A:  All TransDisks having disk size over 2.1GB are shipped preformatted with multiple partitions, each less than 2.1GB so that the TransDisk can be used by DOS, Windows95, and NT.

Because DOS file system (FAT16) with its 16-bit commands (DIR, XCOPY, ....) can only handle cluster size up to 64, e.g., 32K bytes. Next bigger cluster size is 128 (64K bytes) which goes beyond the 16-bit segment limit. This can translate into 2*1024*1024*1024 data bytes or (including file system overhead) 4159 cylinders 16 heads 63 sectors. Hence, the 16-bit DOS can handle a single partition up to 2.14GB.

TransDisk Software:

TransDisk driver (TD-EPP.SYS): can handle partition over the 2.14GB limit well.

TD.EXE: Only version 4.04A or above will allow you to initialize hard disk over 2.1GB. Use option of "-OVER16", i.e. "TD -OVER16" on command line, to initialize a TransDisk to have a partition over 2.1GB. Without "-OVER16" in the command line, no partition over 2.1GB is allowed in initializing a TransDisk.

DOS and Windows95 on the limit:

A TransDisk with a partition over 2.1GB can only be used under Windows95 or the DOS mode under Windows95, which has 32-bit DOS commands. The DOS 6.22 or lower is 16-bit system can handle upto 2.14GB. In order for a TransDisk over 2.14GB to be used under DOS, you must partition it into partitions of smaller sizes. (NOTE that some DOS 6.22 command may work fine with 2.14GB-above partition, however, it is very fragile.)

In summary, DOS (and Windows95) is using (the only existing) FAT16 format. Windows95 and its DOS commands were written for 32-bit system so that it can use a partition over the 2.14GB limit. However, the DOS 6.22 commands were written in 16-bit mode, hence, its limit is 2.14GB.

A: Please look carefully into your system setup. The following may easily cause the above problem.

(a) Are you using F.I.T. provided DB25 cable?

You must use F.I.T. provided cable. Since the extremely high transfer rate on the TransDisk, the quality of the cable must be assured and certified to sustain the bandwidth. FIT cable is especially made for this purpose. Other cable unlikely has the quality to serve TransDisk, even thought it may seem all right to transfer small data files.

(b) Are connectors of the cable on both ends screwed in securely?

Loose connections do lose data integrity.

(c) If you use Notebook PC, did you use TransDisk when your Notebook battery level is low?

A Notebook PC, without being noticed, usually slows down its performance, i.e., CPU is downgraded, when its battery level is relatively low. (If it is low enough, Notebook will shut down automatically. However, before that happens, it is running at a lower performance level, especially output signals.) At this moment, printer signal may also be not stable. It could cause bad data when read from or write to TransDisk.

(e) In a rare situation, if you only sees this problem on a particular machine and it works fine on the other machine, you may have to use "/T:xx" option on the troubled machine to make timing right. It is a timing issue on that particular printer port. Please refer to README file for the "/T:xx" option.

A: Double Space could be installed differently in each system. Go to the PC with which your TransDisk has problem. Check the following two parameters.

(a) Find out what your DOS LASTDRIVE is. If your config.sys does specify "LASTDRIVE=", it is your LASTDRIVE letter. Otherwise, your DOS LASTDRIVE is default to your current hard drive letter plus one, e.g., E: if your internal hard drive letter ends with D.

(b) Find out what your Double Space LASTDRIVE is. You can find out the letter by running DBLSPACE at DOS prompt. Select "Tools", then select "options". The other easy way to find it out is to, at DOS prompt of your boot drive letter, run "TYPE DBLSPACE.INI". You will see a line of "LAST DRIVE=". It is your Double Space LASTDRIVE letter. The Double Space LASTDRIVE specifies the last drive reserved for Double Space Use.

1. When using normal procedure (Device entry in config.sys) to load TD driver, if Double Space option "LASTDRIVE reserved for Double Space Use" (section B above) is set to "Z", then it won’t work. Since all drive letters are reserved for Double Space, there is no letter available for TransDisk. In this case, set the parameter to a lower letter and TransDisk should work. To change this parameter, run DBLSPACE at DOS prompt. Select "Tools" then select "Options".

2. TDGO won’t work under most circumstance, but the variation of "DLD -X transd.sys" will work under the following conditions:

a. DOS LASTDRIVE in config.sys is set to a letter higher than "Double Space LASTDRIVE"

b. "DLD -X transd.sys" should work if X is higher than "Double Space LASTDRIVE" and lower than or equal to DOS LASTDRIVE in config.sys.

Example: DOS LASTDRIVE=Z, Double Space LASTDRIVE (reserved for DBLSPACE) = T, then "DLD -U transd.sys" will assign drive letter "U" to TransDisk.

IBM: DJAA-31700, DAQA-33240, and DHEA-36480 (6.3GB): work well with TransPorter and TD3000EPP. All other models are not tested.

A: The devices hooked to the same SCSI chain should be addressed differently. For TransDisk-SCSI, the ID address is selected by setting a rotary switch at the bottom. IF more than one SCSI device has same address, the SCSI controller will not recognize these devices. The ID address 7 is reserved for controller (host). The wrong setting of the ID should not damage any hardware in today’s circuit design. However, check the ID carefully when you configure a new system.

Windows95 and WindowsNT - no additional software required.

DOS and WINDOWS (3.1 or equivalent) - require CorelSCSI software. We tested version 2.10. Use the DOSTOOLS.EXE in CorelSCSI directory (default directory is CORELDRV) or SCSITOOLS icon to format PD cartridge.

MAC - requires CorelSCSI software. We tested version 2.10.

Novell Netware - no additional software required. We tested on Netware 3.12 and 4.1.

UnixWare 2.01 - it recognizes the drive, but can’t access, under study. It may simply need to mount the file system.

SCO UNIX - no additional software required. Panasonic tested on SCO OpenServe Release 5.

OS/2 Ver. 2.x or WARP 3.0 : It requires to download two files, ldf.com and optical.dsk, from IBM’s BBS of phone # 1-919-517-0001. Execute ldf on a directory to self-extract, then read the files for instruction. Besides your regular SCSI software which can recognize the PD as a CD-ROM drive, the additional IBM optical drive can recognize the PD as a read-writable optical drive. The order of the two drivers in config.sys can determine the order of the driver letter assignment. WARP 3.0 can use regular format command to format PD cartridge while OS/2 ver. 2.x need to use a utility from IBM’s BBS. Refer to IBM files.

Example of an OS/2 config.sys with Adaptec 2940 SCSI controller.

...

BASEDEV=OS2SCSI.DMD

DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\OS2CDROM.DMD /Q

IFS=C:\OS2\BOOT\CDFS.IFS /Q

DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS

DEVICE=C:\OS2\OPTICAL.SYS /N:4 /U /Q

BASEDEV=AIC7870.ADD /ET /V /* /ET is required, MUST EDIT after installing */

A: You do need it to play MPC titles as explained above. The Sound Blaster has to be installed inside your computer. Speaker set can be attached to the Sound Blaster. You can also connect TransCD audio output to Sound Blaster audio-in (line-in) port so that your speaker can play both sound wave files and regular music tracks.

A: Unfortunately you cannot. MPC sound requires sound card by its standard.