Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA (Info-IBMPC Digest) (12/02/85)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sunday, 1 December 1985 Volume 4 : Issue 135
Today's Editor: Eliot Moore <Elmo@USC-ISIB.Arpa>
Today's Topics:
Hard Disk for Tandy 1000
How To Handle Special Characters (^P, ^S)
NUFORMAT.E added to EEL subdirectory
CRC.PAS Added to Public Domain Library
GREP.C and EGADEMO.PAS Added to Library
YAM Subdirectory Created
Toshiba Printer Review
IBM JX Computer
OCR Scanners (2 Messages)
Oberon OMNI-READER OCR
EGA via C
Phoenix Pre-C Reviews
Definicon DSI-32 Board - Review
DAK's Olivetti Printer
Epsilon Startup
MicroTex Review
Letter Quality Printers (Dynax / Brother 15)
New XT Motherboard Incompatible with IOMEGA Bernoulli Box
Mix C .OBJ Format Tool
Todays' Queries:
Lattice Int Call
1/2 Height Hard Disk Drive for AT
Epson FX-80 Driver for DITroff
Z-150 + Hercules + MS Word = ?
SAS
Intel/Lotus Extended Memory Protocol
DOS-PRINT Command
Sanyo MBC-550/5 User Club Netherlands
Brief Editor from Solutions Systems
YTERM+SIDEKICK or DisplayWrite 3
Epson Printer Fonts
AT Drive Types
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jrodrig@EDN-VAX.ARPA (Jose Rodriguez)
Date: 27 Nov 1985 1433-EST (Wednesday)
To: abc@brl.ARPA, info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
Cc: jrodrig@EDN-VAX.ARPA
Subject: Hard Disk for Tandy 1000
Hi,
I have been looking for such a beastie and it seems to me any hard
disk drive for PC's should work with the t1000 (as long as the
controller fits). Anyway, Qubie was advertising two drives, 10 and 20
Meg with a controller that fits the t1000 -- I think they even
mentioned in the ad that it worked with the t1000. One good thing
about them, they have a 30 day return policy (you should check this
out if interested). The biggest problem with the Qubie drives was
their noise level -- rather high. Supposedly they have fixed this.
Keep me informed of whatever you decide.
Jose
jrodrig@edn-vax
P.S. About t1000, have you seen the latest offer of RS? $1000 with color
monitor! Yow!
P.P.S. RE: list of software that does not work with t1000: CopyIIpc (the
most relevant thing there) does work on the machine as long as one has
256k bytes of RAM or more.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 85 16:32:12 PST
From: kneller@ucsf-cgl.ARPA (Don Kneller)
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
Subject: How to handle special characters (^P, ^S)
This answers the question about how to disable ^P and ^S under MSDOS.
The answer also discusses ^C, which you do not have to implement. Just
ignore the part about SetCurrentBreakState and GetCurrentBreakState.
---------
From: markz@microsoft.UUCP (Mark Zbikowski)
Date: 8 Aug 85 22:40:14 GMT
This same request can be made in several forms:
o How do I stop getting ^C
o How do I stop getting ^S
o How do I stop getting ^P/Prt-Scrn
If you can live without having these characters generate their special
behaviour (^C being echoed and INT 23 generated, screen output being stopped,
printer echoing getting toggled) then the following pseudo-code works fine:
#define BREAKOFF 0
#define DEVICE 0x80
#define RAW 0x20
oldBreakState = GetCurrentBreakState ();
SetCurrentBreakState (BREAKOFF);
oldStdinBits = IOCTL (STDIN, GETBITS);
oldStdoutBits = IOCTL (STDOUT, GETBITS);
if (oldStdinBits & DEVICE)
IOCTL (STDIN, SETBITS, (oldStdinBits | RAW) & 0xFF);
if (oldStdinBits & DEVICE)
IOCTL (STDOUT, SETBITS, (oldStdoutBits | RAW) & 0xFF);
/* insert your code in here. Do not any system calls in the 01h-0Ch
* range; no line input calls work.
*/
[I'm not sure what Mark meant by the previous statement. It is
possible to do input with DOS int 21h - don]
IOCTL (STDIN, SETBITS, oldStdinBits);
IOCTL (STDOUT, SETBITS, oldStdoutBits);
SetCurrentBreakState (oldBreakState);
exit (erc);
The info can be found in the IBM PC tech reference manual.
---------
Don Kneller
UUCP: ...ucbvax!ucsfcgl!kneller
ARPA: kneller@ucsf-cgl.ARPA
BITNET: kneller@ucsfcgl.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: 30 Nov 1985 17:37:16 PST
Subject: NUFORMAT.E added to EEL subdirectory
From: Koji Okazaki <swg.KOJI@USC-ISIB.ARPA>
To: Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
cc: Koji@USC-ISIB.ARPA
The following Epsilon Extension Language files are available for ftp'ing by
Arpanet people. They are available in the subdirectory <INFO-IBMPC.EEL>.
EEL Code List
=====================================================================
LISPMODE.E Modifies Epsilon to be suitable for Lisp applications.
<Rob Pettengill, CAD.PETTENGILL@MCC> 11/17/85
NUFORMAT.E Modified Epsilon FORMAT.E file that modifies the fill-
paragraph so that it will right-justify the text when
given a numeric argument.
<Hadden@HI-MULTICS> 11/30/85
-------
------------------------------
Date: 30 Nov 1985 17:38:31 PST
Subject: CRC.PAS added to public domain library
From: Koji Okazaki <swg.KOJI@USC-ISIB.ARPA>
To: Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
cc: Koji@USC-ISIB.ARPA
The following file has been added to our public domain library:
CRC.PAS A practical implementation of the cyclic redundancy
check written in Turbo Pascal. Some assembly code
borrowed from a recent MS-DOS Kermit (don't worry;
'tis acknowledged in the source code).
<David Kirschbaum, ABN.ISCAMS@USC-ISID> 11/30/85
-------
------------------------------
Date: 30 Nov 1985 19:04:13 PST
Subject: GREP.C and EGADEMO.PAS 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 for efteepeeing:
GREP.C DECUS GREP, converted for the IBM PC with CI-C86 C
Compiler June 1983 by David N. Smith, and modified
November 1985 by Larry Afrin. Larry's modifications
are: 1) Definition of DeSmet preprocessor variable
for use with the DeSmet C compiler, 2) Exclusion of
inclusion of the <ctype.h> file under DeSmet
compilation, and 3) Upper/lower case differentiation
to conform to Unix GREP. Copyright (c) 1980, DECUS
<Larry Afrin, LBAFRIN%CLEMSON.CSNET@CSNET-RELAY> 11/30/85
EGADEMO.PAS A little demo program that takes advantage of the
640x350 by 16 color graphics capabilities of the IBM
Enhanced Graphics Adapter when used with the Enhanced
Color Monitor. Since Turbo Pascal 3.0 doesn't support
this particular mode, interrupt 10H is used for all the
plotting. The graphics primitives that are used are
plot_point, and plot_line (draw a line).
<Alan Curtis, UWVAX!UWMACC!CURTIS@SEISMO.CSS.GOV> 11/30/85
-------
------------------------------
Date: 1 Dec 1985 01:18:13 PST
Subject: YAM subdirectory created
From: Koji Okazaki <swg.KOJI@USC-ISIB.ARPA>
To: Info-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
cc: Koji@USC-ISIB.ARPA
The following subdirectory has been created:
YAM Yet Another Version of Make. This is an example of
(subdirectory) what public domain ought to do: code from other
public domain programs (like make.c and exec.asm)
were used to build a bigger, better program. This
Make is very close to Unix Make, except for archive
retrieval and a few other things that are due to
MS-DOS limitations. Runs under MS-DOS 2.1 and up,
and compiles under Lattice 2.15E and CI C-86 2.20M.
There are 13 files here in <INFO-IBMPC.YAM>.
<Richard Gregg, GREGG@NLM-VAX> 11/30/85
-------
------------------------------
From: Matt Dillon <dillon@ucb-vax.ARPA>
Subject: Toshiba Printer Review
Date: 1 Dec 85 20:14:37 GMT
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
I recently put together an XT system for myself, and was
recomended the Toshiba P1340 dot-matrix printer. The printer has
turned out to be even better than I first thought, hence this review.
I bought the printer from PC-NETWORK (and didn't have any problems
with them... I guess I'm lucky), for $560 w/tax and all.
BASICS:
Toshiba P1340 - supports 8.5x11 friction or tractor feed
Dot matrix printer, 24 pins
Fonts: normal, condensed, quality, quality w/ proportional spacing.
Speed: 120 cps, 132 cps, 47 cps, 54 cps (all at 10cpi except
condensed mode)
The Toshiba supports bit-mapped graphics, total carriage
control, and some other goodies. Now, you may say, 'so what'. What
blew me out was the letter quality mode. With 24 pins, the letter
quality print looks better than an ink-jet (it definately does not
look like dot-matrix, you can't see the dots). My first impression,
as I took it out of the box was 'well made'. The Toshiba isn't a copy
of anybody elses printer, and it isn't epson or IBM compatible in
terms of control codes (it connects to the IBM through a centronics
port... you can get a serial interface board for it). Though it costs
quite a bit ($560), it's well made and durable.
For those of you who like making super condenced program
listings, you can place the printer in condensed mode and fool around
with the vertical and horizontal spacing to get about 180 columns, and
at least 88 lines per page (I don't have those exact numbers with me).
The bit-mapped graphics can be imbedded anywhere. You simply
use an escape sequence (ESC ;NNNN) to tell the printer how many
columns you wish to bit-map. You then send 4-bytes for each column.
Bits 0-5 are used in each byte; therefore, you may specify all 24 pins
for each column. The Toshiba positions the carriage with accuracy I
havent seen in your every day Epson. You can get 1440 dots per line
out of that particular mode. (Another idea on how good the
letter-quality really is.... how about 2880 dots per line)
* Vertical spacing control N/48"
* Horizontal spacing control N/120"
* Full carriage control. Any direction you wish, even reverse-lf
Including absolute (line & column) and relative movement
* Margins, tab stops, disable carriage movement
* Fonts : condensed, normal, letter-q, proportional spacing letter-q
* graphics (image data transfers), and special 1/60 or 1/180 carriage
increments.
* underlining (of course)
Again, most of these features you see in other printers. I
would like to stress that the difference in my eyes between the
Toshiba and other printers is mainly in quality. The printer isn't
cheap, but it's durable and very well made.
-Matt
------------------------------
Date: Sat 30 Nov 85 19:53:34-PST
From: Jackie <Burhans%ECLD@USC-ECL.ARPA>
Subject: IBM JX Computer
To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
A friend of mine just came back from a vacation in Australia and brought
with him an Australian computer magazine called "Your Computer"; the
November 1985 issue. In it there is an interesting ad from IBM which you
may find interesting:
The new IBM JX demonstrating its most advanced technological feature.
((picture of aforementioned JX goes here with a $2861 price tag))
For under $3000 it's the lowest priced member of the IBM PC family
we have ever marketed. Because the more we learn about making PCs,
the more we learn about keeping costs down.
With the JX you'll find all the things you'd expect from IBM.
Like compatibility with a vast array of PC software such as the
IBM Assistant Series. And the ability to upgrade capacity.
Improved technology has resulted in high-grade colour resolution that
could not be easier on the eye.
You'll have a choice of two precision touch keyboards and a disk loading
mechanism that has never been smoother.
Our new 90mm (3 1/2") diskette takes up about one third the space of a
conventional 135mm (5 1/4") diskette, yet stores as much information.
The new IBM JX. It's got value written all over it.
(me again): Then follows phone numbers and names of local dealers
(in Australia) to contact for more information. This is a nice
looking little machine, of darker colour and smaller footprint than
the PC. Small system unit seems to have one diskette drive; keyboard
pictured has separate number and cursor pad, function keys along top,
back-slash key not by "Z" (I can't tell where it went); ESC key in
standard place; large labelled Enter and BackSpace key. Ah, in
small print it says "Rec. Retail Price $2861 includes single diskette,
128Kb RAM, full keyboard and colour display.
Um, trademark and disclaimer stuff as appropriate here.
G'day mate.
-------
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 85 11:34:55 pst
From: ttidca!ttihwe!cole@rand-unix.ARPA
To: mbj@mit-xx
Subject: OCR Scanners
The machine you had in mind is called an Omni-Reader, made in
England by Oberon, and marketed in this country by Oberon
International, 5525 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 630, LB48,
Irving, TX 75038.
A consultant's report on OCR describes this as "the Polish joke of
OCR" (his comment, not mine -- I haven't tried it.) It reads four
fonts, Courier 10 and 12, Letter Gothic, and Prestige Elite 12.
Output is via RS-232 at up to 9600 baud. A line can be read in about
8 seconds. List is $699 plus $100 for IBM PC comm software if you
need it. I believe you can get it for $500 or so. I vaguely remember
an article in PC Magazine or someplace tha called the Cobra series.
Their Model 535 just scans, at a resolution of 300 pts/in, the Model
545 scans at 300 pts/in, and also scales to 200 pts/in and compresses
using CCITT Group 3 Modified Huffman run-length coding, and the Model
595 does all that plus OCR of up to 12 fonts, including proportionally
spaced fonts. All three use the SCSI interface exclusively. I'm not
sure about prices, but I think they range from $2K to $4K. Speed is
25 secs per OCR or compressed page, 5 secs for raw scanning.
Dest is at 1201 Cadillac Court, Milpitas,CA 95035, phone
(408) 946-7100.
A company called Microtek Lab (17221 S. Western Ave. Gardena, CA
90247, phone (213) 538-5369), has a scanner-only device which is
$1700 retail, but was reputedly coming out with an OCR version.
Randy Cole
Citicorp-TTI
ttidca!ttihwe!cole@rand-unix
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 85 12:40:16 est
From: "John R. Levine, POB 349 Cambridge MA 02238 (617-494-1400)" <Levine@Yale>
Subject: PC OCR
To: info-ibmpc-request@USC-ISIB.ARPA
The person who expressed interest in FAX equipment sounded more interested
in OCR. I have seen info on a PC OCR box from the following people, though
I have no experience with them. Sounds expensive, $5695 and up.
CompuScan
81 Two Bridges Rd., Bldg 2
Fairfield NJ 07006
800-631-0951, +1 201 575 0500
Thanks,
John Levine, Levine@YALE
------------------------------
Mail-From: GILLMANN created at 26-Nov-85 17:32:41
Date: 26 Nov 1985 17:32:41 PST
Subject: Re: Oberon OMNI-READER
From: Richard Gillmann <GILLMANN@USC-ISIB.ARPA>
To: Jackie <Burhans%ECLD@USC-ECL.ARPA>
cc: mbj@MIT-XX.ARPA, info-pc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
In-Reply-To: <12162084402.26.BURHANS@USC-ECLD.Internet>
We had one of those $500 optical scanners at ISI. It didn't work
very well. First off it only works with this one particular
type face for IBM Selectric typewriters. Secondly you have to
move the scanner by hand from line to line, and it takes some
practice to do it smoothly. Thirdly, even after all this the
error rate is quite high, several errors per line.
If you need serious optical scanning there are a number of
good systems that cost about $5000 with PC interfaces.
-------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 85 15:04:53 est
From: skip@mitre-bedford.ARPA (George S. Guild)
To: info-ibmpc@isib
Subject: EGA via C
Cc: LICHTENBERG.PA@xerox
The Media Cybernetics HALO Subroutines also support the IBM Enhanced
Graphics Adaptor with Lattice C.
------------------------------
Date: Monday, 25 November 1985 13:14:27 EST
From: Joe.Newcomer@a.sei.cmu.edu
Subject: Phoenix Pre-C Review
Some months ago Phoenix Pre-C (of which I was, at that time, an
unfortunate owner) was rather soundly panned here. Personally, I
deeply regretted the $395 I spent on it. I am pleased to say that
they got their act together and have produced a quite nice product
now; I have been a beta test site for all the versions since (I had
sent them a scathing letter) and the latest, release 1.35, will be out
today (if the documentation comes back from the printers). I think it
is a quite good product now.
Most of the defects of the early product are gone; the remaining ones are
more cosmetic than functional. It can take a list of filenames to process
stored in a file (via the @ directive), so "*.c" which frequently included
little test cases and other garbage is no longer required...meaning the
little test cases and such don't generate spurious errors. It accepts
more C than the old version, and with 1.35 will handle literal 0 (NULL)
passed as a pointer parameter. A variety of command-line switches allow
the more annoying messages to be selectively suppressed; e.g., with Lattice
there is no 'void' result, so I got some 830 "function result ignored"
errors for void-type procedure calls; I now include '-wign' and suppress the
error. A major defect, that the "dictionary" file it created (the .pre file,
for those of you who may have seen it) always had information appended to
it has been fixed; if you name a .pre file and there is a module of the
same filename already in it, that information is replaced. This should make
it possible to use make-like facilities for doing incremental checking; I've
not had time to experiment with this but it looks straightforward.
It is slow; for my 700,000 byte application source (83 source files) it takes
as long to check it as it does to compile it (about 30 minutes), but I have
nothing to compare it to, so don't know if this is good or bad. However,
since I tend to run it as I go to dinner or otherwise break for an extended
period this hasn't bothered me. And the cost is worth it to know that my
interfaces are correct.
The only real remaining defect is that it still doesn't run pass 2
automatically (to do the interface checking); this may well be a defect
in the documentation, but I've never figured out how to get it to happen.
However, running Pre-C on the dictionary (.pre) file explicitly will
check all the interfaces, so I just have a batch file that does all
the invocation for me. Since I didn't understand the initial product,
I thought for weeks it had checked interfaces and it hadn't, and I was
nailed rather badly by an interface bug (at that time, any syntax error
aborted pass 2 automatically...they say the new version doesn't, but I
haven't figured out from the read.me files how it might be done). I should
point out that the original Pre-C documentation came under heavy criticism
because it was obscure and incomprehensible; they tell me the new
documentation responds to these criticisms, but I've not seen it.
I now feel that I have a product worth what I paid for it. As the beta test
versions got more sophisticated and produced fewer spurious errors each
found bugs the previous ones had either missed or masked (because genuine
errors and spurious errors of the same type were intermixed); I think I
now have a real solid system, and that any bugs are my own logic and not
accidents of C's lack of type checking. Yes, it forced me to put some
casts in where I wouldn't have needed them, but they do clarify what is
going on. Also, it forced me to make sure that functions such as
'malloc' are properly declared, which is absolutely critical if I move
from the small to large data models. I'm pleased with the product. At
$395 it is certainly not cheap, but it is comparable in price to equivalent
products out there. For the hours it has saved me, now that it is working
well, it is worth it to me.
Needless to say, I have no affiliation with Phoenix except as a beta test
site.
------------------------------
From: John Krist <jk@utastro.uucp>
Subject: Definicon DSI-32 Board - Review
Date: 26 Nov 85 04:04:05 GMT
* I suggest you print this out for easier reading *
I received the Definicon DSI-32 32032 coprocessor board for the PC
five days ago, and I am ready to give my initial impressions of the
board. It took 4 weeks to get it.
I have posted this article in both net.micro.pc and net.micro.16k
because I know many in .pc do not read or know of .16k and might be
interested.
Here is what I have:
Advanced board with 10 MHz 32032 and 32081 math processor
1 Mbyte of memory
C, Pascal, and Fortran compilers
Assembler and linker
Librarian
Debugger/monitor
Public domain Forth and XLISP languages
What follows assumes that you have read the August and September
1985 issues of BYTE magazine which include articles on the DSI-32.
The Board:
The board appears to be well made and layed out. There are now
red, green , and yellow LED status lights on the board. There is
also a heat radiator on the 32032 which is about 1/4 an inch high, so
you have to be sure it does not touch another board.
The board is now available with 2 Mbytes for an additional $495 or
so. The extra memory is soldered / piggybacked onto the 1Mbyte array.
If you are not afraid of soldering your own memory, you can get the
extra Mbyte for about $120 from certain sources. Instructions for
doing the soldering and the needed pin bending are included.
* The System Software and Manuals
A one inch thick manual covering the installation of the board,
the assembler, linker, loader, and monitor is included. This is a no
thrills manual and is not meant for those who do not know the basic
technical principles behind computer hardware and software. A small
chapter also discusses the object file format.
The section on the assembler covers only the assembler elements,
procedures, pseudo-operations, etc. If you want to use it, you will
need the National Semiconductor 32032 instruction set manual, which
you can get through Definicon for $ 25.
The full assembler comes only with a compiler or ordered
separately.
The manual also describes the ability of PC-DSI multiprocessing
under Digital Research's Concurrent Dos. You can be running a
program at full speed independantly on the DSI while doing something
like editing on the IBM. A driver for this is available.
* I have not used the Forth or XLISP programs yet *
* The Compilers *
The C, Pascal, and Fortran 77 compilers are full UNIX compatible
compilers. They were, in fact, simply ported from the UNIX
environment. The DSI's MS-DOS interface emulates all UNIX calls.
I ran the C compiler with an #include <stdio.h> call and it gave
me an error message saying that it could not find /usr/include/stdio.h.
I found out that the path to any include files must be given as an
argument on the loader command line. I suppose you could use the
MS-DOS PATH facility, though.
All compilers can call functions and subroutines written in another
language just a UNIX allows. Interfacing the compilers with
assembly routines is described in the system manual.
The manuals for each of the compilers describe only the libraries
and using the compilers. I have written to see if the compiler
writers, Green Hills, has full reference manuals.
In addition to the C library, the following #include files are
included: STDIO.H, PORTAB.H, ERRNO.H, MTH.H, SETJMP.H, CTYPE.H.
The Pascal library seems full, but I have not used it enough to
comment.
The Fortran is full '77. Along with the library manual are two short
documents from UC-Berkeley and Bell Labs describing the standard UNIX
Fortran and the I/O library.
* Note: The Fortran library is now from AT&T. This means that you
have to pay an extra $ 175 and sign and return a license before you
get the Fortran.
The compilers produce inline assembly source code, so the final
executable file can be large. For instance, the executable file
for a Fortran Sieve benchmark for 80,000 primes is about 350K bytes.
The compilers are pretty fast and most of the time taken is for
reading in the compilers. I would say it takes about 10-20 seconds to
compile a 100 line program, with little more required for larger programs,
since the DSI is compiling them REAL FAST. The assembly code seems
highly optimized. Assembly takes even less time. The linker takes
about a total of 30-40 sec to link the 100 line program.
Some benchmark times: ( see the BYTE article for more benchmarks )
August 1984 BYTE magazine UNIX benchmarks ( from the system manual )
Benchmark 1 - piping ( not done )
Benchmark 2 - overhead involved in simple operating system call
Benchmark 3 - C compilers overhead in making empty function call
Benchmark 4 - Sieve benchmark, in a slightly different form
Benchmark 5a - time taken to write 128k sequential file
Benchmark 5b - time taken to randomly read back that file
Benchmark 6 - test shells ( not done )
Benchmark 7 - time to perform empty loop
Times in seconds
DSI-32 VAX 11/780 VAX 11/750
Bench #2 3.88 4.8 7.0
Bench #3 0.55 1.0 1.7
Bench #4 1.93 1.7 2.4
Bench #5a 5.60 2.0 3.0
Bench #5b 12.00 8.0 8.0
Bench #7 2.36 2.6 5.1
These were run on a Compaq Deskpro under MS-DOS 2.1 with a 20 Mbyte
CMI hard disk.
My own couple of benchmarks:
1. Writing 1600 real numbers, continuous,free format, to hard disk
in Fortran.
2. Reading in file from #1 in Fortran.
3. FLOAT benchmark from Nov. 1985 BYTE article on Macintosh C compilers.
times and file sizes ( in seconds and bytes )
test source compile assemble link execution
no. size (size) (size) (size) time
1 (write) 172 19.5s 13.0s 29.0s 7.96s
(985) (2193) (44032)
2 (read) 195 19.6s 13.4s 27.6s 4.61s
(988) (8323) (41472)
3 (float) 425 17.2s 12.7s 16.2s 1.55s
(677) (2164) (4096)
Macintosh execution time = 268.22 to 334.32
file size = 7256 to 32256
All above times and sizes were on an IBM-PC with 20Mbyte hard disk (avg.
access time of about 100-110 milliseconds.)
* PROBLEMS *
All is not perfect in 32 bit land. I must say that the system manual
is a bit too dry and seems to leave some things out. I would like to see
the following included:
- Information on the optional memory management unit; why might
I want one? What is it?
- More examples on calling the system interface routines in
assembler; only one example is given
The graphics demo did not work on my Paradise Modular graphics card.
The demo was suppose to draw rectangles on the mono screen by drawing
one rectangle, clearing the screen, and drawing another, etc. It did
this. ( Pretty neat. It looks as if there are 20 rectangles on the screen
at once.) But then it is supposed to go into 320x200 mode and draw circles
and then into 640x200. It did not in either case; it simply printed
alphanumeric junk.
The demo was suppose to demonstrate the graphics interface routines
available from Definicon at an additional charge. It is suppose to draw
many screens in the DSI memory and dump them into IBM memory, creating
fast graphics.
Also, I have been having problems trying to contact the Thousand Oaks
board as mentioned in BYTE. The system seems very unreliable.
I do not know if UNIX will be out for the board very soon. The people
there think that the DOS interface is just fine are are a little bit
against UNIX on the board, as far as I can tell. The DOS interface
agrees with me, though.
Final opinion: I LOVE IT! SPEED, FULL FLEDGED COMPILERS! 32 BITS! This
is the future, and those who want real computers with real
compilers without going broke will want this.
*** NOTE: THE PRICES GIVEN IN BYTE WERE INTRODUCTORY AND ONLY FOR THOSE
WHO MENTION BYTE MAGAZINE WHEN THEY ORDER. THIS SPECIAL OFFER MAY
HAVE EXPIRED ! CALL THEM AND SEE !
If anyone out there has anything else that you would like to know
about it, or they would like to have your favorite benchmark run on
the board, mail it to me.
Anything else I might say about the board after this will be posted
in net.micro.16k.
John Krist
University of Texas at Austin
Astronomy Dept.
(jk@utastro.uucp)
------------------------------
Date: Monday, 25 November 1985 17:40:49 EST
From: Joe.Newcomer@a.sei.cmu.edu
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: DAK's Olivetti Printer
Well, when I ordered it from DAK I ordered a whole bunch of ink
cartidges; the first pack arrived four months later, the next three
arrived two months after that, and then they managed to send me a
complete duplicate order with some free cassette tapes for
consolation. Being in the catalog doesn't mean they're in stock.
I forgot about the ozone...
------------------------------
Date: Monday, 25 November 1985 17:47:09 EST
From: Joe.Newcomer@a.sei.cmu.edu
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: Epsilon Startup
If you look in the file "epsilon.e" you will find a call of the
form (and I forget the exact command name and details, but you can
find 'em there):
try_calling("startup")
If you write a startup function (or whatever the correct name is) which
loads einit, or a compiled version of it, you have the same functionality.
I never used einit because the things I wanted were too complicated for
simple keyboard macros, so I didn't miss the functionality. Local bias.
Generally, I find the write_state option too powerful; I never create
a .sta file except from a clean epsilon startup (epsilon -bepsilon). I
generate too much cruft to want to save it all. I'd rather not program
in C, but it beats MockLisp for ease of programming, even if I can't
execute arbitrary functions via ESC-ESC. I even used Epsilon for months
without programmability just because it is so fast.
I'm looking for a good general tab program including decimal-point
alignment.
------------------------------
Date: Wed 27 Nov 85 12:17:04-PST
From: Tony Brand <BRAND@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA>
Subject: MicroTex
I'm new to netland. I've been reading info-pc for some time, but this
is my first contribution. The following are my first week's
impressions of Tex and typesetting on the PC.
I've recently set up a PC with 10MByte hard disk, AST 6-pak, Hercules
mono board, Epson FX-85 and Apple LaserWriter for type- setting/word
processing (specifically for doing science/math solutions manuals for
textbooks). Software was/is a problem. Microsoft Word 2.0 is out
there but with limited math symbols. XyWrite III also drives the
LaserWriter (in PostScript mode) but it just about to be released. So
I decided on WordPerfect 4.1 with the LaserWriter in Xerox 1730
emulation mode. For the fancy stuff, the Tex language (developed at
Stanford by Donald Knuth) seemed the only alternative since it has
fully downloadable font sets and can do almost anything. There are 2
implementations for the PC, I chose the one distributed by
Addison-Wesley since I had a contact in the company. This version is
written in C and is supposedly the fastest.
MicroTex is a released product (about $500 retail), but the
PostScript driver (another $300-400 I believe) isn't because it's
awaiting final packaging, but I persuaded them to send me a copy
anyway (that's where the contact came in). I had to promise not to
complain about the documentation. I didn't have to. The last
installation step is that the LaserWriter prints the manual. Wow!
I guess the package is pretty much what you would expect for a
minicomputer program squeezed onto a micro; that is, large and slow.
The Microtex package is 8 disks, 1 installation, 1 program and 6 of
font sets. You write tex language source. The program, TEX, takes
your tex source and writes a device independent file (DVI, about 2 x
original file length) which then is sent to an Epson printer via a
separate print program. The print program crashes DOS 3.10 (with a
message "Cannot load COMMAND.COM") after the print job is finished.
No big deal but annoying. They say they will fix it. (By the way,
tech support at A-W was very accomodating and pleasant).
The installation program is neat, it prompts for each disk,
copies them all to the hard disk, then spends about 35 minutes
unsqueezing all the files (much hard disk thrashing involved - a great
hard disk test program). It checks the integrity of the unsqueezed
files as it goes and then deletes the squeezed versions to clear
space. But goodbye 3 Mbytes! TEX.EXE must be in the sub-directory, TEX
(or an alternative you state early in installion).
The program file TEX.EXE is about 580K. It loads itself and then
overlays various bits of itself. Anyway it constantly goes back to
itself on the disk and if it can't find itself in \Tex it gives the
message "Disaster : MicroTex overlay unusable!" or something, so you
can't move the program around in subdirectories. The Tex program
expects to find all font
description files in the CURRENT file
directory. YUCK! I had to get "File Facility" from IBM to keep the
files out of the way and maintain some sense of order on the hard
disk.
The Postscript system takes the DVI file and writes a PS
(postscript language source) file which you then send to printer via
the supplied serial port interface program, SPR.COM. This bit is great
since you don't have to mess around with mode, etc. and default
printing still goes to the parallel printer. Anyway the PS file is
almost twice the size of the DVI file (ouch, my hard disk is running
out of space). The Postscript system comes with 7-8 more disks of
fonts, goodbye another 3MBytes. The message is forget about MicroTex
on a single 10MByte hard disk, unless you dedicate the machine to it.
One has to keep track of disk space and check it before firing up tex.
In operation, when you want to use the laser printer, you first
have to send an initialization file to the printer, a 10 minute
operation, so one can't turn the printer off and on! I hear that this
is true for all programs which use Postscript printers. The system
ain't what-you-see-is-what-you-get and it takes quite a while to get
it on the PC with NEC V-20 installed and a generic Shugart 10MByte
hard disk. On the other hand, what- you-get is spectacular. For
productivity, you should have an AT.
Overall I got what I expected. A slightly cumbersome system but
with amazing potential and pretty much flawless behavior except for
the inflexibility in structuring the file system and the bug in the
dot-matrix print program with DOS 3.0. Now to learn the Tex language.
Postscript is from Adobe Systems.
MicroTex is distriburted by Addison-Wesley.
OK, that's all that off my chest.
The above ramblings are my personal opinions of the software in
my possession as of 11/25/85 and should be viewed as such. If you
want to know more, you're welcome to ask.
Tony Brand, Ph. D.
Chemistry Department
Trenton State College
Hillwood Lakes CN550
Trenton NJ 08625
(609)-771-3013 ArpaNet : brand@sumex-aim.arpa
-------
------------------------------
From: Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX <caf@omen.uucp>
Subject: Letter Quality Printers (Dynax / Brother 15)
Date: 26 Nov 85 14:23:12 GMT
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
In article <2633@ut-ngp.UUCP> lsmith@ut-ngp.UUCP (lsmith) writes:
>The Juki printer is slow but puts out very nice print.
>I've heard second-hand reports that the Brothers are cheaply made.
>The Brother typewriter/printer is so slow it's worthless.
I have a Dynax DX-15 printer which is the same as a Brother 15. It seems
well built, and the users I've heard from have had good luck with it. I
reviewed the unit for a magazine which went belly up before the review
was finished. The disadvantages are obvious; it takes a little longer
to appreciate the advantages.
Disadvantages: Slow, about 13 cps (faster models available, but more $$$).
Ribbons are much more costly than Selectric II. Paper jams tend to
break the film ribbon. Limited selection of printwheels. The unit I
have does not modulate the print force; periods emboss the paper while
M's are light (newer units may correct this). Instruction manual is
terse, even by Unix standards.
Advantages: Cheap, reliable. Optional sheet feeder is inexpensive and
works reliably when used properly. Good print quality. 10, 12, 15, PS
pitches. Totally acceptable for formal correspondence.
If you're not saving up for a laser printer, the DX-15 makes a good and
cheap sheet fed printer for low quantity formal correspondence if you
get it discounted.
--
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX ...!tektronix!reed!omen!caf CIS:70715,131
Omen Technology Inc 17505-V NW Sauvie Island Road Portland OR 97231
Voice: 503-621-3406 Modem: 503-621-3746 (Hit CR's for speed detect)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 85 15:14:56 PST
From: ihnp4!aicchi!mdb@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
To: ihnp4!info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
Subject: New XT Motherboard Incompatible with IOMEGA Bernoulli Box
The new rev of the ibm pc-xt motherboard (the copper colored one) also
does not work with the full-size (non-auto-boot) controler for the
IOMEGA Bernoulli Box Cartridge Drives. It *does* hoever, work with
the short-card auto-boot controller.
From what I understand after talking to both ibm and iomega, what
happened is a change in bus timing. (Sound familiar, apple users? :-)
Mike Blackwell
ihnp4!aicchi!mdb
------------------------------
From: Kim DeVaughn <kim@mips.uucp>
Subject: Mix C .OBJ Format Tool
Date: 27 Nov 85 09:13:15 GMT
[ ... go ahead, eat my bits ... ]
Awhile back, I posted a message to the effect that the Mix C folks would
be coming out with a utility to convert the Intel/Microsoft .OBJ format
to Mix's format. I just received word from Dennis at Mix that it's
available now.
Just send 'em $5.00 (postpaid), and ask for the "ASM Utility" to convert
OBJ file formats.
There is no spec for their format available.
/kim
--
UUCP: {decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!mips!kim
DDD: 415-960-1200
USPS: MIPS Computer Systems Inc, 1330 Charleston Rd, Mt View, CA 94043
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 85 14:34:25 PST
From: bob%TimeVx@CIT-Hamlet.ARPA
Subject: Lattice int call
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.arpa
> Lattice used a call to avoid writing self modifying code...
I did this once. As I recall it went something like:
PUSHF
CLI ;really should turn off TF also...
CALL whatever
This was right out of the intel description for INT. Did Lattice
not do the CLI in int86?
--
Robert S. Logan
Computing Support Services, 158-79 Caltech, Pasadena, CA, 91125
818-356-4631
rslogan@caltech.bitnet
bob%time-vax@cit-hamlet.arpa
...!ucbvax!bob%time-vax@cit-hamlet.arpa
...!ucbvax!cithep!hamlet#bob@timevx
The above opinions are licensed (not sold)...
------------------------------
Date: 27 Nov 1985 09:19:52-EST
From: mlsmith@NADC
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib, info-micro@brl
Subject: 1/2 Height Hard Disk Drive for AT
Cc: kushnier@NADC
I want to add a half height hard disk to my AT. I prefer one that will
interface directly with the standard disk controller, but I have room for
another controller if necessary. The drive should be:
Capacity >=30 Mbytes
Speed not less than half the CMI 20 Meg
Price <$25/Mbyte
Any supplier, or user of such devices, please provide name, address, and tel #.
External mounting schemes of full heighth drives using the standard controller
are also welcome.
Thanks in advance,
Mark Smith
Naval Air Development Center
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 85 14:08:54 est
From: Greg Flint <afc@purdue-asc.ARPA>
To: info-hz100@radc-tops20.ARPA, info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
Subject: Epson FX-80 Driver for DITroff
Recently I posted a request for a filter/driver to net.wanted and
net.micro. I have been deluged with responses of the form:
"I don't have one, but if you find one please let me know."
Unfortunately, no one has sent me an actual filter/driver. It occured
to me that info-ibmpc and info-hz100 might have a different (and
better informed) readership and I am passing my request to these
groups. Should anyone have such a program they could either send it
to me (and I'll pass it on to those who requested it) or post its location
to one of the "info-...." groups. Thanks in advance.
-----------------------------------------------
Greg Flint @ Purdue University Computing Center
UUCP: { hplabs | ucbvax } !purdue!pucc-i!afc
{ hplabs | ucbvax } !purdue!gdf
{ decvax | ihnp4 } !pur-ee!gdf
ARPA: afc@asc.purdue.edu
gdf@ee.purdue.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 85 16:50:43 pst
From: fuzzy1@aids-unix (Richard Tong)
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
Subject: Z-150 + Hercules + MS Word = ?
Cc: fuzzy1@aids-unix.ARPA
Has anyone out there sucessfully used the following combination?
Zenith 150PC + Hercules mono card + Microsoft Word with mouse.
Having recently installed the Hercules card to take advantage of its
ability to display more than 24 lines, I find that the display of the
mouse cursor gets hopelessly scrambled. The rest of the screen seems to
be drawn correctly and the scrambled mouse cursor moves as the mouse is
moved, although its displayed position seems to be out of sync with its
position in the text.
I had no problem with the software before the Hercules card was
installed, and if I select the /c option with Word the mouse cursor
behaves as it should. As far as I can tell all the other functionality
of Word is fine.
Calls to Microsoft and Zenith have not so far produced any advice that
cures the problem.
Any solution, suggestions or comments would be extremely welcome.
Thanks, Richard.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 85 08:20 GMT+2.
From: Benny Czaczkes <CTBC%HUJIPRMC.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA>
Subject: SAS System Help.
To: INFO-IBMPC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Does anybody have experience with the SAS system on a PC?
Does it work with PC-NETWORK?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 85 16:03:25 EST
From: Andy Adler <andya@bbnccp.ARPA>
Subject: Intel/Lotus Extended Memory Protocol
To: Info-IbmPc@usc-isib.arpa
Does anyone know how I can get information about the Extended Memory
Protocol now being supported by many memory cards on the market. I
have an application that needs to get at alot of memory as fast as
possible. The overhead of running a RAM disk driver will probably be
too much, so if I can get the specs of the EMP then I can do my own
memory management of high RAM with less overhead.
Thanks in advance (and Happy Thanksgiving),
aa
(Andy Adler, BBN Communictions. andya@bbncn-unix.arpa)
------------------------------
Date: 25 NOV 85 08:19:00 GMT+1
From: <D86V%DDATHD21.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: DOS-PRINT Command
There is still another problem regarding the DOS-PRINT - Command:
I've written a program to generate Graphics on the IBM-Proprinter. It
computes a bitmap and outputs the necessary commands either to the
printer directly or into a file. Trying to PRINT such a file using the
DOS-PRINT-Command failed. One reason seems to be that PRINT reads the
file sequentially and ends if there is a CTL-Z in the data. As this
may occur anywhere in the Graphics-section of the Printer-Data
PRINTing doesn't produce correct results. By the time I do a COPY from
the file to the printer. The output is correct - no data is lost - but
unfortunately COPY isn't spooled, so the machine can't be used for
other tasks while 'PRINTING'. Can anybody help? IBM-PC/AT running DOS
3.1.
Have a nice time
Gunther Hartmann
Technische Hochschule Darmstadt
Fachgebiet Maschinenelemente und Getriebe
Magdalenenstrasse 8-10
D-6100 Darmstadt/Germany
Tel XX49 - 6151/162908
-------
------------------------------
From: Peter Boeijink <boeijink@ark.uucp>
Subject: Sanyo MBC-550/5 User Club Netherlands
Date: 27 Nov 85 02:58:50 GMT
To: info-ibmpc@usc-isib.ARPA
We - the Sanyo User Club Netherlands - are looking for contact with
other user clubs of the Sanyo MBC-550/5 in Europe (e.g. the UK) and
North America (e.g. theUSA). If possible, please reply by net. The
SUC-NL is a non-commercial club of MBC-550/5 users throughout Holland.
Our main goal is exchange of knowledge and experiences among the
members of the club.
Peter Boeijink
Uilenstede 8
1183 AH AMSTELVEEN
The Netherlands
(boeijink@ark.UUCP)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 85 18:55:10 PST
From: larry@JPL-VLSI.ARPA
Subject: Brief Editor from Solutions Systems
To: info-ibmpc@isib.arpa
The current issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal has a review and comparison of 10
text editors (Brief, EC, EDIX, EMACS, Epsilon, MIX, Pmate, VEDIT+, XTC, and
Xywrite 2+). Fifteen tables form the basis of the comparison.
It appears that the winner is Brief from Solutions Systems, followed by
Epsilon (or vice versa if you weight features a bit differently). I've
heard quite a bit about Epsilon in this distribution list but nothing about
Brief. Is anyone out there using it?
Larry @ jpl-vlsi
------------------------------
Date: Mon 25 Nov 85 10:40:37-PST
From: Jackie <Burhans%ECLD@USC-ECL.ARPA>
Subject: YTERM+SIDEKICK or DisplayWrite 3
To: INFO-PC@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Two unrelated queries:
I am using YTERM (V1.2) to connect to my mini-computer. I am also using
SIDEKICK to do sidekick things. This combination seems to be problematic.
The symptoms are that keys that are defined to send certain escape sequences
and/or react in certain ways, don't. E.G. instead of sending ESC O D, the
down arrow sends ^@ (where ^indicates CTRL key); in fact, all cursor movement
keys and function keys send ^@. Also CTRL-BREAK which used to exit from YTERM
back to the PC does nothing when SIDEKICK is installed. I have to re-boot and
re-enter YTERM for these things to work correctly. Anybody have this problem?
have a solution? or an explanation?
Separately speaking, has anybody out there worked with setting up Printer
Definition Tables using DisplayWrite 3? I am interested in exchanging
information/PDT files. In particular I am trying to make optimal use
of the HP LaserJet (with Ziyad PaperJet if possible) and the Diablo 630
printers. Yes, I know there are printer drivers available, but they cost
money and require that different text/workstation defaults be set for the
document depending on which printer you are using. Appreciation in advance.
Jackie Burhans
BURHANS%ECLD@USC-ECL.ARPA
-------
------------------------------
Date: 26 Nov 1985 11:02-EST
Subject: Epson Printer Fonts
From: ABN.ISCAMS@USC-ISID.ARPA
NetLandians,
I've been requested to find code to "download OCR-A fonts to an Epson FX100."
I've checked all the usual places (PC-BLUE and SIGM archives, CPM.LIST at
SIMTEL20, INFO-IBMPC, etc.) and can't find any such animal. Stuff to set
printers to various things, or initialize them, but not "download a font."
Is this in fact an Epson capability? The requestor is NOT describing a
graphics driver or a screen dump of a PC screen with a special font.
Would appreciate pointers to (1) some Public Domain code (MS-DOS or CP/M/
8080) or (2) a magazine article (Dr Dobbs, Byte, PC Tech Journal, etc.)
on how to do this.
Thanks in advance,
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
ABN.ISCAMS@USC-ISID.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Tue 26 Nov 85 16:27:57-PST
From: Tony Holland <tony@SRI-KL.ARPA>
Subject: AT Drive Types
To: info-pc@USC-ISIB.ARPA
Can someone tell me what is involved in setting up a drive which is
not specified by the 14 drive types settable with SETUP.
On 5-168 of the AT Tech Reference manual it says:
"To dynamically define a set of parameters
build a table for up to 15 types and place
the corresponding vector into interrupt 41
for drive 0 and interrupt 46 for drive 1."
Do they mean create a device.sys file for loading with
config.sys at boot time? etc.?
Tony Holland
SRI International
-------
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
************************
-------