Digital Research Inc.
GEM Release 1
Installation and Configuration Guide

Rev. 1.1

Contents

Section 1 - Preparation

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Computer Requirements
1.3 GEM Disks
1.4 Preparing for Installation

Section 2 - Installing and Install Options

2.1 Running GEMPREP
2.2 Where to Install to
2.3 Graphics Controllers
2.4 Mouse types
2.5 Printers
2.6 Confirmation and beginning Installation

Section 3 - Install Disks

3.1 Mouse Driver Disks
3.2 DOS disks

Section 4 - Starting GEM

4.1 Running GEM.BAT
4.2 Screen Layout
4.3 Starting programs

Section 5 - GEM Desktop Features

5.1 Output
5.2 Installing Applications/File Association
5.3 Installing Disk Drives

Appendices

A1 Where to find GEM
A2 Associated Material
A3 GEM Development
A4 GEM Applications freely available
A5 About this Guide/Contacts

Section 1 - Preparation

1.1 - Introduction

This document is intended as a guide to assist in the successful installation and use of the GEM 1 Graphical User Interface. It is NOT the official Digital Research Manual, and may omit features that were included in that publication. It should, however, assist a novice user to get an up and running GEM system.

In 1999, GEM was made Open Source (a term meaning that the source code for the software was released to the public domain) by Caldera Thin Clients Inc. Now you can download the full GEM retail package from a variety of sources, and many applications are also now freely available. See appendix A1 for places to find GEM.


1.2 - Computer Requirements

GEM Release 1.2 was sold from 1985. Since then, computer performance has risen dramatically. It is most likely that you will be able to use GEM on your computer, but for completeness the following is a rough outline:

Of course, a monitor and keyboard are required, and a pointing device is highly recommended. GEM should run happily on all Amstrad PC-Compatibles, e.g. PC512 etc., and the PPC512/640 portable series. Amstrad originally marketed their PC range with GEM included.

1.3 - GEM Disks

The disk set depends on where you acquired GEM. For information on how to find a GEM distribution, see appendix A1.

When getting a GEM distribution, although it sounds strange, always download the largest file! You will want to get a proper commercial distribution, which is a set of disk images for the original install disks. These will come with a proper install routine and utilities. There are also smaller distributions, which probably just contain the desktop application. This will come with a limited set of drivers and are usually beta or development releases. Most of this guide is useless without a proper commercial disk set.

If you have acquired a proper disk set, you should have the following disks:

You will also need at least one blank formatted disk.

1.4 - Preparing for Installation

GEM was originally intended as a Graphical User Interface to run on top of DOS. Nowadays, most users will be using at least one other operating system with graphical features, e.g. Windows 9x, Windows NT, Windows 3.x, Linux with X, OS/2, FreeBSD, BeOS, and so on. GEM requires some implementation of an MS-DOS compatible DOS. DR-DOS and PC-DOS all work, along with MS-DOS itself, which is part of Windows 9x. FreeDOS, however, is said to not currently support GEM. GEM/3 does work under FreeDOS, although requires some considerable tweaking to get it to work. The requirement of DOS means that you will have to create a DOS partition on your Hard Drive if you are running a non-DOS system, such as any PC flavour of Unix, BeOS, and NT. Although NT supports the execution of some DOS programs, the graphical display GEM uses is unlikely to work.

You will need to consult your Operating System's manual on how to repartition your hard disk, if needed. You will then need a version of DOS. This could prove a problem if you have always been using an operating system such as NT or BeOS. Most new PCs come with an incarnation of Win9x, which has full DOS functionality, but if not you will have to either buy a copy of DOS or wait until FreeDOS supports it. Buying a copy of DOS is quite a challenge nowadays. I believe that Microsoft still sells MS-DOS 6.22 along with Windows for Workgroups 3.11 as a complete package, but you would need to contact them to find out where to obtain it. IBM may still market PC-DOS, but you should also consult them on where to find it. You can download DR-DOS from the Caldera Thin Clients website, although the licence agreement for personal use states that you can 'use it for a reasonable amount of time' before you should purchase licences. The website is http://www.drdos.com. At the time of writing, a single user licence for DR-DOS retailed at around $30. (aprox. £18-25). However, I am unsure as to whether this is available outside the USA.

We will now assume that you have some implementation of DOS working on your system. Either you already have MS/PC/DR-DOS or Windows 3.x/9x or you have a multiple boot system with another OS.

It is often a good idea if you are running Windows 3.x/9x to install GEM in a contained environment. The easiest way to do this is to give it its own drive. This is possible under MS-DOS 5 and above without having to repartition anything. You can use the SUBST command. For example:

The above creates a G: drive, which is actually a virtual drive, residing in C:\GEMDRIVE. This is only temporary, however; once the machine is shut down the drive substitution is lost. To get around this problem insert the following line into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: (usually residing in the C:\ directory)

This may also be useful under a DOS environment. If you have given GEM its own partition, there is little point in doing the above.

Section 2 - Installing and Install Options

2.1 - Running GEMPREP

As the name suggests, GEMPREP prepares your computer to run GEM. GEMPREP requires some additional files that it will ask for during installation. If you are NOT running GEMPREP from a multi-tasking environment, such as Win3.x/9x, you will need to prepare this disk now. Skip straight to section 3. Once you have created the disk, you can return to this point. Click Here for S3.

To begin the GEMPREP program, either start a DOS session from inside Windows or get to the DOS command prompt. Insert the GEM System Master Disk (Disk 1) in a disk drive. Switch to this disk drive (e.g. A:) and type GEMPREP. Below is an example:

Once you have typed this, the following screen should appear:

If it does not appear, check you have switched to the right drive, and that you have inserted the correct disk.

2.2 - Where to Install To

You can install the GEM Desktop to either a Hard Disk or to Floppy Disks. The only case when you would want to install to floppy disks is either if you are very low on disk space (less than two megabytes) or your computer does not have a hard disk. (Such computers are pretty rare nowadays). As it is unlikely you will not have a hard disk and still managed to obtain this document, I will not detail floppy installation. If enough people want it, I may write an appendix on the matter.

When GEMPREP asks you if you want to install to a hard disk, answer yes by pressing y. GEMPREP will then ask you if you want to install to drive C. If you are installing to drive C, answer yes. If you are installing to a different drive, or have used drive substitution as detailed in 1.4, answer no. Then type the drive you are installing to. For example:

2.3 - Graphics Controllers

After setting your install destination, GEMPREP will ask for the GEM Device Driver Disk #1 (Disk 2). Insert this disk and press a key. The following screen will appear:

For most modern PCs, you will want to choose option 7. This gives the highest resolution available with colour support. It is rare that you would want to select a different option, unless your computer is a very old one. The resolution of option 7 is very low. If you have a large (21"?!) screen, the desktop will appear massive. There is, unfortunately, no way around this, unless you have a Hercules Card (in which case you won't have colour) or an IBM 3270 PC (pretty rare nowadays). 640x480 support only came in GEM 3. Type your selection and press enter.

2.4 - Mouse Types

GEM 1.2 was released before the advent of the IBM PS/2 machine, and therefore before the advent of the PS/2 interface. Nowadays most computers are shipped with PS/2 mice, and serial mice are quite rare.

If you have a serial mouse, you can select option 4. However, it is better to use option 3 for both serial and PS/2 mice. This basically makes GEM rely on an external mice driver. You will have to supply this driver separately and put it on a disk. However, this is the most foolproof method.

If you selected option 4, serial mouse, GEMPREP will ask you which communication (COM) port you are using. If you selected Bus Mouse, this will not appear.

2.5 - Printers

GEM has very limited printer support, reflecting the small range of printers available at the time.

Which printer do you have?


1  IBM/Epson Graphics Printers High Resolution mode (120 x 144 dots/inch)
2  IBM/Epson Graphics Printers Low Resolution mode (60 x 72 dots/inch)
3  Epson JX-80 Colour Printer (120 x 144 dots/inch) eight colours
4  IBM Colour Jetprinter (100 x 96 dots/inch) eight colours
5  Diablo Model C150 Colour Ink Jet (120 x 120 dots/inch) eight colours
6  Hewlett Packard LaserJet I ( 75 x 75 dots/inch )
7  Unannounced Laser Printer ( 150 x 150 dots/inch )
8  Apple LaserWriter Printer ( 300 x 300 dots/inch )
9  Diablo 630 Daisywheel printer. ( No Graphics Supported )


Type the number of printer you have.

You will need to consult your printer's documentation on whether it can emulate any of the above printers. If your printer does not emulate any of the above, you will have to make do without it, unless you can track down a special GEM 1.2 printer driver for it, which is very unlikely.

GEMPREP will then ask you where your printer is connected - either the printer ports (LPT1 and LPT2) or the serial ports (COM1 and COM2).

2.6 - Confirmation and Beginning Installation

You will then be asked to confirm your choices. Press y if you are happy with them. For example:

After this, you will be asked for various disks. Insert the correct disk and press enter each time.

Section 3 - Install Disks

3.1 - Mouse Driver Disks

If you selected Microsoft Bus Mouse when selecting a mouse, you will need to create a driver disk. After installing the GEM files, GEMPREP will ask you for the following:

The file GEMPREP is looking for is MOUSE.COM. If you have a Windows 3.x/DOS machine, it is very likely you will have one installed. Simply use a search facility to locate MOUSE.COM and copy it to a disk. If you are running GEMPREP under a multi-tasking environment, such as Windows, you can switch to a file manager of some kind and leave setup idle. If you are not using a multi-tasking environment, you should have already made this disk.

If you have a very new computer that was shipped with Windows 9x, NT or a non-DOS operating system, you are unlikely to find a mouse driver on your disk. You could try contacting Microsoft or Logitech; both build mice and write mouse drivers, but whether they will give them away is by no means certain.

3.2 - DOS Disks

No matter what mouse you have selected, GEMPREP will ask you for a DOS Disk. All it wants to do is copy some DOS utilities to its own directory structure so the Desktop can access them. It requires the following files:

You can copy these files to the same disk as the mouse driver if you like. GEM requires the disk when it asks the following message:

If you have only put COMMAND.COM on a disk and not the others it will ask for them one by one. If not, it will copy them in bulk.

On an MS-DOS 6.22 and below machine, you will find the above files in C:\ (COMMAND.COM) and C:\DOS (MODE.COM and FORMAT.COM).

On a Windows 95/98 machine, you will find the above files in C:\ (COMMAND.COM) and C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND (MODE.COM and FORMAT.COM).

After the copying of DOS utilities and a final set of files from the System Master Disk, GEMPREP will terminate with the message:

The rebooting of your machine is not actually needed.

Section 4 - Starting GEM

4.1 - Starting GEM.BAT

GEMPREP installs a batch file, GEM.BAT, in the root directory of the drive you are installing to. This batch file initialises display drivers and starts the desktop. To do this, you need to change the drive you installed GEM on and type 'CD\' to return to the root directory, and then type 'GEM'. The GEM Desktop will appear. This is a blank screen with three icons down the right hand side and a menu bar along the top.


4.2 - Screen Layout

On the right of the screen are three icons. They are labelled Floppy Disk, Hard Disk and Trash. If you double-click on the Floppy Disk icon, a window pops up showing you the contents of the A: drive. You can drag and drop files into and out of directories. If you want to permanently delete a file, you can drag it onto the Trash icon. This will delete it. Double clicking on the Hard Disk icon has the same effect, showing the contents of Drive C:.

The menu bar along the top has many features. They are outlined below:

Menu Item

Description


Desk>Desktop Info...		 'About' screen, lists copyright and authors.


Desk>Calculator		 Displays calculator applet.


Desk>Clock		 Displays clock/alarm applet


Desk>Print Spooler		 Start Print Spooler. Allows you to output files to the printer.


File>Open		 Opens the currently highlighted file.


File>Show Info...		 Shows highlighted file information and allows you to change file name and write protection status.


File>New Folder...		 Asks for a name and creates a new folder of that name in the drive window currently open.


File>Close		 Closes the current folder.


File>Close Window		 Closes the whole window.


File>Format...		 Formats the currently highlighted floppy disk drive. Does not allow formatting of Hard Disk and asks for confirmation.


File>To Output		 Starts the GEM Output application. If a file is highlighted, it is automatically added to the list. If not, then a blank list is shown.


File>Quit		 Exits the GEM Desktop and returns to DOS.


View>Show as Icons		 Show files in folder window as icons.


View>Show as Text		 Show files in folder window as text labels.


View>Sort by Name		 Sorts files in folder window in alphabetical order.


View>Sort by Date		 Sorts files in folder window in date order.


View>Sort by Size		 Sorts files in folder window in size order.


View>Sort by Type		 Sorts files in folder window by file extension.


Options>Install Disk Drive...		 Brings up Install New Disk Drive window. A disk drive icon must be highlighted.


Options>Install Application...		 Works only when an application file is highlighted. Allows you to set file associations and icons.


Options>Set Preferences...		 Opens the preferences window, displaying a number of user interface options.


Options>Save Desktop		 Saves the position of icons and windows. Next time GEM is opened, the icons and windows will be in the same position as when you clicked on Save Desktop.


Options>Enter DOS Commands		 Begins an external DOS session. Type EXIT to return to the Desktop.

4.3 - Starting Programs

In the case of most normal DOS or GEM programs, double clicking on their icon in a folder window executes that file. Normal GEM applications have the file extension APP, and GEM treats EXE, BAT and COM files as DOS executables.

When you execute a DOS application from GEM, a dialog box appears, asking for parameters. You do not have to include any parameters at all; you can just click OK and the application will be launched. If you don want to specify some parameters, however, you can type them in and GEM will append these to the end of the application name when it executes the program.

If you have installed an application in GEM and specified that parameters do not need to be taken, the parameters dialog will not appear.

Section 5 - GEM Desktop Features

5.1 - Output

Output is an example of a GEM application. It is not actually part of the GEM Desktop, but actually a separate application by the name of OUTPUT.APP. However, GEM directly accesses it through the menu structure, so we will consider it part of GEM.

Output is a tool for the batch output of files to a number of different devices. GEM Output allows you to output your files to the screen, a printer, a plotter or a camera. You can set the options for each of these different devices under the Options menu. Clicking on Set Defaults makes your settings the defaults.

Output is not normally used on its own. It is really a program that handles output from GEM Applications. Normally, after working on a document, you would select To Output... from the application's menu, and you could then print or display your work.

If you selected To Output from the GEM desktop while a file was highlighted, that will be automatically added to a new Output list. Otherwise, the list is empty. You can add new files to the list by clicking on Edit>Add Name... . The Delete and Duplicate Name buttons are self - explanatory. On the File menu you can create a new list, close the current list, create a new one, or load and save lists. You can also save your options and get them again using the Get and Save Options items. Start Output... begins the output process. A dialog box appears asking you which device you want to output to, and, if applicable, the number of copies.


5.2 - Installing Applications/File Associations

On the GEM Desktop, installing an application means setting it up, rather than copying its files to disk; you will have had to do that already anyway. Installing an application lets you save time later when using GEM. It allows you to determine whether you will want GEM to ask you for parameters when you launch the application, what icon will appear to represent it and its documents, and most importantly, what files it is associated with. File association means that when you double click on a document you have associated with an application, GEM launches that application and opens the document ready for you to use.

To demonstrate how to use these features, it is best illustrated with an example. Say that you wanted to make it easier to view TXT files with the DOS Edit program. First, you would locate the EDIT program file. You then click once on the program icon so that it is highlighted. Then you would go to the Options menu and select Install Application... . A dialog box appears. Say that you want to use TXT and DOC files with the Edit program. Under Document Types you would type 'txt' and 'doc'. The edit program is a DOS program, but say you don't want GEM to ask you for parameters. You would click on the DOS button under Application Type. Th Edit program is small, so you won't need to allocate to it full memory. Leave the Needs Full Memory option on No. Finally, you can use the scroll bars to select a set of icons. Once you have finished, click Install.

Once you have done this you will notice that the EDIT.COM file icon changes from a blank one to the icon you choose. Now find a TXT or DOC file. You will see that that has a different icon too. If you double click on one of these, the Edit program is launched automatically and the document displayed.


5.3 - Installing Disk Drives

By default, the GEM Desktop only shows the Floppy A drive and C Hard Disk drive, even if you have more drives configured. To install a new drive (essentially to make it available in GEM), click on an existing drive and choose Install Drive... . Type in the drive letter you use under DOS or Windows and choose whether it is a floppy or hard disk drive. If you wish you can give it a label. Click INSTALL and a new icon will be available on the desktop. To remove an icon, select it, go to Install Drive and click on REMOVE.

CD-ROM drives - you can configure a CD-ROM drive as either a floppy disk or hard disk under GEM. There is little difference but the icon.

Appendices

Appendix 1 - Where to find GEM

In May 1999 Caldera Thin Clients Inc. released GEM and its source code to the public domain under the GPL, GNU Public Licence. This allows GEM to be distributed freely in both source and compiled form. There are a number of places to find it.

For a huge selection of GEM software, including tools, beta releases, source code and applications, look at http://www.devili.iki.fi/cpm/gemworld.html. Also available here are online copies of some GEM documentation.

If you are an absolute beginner with GEM, then I have compiled an easy-to-use complete 'starter kit' download for GEM. The website is at http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Screen/1184. The file you will want is called GEMKIT.ZIP, to be found under the downloads section.

There is another GEM site which inlcudes development news and source code at http://www.deltasoft.com.


Appendix 2 - Associated Material

Proper documentation for GEM is now quite hard to come by. The original GEM desktop manuals are out there though, and they came with a number of different pieces of hardware and software. The GEM commercial releases of the software came with manuals. The Amstrad PCxxxx series came with GEM and manuals. GEM Desktop manuals also came with the Atari ST/STE/MegaST/TT range of computers, although these are probably of little relevance when dealing with PC-GEM.

If you are interested in the development aspect of GEM, there are two large documents, the GEM Programmer's Guide Vols. 1&2 available for download from the Gemworld website (link shown above). At the time of writing Volume 1 was tidied up, but Vol. 2 is still in raw OCR'ed form. This should soon be tidied up, though.

At the time of writing there were no plans to yet OCR and make available on line the GEM Desktop manuals, but I will endeavour to rectify that position.

I hope to adapt this document for GEM Release 2, and possibly rewrite it for GEM/3, as there is a big difference in the install program structure.


Appendix 3 - GEM Development

Since the Open Source release of GEM, there has been great interest in developing for it, both application wise and the actual GEM system itself. News on GEM development can be found at http://www.devili.iki.fi/cpm/gemdev.html. There is also a GEM Development mailing list where members can share ideas regarding GEM via e-mail. To join this, visit <WEBSITE URL>.

As shown above, the GEM development manuals are available on the Internet. Also available are a variety of development tools at the Gemworld website, including the GEM Resource Kit.


Appendix 4 - GEM Applications freely available

There is quite a wide range of GEM software developed for Digital Research that is now available free from the Gemworld website. However, many other software houses developed applications for GEM, but some survive to this day and cling to the copyright. CCD, however, have released the excellent Artline software for free. This is available at their website, http://www.artline.de.

As far as functional applications go, there are still a few gaps in the list of GEM applications. There is, for example, drawing software, word processors and database applications out there, but a lack of spreadsheets. There is GEM Graph, but this is not very good for all-purpose spreadsheets. There are, however, a large number of DTP products available.


Appendix 5 - About this Guide/Contacts

This guide was completed (rev 1) the 29th June 1999, by Robert Avis.

Please forward any suggestions, comments, queries or complaints (!) to the following e-mail address. There are likely to be many errors and spelling mistakes, please contact me if there are any glaringly obvious ones.

If anyone has a more detailed history of GEM, I would like to enhance the introduction section. The appendices also need more content, so please do not hesitate to forward any suggestions.

The links section is a little small - if there are any other sites that include GEM items, I will be happy to include them.

You can contact me at robert.avis@virgin.net.

Revision History

1.0 First draft
1.1 First release (spell/grammer checked) << This file

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