FISHER%RPICICGE.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA (07/22/86)
Subject: BITNET mail follows
Date: 22 July 1986, 13:34:26 EAS
From: FISHER at RPICICGE
To: INFO-CPM at AMSAA.ARPA
As a new-comer to this group with access only through BITNET I face the
frustration common to all non-FTP'ers: Public domain software--you
can't get there from here.
Maybe this is a tired question, but I'll ask anyway. Are there any
volunteers out there in BITNET-land willing to establish branch offices
for the SIMTEL20 main repository? It would be a major committment for
any one installation to support a complete online service, but some
distributed arrangement might be feasible.
I, for one, am willing to offer some form of online file server
for some suitably sized subset of the respository and perhaps an
offline server (e.g. tape-based with requests processed every few
days) for the full library. Anyone else?
(Of course, there is the implied assumption that given the
volunteers on the BITNET side of the world there will be some way
to get a copy of the full library and the ongoing additions. :-)
JSFisher FISHER@RPICICGE.BITNETFISHER%RPICICGE.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA (08/19/86)
Subject: P2DOS0 and the H/Z 89 Date: 18 August 1986, 12:17:06 EAS From: FISHER at RPICICGE To: INFO-CPM at AMSAA.ARPA Subject: P2DOS0 and the H/Z 89 Has anyone successfully installed P2DOS0 on a Heath-89? ...on any machine? (P2DOS0 is a PD BDOS replacement for Z80 machines.) I think I correctly patched it over the DR BDOS, but upon booting the system I get only a lower-case "m" and an otherwise blank stare from the CRT. I'm using the Heath version of CP/M 2.2(.0.4). J.S.Fisher FISHER@RPICICGE.BITNET
FISHER%RPICICGE.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA (08/22/86)
Subject: BITNET mail follows Date: 20 August 1986, 15:20:07 EAS From: FISHER at RPICICGE To: INFO-CPM at AMSAA.ARPA Re: Uuencode/uudecode character transparency over the net I did some experimenting with the character translation that takes place when one crosses a BITNET/ARPANET gateway. Many characters were filtered during the EBCDIC <==> ASCII conversions, particularly by the UCBJADE gateway. However, it appears that ALL of the characters used by the uuencode/uudecode programs have unique representations on both sides of the WISCVM gateway. Also, the translation performed at WISCVM seems to agree exactly with the translation VM on IBM hosts uses when communicating with ASCII terminals. (I do not know if the same statement can be made for MVS hosts and the non-IBM BITNET machines.) At any rate, at least for VM BITNET sites, ARPANET to BITNET via the normal WISCVM path, then to CP/M via something suitable like KERMIT should yield the desired results. (**Note**: The EBCDIC values used for brackets, braces, backslash, etc, are not same values needed for a TN-train printer. So, though clear-text files may look funny when displayed on an IBM printer or 327X terminal, they should still arrive in CP/M-land correctly :-) J.S.Fisher FISHER@RPICICGE.BITNET
FISHER%RPICICGE.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA (09/05/86)
Subject: BITNET mail follows Date: 5 September 1986, 10:19:08 EAS From: FISHER at RPICICGE To: INFO-CPM at AMSAA.ARPA Re: Previous request-for-information about P2DOS Many thanks to the those who responded. As pointed out by "Bernie <EIBEN@MARLBORO.DEC.COM>" my only real problem was that the .COM file created using the utilites provided in the .LBR is just a touch to large. A LOAD/SAVE 14 restores the file to its actual and proper size. After that it suddenly worked just fine.... ...Well, almost: If others attempt to install P2DOS, be forwarned that as distributed the search path table is stored at 0040H and following. This area is designated as reserved for BIOS use (not for the BDOS). So, confirm first that your BIOS does not use this scratch area or move the search path table elsewhere. (My H89 BIOS--vanilla from Heath--does use it :-) John S. Fisher FISHER@RPICICGE.BITNET
FISHER%RPICICGE.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA (09/09/86)
Subject: BITNET mail follows Date: 9 September 1986, 10:15:02 EAS From: FISHER at RPICICGE To: INFO-CPM at AMSAA.ARPA Re: Information on SQ, CRUNCH, ARC and LBR formats I am interested in writting some IBM-based utilities for dealing with PD archive files before shipping to my micro. Can somebody point me at the appropriate documentation, etc, for the format of ARC and LBR files and for the compression algorithms used by the SQ and CRUNCH utilities? Micro-happiness to all, John Fisher FISHER@RPICICGE.BITNET
FISHER%RPICICGE.BITNET@wiscvm.ARPA (09/24/86)
Subject: BITNET mail follows
Date: 24 September 1986, 09:25:11 EAS
From: FISHER at RPICICGE
To: INFO-CPM at AMSAA.ARPA
Re: Getting P2DOS running on H89
The basic problem I had with P2DOS stems from an error in the
support utilities provided in the distribution. Somewhere during the
steps to relocate the .REL file the resulting .COM file grows to be
larger than 0E00h bytes. I was zapping zeroes on top of the BIOS
when trying to overlay the BDOS. At any rate, LOAD/SAVE 14 resolves
the problem by shrinking the .COM file to its correct size.
There is one other problem I encountered that is specific to
the H89's BIOS implementation. P2DOS, as distributed, uses 0040h
and following for its file search path table. 0040ff has been
reserved by DRI for BIOS, not BDOS usage. The Heath BIOS uses
that area for its logical/physical drive map. So, either disable
the feature in P2DOS, or move it somewhere else. (There is room
in P2DOS itself for it. When I get some time, I'm going to try
it there).
At this time I have it running just fine with the path
feature disabled. I'm using it with ZCPR (as in ZCPR1) so the
path feature is only partly missing.
Happy netting,
John Fisher FISHER@RPICICGE.BITNET