Using Your Hard Disk - Chapter 2

Hard disks provided by Amiga with your Amiga or as a hardware accessory are partitioned and preformatted so that you can start using your equipment right away. The necessary Amiga system software is already on the disk. Floppy disks with the system software are also provided should you need to re-install it. There is also an Install disk, which contains various hard disk specific utilities.

The examples in this book will assume that you have a hard disk with a boot partition named System: (containing Workbench and other Amiga software) and a partition called Work:, on which you keep your applications and their data.

Copying Software to Your Hard Disk

In addition to working with the utilities provided with your Amiga, you will want to transfer applications from floppy disk to your hard disk. Running applications from the hard disk is much faster and more convenient than using floppy disks. Rather than inserting floppy disks each time you want to use a program, you can call up programs from the hard disk.

Most software can be installed on your hard disk, although some, particularly entertainment titles, cannot. Many applications provide an easy-to-use installation process. Read the manual that is supplied with a program carefully, as well as any ReadMe files on the disk. If a program includes installation directions, you should always follow them precisely.

In case you have a program without installation directions, this section demonstrates how to copy a generic program to your hard drive. In this example, we assume you are installing a program to the Work: partition. We recommend that you not create application drawers on the System: partition, but on Work: or some other partition. Keeping application software separate from AmigaDOS storage will make upgrading the system software easier.

You should create a new drawer for each application you install and name it accordingly:

1. Open the hard disk's window by double-clicking in its icon.
2. Choose New Drawer from the Window menu.
   A new drawer icon called "Unnamed1" will appear in the window.
   A requester will appear telling you to enter a new name for "Unnamed1" in a text gadget.
   You can give a drawer any name you would like, but you should use a name that reminds you of its contents, such as the name of the program.
3. Using the Backspace key, delete the contents of the text gadget (or use the right Amiga+X key combination) and enter the correct name.
   Be sure to delete any spaces before or after the new name.
4. Press Return or select the OK gadget.
   The requester will go away, and the new name will appear under the icon.
   You can now copy the software into the new drawer. This can be done by simply pointing and dragging.
5. Put the software disk into the disk drive.
   Make sure the software disk is write-protected. This is a precautionary measure to ensure that you don't alter your original software disk.
6. Double-click on the disk's icon.
   Look at the contents of the disk on your screen. Often software disks contain duplicates of files that are already on your system.
   You next need to copy only those files that are not already on your system to the new drawer you created.
7. Holding down the Shift key, click on each icon on the software disk that is not already on your system. Keeping the Shift key held down, drag the icons until the pointer is over the new drawer and release the selection button.
   
   You will notice that both your hard and your floppy disk drive lights will begin flashing. This shows that Workbench is reading from your program disk and writing to your hard disk. Be sure not to eject the floppy disk until the transfer is complete
   
   When the lights have stopped flashing, the information transfer is complete. Your software should now be in the drawer you created.
8. Remove the original software disk from the floppy disk drive, and try to run the program from your hard disk.
   If the program runs properly from the hard disk, you have installed it correctly. If you have any problems running the software or if requesters appear asking for the original software disk, read the following section.

Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble running a program from the hard disk, you may have to set up an ASSIGN statement for the software to run properly.

Usually, the indication that you need an ASSIGN statement comes in the form of a requester. For example, suppose you copied a program called WriteStuff from a disk of the same name into a drawer called WS in the Work: partition. When you try to run the software, a requester appears saying: Please insert volume WriteStuff in any drive.

This means that although you have already installed the program on your hard disk, the program itself is looking for the files it needs on the original disk (volume) on which it was distributed - in this example, the disk called WriteStuff. By using the ASSIGN statement, you will tell the system to look in the proper place on your hard disk to find the required files.

ASSIGN statements are AmigaDOS commands that are entered through the Shell. The following instructions will take you through the process of using ASSIGN statements.

Adding an ASSIGN Statement to User-startup

The Shell is a window that you use to communicate with the Amiga via typed commands. In this case, you will use the Shell to enter the ASSIGN command in the User-startup file.

The User-startup file is a list of commands that tell the computer what to do when it boots up. You will need to put the ASSIGN statement into the User-startup file so that as soon as you boot your computer, your installed program will work.

The User-startup file is not on your disk as supplied; however, you will create the file the first time you follow this procedure.

If a requester similar to the previous example has appeared, select the Cancel gadget on the requester. The requester may appear again. Select Cancel each time it does.

This section demonstrates how to create an ASSIGN statement for a generic program on your hard drive. Refer to your Amiga manual for information on using the Shell.

To add an ASSIGN statement to your User-startup:

1. Double-click on the Shell icon, which is normally located in the System drawer.

The Shell gives you a text "prompt" which ends in a ">". This is where you will type in an AmigaDOS command followed by a Return.

1. Type the following words into the Shell after the prompt:

ED S:User-startup

then press Return.

This command tells the Amiga that you ant to edit (create or make changes to) the User-startup file which is located in the directory called S:. ED tells the computer you will be using the text editor that is called ED. A text editor is a program that makes it possible to create and make changes in a text file.

You will notice that a new window will open. You are now using ED, and on the screen is the User-startup file. The first time you use it, it will be empty. This is where you will always enter your ASSIGN statements. If it is not empty, move the cursor so it is at the beginning of a blank line.

ASSIGN statements are set up as follow:

ASSIGN diskname: partition:drawer

where:

In the previous example, you copied a program called WriteStuff to a drawer called WS in your Work partition.

You received a requester which said "Please insert volume WriteStuff into any drive." It is looking for the WriteStuff disk. In this case, your ASSIGN statement should read as follows:

ASSIGN WriteStuff: Work:WS

Now that you have seen how to form an ASSIGN statement, you should have a better idea of what it does. You are "assigning" the name of the original software disk to the name of the drawer that now contains the program. Using the previous example, when you double-click on the program's icon, instead of the program looking for the volume WriteStuff (which is the original software disk), it will look in Work:WS (where Work: is the partition and WS is the name of the drawer).

The following example illustrates an ASSIGN statement if the software drawer is within another drawer. If you copied the same program into the WS drawer which is within a drawer called Projects, your ASSIGN statement would read:

ASSIGN WriteStuff: Work:Projects/WS

• Make sure that the disk name in the ASSIGN statement is the exact name of the software disk. This is usually the same as the name of the program, but not always. The best way to check is to insert the software disk and look for the disk's name under its icon.
• If the original disk name contains spaces, than that name (including the colon) must be enclosed in double quote marks.
• Put one space after ASSIGN and one space after the disk name.
• Use a colon between the partition name and the drawer name (and slashes between any drawers after that).
• Following the directions above, enter your ASSIGN statement in the blank line. Press Return.
• Press Esc (in the upper left corner of your keyboard).
  Your cursor is taken to an asterisk at the bottom of the screen.

The following step tells you how to save the changes you have made to the User-startup file. (If you have made a mistake and want to exit the User-startup file without saving your changes: Type a Q and press Return. If a requester appears saying edits will be lost, type a Y. The ED window will close. Return to Step 2.)

1. To save your changes in the User-startup file, type an X and press Return.

You are returned to the Shell window.

To see if your ASSIGN statement worked, reboot your system (by pressing the Ctrl key simultaneously with both Amiga keys). Try opening the program from its icon on your hard disk. If you can use your software, you have created the ASSIGN properly.

If you created the ASSIGN improperly (such as typing in the wrong name of the software, partition or drawer) one or more of the following may happen:

• Your Workbench icons do not appear, and a message is presented saying that it cannot find the software and the "assign failed." Use Ctrl+C to get to the Workbench screen. Open a Shell, and repeat the steps above to edit User-startup. Look for what you may have entered improperly, correct it, and reboot.
• When you try to call up the program, you receive another requester telling you to "Please insert volume <program name> into any drive." Open a Shell, and repeat the steps above to edit User-startup. Look for what you may have entered improperly, correct it, and reboot.
• If the program is not functioning properly, examine the new drawer (open the drawer and choose the Shell All Files menu item in the Window menu) to see if it includes any of the following drawers:

Fonts

L

C

Libs

S

If one (or more) of the drawers in the list exists in the new drawer, you must assign each to the corresponding device on your hard drive. The drawer most likely to be found in your new drawer is Fonts. Using the previous example, the following demonstrates ASSIGNing Fonts using the extended assign feature:

ASSIGN FONTS: Work:WS/Fonts ADD