jamesp@orstcs.UUCP (jamesp) (12/05/85)
Quick Question: Does the Atari 520ST have video display circuitry or is the 68000 bogged down hopelessly like the Macintosh? I have this friend that keeps bugging me, say that the cpu will be operating at only one third of its full capability, because of the need for video refresh, etc. Hearing "Its processor is as slow as a Mac" is making me get homicidal <heavy breathing, flared nostrils, clenched fists!> :^) And a few more questions: Does TOS (or whatever the OS is called) support the same, standard prompt-based, line-oriented interaction as do UNIX and MS-DOS and CPM? Or am I going to be forced to use the GEM metaphor (ugh!). I much prefer sitting there looking at a prompt and seeing the screen scroll for most of my work. Much Thanx, <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> "All that is gold does not glitter; tektronix!orstcs!jamesp Not all those who wander are lost." (In real life: James Perkins)
bammi@cwruecmp.UUCP (Jwahar R. Bammi) (12/13/85)
> Quick Question: > > Does the Atari 520ST have video display circuitry or is the 68000 bogged down > hopelessly like the Macintosh? I have this friend that keeps bugging me, say > that the cpu will be operating at only one third of its full capability, > because of the need for video refresh, etc. Hearing "Its processor is as slow > as a Mac" is making me get homicidal <heavy breathing, flared nostrils, > clenched fists!> :^) It does have hardware to support graphics. The 68000 is certainly not bogged down. The Nov. 85 Byte article comparing C compilers for the Mac. had some benchmarks. The ST (using AClyon C compiler) ran these benchmarks at 2 to 3 times the speed of the best figures published there. The sizes were in the same league. So now you can make your friend eat his words :-) > > And a few more questions: > > Does TOS (or whatever the OS is called) support the same, standard prompt-based, > line-oriented interaction as do UNIX and MS-DOS and CPM? Or am I going to be > forced to use the GEM metaphor (ugh!). I much prefer sitting there looking at > a prompt and seeing the screen scroll for most of my work. Tos itself does not have a command processor. There are three that i have used. - Micro C Shell: extermely nice. Much like the one i am using now. - command.prg : comes with the development system. Msdos like. - Hos: comes with Habba C. Unix like, not quite as nice as Micro C Shell. -- Jwahar R. Bammi Usenet: .....!decvax!cwruecmp!bammi CSnet: bammi@case Arpa: bammi%case@csnet-relay CompuServe: 71515,155
rlp@cbosgd.UUCP (Dazed and Confused) (12/27/85)
I have a few questions about the ST that I hope someone will be kind enough to take the time to answer: 1) Can the GI AY-3-8910 programmable sound generator (PSG) be used as a D/A converter? My information from GI's catalog is incomplete. It seems there are three 4-bit (lo-fi, anyone?) logarithmic D/A converters on the PSG that normally take tone generator inputs, but there is an amplitude control register that specifies a 4-bit amplitude plus a 'mode' bit that the data sheets don't describe. My guess is that one of the modes tells the D/A to just output the 4-bit value in the register. Anyone know? 2) Is there a way (say from BASIC) to turn off all graphics DMA (similar to the DMACTL register of the 400/800)? 3) What is it that causes INTERPC's terminal software to crash the system (usually)? Thanks in advance, cbosgd!nscs!jmk (Joe Knapp)
erich@cory.BERKELEY.EDU (nnamrreH cirE) (12/30/85)
In article <1714@cbosgd.UUCP> rlp@cbosgd.UUCP (Dazed and Confused) writes: >I have a few questions about the ST that I hope someone will be kind enough >to take the time to answer: > >1) Can the GI AY-3-8910 programmable sound generator (PSG) be used as a D/A > converter? My information from GI's catalog is incomplete. It seems there > are three 4-bit (lo-fi, anyone?) logarithmic D/A converters on the PSG that > normally take tone generator inputs, but there is an amplitude control > register that specifies a 4-bit amplitude plus a 'mode' bit that the data > sheets don't describe. My guess is that one of the modes tells the D/A > to just output the 4-bit value in the register. Anyone know? From my experience with the AY-3-89something on Apple computers, that mode bit simply selects the automatic envelope generators as opposed to manual amplitude setting through these 4 bits. I tried sending white noise through and modulating it with the 4 bit amplitude control; it doesn't sound like D/A would. ranjit bhatnagar mail to ...bugs!ranjit please