Info-IBMPC@B.ISI.EDU (Info-IBMPC Digest) (07/10/86)
Info-IBMPC Digest Wednesday, July 9, 1986 Volume 5 : Issue 67
This Week's Editor: Eliot Moore <Elmo@B.ISI.EDU>
Today's Topics:
PC/PC Clone Recommendations
INT 19h, BIOS Reboot
Cheap "voice synthesizer" effect
Binary File Transfers via Kermit
Tall Tree JRAM AT3 boards
Computer Discount Warehouse Information
SNA 3270 Emulation, German Version
Davong hard disk--use Golden Bow's FiXT
Davong Fixed Disk and Dos 2.0
Epsilon
Appletalk/Laserwriter/IBM/Mac nets
Incompatibility: Compaq vs. Fastback
Polynomial Factoring
Hardcards: Intralink 2000 Combicard
Extending RGB monitor
PC-BLUE Vols 188-197 and new 000 available
Leading Edge & Sperry Clock Utilities
Xon/Xoff
INT19 and drive C: (2 Messages)
Disk Organizers (2 Messages)
Today's Queries:
Books on Autocad
LCD display driver for PC
Toshiba 1100
Storyboard
Simula, TeX
MS-DOS 5
CTTY troubles
Tandy 3000 / MS Word / EGA Problems
Returning to the dir a batch command was called from
Printer Redirection
Comm/LAN Adapters
ATT 6300 Graphics Drivers Wanted
DOS Input Character Buffering
MODE
Cytek Multi-C
Tektronix Emulator
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 1 Jul 1986 20:32-EDT
Subject: PC/PC Clone Recommendations
From: ABN.ISCAMS@D.ISI.EDU
Matthew inquired about recommendations, as he was planning to buy a PC or
clone.
I have nothing against his tentative selection (a Corona, I believe), but
would recommend he keep one thing in mind I've found very important.
I run a Gulfstream Micro .. an 80286 CPU (8MHz) with PC-DOS 3.1.
The sheer processing speed has totally spoiled me! I absolutely HATE to
work on anything less .. even the 8086 clones and fast boards don't match
it. Now I'm a programmer .. I tend to get bitten less by "processor-
sensitive timing loops". I don't have or need color or graphics, altho
I suspect I'd have NO problems there .. compatibility is excellent.
I hear the cries of those considering which add-on fast-CPU board (or V20/
V30/etc) to add, with boards still in the multi-hundreds of dollars, and
incompatibility biting them left and right.
If I were you, compadre, I would consider a system running as FAST as
possible, with the FASTEST memory available (preferably expandable to the
full 640 Kb on the mother board like my Gulfstream). I'd look at hard
disks from access time as well as capacity .. surprising how you can get
double or better the acess speed (as well as greater capacity) for a
relatively small increase in price or just by looking around.
I would NEVER work on a 4.77MHz system, only grudgingly at 6MHZ, and kinda
envy the new 10MHz no wait state CPUs and mother boards coming out now.
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
ABN.ISCAMS@USC-ISID.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 86 13:38:47 edt
From: "Bennett E. Todd III" <ecsvax!bet%mcnc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: INT 19h, BIOS Reboot
>From: Jim Carter <jimc@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU>
>[...] Does anyone know how to boot from c: (the hard disc) short of
>an illegal jump to the absolute BIOS coldstart entry point [...]
I am not sure what you mean by "illegal"; part of the formal definition
of the Intel 8086 architecture specifies that at powerup the segmant
registers will be initialized to all "1"s and the pointer registers will
be all "0"s, so the official cold boot location is FFFF:0000. Legally.
Jump there and you'll do a cold reboot.
-Bennett
--
Bennett Todd -- Duke Computation Center, Durham, NC 27706-7756; (919) 684-3695
UUCP: ...{decvax,seismo,philabs,ihnp4,akgua}!mcnc!ecsvax!duccpc!bet
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 86 13:50:16 edt
From: D Gary Grady <ecsvax!dgary%mcnc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Cheap "voice synthesizer" effect
Joe can get an inexpensive "computer voice" sound effect by using an
old radio trick: Hold a pair of headphones tightly against your throat
and run a buzzing sound through them. Then, taking care not use your
own vocal cords, say whatever you want. This has been used to create
"talking train whistle" and "talking guitar" effects for years. At one
time I think there was even a patented system based on this, but I'm
fairly sure the patent must have expired by now.
--
D Gary Grady
Duke U Comp Center, Durham, NC 27706
(919) 684-3695
USENET: {seismo,decvax,ihnp4,akgua,etc.}!mcnc!ecsvax!dgary
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 86 07:26:37 cdt
From: moore@ncsc.ARPA (Moore)
Subject: Binary File Transfers via Kermit
Walter (c/o Barry):
I'm surprised you're having trouble transferring binary files with Kermit,
a REAL nice (and free) communications program....
The Digest editor stuck a comment in your note referring to (perhaps) a bad
communcation parameter. Enclosed are the parameters I use for transfers
(binary and text) from a VAX 11/750 and 780 under UNIX 4.xbsd via MS-KERMIT
v2.29:
Baud 9600, Com1, no parity, local echo off, xon/xoff flow control, no hand-
shake, ....., send pause time 0 ms, start-of-packet char ^A, send packet size
94, control char prefix #, EOL char ^M, block check using 1 char checksum,...
Most of these settings are default.
Running a STAT from the VAX Kermit shows: Line /dev/tty, speed -1, mode remote,
modem-dialer direct, duplex full, flow xon/xoff, handshake none.....
If this doesn't help feel free to write me directly. Aside from that (in
regard to Kermit, anyway) I'd suggest contacting the distributors of Kermit,
Columbia University, at INFO-KERMIT-REQUEST@CU20B. They are most curteous
and helpful.
Jim Moore
NCSC
Panama City FL
------------------------------
Date: Wed 2 Jul 86 12:33:39-PDT
From: Bob Knight <KNIGHT@SRI-NIC.ARPA>
Subject: Tall Tree JRAM AT3 boards
Hi - well, I just finished a battle with these boards, and thought I might
impart my experiences with them so that some other unfortunate doesn't fall
into the same pits.
I am integrating some ATs and decided to use the Tall Tree products, largely
because of recommendations on this list. First of all, I was upgrading my
AT, since I find that 2MB of memory just isn't enough for me. So, here's
what I started with:
IBM PC/AT, 9 Mhz, 512K motherboard
Core Int'l 70 MB hard disk
AST Preview card
AST Advantage with 1.5 MB
This system has been running this configuration for about 6 months
with no problems.
So, I get the JRAM boards along with an appropriate amount of Hitachi 150ns
256K RAMs. Being a do-it-yourselfer, I populate the JRAM board with 2MB and
pull the Advantage card, installing the JRAM in its place. Things immediately
don't work - the memory diagnostic gives unknown codes (at least the Tall Tree
documentation doesn't list them) and things are generally wierd. MEMTEST
points to all 8 banks being bad. So, I manage to clear some errors by RAM
swapping, but things are still wierd. So, the next morning, I call Tall Tree.
Tall Tree, in their documentation, say that they have recommended chips, and
to call them for those recommendations. The person on the phone sez "Well,
it should work at 9Mhz, what chips are you using?" I sez Hitachi. He sez,
"tough luck, Charlie, we have found that Hitachis don't work in our boards"
and then proceeds to list (in order of preference):
Toshiba
Fujitsu
NEC
OKI
Micron Tech
So, I get home and I have 5 banks of OKI memory and 1 bank of NEC memory in
my Advantage card. Out goes the Hitachi (actually, into the Advantage goes
the Hitachi), and in goes the 6 banks of approved memory. I plug the JRAM
in and, lo and behold, I'm getting the same errors.
Well, I did what I should have done in the first place - I dropped the clock
speed to 8 Mhz. Voila! Everything works. So I then sez to myself "self,
there can't be THAT much difference between RAM chips, can there?"...so I
populate the remaining 512K on the JRAM board with Hitachis. Everything
still works.
So, I'm now happy as the proverbial pig - I got 704K DOS, JBOOT, JSPOOL,
JDRIVE and all that happy stuff. And I'm a heck of a lot wiser when I see
flakey memory problems on an AT.
The bottom line is - use the recommended chips and don't push your clock
speed. If you're gonna operate above 8 Mhz, you probably oughta go to 120ns
RAMs. I'm not, since I have a substantial investment in 150ns parts.
Bob
------------------------------
Subject: Computer Discount Warehouse Information
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 86 15:48:10 -0500
From: Mark H. Granoff <mhg@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
Since several people have asked, I figured that many people might be
interested, so here's information on how to get in touch with the
Computer Discount Warehouse.
Address: 340 Anthony Trail
Northbrook, IL 60062
Phone: 1-800-233-4426
In case you are interested in getting some piece of mind (and not just
taking my word for how reliable they are), here are some more fun and
exciting phone numbers:
Illinois Better Business Bureau: (312) 444-1188
[between 10am and 2:30pm their
time]
Illinois Chamber of Commerce: (312) 580-6900
Good luck!
Mark H. Granoff (mhg@mitre-bedford)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 86 22:43:57 MEZ
From: UNM406%DBNRHRZ1.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
Subject: SNA 3270 Emulation, German Version
SNA 3270 and RJE support ----- GERMAN language version
We have an AT attached to an IBM 3081 via SNA 3270 emulation and RJE
support ,version 1.01 , with german keyboard support. Unfortunately
this language support produces quite a lot of confusion.
1. The program interchanges the two keys #^ and <> .This seems to be
a relict from the older keyboard, where this two keys had different
locations.
2. The programs interprets everything it sees in the new "language".
It is sometimes rather difficult to read e.g. mail from the US ,
because exclamation marks are interpreted as (U with dots), and
the ampersand comes out as a paragraph sign. Of course, writing may
be even impossible without a key translation table.
Does anybody have any experience with this stuff, or a better version,
or an idea how to change the program ? Naturally, this should be easier
for No.1, while No.2 seems to be a rather principal problem.
Thomas Miller,Bonn,FRG, UNM406.DBNRHRZ2%BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 86 15:26:34 EDT
From: Edward_Vielmetti%UMich-MTS.Mailnet@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: Davong hard disk--use Golden Bow's FiXT
> From: Jill.Crisman@ius1.cs.cmu.edu
> Subject: Davong Fixed Disk and Dos 2.0 question
>
> I recently got a 5M Davong Hard Disk for my IBM PC.
> ...
> Is the software available to format the disks for DOS 2.0?
I got a hand-me-down Davong hard disk as my first computer at
work here, and after too long of struggling with the flaky
Davong software and the copious lack of documentation I found
a reasonable solution.
Golden Bow Systems (PO Box 3039, San Diego CA 92103, (619) 298-9349 )
makCs a product called "FiXT" , $80, that allows you to treat your
Davong, Datamac, Great Lakes, Percom, Tandon 5112, Tecmar,
TallGrass, VR Data, and a few more drives & controllers as if they
were standard, normal DOS 2.x or 3.x hard disks. You can get rid of the
old Davong software entirely, and use DOS Format to format the disk.
(All the data is lost in the process, tho, so you should use Copy
to backup the hard disk to floppies.)
If you have an older PC, with 64K on the motherboard and a serial
number under 300,000, you need to get the hard disk BIOS from
IBM, "BIOS Kit ROM Module", P/N 1501005, to boot from the hard disk.
Rather than spending $xx and waiting for it to come in, I used
Skip Gilbrech's BOOTCFG and told it to initialize the optional hard
disk roms. (You can find BOOTCFG on IBMSW on CompuServe, on the
Wipcus BBS in Ann Arbor, MI at (313) 663-1835, the VOR RBBS in
California at 1-415-994-2944, or on fine bulletin boards everywhere.
You don't need it if the roms are newer.
The machine has been passed on from my posession once again, and it's
still in use. That hard disk is slow, eh?
Edward Vielmetti, Computing Center MicroGroup
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
emv%UMich-MTS.Mailnet@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
emv@umix.uucp (only if necessary)
------------------------------
Subject: Davong Fixed Disk and Dos 2.0
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 86 11:06:15 -0500
From: Jeff Edelheit <edelheit@mitre.ARPA>
Jill - I have a 10 mb Davong drive. At the time I got it, I was able to
get my hands on Davong's Multi-OS psuedo PC-DOS operating system. I
was never really pleased with it (it was a real dog) and was really happy
to discover Golden Bow Systems. Golden Bow is in San Diego and has
developed a chip that you place in an empty socket in the motherboard.
This little gem allows you to boot off the Davong as it it was a real
Xybec, Seagate, etc. hard drive. It supports DOS 2.0 thru 3.1.
My only remaining complaint about the Davong drive is that it is
NOISY! However, I guess I can live with that.
Regards,
Jeff Edelheit (edelheit@mitre.arpa)
The MITRE Corporation, 1820 Dolley Madison Blvd.
McLean, VA 22102 (703) 883-7586
PS - I have no relationship with the now-bankrupt Davong other than
as a somewhat dissatisfied customer. Likewise, I have no relationship
with Golden Bow Systems other than as a very happy customer.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 86 10:53:34 edt
From: Nathaniel Polish <polish%lexington@columbia.edu>
Subject: Epsilon
A previous posting suggested that Epsilon does memory mapped screen
handling. I do not think that this is the case. For one thing
Epsilon is too slow for this to be true. I recently set up my
monochrome with an EGA running in 43 line mode. I then ran Epsilon
with the -vl43 option. Oh yes, I am using NANSI.SYS to go to 43 row
mode (<esc>[=43l I think). This works fine. Since the 80x43 screen
is not memory mapped and Epsilon works, I assume that Epsilon uses the
BIOS.
Nat Polish@cs.columbia.edu
------------------------------
From: lotto%lhasa.UUCP@harvard.HARVARD.EDU
Date: 2 Jul 86 10:02 EDT
Subject: Appletalk/Laserwriter/IBM/Mac nets
TOPS - announced and in the last throws of beta testing is a software
only product for Macs and a board/software product for PCs. It provides
a device driver that allows PCs to be active participants on an Appletalk
network and utilities for Laserwriter arbitration and use. It furthermore
provides a file system translation between the two environments. I have
been using a 1 Mb RAM disk on my AT as a shared disk with three Macs.
The Macs see this thing as an icon, and throughput is almost winnie-like.
The AT is not a dedicated server, I can use the Mac disks just as easily.
For those of you unfamiliar with Appletalk, we ran the network about
300' using plain 2 twisted pair w/ ground. Throughput is 250kb Mac to PC
and 800kb+ PC to PC.
The best thing about this network is the price. I do not know what has
announced to date about this, but it will be seriously less than most
any other net. This is something worth waiting for. Mfrs are Centram
Systems West out in sunny Ca. Non-disclosure type papers prevent me from
releasing much more detail, but it will be worth purchasing if you own
PC/Laserwriter combinations or PC/Mac groups. My affiliation with this
company is as a beta test site only. All statements herein are personal
views and do not necessarily represent Centram, Harvard or any other
organization.
PS. The PC-NFS mentioned in a recent digest, FTP systems TCP/IP stuff
and the real DECnet DOS v1.1 recently announced make this an interesting
time for ethernet/VAX/PC sites as well. What fun!
Jerry Lotto
Harvard University Chemistry Dept.
lotto@harvard.harvard.edu
or
lotto@harvunxw.bitnet
or
...!harvard!endor!lhasa!lotto
or
shout VERY loudly
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 86 09:51:00 cdt
From: cyb-eng!bc@SALLY.UTEXAS.EDU
Subject: Incompatibility: Compaq vs. Fastback
A good friend of mine here in Austin suffered through an unfortunate incident
recently involving his standard old Desk Pro and Fastback. He is not on the
net, but I will be happy to try to forward any replies to my net address.
FASTBACK - DANGER - BUG WARNING
I have had serious problems with Fastback Version 5.03 from Fifth
Generation Systems. Of 64 backup disks the Fastback Restore
utility choked on 53 - locking up my computer and requiring power
down to reset. When I called Fifth Generation they were
courteous and knowledgeable, but a promised fix has not arrived
in over 2 weeks. I will update this message when it does arrive.
My problem, according to Fifth Generation, is that some Compaq
Desk Pros have disk controllers that their programs cannot deal
with. They did not mention this problem in printed or disk
documentation. Documentation states that the program works on
IBM PC, XT, AT, and Compatibles. If Compaq computers aren't IBM
compatible, what is? Will this program work on all IBMs (surely
they all use the same controller)?
I noticed some odd behavior when first using the program. But
seduced by the promise of quick and easy backup protection I
convinced myself that it was minor. Several disks backed up and
restored properly so I felt safe. A month later after formatting
my hard disk, I found I was not.
Before considering purchase of any backup system, consider the
following questions. How can I be sure that the restore function
will work when I need it most? Would the software company tell
me if their product may lose all my data? Does the software
license absolve the software company of all responsibility if
their product wipes me out? Is the saving of a few minutes
backup time worth jeopardizing my business records? Could flashy
performance get me too?
Sam Williams, Business Systems Consultant
------------------------------
From: microsof!donco@uw-beaver.arpa
Subject: Polynomial Factoring
Date: Wed Jul 2 10:11:21 1986
>Date: Tue, 1 Jul 86 10:48:58 cdt
>From: mlw@ncsc.ARPA (Williams)
>Subject: Polynomial Factoring
>
>Does anyone out there have any good math tools for the PC or know of any
>development libraries that provide relatively high-level math facilities?
>I'd especially like to hear from anybody with hands-on experience. Thanks.
>Mark
Microsoft sells a symbolic algebra package called "muMATH" that provides
high-level math facilities (see Microsoft Languages Newsletter 1-7 in
July 86 magazines - Byte p.59 or PC Tech Journal p.28). In addition to
tools for polynomial factoring, it performs differentiation, integration,
trig, etc, etc. For mathematicians, engineers, scientists, and other
people that work with numbers and formulas, it's a great product. Call
or write Microsoft for a data sheet.
Don Colton, product manager for muMATH
------------------------------
Date: 4 Jul 86 07:08:11 UT
From: <U015415%HNYKUN22.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Hardcards: Intralink 2000 Combicard
Recently I bought the Intralink 2000 Combicard, a 20 Meg hardhard, sold
in Holland by Intralec Benelux B.V. It's composed of a NEC D3126 3.5 inch
Winchester Disk Drive and an OMTI 5510 Data Controller.
The formatted capacity of the drive is 20.25 Meg, 17 sectors of 512 bytes
per track, 4 tracks per cylinder, 611 cylinders per drive.
It is very quiet in operation and pretty fast. It uses one slot in my
Olivetti M24, but because it's 1.6 inches thick, the slot next to it cannot
accept a full size board anymore.
The controller includes the IBM PC/XT BIOS. A ROM at C000:0000 can be used
to preformat the disk and to set the interleave factor. It comes preformatted
for an IBM PC, with an interleave factor of 6. (My Olivetti M24 needs an
interleave factor of 3). When installed, DOS 3.0 and DOS 3.1 did not recog-
nize the disk. DOS 2.11 did not have any problems with it. I pre-formatted,
FDISKed and FORMATted the disk using DOS 3.1, and it ran without problems.
(It cannot be used under DOS 2.11 anymore because of FAT incompatibilities).
The controller can handle one more diskdrive.
The price was very high, however, about US$ 1,400. But in Europe we are
usually ripped off when buying things that are relatively new on the market.
The specs do not show how much current is drawn from the 12V supply,
only that it draws .5Amp from the 5V at maximum. Heat dissipation at
average running is 13W. Other specifications are:
Specifications my own tests.
minimum seek time 18 ms 22 ms
average seek time 85 ms 84 ms
maximum seek time 215 ms 213 ms
average latency 8.4 ms ---
start/stop times (max) 15 sec
MTBF 20000 POH
The card comes with one year of warranty.
The only odd thing I found yet is that the DOS disk parameter table (INT 21H
function 32H, PC Tech Journal May 86) shows the disk to have 3 heads in stead
of 4.
Doeg,
Jos Wennmacker <U015415%HNYKUN22.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Universitair Rekencentrum
Geert Grooteplein Zuid 41
NL-6525 GA Nijmegen
The Netherlands
------------------------------
Date: Friday, 4 July 1986 17:49:29 EDT
From: Joe.Newcomer@sei.cmu.edu
Subject: Extending RGB monitor
I'm currently typing this while reading my RGB monitor at the end of
100' of cable. I used RG/174 50ohm (small diameter) cable. 5 wires
on pins 3,4,5,8 and 9 with grounds connected to pins 1 and 2 worked
fine. The display is certainly not as crisp as it was with the
standard (short) cable but it works. Thanks to Chris Schmandt
(geek@media-lab.mit.edu) for the advice. A 500' spool of this wire
cost under $50.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 5 Jul 1986 23:33 MDT
From: "Frank J. Wancho" <WANCHO@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: PC-BLUE Vols 188-197 and new 000 available
The new releases of the PC/BLUE distribution disks are now available
for Internet users via ANONYMOUS FTP on SIMTEL20 in
PD:<PC-BLUE.VOLnnn>. See the beginning of the combined -CATALOGs in
reverse volume order in PD:<PC-BLUE.VOL000>PCBLUE.CAT for what's new.
PC-BLUE:PC-BLUE.CRCLST.60706 will be available later this morning.
--Frank
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 86 12:05:14 EDT
From: "Robert L. Plouffe" <PLOUFF%MX.LCS.MIT.EDU@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Leading Edge & Sperry Clock Utilities
The file EDGCLK.ARC has been uploaded to SIMTEL20 and located
in PD:<MSDOS.COMPATIBLES>EDGCLK.ARC.
This ARC file contains the source and executable files for two
utilities that will be useful to owners of Leading Edge, Model M
and Sperry PC personal computers. (Maybe Model D also. See below.)
They are:
LE_MCLK Reads the on-board battery backed-up clock
and sets the current clock to its values.
This code is intended to be executed in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The .COM file is only 28 bytes.
SETCLK Sets the date and time of the battery backed-up
clock and simultaneously updates the current clock.
The function of LE_MCLK is built into DOS 2.11 as supplied with
the machine, and the v2.11 COMMAND.COM will update the battery
clock with the internal DATE and TIME commands. So, if you stick
with DOS 2.11 you don't need these utilities. However if you
upgrade your DOS to 3.xx, you will find that it has no knowledge
of the on-board battery backed-up clock. These utilities will then
do the job and restore full function to the use of the battery clock.
The programs use an undocumented feature of the on-board
ROM BIOS. The Time-of Day interrupt (INT 1AH) has four additional
functions beyond that of the IBMPC ROM BIOS. This is fully explained
in the documentation.
I suspect that the DOS 2.11 supplied with the Leading Edge, Model D
is identical to the one supplied with the Model M. If so, then the
ROM BIOS must also provide the same functionality for the additional
INT 1AH functions - so this code will probably work with a model D
also. Someone who has a Model D please let me know. Reply to
PLOUFF at MIT-MX since I am not on all of the mailing lists to which
this is directed.
------------------------------
Date: 7 Jul 86 12:46:52 PDT (Monday)
Subject: Xon/Xoff
From: "Michael_Krause.ROCH"@Xerox.COM
The OS 3.1 for the Xerox 6060 series PC's (Olivetti made) supports
XOn/XOff and ETX/ACK protocol which are setable via the Configur.COM
utility which comes standard as part of the package. The utility
supplies full, NATURAL control of the serial ports/protocols as PC-DOS
has never seen the likes.
Good Luck,
mak
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 86 9:08:00 EDT
From: John Lowry <jlowry@z.bbn.com>
Subject: INT19 and drive C:
Anyone got any ideas ?
I have an OLD (believe me) PC with an added hard disk. This PC has
been running on DOS 2.1 and I load the hard disk by booting 2.1 from
floppy and running a 32 byte hard disk "init" program. The init program
does some setup, calls the hard disk ROM (CALL C800:0003), and then calls
an INT19. This works well with DOS 2.1. Now I want to go to DOS 3.1
and all is not so well. The hard disk ROM loads and does it's thing
appropriately, but the INT19 bombs the system. I get interesting messages
too. (PARITY CHECK [1-2] sometimes, most often nothing)
I thought that perhaps DOS was trying to read disk info from the
hard disk and getting confused upon reboot, but have no way to run
FDISK or FORMAT under 3.1 since I can't boot the hard disk from it.
(I get the "incorrect DOS version" message).
HELP !!
John Lowry
jlowry@bbnz.arpa
jlowry@bbnccv.arpa
jlowry@bbnccv.UUCP (via harvard)
------------------------------
Date: 2 Jul 1986 15:19:40 PDT
Subject: INT19 and drive C:
From: Billy <BRACKENRIDGE@B.ISI.EDU>
You might have better luck investing $30 in the IBM BIOS upgrade
kit. (part # 1501005) You must return U33 to your friendly product center.
I'd call first to get it ordered and in stock before pulling out your
old BIOS. This will allow you to boot from hard disk.
I have an original model PC as well. You ought to replace the 8088 with
a NEC V20 as the old 8088s had a bug causing possible random crashes.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 86 11:35:53 PDT
From: sdcsvax!rick@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Rick Randall)
Subject: Disk Organizers
I have seen several recent references to commercial disk re-organizers, and
I thought it might be useful to "advertise" a public domain one: Disk
Organizer (DOG) which has been referenced on the net somewhere recently
(which is how I got wind of it), and which works remarkably well -- and is
*free* (with freeware request for contributions).
DOG can be found on many local Bulletin Board systems, has many tailoring
options, is reliable, and has worked well for me. Before purchasing one
of the hyped and over-priced re-organizers, I would recommend at least
trying this one.
Rick Randall EECS Department
University of California, San Diego
decvax\ rick@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu
ihnp4 >---> sdcsvax ---> rick
ucbvax/ rick@sdcsvax.uucp
------------------------------
Date: Thu 3 Jul 86 09:00:58-CDT
From: Pete Galvin <CC.GALVIN@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: Disk Reorganizer
There's a public-domain program in my public directory <CC.GALVIN.PUBLIC>
called DOG. It moves clusters to make file contiguous and even accepts
a file containing instructions on where to put which files. It's good,
I use it, it's flexible and free...go for it.
--Pete
------------------------------
From: Kevin Terpstra <war%tp3@rand-unix.ARPA>
Subject: Books on Autocad
Date: 01 Jul 86 18:14:31 PDT (Tue)
Do any of you know of any good books on how to use Autocad. I have
inherited a whole Autocad system with ADE-3 and the whole nine yards
but, alas, no manuals. i have called several book stores, computer
book stores, etc., but they don't seem to know what I'm talking about.
Recomendations to some good books (which I could order) or some good
book stores that might have this stuff would be greatly appreciated.
I realize that I could order the manuals but they aren't all that great
anyway.
Thanks in advance
Howard (war%tp3@rand-unix.arpa)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 86 05:36:40 pdt
From: Scott Holladay <scott%atlas.physics.uoft.cdn%ubc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: LCD display driver for PC
I am building a piece of instrumentation around a PC-Bus SBC. I am
including a PC expansion bus in the design, so that I can use some of the
commercially available accessory cards. I particularly want to use one of
the large-format Toshiba or Hitachi LCD displays of the type used in various
laptop computers as the output device, both for its convenience and for its low
power consumption. However, the manufacturers that I've contacted all say
that they do not know of any expansion cards that will drive such a display.
Apparently, they all build their own interface between the CGA circuit
and the driver built into the display module.
Does anyone out there know of an expansion card that will perform this
interface function, or, if it is relatively simple, could you refer me
to a circuit that I can build myself that will do the job?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 86 14:07:43 cdt
From: steve@ncsc.ARPA (Mahan)
Subject: Toshiba 1100
I was wondering if anyone out there had any experiences with the Toshiba
1100 personal computer. Information on reliability, compatibility with IBM PC,
display legibility, battery life, etc.. would be appreciated. Please mail
directly to me and I will summarize to the net.
steve@ncsc.arpa
Stephen Mahan
Naval Coastal Systems Center
(904) 234-4224
------------------------------
Date: Wed Jul 2 16:44:16 1986
From: jperry@sri-unix
Subject: Storyboard
We would like to transfer Storyboard images to 35 mm express to
make slides with the Polaroid Palette software package. If anybody
knows how to do this with Polaroid Palette or can suggest another package
that will do the job, we would appreciate a response ASAP.
If you don't know but might know somebody who **does** -- we'd also
appreciate a referral. Thanks in advance!
John Perry,
SRI International
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 86 14:51:28 -0100
From: unido!gmdzi!achim@seismo.CSS.GOV (Achim Klabunde)
Subject: Simula, TeX
1) Does anybody know whether there is a SIMULA compiler available for
pc or pc/at? If so, where to get it?
2) Are there versions of TeX for pc, at? Does anybody have experiences
with these? How to get them?
I will be grateful for any information on these points.
Please reply by email!
If anybody else is interested in these questions, please mail to me.
I will send a summary by email or post it to this newsgroup .
Thanks in advance
Achim Klabunde
Gesellschaft fuer Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung
P.O. 1240
D-5205 St. Augustin 1
West Germany
UUCP: ...mcvax!unido!gmdzi!achim
------------------------------
Date: 3 Jul 86 14:21:00 EDT
From: "CHRISTOPHER E. SHULL" <shull@wharton-10.ARPA>
Subject: MS-DOS 5
Reply-To: "CHRISTOPHER E. SHULL" <shull@wharton-10.ARPA>
Does anyone have an informed opinion as to when DOS 5 will be available?
My own guess is 1st Quarter 1987, but I haven't heard anything more specific.
Will IBM force MS to delay until after the Christmas holiday season so
they can unload as many PC's as possible before they are completely obsolete?
Also,
while it is common knowledge that DOS 5 will allow 80286 machines to
address up to 16 MBytes of RAM, will this RAM have to be in any particular
format? Will EMS and/or EEMS still work in their kludgy fashion, or will
they be required, or will they not work at all, or what? The reason I ask
is that I have to add memory to 15 PC/AT's that already have 512 K, and I
only need to get them to 640 K immediately, but what to assure compatibility
with DOS 5.
Thanks in advance!
-Chris
Christopher E. Shull
Decision Sciences Department
The Wharton School Shull@Wharton-10.ARPA
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6366 (215) 898-5930
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 86 13:35:54 pdt
From: Steve Walton <ametek!walton@csvax.caltech.edu>
Subject: CTTY troubles
We have an IBM PC/XT running PC/DOS 3.10 which we talk to with our Unix Vax.
We do this with a "CTTY COM1" command, and then connect to the PC's serial
port with either tip(1) or Kermit. We find that at any speed faster than
1200 baud, we get a large number of "Error reading COM1--Abort,Retry,Ignore"
messages. We also find that we cannot run Kermit on the PC reliably for
file transfers unless we do a "CTTY CON" before starting Kermit, which we
do via a batch file which re-does "CTTY COM1" after PC Kermit exits.
Anyone else having similar problems, know of a fix, or have an idea of
what's happening? Is CTTY stupid? Does it not recognize XON/XOFF flow
control?
Please respond directly to me, as I don't read Info-IBMPC regularly. If I
get a solution, I'll post it back to the net.
Steve Walton
ametek!walton@csvax.caltech.edu
ucbvax!sun!megatest!ametek!walton
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 86 09:56 EDT
From: "Roger C. King" <RCKing@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA>
Subject: Tandy 3000 / MS Word / EGA Problems
I forward the following problem description for one of my colleagues
to see if anyone can offer any suggestions or similar experiences.
-----
I have two different IBM PC/AT type systems that I am using with
Microsoft Word and the Microsoft Mouse (bus version 5.0). At my
office I have a 6 MHz IBM AT with the IBM EGA (128K) and Enhanced
Color Display, and I have a system at home which consists of a Tandy
3000HD, an IBM EGA (128K), and a Princeton Graphics HX-12E Monitor.
The system at work performs flawlessly in all modes. At first, I
had a problem with vertical patterns of colored dots appearing on the
screen, but this was fixed when Microsoft sent me some patches to the mouse
driver. Since then, I have installed Mouse Driver 5.02 (which came
with Word 3.0), and Mouse driver 5.03 which I just received. Both of
these also work well.
My system at home is a different story. When I try to use Word
in the graphics mode with the mouse, the screen develops a jittery
double-image effect. I get a second flickering image displaced about
1/2 a character to the right of the normal image, almost as if the
display system is about to lose sync. Initially, with mouse driver
5.0, the problem occurred only after the system had been on for a
little while. When I applied the patches which cleared up the colored
dots at work, the flicker at home became permanent.
My first suspicion was a hardware problem, particularly because
it seemed to be warm-up related. Having two systems at my disposal, I
performed several experiments. The problem does not occur at work
with either EGA card, but it occurs in the Tandy with both EGA cards.
The problem occurs with my current HX-12E Monitor, and an earlier one
I had. I do not have the problem if I run Word in Text Mode with the
mouse, or if I run Word in Graphics Mode without the mouse. PC
Paintbrush works fine with the mouse, and the high resolution graphics
in the EGA works very nicely with Paintbrush and 2 other programs I
have (but which don't use the mouse with graphics). The problem
exists with both Word 2.0 and 3.0, and Mouse Drivers 5.0 (with or
without patches), 5.2, and 5.3.
Because the problem only exists when I run Word in Graphics Mode
with the mouse, it suggests a software problem which is somehow
aggravated by the high clock speed of the Tandy (there is also 1 less
wait-state in the 3000 than in an AT). All of my other software works
fine with this combination of hardware, and all of your software works
fine except in this one mode. On the other hand, it's possible that
the IBM EGA just won't quite work in the Tandy in this mode. It
almost worked with Mouse Driver 5.0, which indicates that the software
is running the EGA close to the edge in the Tandy, and the higher
versions seem to have gone over that edge.
I've been struggling with this for 6 months now, and it is a
subtle problem, but I hope you can help me. I can't believe that I'm
the only person who is having this problem, given the popularity of
your products, the Tandy 3000, and the EGA. I also think there must
be a software fix, even if it is in some sense a hardware problem.
It may be that this is not a problem with Microsoft Word or
Mouse, but with my other hardware. The IBM EGA has a reputation for
being "flaky", and it may be that I have two bad boards. It may be
that one of the EGA clones is known to work with Word and the mouse
in the Tandy, and I could try that. I specifically bought Word
because of its EGA support, and I would hate very much to have to
abandon it.
------
Roger King
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
------------------------------
Date: Tue 1 Jul 86 12:40:45-PDT
From: Ted Shapin <BEC.SHAPIN@USC-ECL.ARPA>
Subject: Returning to the dir a batch command was called from
This is one way to issue a batch command from any directory,
possibly change to another directory and change back to the
original directory. Is there a simpler way to do this?
First, we need to create a file with just the letters "cd "
and no return line-feed at the end.
We can do this with DEBUG by reading in a file with the
proper debug commands.
DEBUG <makecd
where the file makecd contains this:
e100 <-- this says start modifying memory at 100H
63 64 20 <-- these are the three characters (including space)
rcx <-- this says set the cx register
3 <-- to 3 which is for the 3 characters
ncd <-- this says name the file "CD"
w <-- this writes the file
q <-- this quits DEBUG
Now here is a batch file that will change to the \foo directory
and then come back to where it was called from
(this assumes the system prompt is "PROMPT $P$G"):
if exist \foo\ret.bat del \foo\ret.bat
copy cd \foo\ret.bat <-- this starts building a "cd" command
cd >>\foo\ret.bat <-- this adds the current dir name
cd \foo
rem The next line proves that we changed to another directory
echo cd [ here you would do whatever you need to do ]
c:\command /c ret <-- this runs the batch file to change back to the
original directory
Ted Shapin.
------------------------------
Date: 3 Jul 86 19:21 EST
From: davidsen%kbsvax.tcpip@ge-crd.arpa
Subject: Printer Redirection
I want to redirect the printer (PRN) to the 2nd parallel port. Am I
missing something in MODE? It tells me how to get to the serials ports,
but I can't seem to get to another parallel.
<bill>
------------------------------
Date: Thu 3 Jul 86 19:25:29-PDT
From: Jeffrey Stone <STONE@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
Subject: Comm/LAN Adapters
Does anyone have or has anyone seen a list of communication adapters
for the IBM PC and compatibles?
Optimally, I would like to find a list which covers 3270/asynch/LAN
boards and is as complete as possible. Product review would be great.
I would appreciate pointers to articles, online lists, etc.
Thanks,
Jeffrey Stone, Menlo Park, CA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Jul 86 16:13:58 est
From: munnari!aragorn.oz!robert@seismo.CSS.GOV (Robert Ruge)
Subject: ATT 6300 Graphics Drivers Wanted
Reply-To: munnari!aragorn.oz!howard@seismo.CSS.GOV (Howard Greenhill)
Has anyone got any low level graphics drivers for the
Olivetti M24/ATT 6300 color or monochrome boards.
The drivers would be preffered to be written in C.
Thanks in advance.
Howard Greenhill | UUCP: {seismo,mcvax,ukc,
Sciences | hplabs,nttlab}!munnari!aragorn.oz!howard
Deakin University | ARPA: munnari!aragorn.oz!howard@SEISMO.ARPA
Victoria, 3217 | CSNET: howard@aragorn.oz
Australia | ACSNET: howard@aragorn.oz PHONE: +61 52 471380
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 86 18:59:41 -0200
From: Kurzion Yair <yair%bengus.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA>
Subject: DOS Input Character Buffering
Hello There !
Writing a multi-tasking operating system for the IBM PC-AT , I am
facing the following problem : I would like to catch characters requested by
the different processes (via INT 21 , AH = 3F) in order to direct characters to
the different process buffers I handle . The problem lies in the fact that DOS
does character buffering somewhere inside its giant source . I would like to
manipulate with the DOS buffers . Has anyone ever done that ? Can anyone send
me the address where the DOS buffer is kept ? Does anyone know anything
interesting about how DOS handles input characters ?
Many Thanks In Advance
Yair Kurzion.
(yair@bengus on the bitnet)
------------------------------
Date: Friday, 4 July 1986 17:58:05 EDT
From: Joe.Newcomer@sei.cmu.edu
Subject: MODE
Does anyone know how the DOS 'mode' command works? Here's my problem:
when I boot my machine, I can be at the monochrome monitor/keyboard
or the color monitor/keyboard. The keyboard and monitor lines have been
switched but I have no way to determine this. Therefore, I want to
issue the message:
color or monochrome?
on BOTH displays, get the response, and set the appropriate mode (I will
have a remote-boot button at the remote display). Using the BIOS call
16H option 0 has strange behavior:
if I am on the monochrome display, the BIOS routines do not let
me set any color mode. If the equip_flag switches are not 3 (mask 30H)
(color display as default) then it sets the mode to 7 no matter
what I ask for.
if I am on the color display, setting mode 7 causes the color
display to lose sync and never regain it (at least until I get a
'mode co80' command issued).
One obvious solution is to write directly into the memory areas for those
cards, but what I'd like to do is what the 'mode' command does. How does
it do it? I'm not enough of a DOS COMMAND.COM expert to figure out how
to start tracing this one down.
I program in Lattice C 3.0. Any help will be appreciated.
joe
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 1986 18:30 EDT
From: James H. Coombs <JAZBO%BROWNVM.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA>
Subject: Cytek Multi-C
Cytek has a "Multi-C," which is supposed to support multitasking. Does
anyone have any experience with this product, or with the company?
Thanks. --Jim
Acknowledge-To: James H. Coombs <JAZBO@BROWNVM>
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 07 Jul 86 09:46 EST
From: GKN3M2%IRISHMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
Subject: Tektronix Emulator
Does anyone know of a good P.D./shareware/cheap Tektronix emulator
for the PC. I don't need much more than the basic ability to
emulate a Tek 4014. Communications protocols are not a problem
and I can store images on the screen using MS Windows. Please
reply directly and thanks in advance.
Evan Bauman
University of Notre Dame
gkn3m2%irishmvs.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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