shulman@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Jeff Shulman) (06/12/86)
Delphi Mac Digest Wednesday, 11 June 1986 Volume 2 : Issue 23
Today's Topics:
Administrativia - Apple Licensing
Disk Recovery Trick
re: MIDI Help
re: MacPlus bug(?), observations
re: PX and SC in Maxbug?
RE: generating keydown event with modifi (Re: Msg 134)
Keydown events
ResEdit 1.0D12 bug?
HFS Backup 1.1
LS/C HFS headers ?
re: Mac Plus Cache
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8873)
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8873)
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8893)
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8884)
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8903)
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8904)
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8903)
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8905)
RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8925)
XRays
512 keyboard woes
RE: 512 keyboard woes (Re: Msg 8891)
RE: 512 keyboard woes (Re: Msg 8899)
RE: 512 keyboard woes (Re: Msg 8902)
RE: 512 keyboard woes (Re: Msg 8911)
Data Transfer
RE: Data Transfer (Re: Msg 8897)
picComments for LaserWriter
RE: picComments for LaserWriter (Re: Msg 152)
RE: HFS Backup
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jeff Shulman (Moderator)
Subject: Administrativia - Apple Licensing
Date: 11-JUN 17:30
Apple Licensing will no longer allow ANYONE to distribute ANY of the
new Apple software, tech notes, etc. on ANY network without getting
permission from Apple Licensing. Apple Licensing will **NOT** give me
permission to distribute the new Finder/System and further technotes
on Usenet or Arpanet. If you do not like this policy (like I don't),
I STRONGLY suggest you contact Apple Licensing at:
Ms. Teri Drenker
Apple Computer, Inc.
20525 Mariani Ave, M/S 23F
Cupertino, CA 95014
That's the Apple Licensing Department ... the phone number is (408) 973-4667.
BTW, Delphi has paid the license fees and will have all Apple software and
technotes available for downloading in their new developer's SIG. I just
can't post them (nor can ANYONE post them) until we can get Apple to change
their minds.
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (8832)
Subject: Disk Recovery Trick
Date: 8-JUN-12:44: Bugs & Features
I had a disk that wouldn't be recognized by the Finder. "Eject or initialize"
FEdit gave me a "-60 Bad Directory" erro I was astounded when a copy of this
disk made with Copy II Mac 5.1 worked fine! (I think I used sector copy with
format).
Ric Ford
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (8834)
Subject: re: MIDI Help
Date: 8-JUN-15:33: Network Digests
To: lantz@dartvax.UUCP (Bob Lantz)
Subject: MIDI Help
1) The standard serial driver does not support 31.25K baud.
2) MacTutor: They moved recently; currently at P.O. Box 400, Placentia, CA
92670. (714) 630-3730.
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (8835)
Subject: re: MacPlus bug(?), observations
Date: 8-JUN-15:34: Network Digests
To: ephraim@wang.UUCP (pri=8 Ephraim Vishniac x76659 ms1459)
Subject: MacPlus bug(?), observations
The NCR 5380 IRQ line is not connected. The VIA 60hz interrupt code
you found is superfluous at best and harmful at worst: if a
powered-off SCSI device is attached, the IRQ bit will always be set,
causing the rest of the VIA interrupt handler to always be skipped,
making the Mac useless. This bug is fixed in currently shipping
versions of the ROM. The first branch in the VIA 60hz interrupt
handler is now unconditional to skip over the offending code fragment.
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (8836)
Subject: re: PX and SC in Maxbug?
Date: 8-JUN-15:34: Network Digests
To: stoltz@sun.uucp (Ben Stoltz)
Subject: PX and SC in Maxbug?
The Macsbug PX command toggles the display of procedure names on disassembled
code. For it to be useful, the names must be embedded in the code per the Lisa
Pascal D+ option convention. That is, an 8-character string (no length byte),
blank-padded, must follow the RTS or JMP (A0) at the end of the routine, which
in turn must follow by not too long a distance an UNLK A6.
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (135)
Subject: RE: generating keydown event with modifi (Re: Msg 134)
Date: 8-JUN-15:32: Programming Techniques
Maybe not particularly "easy," but... post an application event, then
(with interrupts disabled) find the event in the queue and modify it
to whatever you want it to be. Reason for making it an application
event is to make it easy to find in the queue, since you'll be the
only source of such an event, while there could be more than one
keydown in the queue.
------------------------------
From: DSACHS (136)
Subject: Keydown events
Date: 8-JUN-16:15: Programming Techniques
Is there any way to capture all key down events (ie bypass the "double key"
characters)?
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (8869)
Subject: ResEdit 1.0D12 bug?
Date: 9-JUN-11:43: Bugs & Features
I can't seem to get ResEdit 1.0D12 to work at all with menus. It gives garbage
on my system when I try. Anyone else having this problem?
Ric
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8873)
Subject: HFS Backup 1.1
Date: 9-JUN-18:12: Bugs & Features
Well, I did it ... got my copy of HFS Backup from PCPC (MacBottom) and I like
it, but found an interesting bug ...
The program really needs a '400K disk only!' option. I was in the
middle of backing up, and I got a format error caused by an obvious
misinsertion of the disk (it made the squeaky noises). Ordinarily if
that happened, you'd get the Eject or Initialize box on inserting the
disk, and you'd eject it and try again. However, since it was
formatting automatically, it went through the format process and gave
me an error dialog again.
So I reinserted the disk! WRONG!!
It formatted just fine this time, but as an 800K disk! The tipoff is that it
didn't ask me if I wanted to inititalize it or not. However, I might not have
noticed that if I had been distracted!
One other (rather minor) complaint I have is that it shows you the
number of the disk you are going to format next at the time it spits
out the disk you are now about to put the number on. I keep
forgetting to subtract 1 from the number. (Of course I could label
the disk before I put it in to be init'd, but what if it doesn't
init?)
peter
------------------------------
From: RAYSANDERS (143)
Subject: LS/C HFS headers ?
Date: 9-JUN-19:07: Programming Techniques
Does anyone have a set of headers for the extended file manager HFS
calls ? This is for Lightspeed c of course. I would like to use these
features in a program that I am writing and may have to work them out
if not available from other sources. Thanks in advance - Ray Sanders
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (8908)
Subject: re: Mac Plus Cache
Date: 10-JUN 02:52 Network Digests
To: XQWERTY%UCLASSCF.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (Gann M.)
Subject: Mac Plus Cache
The cache bit doesn't do anything. It's reserved for future use. Just turn
your cache on, and you'll have cacheing.
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8884)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8873)
Date: 9-JUN-20:49: Bugs & Features
More interesting things about HFS Backup ...
If you select the option to always format the disk, it makes 800K disks if it
can. Once again, there really should be some way of keeping it from doing this
if you are using single-sided media.
But, more interesting is the fact that there doesn't seem to be anyway to make
it write an MFS 400K disk. I even tried unchecking the box for verifying the
disk before backing up and feeding it an MFS disk, but it still turned it into
an HFS disk.
There are two problems with that ... one is that an HFS 400K disk is
several K smaller than an MFS 400K disk, and the otehr is that I would
really like to be able to read the backup diskettes on a non-HFS file
system, even if the files have been saved in a peculiar format, since
I would have a chance of recovering a file that for whatever reason
might not be restorable. (I don't know yet whether the restore
function needs to be able to read the backup directory on disk #1 of
the backup series in order to be able to selectively restore a file).
This would only be a concern in the event of a major disaster such as
loosing both my Mac Plus and my 512K Mac, so maybe it's not a very
serious problem. I'm just grumbling a bit.
Otehr than that, the program seems to be working very well.
I'll reformat and restore my HD-20 later tonight. Film at 11.
peter
------------------------------
From: FRIED (8893)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8873)
Date: 9-JUN-22:00: Bugs & Features
If it didn't INIT, you'd have a labelled disk to toss out. :-)
You ask some easy questions, Peter!
Bob
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8895)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8893)
Date: 9-JUN-22:08: Bugs & Features
<zaaappp!> you got me!
peter
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8903)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8884)
Date: 10-JUN 00:02 Bugs & Features
OK, I reformatted my HD-20, and ran HFS Backup to restore the files. All went
well except for one tiny thing which you should know about before you try this
yourself!
That is to say, at the end of the restore I rebooted from the hard
disk (I had been running from a floppy disk system), and nothing
happened. I tried reblessing the System Folder, and that didn't fix
it. In retrospect, the answer is obvious ... nothing in the Boot
Blocks, but I was mighty puzzled for a few minutes. Copying System
and Finder from the floppy to the HD-20 fixed it.
Now that I've done this once, I can recommend an alternate procedure, which is
to set up your essential files like System and Finder before the restore. It
seems the program will ask if whether to restore a file or not if it already
exists (it did this with the Desktop file, and I replied NO). That way you can
control the placement of the System if you want. (I have visions of putting
System and Finder in the middle of the disk by clever reservation of file
space).
Also, you have to rearrange all your folders, since their positions get lost
when you fail to copy the Desktop file. Perhaps next time I'll try restoring
the Desktop file too.
peter
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8904)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8903)
Date: 10-JUN 00:09 Bugs & Features
Hmmm ... the more I look at my restored system, the more I realize that
restoring the Desktop was probably important ... no document icons!
So I rebuilt the desktop by holding option-cmd down as soon as the billboard
appeared and until the Finder asked me if I wanted to rebuild.
Much better.
peter
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8905)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8904)
Date: 10-JUN 00:11 Bugs & Features
By the way, I got back a bunch of lost space by doing the backup and
restore, so I'm pretty happy I got the program.
Before:
in use 18422K, available 597K, 799 files
After:
in use 17737K, available 1292K, 799 files
peter
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (8909)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8903)
Date: 10-JUN 02:53 Bugs & Features
Reformatting destroyed the boot blocks; HFS Backup does not back up or
restore them. Normally (sans Fedit) boot blocks are copied by Finder
from the source to the destination disk whenever the System file is
copied. BTW, Finder doesn't care what's in those boot blocks, it just
copies them. If you had copied System FROM your HD20 with zeroed boot
blocks TO a diskette, you would have rendered the diskette unbootable.
If you restore everything, including DeskTop, all your folders and
icon positions and views will be as they were. I just use Fedit to
recreate the boot blocks.
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8925)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8905)
Date: 10-JUN 15:34 Bugs & Features
The last thing I did yesterday with HFS Backup was to experiment with the
incremental backup feature. First I ran it under normal circumstances to see
that it works. It does.
However it also writes on the first floppy of the disk set, updating
the backup directory (it also copies it to the last disk of the set,
in case you have problems). Since I saw that there was very little
space left on the first disk, it occurred to me that there might not
be enough room to update the directory if you had accumulated a lot of
changes since the last backup.
So, having started with 800 files on my disk, I created 600 new files,
each 1K in size, and ran the incremental backup. After much chugging
and whirring, the backup finished (having written 5 disks to add to my
set of 49 from the full backup). It worked just fine, and the backup
directory was still the same size! Evidently it is the same size no
matter how many files there are on the disk, so there must be a limit
beyond which you cannot proceed.
Since I still had about 600K left on my disk, I duplicated the folder
containing the 600 1K files, giving me a grand total of 2000 files on
the disk, and told HFS Backup to do a full disk backup. After reading
the directory for a while, it gave me a dialog box saying "Backup
directory is full, file "xxx" will not be saved. OK" ... I clicked OK,
and it immediately went into the sort of the directory ... and stayed
there.
After 20 minutes I concluded that it wasn't ever going to finish, but I left it
running overnight just in case. When I woke up this morning it was still
looping.
Some additional experimentation reveals that the directory gets filled up
somewhere aound 1500 files (in my case, see below), and if it gets full, the
sort loops forever. Thus you cannot do a full backup when you have too many
files. Nor can you do a selective backup, since it tries to process the full
directory anyway before giving the option of selecting anything.
Your only recourse would be to unload files by hand to make the directory
smaller, or use Harry Chesley's PackIt program to group a bunch of small files
together to save space in the directory (and on the disk too).
I mentioned above a limit of 1500 ... I imagine that this depends on
whether you like to use small file names or large ones, though I don't
know for sure.
I feel reasonably comfortable with this personally, since I only have
800 files and probably won't have a much larger number under ordinary
circumstances, but the situation is quite different for someone
running a really big disk on the Mac, such as an AST 74 meg disk. A
disk that size would easily hold 3000-5000 files, and is still within
the realm of reason for floppy disk backup (100 double-sided diskettes
for the full backup, and then stick with incremental backups). I
suspect that the HFS Backup program is really designed for 10 and 20
meg drives though.
peter
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (8927)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup 1.1 (Re: Msg 8925)
Date: 10-JUN 18:20 Bugs & Features
Gee, Rick should've gotten you to help with the review!
Were you using an 800K disk as Backup #1? Does that make any difference in the
size of the backup directory? Does the backup directory get sized at creation
time based on the HFS directory size?
Something to note with the extra copies of the backup directory is that you are
actually saving different versions of the backup directory each time you do an
incremental backup and it writes a copy to the incremental backup disk. The
Backup #1 disk always reflects the latest status of the whole set. The copies
don't. (That's my interpretation, anyway...)
Ric
------------------------------
From: JIMH (8888)
Subject: XRays
Date: 9-JUN-21:07: Hardware & Peripherals
Ric, saw the comment in Macintouch about xrays. We took sets of 5
5meg syquest cartrages to Abaline TX to deliver with our simulator.
They each had 5 loads on them one for each of the 5 computers.
Program manager let them go through airport xray in his breifcase.
Net result was 25 load files none of which would run. Luckally the
software crew doesnt trust managers and we brought our own copies
(grin). jim
------------------------------
From: PIZZAMAN (8891)
Subject: 512 keyboard woes
Date: 9-JUN-21:30: Hardware & Peripherals
Keyboard woes,
Today, I got the news from my trusted local Apple dealer that my
keyboard was dead. It seems that a week ago, it started to get
confused about keystrikes. Sometimes, it would not recognise the fact
that I had hit a key. Sometimes it would take three "hits" before it
would register. Other times, it would stutter, sending out a string of
eeeee's or ssssss's even after the key had been let loose. The
settings on the control panel were the same.
Now, I've had my Mac for over two years now, and it has made the usual
graduations to 512, and now enhanced. I think that I have taken good
care of it. Why should it go kaboom on me all of a sudden? Certainly,
my son's hammering on it with the few games we have couldn't do it,
could it?
Being suspicious, I think it is just gummed up with dust. I think my local
dealer might just be looking to sell me a new keyboard. This electronic hardware
doesn't just break irreversibly, does it?
Anyone else have keyboard trouble like this? Does it really mean that the whole
keyboard has to be thrown out?
Barry
------------------------------
From: MOUSEKETEER (8899)
Subject: RE: 512 keyboard woes (Re: Msg 8891)
Date: 9-JUN-23:17: Hardware & Peripherals
When my Plus keyboard died with the same symptoms after only two weeks of use,
the service guy here muttered something about some chip going south on the
board. I don't think the problem would have much to do with dust or actual
wear, since mine did the same thing after only two months.
IF you knew a hardware hacker who knows about how those things work, I bet
that simply replacing the chip would fix the keyboard. Apple just supplies
a "kit" with a new board in it, and service sends back the old one, I think.
I agree it seems silly to change out the whole keyboard because of a 29 cent
part, but from Apple's perspective, it's easiest (not their money, either!)
This is becoming a common enough situation, perhaps some knowledgable soul
will enlighten us on what chip does what under the keys?
Alf
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8902)
Subject: RE: 512 keyboard woes (Re: Msg 8899)
Date: 9-JUN-23:27: Hardware & Peripherals
It's an 8031 I think ... it should have an Intel part number on it, if
you can easily see it. Whatever the actual part number, it's a CPU
with integrated serial channel and lots of I/O pins, and a fixed
program in its memory. I don't know if it is a standard part you can
by off the shelf ... the fixed program may have been written to
Apple's specs, in which case the part number on the chip will be
something obscure. The chip probably only costs a few bucks in the
quantity Apple buys them in, but as you have pointed out, Apple is
using a module swap service policy. I guess that's one more reason to
buy AppleCare!
peter
------------------------------
From: DWB (8911)
Subject: RE: 512 keyboard woes (Re: Msg 8902)
Date: 10-JUN 03:54 Hardware & Peripherals
The other possiblity is for some industrious soul to take apart his keyboard,
read out the existing rom (if it doesn't have the protect bit on) and program
real 8031's and sell them. (Real 8031's being the one with EPROM's in them.)
David
------------------------------
From: PEABO (8922)
Subject: RE: 512 keyboard woes (Re: Msg 8911)
Date: 10-JUN 15:08 Hardware & Peripherals
Such an industrious soul has better consult with his lawyers first!
peter
------------------------------
From: GTALMO (8897)
Subject: Data Transfer
Date: 9-JUN-22:57: Hardware & Peripherals
Help!
HELP!
I have recently purchaced a Mac, and I need to used files from my old
//e. i.e. AppleWorks WP, and DB files. I am able to transfer them to
the Mac Via modem but they go, and come in the from of textfiles.
Anyway to convert the DB files from text to 'real' DB files on the
Mac???
thank you for any help.
Greg
------------------------------
From: MOUSEKETEER (8901)
Subject: RE: Data Transfer (Re: Msg 8897)
Date: 9-JUN-23:27: Hardware & Peripherals
If you can find a copy to browse through, Cary Lu's Second Edition Mac Book has
several pages explaining various ways to transfer ASCII, Tab-Delimited, and
Comma-Delimited files (pages 364-367). It may, along with a careful choice of
database program for the Mac, help you with the transfer.
Alf
------------------------------
From: SOLARPULSE (152)
Subject: picComments for LaserWriter
Date: 10-JUN 20:10 Developers' Corner
Does anyone know where I can get some information on picComments which will do
special things to the LaserWriter such as rotating text? I have generated the
code to do it using bitmaps but would like to use the LaserWriter's features
when printing. Even a hint would be appreciated.
------------------------------
From: RAYSANDERS (153)
Subject: RE: picComments for LaserWriter (Re: Msg 152)
Date: 10-JUN 22:26 Developers' Corner
You might want to check out the current issue of MacTutor, May or June
- not sure, There is an article by someone from Adobe concerning the
new LaserWriter driver that will allow you to imbed real PostScript
code in data passed to QuickDraw.
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (8937)
Subject: RE: HFS Backup
Date: 10-JUN 21:14 Network Digests
to: 6090617@pucc.BITNET (Robert Wald)
HFS Backup is sold by Personal Computer Peripherals Corp., the makers
of the MacBottom hard disk. You can reach them at 1-800-MAC-BUTT.
Their address is in ads in most mags. The list price of HFS Backup is
$39.95.
Ric Ford
------------------------------
End of Delphi Mac Digest
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