Installing TeX on a single-drive ST
Installing TeX on a single-drive ST
David Harvey
Being the continued adventures of a TeXhacker
The TeX installation described in my TeX First-Aid article was developed on, and described around, an ST system with two disk drives. Configuring the program on a single-drive system has proved more difficult: this article is the result of the experience of some users brave enough to attempt a single-drive installation, and of experiments conducted since the publication of the first article.
The INITEX and TEX programs are somewhat sensitive to disk changes while in operation, even if the 'logical' drive B: is used in the TeX setup files. In particular, if errors occur in INITEX, and a new disk is inserted to receive the result of the \dump command, portions of the format file appear to be overwritten with chunks of the output log file. So, first rule - if you are attempting to install on a single drive system and INITEX throws up any error message at all, type <x> to abort the generation - it is not worth persevering.
Second rule (and this goes for installing on a double drive system also) - INITEX must be run in the same memory space as the final TeX installation will have. Running INITEX in a full megabyte of memory will result in a TEX installation which will not cohabit with a RAMdisk. The minimal LaTeX installation appears to require about 700k RAM, so before starting to install TEX, set up a RAMdisk of c250K.
TeX and LaTeX installation pre-load a number of the basic fonts into the resulting format files, so the TeX font metric files (extension .TFM) need to be available to the INITEX program. There is a problem of space on the LaTeX building disks in particular, but with a RAMdisk available, this is no problem: simply unpack the TFM files into the memory drive. So (for example) to install LaTeX, you should have the following:
RAMdisk:
\TFMFILES
*.TFM - all TFM files
(TEX2:\TEXINPUT\TFM\TFMFILES.ARC) Base TeX disk:
\TEX
\TFMFILES
*.TFM (as above)
\STDIN
*.TEX (TEX2:\TEXINPUT\STDINPUT\STDINPUT.ARC)
*.STY TeX format file creation disk:
INITEX.TTP (TEX1:\TEX.ARC)
TEX.POO
TEXSETUP
LPLAIN.TEX (TEX2:\TEXINPUT\LATEX\LATEX.ARC)
LPLAINO.TEX
LATEX.TEX
LFONTS.TEX
EHYPHEN.TEX (TEX2:\TEXINPUT\HYPHEN\HYPHEN.ARC)
TEX\
(empty directory to keep INITEX happy)
Edit the file TEXINPUT so that all entries with drive/path indications have the value A:;, except for the entry tfmpaths which should reference the RAMdisk directory to which the TFM files have been unpacked (e.g. tfmpath=M:\TFMFILES;), and the \dumppath entry, which should reference A:\TEX. Load the shell you are using, then place the format creation disk in the drive, and type the following:
INITEX LPLAIN
After a number of information messages, the system should come to rest at a <*> prompt. If an error message appears, stop (type <x>) and check that the disks are properly set up and that the TEXINPUT file has the correct entries before trying again. Assuming that you are safely at the <*> prompt, replace the disk in the drive with the base TeX disk and type \dump<return>. More disk activity, more screen messages, and (all being well) a file LPLAIN.FMT in the TEX\ folder of the base disk will result.
Note that to use TeX on a single drive system may require some juggling of disks and files. With a disk formatted to 820k, with the LaTeX format file, TFM files and one or two LaTeX styles, there is about 300K disk space free: just enough for the LKURZ source and resulting DVI file, for example. Viewing and printing the files will require copying the DVI files to the appropriate printer or screen font disk: on my NL10 font disk there is about 138K free, which again is enough space for LKURZ.DVI.
