Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA.UUCP (06/02/86)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sunday, June 2, 1986 Volume 5 : Issue 57
Today's Editor: Richard Gillmann
Today's Topics:
New Arpa Digest (PC-Token-Ring)
Announcing Version 2.29 of MS-DOS Kermit
Reformatting and the Fatness of FATS (4 msgs)
BBS Software (3 msgs)
Public Domain Parser Generators (2 msgs)
Re: Reading uVax floppies
Re: BSR controller
Apollo 3000 with AT compatible bus
8253 Timer
PGA Bug
SINE.C from Dr Dobbs 5/86
ComPackage version for UCSD p-System
New version of PCWRITE available
Summary: Reading Screen Attributes from Turbo Pascal
Farsight
Today's Queries:
Lightyear Query
PC/AT bus extender query
Comm. problem
Hard Disk Upgrade Query
Where is Davong?
MiniScribe Noise Problem
DOS+ and Concurrent DOS 4.1 Query
Better Xenix console driver wanted
SCCS Wanted
Printer Driver for Lotus and Toshiba P1340 Wanted
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 May 86 20:21 PDT
To: Administration for Token-Ring <PC-TOKEN-RING@OAC.UCLA.EDU>
From: Todd Booth (213) 825-1933 <CSDCTGB@UCLA-CCN.ARPA>
Subject: New Arpa Digest (PC-Token-Ring)
CC: Submit to Info-IBMPC <info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa>,
Submit to IBM PC TCP/IP <pcip@louie.udel.edu>
PC-Token-Ring@UCLA-CCN.ARPA
Technical discussions related to the the IBM PC Token Ring.
Some welcomed topics are:
Gateways & Bridges
Programming
SNA 6.2 on Token Ring
Network Management
Announcements of books, papers, new products, public domain
software, etc. are welcomed also.
All requests to be added to or deleted from this list, problems,
questions, etc., should be sent to:
PC-Token-Ring-Request@UCLA-CCN.ARPA
Coordinator: Todd Booth <CSDCTGB@UCLA-CCN.ARPA>
------------------------------
Date: Wed 28 May 86 11:08:51-EDT
From: Frank da Cruz <SY.FDC@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Announcing Version 2.29 of MS-DOS Kermit
This is to announce version 2.29 of MS-DOS Kermit for the IBM PC family and
compatibles, the DEC Rainbow, Heath/Zenith-100, HP-1xx, NEC APC, Sanyo MBC, TI
PC, Victor 9000, several other systems, and generic MS-DOS. This version
replaces version 2.28, which was released June 10, 1985.
The new release was prepared by Joe R. Doupnik of Utah State University
(JRD@USU.BITNET) over many long months of detailed work. Joe began by adding
full DOS 2.0 file support to 2.28 along with a range of server functions, and
fixing the bugs that were listed in the .BWR file. Then he took the VT100
emulation code from James Harvey of Indiana/Purdue University (which was
written for version 2.27) and merged it in, adding features to bring it up to
nearly complete VT102 emulation, while leaving the VT52 and Heath-19 emulation
intact. Joe has also added many new features and commands, and has tirelessly
coordinated testing of the new program on different systems through many
generations of prerelease, and cheerfully checked and merged in improved
support for various systems (like the Z100).
The result is finally ready for distribution. In addition to the new programs,
there is a completely new MS-DOS Kermit chapter for the Kermit user guide, new
help and beware files, and other new material. On most systems, the new
version requires less memory than the previous one, and only slightly more disk
space. On the IBM PC family, the program needs about 60K to run, but will
allocate more if it can.
New Features of This Release:
. Full DOS 2.0 file system support in all commands. DOS 1.x support removed.
. On the IBM PC family, emulation of VT102, VT52, H19, and dumb terminal.
. Support for host control of 25th line during terminal emulation on IBM PC.
. Screen rollback memory now dynamically sized rather than fixed.
. IBM PC VT102 emulation includes all major VT102 features except
132 columns, smooth scrolling, printer control, and diagnostic functions.
. On IBM PC family, peaceful coexistence with TopView, DesqView, MS Windows.
. Some support for IBM Extended and Professional Graphics Adapters.
. New SET TERMINAL command for setting terminal type and parameters,
including foreground and background color and intensity on systems that
support it (currently only for IBM family).
. New screen dump feature (on the DEC Rainbow and IBM family only).
. Increased screen rollback memory on Rainbow & IBM.
. HANGUP command for dropping DTR & RTS, to signal modem to hang up phone
(IBM family only).
. Heath/Zenith-100 port i/o now interrupt driven, therefore much faster.
. The MS-DOS Kermit server now responds to advanced server commands (REMOTE
DIR, REMOTE HOST, REMOTE DEL, REMOTE TYPE, REMOTE CWD, etc).
. SET RETRY n command for changing the packet retry threshold.
. Improved file name handling, to prevent destruction of directory, system,
hidden, read-only, and volume label files. File renaming algorithm much
improved for conversion of incoming file names to DOS conventions, and for
filename collision avoidance.
. LOG command now also logs debugging information (packets, terminal session)
if SET DEBUG ON command has been given.
. New file transfer display options: SET DISPLAY QUIET, REGULAR, SERIAL.
. Serial display used by default in generic MS-DOS Kermit.
. Program segments are now ordered independently of MASM/LINK version, without
any special switches required for building.
. Assembles with MS MASM 1.25, IBM MASM 2.0 aka MS MASM 3.0, and MS MASM 4.0,
as well as Intel RMX assembler. As released, the programs were assembled
with Microsoft MASM 4.00 and Link 3.05. Runs under all existing versions of
MS/PC-DOS, 2.0 and higher.
. All known bugs in version 2.28 fixed including:
Severe problems if program assembled and linked improperly
GET command filename confusion
Many problems with file renaming, name truncation, etc.
Exported filenames with no filetype no longer end with period
SET DEST PRINTER didn't work correctly
Problems with dynamic memory allocation
Display problems on early PC, Compaq
Heath-19 emulation bug regarding receipt of CR or LF at col 80 vs autowrap
The "C?" bug in the command parser
^C of a file transfer now honors SET INCOMPLETE KEEP
Lost clusters on disk if BYE command given with log file open
RUN command did not default file types .EXE, .COM, .BAT
Long debug lines would overflow screen
Overruns of half duplex systems at high baud rates
Control-prefix operands in packets not range checked
Interrupt and performance problems on IBM PC family
Numbers sometimes disappearing from file transfer display
Problems parsing SET PORT options in generic MS-DOS Kermit
Program crashed with "divide overflow" when transferring very long file
Tendency to hangup Hayes 1200B internal modem upon startup
Problems when padding with more than 2 or 3 characters
Incompatibilities with previous release:
. SET HEATH gone, replaced by SET TERMINAL { HEATH, VT102, VT52 }
. SET AUTOWRAP gone, replaced by SET TERMINAL WRAP
. Filename completion (recognition) no longer works, because of support for
fully qualified DOS 2.0 pathnames.
Tested on the following systems:
. IBM PC, XT, AT, PCjr, Portable PC, Convertible PC, and RT with AT DOS option
. Compaq, Z150, Z160, and other IBM compatibles
. DEC Rainbow
. Heath/Zenith-100
. HP-150, HP-110, and Portable Plus
. NEC APC and APC-3
. Victor 9000 / Sirius 1
. ACT Apricot
. Sanyo MBC 550
. Texas Instruments Professional PC
. Intel 300 series with iRMX-86
. Generic MS-DOS
Needs testing on:
. Wang PC
. Olivetti M24 PC
. Grid Compass II
. DECmate-II,III with XPU (MS-DOS) option
IBM PC family H19 and VT102 emulators tested successfully with:
. EMACS (DEC-20, CCA, GNU, and others, using line/char insert/delete)
. EDT, PHONE (VAX/VMS)
. 1-800-DEC-DEMO
. UNIX vi, sysline, etc
. Various torture tests
The new files are in KER:MS*.* on CU20B, available on the Internet via
anonymous FTP, and in MS* * on CUVMA, available on BITNET through KERMSRV at
CUVMA. Within a few days they should also be available for UUCP transfers from
okstate (Oklahoma State University). The executable programs are encoded in
"BOO" format (a printable 4-for-3 encoding of the .EXE file, with compression
of repeated zeros). The BOO files are in KER:MSV*.BOO (for instance, the
version for the IBM PC family is in KER:MSVIBM.BOO), which may be decoded with
the program MSBPCT.BAS (slow) or MSBPCT.EXE (fast, but you need the Basic
program to get the fast version in the first place, because it too is
BOO-encoded). BOO files for the old release (2.28) are still available as
KER:MSO*.BOO.
The new manual chapter is in KER:MSKERM.DOC (long, about 122K). A summary of
the Kermit-MS invocation and commands is in KER:MSKERM.HLP (shorter, about 9K).
KER:MSKERM.BWR lists the known bugs and deficiencies, along with some
implementation notes. KER:MSR229.UPD contains the release notes for this
version (somewhat similar to this message).
Before you get all of the KER:MS*.* files over the network, first get the
following files, which will help you zero in on the particular files you need:
. KER:MSAAAA.HLP - describes the organization MS-Kermit files in detail.
. KER:MSBAAA.HLP - describes the bootstrapping procedure for BOO files.
. KER:MSSAAA.HLP - describes how to build the program from source files.
Most people will not need the source files, which add up to quite a chunk.
If you are new to Kermit network distribution, then even before you get these
files, you should get and read KER:AAAREAD.ME (AAAREAD ME on BITNET KERMSRV).
If you can't access CU20B or CUVMA by network, you can order diskettes by mail
from:
Kermit Distribution
Columbia University Center for Computing Activities
612 West 115th Street
New York, NY 10025
Include a check for $10 US ($15 if you also want a Kermit User Guide) payable
to Columbia University Center for Computing Activities, to cover our
reproduction and handling costs. To order from outside North America, write
to the above address for further information.
Please send inquiries, bug reports, comments, complaints, and suggestions to
Info-Kermit-Request@CU20B, or by postal mail to the above address. In
particular, reports that the program works (or doesn't) on the as-yet-untested
machines will be most welcome.
P.S. It might take a while for the files to show up on BITNET, due to
temporary troubles with our network connection to CUVMA.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 May 86 15:18 CDT
From: Wilkinson@HI-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: How fat is my FAT?
To: U015415%HNYKUN22.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
cc: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Doeg:
How can one tell if this is a problem for a given configuration? I
have an XT with a Mountain 20MB Hard CARD that also is running the
original 20MB XT hard drive (Xbec?) under PC-DOS 3.1. How do I find
out what size FATS I have?
Richard {Wilkinson@HI-MULTICS}
PS this whole subject sounds like it should be delt with at the local spa!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 May 86 05:28:52 PDT
From: Ya'akov_Miles%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Subject: DOG disk de-fragmenter
My favorite disk de-fragmenter is a public-domain program called DOG
which will unfragment ANYTHING (from a floppy to a 20-meg disk)
Both 12-bit and 16-bit FATS are recognized, and it is completely
SAFE, and you can recover from a power failure by running CHKDSK /F
You can place the files on the disk in any order you choose, as part
of the optimization procedure. It took one hour to de-fragment
my 20 megabyte Seagate drive. You can upload it from the following
RBBS PoCo (604) 464-7693 (Name DOG.ARC)
RBBS Smokey Mountain (604) 462-8753 (Name DOG001.ARC)
FIDO Dial-A-File (604) 736-5311 (Name DOG.ARC)
IBLIS (604) 872-2316 (Name DOG.ARC)
Documentation is included in the ARC file.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 1 May 86 19:38:32 PDT
From: dbercel%misun@sun.com (Danielle Bercel, MIS Systems Programming)
Subject: REFORMAT Program
I tried the REFORMAT program on the hard disk and here are the
results.
First, the program checks to see if the disk really needs
formating. In my case, the stats said that about 15% of my disk was
non-contigious. In addition, 35% of my disk was not in use. The
program said that it had to move about 85% of the disk around to get
the job done. All total, about 2250 clusters had to be moved.
As the program executes you see a running count of the cluster that
are being moved. This gives you an idea of how long you have to go befor
the program finishes. I timed the execution and the elapsed time was
eleven minutes, thirty five seconds. No errors or warnings occurred during
the processing.
Afterwards, the first program I tried to run was a special directory
listing program. It caused the system to halt but then I realized that
this file has in my ram disk and as soon as I re-booted, and reloaded
the program it worked normally. In fact, everything appears to be functioning
properly. Norton Utilities reports that the entire disk is reformated and
I check a number of files that I knew were non-contigious and, indeed, they
are now contigious.
Of course, before I reformated this I backed up the entire hard
disk. I can also report that B & A and VDTE are functioning properly.
My word processor and speller are all ok. DOS booted properly, CHKDSK
reports all ok, my mouse driver loaded, my ram disk driver loaded,
everything seems ok at this point. I checked a number of source code
files that I have and all seem in tact. No random garbage seems
evident.
All in all I am pleased with this program. The assembly routines
assembled and linked without a hitch, the main program compiled
without a hitch, and the program has executed without a hitch. I compiled
the code using TURBO PASCAL 3.0 and did the assembly stuff with the
Microsoft assembler.
I am going to use this program once every six months or so based
on todays performance. Based on the stats that the program gave me,
about 16% of my hard disk was non-contigious and that is after 1 1/2
years of solid use. Not too bad. But, I suppose if I had not had the
cushion of 3.5 MB free that the fragmentation would have been much
worse than it was.
danielle
------------------------------
Date: 28 May 86 10:36:23 MET
To: <INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA>
From: <U015415%HNYKUN22.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: FATs
cc: Richard : Wilkinson@HI-MULTICS.ARPA
There are several ways of finding out what kind of FAT you have.
First, the disk should not be readable under DOS versions smaller than
3.00 if the big FAT format is used.
Second, the NORTON Utilities can tell you how many clusters there are on the
disk. If the number is greater than 4090 than the big FAT format is used.
Of course, there are more ways to find out the number of clusters on the disk.
Third, from the number of clusters you can compute the FAT size in sectors,
for both 12 and 16 bit entries. Compare this with the actual FAT size in the
boot record (or NORTON), and you know which one is right.
Of course, this is all circumstancial evidence, but it really is the only way
to find out.
Currently I am changing REFORMAT, so it can handle the big FAT format also.
Doeg,
Jos Wennmacker <U015415%HNYKUN22.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Universitair Rekencentrum
Geert Grooteplein Zuid 41
NL-6525 GA Nijmegen
The Netherlands
------------------------------
To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
From: "Roger Fajman" <RAF%NIHCU.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Date: Tue, 27 May 86 16:32:44 EDT
Subject: Capital PC User Group
If you want to order a copy of RBBS-PC from the Capital PC User
Group, send a request for Disk 18 along with $8 to
Capital PC Software Library
P.O. Box 6128
Silver Spring, MD 20906
If you wish also to join the user group, send $25 to
Capital PC User Group
Membership
4520 East-West Highway
Suite 550
Bethesda, MD 20814
This address replaces the P.O. Box 3189, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
address. Assuming you don't live in the Washington, D.C., area,
joining the user group gets you the newsletter (monthly, 48-64
pages) and access to our multiuser bulletin board system (Member
Information Exchange).
Following the above procedure will get you the fastest service.
Sending money for one item to the other address will work, but
can add 2-3 weeks delay or more.
Roger Fajman
RAF@NIHCU.BITNET
Also of the Capital PC User Group Board of Directors
Note: CPCUG is a non-profit educational organization
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 May 86 05:21:46 PDT
From: Ya'akov_Miles%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Subject: RBBS
My favorite bulletin board system is RBBS because it is
(a) Friendly, easy to use
(b) You get the sources (unlike FIDO)
(c) It does not shut down at weird hours to "exchange mail", like FIDO
There is nothing so frustrating as placing a long distance call to
a FIDO board only to have it answer and tell you "down for mail"
and then hang up, leaving you with a big bill. Various FIDO systems
shut down at staggered hours, so you can never tell when it is down.
(d) RBBS is polite enough to tell you how much time you have left,
instead of rudely terminating you like FIDO does.
(e) RBBS tells you how much room is left for UPLOADS, unlike FIDO
(f) Uploads work properly with RBBS. I have had problems with XMODEM
uploads on FIDO boards.
------------------------------
From: cbosgd!oucs!mxs@seismo.CSS.GOV
Date: Fri, 30 May 86 12:12:29 EDT
Subject: PCBOARD BBS Software
To: cbosgd!seismo!usc-isib!info-ibmpc@seismo.CSS.GOV
I see a lot of talk about BBS software, and no one has mentioned one of the
up and coming standards. PCBOARD software is a BBS software derrived from the
best features of FIDO, and RBBS-PC. It is based on both user friendliness (as
in RBBS-PC) and SYSOP friendliness. The current version is 10. If you wish
to try it out I suggest calling the following bulletin board:
HAMNET BBS
5pm - 8am Mon-Fri
24 hrs on weekends
614-594-5076
PCBOARD is shareware and can be copied freely provided there is no
fee charged. A donation is asked for. If you wish to obtain a copy of the
software, you may do so by calling the HAMNET BBS.
------------------------------
To: treid@mitre.ARPA, info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
Subject: Public Domain Parser Generators
Date: Wed, 28 May 86 21:18:43 -0500
From: James R. Van Zandt <jrv@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
> I would appreciate any leads to public domain parser generators -
> either top-down or bottom-up. Thanks in advance. Tom.
Try: volume contents
172 LEX part 1 $8
173 LEX part 2 $8
174 YACC part 1 $8
175 YACC part 2 $8
...from C User's Group, Box 97, McPherson KS 67460, 316-241-1065, or
LEX $25
YACC & PREP $25
...from The Austin Code Works, 11100 Leafwood Lane, Austin TX 78750-3409,
512-258-0785.
I believe the code from the two sources is the _same_, and derived from
DECUS programs.
- Jim Van Zandt
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 May 86 10:15:27 cdt
From: ihnp4!network!sad@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Stephen A. Dukker)
To: hcfeams!USC-ISIB.ARPA!Info-IBMPC
Subject: Parser Generator Available
Pe request for public domain parser generator.. We have a BNF compiler
which generates a parser on our bbs PC Network ONLINE. You can call
it at 312-951-5260. It is in the IBM-PC/LANGS.DIR download directory
and is called "bnf" or something appropriate. I haven't used it
myself but you might give it a try.
------------------------------
Date: Tue 27 May 86 02:15:55-EDT
From: Brian N. Hess <BNH%DEEP-THOUGHT@EDDIE.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Re: Reading uVax floppies
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
The floppies are DEC RX-50. These are single-sided, soft-sector,
96/100TPI disks, which are unlikely to be readable except perhaps
by an AT 1.2M disk drive. Apologies if this is duplicate info.
Brian (Hess.Unicorn@MIT-Multics)
------------------------------
Date: Tuesday, 27 May 1986 16:14:25 EDT
From: Joe.Newcomer@a.sei.cmu.edu
To: Paul.Birkel@a.cs.cmu.edu
cc: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: Re: BSR controller
I received my DAK BSR X1- controller while I was away. I tried to hook
it up this weekend. I can't get my PC/AT to communicate with it; it
keeps acting as if the controller is not connected.
The software that comes with it is a window/menu system that allows you
to assign arbitrary codes to named devices; unlike the toy software that
comes with the Radio Shack controller, it does not require that you use
up all 16 "A" housecodes to get to the "B" housecode. I expect that if
I could ever convince it that the controller is connected it would be
nice to use. The controller comes with 3 manuals: a "user" manual telling
how to use BSR controllers in general, a "programmer's" manual that
tells how to use the programming software, and an "internals" manual that
gives all the encodings of the protocols. It is alas somewhat typical of
any computer manual; some of the hard questions aren't answered and some
background material is missing (I'm still not certain what "icon space" is)
but it would in principle allow you to interface the X-10 controller to
an arbitrary RS-232 generating engine.
I plan to look at the problem some more this week (yes, I have a DTR/DSR/etc.
fake loop in my DB9 connector so the BIOS believes something is connected
to the port). A suspicion, but only a suspicion, I have is that the
program doesn't set the baud rate, but this occurred to me at 4am well
after I'd gone to bed. (It wants 600 baud).
------------------------------
Date: Tuesday, 27 May 1986 16:27:01 EDT
From: Joe.Newcomer@a.sei.cmu.edu
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: Apollo 3000 with AT compatible bus
"68000 machines are out...". Well, perhaps down, but certainly not
out. The Apollo 3000 computer is a 68000-based workstation available
with both Apollo's AEGIS O/S and Unix. Their Unix more-or-less
supports both System V and 4.2, and they promise that the next release
will really emulate both systems accurately. Of significance to IBM
PC people is the fact that the backplane is a PC/AT compatible bus and
their intent is to support most PC peripherals. In addition, their
"open system toolkit" or some similar-sounding name comes with sample
device drivers for the PC/AT bus interface and allows the user to
configure and install device drivers with infinitely less pain than
most Unix systems do (shades of PC-DOS!). Furthermore, they have
announced in the fall timeframe a PC/AT card which will drop into this
bus and run all (or they hope all) existing IBM/PC software. Price
for this board is on the order of a couple $K, but whether it is $1K
or $3K or somewhere in between is not a number they've announced, at
least as far as I know. The intent, as I understand it, is to allow
the PC card to interface to the 68000 memory and file system. (No, I
don't know if one can directly share the memories...). They also have
a system right now that allows a PC/XT or PC/AT to connect up to an
Apollo network and extend its file system transparently to the Apollo system
(I think you address it as E: or F: or one of those tricks) which would mean
that you could run a PCoid with a small file system (diskless? I don't know)
and use the Apollo system as a file server.
Now, this isn't a cheap engine; in monochrome it is about $9K for a
diskless node and for color about $15K, but the color is very high
resolution (1Kx840x16 I vaguely recall, but my info isn't here so
don't hold me to that). Adding hard disks, streaming tapes, etc.
ups the price. However, to give up the minute address space and
lack of virtual memory, timesharing, multitasking, etc. limits imposed
by PCoids there is a certain benefit in spending the bucks.
In any case, you may want to look into this; looks like you could get
the advantages of both a PC environment and a 68000 Unix environment
with uniform address space, and perhaps even cost-effective.
joe
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 May 86 17:07:42 EDT
From: Chris Schmandt <geek@MEDIA-LAB.MIT.EDU>
To: info-ibmpc@isib.arpa
Subject: 8253 Timer
In the last digest, Dan Lewis made a query about differing
clock rates for the 8253 timer in the PC vs. XT. I cannot
reproduce this phenomenon; with my own code which generates
tones to the speaker by programming the timer directly, I
hear the same frequency on both PC and XT (untried on an
AT). Can anyone reproduce this? Could it be due to a faster
crystal on the mother board of one of his test machines?
chris
------------------------------
From: Filip Fuma <Fuma%upenn.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: PGA Bug
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Date: Wed, 28 May 86 23:04 EDT
We are experiencing some problems with the IBM Professional
Graphics Adapter. Specifically, we cannot get the 'filled
rectangle' operations to work properly.
The Bug: Send the following stream of commands to your PGA.
resetf
prmfil 1
clears 0
lut 1 15 0 0 /* set up colors 1-3 as red/green/blue.
lut 2 0 15 0 /* for clarity only. nothing to do with the bug.
lut 3 0 0 15
color 1 /* draw a filled red rectangle on plane 1
mask 1
move 100 100
rectr 100 100
color 2 /* draw a filled (overlapping) rect on plane 2
mask 2
move 50 50
rectr 100 100
The result of this code SHOULD be something like this...
..........
..........
.......... where:
ooooo*****.....
ooooo*****..... '.' = color 1,
ooooo*****..... 'o' = color 2 and
oooooooooo '*' = color 3.
oooooooooo
oooooooooo
THIS is what we get:
..........
..........
..........
**********.....
**********.....
ooooo*****.....
oooooooooo
oooooooooo
oooooooooo
It appears that when the second rectangle is drawn and the
scan line ends in the OVERLAP color, it
STAYS in the overlap color for all succeeding scan lines. This problem does
not occur if the scan line ends in the original color, regardless of what's
happened during the course of the line.
Has anyone seen this behaviour before? Is there a fix or workaround?
(We tried several boards, they performed identically.
We also tried IBM's "ASK-INFO", but got nothing useful back.)
Thanks -- Filip FUMA
------------------------------
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib
Subject: SINE.C from Dr Dobbs 5/86
Date: Thu, 29 May 86 10:32:08 -0500
From: Mark Colan <mtc@ATHENA.MIT.EDU>
I typed in the SINE.C example program from Dr Dobb's Journal, May 1986.
The article describes a simple plotting routine for the IBM EGA in
high resolution (640x350) graphics mode. Author is Nabajyoti Barkakati.
The program typed in is nearly but not EXACTLY verbatum.
Execution of the program illustrates the slowness of drawing dots using
the BIOS interface.
Enjoy!
Mark Colan
MIT Project Athena
[SINE.C has been added to the library. -rag]
------------------------------
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: ComPackage version for UCSD p-System
Date: Thu, 29 May 86 22:54:20 -0800
From: Alastair Milne <milne@ICSE.UCI.EDU>
Here is my adaptation of the simpler version of ComPackage for the UCSD
p-System. There are 5 or 6 separate source files, mostly because of
limitations of the p-System assembler. They are delimited by <<<<< marks.
I have placed on each file the documentation header we use at work, to
explain it and give its relations to the other files. I hope they will be
adequate: this is the first time I've sent them to a non-p-System
installation.
Several of the names exported to Pascal have been changed (lengthened).
This was done to make them clearer, and in particular to avoid confusion
with names from other units trying to serve the same purpose. I trust
it will not result in too much confusion.
The bug fix I reported is in the interrupt service routine, whose file is
still called COM.PKG1.TEXT.
I hope you will not find restoring this to MASM conventions overly
difficult. If questions arise about what I've done, I'll be happy to help.
Thank you,
Alastair Milne
[COM_PKG3.ASM has been added to the library. -rag]
------------------------------
Date: Fri 30 May 86 15:03:29-CDT
From: Pete Galvin <CC.GALVIN@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: New version of PCWRITE available
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Yep, version 2.6 of the PCWRITE word processor is now available from
[UTEXAS]<CC.GALVIN.PUBLIC>PCWRITE.ARC. This version has many new features
and much better help. Unfortunately the manual has grown so big (actually,
it's been totally rewritten) that it no longer fits on the distribution disk.
Instead, an abreviated version is included in the ARC file. The manual is
much better and worth buying (in my humble opinion). PCWRITE is shareware.
--Pete
------------------------------
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
Subject: Summary: Reading Screen Attributes from Turbo Pascal
Date: Fri, 30 May 86 16:58:33 -0500
From: Mark H. Granoff <mhg@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
Here is a summary of the answers I received to my question last week
about reading PC screen attributes through TURBO Pascal. They fall into
three categories:
1. Code and such
o Depending on the type of monitor you have, your screen "starts" at
a different place in memory: $B000 for monochrome
$B800 for color
(There is one for the PCjr, too, but I
don't know it off hand).
There is TURBO code "around" to determine what kind of monitor a
system is using. If you would like it, send me a message and I'll
send it back to you (via the net). It's about 10 or 15 lines
including CONSTant definitions.
o One row of the screen (80 characters) occupies 160 bytes or 80
integers. One character on the screen, therefore, is two bytes.
I got conflicting information, however, on whether the ASCII code
comes first or the attribute comes first. I hacked it out, but I can't
remember the results at the moment...
o In both the program segments that I received, the screen was defined
as an array of 80 characters by 24 rows. Wasteful! Opening a windoe
would effectively use up another 1920 (a full screen) words (2 bytes)
of memory. Since I am trying to be as efficient as possible, I took
another approach.
What I have done, is to access the screen via the Mem[] array directly.
As for what is overwritten by a window, I store each line segment from
the screen into a linked list of arrays of bytes. (There was no
avoiding an array definition, as un-dynamic as it is!) So, rather
than store 1920 bytes (a full screen) every time I open a window, I
store only enough lines of 160 bytes to handle the height of the
window.
2. Public Domain
o I was pointed to THELP to look at how it opens its window. It's
quite slow (in its reading of the screen and drawing of its window)
since it reads an individual character at a time off the screen.
Originally, I thought this would be fast enough for my purposes, but
it wasn't... so I employed TURBO's Move(,,) procedure which works
much faster!
o Also, I was told about SMOVE.ARC and FASTWR.ARC in
<cc.galvin.public> at UTEXAS-20. I haven't looked at them yet,
but plan to. I mention them here for completness in case any one
else is into this screen stuff.
3. Unexpected
o I received a response that informed me that I could poke around
(literally) with video memory through the use of DEBUG. The
idea never ever occurred to me.
Thanks to the net for the curtious and fast responses. I'm sure, as I
continue to hack (I mean develop) software, I will have more queries
for the gurus in net-land.
Mark Granoff (mhg@mitre-bedford)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 May 86 17:43 EDT
From: Manasseh Katz <MKATZ%UMDB.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Farsight
To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
I know that ordinary software (e.g. Lotus 123) doesn't get discussed much
here, but I have found a product that deserves recognition.
Farsight, by Interface Technologies (800-922-9049) is (all for $99)
1) A lotus 123 clone - runs macros and and reads Lotus files, the only
feature not supported is graphics.
2) A fairly decent word processor - actually I don't know if I would
choose it as a word processor, but it works very well for editing
programs - doesn't throw strange characters into files like all too
many word processing programs do these days.
3) A fairly decent windowing package to tie it all together.
When I first started up the program, my impression was "this is just
like Framework" - actually it is much better than Framework (original
Framework anyway, I haven't tried the latest version). The menus
and everything are much more intuitive than Framework is, at least
it seems that way to me. In all, this alone is as much as many
"integrated" packages that sell for $500 and up.
The best part though is the service. Whenever I have had a question, I
called the toll-free order number, and they connected me very quickly
to someone who knows Farsight and quickly answered my questions.
Today I had a problem, several cells in a spreadsheet were showing up
in reverse. I couldn't figure out what was causing it, so I called.
I was immediately connected to someone named Arthur, and he suggested
something about protected cells. That didn't seem to be the problem,
so he asked for the serial number on the disk and gave me a return
authorization number - I would send in the disk, with my spreadsheet on it
and he would send back the latest update and try to fix my problem.
About ten minutes later, I had just about figured out the answer when
the phone rang - Arthur had started experimenting after he spoke with
me, and he called to give me the answer.
And to top it all off, the package is only $99. If you need Lotus for any
reason, and you don't need graphics (they said they are working on it),
then I really recommend Farsight. Also, I haven't tried their
Modula-2 compiler, but if it as good as Farsight, and I am sure
the service is just as good, then it is also a real bargain.
I have no connection with any of the above products or companies,
I am just a very satisfied user of Farsight. Everything mentioned
above is a trademark of somebody.
Manasseh Katz
------------------------------
Date: Tue 27 May 86 08:32:31-PDT
From: David John Buerger <D.Buerger%SCU%PANDA@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
Subject: Lightyear Query
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
I have a user who is trying to find the publisher for a program called
LIGHTYEAR. Does anyone in netland know who puts it out? Phone number, etc?
Thanks in advance.
Dave Buerger, Santa Clara University
Dave%SCU%Panda@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA
[Lightyear is available from ThoughtWare 1-800-THT-WARE. I believe it's
originally from Lightyear, Inc. in (you should like this) Santa Clara. -rag]
------------------------------
Date: Tuesday, 27 May 1986 16:39:46 EDT
From: Joe.Newcomer@a.sei.cmu.edu
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: PC/AT bus extender query
Well, I just plugged in my last possible card. But I've got some
other devices to attach to my PC/AT, and we may be short a slot in
our PC/XT. I'm looking for bus extenders that are somewhat cheaper
than IBM's vast and ridiculous cost. In fact, I've even got some
quality power supplies and so a box/motherboard might even do.
Major problem is the electrical quality of both the extension and
the cabling to get to it; I'd rather not go really cheap here, but
I can't see spending $1300 either.
joe
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 May 86 06:46:18 AEST
From: munnari!runx.oz!misja@seismo.CSS.GOV (Michael Jude)
To: munnari!INFO-IBMPC@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: Comm. problem
Can someone give me a clue on how to get Procomm 2.1 running
properly on an Advance 86 (8086). I can tx but not rx.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Dr Michael J Jude
PO Box 317, Caringbah, NSW, 2229, Australia.
ACSnet: misja@runx CSNET: misja@runx.oz
ARPA: misja%runx.oz@seismo.css.gov JANET: runx.oz!misja@ukc
UUCP: {enea,hplabs,mcvax,prlb2,seismo,ubc-vision,ukc}!munnari!runx.oz!misja
Graduate student, School of Health Administration, University of NSW.
------------------------------
Date: Wed 28 May 86 15:50:43-PDT
From: Lynn Gale <CASBS@SU-CSLI.ARPA>
Subject: Hard Disk Upgrade Query
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
We'd like to hear from anybody who has done the following to increase
hard disk space on an XT (or any relevant advice). Our idea is this:
replace the ibm floppy with a 20Mb Seagate half-height hard disk and a
half-height floppy drive. Can the 10Mb IBM hard disk and the Seagate
share the same controller board? Which products have you used? Cost?
------------------------------
Date: Wed 28 May 86 18:59:32-PDT
From: Daniel Davison <DAVISON@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
Subject: Where is Davong?
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
A friend recently accidentially began to reformat his hard disk. He has
an IBM PC-1, and has a 10MB drive with external power supply. There is
a booting disk plus a record of some sort kept on the hard disk which
completes the booting process. I assume it loads drivers and such.
The problem is that Davong has disappeared. They are not in Sunnyvale, CA
any more. That phone number is disconnected and there is no additional
information. Therefore, if you know of a new address/phone number,
please call me or reply to one of the E-mail addresses below.
If you have the installation manuals and are willing to let me copy
them, please call me at the numbers below-collect if necessary. His
original documentation has disappeared.
TIA,
Dr. Dan Davison, Dept. of Biochemical Sciences, SR1, Univ. of Houston,
4800 calhoun, Houston Tx 77004.
Day phone: 713-749-3980
night: 713-666-1276 (collect OK)
E-Mail:
best: bchs6@uhupvm1.bitnet
davison@sumex-aim.arpa
davison@bnl.arpa
CIS: 74065,41 (rare)
Delphi: DDAVISON (rare)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 May 86 12:03:44 ADT
From: wdw%ACADIA.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (Bill Wilder)
Subject: MiniScribe Noise Problem
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
We have a 44 MB Miniscribe hard disk in one of our PC-AT's at work
(sorry I don't know the model number of the disk). The hard disk makes
a very irritating sound whenever it is running (not just when it is seeking).
It sounds like a group of loud insects and the amplitude of the sound
oscillates up and down. The disk is very fast but the sound makes the use
of that AT unpleasant.
Any Miniscribe owners with similar experiences? Any solutions?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 May 86 16:43 N
From: <INFOEARN%HLERUL5.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: DOS+ and Concurrent DOS 4.1 Query
To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Can anyone give me some information about DOS+ and Concurrent DOS 4.1?
I haven't find anything yet.
Please mail directly to me, as I am not on the mailing list.
Thanks.
ARPANET: SINGPANG%HLERUL5.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Fri 30 May 86 18:22:12-EDT
From: Ben Fried <UI.Ben@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Better Xenix console driver wanted
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
This may have been asked before, but does anybody have a "better" console
driver for Xenix (on an AT) than what's packaged with Xenix? Something
that does vt100 or heath emulation?
Thanks,
Ben Fried Arpa: UI.Ben@cu20b.columbia.edu
User Services Bitnet: ben@cucca
Columbia University uucp: ...!seismo!columbia!cucca!ben
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30-May-86 22:10:10 PDT
From: bcsaic!asymet!library@uw-june.arpa (mailing list readers)
Subject: SCCS Wanted
To: uw-june!usc-isib.arpa!info-ibmpc@UNKNOWN!asymet
Can anyone give me a pointer to a source-code control system which runs
RELIABLY under PCDOS 3.[01] ? If it's known to run under Novell Netware
that's a big plus. (It needn't be even close to a complete implementation,
as long as it works).
Fred Wamsley uw-june!bcsaic!asymet!fred@uw-beaver
------------------------------
Date: 31 May 86 18:21:00 EDT
From: "Maarten Nederlof" <maarten@wharton-10.ARPA>
Subject: Printer Driver for Lotus and Toshiba P1340 Wanted
To: "info-ibmpc" <info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA>
We are trying to use Lotus (Yes, the old version 1A) with a Toshiba P1340 DM
printer, and we cannot get Printgraph to print its graph with any of the
available printer drivers supplied.
Has anyone got a driver for this printer? We'd like to use 1A, but if anyone
knows whether version 2 supports it, I'd appreciate a note.
Thanks in advance,
Maarten Nederlof
University of Pennsylvania
ARPA: <Maarten@Wharton-10.ARPA>
CSNET: <Maarten%Wharton-10@CSNET-RELAY.CSNET>
MA BELL: (215) 386-1874
Where: N 40 deg 06 min 05 sec
W 75 deg 10 min 18 sec
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
************************
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