Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA.UUCP (05/27/86)
Info-IBMPC Digest Monday, May 2, 1986 Volume 5 : Issue 56 This Week's Editor: Phyllis O'Neil Today's Topics: Re: BBS software (multiple messages) Princeton MAX-12 monitor and Zenith 151 PC... REFORMAT.ARC Product Review: PCVMS Killing EGA cursor... Video Cards -- Everex New Programs Available Re: Selecting Video Cards ... MS C Code generation bugs FORMAT-DMA revisited REFORMAT and FATs Today's Queries: Learning About Processor and Assembly Language Public Domain Software Request WordPerfect Indexing Query Display Controller for AT Query Looking For a Board Query: Xerox Notecards GKS and CI C86 Pilot/Super Pilot Query Olivetti -> IBM Document Conversion Looking for Public Domain Parser Generators Professional FORTRAN Question (i/o) Reading the PC screen w/ TURBO Pascal Configuring a High-Powered Graphics System on a PC AT Microsoft C and Environment Space Question about HD controller 8253 Timer in PC, XT, & AT. Cheap System V (Unix) port Wanted: PD sources for PC PILOT Program to convert to Ada Dumb Terminal Loop Tandy Daisy Wheel II Pop Up Editor question ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu 22 May 86 14:47:49-PDT From: Tony Brand <BRAND@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA> Subject: Re: BBS software To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA I run "RBBS-PC" on my bulletin board system on (609)-771-2829. "RBBS-PC" was written in compiled basic by Tom Mack, who distributes the program, essentially free, through the Capital PC user's group. The address is Capital PC User group Membership P. O. Box 3189 Gaithersburg, MD 20878 If you don't want to join the user's group (PD disks are cheaper for members), RBBS-PC can be obtained by sending a check for $8 to the Capital PC Software Exchange P.O. Box 6128 Silver Spring MD 20906. RBBS-PC is distributed on two double-sided, 9-sector, diskettes. Allow 3 to 4 weeks for delivery -- remember this is an all-volunteer effort. Be sure to specify RBBS-PC CPC14-1A on "diskette # 18". Include a label with your name and address. The exigencies of RBBS-PC software releases may mean that diskette 18 contains an earlier version of RBBS-PC than CPC14-1A (either you bought diskette 18 sometime ago or there has been not enough time for diskette 18 to be updated to this most current version). At least two bulletin boards keep the most current copies of RBBS-PC CPC14-1A for downloading. They are: (703) 759-5049 --+ +---- East Coast (Great Falls, Virginia), (703) 759-9659 --+ (415) 689-2090 ------- West Coast (Concord, California). I looked at Fido and decided against it because I didn't want to get involved in forwarding too many people's mail and problems of paying telephone bills. I looked at Colussus but when I implemented my BBS it had already dropped out of sight. RBBS-PC seems to be very well supported. its comes with the source code (all be it in basic!). It has all the features that I wanted, including the ability to have conferences and run programs remotely. There's also a fair amount of support software out there. Current RBBS version is 14.1A. It can be downloaded from my system. I have no commercial interest in any BBS program. Tony Brand Trenton State College Voice : (609)-771-3013 Data : (609)-771-2829 ------------------------------ To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA From: "Roger Fajman" <RAF%NIHCU.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> Date: Fri, 23 May 86 17:19:15 EDT Subject: Bulletin Board software RBBS-PC is an excellent bulletin board system for the IBM PC. I think it has at least as strong a claim to be a "standard" as does Fido, if not stronger. RBBS-PC is, I think, much more user friendly than the Fidos that I have used. It does not, however, have the network mail feature for exchanging mail among many PCs. It does have conferences, multiple file directories, and multi-user support. Many utility programs have been written for it. The primary author is Tom Mack, but many people have contributed modifications. The latest version is 14.1A, but 14.1B will be out very soon. The major new feature in 14.1B is Kermit support. To address the reliability question, I have been running 14.1A, with Tom Mack's April 13 fix file applied, for 2-3 weeks now on a 5-user system and it has never crashed (so far -- it's bad luck to say things like this). RBBS-PC may be copied freely as long as it is not sold. The source code (in Microsoft QuickBasic) is included with the package. The latest version may be obtained for an $8 copying/mailing fee from Capital PC Software Library P.O. Box 6128 Silver Spring, MD 20906 There is also a very good commercial BBS package for the IBM PC called TCOMM. It is written in C and has a lot of nice features. It can be tried by calling 301-428-7931 at 2400, 1200, or 300 bps. A demonstration package is available for downloading there. Another good commercial package is PC-HOST. It is designed for businesses. It can be tried at 301-949-8848 if you are persistent enough to get past the busy signals. ------------------------------ Date: 22 May 1986 16:19:24 PDT Subject: Re: BBS Software From: Richard Gillmann <GILLMANN@USC-ISIB.ARPA> To: Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA Here's a brief list of BBS software currently available. The list was extracted from an article in "Bulletin Board Systems" magazine. BBS-PC 16 messages sections, 4 user levels, XMODEM Micro Systems Software 4301-18 Oak Circle Boca Raton, FL 33431 Voice: (305) 391-5077 Modem: (305) 737-1590 Price: $249 Conexus Messages, conferences, bulletin boards New Era Technologies 1252 Columbia Road NW Washington, DC 20009 Voice: (202) 234-2117 Modem: (202) 887-5443 Price: $624 Dial-Your-Match Matching system, private mail, public mail Matchmaker Enterprises P.O. Box 6055 Burbank, CA 91510 Voice: (213) 840-8211 Modem: (818) 997-7575 Price: $75 Fido Mail networking among systems Fido Software 2269 Market St. #118 San Francisco, CA 94114 Modem: (415) 864-1418 Price: $100 PC-DATE Matching system ProtoSoft P.O. Box 16756 Seattle, WA 98116 Voice: (206) 932-5310 Modem: (206) 932-7125 Price: $69 RBBS-PC Upload and download Capital PC User's Group P.O. Box 6128 Silver Spring, MD 20906 Voice: (301) 656-8372 Modem: (703) 759-5049 Price: $8 I'm just putting the finishing touches on a multi-line BBS. If you're interested, give it a call at (213) 822-9390. Dick ------------------------------ Date: Tue 20 May 86 06:07:07-PDT From: Ivan Auger <LAWRENCE.Auger%BIONET@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA> Subject: Princeton MAX-12 monitor and Zenith 151 PC... To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA The output voltages in the Zenith are different from IBM's color card (and other equivalents), thus the MAX-12 monitor is unable to detect whether it is connected to an IBM monochrome card or a color one. Princeton is willing to tell you how to change the Zenith video but this requires hardware modification and will thus void the Zenith guarantee. ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 1986 0924-EDT From: "Bernie AT&T:617-467-5664 DTN:297-5664 LDP Workstations" <EIBEN@MARLBORO.DEC.COM> To: info-ibmpc@usc-isi cc: watson@akov04, abn.iscams@usc-isi, garrison@gold Subject: REFORMAT.ARC Rick Watson was nice enough, to 'test' REFORMAT on his 20MEG hard-disk - and 'slightly' enhanced same. 1. Looks like the 'standard' formatter uses 16bit FATS -- REFORMAT didn't handle that -- fixed 2. If re-ordering takes place on the 'logged in' disk , obviously DOS doesn't know about it - and shows a 'pretty damaged' disk. Cure is to 'force' logging that disk again - or as REFORMAT does now, force a REBOOT. {Will probably save somebody from heightened heartbeat !!} Rick tested floppy,RAM-disk and mini-winnie. Thanks Rick REFORMAT.ARC is available via ANONYMOUS FTP from IBM:REFORMAT.ARC Rgds, Bernie. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 May 86 09:35:26 PDT From: WOLFGANG%SEA@ames-io.ARPA To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa Subject: Product Review: PCVMS We have just received a copy of Wendin Inc's $99.95 PCVMS. Yes, PC VMS, as in VMS on a PC. While we were initially quite sceptical, and indeed did not REALLY expect the software to even show up, I must say that I am quite impressed. PCVMS is an operating system which can be used in place of MS-DOS. It is multi-user, allowing two additional users through outside ports, [supposing one would want to do that] and multi-tasking. Not only are the common VMS commands available, but many of the significant VMS system services are available as well including event flag support, ASTs, QIO, Logical name translation, and timers. The documentation is very good, given that one is already comfortable with VMS, it is NOT just retyped VMS documentation. As an aside, as good joints are to good woodworking...due to the process scheduling, the print spooler, called the print symbiont in VMS, is the smoothest I've ever seen, far superior to the standard print command. The printer just continues to chug along almost without interruption and the console process seems to barely be affected. The above is after using PC VMS for less than a week and without multiple users, but for $99.95 including source, you can't go wrong. The companies address is; Wendin Inc. Box 266 Cheney, WA. 99004 There is also a PC UNIX which appears to be very similar, we haven't put it up on our PC, so I'll say nothing. PC GCOS, PC CMS, PC MULTICS, PC Cray Operating System...No, at least not yet. - Steven Engle NASA/Ames Research Center DISCLAIMER: This constitutes no product endorsement on the part of NASA or any other government agency. Opinions stated herein are not necessarily those of my employer. Do not send cash in the mail, use a check or postal money order. VMS is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corp. See your dentist twice a year. ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 86 14:31 EDT From: Mark Williams <mlw@ncsc> Subject: Killing EGA cursor... To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib To kill the EGA cursor, use a routine like this one... mov cx,2000h ;turn on bit 5 of ch register -- cancels cursor mov ah,1 ;request ROM-BIOS function 1 int 10h ;ROM-BIOS video services interrupt int 20h ;DOS end-of-program This will generate a .com program about 12 bytes long, which will leave your cursor off until something else turns it back on. If you replace the 2000h with 0607h, you should get the regular 2-line underline cursor back. Note that this routine should work with any BIOS-compatible video board...EGA, color, or not. [Watch out when you turn the cursor back on, though -- 0607h gives a hyphen on the monochrome display, rather than an underscore. -rag] ------------------------------ Date: Wed 21 May 86 08:26:03-PDT From: David John Buerger <D.Buerger%SCU%PANDA@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA> Subject: Video Cards -- Everex To: fulton%comet.DEC@DECWRL.DEC.COM cc: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA I've been quite pleased with the Everex EDGE and the Everex GRAPHICS EDGE cards. We have installed quite a few on campus, with very few failures. I would probably recommend against buying the Hercules or Hercules compatible cards, mainly due to their limited use. The only software that will run on these cards is that having Hercules drivers. On the other hand, Everex cards (and the like) not only provide "Hercules" compatibility, but also may act as a straight color monitor. This will allow you to run anything with IBM color monitor drivers. The range of useable software is therefore much wider with this type of card. While most of these "Everex-type" cards are probably reliable, I've found Everex to contain more related features. Everex's phone number is (415) 498- 1111; they're located in Fremont, California. I have no relationship with Everex--just a satisfied user. David J. Buerger Director, PC Center, Santa Clara University ------------------------------ Date: Thu 22 May 86 10:44:55-CDT From: Pete Galvin <CC.GALVIN@R20.UTEXAS.EDU> Subject: New Programs Available To: info-Ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA Well, it's that time of year again...finals are over and I've been hitting the local bboards again. The result is a few new, good, programs: Cache2.Arc Real small disk cacheing program with more smarts (described in the doc file). Give it a try. Ccompile.Arc Small-C compiler. I wasn't sure if this was available elsewhere on the net, so here it is. NewKey24.Arc NewKey v2.4 keyboard enhancer. I think this is the newest version. I haven't tried it yet, but soon... Mark&rel.Arc !!! Now this one is useful: run MARK in between loading resident programs (SideKick, Lightning, CED, et). When you want to remove them from memory, just run RELEASE and give it the name of the label you gave to MARK. RELEASE removes all resident programs AFTER the specified MARK (so no holes are left in memory). Here's an example batch file: AUTOEXEC.BAT: MARK SideKick SK (run sidekick) . . . LOTUS.BAT: RELEASE SideKick (frees that memory) LOTUS (run Lotus) MARK SideKick (when done, set a mark) SK (Load up sidekick again) I'm not sure these batch files actually work, but you get the idea. These are all available from [UTEXAS-20]<CC.GALVIN.PUBLIC> via anonymous login. See the file FILES.DIR for information on the other files available. Enjoy. --Pete ------------------------------ Date: 22 May 86 23:08 GMT From: ghicks @ KOREA-EMH Subject: Re: Selecting Video Cards ... To: fulton%comet.DEC @ decwrl.DEC.COM CC: info-ibmpc @ isib I do not have experience with the Zenith ZVM-1240 monochrome monitor. However, I have had experience Zenith ZM-135 RGB monitor. This monitor has a DB-25 on the rear of the machine. It can take inputs from Commodore, Apple, IBM, Zenith (obviously) and several other machines. The pins from the DB-25 are selected based on the type of machine that is doing the signal driving. The monitor is currently being used with an IBM compatible machine. I would imagine that you have the same type of options on the ZVM-1240. However, ... I am using an Everex Edge graphics adaptor. This can interface with either an IBM compatible monochrome or RGB monitor. The book says it can do the following: * Hi-res mono text/graphics, * is Hercules board compatible (quite true), * can select color mode for the adapter and mono mode for the monitor and thus run those programs designed for the CGA (also true), * uses mono character set when running in color mode with a mono adapter, * can display 132 cols in color/mono mode (mono mode good, color mode readable), * does four colors in CGA Hi-res mode (if the software will support this but appears to be true), * does Lotus/Symphony software without modification (also true) In short, I am pleased with it. No, I have no connection with... (standard disclaimer) I am a LCDR on active duty in the Navy stationed in Korea "at Freedom's Edge". Gregory Hicks from the "Land of the Morning Calm" GHICKS@Korea-EMH JUSMAG-DT@Korea-EMH PS: The Edge does display 16 shades of grey when used with a monochrome monitor. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 86 23:26:03 PDT From: Matthew J Weinstein <matt@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU> To: davidsen%kbsvax.tcpip@ge-crd.arpa CC: info-ibmpc@isib Subject: MS C Code generation bugs According to MS technical support, the -W2 and -W3 levels generate bad code in many cases. They recommended that these setting be used ONLY for linting, and that the default (-W1) be used for code generation and debugging. V 4.0 is supposed to be in beta test... Should be out any month now... - Matt ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 86 14:11:50 CDT From: CCRJW%UMCVMB.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (Richard Winkel UMC Computing Services) To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA Subject: FORMAT-DMA revisited Larry McGavran (hgm%doc@lanl.arpa) pointed out to me that the patch I outlined for FORMAT.COM in DOS 2.1 is zeroed out by a routine in FORMAT at about the time it prompts 'Format another (Y/N)?'. The result is that if you try to format another, the system hangs. Until we or someone else figures out the purpose to which this memory is put, and a safe way to relocate this buffer or whatever it is, the safest way to get around the problem is to re-run FORMAT for each disk you wish to format. In other words, always answer 'N' to the prompt. I hope no one got bit by this problem. Rich Winkel ------------------------------ DATE: 26 May 86 10:16:27 UT To: <INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA> From: <U015415%HNYKUN22 Subject: REFORMAT and FATs I received some complaints about the REFORMAT program. They were all related to extended (16 bit FATS). I would like to emphasise: THE PROGRAM IN ITS PRESENT FORM NOT IS CAPABLE OF HANDLING EXTENDED (16BITS) FATS. I saw one version of the program that stated it was adapted for 16 bits FATS. The changes in the program however were totally insufficient to handle the extended FATS, resulting in crippled disks. I am currently updating the program to handle the 16 bit FATS. A program like this needs extensive testing, because a small bug for a program is a giant frustration for mankind. So it will take at least another week before the new version is released. Doeg, Jos Wennmacker <U015415%HNYKUN22.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> Universitair Rekencentrum Geert Grooteplein Zuid 41 NL-6525 GA Nijmegen The Netherlands ------------------------------ Date: 20 MAY 86 19:39-CDT From: CDBOATWR%TAMVENUS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU To: INFO-IBMPC-REQUEST@USC-ISIB.ARPA Subject: Learning about my processor and Assembly language ...I own an IBM PC/XT... Could you recommend a good text for learning about my computer's processor? Also, could you recommend a good text for teaching myself Assembly language programming? Thanks, Charles Boatwright CDBOATWR@TAMVENUS.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 May 86 11:22 IST From: Chezy Gal <A45%TAUNIVM.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> Subject: Public Domain Software Request To: Info-IBMPC Digest <INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA> At Tel Aviv University we are in the process of building a library of public domain software for the academic community. Since we are not on Arpanet we are not able to FTP files from the Info-IBMPC Library or any other public domain source on ARPA. We would be grateful to anyone who could send us any p.d. programs (hopefully, with some explanation). Thank you, Chezy Gal, PC Advisor Computation Center Tel Aviv University BITNET: A45@TAUNIVM.BITNET Acknowledge-To: Chezy Gal <A45@TAUNIVM> ------------------------------ Date: Wed 21 May 86 08:57:22-PDT From: Jackie <Burhans%ECLD@USC-ECLC.ARPA> Subject: WordPerfect Indexing Query To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA Has anyone in Netland come up with a way to have WordPerfect create a table of contents and/or index for an entire book? Let's say each chapter is in a separate file, and one wants to index all the chapters together, but one doesn't have enough memory to load all the files at once. Can it be done? Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 May 86 11:55:24 pdt From: Kevin O'Connor <kfoc%noah.arc.cdn%ubc.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA> To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA Subject: Display Controller for AT Query I would appreciate if anyone could supply me with the name(s) of colour display controller board(set)s for the IBM AT that have most or all of the following attributes. I have indicated the level of desireability of each attribute. - 640 x 480 resolution minimum (required) - 8 bits per pixel (min. required). Text plane extra if possible - 60 Hz non-interlaced display (very desireable). Stable display important - memory mapped ( very desireable) - command buffering (essential). 256 bytes seems usual - colour selection by LUT (essential). Multiple tables useful. - pixel masking: . write mask (essential) . display mask (very desireable) . read mask (ho-hum) - mouse interface on graphics board (very desireable) - blistering vector display (essential) - ability to display scans as vertical AND horizontal rasters (very useful) - command list (OK if it's there). Things I don't want (ie I don't want to pay extra for if avoidable): - scaling - 3-D operations - viewing transformations ------------------------------ Date: Wed 21 May 86 15:09:37-PDT From: Liquid Len <Asbed%ECLD@USC-ECLC.ARPA> Subject: looking for a board To: info-pc@USC-ISI.ARPA A friend of mine is looking for something like the following for his IBM PC/XT/AT, they're non-volatile storage devices: - Battery backup RAM card - EEPROM card - DRAM chip with on chip battery & power down logic. - IBM PC disk emulation for booting. I am not totally sure what he needs or for what, so if you have more specific questions/info, write to me. :asbed ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 May 86 16:57:39 pdt From: erickson@lbl-csam.ARPA (Marvin Erickson [ams-pnl]) To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa Subject: Query: Xerox Notecards Hope I'm not rehashing an old request... Does anyone know of an IBM-PC-compatible version of the Xerox notecards program? (A Macintosh version would do also...) Thanks, Mark A. Whiting c/o erickson@lbl-csam ------------------------------ Date: Wednesday, 21 May 1986 23:29:32 EDT From: Arthur.Butler@henry.ece.cmu.edu To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa Subject: GKS and CI C86 Has anyone had any success linking IBMK GKS with Computer Inovations C86 C compiler? Please let me know of any suggestions. Thanks Arthur ajb@henry.ece.cmu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 May 1986 11:37:49 EDT From: FAC0395%UOFT01.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (Joe Feustle) Subject: Pilot/Super Pilot Query To: info-ibmpc-request@usc-isib.arpa Could someone on the net please tell me if there is an IBM version of Super Pilot (Apple program), and, if so, who publishes it? I need to get ahold of an "authorship" program that allows we non- programmer types to write drills and exercises on PC-compatible machines. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated. J. Feustle, FAC0395@UOFT01.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: 22 May 86 14:19 EDT From: Mark Williams <mlw@ncsc> Subject: Olivetti -> IBM Document Conversion To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib Has anyone converted Olivetti ETV 300 word processor documents to the IBM PC? The Olivetti uses CP/M and a wp package I assume is proprietary and bundled with the ETV 300 system unit. I have tried various CONVERT set-ups and haven't hit on the correct sector order. I do have a wp -> ASCII utility for the Olivetti, so the main problem is reading the CP/M format diskette in the right order. Please send responses to me directly: I doubt that there's a big demand for this kind of information in the user community in general. Thanks in advance... Mark L. Williams ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 May 86 22:19:23 edt From: treid@mitre.ARPA (Thomas Reid) To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib Subject: Looking for Public Domain Parser Generators I would appreciate any leads to public domain parser generators - either top-down or bottom-up. Thanks in advance. Tom. ------------------------------ Date: 23 May 86 13:28:17 +0200 From: XBR4D715%DDATHD21.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (D715@BR4.THDNET) Subject: Professional FORTRAN Question (i/o) To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA Is there anyone out there in PC - world who can answer the following question: Is it possible to read from or to write to files out of a running Professional FORTRAN program (V 1.01, Ryan McFarland) in directorys other than the current dir? INQUIRE and OPEN are obviously possible, but reading from c:/a/b/c/d/test.dat is NOT! Has anyone an idea ?! Please contact Klaus D. Schmitt Institut f. El. Energieversorgung Technische Hochschule Schlossgraben 1 D - 6100 Darmstadt FRG or via xbr4d715%ddathd21.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu ------------------------------ To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA Subject: Reading the PC screen w/ TURBO Pascal Date: Fri, 23 May 86 12:04:46 -0500 From: Mark H. Granoff <mhg@mitre-bedford.ARPA> I have a bit of a problem...I am writing a window manager and naturally it is important to be able to read areas on the screen for later restoration. I have figured out how to read the characters that are on the screen but I can't seem to get the attributes. A good window manager should restore attributes when it closes a window! Here's the gist of my thinking: In TURBO Pascal, I am using the Mem[] array to address the screen (I have an AT&T PC 6300, so the address of the screen (Col 1,Row 1) is $B800). I determined that an offset of 160 bytes is the memory address of Col 1, Row 2. The Mem[] array is of type Byte, so if a character in memory consists of 2 bytes (1 for the character code and 1 for the attributes), then the byte at address $B800+$01 should be the attribute of the character in Col 1, Row 1. Right? (Or perhaps the bytes are reversed i.e. addr $B800 is the attribute and $B800+$01 is the character). Anyhow, I can't extract the attributes. I would prefer not to use interrupts (although I know it's relativley easy that way); reading from and assigning to the Mem[] array seems to be quite speedy. If anyone has any experience with reading/writing characters AND attributes to the screen, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks in advance. I will summarize any answers I get and post a summary on the net. Mark H. Granoff (mhg@mitre-bedford) ------------------------------ Date: Fri 23 May 1986 17:12:29 EDT From: <OBRIEN@LL.ARPA> Subject: Configuring a High-Powered Graphics System on a PC AT To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib I'd appreciate any help anyone could give me on configuring hardware & software for the following system: Several friends of mine are working on a grant which involves, among other things, putting 3D animation onto videotape on a low budget (i.e., well below VAX scale). The graphics board picked for this is one of the new AT&T TARGA boards, with 512x512x32 resolution. It's made to run on a PC/AT. This particular board was picked for its price/performance ratio, and the rest of the system has to be configured around it (so no 68000 machines, unfortunately). The rest of the video part of the hardware is pretty well worked out: they're getting Sony BVU-800 or 5800/50 decks (the 800 is supposed to be higher quality & more durable, but is more expensive -- anyone have any experience with either?), an EECO editor, and either a Lyon-Lamb animation controller or another one (whose name I forget) that fits on a board inside the PC. Now they need to pick the machine that runs the TARGA board. It must: 1) Be PC/AT compatible (enough to run the board correctly) 2) Run at at _least_ 8MHz 3) Have a floating point coprocessor (80287) 4) Have many megabytes of RAM (at least 2, 4 preferred, 8 great) 5) Have a hard disk of at least 80 MB 6) Communicate with a Mac+ (used as a front end) As you can see, the more souped-up the PC, the better, as long as it still runs the graphics board OK. The software requirements are as follows: Since MS-DOS has problems with addressing large amounts of memory in any kind of sane fashion, they plan to use UNIX(tm) or some other *IX. What experience have people had with various UNIX-like systems running on an AT (clone)? Will they (the systems, not the people ;-) recognize the hard disk/RAM/coprocessor additions above? Along with the OS, they need various tools like editors, compilers, etc. What compilers (Pascal/C/Modula2 family) are available for the *IX world? How compatible are _they_ with the hardware requirements above (esp. coprocessor & huge address space)? If they choose C, they'll need lint or somesuch (large project). Any other software recommendations? Please send responses (or questions) directly to me & I'll summarize them for everyone else if appropriate. Thanks for your time, whoever you are. -- Tom O'Brien arpa: obrien@LL ------------------------------ To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa Subject: Microsoft C and Environment Space Date: 23 May 86 19:11:47 PDT (Fri) From: Randy <randy@uw-bluechip.arpa> Has anyone noticed that Microsoft C fails to recognize expanded environment space? I have a compile command line that generates the error "argument list for p0.exe too big". The manual says "The combined length of all arguments on the command line (include the program name) may not exceed 128 bytes." Well my command line is well under 80 bytes. I called Microsoft to find out what the deal was. They said that my environment space was too big; if I undefined some environment variables things would work. (My guess is that the command line is passed a temporary environment variable between the passes of the compiler.) So I undefined some things, and it worked. Now for the kicker: I've defined an expanded environment space with the undocumented /e switch to the "command" command. In other words, I have a line like the following in config.sys: shell=c:\command.com /e:x where x is the environment size in paragraphs. This feature has been discussed in info-ibmpc before. BUT, MS C seems to ignore an expanded environment size, no matter how big x is. It seems to always check against a 128 byte environment. Have I made myself clear? Has anyone else run up against this problem, or is there something obvious I can do to fix things? I'm sort of desparate for a fix. Randy Day. UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4}!uw-beaver!uw-june!randy ARPA: randy@washington CSNET: randy%washington@csnet-relay ------------------------------ Date: 24 MAY 86 04:04-EDT From: SLC%PSUECL.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA Subject: Question about HD controller I got a hard disk controller for my AT clone several days ago. I don't know what its specification is. I hope somebody out there can tell me about it. The controller was WD1015-03 of Western Digital Corp. I found most controllers made by WDC were WD1002-WA2. Did I get a wrong controller ? Shao-Luen Chou BITNET : SLC@PSUECL ------------------------------ Date: Fri 23 May 86 16:35:36-PDT From: D.LEWIS%SCU%PANDA@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA Subject: 8253 Timer in PC, XT, & AT. To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA I have a program that uses the 8253 Timer chip to control the period of tones generated as part of music on a PC. The software is written to access the same timer that is used to drive the speaker, but uses it to measure elapsed time rather than to actually generate the signal driving the speaker. The speaker signal is generated by toggling the AND gate that lies between the 8253 and the speaker. I use this unusual approach so that I can control the "loudness" of the note by adjusting the duty cycle of the square wave, while relying on the timer to maintain a fixed period. My problem is that I've discovered that the XT and AT apparently use a different frequency clock signal to drive this timer, and as a consequence, the notes come out several octaves higher than on a standard PC or PC Jr. What was especially surprising is that I've found a very old PC (probably a 64K motherboard version) that also has a higher frequency clock driving the timer. Has anyone else run into this? I would have expected the timers in the various PC, PC Jr, XT, and AT models to be more compatible! At present, I think the only thing I can do is try to measure the clock speed by letting the timer count between 10 msec DOS ticks, and compensating for the variations in the software. Any other ideas would be appreciated! Dan Lewis Assoc Prof EECS Dept Santa Clara Univ Santa Clara, CA 95053 (Or via the return e-mail path attached to this message.) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 86 12:01:40 edt From: ANDERER <anderer%vax1.acs.udel.edu@Louie.UDEL.EDU> To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA Subject: Cheap System V (Unix) port I understand that Microport Systems, Inc. is offering a System V(2) port of Unix for ATs for a real cheap price. The numbers I've heard are $140 for the basic system, $100 for the development tools, and $140 for nroff, troff, etc. Does anyone know anything about this port, or have any experience with it? If it's reasonable, and the prices for real, it's a good deal. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 86 14:42:29 edt From: grebyn!karl@seismo.CSS.GOV (Karl A. Nyberg) To: info-ibmpc@isib.arpa, info-ada@isif.arpa, ada-sw@simtel20.arpa Subject: Wanted: PD sources for PC PILOT Program to convert to Ada A customer wants me to get ahold of a copy of the PILOT program (a training / authoring system), and convert it into Ada. The resulting program is to be submitted to the SIMTEL repository when completed. I was recommended to contact Washington Computer (206-734-8248), which I did, and left a message on their answering machine to get more information, but none has been forthcoming yet. If anyone has any other suggestions for places to look and / or sources, please drop me a line. Thanks. -- Karl -- Karl A. Nyberg Grebyn Corporation P. O. Box 1144 Vienna, VA 22180 (703)-281-2194 DDN: nyberg@isif.arpa UUCP: ...!{decuac, seismo, vrdxhq}!grebyn!karl ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 May 86 16:09:06 PDT Ppath: vista!crash!noscvax!info-ibmpc@usc-isib From: crash!pnet01!dang@nosc.ARPA (Dan Gookin) To: vista!crash!noscvax!info-ibmpc@usc-isib Subject: Dumb Terminal Loop I'm wondering if anyone can send me information on programming a dumb terminal loop on the PC in Assembly Language. I don't want anything fancy, just scan keyboard-send character/ scan rs-232-display character. If anyone could send along code or direct me to a knowledgeable source, I'd appreciate it. Thanks! Dan ARPA: crash!dgookin@ucsd UUCP: noscvax!crash!vista!pnet!pnet01!dang ------------------------------ Date: 26 May 86 18:43:00 EDT From: "G. B. Reilly" <reilly@wharton-10.ARPA> Subject: Tandy Daisy Wheel II To: "info-ibmpc" <info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA> Does anyone know about a different ROM for this printer that makes it compatible with the IBM PC? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 May 86 13:11:42 PDT From: dgb%DEImos.Caltech.Edu@Hamlet.Caltech.Edu (Daniel S. Briggs) Subject: Pop Up Editor question To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA Does anyone know of a dirt simple RAM resident editor out there that is PD or relatively cheap. My needs are quite modest, and I don't need a thousand other bells and whistles to go along with it. ------------------------------ End of Info-IBMPC Digest ************************ -------