os9@cbosgd.att.com (10/23/86)
OS-9 Discussions Thursday, October 23rd 1986 Volume 2 : Issue 3
Today's Topics:
CoCo os9 + hard disks
Os9 Kermit from Os9 Users Group
MicroEmacs and Coco-III OS9 level II
Multiprocessing on OS-9?
Re: Any news...
68K TXT
OS-9/68000 for the Atari ST
OS9
Re: mod.os.os9
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First, I'd like to appologize for the inordinate delay between the previous
issue and this issue. I was waiting for a review of OS-9 on the Atari ST
which I have yet to see from anyone. James Omura where are you?
From this point on the rule will be that a new issue will be posted within
three days of the receipt of any one message. If enough discussion merits
more frequent posting I will send out up to one a day.
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Date: Tue, 16 Sep 86 16:10:28 EDT
From: ihnp4!allegra!novavax!es5vax!davis (Gary A. Davis)
Subject: CoCo os9 + hard disks
I am new to this list so let me introduce myself. My name is Gary
Davis and I am prez of Sugar Software (a CoCo software house). I work
at Racal-Milgo, a manufacturer of communications hardware. I am a
software engineer and our development environment is UNIX (system V)
and C. I have been an avid CoCo fan since 1981 or 1982, primarily
because of its 6809 microprocessor. I also use OS9 level I and like to
write "portable" code I can use either on my UNIX system at work or on
my CoCo at home.
To increase the speed of my C compiles on OS9, I take the output of
the compiler driver (the shell script that calls the various passes)
and modify the file pathnames so that the output of each path is a
different drive than the input. This reduces seek time substantially.
For example:
Program Input Output
preprocessor /d0 /d1
pass 1 /d1 /d0
pass 2 /d0 /d1
assembler /d1 /d0
linker /d0 /d1
Then, to compile, I bypass the compiler driver and start up the shell
script directly. This is useful mainly if you are testing one file. If
the shell had substitution, a generalized script would be possible. If
the shell was programmable, it would even be better. The compiler will
now be processor bound rather than I/O bound.
That trick helped somewhat. An even faster method would be to buy
extra RAM and use a RAM disk but I am hesitating on this due to the
upcoming CoCo III availability. The other alternative is to use a hard
disk. Now, having set the stage, here are my questions:
1. Of the available hard disks for the CoCo, which would you
recommend?
2. Is the hard disk compatible with RSDOS? What is the directory
structure (broken into x devices? RS directories under an OS9
directory? OS9 directories under an RS file?)?
3. What about hard disk compatibility with CoCo III and OS9 level II?
Thanks,
Gary A. Davis
Racal-Milgo
P.O. Box 407044
Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33340
(305) 476-4393
ihnp4!allegra!novavax!es5vax!davis
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Date: Fri 19 Sep 86 05:52:04-PDT
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From: Bob Larson <BLARSON@USC-ECLB.ARPA>
Subject: Os9 Kermit from Os9 Users Group
Os9 kermit is available from the Os9 users group as disk 48. (The latest
disk listing I have from them has this mislabeled as 68k only and lists disk
37 as the 6809 version. The version on disk 37 has quite a few bugs that
are fixed in the version on disk 48.) Since several things are determined
at compile time, it's a good idea to have the C compiler available even if
they claim to supply a compiled version.
Membership in the Os9 users group is $25/year and includes disk 0 and MOTD
their monthly newsletter. Send Name, address, computer type, os9 type and
level, and disk format to:
The Os9 Users Group
Attn: Membership
9743 University Ave.
Suite 330
Des Moines, IA 50322
Disk orders from members should be sent to the same address, Attn: Disk
order. Disks are $5 for 5", $8 for 8", $80 for the works on 5" 80 track
DSDD standard os9. Disk orders are accepted from members only.
[Ed. - Thanks for the information. This Users Group has been added to our
KER:AADISK.HLP file, with the terms outlined.]
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Date: Mon, 15 Sep 86 14:55:00 edt
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From: ihnp4!ihwpt!knudsen
Subject: MicroEmacs and Coco-III OS9 level II
I'd like to second the request for further development
of Emacs for OS9, especially for 80-column hardware
like the PBJ WordPak.
What could uEmacs become on the Coco III under Level II?
Well, to start with, could we restore one of Emacs's
most valuable features, multiple buffers?
I can't express how valuable these are at work, but for
the existing Cocos uEmacs got stripped down to one buffer.
The trick may be to create a separate Data Module for each
file buffer being edited, and to switch the current buffer
into the working 64K address space. I'm thinking ahead to
when we get 512K in the beastie.
How well does Level II provide for playing games with the
memory mapping? Are such tricks supported, or are Level II
users just supposed to enjoy the one larger (almost 64K) space?
Will we have to "poke" the GIME chip's DAT registers "by hand?"
On that topic -- we know that since Level II switches out OS9
itself while a user's process is running, each process can have
almost 64K. Can I assume the reverse also, that my version of
OS9 (booted plus any LOADed modules) can be almost 64K too,
or at least a lot bigger than under Level I?
I mean, no more ripping out Pipes, graphics, and modem drivers
just so I can compile larger C programs? Imagine, putting
everything back in the bootfile, and then some!
mike knudsen
PS: Is the Coco III keyboard truly interrupt-driven, or does it
still go dead while the disk is transferring data?
It's hard to call Coco OS9 "multi-tasking" until this restriction
goes away.
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From: ihnp4!ihwpt!knudsen
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 86 16:03:13 edt
The latest word (on CompuServe) is that Coco-III Level II OS9
won't be out till December at least.
The RS salesman agreed with that when I picked up my Coco-III
TODAY!!!!!
While the Coco isn't quite in league with the ST, at least the III
has real DAT hardware, so it affords some protection of processes
from one another. It should be much harder for an OS9 user's
wild program to crash the system, since OS9 is mostly mapped out
while you're executing.
Oh yes, the Coco-III DAT has two sets of map registers, a
"kernel" set for OS9 and a "user" set, which keeps kosher and *fast*
on system SWI calls.
Regards, mike k
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From: "B. Lindsay Patten" <ihnp4!watmath!watsup!lindsay>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 86 12:05:31 edt
Subject: Multiprocessing on OS-9?
Does os9 support multiprocessing in any way? A Unix-like multiprocessing
(as in multiprocessor) system would be ideal for a project I am currently
involved in. Even if 4.2BSD IPC-like facilities and ethernet were avail-
able it would be far better than the system we are now considering.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
Lindsay Patten (lindsay@watsup)
{clyde|utzoo|decvax|ihnp4}!watmath!watvlsi!watsup!lindsay
[This one is difficult to respond to quickly. Yes, indeed OS-9 is
multitasking. Multiprocessing? Well, yes, there is a network interface
driver and I've heard discussion about the possibility of a port of the
Network File Server (System) to OS-9. Would those meet your needs?
Can other folks give some more insight on multiprocessor OS-9? - JDD]
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From: mcrware!kim (Kim Kempf)
Date: 10 Oct 1986 1302-CDT (Friday)
Subject: Re: Any news...
Just a side note...OS9/68000 Version 2.0 is to be released "real soon now".
Many new goodies such as a smarter shell with execution search lists,
much greater system integrity and protection feature, a better user state
program debugger and a new system-state debugger for drivers, FM and kernel
debugging. I will workup some technical info on the release after it comes out.
It may be of interest to those who read....
Regards, Kim
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From: WWDONIC@HEITHE5.BITNET
Subject: 68K TXT
Date: 22 Sep 86 18:19:26 GMT
Hello,
Please add me to your mailing list info-68k. In our laboratory we use a
VME-bus based CCS-68k system running OS-9. We do not know many
OS-9 users here in Holland, and dealer support is not always adequate.
We feel that some problems we encounter must have been solved by
others before. It would be nice if the network could be used to
exchange tips, information and problems related to using OS-9.
One recent example: how do you download a text file from a terminal
port (9600 bd) disk, without buffer overflow. There should be a way
to make OS-9 send a control-S when the input buffer is full, but we
have not discovered that yet.
Ton Van den Bogert,
Department of Veterinary Anatomy,
Utrecht University,
The Netherlands.
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From: ihnp4!mcrware!kim (Kim Kempf)
Date: 24 Sep 1986 1504-CDT (Wednesday)
Subject: OS-9/68000 for the Atari ST
In response to the deluge of email requests for OS-9/68000 for the Atari-ST,
here is more information about TLM. TLM Systems is the sole source for
OS-9/68000 and support for the Atari ST. Any information such as price,
availability, support, etc. should be obtained directly from TLM. The address
is:
TLM Systems
4704 West Jennifer Suite 105
Fresno, CA 93711
(209) 276-2333
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From: <ihnp4!HEITHE5.BITNET!WWDONIC>
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 86 13:04 N
Subject: OS9
Hello,
I am interested in the OS9 operating system and would like
to be on the os9 mailing list. In our laboratory we are
developing real-time software for a 3D-movement analysis
system for horses. This is done in assembler at the time,
possibly C in the future. Application software is written
in Pascal and Fortran. It would be nice if the experience
of other users could help in solving some specific
os9-related problems.
Thanks,
A.J. van den Bogert WWDONIC@HEITHE5 (BITNET),
Dept. of Veterinary Anatomy,
Utrecht University,
The Nethrlands.
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From: seismo!unido!exunido!res
Subject: Re: mod.os.os9
Date: 18 Sep 86 18:22:52 N (Thu)
Hey there,
As we're working on a mailnet for small [and bigger] os-9 machines we've
very interested in those articles because we post it throug our small net.
I would be very pleased if you post the articles directly to me. This
will post those stuff directly into our MAILnet-9, too.
We've made some missing UN*X-compatible library functions, a complete
new login [better, "crypt"-ed passwords, environment, .login ,.logout],
a port of microEMACS_3.6, a mailer (who thought) and some other stuff.
If there's anyone interested in this call me.
Thanks in advance,
res@unido [UUCP adress]
P.S.: We're working on hombrew computers using a 68010 CPU with 2.5 MBytes
Ram, and Floppy Drives. A HD is coming soon.
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only.
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End of OS-9 Discussions
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