The commands a and b tell the computer which drive to direct any subsequent disc command.
Typing in for example:
a
load "filename"
will tell the computer to load the specified program from a disc placed in drive A.
If neither a nor b is initially entered or the computer is reset, the system will default to drive A.
If you are using only one disc drive, this can be regarded as drive A, and a or b commands need not be issued. Entering b when only one disc drive is connected, will result in the message on the screen:
Drive B: disc missing
Retry, Ignore or Cancel
to which you should respond C (to cancel).
The command tape tells the computer to perform all loading and saving etc. commands onto tape instead of disc. Unless tape is entered, the computer will always default to disc operation when switched on or reset.
To return to disc operation after tape has been specified, type in:
disc
Alternatively, you may for example wish to load in from cassette and save out to disc. You may then use the command:
tape.in
this command tells the computer to read data in from cassette, but continue to write data out onto disc (default).
Similarly, to read data in from disc and save out onto cassette, you will first need to type in: disc.in to countermand the previously issued tape.in (above), then: tape.out to tell the computer to write data out onto cassette.
It can be seen therefore that tape.in and tape.out countermand disc.in and disc.out respectively, and vice versa.
Further information on directing data to and from discs and cassette will be found later in this manual under the sections concerning AMSDOS and CP/M.
AMSTRAD Disc Drive & Interface | Foundation 4.2 |
