Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA (Info-IBMPC Digest) (01/23/86)
Info-IBMPC Digest Wednesday, 23 January 1985 Volume 5 : Issue 10
This Week's Editor: Eliot Moore <Elmo@USC-ISIB>
Today's Topics:
EPR.C Modification added to Library
COMPRESS and DEBUG HELP added to Library
Transparencies for IBM Color Jetprinter
PC Ethernet Terminal Multiplexer (Query)
DOS Environment size
PC networking with Ethernet (Query)
Partitions and PC/IX
Patches for the New Personal Editor II
Key Beep
FAT and Reading Directories
PC software that generate Postscript for LaserWriter
AT Speed Select?
Book: "BUILD YOUR FIRST EXPERT SYSTEM"
HP ThinkJet & STSC APL*PLUS/PC works!
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Date: 22 Jan 1986 00:07:04 PST
Subject: EPR.C Modification added to Library
From: Koji Okazaki <swg.KOJI@USC-ISIB.ARPA>
To: Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
cc: Koji@USC-ISIB.ARPA
EPR.C, hacked by Craig, is available now for ftp'ing:
EPR.C A useful listing program for the Epson printers which
epr.doc allows format control appropriate to applications like
timestmp.c listings, etc. Debugged by, and new features added by
timestmp.h Craig Milo Rogers. Now supports Lattice-C (version 2.12)
as well as CI C-86. The original EPR.C (before Craig
started fiddling with the code) is now called EPR.ORG.
<SJOBRG%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC> 7/28/84
<Updated by Craig Milo Rogers, ROGERS@USC-ISIB> 12/13/85
The following is a list of changes that Craig did to the old program:
1) Changed timestmp.c to have an additional conditional compilation
veriable to select the Lattice PC-DOS calling mechanism instead
of the CI C-86 one.
2) Made changes to all parts of epr.c where it was reading a
file. The result from getc() was being stored in a char,
which should be an int (see K&R p. 40). Chars are unsigned
in Lattice C, are they signed in CI C86?
3) There were problems with uparrow mode, international mode,
and the interactions in that section of code.
4) Extended (albeit poorly) the header-parsing code to allow
Epson FX-80 escape sequences using the "\nnn" notation.
5) Extended the number of Epson pitchs and modes that can be
specified in "p=". Added "q=" so the header line(s) could
have an independent specification.
6) Set the default left margin to 0 because the listings I was
getting on my FX-80 didn't agree with the "approx 0.75 inches"
that epr claimed was the default, and I didn't want to take the
time to figure out what was happening. Perhaps the discrepancy
is due to the fact that I'm using the tractor feed option?
Craig Milo Rogers
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Date: 22 Jan 1986 05:17:50 PST
Subject: COMPRESS and DEBUG HELP added to Library
From: Koji Okazaki <swg.KOJI@USC-ISIB.ARPA>
To: Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
cc: Koji@USC-ISIB.ARPA
The following files have been added to our library:
COMPRESS.C Emulates the Unix COMPRESS utility on MS-DOS machines.
compress.make Uses adaptive Lempel-Ziv coding techniques to compress
compress.doc files or even directories. Compressed files are
identified by a .Z or .XZ extension. For those who run
MS-DOS version 3.0 or later, the program can be saved in
three different files, COMPRESS.EXE, UNCOMPRE.EXE, and
ZCAT.EXE, and it will decide what to do, based on which
name was used - just like the Unix version of the program.
Those with MS-DOS version 2.xx will have to call it
"COMPRESS.EXE" and control its behavior with its options.
<PRANDT!TWETEN@AMES-NAS> 12/4/85
DEBUG.HELP The notorious DEBUG Cheat Sheet, maintained by Henry
Schaffer. Corrections, suggestions, and comments are
requested.
<Henry Schaffer, HES@ECSVAX.UUCP> 1/18/86
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To: info-ibmpc@dewey.udel.EDU
Subject: Transparencies for IBM Color Jetprinter
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 86 10:22:46 -0500
From: Adarsh Sethi <sethi@dewey.udel.EDU>
We have an AT with an IBM Color Jetprinter which we want to use to
produce color transparencies for an overhead projector. We cannot
use ordinary transparency sheets to do so because the ink runs
and causes smudges. I believe IBM has special transparency sheets
which have a special coating to prevent the ink from running. We
are having difficulty getting these sheets locally; moreover,
they seem very expensive ( I was quoted a price of $65 for a set
of 50 sheets). Can someone tell us whether there are alternate
sources for such sheets, or whether some other less expensive
sheets can be used for the purpose? Thanks in advance for all
replies. I will summarise the responses if necessary.
Adarsh Sethi
University of Delaware
ARPANET: sethi@dewey.udel.EDU
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 86 15:26:59 EST
From: "John R. Levine, P.O.Box 349, Cambridge MA 02238-0349 (617-494-1400)" <harvard!ima!johnl@seismo.CSS.GOV>
Subject: PC Ethernet Terminal Multiplexer (Query)
To: harvard!seismo!usc-isib.arpa!info-ibmpc@seismo.CSS.GOV
We have about 40 PCs around the office here connected by a 3com Ethernet.
Some of them have modems for dial-out, but we would like to be able to dial
out from a lot more of them. One possibility is to buy a bunch of internal
modem cards for the PCs, buy more analog ports for the PBX, and run them
through the PBX. Another possibility, I suppose, would be to get a data pbx
and run RS-232 cable through the ceiling.
Since all of the PCs are already on the Ethernet, though, what I would like is
a box that plugs into the Ethernet on one side and RS-232 and/or modems on the
other side, along with PC software to play VT-100 speaking over the Ethernet
to the box. I suspect that 4 modem lines or so on the box would be enough.
I gather that Bridge Communications makes such a thing but it sounds kind of
expensive. Does anybody have any experience with the Bridge box or anything
else that might do the trick? I'd prefer something off the shelf, though I
can roll my own if it would save a whole lot of money.
John Levine, Javelin Software, Cambridge MA 617-494-1400
{ decvax | harvard | think | ihnp4 | cbosgd }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.ARPA
The opinions above are solely those of a 12 year old hacker who has broken
into my account, and not those of my employer or any other organization.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 86 12:48:40 PST
From: Ballard.pa@Xerox.ARPA
Subject: DOS Environment sizes
I use EasyPath from Polygon Software, which allows programs to find
their auxillary files when running from a different directory. EasyPath
uses the environment to store the search paths for the various files.
As this requires quite a lot of environment space, they include a
utility that patches command.com to have a specified default environment
size.
I recently switched to DOS 3.1, and discovered that the command.com
patcher does not work on that version. A phone call to Polygon produced
the information that you can say:
SHELL=COMMAND.COM /E:60 /P
in config.sys to set the environment to a larger size.
This /E: switch does not appear to be documented anywhere. Does anyone
know where it might be? What does the argument to the switch mean?
Obviously not 60 bytes. Maybe paragraphs. What are the legal values?
Does this only work in 3.1?
Also note that EasyPath comes with a utility that can alter the
environment, something I'd like to be able to do from a program. They
won't tell me how they do that. Any ideas?
------------------------------
To: info-ibmpc%usc-isib.csnet-relay@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
From: kwan%mhuxa.btl.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
Date: Tue, 21 Jan EST 1986 17:23
Subject: PC networking with Ethernet (Query)
I am looking for info about networking IBM PC's (or compatibles) over
Ethernet LAN with provisions to hook up to another Ethernet LAN that
runs TCP/IP.
There are a few such network products available from Ungermann-Bass,
Inc., 3Com, Interlan (may be others as well). Could people who have
experience with these PC networks over Ethernet provide a short summary
of their experience and suggestions (e.g., the network facilities and
servers provided and whether they are good, reliablility, cost of
adding a PC to Ethernet, whether TCP/IP is supported)?
Choi Kwan
ATT Bell Labs
600 Mountain Ave
Murray Hill, NJ 07974
(201) 582-5727
mhuxa!kwan@btl.csnet
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 86 19:53:59 EST
From: cs161@harvard.HARVARD.EDU (Cs161 Cs161)
To: Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Subject: Partitions and PC/IX
Hello,
I have a problem that I hope someone can solve:
We have an IBM-XT which once upon a time had PC/IX installed on
one of its 2 hard disks. As a result, that disk has a DOS partition
and a PC/IX partition. The other hard disk is solely DOS.
The problem is this: we no longer have PC/IX and we want to get
rid of the PC/IX partition. Fdisk won't touch it. I even went
into debug and called int 26H to do an absolute disk write. I
suceeded in overwriting every sector on the hard disk, but the
data about the partition still remains!!!!
Where is this info stored? How can I get rid of the partition
without having to go buy PC/IX to de-install itself??
thanx,
Joel Smith
(cs161@harvard.ARPA)
------------------------------
From: roy%gitpyr.UUCP@BRL.ARPA
Subject: Patches for the New Personal Editor II
Date: Thu, 16-Jan-86 07:36:36 PST
I have just started using the new Personal Editor II for the IBM PC.
If you use PE version 1, or looked at it and decided it had some rough
edges, I highly recommend that you take another look. A lot of work
has obviously gone into the new version, and while it may not be the
most powerful editor for the PC, it has a lot of nice features that
are easy to use.
First, rename the pe2.exe file so that debug treates it as a normal file:
ren pe2.exe pe2 <CR>
debug pe2 <CR>
At the debug prompt, display the registers and make note of the DS register
value. In the following modifications, XXXX will denote the DS value, and
YYYY will denote that value plus 1000H (for example, if DS = 1234H, XXXX is
1234H, and YYYY is 2234H).
-r <CR>
PE II has a "/q" switch to turn off the banner page/copyright logo. The
first patch causes the banner page to default to off rather than on, and
alters the "/q" switch to turn the banner off into a "/v" switch to turn
the banner on:
-e YYYY:09FA <CR>
YYYY:09FA 01.00 <CR>
-e XXXX:C469 <CR>
XXXX:C469 71.76 <CR>
-e XXXX:C470 <CR>
XXXX:C470 00.01 <CR>
The second patch increases the default amount of space reserved at the
high end of memory. I found that on my system with 576K memory, every
time I exited PE II, command.com was reloaded. PE II has a "/rNNN" switch
which can be used to reserve space for the secondary (and initial) command
interpreters. The documentation says that it isn't necessary to use this
switch, but I found that increasing it from the default of "/r2" to "/r18"
prevented command.com from having to reload (at least, it did for DOS 3.1).
The default value for "/r" is a word, so remember to enter the bytes in
reverse order. 18 decimal is 12 hex, so:
-e XXXX:C55F <CR>
XXXX:C55F 02.12 <SP>
XXXX:C560 00.00 <CR>
Make sure that all the output you get from this patch (except for the XXXX
and YYYY, of course) is the same as that given above. Also, make sure that
you don't patch your original pe2. If you are certain everything went as
planned:
-w <CR>
Writing 11F00 bytes
-q <CR>
ren pe2 pe2.exe <CR>
Roy J. Mongiovi. Office of Computing Services. User Services.
Georgia Institute of Technology. Atlanta GA 30332. (404) 894-6163
...!{akgua, allegra, amd, hplabs, ihnp4, masscomp, ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!roy
------------------------------
Date: Tue 21 Jan 86 19:12:37-CST
From: Larry Smith <CMP.LSMITH@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: Key Beep
To: info-ibmpc@R20.UTEXAS.EDU
I was using KERMIT as a terminal when a burst of noise hit. After
that, the PC beeped every time I typed a key. It continued to do it
after I exited Kermit and tried other things. I assume this is a
key-click feature that some ANSI.SYS command turned on, but I couldn't
find it documented. What happened and how do I turn it off next time?
-------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 86 20:53 EST
From: "David S. Bakin" <Bakin@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA>
Subject: FAT and Reading Directories
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
I am playing with a program called SORTDIR which is supposed to sort
directory entries in a subdirectory so that a normal DOS DIR command will
list them in sorted order. I think I got it from the Info-IBMPC archives
as an ASM source, I forget where I got it, but anyway, it didn't work so
I'm looking inside. And I have a few questions.
1) Given a directory FCB from the find-file/next-file system calls, it
looks in the FAT to calculate the size of the directory file by counting
clusters instead of looking in the file size entry of the FAT. Why?
2) When it goes down the chain of clusters for a directory, it seems that
directories are AWFULLY large! I have a hard disk using DOS 3.1 with a cluster
size of 2048 bytes, yet a virgin directory created with MKDIR gets 3 clusters
and some of my other directories with just a few files get 6 to 9 clusters.
Has anyone else seen this or do I have to look for a bug in my cluster
following routine?
3) Does anyone have any pointer to a similar program which WORKS?
THANKS VERY MUCH! -- Dave Bakin (Bakin -at mit-multics.arpa)
------------------------------
To: info-ibmpc%usc-isib.csnet-relay@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
From: kwan%mhuxa.btl.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
Date: Tue, 21 Jan EST 1986 18:11
Subject: PC software that generate Postscript for LaserWriter
I want to gather info about text-processing/documentaton/graphics
software for IBM PC than can produce Postscript output for the Apple
Laserwriter. Pointers to locate such resources will be useful.
AT&T Bell Labs
600 Mountain Ave
Murray Hill, NJ 07974
(201) 582-5727
mhuxa!kwan@btl.csnet
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1986 23:15:51 EST
From: Mark Harris Perlman <6108070%PUCC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: AT Speed Select?
Hello-
I love my AT--It screams with its new 18.4 Mhz chip, but every once
in a while, I would love to sit down to a nice SLOW game of Flight Sim,
pinball, or whatever. Has anyone out there come up with any solutions
(aside from multiple crystals) for this problem(?) of too much speed?
--Mark Perlman
6108070@PUCC.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: 21 Jan 86 21:36:00 PST
From: ALEX WOO <wu@ames-aero>
Subject: Book: "BUILD YOUR FIRST EXPERT SYSTEM"
To: info-ibmpc <info-ibmpc@isib>
Reply-To: ALEX WOO <wu@ames-aero>
A Local bookstore had an interesing product from Aston-Tate/Teknowledge
called BUILD YOUR FIRST EXPERT SYSTEM for about $30. It looked fairly
interesting but extremely limited. Are there any first hand experiences
with this product? Any good?
Alex Woo
------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 86 22:58:35 pst
From: Todd H. Ogasawara <ogasawar%tetra@nosc.ARPA>
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib
Subject: HP ThinkJet & STSC APL*PLUS/PC works!
Thank you to all who responded to my query about the ThinkJet(TJ) and
Epson compatibility (including one person from HP, thanks for listening
HP!).
My ThinkJet arrived on 17 Jan 86 (Fri). Here is a short list of what works
and what doesn't in the TJ Epson mode (HP calls it "Alternate Mode").
Works in TJ Epson compatibility mode:
---------------------------------
STSC APL*PLUS/PC APL chars print fine in ThinkJet Epson mode
WordPerfect 4.1 Works as expected
Lotus 1-2-3 Version 1A graphics dump works just fine
Does not work with Epson compatibility mode:
-----===-----------------------------------
Microsoft Windows
This was a real disappointment. I've become very fond of Windows and
found it very useful with Arity Prolog. Unfortunately, Windows
does not directly support the ThinkJet (although it does support
various HP plotters and LaserJets). I tried installing the
Epson MX-80 w/Graftrax driver and the IBM Graphics Printer driver
hoping that they would work with the TJ in the Epson mode but no
luck.
If anyone at HP or Microsoft could help me out of this jam it would
be greatly appreciated. I would really hate to drag my aging
and noisy Epson MX-80 out of the corner just to be able to use Windows.
Thanks..todd
Todd Ogasawara, Computer Sciences Corp.
NOSC-Hawaii Laboratories
UUCPmail: {akgua,allegra,decvax,ihnp4,ucbvax}!sdcsvax!noscvax!ogasawar
MILNET: OGASAWAR@NOSC
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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