Info-IBMPC@B.ISI.EDU (Info-IBMPC Digest) (10/27/86)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sunday, October 26, 1986 Volume 5 : Issue 96
This Week's Editor: Eliot Moore <Elmo@B.Isi.Edu>
Today's Topics:
Telex from Instantcom
LaserWriter Sharing
Lattice C 2.12
CED
Music
Software Carousel
MicroSoft C 4.0
MicroTex
Tape Backup
ProComm 2.4 Sources
DOS File Matching Characters
Head Settle Time
DesqView Hangs
SLOTMACH.BAS
Today's Queries:
80Mb hard disk under Xenix
DOS Type Matching Characters
What does Sys Info Check?
Technical Word Processing
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Date: Wed, 22 Oct 86 19:00:37 pdt
From: Scott Stevenson <hplabs!tektronix!reed!nscpdc.nsc.com!scott@ucbvax>
Subject: Telex from Instantcom
We have been using a package from Instantcom for several years. As
I recall, there was no hardware required (other than having access
to a modem via a COM port), and the total cost was around $200.
The package contains all sorts of goodies, but does an excellent
job at doing what we purchased it for, which is sending and
receiving telex messages. For prices and a list of bells &
whistles, contact:
Instant Information Inc.
15110 SW Boones Ferry Rd.
Suite #380
Lake Oswego, OR 97030
(503) 635-8572 or TELEX 25883075
------------------------------
Date: Thu 23 Oct 86 19:19:45-EDT
From: Joseph M. Newcomer <Joe.Newcomer@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: LaserWriter Sharing
If you are using the DB25 port of your LaserWriter for connecting to
a serial line, you can additionally use the DB9 connector to another
PC's serial port. The pinout is documented on page 278 of the
PostScript Reference Manual (the "red book"):
1,3 Gnd, 4 TD+, 5 TD-, 8 Rd+, 9 Rd-
I fiddled with the pinout until I could get it to work; testing is
easy, just bring up Kermit or your favorite communication program and
talk to the LaserWriter. If you type 'executive' you get the
PostScript interactive executive; type
'showpage' and a page will print. I think I had to connect the RS-232
data out to Rd- and TD- to RS-232 in, but we are successfully using the
LaserWriter simultaneously on two machines. It "holds up" the "other
port" by sending a C-S back on it.
------------------------------
Date: Thu 23 Oct 86 19:20:37-EDT
From: Joseph M. Newcomer <Joe.Newcomer@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Lattice C 2.12
Somebody wanted to use Lattice C 2.12. Don't. Buy the upgrade to
3.0 or better still get MicroSoft C 4.0.
joe
------------------------------
Date: Thu 23 Oct 86 19:34:38-EDT
From: Joseph M. Newcomer <Joe.Newcomer@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: CED
I suppose there may still be people out there who haven't heard of Epsilon...
This is my favorite PC product. Release 3.1 is now out and is even more
solid than the previous versions, properly handling various hotkey software.
I use the process windows which gives me a full editor for editing command
lines, not just a simple edit-within-the-line. Infinite scrollback,
automatic error message processing when compilations are run (just type
C-X-C-N and you are in the file on the line that produced the error...if
the error message is parseable. If it isn't you can modify the patterns
to deal with it).
w.r.t Epsilon, I now have a pretty spiffy Epsilon library that has at
various levels of goodness (I don't claim these are perfect or ideal
or even bug-free) Scribe mode, TeX mode, address datbase handling for
writing letters, PostScript mode, and dozens of features I wouldn't
live without. For a limited time I'm willing to send this to
registered Epsilon users. It requires three disks, is undergoing
continuous development, and comes with a 40-page manual; the network
is just not a realistic way to distribute it. Send me 3 disks, and a
self-addressed stamped disk mailer (or enclose a label and postage in
the one you send me) and I will have my PC/AT write 360K format to
them (NOTE: This means some XTs or PCs can't read them. I can't help
that), and drop them back in the mail. Note that this code is based
largely on Lugaru's code and is therefore subject to their own
licensing restrictions. Include your Epsilon serial number. This
works on release 3.1 only. As is, no warranties, and expect to hack
your own EEL code if you don't like what I've done. Include enough
postage; I'm going to drop it in the mail and if the US Post Office
thinks you put on too little and discards it, I don't want to hear
about it. If I am overwhelmed with requests (say more than 20) I'm
going to have to drop this offer or charge for the disk copy service.
Editors are often matters of taste, and you'll be getting my
interpretation of good taste. Basically I'm offering this because the
PC bboard has been good to me, and I want to do a favor to the PC
bboard community.
Joseph M. Newcomer
610 Kirtland St.
Pittsburgh PA 15208
------------------------------
Date: Thu 23 Oct 86 19:35:42-EDT
From: Joseph M. Newcomer <Joe.Newcomer@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Music
Anyone interested in music printing and who has access to a LaserWriter
should investigate Adobe System's "Sonata" font. High quality music font.
------------------------------
Date: Thu 23 Oct 86 19:39:16-EDT
From: Joseph M. Newcomer <Joe.Newcomer@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Software Carousel
I've been using this product for a couple weeks. Absolutely rock solid
and performs very nicely. Allows me to run EPsilon in one partition
and switch to another to run TeX (TeX is too large to run in an
Epsilon process window). I have 2.5Mb of RAMdisk and swap to that.
Swap time for a 560K segment is a few seconds (less than 10). I
had to reconfigure the hotkeys so that right-shift is the hotkey
prefix and numlock is the switch-to-next-partition command; otherwise
I can't run Epsilon because alt-control (the normal shift to next
partition command) means I can't use any alt-control commands from
Epsilon, which is a losing idea.
------------------------------
Date: Thu 23 Oct 86 19:46:30-EDT
From: Joseph M. Newcomer <Joe.Newcomer@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: MicroSoft C 4.0
For various reasons too difficult to explain, I ended up with a version
of MicroSoft C 4.0. As an old Lattice user it is hard to convince me
why I should change, but this package is making some damn good arguments.
First it has a sane manual arrangement: alphabetical! I can find things
in the library manual! Unlike Unix (where "man" pages contain many
commands and are usually alphabetized under the least interesting) or
Lattice C (which finally got their act together and produced a single
library manual, with the Unix brain damage) this one really is
alphabetic. Finally it has CodeView, which is without a doubt the very
best debugger I have ever used, period. I've used a lot and written a
couple, and this blows everything else away. Not only is the user
interface the best I have ever used, but I can debug programs using
two screens: the debugger runs on my EGA and the application program
on the Hercules doing graphics, and then to debug the color graphics
I switch around! When I had a bug in my Lattice C program I converted
it to MSC just so I could run CodeView.
I have observed to several people now that my IBM PC with Epsilon and
MicroSoft C 4.0 is the absolutely best program development environment
I have ever had, period, and every other workstation product I've seen
or attempted to use is pitiful by comparison (I will not use a MicroVax
under Ultrix because it is a serious step backward from what I am used to).
Workstation vendors, look out!
Now if only I could get a really decent document production system everything
would be perfect...
------------------------------
Date: Thu 23 Oct 86 19:59:14-EDT
From: Joseph M. Newcomer <Joe.Newcomer@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: MicroTex
I'm now learning TeX, or more properly LaTeX, for various obscure reasons.
A-W has been helpful but they really haven't got the expertise for the
tough questions. I'm not really happy with this product, but at least
they recognize the problems and are working on them.
Many of the problems are not with MicroTex, but with TeX in general. It
is simply not a user-engineered product. The error message file is
utterly incomprehensible unless you are a TeX guru. I have written a
C filter that reduced a 2300-line (48K byte) TeX error message file
to the 5 error messages actually relevant and emitted them in a form
that Epsilon can use to get to the file and line. THen the package as
delivered produced a 500K byte file for the skeleton of my document;
it turns out that as delivered the Textset support assumes no fonts
in the LaserWriter and downloads every character bit map. A truly horrid
fascination with Computer Modern has precluded telling how to use the
built-in LaserWriter fonts (at least I can't find any index entries in
the manuals telling how to use these fonts); when I finally got my
125-page draft compiled, I found that it took 10 minutes to print the
first page (the nearly-empty cover page) because the first 30,000 bytes
of the PostScript were largely pixel maps. On page 4, after 35 minutes
of waiting, I got a VMerror from the LaserWriter, which probably meant
that it ran out of space. This happened a half-hour ago, and I'm
still extremely annoyed. The product does not work well on a two-disk
system (Textset assumes that there is only one disk and can't find any
font files if they are not on the same drive as the document). Finally,
I spent all day trying to get the program to not go into an infinite
loop because I have some sort of TeX bug, and it won't tell me what or
where, it just generates thousands of error messages until I eventually
control-C out. Again, I think these are problems in TeX rather than this
particular implementation. Unfortunately, I cannot identify any other
product that will do my job. At least A-W attempts to provide support,
which is more than I can say for Mark of the Unicorn, which has sent
me one fix for one of the dozens of problems I have reported over the
last year.
------------------------------
Date: Thu 23 Oct 86 20:01:31-EDT
From: Joseph M. Newcomer <Joe.Newcomer@C.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Tape Backup
Maynard Electronics has announced a 60Mb tape backup unit with a
quick-disconnect so that you can use one unit on multiple PCs. The
unit's retail price is $1595 or thereabouts. Retail for the second
thru nth controller cards is $195. I ordered one today; if anyone
cares, ask me again in about a month to see what I think of it. I saw
the ad in the Byte Special IBM-PC issue.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 86 19:07:35 PDT
From: crash!pnet01!mtarrani@nosc.ARPA (Mike Tarrani)
Subject: ProComm 2.4 Sources
The message titled ProComm Version 2.4 that appeared in Info-IBMPC Digest
Volume 5 : Issue 94 (Thursday, 16 October) brought me a number of
queries about how to get a copy of the newest ProComm.
The most reliable way to get the most up-to-date copy of ProComm 2.4 is
to get it directly from Datastorm Technologies, Inc. Their address is:
Post Office Box 1471
Columbia, MO 65205
They have a number of distribution options, including
- Disk containing the latest version of ProComm and documentation
(but no registration): $10.00
- Registration for a copy of ProComm that you're currently using:
$25.00
- ProComm + documentation + registration: $35.00
- The above + a professionally printed, bound manual: $50.00
Missouri residents need to include 6.225% sales tax
Or, send me two diskettes, a mailer and sufficient return postage and
I'll send all files as described in the message. If that's too much
trouble, send $5.00 to cover materials and postage to:
Mike Tarrani
8131 Brookhaven Road
San Diego, CA 92114
(Bear in mind that dealing directly with Datastorm Technologies guarantees
that you'll receive the latest version)
uucp: {akgua, hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, ihnp4, noscvax}!crash!pnet01!mtarrani
ARPA: ... crash!pnet01!mtarrani@nosc
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 86 20:12:16 PDT
From: osbook@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu (osbook)
Subject: DOS File Matching Characters
the DOS file pattern matching symbols are described in the DOS
manual, right near the beginning!!!
e.g. page 2-7 in PC DOS 3.2 manual
look under "global file name characters"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 86 20:28:32 PDT
From: osbook@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu (osbook)
Subject: Head Settle Time
Think about turning the channel selector knob on a TV it clicks, one
position at a time. This is analagous to how a "stepper" motor moves
the head of a disk: one track at a time. After moving one track
(turning the knob one click), the motor must pause briefly to let the
head settle into the "groove" in order to be able to see if this is
the track that it is looking for. By changing the ablove mentioned
paramater, you can change the amount of time that the head waits
atfer each steps.
Leave it alone. It works fine as it is. Any adjustments you make will
probably work against you.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 86 10:18:57 CDT
From: Scott Royall <HSS0%UHUPVM1.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: DesqView Hangs
Hello Netlandians,
I am running QuarterDeck's DesqView 1.2 on an AT&T PC6300 under PC-DOS 3.1.
Under some conditions, the system will hang and require a hardware reset.
Does anyone know what these conditions are (so I can avoid them) or of a
way to minimize the problem? It is particularly upsetting since I use the
system constantly and it is also responsible for a rather large Fido BBS
here in Houston.
Scott
HSS0@UHUPVM1.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 86 13:50:20 PDT
From: forags%violet.Berkeley.EDU@berkeley.edu
Subject: SLOTMACH.BAS
Following is slightly revised source code for SLOTMACH.BAS. The original
version had a few problems with the sound effects which made it abort when
compiled with IBM's BASIC Compiler. The sound effects now work correctly
with both the compiler and the interpreter.
Al Stangenberger
U.C. Berkeley
[SLOTMACH.BAS has been updated in the info-ibmpc lending library. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Sat 25 Oct 86 01:00:54-EDT
From: John Romkey <ROMKEY@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU>
Subject: 80Mb hard disk under Xenix
I'm trying to get SCO Xenix V to work on an 80Mb Seagate hard disk.
Problem is that there aren't any AT disk types even close to the
Seagate disk (1024 cylinders, 9 heads). I want to end up with
about 8Mb of DOS partition and all the rest Xenix.
It comes with some software which makes MS-DOS work with the disk - it
rigs the boot block to patch in a modified disk drive type table on
boot. (then there's also the driver which makes the disk appear to be
3 separate hard drives to DOS, but that's something else I don't care
about). This does work fine with DOS - though you *have* to boot off the
hard disk for it to work.
Questions:
1. does this hack work with SCO Xenix V? When Xenix boots, does it
supply its own drive table, read BIOS ROM, or go through the interrupt
vector and get the hacked on table that the boot block loaded in?
2. If the hack doesn't work, can anyone give me advice on where to look in
the Xenix kernel to modify the drive table?
Thanks in advance...
John Romkey FTP Software, Inc.
(617) 868-4878 PO Box 150
UUCP: romkey@mit-vax.UUCP Kendall Square Branch
ARPA: romkey@xx.lcs.mit.edu Boston, MA, 02142
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 86 01:18 EDT
From: netmgr%UMass.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (Network Manager, Hampshire College)
Subject: DOS Type Matching Characters
Does anyone know the patch to PCDOS 3.1 which would allow
TYPE to use wildcards?
Thanks.
-- Michael Smith
BITNET: msmith@umass or netmgr@umass
CSNET: msmith%hamp@umass-cs
INTERNET: msmith%umass.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu
TELEX: 4996550
------------------------------
Date: Sat 25 Oct 86 18:38:11-PDT
From: Cliff Yamamoto <CYAMAMOTO%GUMBY@USC-ECLC.ARPA>
Subject: What does Sys Info Check?
Help! A friend of mine recently purchased a XT Turbo system claiming
to have a SI rating of 5.2 with Norton Utilities 3.0; well I ran SI as well
on his machine and came up with the same readings. How is this possible?
The unit runs at the typical 8/4.77 Mhz clock, yet the SI comes back with a
FLUCTUATING value between 5.1 and 5.4 (i.e. avg = 5.2).
Does anybody know what Sys Info is really doing inside there? The
dealer claimed a DMA of 1/3 the clock, instead of IBM's 1/4 DMA speed. Does
this affect the Sys Info? If not how can a turbo board make good ol' Norton
tell us 5.2?
What is boils down to is this : did my friend get a turbo board that
isn't really running at the claimed "5 TIMES FASTER THAN XT" as in one of
the flyers from the company. By the way the computer purchased is from
SEFCO, an outfit located in Calif. in Van Nuys. The board doesn't appear to
be one of those Taiwan boards, the ad also claiming that the systems are made
in U.S. (The board has the name SEFCO printed on it near the I/O slots as
well). Is it possible to make the BIOS do tricks on Sys Info, or can only a
HARDWARE change make the Sys Info do this? Incidentally, the ad claims the
5.2 rating using a V20 chip, but this couldn't somehow be rigged to generate
a 5.2 reading, could it?
In any event, ANY information from anyone, even those with no
experience with this company and yet could provide some clue as to how
this 5.2 rating is possible, would be greatly appreciated. I will glady
repost a compilation of all info received.
Board info : CPU - V20, RAM - 150nS, BIOS - ???, Crystals - 24 & 14.3 Mhz
(4 layer mother board)
Thanx in advance
Cliff Yamamoto
ARPA : CYAMAMOTO%GUMBY%USC-ECL.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1986 16:49:39 EDT
From: Vince C. Gallagher <Q3831%PUCC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Technical Word Processing
Am looking for a technical word processing package for the
IBM PC family of personal computers. Have tried TECHWRITER and am
displeased with the processing speed and high learning curve. Does anyone
know of one which is comparable to TW but easy for secretarial personnel
to learn?? Please reply using mail. Thanks in advance.
Vince Gallagher
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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