info-mac@uw-beaver (04/15/85)
From: Moderator John Mark Agosta <INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
INFO-MAC Digest Monday, 15 Apr 1985 Volume 2 : Issue 30
Today's Topics:
Stolen from Apple Computer
Bit 8 of Trap Word, Manx Bug
Tecmar Recovery -- the easy way
Re: MacDraw-to-Impress (Imagen) translator
Hyperdrive Holdout?
Hyperdrive...
Spell Right for Microsoft Word
Data analysis on the MACINTOSH ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 85 16:34:42 EST
From: winkler@harvard.ARPA (Dan Winkler)
Subject: Stolen from Apple Computer
Here's a little Macintosh Pascal program that displays the stolen from
Apple Computer icon in the ROM. (It's not really an icon since it's
only 24 bits tall.)
program stolen;
uses
quickdraw2;
var
b : BitMap;
r : Rect; begin
b.baseAddr := pointer($40ad40);
b.rowBytes := 4;
r.top := 0;
r.left := 0;
r.bottom := 24;
r.right := 32;
b.bounds := r;
r.right := 128;
r.bottom := 96;
CopyBits(b, theport^.portBits, b.bounds, r, srcCopy, nil); end.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 85 16:49:47 EST
From: winkler@harvard.ARPA (Dan Winkler)
Subject: Bit 8 of Trap Word, Manx Bug
Trap numbers are sometimes written with bit 8 of the trap word set to
0. This is how they are listed in the old assembler manual, for
example. However, the trap dispatcher preserves A0 if bit 8 is 0. So
it should be considered completely incorrect to write the trap number
of a trap that returns a value in A0 without setting bit 8 of the trap
word. But it happens. For example, in the Manx C compiler,
GetTrapAddress() calls a Manx library routine which does the trap with
bit 8 set wrong. (The reason Manx goes through a library routine is
to provide a stacked based interface to a register based trap.) The
result is that the trap gets called properly, does all the right
things, and places its answer in A0, but then the dispatcher clobbers
the answer when it restores the original value of A0.
Dan.
------------------------------
Date: Sat 13 Apr 85 20:28:05-PST
From: michael tchao <TCHAO@SU-SCORE.ARPA>
Subject: Tecmar Recovery -- the easy way
There is an easy way to recover from a the Tecmar problem that
John Clark described in "RECOVERING FROM TECMAR HARD DISK CRASHES."
When the System file becomes corrupted on your Tecmar boot volume, as
John says, the Mac will crash when trying to boot from this volume
making all files on the hard disk inaccessible. (no fun)
It turns out that there is a little known way to force the
Tecmar System to boot from the floppy allowing you to repair or
replace a bad system file on the hard disk.
Insert the Tecmar System Disk and turn the Mac on (or push
reset)
When you get the happy Mac HOLD THE MOUSE BUTTON DOWN -- the
Tecmar will boot from the floppy.
Use Mount Manager to mount the System volume and copy a good
system file to the hard disk.
Please note that copying later versions of the new FINDER to
the Tecmar cause strange things to happen to the System file -- things
which cause the type of crash described above. to the types of
crashes described above. If anyone knows how to avoid this, please
let me know.
michael
------------------------------
Date: Sun 14 Apr 85 17:36:18-MST
From: John W. Peterson <JW-Peterson@UTAH-20.ARPA>
Subject: Re: MacDraw-to-Impress (Imagen) translator
A more general solution might be to capture the PostScript output from
MacDraw, and then write a PostScript to Impress conversion utility.
This would be useful for applications beyond MacDraw.
------------------------------
Date: Fri 12 Apr 85 08:21:02-MST
From: Tony Jacobs <T-JACOBS@UTAH-20.ARPA>
Subject: Hyperdrive Holdout?
We have been trying to strike an arrangement with HyperDrive here at
the 'U' but so far their offerings have been poor. I also hear that
none of the other consortium Universities have a deal yet either. Is
that true?
t-jacobs@UTAH-20
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 85 15:54:10 CST
From: Scott Comer <wert@rice.ARPA>
Subject: Hyperdrive...
I went to see a demonstration of the Hyperdrive today, and I was
really impressed.
The computer store (in Houston) where I got the demo says that when
they have them in stock, they install one a day. The installation
takes about 45 minutes, and they maintain your Mac after that if it
ever breaks (that is, they offer maintenance agreements). The
Hyperdrive comes with some utilities and drivers to make it work. The
price was $2195 for 512K Macs, and $2795 for 128K Macs. You must
upgrade your Mac to 512K.
The Hyperdrive works with the standard Finder, and with only one
exception all the software that I tried (MacPaint, MacWrite4.2,
Consulair Edit, various Megamax utilities, some other stuff that I
don't remember). The exception was the Consulair Edit, which wouldn't
transfer to other applications correctly. Other than that, it worked
fine. We decided that that was a Consular Edit problem. The other
Megamax software transferred correctly.
The Hyperdrive is divided up into several file drawers, each of which
behaves like a Mac floppy. Drawers automatically resize themselves as
required. Each folder window (in the finder) tells how much space is
left on the drive. You can also select (at drawer create time) how
many files a drawer can hold (128, 256, 512). The maximum number of
drawers you can have is 32. You can control which drawers are active
(mounted) with a desk accessory. If there isn't a bootable floppy in
the internal drive, the Mac will boot off of the Hyperdrive.
You can also password protect file drawers, and when you activate them
you have to supply the password. You can also encrypt/decrypt specific
files (from a security application they provide). The utilities they
give you allow you to create/destroy drawers, format them, etc. There
is some amount of online help available. I did not see a manual (never
looked for one). We figured everything out by looking at the utilities
themselves.
The drive was fast. The drive was *very* quiet. The Mac was a little
heavier. The drive is also very rugged. The sales person told a story
about dropping a running Hyperdrived Mac off a table (actually the
table broke) without damage. The drive has 10mb of space. The drive
also does not appear to run any hotter than a standard Mac.
Also, I was under the impression from their ads that they confiscated
your internal floppy, but that was a lie. You have the floppy, hard
disk, 512K Mac all in one package, and all your ports to play with.
Super.
There is not any backup software provided as yet. You also cannot drop
floppy disks on top of folders, or visa-versa. They weakly claimed
that these problems would be fixed shortly. We did manage to crash the
Mac once (while in the finder (which was 1.1g) copying files around),
but when we tried it again, it worked fine.
All in all, I am ready to get one. It is pretty expensive, but it is
all in one package, etc. It has a nice size, and a nice interface. You
can boot off of it. The Hyperdrive people are selling them as fast as
they can make them (which isn't very fast yet).
scott comer
------------------------------
Date: Sat,13 Apr 85 22:04:36 EST
From: Michael C. Adler <MADLER@MIT-MC>
Subject: Spell Right for Microsoft Word
In case anybody is interested: According to an Assimilation Process
rep., work is in progress on a version of Spell Right for Microsoft
Word. It will have a dictionary similar to the version for MacWrite
(perhaps the same) and will work interactively WITHIN Word. His guess
at a release date was June.
-Michael
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 85 17:12:20 BST
From: Rwy@ucl-cs.arpa
Subject: Data analysis on the MACINTOSH ?
From: Chris Rawlings, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London
Can anyone please tell me if someone has implemented or converted any
software for the analysis of DNA or protein sequences on the MAC (or
intends to do so in the near future) ?
Failing that, are there any nice scientific data management programs
available?
Thanks... Chris
------------------------------
End of INFO-MAC Digest
**********************