Installing the ZY systems

The ZY computer currently boots from a floppy diskette. Ordinarily, maintaining a large number of floppy diskettes would make upgrading the ZY or its configuration a tedious process. For this reason, the current ZY system does not include the ZY executable or its configuration files on the boot diskette. Instead, these are stored in a central location, generally on the ZIY host computer (see section A.4). The boot diskette runs an FTP client program that retrieves the ZY executable, and the ZY itself is an FTP client and can retrieve its configuration files. The ZY boot sequence is as follows:

1. Perform the BIOS POST routines
2. Load DOS
3. Load all necessary drivers (from CONFIG.SYS list)
4. Set the environment
5. Load the PC/TCP software
6. Set the PC's clock, using NTP
7. Load and run RLOAD.EXE, an FTP client that will then retrieve the ZY executable, ZY.EXE, from the ZIY host
8. Run the ZY
9. Retrieve and execute the ZY initialization files
10. Wait for connection from ZIY.

With this boot arrangement, the boot diskette need not be altered if the ZY executable is upgraded or if the configuration files change. The boot diskette may still need to be changed on occasion, if:

• It fails
• The ZY changes in a way that requires a new DOS environment or an additional driver. In this case, AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS need to change, and, in the case of a new driver, a new file needs to be placed on the boot diskette.

However, it is not expected that these items will occur with any frequency.