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╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Version 2.00
(C) 1989, 1990, 1991 by Angelo Besani
Amnèsia CBCS
2:331/101.1 +39-331-772362
[HST/V.32]
Documentation by Vertigo
BBS2000
2:331/300 +39-2-76006329 [V.32/PEP]
2:331/301 +39-2-76006857 [HST]
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
*** Index of contents ***
-------------------------
Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
What is AUTOBOOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
What it does . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
How to use it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 5
AUTOBOOT & DESQview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8
AUTOBOOT and critical errors . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8
AUTOOPEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 9
Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 11
Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 12
User's Manual Page 1
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
*** Disclaimer ***
------------------
AUTOBOOT is guaranteed only to eat up space on your disk! I
can only state that it is NOT a virus.
There are NO warranties, either expressed or implied, with
respect to the software, its quality, performance,
usefullness or fitness for any particular purpose. This
software is provided "as is" and the entire risk as to its
quality and performance is with the user.
The author of this software shall NOT be liable for errors
contained in the software or the software's documentation, or
for incidental or consequential damages of any kind in
connection with the performance, use or possession of this
software.
What does the above means ? Well, try to put your imagination
at work and picture yourself while you're writing what is
likely to become the biggest selling software utility in the
history of mankind while AUTOBOOT is installed. And suppose
you decide to start running a communications program to
log into a BBS and tell everybody just how great is your work,
and that while you're chatting with the sysop AUTOBOOT decides
to trash part of your system's memory. And suppose that,
watching your computer reboot before your startled eyes, you
realize that you haven't got a backup of your source code and
you sit back too quickly in your chair, knocking your computer
into the nearby swimming pool in which some friends of yours
are swimming. And suppose that, after having electrocuted
them, the power overload blows up your house's entire
electrical system, and that the high voltage transformer miles
away (but directly over major well-known fault line) explodes
spectacularly, releasing a large amount of stored geological
energy and a small but heavily populated section of the
Italian peninsula plunges into the Mediterran Sea...
Well... even in this case, you've got nobody but yourself to
blame. Got the picture ?
*** Copyright ***
-----------------
AUTOBOOT is Copyrighted by Angelo Besani. You can use it
without any charge or contribution providing that it is used
in a lawful and friendly manner.
For the benefit of the lawyers amongst you, "lawful" means
that anyone may use AUTOBOOT for private purposes, and it
may be given away for free, as long as it is NOT part of any
deal involving purchases; and fees for copying and/or
distribution, and/or fees for disks exceeding the actual
market price for an empty disk of the same brand/quality is to
be considered as commercial exploitation of this software,
and an infringement of the Copyrights (c) of the author.
The right to use this software and/or its documentation for
private purposes may NOT be restricted by additional
User's Manual Page 2
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
copyrights and/or registration conditions, unless those
applied by its author.
If given away under above (or below) conditions, the receiver
in NO way receives the ownership of the program itself, but
may only be licenced to use it if above and below conditions
are met.
If these rules infringe the local law and/or rights of any
area, political or geographical, this software is NOT to be
used and/or distributed in these areas.
The executable and/or non-executable parts of this program or
any package consisting of any or all of these parts are NOT
to be altered by any means (including editing, reprogramming,
crunching, and recompiling), except de-archiving.
The name of the executable file(s) may be changed at
convenience, as long as this does NOT infringe any copyright
of any other author, and by changing the name(s), observe that
all rights and/or restrictions given by this text, and/or by
the software itself still applies.
The documents contained in the software package contain
proprietary information which is protected by copyright (C).
All rights are reserved. No part of these documents may be
photocopied, reproduced, electronically copied, or translated
to another language without the inclusion of the software and
other included files as part of a package. The executable
files accompagnying this package may NOT be reproduced or
transferred outside a one-machine-environment without all
these accompagnying files including this file.
*** And now, for something completely different ***
---------------------------------------------------
Whew. We're finished with the legal (ha!) part. And probably
you've skipped the whole stuff altogether, so why bother ?
Let's get to the interesting part.
User's Manual Page 3
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
*** What is Autoboot ? ***
--------------------------
We all know Murphy's Law too well, don't we ? There's a well
known corollary to Murphy's theory that says that exactly five
minutes after you've left the BBS running alone by itself, it
will crash. It always happens: when you've just left home for
your summer holiday, or when you're expecting a particular
file attach/mail session for the night, the damned thing will
hang itself exactly thirty seconds after you've left the room.
Since September 16th 1987, Angelo Besani and the late Alberto
Morosi's BBS AmnèsiA had taken them away a huge amount of
hours because they always wanted to have a nice, user-
friendly and *VERY* reliable system.
Unfortunately, some programs have bugs ("The only bug-free
software is obsolete software" said Bob Hartman in the
BINKLEY echo, a few days after releasing BT 2.10) and are
keen on hanging. Angelo and Alberto did not like very much
hardware resetters (and yes, they already had a timer
connected to the mains' power) and began to think about
something that could act as a little guardian angel for
AmnèsiA. Angelo took some time and some efforts, and after
some hours spent with MASM 5.10, AUTOBOOT was a reality.
*** What it does ***
--------------------
AUTOBOOT will check continuously the DOS' and disk's
functionality, the Keyboard input and the activity of your
FOSSIL driver. If none of them are alive and kicking
after the time specified has elapsed, it will perform a
system boot.
Alternatively, if your running your BBS under DESQview in a
single or multi line environment, AUTOBOOT will be able to
close and restart only the crashed task without affecting the
other tasks still running.
Here are the System Requirements:
- MS-DOS v2.xx or higher,
- a F.O.S.S.I.L. driver (any version, optional)
- DESQview 2.26 or higher (optional)
(DESQview is a trademark of QuarterDeck Office Systems)
AUTOBOOT has been succesfully tested both with Ray Gwinn's X00
(v1.24) and David Nugent's BNU (v1.70 and v1.89c) Fossil
drivers.
User's Manual Page 4
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
*** How to use it ***
---------------------
AUTOBOOT is definitely simple to use, so don't despair even
if you usually have problems. Install it AFTER your FOSSIL
driver and configure it to fit your needs.
USAGE:
AUTOBOOT [switches]
where [switches] are:
? or HELP Show Help informations;
/SIT x Set Inactivity Timer value to x seconds (x in
range 10 to 3600). Default is 300 seconds (5
minutes). After this time has elapsed, AUTOBOOT
will perform a reboot using the selected method
(see below).
/ALR x Set Alarm to x seconds (x in range 10 to 3601, if
greater than SIT value, alarm is disabled).
Default is 3601 (disabled). The alarm sound will
start at x seconds before reboot time. The
speaker will beep once every ten seconds, and
every second during the last five seconds.
/DIS Disable AUTOBOOT, keeping it resident: useful if
you want to leave your computer alone with the DOS
prompt, but not necessary if you are using the
keyboard and have selected the keyboard monitoring
feature with the /KYB 1 switch (see below).
/ENA Re-enable AUTOBOOT, restarting reboot countdown.
Default is ENABLED.
/CLD Select COLDboot: a power-on like boot will
be performed.
/WRM Select WARMboot (default): AUTOBOOT will
perform a CTRL-ALT-DEL like boot.
/HWR Select Hardware reboot (AT/386/486-based machines
only). Caution: on some 386 and 286-based machines
this method might not work properly. You'd better
try it beforehand, by forcing an immediate
hardware reboot with the command:
AUTOBOOT /HWR /NIL
/DVT xx Select DESQview task reboot. Opens task xx and
closes current task; ignored if DESQview is not
present.
Notice that if, for whatever reason, DESQview
User's Manual Page 5
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
reboot fails and/or the old task is still open
after a timeout of 5 minutes, AUTOBOOT will
perform a system reboot using the method specified
with the /CLD, /WRM or /HWR switches.
To disable the DESQview task reboot feature, use
the /DVT switch alone without a task identifier.
/J00 x 1=enables/0=disables reboot if CPU tries to
execute code at memory address 0:0. Default is
DISABLED.
/KYB x 1=enables/0=disables KEYBOARD monitoring (default
is ENABLED).
/COM x Do not reboot if Carrier is high on port x (x in
range 1 thru 4). To disable, use /COM 0.
/FOS x Select FOSSIL monitoring level (x must be in range
from 0 to 3):
0 = Fossil monitoring DISABLED
1 = Fossil monitoring enabled: every call to int
14h resets AUTOBOOT's internal counter
2 = Fossil monitoring enabled; only calls
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,15,24,25 and 26
(decimal) are checked. These are calls
related to the serial port and not to the
screen.
3 = Fossil monitoring enabled; only call 3 is
checked (i.e. only checks if carrier is high
or not).
Default value is 1 (all calls). NOTE: If a FOSSIL
driver is loaded AFTER AUTOBOOT no FOSSIL
monitoring will occur.
/DOS x Select DOS monitoring level (x must be in range
from 0 to 3):
0 = DOS monitoring DISABLED;
1 = DOS monitoring enabled: every call to int 21h
resets AUTOBOOT's internal counter;
2 = DOS monitoring enabled: all calls are checked
EXCEPT calls 1,3,6,7,8,10,11 and 12 (decimal).
These are used to control console input;
3 = DOS monitoring enabled: all calls are checked
EXCEPT calls 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12
(decimal). These are used to control console
input and output.
Default value is 1 (All calls).
/DSK x Select DISK monitoring level (x must be in range
from 0 to 3):
0 = Disk monitoring DISABLED;
1 = Disk monitoring enabled: every call to int
13h, 25h or 26h resets AUTOBOOT's internal
counter;
2 = Disk monitoring enabled only at DOS level:
User's Manual Page 6
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
only calls to int 25h or 26h are checked;
3 = Disk monitoring enabled only at BIOS level:
only calls to int 13h or 26h are checked.
Default value is 0 (Disk monitoring disabled).
/UNL Unload AUTOBOOT (remove the resident portion from
memory).
/NIL Reboot system immediatly, using selected method.
All options (except /UNL) load resident portion of AUTOBOOT if
necessary.
If you execute AUTOBOOT with no parameters, it will either
install itself with the default SIT value of 300 (if it
wasn't already present) or show its current configuration.
Example (assuming AUTOBOOT is already loaded with default
configuration):
C:\>AUTOBOOT
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (C)1989, 1990, 1991 Angelo Besani
<[ AmnèsiA ]> *Italy* (2:331/101.1@fidonet.org)
+39-331-772362 [HST/V.32]
AUTOBOOT current configuration:
Status : Enabled
SIT (seconds) : 300
Alarm (seconds) : Disabled
Reboot type : Warm
Reboot if CPU jumps to 0:0 : Disabled
KEYBOARD monitoring : Enabled
Carrier monitoring : Disabled
FOSSIL monitoring level : 1 (Enabled)
DOS monitoring level : 1 (Enabled)
DISK monitoring level : 0 (Disabled)
Change reboot type:
C>AUTOBOOT /CLD
and show configuration again:
C>AUTOBOOT
User's Manual Page 7
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (C)1989, 1990, 1991 Angelo Besani
<[ AmnèsiA ]> *Italy* (2:331/101.1@fidonet.org)
+39-331-772362 [HST/V.32]
AUTOBOOT current configuration:
Status : Enabled
SIT (seconds) : 300
Alarm (seconds) : Disabled
Reboot type : Cold
Reboot if CPU jumps to 0:0 : Disabled
KEYBOARD monitoring : Enabled
Carrier monitoring : Disabled
FOSSIL monitoring level : 1 (Enabled)
DOS monitoring level : 1 (Enabled)
DISK monitoring level : 0 (Disabled)
*** AUTOBOOT & DESQview ***
---------------------------
Executing AUTOBOOT with the /DV <task> parameter enables the
DESQview task reboot feature: AUTOBOOT will close and reopen
the specified DV task instead of rebooting the whole
computer.
I M P O R T A N T: In order to use this feature it is
------------------ necessary to have given AT LEAST 1 Kb of
system memory to the task(s) in which
AUTOBOOT is running. You may specify
this using DESQview's Advanced Options
selection screen.
Moreover, DESQview forbids opening a new task while one of
its internal programs are running (such as its HELP or
ADD/CHANGE/DELETE A PROGRAM features). In this case,
AUTOBOOT will probably perform a system reboot using the
selected secondary method, after the timeout period has
elapsed (300 seconds).
For example:
/DVT bb /CLD -> selects DESQview task "BB" reboot as
primary reboot method and COLD boot as
secondary.
*** AUTOBOOT and critical errors in DESQview ***
-------------------------------------------------
AUTOBOOT is usually able to handle every kind of error
situation, including critical errors (i.e. those that
display an "Abort, Retry, Ignore (and/or Fail)" prompt).
User's Manual Page 8
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
However, under DESQview things get a little more
complicated.
If a critical error (such as a "Drive not Ready" or "Sector
not Found" error) happens inside a DESQview task, DESQview
will show a small window requester to make the user aware of
the fact, asking for intervention. Unfortunately, while such a
window is displayed, AUTOBOOT is unable to perform a
reboot.
There are three solutions to this problem:
1) Don't do anything. Such critical errors are quite
uncommon, and when they happen it's better for you to see
them than to have the computer unknowingly reboot.
2) Install the FATAL utility (can be file-requested to
AmnèsiA as FATAL14.ZIP). This programs waits for ten
seconds after an error condition, and then automatically
issues a Retry command.
3) Run another copy of COMMAND.COM. In this case, critical
errors will perform exactly like when DESQview is not
loaded (i.e. they display a prompt instead of the small
DV window), and AUTOBOOT will be able to act accordingly.
To do this you must tell DESQview to launch your batch
file using another copy of COMMAND.COM. For example, in
DESQview's Change Program screen, you would have to type
"COMMAND.COM /Cmybatch.bat" instead of just "mybatch.bat".
*** AUTOOPEN ***
----------------
AUTOOPEN is a nifty little program that can be used to
perform a DESQview task reboot on systems on which there
isn't enough memory to keep open at the same time two tasks
having the same memory size of the one that must be rebooted.
As a matter of fact, the DESQview reboot feature FIRST opens
the new task and AFTER that closes the old one.
AUTOOPEN can be used to open an intermediate small task,
which will only require a small (5K) amount of memory, that
can be used to open the new one.
Example: if the BBS' task uses 300K:
Without AUTOOPEN:
┌─── Used memory
│ ┌── What happens
v v
1) 300 AUTOBOOT meets a reboot condition
2) 600 the new task is opened
3) 300 the old task is closed.
User's Manual Page 9
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
Using AUTOOPEN:
┌─── Used memory
│ ┌── What happens
v v
1) 300 AUTOBOOT meets a reboot condition
2) 305 the AUTOOPEN task is opened
3) 5 the old task is closed (AUTOOPEN will wait for 30
seconds to make sure the old task is really closed)
4) 305 AUTOOPEN opens the new task
5) 300 AUTOOPEN quits (and his task is closed)
For AUTOOPEN to perform correctly, you have to carefully
setup his task with DESQview's 'Add a Program' function. Use
the following example as a guideline:
Program Name <your choice>
Keys to Use on Open Menu: <your choice>
Memory Size (in K): 2
Program...: <path>\AUTOOPEN.COM
Parameters: /DVT <BBS task>
Directory.: <DESQview home dir>
Writes text directly to screen.......: N
Displays graphics information........: N
Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: N
Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2)..........: N
Requires floppy diskette.............: N
<advanced options>
System Memory (in K).......: 0
Maximum Program Memory Size (in K)..: <blank>
Script Buffer Size.......: 0
Maximum Expanded Memory Size (in K): <blank>
Text Pages: 1
Graphics Pages: 0
Initial Mode: <blank>
Interrupts: 00 to FF
Maximum Height: 1 <----- * NOTE THIS
Maximum Width.: 1 <----- * NOTE THIS
Starting Height: <blank> or your choice
Starting Width.: <blank> or your choice
Starting Row...: <blank> or your choice
Starting Column: <blank> or your choice
Pathname..: <blank>
Data......: <blank>
Close on exit (Y,N,blank)......: Y
Uses its own colors..............: Y
Allow Close Window command.....: N
Runs in background (Y,N,blank)...: Y
Uses math coprocessor..........: N
User's Manual Page 10
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
Keyboard conflict (0-F)..........: 0
Share CPU when foreground......: Y
Share EGA when foreground/zoomed.: N
Can be swapped out (Y,N,blank).: N
Protection level (0-3)...........: 0
In case something goes wrong (for example AUTOOPEN cannot
find the .DVP file, or there's not enough memory), then
AUTOOPEN will perform a cold, warm or hardware reboot
according to the method selected with the /CLD, /WRM and
/HWR switches specified after the /DVT <BBS task> switch.
Default is warm reboot.
*** Hints ***
-------------
As AUTOBOOT is a TSR (Terminate and stay resident) software,
it may sometimes have problems with other programs of
the same type. If so, try to install your resident
programs in a different order, or load only some of them.
A final hint: always keep the alarm enabled, even if just
for 20/25 seconds, as to be able to understand if system
hang-ups are caused by AUTOBOOT trying to reboot and failing.
* * *
User's Manual Page 11
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
*** Revision History ***
------------------------
Version 1.00
Initial release.
Version 1.10
Added switches /CLD and /WRM to help certain
hardware configurations requiring a coldboot to restart
properly; Totally rewritten the parsing of the command line,
fixing a bug causing AUTOBOOT to hang if there was only
spaces and allowing now more than one switch only on the
command line (conflicting switches are not allowed,
though). Now you can install AUTOBOOT and immediately
disable it using AUTOBOOT /DIS, for example. The resident
portion is no longer loaded if AUTOBOOT is executed with
no parameters or with the /SIT only, but with every switch
(except /UNL) if not yet installed. Once installed, if
you execute AUTOBOOT with no parameters it will show its
current configuration.
Version 2.00
Major revision: added new parameters and new features to
existing switches. Now you can select the level of Fossil,
dos and disk monitoring. Added /HWR switch (forces and
hardware reboot on 286/386/486 computer); added DESQview
reboot feature and /DVT switch; added /COM switch (prevents
AUTOBOOT from rebooting if carrier is high on selected
port).
AUTOOPEN.COM utility added to the distribution archive.
Documentation rewritten to reflect changes and additions.
User's Manual Page 12
AUTOBOOT v2.00 (c) 1989,1990,1991 Angelo Besani
*** How to contact the author ***
---------------------------------
Angelo Besani can be reached at:
AmnèsiA CBCS - Gallarate, Italy - (2:331/101@Fidonet)
Tel. +39-331-772362 [HST/V.32]
Please feel free to send bug reports, hints,
suggestions.... or simply congratulations. Of course, if
this program proves so valuable to you that you can't
remember what life was like without it, you could
immediately send Angelo Besani a certified check for one-
half of your total possessions. Suitcases full of used
banknotes or other valuables will be cheerfully accepted all
the same.
A small note from the manual's author:
The humble writer of these illiterate and ill-conceived
notes can be reached as Vertigo (aka Giancarlo Cairella) at:
BBS2000 - (2:331/300) +39-2-76006329 [V.32/PEP]
BBS2000 - (2:331/301) +39-2-76006857 [HST]
Now, I don't see a single reason for which anyone would want
to contact me since I'm just the manual author, but I thought
I could try to carve myself a little place in history by
putting my name in it. So there :-).
This documentation is based upon an original text by Alberto
Morosi, to whom this program and text are dedicated.
User's Manual Page 13