written by a SpartaDOS user, it will have their time.date stamp on it when it is UNARCed. I like to know the date and time that I acquired the file, so I use this command to change the time/date. Cold Boot. COLD performs a cold boot similar to turning the computer off and back on, or pressing the RESET key. The big difference here, though, is that you do not lose your RAMdisk contents if you are using a modified 800XL or 130XE with internal RAMdisk. Copy. The COPY command is used in the exactly same manner as the SpartaDOS 3.2 or MS-DOS copy command. Directory. The DIR command lists the directory of the default or specified drive. An optional "DIRS" command lists a shortened directory in AtariDOS format (no date/time stamp), and changes the file size reading from bytes used to sectors used. Options to the DIR command allow you to count the number of files on a disk or list only those files that meet certain specified criteria, such as only ARCed files, hidden files, protected files, etc. Erasing Files. The ERASE command is used exactly the same as with SpartaDOS 3.2 or MS-DOSE to erase one or more files. Finding Files. FIND searches all directories on all drives for files matching the given filename. This is especially useful to hard drive owners trying to locate a specific file without a printed directory listing. It even searches RAMdisks if they are used. Versatile Menu. MENU is, in my opinion, the best feature of the SpartaDOS-X cartridge. It combines the SpartaDOS 3.2 XCOPY menu with many other features which allow you to copy, erase, rename, print, or move files around. You can even create or delete subdirectories, change drive assignments, show the amount of free space on a disk, or print directory listings. When you type "MENU," the screen is immediately filled with a menu from which you can tag or untag files for copying or deleting, and all of the other options. Directory listings are automatically sorted into alphabetical order when they are presented on the menu, but are not actually sorted on the disk. You can change the sort option to Name, Extension, Date, or Size. Prompt Options. You can change the default "A>" MS-DOS style prompt to anything you desire, even multiple lines of text by using the PROMPT command. Swapping Your Drives. The SWAP command allows you to swap your drive configuration at will, which is especially useful to Multi I/O, Black Box, or hard drive users. As an example of this, I use Clayton Walnum's _Microcheck_ program from _ANALOG_ magazine to maintain my checking account, and even print my checks, running it from my hard drive. _Microcheck's_ default settings are set to read the check data files from a disk in drive #2; however, I use my XF551, which is drive #5, to store the data. When I run Microcheck, all I have to do is type "SWAP 2,5" to reverse the assignment of drives #2 and #5. The XF551 then thinks it is drive #2, and can be accessed by _Microcheck_. When I'm done with _Microcheck_, typing "SWAP 2,5" again sets the drives back to their original designations. Time/Date Display. Typing TD ON turns on the Time/Date display at the top of the screen, and typing TD OFF turns it back off. Viewing the TYPE of File. The TYPE command provides another very useful feature. You can easily read text files on screen by using this command, or even view BASIC or binary files. After viewing a few files of each type, you soon learn to recognize certain traits that differentiate BASIC, binary, GIF, Autorun, ARCed, etc., and can use this command if you're not sure what type of file you have. Recovering Your Files. If you accidentally erased the wrong file, and have not yet copied something over it, the UNERASE command will recover it. Turning the Cartridge OFF. The X command gives me more trouble than any of the others, and I wish ICD would come up with a bug fix for this. X turns the SpartaDOS X cartridge off for loading and running binary files. Their intent was to allow the use of the SpartaDOS X cartridge at all times by simply turning it off, and not having to remove it to run AUTORUN.SYS or binary files. Unfortunately, they only went half way. You can turn it off with this command, but there is no way to turn it back on short of powering down. Once it is disabled with the X command, even the COLD command is disabled. The on-line services have two or three utilities of the "X-ON" variety that are supposed to turn the SDX cart back on once the X command has been given, but none of them work unless you can modify your programs to call these routines. For programs such as Atariwriter+, Synfile+, etc., this is impossible. So my biggest complaint with SpartaDOS-X is the constant need to power down and reboot once the X command has been issued. If you don't, when you hit the RESET key you just get an error message, "No DOS present" and must turn off the power to recover from this condition. Compatibility and Cost Despite ICD's best efforts, SpartaDOS-X isn't compatible with all software. I've encountered a few programs that will work only with MyDOS or AtariDOS 2.0/2.5. With these programs, you have no choice but to remove the SDX cartridge and run without it. This really gets to be a hassle when testing out newly downloaded programs. Was the program written by someone with an Atari 800? 800XL? 130XE? With BASIC? Without BASIC? With BASIC XE? BASIC XL? You might have to try several loading methods with and without SDX until you find one that works. It would really be nice if the programmers at ICD had installed code within the cartridge that would analyze a file and automatically set the cartridge's parameters, especially for AUTORUN programs. The SpartaDOS- X manual devotes several appendices to the running of AUTORUN.SYS, _Turbo-BASIC_, etc., but few of their hints and tips really work. Perhaps a big reason for the failure of this fine software to gain widespread popularity is its cost: it definitely ranks among the "top ten" most expensive Atari 8-bit software packages. The retail price listed in ICD's 1990 catalog is $79.95. Even at a 10% or 20% discount from a mail-order distributor, it's still an expensive program. Unless you use a lot of commercial autorun files, such as _Atariwriter+_ (See Editor's Note), _SynFile+_, _Print Shop_, etc. which can't be modified to run with SDX, the inconveniences and incompatibilities encountered are minor when judged against the added power of SpartaDOS-X. The manual that comes with SDX is extensive and well written, and its similarities to MS-DOS make the transition from MS-DOS computers at work to my Atari 130XE at home so easy it's worth the few annoyances. How could SpartaDOS-X be improved? If ICD can't totally solve incompatibility problems in future upgrades, a switch mounted of the cartridge to enable/disable it without the continual plugging in and unplugging would be a great help. Despite the shortcomings, I'd put up a good fight before I'd part with my SpartaDOS X cartridge! Once you learn how to use it, you'll never go back to anything less. Yeah, it has quirks--but so does every other DOS I've used. [Editor's Note: Since this manuscript was submitted ICD has announced its intention to abandon the Atari 8-bit market beginning in 1992 and is presently selling off its inventory at discount prices. The most current revision of SpartaDOS-X is 4.20. If you wish to purchase the SDX cart, or upgrade the ROM from an older version, now is the time! There has been an upgrade to SpartaDos X and can be programmed onto a AtariMax Programmable Cart.