The Zenith Data Systems Forum on CompuServe File: STACMS.TXT (STACMS.ZIP) Don Benedict CompuServe: 73367,3500 Prodigy: HBVV13A USING STACKER COMPRESSION UTILITY ON THE ZENITH MINISPORT --------------------------------------------------------- Stacker can greatly increase the usefulness of the Zenith MinisPort 2 megabyte model. I have experimented with Stacker on the ZL-2 and here are my findings. Some of this information can be used with Stacker and other computers too. One of the most important things to note is that a Stacker volume file can be created on one computer and copied to a second computer for use on the second computer. This is especially useful with the MinisPort because of its limited storage space and non-standard 2" floppy disk drive. COMPRESSION AMOUNT ------------------ Stacker claims that is program will double disk space. That is a little optimistic. Executable files usually have a compression ratio of between 1.2:1 to 1.6:1 depending on how packed they are before Stacker compresses them. Data files usually have a compression ratio of 2:1 or better. Files that have already been compressed with PKZIP, PKLITE, etc. don't compress any more. I have all of MS Works, except the thesaurus and chart fonts, and Prodigy installed. Those two programs total 1664K and use 1167.5K (1.4:1) after compression. When the Stacker volume is set up with the coprocessor, using the method below the programs use 1117K (1.5:1). The Stacker volume size is 1204K. The dictionary in Works was already compressed and it didin't compress any more. It is 161K. Without the dictionary the compression ratios would be approximately 1.5:1 and 1.6:1 respectively. There is also about 100K free on D:. IMPROVED COMPRESSION -------------------- If you have the coprocessor installed on your desktop this may be of interest to you. This technique should work on other laptops as well. The Stacker coprocessor board improves compression. The MinisPort doesn't have a slot for the coprocessor but if you create the Stacker volume on your desktop with the coprocessor installed and then copy it to the MinisPort, as described below, you can take advantage of the coprocessor's better compression. That gave me an extra 50K or about 90K compressed. That may not sound like much but it gave me just enough room for my data files. You may do better because many of my files were already packed fairly tightly before they were compressed by Stacker. INSTALLATION ------------ You can copy the Stacker installation program to a 2" floppy and install it from the floppy, but there is an easier way. Create a 1.2 megabyte Stacker volume on your desktop and copy it to the MinisPort's silicon drive D:. Use the /S=sss.s switch with SCREATE. Example: SCREATE C:\STACMS.000 /S=1.2 Be sure to use a file name for the Stacker volume that is different from the file names already used for Stacker volumes on your desktop. You might want to name it something like STACMS.000. I use that name in the all the examples here. I think you can use install program to create the new volume but I haven't tried it because I prefer to use the command line. Backup any files on the MinisPort drive that you want to keep. The Stacker volume file and driver will need all the space on this drive except about 90K. An easy way to clear D: is to format it after you have backed it up. Now edit the Stacker driver line in your desktop's CONFIG.SYS file to include the Stacker volume just created. Reboot the system and the new Stacker volume is ready to use. You can now copy the files that you want on the MinisPort to the new Stacker volume. You can even install programs from your desktops floppy drives to the new Stacker volume. This can save you the trouble of copying the programs to 2" floppies and installing them on the MinisPort. You may run into problems with programs that create initialization files based on your desktop's configuration. Some installation programs will let you tell it what drives, video and ports to use. Others just analyze your system and use what it finds. In the later case your program may not run correctly on the MinisPort if its configuration differs from that of your desktop computer's. You will need to add a line to your MinisPort's CONFIG.SYS file or create a CONFIG.SYS file with the following line: DEVICE=D:\STACKER.COM /M=0 D:\STACMS.000 (substitute your file name for STACMS.000) You may want to create or edit this CONFIG.SYS file on your desktop and copy it to the MinisPort later. Be careful not to overwrite your desktop's CONFIG.SYS with the one you create for the MinisPort. Now you are ready to set up Stacker on the MinisPort. Create a STACKER directory on D:. (MD \STACKER) Run the FWL file transfer program on both computers. Copy the Stacker driver STACKER.COM to D:\STACKER on the MinisPort. STACKER.COM is the only file that is required to use Stacker. You will probably also want SDIR.EXE and SCHECK.COM on the MinisPort. Now would be a good time to copy those two files also. You can use these and all the other Stacker utilities from a floppy if you don't want to use the space on your RAM drive. Copy the Stacker volume file STACMS.000 from the desktop to the MinisPort's D: drive. If you edited the MinisPort's CONFIG.SYS file on your desktop, copy to the MinisPort now. If there isn't a CONFIG.SYS file on the MinisPort, create one with the Stacker device driver line shown above. The CONFIG.SYS file cannot be on STACMS.000. Now reboot the MinisPort and the Stacker drive E: should be functional now. BACKUP ------ Backing up the Stacker volume to your desktop is easy. Just use FWL to copy STACMS.000 to your desktop's hard drive. It only takes about 2 minutes for the transfer. There is one problem. The Stacker volume file is has system, read only, and hidden attributes. FWL will not copy the file if a file with the same name is already on your hard drive. Use the SATTRIB utility that comes with Stacker to change the read only and system attributes of the file on your desktop and FWL will then overwrite it when the MinisPort's file is copied. Norton, PC Tools or other utilities can also be used to change the attribute. I set up a batch file to change the attributes. You can also use DOS BACKUP and RESTORE with 2" disks so you will have a backup for the road. They are not included in ROM on the MinisPort so you will need to copy BACKUP and RESTORE from your desktop. Backup drive D: which includes the Stacker volume file. Since your files on E: are included in that file, you don't need to backup E: separately. Of course if you only want to backup a couple of files on E:, it is better to just copy them to a floppy. It takes two floppies to backup D:. MULTIPLE SETUPS --------------- You can create several Stacker volumes for the MinisPort on your desktop with different programs and/or data installed each of them. For example ,if you normally use an integrated package but some times want to use a full featured app, you could set up both on separate Stacker volumes and just use FWL to switch. It is faster and easier than deciding which files need to be deleted and copied. You can even initialize the Stacker volume on your desktop and use the data and programs in it. MISCELLANEOUS ------------- Stac has just released version 2.0 of Stacker. I am using version 1.1 and I am not certain the above techniques will work the same with 2.0, but they probably will. Version 2.0 compresses floppies. It will be nice if it will work with the MinisPort's 2" floppies. Version 1.1 requires a minimum of 1 megabyte of hard disk space so it doesn't work on the ZL-1. If version 2.0 compresses 360K, floppies it may work on the ZL-1. When installing Stacker form a 2" disk, backup and delete all your files on D:, just copy STACKER.COM to D:\STACKER, and then do a freespace install from the A: prompt type: SCREATE D:\STACMS.000 /S=1.2 That will give you the largest possible Stacker volume. I did manage to create a 1.3 meg Stacker volume but there was not enough room left on D: for the Stacker driver. Add the STACKER.COM line to your CONFIG.SYS. I managed to use the install program for an incremental without any problems but a friend spent hours trying to install it on his MinisPort. Install copies all the Stacker files to D:. You only need STACKER.COM. The disk has less space so install creates a smaller Stacker volume.