Frequently Asked Questions about PARCP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.Q: What does PARCP mean and what is it supposed to do?

  A: PARCP is a short cut for PARallel CoPy and the name says what it
     should do - it should copy files between two computers on their
     parallel ports. Its main purpose is in FAST transferring LARGE files
     (e.g. parts of harddisks) between two computers (imagine how most
     easily copy hudreds of MOD files from CD if you have no CD-ROM but
     your friend has PC equipped with CD-ROM. Or when you need to copy all
     files from your harddisk to another one in PC because you want to burn
     your own CD. Or if you want to backup files on other computer, or ...)


2.Q: Can I copy files from Atari ST to another Atari computer?

  A: YES! Just build your own bidirectional PARCP cable and run PARCP on
     both machines.


3.Q: Can I copy files from PC to Atari or vice-versa?

  A: Definitely YES! Please run PARTEST.EXE on the PC first to determine
     whether you will have to build that UNI-BI HW adapter or if the PARCP
     cable is everything you will need.


4.Q: Can I copy files from PC to another PC?

  A: I'm afraid that even here I must say YES! It's incredible, but it
     really works.



5.Q: Does PARCP make use of my brand new, fast, ECP/EPP parallel port?

  A: YES! PARCP can detect and use the bidirectional feature of most modern
     PC motherboards. However it does not use the DMA capability of ECP
     parallel port, because Atari nor Amiga can make DMA to parallel port.
     If PARTEST says it can't find your bidirectional port, please make
     sure that you have permitted the enhanced capabilities of your
     parallel port in SETUP of BIOS.


6.Q: How fast is PARCP?

  A: It depends on speed of the slower computer from those you use for your
     test. I'm lucky owner of AfterBurner040/40 MHz and IBM6x86/60 MHz so
     the transfer speeds are very interesting:

                                      ST -> PC | PC -> ST
                                      ---------+---------
     - unidirectional parallel port    56 kB/s |  62 kB/s
     - bidirectional parallel port     81 kB/s |  83 kB/s


7.Q: Does PARCP like multitasking environment?

  A: PARCP has been tested under N.AES (~MultiTOS) and MagiC 5 on my
     AfterBurner as well as under Windows95 on my PC.
     It runs quite well although it stops context switching of MiNT and
     probably also of MagiC. I don't think I can do anything better in this
     area - if you want PARCP to be the fastest it has to switch off all
     interrupts during the transfer time. It also runs nearly all time in
     Supervisor mode due to direct access to hardware registers (speed
     again).


8.Q: What is the correct chronological order of steps for PARCP setup?

  A: If you are going to connect two machines with bidirectional parallel
     ports, you should do it this way:
     First turn off both computers.
     Then connect PARCP cable to both machines and turn on one of them
     (doesn't matter which one, but important is to turn on just one of
     them).
     Then run the enclosed PAR_IN program on that running computer (it
     switch the data lines of parallel port into input state).
     Finally you can turn on the other computer.

     If you will use the UNI-BI HW adapter, you need not to worry about
     your computers - the UNI-BI adapter should isolate parallel ports from
     unwanted interaction.

     After quitting PARCP on any computer its parallel port stays in input
     state, so you can start PARCP at any time later (you don't have to
     unplug the parallel cable until reset of both computers).

     To connect your printer or anything else to your parallel port first
     disconnect the bidirectional PARCP cable (and UNI-BI adapter) and then
     run enclosed PAR_OUT program (it switches the parallel port into
     default state again). You can also simply RESET the computers.


9.Q: Where can I find the latest PARCP version?

  A: If you have a ftp access, try ftp.zlin.vutbr.cz/pub/atari/parcp/*
     If you have an e-mail access only, I can send it to you uuencoded in
     mail.
     If you have only modem and telephone, you can call my Joy BBS at
     +42-67-7631375 (at any time of day).


Last (but not least) question: what if I tested PARCP and it does/not work?

And the answer: choose one of the addresses of author listen below and
drop a short note to him - he is waiting for any kind of report about his
PARCP :-)

Bye, Petr

[stehlik@cas3.zlin.vutbr.cz, 90:1200/2.1@nest.ftn, 2:421/36.37@fidonet.org]
