LOCKSMITH VERSION 4.1 - COMPLETEDOCUMENTATION
                 


  THIS DOCUMENT DESCRIBES ALL USER-CHANGEABLE LOCKSMITH PARAMETERS IN DEPTH.  A
PARTIAL LIST OF THESE PARAMETERS WAS PREVIOUSLY DISTRIBUTED TO ALL VERSION
4.0/4.1 OWNERS. ALSO PROVIDED HERE IS DETAILED LOCKSMITH PROGRAM LOGIC
INFORMATION.

  NOTE---THIS DOCUMENT IS OF A HIGHLY TECHNICAL NATURE, AND IS INTENDED
PRIMARILY FOR THE ADVANCED USER OF LOCKSMITH.

BACKGROUND
----------
     WHEN LOCKSMITH WAS FIRST INTRODUCED IN JANUARY 1981, IT WOULD COPY ALMOST
ALL DISKS WITH NO SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE USER.  ONLY A FEW DISKS REQUIRED
PARAMETER CHANGES. ALAS, THOSE GOOD OLD DAYS ARE GONE FOREVER. INSTEAD OF
PROVIDING THE USER WITH BETTER BACKUP POLICY, SOFTWARE VENDORS DECIDED TO
ESCALATE THE BATTLE BY DEVELOPING MORE COMPLICATED (AND IN SOME CASES, BIZARRE)
PROTECTION TECHNIQUES.  BECAUSE OF THE MANY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES NOW IN USE, IT
IS LIKELY THAT MANY DISKS WILL REQUIRE SOME INPUT FROM THE USER IN THE FORM OF
PARAMETER CHANGES. OMEGA MICROWARE CURRENTLY MAINTAINS AN EXTENSIVE LIST OF
SOFTWARE, ALONG WITH THE LOCKSMITH PARAMETERS USED TO COPY EACH. SOME OF THE
ENTRIES ON THIS LIST ARE USER-SUPPLIED, AND OMEGA MICROWARE WELCOMES INFORMATION
FROM USERS REGARDING HOW TO BACK-UP SOFTWARE NOT ALREADY ON THIS LIST.

OVERVIEW
--------
     LOCKSMITH COPIES DISKS BY READING A TRACK, PERFORMING ANALYSIS ON THE DATA,
AND WRITING THE TRACK BACK TO THE COPY DISK. READING AND WRITING ARE FAIRLY
STRAIGHTFORWARD FUNCTIONS. THE ANALYSIS OF THE TRACK DATA IS BY FAR THE MOST
DIFFICULT TASK, AND MUST PROVIDE FOR FLEXIBILITY.

     MANY ANALYSIS ROUTINES (ALGORITHMS) ARE PROVIDED WITHIN LOCKSMITH.  EACH
ALGORITHM PERFORMS A SPECIFIC FUNCTION RELATING TO THE ANALYSIS OF TRACK DATA.
BY CHANGING PARAMETERS, THE USER MAY SELECT, DISABLE, OR CHANGE THE EXECUTION
ORDER OF ALGORITHMS. PARAMETERS MAY ALSO BE USED TO DEFINE VALUES TO BE USED BY
INDIVIDUAL ALGORITHMS.

ALGORITHMS
----------
     THE ALGORITHMS ARE NUMBERED FROM 0 TO  $23 (ALL VALUES ARE IN HEX),
ALTHOUGH MORE ALGORITHMS MAY BE ADDED IN FUTURE VERSIONS OF LOCKSMITH. DURING
TRACK ANALYSIS, ALGORITHMS ARE SELECTED SEQUENTIALLY FROM A TABLE OF ALGORITHM
NUMBERS, LOCATED FROM PARM 4C-80. AS ALGORITHMS ARE SELECTED FROM THIS TABLE
DURING ANALYSIS, THEY ARE DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN AS 2-DIGIT HEX NUMBERS IN
INVERSE VIDEO. ALGORITHM 00 IN DICATES A NULL ALGORITHM, WHICH CAN BE USED TO
REPLACE ALGORITHM NUMBERS IN THE TABLE WHICH THE USER WANTS TO DISABLE. AN FF
ENTRY IN THIS TABLE INDICATES THE END OF THE ALGORITHMS TO PERFORM. CURRENTLY,
THE ALGORITHM TABLE CONTAINS FOUR SEPARATE ALGORITHM SEQUENCES, EACH ONE
TERMINATED BY AN FF ENTRY.  THE STARTING POINT OF THE ALGORITHM SEQUENCE TO BE
USED IS DEFINED BY PARM 25.  THIS PARAMETER CONTAINS THE INDEX INTO THE
ALGORITHM TABLE TO BE USED AS THE FIRST ALGORITHM OF A SEQUENCE. FOR EXAMPLE, IF
PARM25=00, THE ALGORITHM SEQUENCE WOULD START AT PARM4C.  IF PARM25=10, THE
ALGORITHM SEQUENCE WOULD START AT PARM5C. THE SECTION OF ALGORITHM TABLE
STARTING AT PARM71 IS SELECTED AS AN ALGORITHM SEQUENCE START (INSTEAD OF
PARM4C) WHEN SYNCHRONIZED TRACKS ARE CHOSEN.

     ALGORITHMS, IN ADDITION TO PERFORMING THEIR SPECIALIZED FUNCTION, CAN
RETURN A FLAG TO INDICATE SUCCESS OR FAILURE.  IT IS POSSIBLE TO INDICATE THAT
AN ALGORITHM IS TO BE PERFORMED ONLY IF THE PREVIOUS ALGORITHM FAILED. THIS MAY
BE DONE BY SETTING THE HIGH-ORDER BIT OF THE ALGORITHM NUMBER WITHIN THE
ALGORITHM TABLE.  FOR EXAMPLE, AN ENTRY OF A1 INDICATES THAT ALGORITHM 21 IS TO
BE PERFORMED ONLY IF THE PREVIOUS ALGORITHM FAILED.

DESCRIPTION OF ALGORITHMS
-------------------------

     THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF ALGORITHM NUMBERS AND THE PARAMETERS WHICH
AFFECT THEM.

ALG 00 (THIS ALGORITHM DOESN'T DO MUCH OF ANYTHING)

ALG 01 (CONSECUTIVE NIBBLES TO SELF-SYNC) CHANGES NORMAL NIBBLES TO SELF-SYNC
NIBBLES BASED ON:  FINDING (PARM10) CONSECUTIVE NIBBLES IN THE RANGE (PARM34) TO
(PARM35), INCLUSIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, IF PARM10=0C, PARM34=FE, AND PARM35=FF, THEN
ALGORITHM 01 WOULD SEARCH FOR SEQUENCES OF LENGTH 0C NIBBLES WITH VALUES FE
THROUGH FF, AND SET THEM TO SELF-SYNC.

ALG 02 (INVALIDS TO SELF-SYNC) SETS INVALID NIBBLES (THOSE WITH 3 OR MORE
CONSECUTIVE ZERO BITS) TO SELF-SYNC.

ALG 03 (STANDARDIZE SELF-SYNC) SETS ALL SELF-SYNC TO (PARM33), WHICH MUST HAVE
HIGH-ORDER BIT CLEAR.

ALG 04 (LONER SELF-SYNC TO NORMAL) SETS CONSECUTIVE SELF-SYNC STRINGS OF LESS
THAN OR EQUAL TO (PARM3C) TO NORMAL.

ALG 05 (GLITCH REMOVER) SETS CONSECUTIVE NORMAL NIBBLES OF LENGTH LESS THAN OR
EQUAL TO (PARM12) TO SELF-SYNC.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THAT'S ALL FOLKS...