[NTLK] Warning: bug in ATA Support beta releases & about RC1

From: Paul Guyot (pguyot_at_kallisys.net)
Date: Mon Feb 18 2002 - 13:17:26 EST


Hi all,

I have noticed a problem in ATA Support beta releases. Basically, the
store map and the list of the transaction sectors overlap.

This bug can be the cause of several symptoms:
* bus errors on store mounting (during transaction cleanup)
* various kind of store errors (very likely to happen if you filled
the store beyond 3.5 MB (or 1.5 MB if it's a 2 MB store).

Because ATA Support beta releases were beta and because last version
automatic update of the format wasn't a big success, I decided to not
support the current format in ATA Support RC1 (the next release,
coming in a couple of weeks, see below). Consequently, if you are
currently using ATA Support to actually store data (which I don't
even do myself), you should have a way to backup and restore when the
next release will come out on a freshly formatted partition.

Now, about RC1. There will be no ATA Support beta 13. Not that I am
superstitious, but I prefer to end the series of betas and finalize a
sound 1.0 release, because a lot of users seem impatient to be able
to use more than 4 MB on their cards. A RC1 version will be out,
without an expiration, and if for 3 weeks no problem is reported, it
will be renamed 1.0. Otherwise, I'll fix these problems and release a
RC2. I won't implement any additional feature or rework any part of
the software during this test period (unlike now).

Users could register RC1 release as soon as it will be released. BTW,
I changed the announced marketing a little bit:
* For free, you will get the so-called demo version, able to mount
partitions read only and read-write if they are within the first 4
MB. It offers basic partitioning options and has no access to the SDK
(hence to the card tests).
* For 50 Euros, you will get a full version (without the 4 MB
limitation and with the SDK enabled) running on a single Newton.
* For 75 Euros, you will get a license to run the full version on
every Newton of yours (provided that their owner is set to the same
name).
* For 30 Euros, you will be able to upgrade from single Newton
license to multiple Newtons license.

This single fee will include basic technical support and free
upgrades (however, I don't promise to fix incompatibilities with your
cards).
Future plans include adding the following features:
- FAT support
- Backups

RC1 will include the following features that are not part of ATA
Support beta 12:
- Complete documentation (in English)
- Complete interface to customize partitions
- Dynamic way to change cache sizes
- Localization to French (probably)

RC1 will be available for US and German Apple-branded MessagePads
running NewtonOS 2.x. This excludes eMates 300 (because of a bug that
hasn't been fixed yet).

Regards,

Paul

-- 
Home page: http://www.kallisys.com/
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