kaz@cadovax.UUCP (Kerry Zimmerman) (11/05/87)
[]
I have found another problem with my new A2000. This time with the
'virtual drive' feature of the bridge card.
I can create a virtual drive on an amiga device, and copy files into it
from the bridge side (using MS-DOS copy) or from the Amiga side, using
AREAD. What I cannot do is use AWRITE to copy files from the virtual
drive over to an Amiga drive. What I end up with is an entry for the
file in the amiga device's directory, but the file is empty and you get
"object not found" if you try to read the file. Also, after the
AWRITE, attempting to get a directory of the virtual drive will result
in a "read fault error" until you unlink and then relink it again.
Wasn't this software ever tried? I must say I'm becoming pretty
disappointed with this machine!
Other questions about AWRITE:
1. The documentation doesn't describe the /B switch that is offered
when AWRITE gives a USAGE prompt. What is it for?
2. How can you make AWRITE pause to allow you to swap disks. Do I
have to have two drives to use it; one drive to hold AWRITE and
another to hold the file I want to transfer to the Amiga side?
I only have one drive.
Please Help. Convince me I haven't purchased a fancy boat anchor!
Thanks,
Kerry Zimmerman
# {ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!kaz Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170
A difference between an amateur and a professional,
is that a professional has the right tools.andy@cbmvax.UUCP (11/05/87)
In article <1840@cadovax.UUCP> kaz@cadovax.UUCP (Kerry Zimmerman) writes: >[] > >I have found another problem with my new A2000. This time with the >'virtual drive' feature of the bridge card. > >I can create a virtual drive on an amiga device, and copy files into it >from the bridge side (using MS-DOS copy) or from the Amiga side, using >AREAD. What I cannot do is use AWRITE to copy files from the virtual >drive over to an Amiga drive. What I end up with is an entry for the There is but one interrupt used for aread/awrite and virtual disk communication between the PC and the Amiga. Therefore, either a virtual disk on the Amiga side may be set up or aread/awrite may be used; not both. (sorry) >Wasn't this software ever tried? yes, it was. >Other questions about AWRITE: > 1. The documentation doesn't describe the /B switch that is offered > when AWRITE gives a USAGE prompt. What is it for? binary files. -- andy finkel {ihnp4|seismo|allegra}!cbmvax!andy Commodore-Amiga, Inc. "Interfere? Of course we'll interfere. Always do what you're best at, I always say." Any expressed opinions are mine; but feel free to share. I disclaim all responsibilities, all shapes, all sizes, all colors.
Rick_R_Kitts@cup.portal.com (11/06/87)
I also discovered a problem with AWRITE. When I attempted to AWRITE an ARC'ed file the file that ended up on the Amiga side was empty! I broke the ARC into pieces (they were all text) and moved it over with no problem. I was wondering how AWRITE determines EOF. Does it actually look for a Control-Z and consider it the EOF? I hope not! One other thing since I'm here. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement for the WIMPY!! keyboard? If I wack on the Control key the hole left side of the keyboard mushes in! (mushes is a technical term) All in all though I'm very happy with the 2000. I'm forced to use IBM stuff at work and feel like I stepped into the stone age when I fire up the ole AT. Rick -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My employers don't have any opinions, so these must be mine. Rick_Kitts@portal.cup.com
kaz@cadovax.UUCP (Kerry Zimmerman) (11/07/87)
In article <2692@cbmvax.UUCP> andy@cbmvax.UUCP (Andy Finkel) writes: >In article <1840@cadovax.UUCP> kaz@cadovax.UUCP (Kerry Zimmerman) writes: >>I can create a virtual drive on an amiga device, and copy files into it >>from the bridge side (using MS-DOS copy) or from the Amiga side, using >>AREAD. What I cannot do is use AWRITE to copy files from the virtual >>drive over to an Amiga drive. What I end up with is an entry for the > >There is but one interrupt used for aread/awrite and virtual >disk communication between the PC and the Amiga. Therefore, >either a virtual disk on the Amiga side may be set up or >aread/awrite may be used; not both. (sorry) > I'm sorry to hear this too. However, the documentation makes no mention of this limitation. Also, the result of trying to awrite from a virtual drive is very nasty. First, there is an entry placed in the AmigaDos directory, but you can't delete, read or write to the file until you reboot the Amiga. Second, the virtual drive now gives MS-DOS drive errors (doing DIR, for example) until you unlink and relink the virtual drive (using jlink, of course). I classify this behavior has a BUG. It would be much better to have awrite bail out with an error message then, just "finish" leaving garbage in both the MS-DOS and the AmigaDos file systems. Please repair this soon. By the way, there is a slight error in the bridgecard manual. It says jlink creates virtual drives d: e: f: and g:. But, when I run jlink, it shows and will create drives c: d: e: and f:. I should mention that I found out how to copy (or awrite) from one disk to another using a single drive MS-DOS system. The answer was in a one page appendix of the MS-DOS manual. All you do is tell it to copy to the non-existant B: drive. (eg copy a:foo b:foo). MS-DOS will stop and ask you to strike a key when ready, allowing you to swap disks, then actually copy to the a: drive. It seems a kludge, but works. Thanks for your quick responses to my questions, Andy. (still waiting for the hd.device you sent) Kerry Zimmerman # {ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!kaz Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170 A difference between an amateur and a professional, is that a professional has the right tools.
kim@amdahl.UUCP (11/08/87)
In article <1318@cup.portal.com>, Rick_R_Kitts@cup.portal.com writes: > > One other thing since I'm here. Does anyone know where I can get > a replacement for the WIMPY!! keyboard? If I wack on the Control key > the hole left side of the keyboard mushes in! (mushes is a technical term) A replacement, no ... but I can tell you how I fixed mine! First, after snapping the keyboard case apart, you'll notice two holes in the board itself that were meant for mounting screws. And in the case top, you'll notice two molded-in, plastic standoffs that line up with the holes in the board. Only problem is that there are no screws in the holes (or at least weren't in mine). So, just use a couple of appropriately sized (read, not too large) self- tapping, or sheet-metal screws, and snug the board down to the case top. Do NOT overtighten these, or you'll strip out the plastic standoffs, or bust them off entirely. Second, get some 1/2" to 3/4" thick non-conductive foam-rubber padding, and cut a piece the size of the board. Use the foam between the board and the case bottom, and snap the case back together. You may need to trim the foam's thickness toward the front of the keyboard (or thicken it toward the rear), as the cross-section of the filler area is wedge-shaped. Poof! I really don't think one should have to resort to fixups like this on a brand new product, but since the fix is cheap and simple, I won't bitch *too* loudly :-)! BTW, I noticed that the keyboard itself manufactured by Cherry. These folks manufacture lots of keyboards for lots of OEM's, and are known to have good, solid products. I'm pleased to see that CBM used them, though a little bit surprised, as they are not exactly inexpensive (thanks, though)! /kim -- UUCP: kim@amdahl.amdahl.com or: {sun,decwrl,hplabs,pyramid,ihnp4,uunet,oliveb,cbosgd,ames}!amdahl!kim DDD: 408-746-8462 USPS: Amdahl Corp. M/S 249, 1250 E. Arques Av, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CIS: 76535,25
kaz@cadovax.UUCP (Kerry Zimmerman) (11/09/87)
In article <1318@cup.portal.com> Rick_R_Kitts@cup.portal.com writes: > > I also discovered a problem with AWRITE. When I attempted to AWRITE >an ARC'ed file the file that ended up on the Amiga side was empty! >I broke the ARC into pieces (they were all text) and moved it over >with no problem. I was wondering how AWRITE determines EOF. Does it >actually look for a Control-Z and consider it the EOF? I hope not! The answer is to use the undocumented '/b' option. It writes the data without regard to end of line or end of file differences. For example: awrite a:foo.bar df1:foo.bar /b (just be sure you don't use a virtural MS-DOS drive as the source) Kerry Zimmerman # {ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!kaz Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170 A difference between an amateur and a professional, is that a professional has the right tools.