shulman@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Jeff Shulman) (04/14/86)
Delphi Mac Digest Sunday, 13 Apr 1986 Volume 2 : Issue 14
Today's Topics:
Re: Clock/PRAM Question
Re: Hyperdrive rip-off prices and reliability
Re: Paradise Hard Disks
Re: Clock problem
Apple Reduces Outlets
DEV
Sheetfeeder II
Getting menus in mac+ screen dumps
RE: Getting menus in mac+ screen dumps (Re: Msg 7181)
Re: ResEdit Pig Mode
LightspeedC Bugs
RE: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #22 (Re: Msg 7202)
small hfs blues
Fix to Mac XL/Lisa hard disk failure
RE: Getting menus in mac+ screen dumps (Re: Msg 7185)
Programming Challenge
RE: Programming Challenge (Re: Msg 7220)
Re: Haba products
Re: Disk Drive Benchmark Comments
64K ROMs
Re: Play-writing software request
Re: Play-writing software request
ZBASIC INFO SOUGHT
Flight Simulator
RE: Flight Simulator (Re: Msg 7250)
RE: Flight Simulator (Re: Msg 7254)
LightspeedC Gotcha
RE: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #18 (Re: Msg 7099)
RE: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #18 (Re: Msg 7259)
RE: Flight Simulator (Re: Msg 7250)
Hot rumor
64K ROM versions
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: NANOCHIP (7143)
Subject: Re: Clock/PRAM Question
Date: 6-APR-19:32: MUGS Online
>my clock seems to have stopped ticking. Does anyone know what the problem is?
Darin>
I really don't know what the problem is...however my Classic 512K Mac
did the same thing a number of times recently. The only way I could
re-start the clock was to run the "Analog Clock" application. This
'jump started' the clock for reasons unknown to me. It would last for
a week or so till it acted up again. A few weeks after all this
wierdness began my Mac died :-(...I was left with a thin vertical line
in the center of the screen (waiting for a ROM upgrade till I fix it).
I've checked the board and ther are no burned connectors or cracked
solder joints as reported in UseNet postings. Don't know if the two
problems were related. Hope you have better luck that I did. <Chip
------------------------------
From: RDETCHELLS (7153)
Subject: Re: Hyperdrive rip-off prices and reliability
Date: 6-APR-22:33: MUGS Online
The general reaction among local (LA) dealers that I've spoken to is
also that the Hyperdrives are a) overpriced, b) support is
poor/expensive, and c) they are UNreliable. (Walk into any Hyperdrive
dealer's service dept. and chances are you'll see two or three Hypers
sitting around in pieces.) I sincerely hope that others such as
SuperMac and Micah will be able to offer higher quality. From earlier
dealings with them, I can certainly vouch for Micah's dealer
support...
Dave
------------------------------
From: RDETCHELLS (7156)
Subject: Re: Paradise Hard Disks
Date: 6-APR-22:45: MUGS Online
An LA-aarea VAR we've had some dealings with reported _severe_
reliability problems with the Parradise drives some months ago.
(approx. Oct, '85) More recent info would be good, as they may have
fixed their probleems.
Dave
------------------------------
From: RDETCHELLS (7157)
Subject: Re: Clock problem
Date: 6-APR-22:51: MUGS Online
We do third-party upggrades on Macs, and have had a number of problems
relating to clock chips. (Either refusing to run, or running at about
1/3 normal speed) There seems to be a problem with the oscilllator
circuitry having to do with the loading of the oscillattor crystal.
We have a fairly easy fix for it (two passive components). Write or
call me at: Persppect Systems, Inc. 628 Venice Blvd. Venice, CA
90291 (213) 821-7884 I'll look up the info on the patch and give it to
you.
David Etchells
PS: I've tried to think of some way we could derive pecuniary gain
from this information, as I've heard of lots of problems with clocks
from other third-party outfits, but What the Heck: I offer it unto the
universe ... What goes around comes around. If there's generall
interest, I'll post it on Delphi.
------------------------------
From: MACINTOUCH (7170)
Subject: Apple Reduces Outlets
Date: 7-APR-10:35: Business Mac
Wall Street Journal - 7 April 1986
CUPERTINO, Calif. - Apple Computer Inc. is greatly cutting that sell its
personal computers, saying it only expects a moderate sales growth for the
next several years.
The computer maker is betting it can sell more computers by
limiting them to strong dealers capable of sophisticated marketing.
The distribution cutback would help these dealers by eliminating competi-
tion from weaker outlets whose deep discounts have been driving Apple's
prices down.
Apple officials disclosed that the company canceled its contracts
with about 600 of the 2,600 U.S. outlets currently authorized to sell its
products. It said the remaining 2,000 stores represent about 90% of its
U.S. retail sales.
_____________
josh wachs - MacInTouch
------------------------------
From: GBL (7178)
Subject: DEV
Date: 7-APR-23:19: Developer's Corner
I'd like to report a bug in the latest version of RMaker (v 2.0d?). The command
to append the resources to an existing file (!filename) does not work! Since
this is the technique I usually use to create a complete application, you can
guess where I put v. 2.0. I've also had problems with the new Edit. Loading a
file, then Transferring to Asm crashes (at least for me).
------------------------------
From: BOBSHAFFER (7179)
Subject: Sheetfeeder II
Date: 7-APR-23:23: Hardware & Peripherals
I have been having a problem with a Sheetfeeder II. When printing,
aprox 50% of the pages will have one or more lines messed up. What
happenes is the paper apparently stops moving for a lin (half a line)
so prints on top of the other half. I have tried 18, 20, 24 pound
papers with routh and smooth textures. Pinfeed papers works no
problem. I would like to know of other experiences either good or bad
with the Sheetfeeder II and hopefully a solution.
Comp-u-serve 72415,1147 Delphie BOBSHAFFER
Thank-you Bob Shaffer
------------------------------
From: MARSHG (7181)
Subject: Getting menus in mac+ screen dumps
Date: 8-APR-01:44: Bugs & Features
I was using a mac+ tonight and wanted some screen dumps with menus showing. I
clicked on the menu and hit command/shift/3 and the menu disappeared THEN the
screen dump was taken. On my 512, the screen dump includes the menu.
Is there any way to get screen dumps with menus (or other things where
the mouse down is important) on a mac+?
Marsh Gosnell
------------------------------
From: RICFORD (7185)
Subject: RE: Getting menus in mac+ screen dumps (Re: Msg 7181)
Date: 8-APR-10:40: Bugs & Features
This problem with the new ROMs was reported previously. I don't know of any
workaround, unfortunately.
Ric Ford
------------------------------
From: PEABO (7202)
Subject: Re: ResEdit Pig Mode
Date: 9-APR-02:44: MUGS Online
According to Steve Costa of BMUG, Pig Mode is a heap fragmenter designed to
reveal errors in ResEdit. Makes the program run a bit slow, naturally, since
stuff is being moved around in the heap a lot.
peter
------------------------------
From: PEABO (7203)
Subject: LightspeedC Bugs
Date: 9-APR-03:43: Programming
I discovered two bugs in LightspeedC tonight.
The preprocessor complains about the following:
#define abc def
..
if (0 == abc(xyz)) break;
because it thinks the presence of a '(' after the use of 'abc' implies that abc
must be a macro with parameters. Other C compilers I have used make that
decision based upon whether the *definition* of abc has parameters. Without
such logic, it is impossible to substitute the name of a routine with a varying
number of arguments (that is the reason I tried to do this).
I linked a program and got a 'segment overlow' because one of the
segments was larger than 32767 bytes. I immediately moved a library
out into a separate segment, and tried running again. It gave me a
link error again. Evidently, modification of the segmentation of the
project does not invalidate the link, and it believes the link still
failed. I had to use the Source Make ... menu to force it to reload
the library I moved so that it would know enough to try the link
again.
peter
------------------------------
From: DWB (7207)
Subject: RE: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #22 (Re: Msg 7202)
Date: 9-APR-19:31: MUGS Online
While we are on the subject of heap fragmenter, anybody running the Finder with
TMon's scramble heap option on? The Finder doesn't respond well at all, get's
frequent bombs. Another program that bombs with scramble on is LightspeedC.
That is a pain because I frequently forget to turn it off after a debug
session...:-(
David
PS> Other than that and a few other minor problems I love Lightspeed.
Problems so far are: No assembler, No support for HFS (new traps and
structures, Doesn't save include files if they aren't part of the
project.
------------------------------
From: RAMARREN (7209)
Subject: small hfs blues
Date: 9-APR-22:01: Programming
anyone know how to get MS Logo to run under the new ROMs? I've been
trying to help someone here and all i get is the insufficient memory
dialog no matter how small i make logo. this is on an upgraded 512k
Mac, not macPlus help would be appreciated highly... many folks in
these parts have the MS Logo pa package and like it a lot.
gracias
godfrey
------------------------------
From: RENAISSANCE (7214)
Subject: Fix to Mac XL/Lisa hard disk failure
Date: 10-APR 02:42 Bugs & Features
Regarding recent messages on USENET (e.g. 2:14) and INFOMAC (4:47)
about Mac XL/Lisa hard disk problems (sad Mac on boot-up when running
MacWorks), here is a fix which appeared in the Winter 1985 issue of
The Lisa Talk Report:
1) Reset the Lisa/Mac XL. 2) After the sound of the second "click", press both
the OPTION and APPLE keys simultaneously. 3) When the flashing disk and "?"
appear, insert a MacWorks System Disk with a Hard Disk Install application. 4)
Open Hard Disk Install; at the Initialize/Update/Quit dialog box (mine says
Initialize/Update/Cancel), hold down both the OPTION and APPLE keys and select
Quit (=Cancel, I suppose). 5) The hard disk should reappear on the desktop. 6)
Replace the System files on the hard disk new ones. 7) Back-up your files then
initialize and re-install MacWorks.
(contributed to The Lisa Talk Report by David Baasch, Infosphere Corp.)
I don't know if this fix works since luckily I have not had this problem (yet).
I'm running MacWorks 3.0 on a Lisa 2/5. I've heard that MacWorks 3.1 is out;
hopefully the bug that trashes the hard disk will be fixed in this update. The
Lisa Talk Report ($32/4 quarterly issues) is available from The NetWorkers (345
Lorton Ave, Suite 200, Burlingame, CA 94010 - (415)258-9152 ).
Randy Smith, Whitaker College, MIT (617)253-6992
------------------------------
From: LOFTUSBECKER (7215)
Subject: RE: Getting menus in mac+ screen dumps (Re: Msg 7185)
Date: 10-APR 07:14 Bugs & Features
There exists a DA to do screen dumps. Comes with a timer, so you can set
it to dump the screen X seconds from the time you invoke it. In the interim,
you can pull down the menu.
- Lofty
------------------------------
From: RICFORD (7220)
Subject: Programming Challenge
Date: 10-APR 18:34 Programming
Ken,
(or anyone else who wants to take this on)
It strikes me that it would be very handy to have a PRAM-type utility that
displays everything in a DeskTop file. We're currently wondering a lot about
incompatibilities between old and new Finders, and the DeskTop is just a big,
black box. Of course, I guess it isn't documented anywhere, but that's just
part of the fun, right?
Ric Ford
"MacInTouch" newsletter
------------------------------
From: PEABO (7222)
Subject: RE: Programming Challenge (Re: Msg 7220)
Date: 10-APR 18:55 Programming
The Desktop file is partially documented (see the Tech Notes).
Basically, Apple has explained some of the things in it and explciitly
told people not to make assumptions about the content or existence of
the rest of it. Of course, for educational purposes it would be
instructive to investigate the undocumented portion ;-)
peter
------------------------------
From: RDETCHELLS (7235)
Subject: Re: Haba products
Date: 10-APR 22:45 MUGS Online
We've heard a lot of bad reports on the Haba 400K drives. Too soon to
tell on the 800Ks, but I'd be cautious. On the positive side though,
they seem to be very good about taking back bad product, but thhat may
be small consolation if you've just lost 3 weeks work that your drive
munched. -Davvid Etcchells (RDETCHELLS, Delphi)
------------------------------
From: BRECHER (7240)
Subject: Re: Disk Drive Benchmark Comments
Date: 11-APR 06:34 MUGS Online
> [Quote attributed to Dan Clark of SuperMac:]
> My guess is that the speed "increase" is due to Micah's interface (which
> I believe is different from ours).
SuperMac's DataFrame and Micah's MicahDrive use the same host adapter
(NCR 5380) and the same disk controller (SMS OMTI 3100). The data
transfer speed difference is entirely due to software in the Mac.
------------------------------
From: RICFORD (7244)
Subject: 64K ROMs
Date: 11-APR 14:48 Macintosh In Fact
Does anyone know if there has been more than one version of the 64K
ROMs? If so, what are the checksums and version numbers at $400002 and
$400008?
Ric Ford
------------------------------
From: PEABO (7251)
Subject: Re: Play-writing software request
Date: 12-APR 01:30 MUGS Online
There is a program called Scriptor which was originally implemented
for CP/M and then ported to MS-DOS. By now, it may exist or be close
to existing for the Mac. It knows all about scripts, and is widely
used in the TV and film industry. Sorry, I don't remember who sells
it.
------------------------------
From: RICFORD (7260)
Subject: Re: Play-writing software request
Date: 12-APR 06:59 MUGS Online
It is also possible to use MacDraw or any of the page-layout programs to create
multi-column text. Ready-Set-Go is cheap and may provide enough flexibility.
Ric
------------------------------
From: ADEN (7249)
Subject: ZBASIC INFO SOUGHT
Date: 12-APR 00:09 Programming
Has anyone here had any experience with ZBASIC by Zedcor? It looks really
appealing but I was wondering how well it supported the Mac Interface? Any
input would be appreciated. Thanks, Leon Hauck ADEN
------------------------------
From: JOEMURPHY (7250)
Subject: Flight Simulator
Date: 12-APR 00:24 Games and Entertainment
Microsoft Flight Siulator is supposedly shipping for the MAc. I was
wondering if anyone has it and their impressions.
------------------------------
From: BMUG (7254)
Subject: RE: Flight Simulator (Re: Msg 7250)
Date: 12-APR 02:18 Games and Entertainment
I saw it at one of the stores out here..It seemed OK but nothing
special(how jaded we can get?) and seems not to use quickdraw and
flickers alot...........And of course it's copyprotected...Still it
was somewhat fun to play...... Steve Costa/BMUG
------------------------------
From: ERNABEE (7265)
Subject: RE: Flight Simulator (Re: Msg 7254)
Date: 12-APR 08:46 Games and Entertainment
I bought the one by SubLogic (I don't think that there is one out from
Microsoft, but of course I could be mistaken). The version I have also has a
great deal of flickering and even on a Mac+ is too slow to make the game feel
realistic (but then again, how realisitc can you get from your Mac ?).
Ernabee Martin
------------------------------
From: PEABO (7252)
Subject: LightspeedC Gotcha
Date: 12-APR 01:36 Programming
There is a subtlety (i.e., a bug) in the LightspeedC include files.
If you fail to include <pascal.h>, the two functions PtoCstr() and
CtoPstr() are not declared, and therefore default to "int". They
should both be "char *" or somthing similar (as declared in pascal.h).
Thus, if you do something like this:
open(PtoCstr(infile.fName), O_RDONLY | O_BINARY)
the filename will be Pascalized, but its address will be cast to a
short integer during the call, causing the open() to fail.
MANX users: don't forget to use O_BINARY or the "b" attribute when opening
files that you were accessing with getc() under MANX. There is no agetc() in
LightspeedC, so you have to say what kind of treatment you want applied to the
newline character.
peter
------------------------------
From: MACLAIRD (7259)
Subject: RE: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #18 (Re: Msg 7099)
Date: 12-APR 06:58 MUGS Online
To ksc@uclachem.UUCP (Kim Cary):
I believe that the Mac reads the lower side as well. It's easy enough to see
which side is marked with very faint radial scratches after a little use.
If the DS drives do maintain head contact with *both* sides on SS disks, think
about it this way: use the SS disk enough and maybe the top side eventually
will be polished enough to reinitialize as a DS disk??
------------------------------
From: PEABO (7269)
Subject: RE: Usenet Mac Digest V2 #18 (Re: Msg 7259)
Date: 12-APR 13:55 MUGS Online
I took apart my external drive once (a long story involving a funny squeaking
noise which I have since conclusded had to do with using a particular brand of
diskette that I no longer buy) ... the head is on the lower side and the
pressure pad is on the top side.
peter
------------------------------
From: RICKLEPAGE (7273)
Subject: RE: Flight Simulator (Re: Msg 7250)
Date: 12-APR 23:23 Games and Entertainment
Well, we have had it for about a week now (we're not _ALL_ business
here!), and I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the
simulator -- it is quick, very easy to learn, and faithful to the PC
original.
There are three modes -- Cessna, Lear Jet, WWI ace -- graphics are great, it is
a bear to land any of them. I haven't really played that much with it (a few
minutes here and there), but i have liked what i have seen.
irritants --
mercilessly copy protected, though it will allow you to make
a backup. it is a game, though, so what should we expect?? won't run anywhere
other than internal drive.
Menus and dialogs look like they were written for GEM -- and I am totally
serious here. They look like prototypes of
Mac menus and dialogs from 1981 (dot matrix fonts, bad boxes)
the menus are a cross between GEM and the Mac -- they flop down
and hang around for a while...
plusses --
hey it runs on any Mac (128, 512, Plus) it has multiple windows and
uses either the mouse or keyboard (or both) now your friends can't say
your Mac is a sissy's computer cause it cant run power spreadsheets or
Flight Simulator. it is fun.
I don't know the price of it, but it is pretty cool -- the dox are as
detailed as the PC version. no color, but hell of a lot better
graphics. if anyone wants a more in-depth opinion, ask me after the
20th and i'll post a bit more.
Rick LE Page MacInTouch
"now all I want is Night Mission Pinball...
------------------------------
From: RICFORD (7278)
Subject: Hot rumor
Date: 13-APR 09:57 Macintosh In Fact
The rumor is heating up that Apple will announce the Mac 512 Enhanced
early next week. It is to have the 800K floppies and 128K ROM (which
one?) and we expect the same price, with MacPaint and MacWrite
unbundled. It makes perfect sense - of course, that doesn't mean it
will happen! We'll be looking for an announcement about replacing all
those old EE ROMs - don't know if there will be one, but we'll be
looking...
Ric Ford "MacInTouch" hotline
------------------------------
From: RICFORD (7280)
Subject: 64K ROM versions
Date: 13-APR 10:02 Developer's Corner
I note that Inside Mac is based on ROM version "105" which corresponds to the
69(hex) ROM version number we found in our Mac 512K's 64K ROMs at 400008.
Ric Ford
------------------------------
End of Delphi Mac Digest
************************darin@ut-dillo.UUCP (Darin Adler) (04/15/86)
In the Delphi Digest: > According to Steve Costa of BMUG, Pig Mode is a heap fragmenter designed to > reveal errors in ResEdit. Makes the program run a bit slow, naturally, since > stuff is being moved around in the heap a lot. Flipping Pig Mode is precisely this: once every time through the main event loop of ResEdit the following calls are made: PurgeMem(maxBlock); CompactMem(maxBlock); This has some effects similar to heap scramble (moves blocks around a lot). I seem to recall that it was mentioned as a recommended debugging practice by one of the tech notes. > (Discussion about different ROM versions) > I note that Inside Mac is based on ROM version "105" which corresponds to the > 69(hex) ROM version number we found in our Mac 512K's 64K ROMs at 400008. As I mentioned in an earlier posting about versions, the current System file (3.0 and up) uses the ROM version number to decide which set of patches to use. It only recognizes three versions: 105 ($69, 64K ROMs), 118 ($76, 128K ROMs), 28927 ($70FF, Latest? MacWorks). Thus, I think that it is unlikely that ROMs with other versions are common. -- Darin Adler ...!ut-sally!ut-ngp!ut-dillo!darin