FLASH SUPPORT FOR PC-SSD 25/8/96

The three programs, COPYFLSH.EXE, WRITFLSH.EXE and FFORMAT.EXE provide basic
support for Flash SSDs on the PC-SSD interface.

COPYFLSH copies the complete contents of a Flash SSD to the PC
WRITFLSH restores the contents of a Flash SSD from the PC
FFORMAT  formats Flash SSDs.

You can display the syntax for any of these commands by entering their names
without any parameters.

WRITFLSH and FFORMAT require the external power option for the PC-SSD. The
supply used must be 15-18V DC with the negative on the centre conductor, the
Psion power supply will not work as its output is only 10V. Many cheap,
unregulated 12V supplies are suitable, check the file PSUS.TXT for a list of
supplies which have been tested with the interface. If you use a supply that
is not on the list make sure its output does not exceed 18V or you may damage
your SSD. Always attach the PC-SSD to the PC before applying external power.

FFORMAT is quite slow when used with type 1 Flash SSDs because it has to
write and verify each byte - you may find it more convenient to use the Psion
for these devices. Type 2 Flash SSDs format much more quickly.

All three programs can be combined using a simple batch file to produce a
flash compress utility, they all return the DOS error value 1 if a problem
occurs and so this can be checked for using the DOS 'if errorlevel ...' batch
command.

HISTORY

          V0.9x beta versions
25/08/96  V1.00 first release
08/10/96  V1.01 'media corrupt' error when disk label is in root dir fixed