INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA (Moderator David Gelphman...) (10/03/86)
INFO-MAC Digest Thursday, 2 Oct 1986 Volume 4 : Issue 124
Today's Topics:
Fix for Munged Disk?
DA-BACKDOWN.HQX
da-calculator-dcad20.hqx
histogram-maker-103.hqx
DA-ZAPDESK.HQX
da-filetools.hqx
FKEY-FITTOMAC.HQX
game-yahtzee.hqx
DA-SAVIOUR.HQX
Re: Levco pricing exorbitant
Re: Macnix Unix VT100 Terminal
Mac's operating temp, and do I really need a fan?
Mexican power-protection
Fritzed Power Supply
Jasmine Hard Drives?
Appletalk cable connector latches
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu 2 Oct 86 01:11:55-EDT
From: "Bob Soron" <Mly.G.Pogo%OZ.AI.MIT.EDU@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Fix for Munged Disk?
I've got a disk formatted under Finder 1.1g that gives me a "This
disk is damaged: eject/initialize" dialog box when I insert it. When I
look at it in Fedit, as far as I can see everything is readable; but
it thinks the disk is HFS, so I'm limited in what I can do. When I
insert the disk in Fedit, the dialog box tells me the error is -60: bad
master directory.
Anyone able to step me through a repair, or is it worth the trouble?
I've got a couple dozen files downloaded from here and elsewhere, and I'd
much rather save the disk than re-download everything (I was about five
minutes from backing it up -- I was moving files onto the disk from others
when it died with a system error 25, I think).
I'm not much of a wizard on this stuff, although I knew the rudiments
of DOS 3.3 and ProDOS; I can follow instructions and understand concepts,
but the more you spell out the better. (Larry Kenyon's DiskUtil verifies
the disk as OK, incidentally, for what it's worth. Copying the disk with
DiskUtil gives me a "perfect" copy, same errors.)
Please respond directly to me.
Bob <mly.g.pogo%mit-oz@mit-xx.arpa>
------------------------------
Date: 1 OCT 86 22:03-CDT
From: PLASMAHACKER%WISCPSLC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: DA-BACKDOWN.HQX
This is BackDown, a desk accessory that purportedly allows one to
download files in the background. This Packit II format file
contains the Gamma version of Backdown, as well as the full documentation
in MacWrite format.
Robert J. Hammen PLASMAHACKER@WISCPSL.BITNET {@wiscvm.wisc.edu}
U. of Wisc. Plasma Physics Dept. uhura!scotty!zaphod@puff.wisc.edu
{seismo,ihnp4,allegra,topaz,harvard}!uwvax!puff!uhura!scotty!zaphod
USNAIL: 433 W. Dayton, Madison, WI 53703 AT&T: (608) 263-3649 (work)
257-6585 (home)
[ ARCHIVED AS
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>DA-BACKDOWN.HQX
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: 1 OCT 86 22:11-CDT
From: PLASMAHACKER%WISCPSLC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: da-calculator-dcad20.hqx
This is the dCAD Calculator DA (previously referred to as the Cray3
calculator) version 2.0. It is a scientific/engineering calculator
that is very powerful. It is shareware, $8. This is a Packit II
file containing the calculator and the MacWrite documentation file.
Robert J. Hammen PLASMAHACKER@WISCPSL.BITNET {@wiscvm.wisc.edu}
U. of Wisc. Plasma Physics Dept. uhura!scotty!zaphod@puff.wisc.edu
{seismo,ihnp4,allegra,topaz,harvard}!uwvax!puff!uhura!scotty!zaphod
USNAIL: 433 W. Dayton, Madison, WI 53703 AT&T: (608) 263-3649 (work)
257-6585 (home)
[ archived as
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>DA-CALCULATOR-DCAD20.HQX
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: 1 OCT 86 22:30-CDT
From: PLASMAHACKER%WISCPSLC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: histogram-maker-103.hqx
This is Histogram Maker 1.03, a program written by Bill
Engels here at the UW Genetic Department. It will make frequency
plots from numeric data, imported either from text files or the
clipboard. It is shareware and $10. Please feel free to send me
bug reports and I will pass them on to the author.
Robert J. Hammen
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>HISTOGRAM-MAKER-103.HQX
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: 1 OCT 86 22:17-CDT
From: PLASMAHACKER%WISCPSLC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: DA-ZAPDESK.HQX
This is DeskZap 1.2, a DA that combines all of the
features of the old File Diddler with some of them from DiskInfo,
Set File, and FolderMaker. It has a number of useful features, and
it seems to work quite well. It is shareware, $15 and well worth it.
This Packit II file contains the DA as well as the documentation in
text format.
Robert J. Hammen PLASMAHACKER@WISCPSL.BITNET {@wiscvm.wisc.edu}
U. of Wisc. Plasma Physics Dept. uhura!scotty!zaphod@puff.wisc.edu
{seismo,ihnp4,allegra,topaz,harvard}!uwvax!puff!uhura!scotty!zaphod
USNAIL: 433 W. Dayton, Madison, WI 53703 AT&T: (608) 263-3649 (work)
257-6585 (home)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[ archived as
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>DA-ZAPDESK.HQX
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: 1 OCT 86 22:19-CDT
From: PLASMAHACKER%WISCPSLC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: da-filetools.hqx
This is FileTools, another SetFile-like DA.
Robert J. Hammen PLASMAHACKER@WISCPSL.BITNET {@wiscvm.wisc.edu}
U. of Wisc. Plasma Physics Dept. uhura!scotty!zaphod@puff.wisc.edu
{seismo,ihnp4,allegra,topaz,harvard}!uwvax!puff!uhura!scotty!zaphod
USNAIL: 433 W. Dayton, Madison, WI 53703 AT&T: (608) 263-3649 (work)
257-6585 (home)
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>DA-FILETOOLS.HQX
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: 1 OCT 86 22:24-CDT
From: PLASMAHACKER%WISCPSLC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: FKEY-FITTOMAC.HQX
This is Fit to Mac, an FKEY that will resize and move a
window for you. What you do is move the mouse cursor to the
position on the screen where you want the lower right corner of the
window to be. Hit COMMAND SHIFT 5, and it will move the window as
far as possible to the upper left corner of the screen, and then
resize it. This file, when BinHex'd, produces an application to
install the FKEY (so you don't have to muck about with ResEdit).
Robert J. Hammen PLASMAHACKER@WISCPSL.BITNET {@wiscvm.wisc.edu}
U. of Wisc. Plasma Physics Dept. uhura!scotty!zaphod@puff.wisc.edu
{seismo,ihnp4,allegra,topaz,harvard}!uwvax!puff!uhura!scotty!zaphod
USNAIL: 433 W. Dayton, Madison, WI 53703 AT&T: (608) 263-3649 (work)
257-6585 (home)
[ archived as
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>FKEY-FITTOMAC.HQX
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: 1 OCT 86 22:50-CDT
From: PLASMAHACKER%WISCPSLC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: game-yahtzee.hqx
This is a Yahtzee game for the Macintosh.
Robert J. Hammen
[ archived as
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>GAME-YAHTZEE.HQX
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: 1 OCT 86 22:56-CDT
From: PLASMAHACKER%WISCPSLC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: DA-SAVIOUR.HQX
This is Saviour, a handy DA that will automatically save
your documents for you after a predtermined period of time or
keystrokes. What you must do is specify which menu and menu item
to use to save your document (you do so by going to that menu and
selecting that item). It seems to be very useful and reliable.
Robert J. Hammen
[ archived as
[SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>DA-SAVIOUR.HQX
DAVEG
]
------------------------------
Date: 2 Oct 86 18:55:00 EDT
From: <bouldin@ceee-sed.ARPA>
Subject: Re: Levco pricing exorbitant
Reply-to: <bouldin@ceee-sed.ARPA>
>Levco Prodigy 4 exorbitant?
>Before you flame them too badly, remember that they are operating under
>a major limitation: whatever they do has to fit into the Mac case.
>The major part of that price is 4 Mb worth of 1Mbit memory chips,
>between $2200 and $3600 currently (I don't know what speeds or
>quantities they're getting).
>For a while they were talking about a Prodigy 2 with 2Mb of 256Kbit
>chips at quite a bit less; I haven't heard any more on this...
Before we get started let me say upfront: I am amazed at Levco's technical
expertise and they can certainly charge whatever they think their product is
worth. However:
Personally, I feel that the perception that Levco's prices are due to
'expensive chips' is incorrect. What are the hardware costs in the Prodigy 4?
First, as pointed out above, the ram chips are expensive; switching to 256K
chips would allow one meg of memory to fit on the same or very similar board
and cut the cost by about $2000.
Further, Motorola has just announced major price cuts in the price of both the
68020 and the 68881. In 12 Mhz parts these are both well under $200, in
quantity one. In 16 Mhz, I'm not sure, but no WAY do they make up any
significant component of $7000.
The dense chip carrier packaging of the 020 demands a multilayer board and I
believe the Prodigy 4 is 6-8 layers. This is not cheap to do, but again, it
just isn't a large fraction of $7000, especially once you start amortizing the
cost over a large number of boards.
Even with the expensive memory, multilayer board, and hot cpu chips, the
hardware cost of the Prodigy 4 is probably about $3000. And more than HALF of
that cost is the RAM chips.
The guesstimate of the Prod. 4 cost is not just pulled out of the air. There
are other, similar products which give a good baseline for how much the
'expensive chips' and 'expensive multilayer board' contribute to the cost of an
020/881 board. In July and Aug. issues of Byte, an addon 020/881 board for the
PC was described. It was 12 Mhz 020/881 with 1 meg of ram in 256K chips. It
sells for $995. Add $2000 for the cost of the 1 meg. rams used in the Prodigy 4
and you get an estimate of the production cost.
It is a bitter irony that a reasonable 020/881 upgrade was available on the
PC before it was on the Mac and that it costs almost an order of magnitude
less than the most nearly comparable Mac product.
I concur that a version of the Prodigy 4 with 256K chips is a great idea, and
it should be possible to produce a 'Prodigy 1' for about $2000, tops. I would
also suggest that running at 12 Mhz, instead of 16 Mhz is a viable option, if
it cuts costs, since the Prodigy 4 is running with one wait state. If the 12
Mhz can run without wait states it will not degrade the performance too badly.
Back to the original issue: Why does the prodigy 4 cost so much? Because Levco
can sell _A FEW_ for that price. I have heard that their production is about
one per week and that they sell all they can build. Under these circumstances
there is no incentive to cut the price. At 50 to a few hundred machines a year,
the Prodigy 4 is also not going to have much impact in the Mac-world, other than
as a curiousity.
I also suspect that, just as GCC cut prices substantially after the HD-20 was
introduced, so too will Levco cut prices following certain announcements in
January.I would point out that, in the long-run, GCC made no friends (and lots
of enemies) with their pricing policies. As I said at the top of this message,
Levco can (for a while) charge whatever they think they can get for the Prodigy
4. Ultimately, such a strategy will work to their detriment.
Sorry for the long-winded harangue. I just felt that the subject deserved some
discussion.
------------------------------
Date: Thu 2 Oct 86 07:22:40-CDT
From: Werner Uhrig <CMP.WERNER@R20.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Macnix Unix VT100 Terminal
Jay,
funny you should ask. Just yesterday I received the program for the
UNIX EXPO in NY on Oct 20-22 and they caught my eye. They have booth 251
and the descriptive blurp is:
A second generation communication software package, MacNIX, that brings
together the Macintosh user interface and the power of UNIX as a
unified virtual file system defined by UNIX files and Macintosh disks.
...whatever that may mean. The company is listed as:
Eurosoft Int'l, Inc.
14082 Loma Rio Drive
Saratoga, CA 95070
408/741-0739
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 86 12:40:11 edt
From: mayerk@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Kenneth Mayer)
Subject: Mac's operating temp, and do I really need a fan?
I have a Mac that operates on average between 130 and 140 degrees F.
I have another Mac that operates between 120 and 130 degrees F.
These temps were taken by placing a common meat thermometer on the left
vent (over the power supply). The first mac is one of the original
128K's. Its power supply burned out once before during the warranty
period.
How hot should a mac get? If it is running hot, what is the best
course of action? Scream and yell at my local apple dealer, or by a
fan for $$$ (The cheapest one I could find is from Kensingto Microware
for $80, which includes a master power switch, line filter, surge
surpressor, and mr. coffee unit.) I've tried to build my own fan unit,
but it has been impossible to find a case that is the right size.
Any suggestions?
Ken Mayer ARPA: mayerk@eniac.seas.upenn.edu
------------------------------
Date: 2 Oct 1986 13:13-EDT
Sender: VERACSD@A.ISI.EDU
Subject: Mexican power-protection
From: VERACSD@A.ISI.EDU
A colleague of mine is interested in purchasing a Mac
to use at a Veterinary school in Mexico. She is concerned
about protecting her investment from the rumored
non-optimal power supplies available there.
What type of adaptors, surge-suppressors, &tc. will
she require?
Advance thanks,
Cris Kobryn
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 86 20:11:45 PDT
From: gunther.pa@Xerox.COM
Subject: Fritzed Power Supply
Last weekend my power supply went West. The symptoms were gradual loss
of brightness control. The tech. who replaced it (part: $86, labor:
$50/hr) mentioned that this is one of the most common hardware failure
modes of the Mac (presumably a power xtor or some component died). It
was not worth his time or my money to find out what was the responsible
component or components. Apple helps here by not providing any
schematics.
Seems to me that a DL service like this one might provide the answer
which potentially could be helpful to many. If someone knowledgeable in
Mac h/w could identify the likely component(s), it would open up several
possibilities. For a h/w hacker, it would expedite self-service; a user
might encourage a tech. to replace the component(s), thereby reducing
the parts cost; a more robust power supply might be identified as a
suitable replacement.
Any Apple techs. picking this one up?
Neil.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 86 14:47:50 est
From: Carl R. Daudt <tyv@asc.PURDUE.EDU>
Subject: Jasmine Hard Drives?
Since this is my 1st posting of news, please forgive any errors.
Much has been discussed recently about hard disk drives for the Mac,
particularly DataFrames. Most of these drives cost at least $850
(Dataframes are available locally for about $880 minus cable). In
recent issues of MacWorld, MacUser, however, I have noticed a couple
less expensive drives, most notably the Jasmine 20 Meg drive for
just under $600. The drive comes with software, SCSI cable, and internal
fan. I believe the drive is a Seagate drive. I am interested in
purchasing a reliable drive for my Mac Plus, but I also have a limited
budget. Any comments concerning the Jasmine (or other inexpensive)
drives? Would I be lacking essential software? How about reliability?
I believe the Jasmine has a one-year warranty.
Carl R. Daudt tyv@j.cc.purdue.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed 1 Oct 86 20:01:13-PDT
From: Calvin Teague <CAL@STAR.STANFORD.EDU>
Subject: Appletalk cable connector latches
The Appletalk connectors (the 3-pin mini-din connectors) that Apple has
chosen for the network cable do not have mechanical latches, and it is very
easy for connectors to become unplugged with the slightest disturbance. Has
anyone seen a product which provides a latching function? What would be
ideal would be a plastic or metal clip which would enclose both the Appletalk
transformer and the two Appletalk cable plugs, and another clip which would
enclose the plugs in the "barrel" connector. It would be possible to glue
the plugs into their sockets, but then it would be inconvenient to modify the
network. We have a network of 20-30 Macs, and waste an hour or two per week
finding the broken connections.
------------------------------
End of INFO-MAC Digest
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