GENWiki

                              STAC ELECTRONICS
                         TECHNICAL SUPPORT BULLETIN

NUMBER:     009
SUBJECT:    CACHE

DATE:       May 24, 1991
TIME:       3:00 PM

SOURCE:         Engineering, Tech Support
SUPERCEDES/
SUPERCEDED BY:  
RELEASE STATUS: Public

TITLE:
    STACKER and disk-cache programs.

OVERVIEW:
    While STACKER includes its own cache, the driver is compatible with other
    products that perform the same function.

    Norton's NCACHE and Microsoft WINDOWS' SMARTDRV.SYS are loaded from the
    CONFIG.SYS, usually before STACKER.  Other programs, such as PC-KWIK and
    PC-CACHE, load from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, after STACKER.

ISSUES/COMMENTS:
    1) Some cache programs (e.g., PC-CACHE, PC-KWIK) may report that a
    particular drive letter is not eligible for caching, but caching proceeds
    normally.

    2) When multiple cache programs are operating, disk reads/writes may have
    unpredictable results.  Use of memory may also be negatively impacted.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
    1) Alter the settings for the cache so that the uncompressed, host drive
    is cached.  This will, by extension, cache any STACKER volumes residing
    on it.  (The PC-KWIK message can be avoided by excluding the STACKER
    volume when the cache program is invoked.  Consult PC-KWIK documentation
    for the appropriate parameter.)

    2) If a commercial cache program is running, specify a STACKER cache of 0
    bytes (/M=0)