Date   : Wed, 01 Aug 1984 21:50:00 MDT (Wed)
From   : Richard Conn <RCONN@Simtel20.ARPA>
Subject: LDR Problem

Hi, Ted,

       Your report of problems with LDR is interesting.  No, no one
has reported having any similar problems.  I notice a few items from
your report:

       1. First, since you did not assemble LDR, you should have
received a distribution version.  It contains a Class 1 Environment
Descriptor and you should see the address of your Environment
Descriptor buffer at 109H and 10AH.  I recommend that you check the
original CRC against the value in the distribution list to make sure
that you have a good copy.  Also, after running Z3INS on LDR, load
LDR.COM with DDT and check 109H-10AH to see that the address of your
Environment Descriptor is properly in place.  LDR.COM should extend
from 100H to 0AFFH (next PC is 0B00H).

       2. I highly suspect the LDR.COM that you have as being invalid
since you report a "DIRALPHA -- Pointer Error" message, and there is
no such message inside of the distribution version of LDR.COM.  This
particular message comes from the SYSLIB2 DIRALPHA routine and, as a
rule, should never appear anyway, since it indicates that the
pointer-based sort routine failed.  If someone tried to reassemble LDR
with SYSLIB2 instead of SYSLIB 3, they would have had to change the
source and would now be bringing in all sorts of older routines which
should not be there, such as routines which deal with disk-based named
dirs.  In short - one absolute mess.

       3. You are quite correct in the loading sequence.  Once LDR
has been installed, it contains only a pointer to an Environment
Descriptor.  This descriptor must be resolved first, and then the
other System Segments may be loaded.  This is a common mistake which
is made the first time around, and it looks like you avoided it.

       That is the analysis I can offer from the information you gave
me.  It sounds like your source does not have the correct files,
offhand.  You might want to consider going with the Echelon
alternative, because for only $39 you can get a complete starter kit
and a hard copy of the installation manual and Sampler without having
to worry about corrupted or modified files (a CRC list is provided).
This also ties you into the support system of Echelon and gets you a
subscription to the newsletter (of which issue 4 is now coming up).
The newsletter, among other things, talks about questions that people
have been asking on a recurring basis and may resolve some of your
problems before you encounter them.  SIMTEL20 contains the CRC lists
if you don't have access to one.

Rick