Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA (Info-IBMPC Digest) (12/06/85)
Info-IBMPC Digest Friday, 6 December 1985 Volume 4 : Issue 136
This Week's Editor: Billy Brackenridge
Today's Topics:
Removing Programs Installed via INT 27H
Another TeX for the PC
Graphics Terminal Emulators for AT
Hard Disks for Compaq
PRINT and NUL bytes
PCVMS PC Toolbox from Wendin
Project Manager(s) Compatible with dBase III
Seagate ST225 20MB
PC Jr Memory and VT100 Emulator
Epson FX Font Downloading
TURBO PASCAL Parameter Passing Problem Summary
IBM PC -> Apple Laserwriter (2 Msgs)
ARC Version 4.50 now Available from SIMTEL20
More on the SSI WordPerfect Package and Assembler Programming
WordPerfect Question/Problem
Pc - Mac Similar Word Processors
DR Fortran 77 Unformatted Direct Access Bug
IBM PC to HP 3000
PC/AT-Mod 02 20MByte Winchester Disk
Definicon DSI-32 Board - Review
Booting AT w/hard disk and DOS 3.0
ZENITH Z-151
Logic Line-1
PCjr Upgrades?
Microsoft C Compiler
Need Help with Okidata Printer under 1-2-3
Brief Editor from Solutions Systems (2 Msgs)
Linkage Editor
Lotus/Intel Expanded Memory Specification
Definicon DSI-32
vi
'Pushing' a Command Shell in Turbo
Write Protecting a File in DOS?
PC-Limited's PC AT
DisplayWrite 3 and Oki printers
AT "type 2" system board
Wanted: Xenix Driver for QIC-FILE Tape Backup
ADC Modem from DAK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2 Dec 1985 07:16:42 CST
Subject: Removing Programs Installed via INT 27H
From: HUNEYCUTT@GUNTER-ADAM.ARPA
Tried this last week, but it apparently didn't get through, so here
it comes again.
Does anyone know how to cleanly remove code from DOS that has been
added via an INT 27H? I'd like to have several different interrupt
and screen handlers available to a package I'm doing, but would like
to remove one before adding another....an active system could
possibly eat up all available RAM otherwise. Here's hoping,
Doug
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 85 07:41:59 est
From: Scott Guthery <sguthery%slb-doll.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Another TeX for the PC
There is another TeX for the PC. It is Personal TeX available from
PCTeX, 415-388-8853. It costs less than MicroTeX, includes INITEX,
and uses TeX-standard pixel files (packed and unpacked). You also
get Spivak's VANILLA macro package along with the AMS and LaTeX macro
packages and a user manual written by Mike Spivak. Site licenses are
available including a personal use option. See the October Dr. Dobbs
for a comparative review.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 85 11:40:22 EST
From: Dave Swindell <dswindel@BBN-LABS-B.ARPA>
To: minkoff@anl-mcs.ARPA
Subject: Graphics Terminal Emulators for AT
There are several graphics terminal emulators on the market for the
IBM-PC/AT. I am familiar with a few of the monochrome, Tektronix
401X series emulators, such as PC-PLOT from Micro-Plot Systems in
Columbus, Ohio, and have beta tested the recently released Tek 4107
emulator from GrafPoint, located somewhere in the San Francisco Bay
area. Recently, I've noticed adds from the SAS Institute (the folks
that wrote the statistical package SAS), and from FTG Data Systems
for Tek 4105 emulation software. For those of you not familiar with
the Tektronix family of terminals, the 401x class terminals are the
high resolution (1024 X 780) monochrome storage tube terminals
popular since the mid 70's; the 4105 and 4107 are Tektronix's newer
medium resolution color raster terminals. The 4107 supports the
concept of graphics segments and can do some local, 2d image
manipulation.
I've been using PC-PLOT III for over a year now to communicate with a
mainframe which supports 4010 and 4014-style graphics. The product
is a complete 4010 emulator (except for graphics tablet input) with
extensions to support lower case characters. PC-PLOT also emulates a
DEC VT100, and some functions of the Retro-Graphics VT640 and Tek
4027. PC-PLOT does not support multiple character sizes, as does the
4014. The program works with a number of different graphics cards
(Hercules, IBM EGA, IBM Color, Tecmar, Color+, and AT&T) and
printers. Graphics images can be captured into files for later
viewing, and can also be plotted on a Hewlett-Packard 747x plotter.
I believe the current price for PC-PLOT III is under $100.00.
Our mainframe software also supports the Tektronix 4105/07/09 series
of color terminals, and we have been looking for a good color
emulator to use in-house and to recommend to others. We beta tested
a product called TGraf-07 from GRAFPOINT Software during August. I
was very impressed with the product I tested. The 4107 is a very
complex terminal, with a large command set, local graphics segments,
and several local image manipulation functions built in (image zoom
and pan, redefinition of color maps, etc...). TGraf-07 faithfully
emulated all features I tested (except for the lack of keyboard
macros and a keyboard execute character). TGraf-07 also supports a
large number of high resolution color graphics boards and printers
(TGraf-07 will not work on anything with less resolution than the
EGA).
The only real problem, if you can call it a problem, is the list
price: $1000.00. Although an IBM AT equipted with an EGA and
TGraf-07 still costs a little less than a "real" 4107, I think the
price is a bit steep for the budgets of some of the academic
researches who use our mainframe and would be purchasing the software
for their PC.
The other two companies I mentioned (FTG and SAS) have sent me
literature on their product, however, I have had no "hands on"
experience with either program. Both products are 4105 emulators and
do not appear to support any of the local segment or image
manipulation capabilities of the 4107. As a concluding comment, I
think that as the 4105/07/09 become the "new" standard graphics
terminal, we will be seeing many other color terminal emulators on
the market in the near future.
If anyone is aware of any other companies which are producing
4105/07/09 emulators, please send me a message, or post the
information to the net. Thanks!
Dave Swindell
BBN Laboratories Incorporated
dswindell@bbn
Note: I have no affiliation with any of the companies I have mentioned other
than I may have used and or tested some of their software.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 85 17:22 GMT
From: DEVOTO%LLL@LLL-MFE.ARPA
Subject: Hard Disks for Compaq
To: info-ibmpc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
A while back I asked for any experience with 20 Meg hard disks for the
Compaq transportable. No replies, but I went ahead and bought one for
$579. It was the Mercury package including a Western Digital short card
controller, a Tandon 262 HD (they claim a 362 HD in the literature, whatever
that is), and execellent instructions. The Tandon is a very quiet disk,
quieter than the Seagate which some companies offer (I have one at work)
and I highly recommend this package. It comes from one of the Texas
mail-order houses, PC Source I think. With the short card, it probably
would fit in the Tandy as well. But if you want a quiet HD, insist on
the Tandon!
------------------------------
Date: Monday, 2 December 1985 13:23:35 EST
From: Joe.Newcomer@a.sei.cmu.edu
Subject: PRINT and NUL bytes
I just used the PRINT command to print the output file from FInalWord II.
Alas, it totally locked up the printer. Doing 'copy filename prn' worked
fine. When I read the file, I found it full of NUL bytes; the behavior
is such that I believe PRINT.COM is not sending NUL bytes to the printer.
Does anyone know this for certain? Before I plunge in with DEBUG, it would
be nice to know if this is the problem, and/or if any intrepid souls have
already fixed this.
[P.S. to Randy: Thanks. Your mail return address is unknown to our router,
so I couldn't send a direct reply]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 85 19:37:06 pst
From: well!wendin@lll-crg.ARPA (Stephen Jones)
Subject: PCVMS PC Toolbox from Wendin
Sorry about the delay-- all Wendin's techs went to COMDEX/FALL for a
week in Las Vegas. You have a real early release of PCVMS which might
cause some programs to fail, and in the process of fixing those bugs,
we added several commands to PCVMS. You should call wendin at
509/235-8088 to get a FREE update to 1.06. Also, you should ask for
the technician who can help you with the multitasking. It works quite
well, even at that release. As you may know, the @ command does not
submit a background process-- you must use SPAWN or SUBMIT for that.
If those commands do not do exactly what you need, you can write
additional tools (in C, Pascal, Assembly, or even Turbo) and call our
CREPRC system service, which can create subprocesses, detached
processes, or event interactive terminal jobs, depending on the PSL
parameter. passed to it.
Plans for the future definitely include symbols, foreign commands, SET
COMMAND, optional command line interpreters, extra utilities like
ANALYZE, our own disk driver to replace DOS altogether, and VIRTUAL
MEMORY versions of all our operating systems, including PCVMS. The
price? It will move from $49 to $99 effective January 1, 1986. Of
course, registered customers can get updates at $20 each, so your
investment is preserved. If you can help us make PCVMS better, we
would appreciate all your comments, good or bad.
Steve Jones
Author, Operating System Toolbox
------------------------------
Date: 2 Dec 85 10:44:00 PST
From: lundgren@ames-vmsb.ARPA
Subject: Project Manager(s) Compatible with dBase III
Are there any project manager(s) available which will readily accept
dBase III files (either direct conversion or translation from dBase III
to the project manager)? I am running on an IBM-PC.
Thank you.
------
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 85 09:25:48 CST
From: C0692%UMVMA.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
Subject: Seagate ST225 20MB
I am considering buying the hard disk ST225 by Seagate for my IBM-PC. Can
anyone tell me if he or she had any problem with it. I would appreciate
hearing about it.
Thanks
Elias Saab, Department of Mathematics,UMC
(c0692@umvma.bitnet or Mathes@umcvmb.bitnet).
------------------------------
Subject: PC Jr Memory and VT100 Emulator
Date: 02 Dec 85 19:01:35 EST (Mon)
From: sra@mitre-bedford.ARPA
I am looking for a vt100 emulator that runs on the IBM PC Jr with 128K of
memory. A terminal emulator other than vt100 is of interest if it works in
128K memory.
I am also interested in a memory expansion card, I prefer one that can be
reconfigured with 256K chips so that I can get a full 640K without the need
for two cards.
Stan Ames
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 85 22:42 EST
From: Hess@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: Epson FX Font Downloading
Try a product called "Set-FX" from SoftStyle in Hawaii (Honolulu?
Kailea?) I don't think it's necessarily good or bad, but it @i(can) do
font downloading, 'cause I had to test it with FinalWord II for MotU.
Brian
(Hess.Unicorn@MIT-Multics)
------------------------------
From: P Wei <wei@princeton.uucp>
Subject: TURBO PASCAL Parameter Passing Problem Summary
Date: 1 Dec 85 16:10:29 GMT
After receiving many help from the net and my own experiment, I have writen
a workable assembly language routine which can successfully get the parameter
passing from TURBO and do some local work depending on what parameter I got.
Following is a summary : (Thank you for all of you who supply me useful info)
>From postnews Tue Nov 19 11:51:21 1985
Subject: TURBO PASCAL and assembly language link ? emergent!!
I want to write a routine in assembly language (IBM-PC running DOS2.0) and
invoke it in TURBO PASCAL. Can anyone tell me if the following is right as
soon as possible ?
In TURBO PASCAL program,
procedure routine(a, b : integer); external 'comfile.com';
The routine in assembly language :
code segment
assume cs:code
routine proc near
push bp
mov bp,sp
mov ax,[bp+4] ;is this to get b parameter?
;TURBO PASCAL pushes the parameters from left
;to right. i.e. first parameter is pushed first.
;Is this right ?
;
;By the way, is it typing error in the TURBO PASCAL reference manual (v.3.0),
;in the section discussing the internal data format and the external procedure,
;that says mov ax,[bp-1] will get the string length pushed onto the stack?
;Should that be mov ax,[bp+4] ?
---(1) The code writen is correct according to TURBO tutor. However, in this
way we cannot have any local variables in the assembly routine.
---(2) both mov ax,[bp-1] on page 222 and 253 in the TURBO reference manual
are 'typing error'. correct code should be bp+4.
From postnews Tue Nov 19 13:21:15 1985
Subject: local variable in assembly routine to be call from TURBO PASCAL
Is the following peiec going to work?
code segment
assume cs:code
routine proc near
jmp begin
variable dw ?
begin: .
.
.
mov variable,ax
.
.
My final goal is to set a 'static local variable' (like in C) such that on
second entry into this routine I can still get the value of variable set last
time. From the TURBO reference manual, the local variable is stored in stack
segment. So I think the above routine is not going to work. Can anyone tell
me a workable procedure ?
---No, this is not gona work! 'variable' is referenced with respect to code
segment in the assembly routine. However, when this routine is inserted
into pascal program using external declaration like in the first part above,
the CS is TURBO's cseg and TURBO doesn't make any change to the code
corresponding to mov variable,ax. This makes mov ... get into wrong place!
From postnews Thu Nov 21 13:34:25 1985
Subject: what might go wrong in these code (TURBO PASCAL)???
program test;
var
a,b : integer;
procedure call_int7e(a : integer; var b : integer);
begin inline($b8/$01/$cd/$7e); end; {mov ax,01
int 7eh}
begin
a := 0;
b := 0;
call_int7e(a,b);
.
.
.
When I call call_int in the main program, I suppose that the TURBO first pushes
the value of a onto the stack, and then pushes the pointer of b onto the stack,
finally pushes the return address on top of the stack.
When the program reaches the inline code in call_int7e, it will transfer
control to the interrupt routine 7eh with a parameter in ax register.
When the interrupt routine 7eh is reached, the stack will look like :
sp----> IP (low address)
CS
flags
return address
offset b
segment b
value of a (high address) and SS is the one set by TURBO.
Can anyone tell me if there is anything wrong ?
---This method is gona work in terms of capability of dealing with local variables.
By 'this method' I mean : put the assembly routine in memory (resident) and
try to interface it through software interrupt from TURBO.
However, the parameter above is wrong. See below for the correct one.
From postnews Thu Nov 21 21:17:05 1985
Subject: How does the inline() work in TURBO PASCAL ?
In my previous post, I mistyped inline($b8/$01/$cd/$7e); instead of
the correct inline($b8/$01/$cd/$7e); .
The machine was just stuck still forever (needing reboot) after running
the program. (interrupt 7eh was installed resident)
Because in that interrupt routine , I need to get the parameters passed
by the main program in stack(turbo's). Therefore I want to make sure the
concept stated in the last posting is right.
Am I wrong about the inline() statement ? I assume it is a statement informing
the complier and does nothing on the stack (it doesn't push its "argument" onto
the stack---i.e. the first code executing at run time is $B8).
Am I right????
The correct parameter stack should be
(low address)
bp--> [bp] in the assembly routine
[IP] int 7eh return address offset
[CS] int 7eh return address segment
[flags] for interrupt call
[bp?] extra push in TURBO's procedure
[sp?] extra push in TURBO's procedure
[ip] return address to main program
[offset of b]
[segment of b]
[value of a]
----so the point is those extra 4 bytes in the stack must be included
in order to get the right parameters passing from main program.
bp? and sp? are my suspect of what they are. My guess is based on some
clues getting from 'debug experiment' and some inderect information such as
stated in the reference manual p.214. If you compare the first 2 inline codes
on p.214 , you will find that the second one has extra two pop's
(pop sp and pop bp) which there are no corresponding push's in the first
one. I think this comes from the extra 7 bytes code added in every
procedure. ( see BYTE vol.10,no.11 p.226 )
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 85 21:25:09 pst
From: gould9!joel@nosc.ARPA (Joel West @ CACI)
Organization: CACI, Inc. -- La Jolla (home of SIMSCRIPT II.5)
Subject: IBM PC -> Apple Laserwriter
We have an IBM AT and are probably acquiring an Apple Laserwriter to
use with it. We've tested the laserwriter and have been able to
duplicate (part) of our letterhead using Times 9 and Times 24; we
would probably use Times 12 for letters.
What software is currently available for word-processing from MS-DOS
that will support Font size and style changes (we could probably live
with Times-only)? Needless to say, direct support would be preferrable
(I hear MS-Word does this), but any option (PC Mac Bridge I've heard of)
is worth knowing about. I particularly would like to hear of first-hand
experience.
We are currently using Wordstar 2000 and Samna Word, but our secretary
prefers DisplayWrite (needless to say, I doubt IBM supports Apple.)
What a mess, eh? (In case you're wondering how we got here, the quality
of the IBM and HP page printers didn't measure up. And yes, I plan
to use my Mac with the laserwriter).
Joel West CACI, Inc. Federal, La Jolla
{cbosgd,floyd,ihnp4,pyramid,sdcsvax,ucla-cs}!gould9!joel
gould9!joel@nosc.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 85 11:02 EST
From: Kyle.wbst@Xerox.ARPA
Subject: IBM PC -> Apple Laserwriter
I have a friend who is thinking along similar lines, except her
application is more involved. If you get some help in your request,
please let me know.
My friend wants to get a PC for her church (for the usual office related
things: wordprocessing, mailing lists, etc.); but she also wants to be
able to drive something better than a dot matrix printer. Needless to
say, a big laser printer is out (for funding reasons), so she is
thinking along the lines of an Apple Laserwriter. The problem is she
wants to do rare book translations/transliterations and requires a
capability of printing a Classic Greek font (as opposed to a modern
Greek font which they don't like).
Can anybody recommend a hardware/software combo that is cheap, will give
a WYSIWYG display, and letter qualityhardcopy output? Would appreciate
cost info if available.
Thanks,
Earle Kyle
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1985 03:41 MST
From: Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: ARC Version 4.50 now Available from SIMTEL20
The latest version of ARC, the MS/PCDOS program that combines groups
of files into one archive file, is now available from SIMTEL20 as:
Filename Type Bytes CRC Notes
Directory PD:<CPM.PCDOS>
ARC450.DQC.1 BINARY 17152 9F81H <--squeezed
ARC450.EQE.1 BINARY 24832 561BH <--squeezed
ARC450.UPD.1 ASCII 2771 0FBCH
Here is the text from ARC450.UPD, explaining what's new:
CHANGES IN VERSION 4.5:
The Convert command was not making use of ramdisk support. Now it is.
The Freshen command was added. Our first choice for a name was
Refresh, but we already had a Run command. Assuming that you have an
archive which already contains everything you want in it (for software
distribution, perhaps), then Freshen would be used to update the
archive. It was pointed out to us that ARC already knows what is in
the archive, so it should be able to look on disk for newer versions.
Now it can.
The Suppress compression option was added by popular demand. It
allows files to be added quickly to an archive, since the files are
not analyzed or compressed, but merely stored straight. The intent is
to allow users to build an archive "in pieces", and then compress all
of the entries at once with the Convert command. The conversion is
much faster if you take advantage of ramdisk support.
A minor bug was detected in our handling of date/time stamps which
occasionally resulted in stamping an archive with the wrong date and
time. This has been corrected.
CHANGES IN VERSION 4.4:
The temporary file introduced in version 4.3 occasionally caused
problems for people who had not added a FILES= statement to their
CONFIG.SYS file. This has now been corrected. Also, support of the
ARCTEMP environment string was added to allow placing of the temporary
file on a ramdisk.
A bug was reported in the Run command, which has been fixed. From the
extreme time required before the bug was reported, it is deduced that
the Run command is probably the least used feature of ARC.
The Update command was changed. It is no longer a straight synonym
for Add. Instead, Update now only adds a file if it is newer than the
version already in the archive, as shown by the MS-DOS date/time
stamp.
CHANGES IN VERSION 4.3:
Version 4.3 adds the much-demanded feature of using pathnames when
adding files to an archive. For obscure technical reasons, files
being extracted still go in the current directory on the current
drive. Pathnames are also not supported for any of the other
commands, because it would make no sense.
Version 4.3 is also using a slightly different approach when adding a
file to an archive. The end result is twofold:
1) Slightly more disk space is required on the drive containing the
archive. This should only be noticeable to those creating very
large archives on a floppy based system.
2) A 30% reduction in packing time has been achieved in most cases.
This should be noticeable to everyone.
As always, version 4.3 is still fully upwards compatible, and is
backwards compatible as far as version 4.1.
------------------------------
From: "840033@G.Pavlov" <pavlov@hscfvax.uucp>
Subject: More on the SSI WordPerfect Package and Assembler Programming
Date: 3 Dec 85 04:37:27 GMT
... maybe you don't have to reboot the system very often, running SSI WP -
but it does let things get out of control every once in a while (try
saving a file to a damaged floppy, for example. You'll recognize the
"Abort, Retry, or Ignore" message - but will a secretary ? Answer "A"
and you're back at DOS level - with your work gone - ).
The tab stops are a pain, by the way - auto indents work off them - and
they're absolute. So if you decide, after you've typed in your document,
to change margins, you have to reset all the tabs as well - else your
indents are likely to be halfway across the page.
Or: center a text string, with text already on the line - and then try to de-
cipher the nonsense that results on the screen. Yes, you can go into the
"reveal" screen to see what is "really" there. But that is a difficult
thing to understand, if you don't have a good familiarity with PC's.
It is a good package; I and a group of people that I work with use it exten-
sively. But some of the recent comments about it show a lack of perspective.
It's a good - but still imperfect - piece of software - that may not be ideal
for many people.
------------------------------
From: William Howell <howell@unc.uucp>
Subject: WordPerfect Question/Problem
Date: 2 Dec 85 15:42:33 GMT
I am using an old version of Word Perfect, about 3.0 or 3.1.
I need to export plain ASCII files. It seems to work if the
Word Perfect document does not have footnotes, but if it
has footnotes, it just ignores them. Am I doing something
wrong? Or does anyone have a utility or know of a utility
to do the conversion? I don't really care what the text
ends up looking like, just so that it is all present, with
no special characters. Thanks in advance.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 85 18:34 EST
From: GKN3M2%IRISHMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
Subject: Pc - Mac Similar Word Processors
Would anyone like to express their opinions on which word processor
for the IBM-PC can most closely emulate the Apple Macintosh's
Macwrite?? Mouse or no mouse, ease of operation, fonts, reliability,
etc. Please feel free to respond directly.
EVAN BAUMAN
U. OF NOTRE DAME
DEPT. OF CHEM. ENG.
GKN3M2%IRISHMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Tue 3 Dec 85 07:34:31-PST
From: Jean-Pierre Dumas <DUMAS@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
Subject: DR Fortran 77 Unformatted Direct Access Bug
Anyone using the Digital Research Fortran 77 (06-01-84 version 4.0) ?
There is a bug during unformated direct access read.
This does not happen (or does not show up) if the file is small
(ie 30 records of 80 bytes, fixed length) but happen more or less
quickly if the read is on a larger file (170 records...)
Anyone that can help ?
Jean-Pierre Dumas (dumas@sumex.arpa)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 85 10:41 EST
From: CF4A8X%IRISHMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
Subject: IBM PC to HP 3000
Does anyone have any information about connecting IBM PCs to an
HP 3000 ? I know about some of the terminal emulation software
available, but I would like to find something that communicates
faster than 9600 baud. Another possibility would be to network
the PCs and use a network connection to the HP. Is there
such an animal available, and if so, where can I get the info ?
Mark D. Eggers
BITNET cf4a8x@irishmvs
[VDTE from Inner Loop Software (213)822-2800 is a HP terminal emulator
which uses serial lines. Dick Gillmann, author and owner of this program
is a former editor of info-ibmpc -wab]
------------------------------
Date: 3 Dec 85 17:54:49 +0100
From: Y028@BR1.THDNET
Subject: PC/AT-mod 02 20MByte Winchester Disk
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib
THD-Info: This is a test version of THDNET.
THD-Info: The THDNET gateway (MAILER@DDATHD21.BITNET)
THD-Info: accepts print or punch files with RFC-Header
THD-Info: For more information contact #D14@DDATHD21.BITNET
Recently our university bought about 50-60 PC/AT's Mod02
with the original 20 MegaByte Winchester Disk.
I heard from different sources, that you have to execute
the program SHUTDOWN before (electrically) switching off the PC/AT.
- If we like to move our PC from one room to the other -
we use SHIPDISK -
Now we have asked two IBM software'specialists' about this.
They said: "This is nonsense. We already use our winchesters for years
without running neither SHUTDOWN nor SHIPDISK before
switching off the PC's without any problems"
I cannot believe this.
(In the beginning, for the first 3 or 4 weeks, we did not use those
programs, now we do. CHKDSK tells us that many of the Winchesters
already do have bad sectors. What about that?)
Is there anyone likes to comment on this?
I'm very thankful for any answer.
Please send any Message to Y028@DDATHD21 in BITNET (or EARN).
regards,
Walter Reichenbaecher,
Techn.University Darmstadt, University Computing Center
D6100 Darmstadt, West Germany, Tel. +41 6151 162058
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 85 12:22:41 EST
From: Andy Adler <andya@bbnccp.ARPA>
Subject: Definicon DSI-32 Board - Review
Cc: andya@bbnccp.arpa
John,
I read your review of the Definicon Board with great interest. I
would imagine that many owners of PCs are wondering the same: How far
can I avoid purchasing a new computer by expanding my existing
machine? I ask myself this question often.
I have some particular questions that relate to the particular
application for which I use my PC -- realtime viewing of full frame
animation. My question to you -- and all owners of turbo boards of
one sort or another -- is this: how much of an upper limit to
performance does the bus speed impose? You mention the (somewhat
operative) graphics demos that came with the Definicon so you might
have some idea -- it seems that when doing graphics that at some point
it does not matter how fast a cpu board you have if the bus cannot get
the pixels from the cpu board to the graphics board fast enough.
It would be helpful for me to hear from you your impression of what
limits you have or have not reached. (Either qualitative or
quantitative assessments are welcome.)
Andy Adler
BBN Communciations
(andya@ bbnccp.arpa)
------------------------------
From: Tom Reingold <reintom@rocky2.uucp>
Subject: Booting AT w/hard disk and DOS 3.0
Date: 3 Dec 85 02:15:38 GMT
Another case of hardware/software apparent incompatabilities. I
recently purchased a 40M Seagate hard disk for my AT. After formatting
the disk with Mountain's Hard Disk Utility as a 15M and 25M volume, I
could not boot from the hard disk w/DOS 3.0. Since In ormally run
my machine at 9Mhz., I immediately changed it back to 6Mhz., but still
no luck. After trying everything, my dealer (ENTRE in Fairfield NJ)
called to say that this configuration would work w/DOS 3.1. They
gave me DOS 3.1 for a greatly reduced price and everything's
been fine since. Any ideas?
Max Robin
AT&T Bell Laboratories
201-386-6865
email:whuxg!2212msr
After running the format program you were supplied with, you should
probably do the following:
1. Format the disk again, this time using the FORMAT program
provided on your DOS diskette.
2. Run the FDISK program that is on your DOS diskette. Make the
partition from which you want to boot "active".
Tom Reingold
------------------------------
Date: 3 Dec 85 12:57 EST
From: Jim Moore <moore@ncsc>
Subject: ZENITH Z-151
I've been ordered to determine the % compatiblity the Z-151 shares with
IBM PC's. If you have comments, please send direct to moore@ncsc. Thanks.
Jim
------------------------------
From: FRYE%LLL@LLL-MFE.ARPA
Subject: Logic Line-1
Date: Mon 2 Dec 85 08:41:06-PST
I would greatly appreciate any comments from anyone on the IBM-PC net
who has had experience using the Artificial Intelligence program called
"Logic Line-1" from Clarity Software of Chesterland, Ohio. Does it live up to
its advertised claims? What strengths and weaknesses does it have? Your
comments will be most welcomed. Thank you.
------------------------------
From: "Dr. Arthur Wouk " <wouk@BRL-SEM.ARPA>
Subject: PCjr Upgrades?
Date: 3 Dec 85 21:36:56 GMT
I would like to upgrade my PCjr from 256K to 640K by replacing
the 64K RAM chips in my Tecmar jrCaptain with 256K chips. The
Tecmar documentation says that this is possible, provided you
have the older jrCaptain that has sockets for the RAM.
Recently, Tecmar has told conflicting stories to callers on
their hotline. In one story, Tecmar says that the 256K chips
will overheat and possibly damage the jrCaptain board along with
themselves. Tecmar's solution is to buy a jrCadet board ($153.00,
fully populated) to piggy-back onto the jrCaptain. In the other
story, Tecmar says that the 256K chips will not overheat or
damage the jrCaptain. They will, however, fail because they are
only "commercial grade" (if bought through the usual mail-order
sources) rather than the "industrial grade" that Tecmar uses.
Tecmar's solution -- buy a jrCadet. What is the correct story?
Also, are there advantages to using CMOS RAM chips? Does anyone
have experience upgrading a PCjr?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 85 14:46:11 est
From: munnari!mimir.dmt.oz!dcm@seismo.CSS.GOV (Dennis Mills)
Subject: Microsoft C Compiler
My apologies if this is an old and well-known problem....
It seems that Microsoft's MSDOS C compiler (version 3.0) exhibits strange
behaviour as regards unlinking files.
If you "unlink" a file (opened via "open") without first "close"-ing it, the
directory entry is happily removed, but the disk clusters allocated to the
file are not freed. This results in lost clusters which can only be recovered
using a utility such as "chkdsk".
I consider this strange, since:
(i) It is not documented in the manual that a "close" is a
necessary preliminary to "unlink"-ing.
(ii) I have not encountered other C compilers whose I/O library
implementations impose this restriction.
(iii) Even if it is a deliberate "feature", omission of the "close"
is obviously handled very inelegantly by "unlink".
Any information regards this situation would be most welcome.
Dennis.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 85 10:31 EST
From: Larry Afrin <lbafrin%clemson.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Need Help with Okidata Printer under 1-2-3
My friend is trying to use the 1-2-3 PrintGraph program to print out
1-2-3 graphs on his Okidata u84 (that's "micro"-84) printer. He has
tried selecting both of the Okidata devices in the device menu (one
entry is for an Oki u84 and the other's for an Oki u94, I think --
whatever, he tried selecting the right one, and he's also tried the
other one), and neither one gives him a graph that I would rate as
anything better than garbage. If you want to pretend the result
is a Rorschact test, you might be able to imagine a feeble attempt to
produce agraph borde, some labels, and a few data points, but the
large (and I do mean large) majority of the graph is apparently random
dots and lines. Oh, there are also about a couple of blank lines in
between every printed line. The version of 1-2-3 is 1A. Does anybody
know what's going on? Has anyone gotten PrintGraph to work with an
Oki u84? Any help appreciated. Please mail directly to me. Thanks!
-- Larry Afrin
Dept. of Computer Science
Clemson University
================================
Please send replies, if any, to:
lbafrin@clemson if you're on CSNet
lbafrin.clemson@csnet-Relay if you're on ARPANet
any reasonable-looking string with if you're on any other net
"lbafrin" and "clemson" in it
Official Disclaimer: I didn't write the above, but if I *had* written it, I
would have said exactly what the guy who did write it said.
------------------------------
Date: 3-DEC-1985 14:57:40.23
From:<RUSSELL%BROWNCOG.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA>
Subject: Brief Editor from Solutions Systems
I had used Brief on someone else's machine about a year ago and
was very impressed with it. Although I didn't really get to
use it that long, it really impressed me in that short time.
In the short time I used it, it made the impression of being
the best programmer's editor that I've ever used. It was
extremely intuitive. It is a rare occasion when one can sit
down for the first time using an editor and do what one wants
to do with very little conscious effort. It seemed that each
time I wondered about something I just tried it and it worked.
I didn't even look at the manual and I got a lot of
productive work done. As an example, I wondered how I could
jump to the 100th line, so, I guessed Alt-G, for GOTO and on
the bottom line of the screen popped the prompt 'Goto Line?' to
which I responded 100 and ABRACADABRA I was on line 100. As
far as I know, it was also extremely customizable and
supported user-defined macros with ease. To be perfectly
honest, I didn't use it long enough to have a full impression,
but as first impressions are often the most important, it
certainly impressed me.
-Mike Russell
(RUSSELL@BROWNCOG.BITNET)
P.S. I understand that company that wrote it is called
Underware. Cute huh, Brief by Underware?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1985 11:12 EST
From: LENOIL@MIT-XX.ARPA
To: larry@JPL-VLSI.ARPA
Subject: Brief Editor from Solutions Systems
I saw the Brief editor this summer. It looked very nice; with full
windowing capability, the ability to run subshells, and full
programmability via a C/LISP hybrid language, with full source code
included for most of the functions. Now that Epsilon is programmable,
I'd say that the two are neck and neck. I will probably stick with
Epsilon, since the default key bindings are those of EMACS (but of
course both editors now allow you to change this). Another thing that
I wasn't crazy about was that windows in Brief are drawn as boxes,
even when the window is the entire screen. What this means is that
you can only see a maximum of 78 chars/line, instead of 80, since the
leftmost and rightmost screen columns form the vertical line of the
window. This is a minor quibble, but for tabular languages like C
that quickly migrate to the right, I like as much horizontal screen
bandwidth as possible.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1985 17:34 EST
From: George P. Dake <DAKE%UCF1VM.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA>
Subject: Linkage Editor
I have received a couple of answers to my query about linkage editors,
and have been prompted to report them to the net.
It seems that Pheonix Computer Products new linker (Plink Plus) supports
.OBJ and .LIB files and will also generate intermediate .OBJ files
(useful for hiding internal names AND reducing link times)
Their address:
Phoenix Computer Products Corporation
320 Norwood Park South
Norwood, MASS 02062
Sales (800) 344-7200
Tech Support (617) 769-8310
Thanks to those who send to me. I haven't yet inquired about this product,
so I can't evaluate it's abilities, and of course ...
... the usual disclaimers -- I'm just me ...
Geo
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 85 10:53:12 est
From: Joe User <comptrol1%watale%waterloo.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA>
Subject: Lotus/Intel Expanded Memory Specification
A copy of the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification can be
obtained from:
INTEL CORPORATION
5200 N.E. Elam Young Parkway
Hillsboro, Oregon 097123
or by calling 1-800-538-3373 (outside U.S.A. call 1-503-629-7367) and ask for
Technical Support.
Rich Williams
comptrol1%watale@waterloo
------------------------------
From: John Krist <jk@utastro.uucp>
Subject: Definicon DSI-32
Date: 3 Dec 85 19:34:38 GMT
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
O.k., this is my last time in net.micro.pc. If you are interested
in the DSI-32 32032 coprocessor board keep checking net.micro.16k.
I have had a few requests to run the Drystone benchmark on my
DSI-32 board, but I cannot find a listing of it anywhere. I would
run it immediately if someone would post it on net.sources or mail
it to me. By the way, here is a little more information that I have
found:
The Fortran library is the same one shipped with 4.2 BSD UNIX.
UNIX (version unknown) is being beta tested on the DSI now.
A 4 Mbyte board is being tested.
WHETSTONE benchmark:
C: optimized - 4.11 sec
non-opt - 4.40 sec
F77: optimized - 4.45 sec
non-opt - 4.45 sec
To Mr. Krist: My name was americanized from Polish. I don't know the
spelling at the moment.
John Krist
U. Texas Astronomy Dept.
(jk@utastro.UUCP)
------------------------------
From: decvax!datagen!boykin@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 85 12:52:49 est
Subject: vi
Several weeks ago I posted a notice that there was now a full
implementation of VI available for MS-DOS. At the time the product
was still in Beta test. This is an updated status for that product:
PC/VI Version 1.00 has recently been released. It is a full
implementation of UNIX vi, with the only things missing are those
which don't make any sense under MS-DOS (e.g. the 'timeout' option).
Other than that, there isn't anything which I've tried which works
under UNIX which doesn't work on PC/VI. It will run on any MS-DOS
system since it uses the TERMCAP database. For IBM-PC's there should
be an ANSI.SYS or FANSI-CONSOLE driver installed.
Reliability: The program is VERY solid. There are a few known
problems, but these are both minor and listed in a chapter in the
documentation. If you find a new bug, you will receive the next
update free.
Documentation: Still incomplete. It is approximately 65 pages long
and MUCH better than the UNIX documentation even now. It is divided
into chapters on Visual mode commands, Command mode commands,
Options, Regular expressions and a general chapter on just using the
editor. As the manual is still incomplete, the 90 day warranty
period (during which you get any updates for free) is being extended.
The 90 day timer will not start until you get the full documentation
(probably mid-January). There is also hard-copy of the on-line help
which should be of help to even veteran VI users.
Speed: If you're using a floppy only system, don't buy PC/VI. The
program is large (128KB minimum + 64KB for extra buffers if it can
get it) and has alot of power, hence it requires alot of Disk and CPU
time. On an IBM-PC with hard disk the program is acceptable but not
phenomenal. On something like a COMPAC (8086 and faster clock) it is
more than acceptable. On an AT it flies! I've used it alot on the
DG/One (slightly slower than an IBM-PC) and IBM-PC's and find the
performance perfectly acceptable. It would be nice if it was faster,
but whatever performance I've lost due to it's size and complexity
have been more than made back by it's power.
Extras: The TERMCAP Library is supplied on the distribution disk. It
was compiled using the Microsoft compiler. Small, Medium and Large
model libraries are provided. Documentation is not yet available on
how to use this library, however, I wrote a program using the UNIX
documentation as a guide and everything worked as it should.
There is a chapter on CTAGS which says it is not supplied in the
current Rev. Tags are supported within the editor if you're willing
to write your own version of CTAGS. (If you do, could you please
send me a copy!)
Price: $149.00 including disk, manual and shipping (MA residents add
5% tax). Multi-site license are available for $75/site.
Reccomendation: If you like vi (and I realize that editors are a
religious issue!) than you will like PC/VI; in which case run, do not
walk to your mailbox with a check! It is an excellent product and
well worth the price (otherwise I would never have written this long
winded article!)
Order from:
Custom Software Systems
P.O. Box 551 M.O.
Shrewsbury, MA 01545
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this company. Please send
any orders or information requests to the above address.
John Korn
Diagnostics Engineer
Data General Corp.
{allegra, ihnp4}!datagen!korn
------------------------------
Date: Wed 4 Dec 85 17:19:17-CST
From: Pete Galvin <CC.GALVIN@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: 'Pushing' a Command Shell in Turbo
I've found the program Michael Shulman was interested in. It is a
combination of Turbo pascal program and EXTERNal ASM file which will
allow a DOS command shell to be started from a Turbo Pascal program
(and allows commands to be passed to the shell). The files are in
[R20.UTEXAS.EDU]<CC.GALVIN.PUBLIC>PSOFTRUN.LBR. The source code in
both TURBO and ASM is included.
--Pete
------------------------------
From: keifer@uiucdcs.cs.uiuc.edu
Subject: Write Protecting a File in DOS?
Date: 2 Dec 85 16:31:00 GMT
Field 3 (byte offset 11) of the file directory entry, bit 0 controls
write protection. Turn this bit on for write-protect (read-only).
directory entry:
Field Offset Desc.
1 0 File name
2 8 fielanem extension
3 11 attribute
etc.
Attribute Byte:
76543210
.......1 Read-only
......1. Hidden
.....1.. System
....1... Volume label
...1.... subdirectory
..1..... archive
.1...... unused
1....... unused
This information is from Peter Norton's "Programmer's Guide to the IBM
PC" (a swell book).
G. P. Seaburg
c/o K. Keifer
Univ. of Illinois
------------------------------
Date: 4 Dec 85 21:29:00 PST
From: ALEX WOO <wu@ames-aero>
Subject: PC-Limited's PC AT
I'm interested in purchasing a PC-Limited AT since I can hardly afford
the other AT clones. What are people's experience with this machine?
Is it truely PC AT compatible? Can you run XENIX on it? How hard is
it to up its clock speed? Are there memory wait states? What is the
feel of the machine, the keyboard, etc..? What is the quality of the
construction?
Depending on how many of these clones have been sold, the responses to
these question might overload this bulletin board. Unless the editors
request otherwise, please send your responses directly to me
wu@ames-aero and I will summarize for the net.
Thanks in advance,
Alex.
------------------------------
Date: 5 Dec 85 08:55 EST
From: Jim Moore <moore@ncsc>
Subject: DisplayWrite 3 and Oki printers
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib
Does anyone have DisplayWrite 3 running with an Oki 84? I had a
plug-n-play kit in mine but had to give it up. Now the Oki no longer
is IBM graphics compatible and I can't get ANYTHING printed out.
Contact me directly (moore@ncsc ) if you can help. Thanks.
Jim
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 85 12:14:54 est
From: ANDERSEN <sigurd%vax3.acs.udel.edu@Louie.UDEL.EDU>
Subject: AT "type 2" system board
The August 24, 1985 update to the IBM Hardware Maintenance and Service
Manual for the PC-AT shows that IBM now has TWO TYPES OF MOTHERBOARDS
for the AT. Diagrams are on pages 3-200-8 and 3-200-23 (& elsewhere).
The part number for the 256Kb-512Kb system board has been changed to
6480170; the new (512Kb only) system board has part number 6480072.
IBM has 256K chips ("RAM Module"s) on their parts list as part number
6480008. These part numbers are on page 7-7 of the same manual set.
The diagrams below show positions of the memory chips on the boards.
_____________________ _________________
| | | | The Type 2 system board
| | | | has two columns of nine
| | | | 256K chips rather than
| | | | four rows of nine 128K
| | | | (stacked 64K) chips.
| | | |
| [[[[[[[[[ | | - - | The Type 2 board is not
| [[[[[[[[[ | | - - | as wide, and the ICs on
| [[[[[[[[[ | | - - | the board are packed
| [[[[[[[[[ |-------| | - - |----| more closely.
------------- ------------
Type 1 Type 2
Has anyone actually SEEN a "Type 2" system board? Is this related
directly or indirectly to the 30MB AT model or the new ROM chips?
------------------------------
Date: 05 Dec 85 14:56:54 EST (Thu)
From: Dave Farber <farber@huey.udel.EDU>
Subject: Wanted: Xenix Driver for QIC-FILE Tape Backup
Is there anyone out there who has a IBM PC Xenix driver for the SYSGEN
QIC-FILE Tape backup unit??
------------------------------
Date: 5 Dec 85 15:45 EST
From: David Potter - McDonnell Douglas/AUGMENT Div. <DAP.TYM@OFFICE-1.ARPA>
Subject: ADC Modem from DAK
Has anyone had any experience with the ADC modem offered by DAK in
its current catalog (page 9)? A 1200 baud, Hayes-compatible
intelligent modem for $169 plus $6 P&H -- can it be true? Is there a
catch?
Thanks -- David
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
************************
-------