l86@nikhefh.hep.nl (Hugo Burm) (07/12/89)
I tested PC-Speed at a local Atari dealer. It works! And fast! All the MS-DOS software I tested worked fine. Some of the speed indices returned unbelievable numbers. It certainly is faster than the IBM PS2 model 30 I sometimes have to use. If you don't know what PC-Speed is, here is some info from the German magazines: PC-Speed is an MS-DOS emulator. It comes as a little PCB with a V30 (that is a faster, Japanese version of the 8086), two PAL's, and four TTL's. It must be soldered piggy-back on the 68000. It is faster than PC-Ditto II (speed indices don't tell you everything). PC-Ditto II has a special chip which converts some of the Intel opcodes into Motorola opcodes. These are then executed by the 68000. PC-Speed stops the 68000, takes the buss, and executes the instructions. It emulates CGA and Hercules. (the latter with some horizontal scrolling). The magazines tested some major MS-DOS software, it all ran immediately. They had some problems with copy-protected games (as expected) and non-Atari hard disk drivers (they are working on the latter). I think it is expensive (about $320). But I am sure that many people have been waiting for this a very long time. In Europe, it is distributed by Maxon.
mikes@pedsga.UUCP (Mike Shulman) (07/13/89)
In article <221@nikhefh.hep.nl> l86@nikhefh.hep.nl (Hugo Burm) writes: >I tested PC-Speed at a local Atari dealer. It works! And fast! All the [....] >It emulates CGA and Hercules. (the latter with some horizontal >scrolling). The magazines tested some major MS-DOS software, it >all ran immediately. They had some problems with copy-protected games ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >(as expected) and non-Atari hard disk drivers (they are working on the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >latter). Why is it expected that the emulator should have problems with copy-protected games? I would think that if you can read an IBM disk correctly, the program should run... By the way, can you hook up a 5 1/4 drive to PC-Speed? Mike -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Shulman <Insert your favorite disclaimer here> UUCP: princeton!rutgers!petsd!pedsga!mikes Internet: mikes%pedsga.uucp@rutgers.edu
hase@netmbx.UUCP (Hartmut Semken) (07/15/89)
In article <930@pedsga.UUCP> mikes@pedsga.UUCP (Mike Shulman,SPCSYS,7586) writes: >In article <221@nikhefh.hep.nl> l86@nikhefh.hep.nl (Hugo Burm) writes: >>all ran immediately. They had some problems with copy-protected games > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >>(as expected) and non-Atari hard disk drivers (they are working on the > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >>latter). > >Why is it expected that the emulator should have problems with >copy-protected games? I would think that if you can read an IBM >disk correctly, the program should run... By the way, can you >hook up a 5 1/4 drive to PC-Speed? The problems are with the different floppy controller: the WD 1772 (Atari) and NEC 765 (PC) are equivalent in reading/writing standard floppy disks (9 sectors of 512 bytes per track). They are not the same in recognizing copy protection shemes... Of course it is possible to connect a 5 1/4 inch drive to the ST. The ST has a standard Shugard bus (with nonstandard connector :-). It is easy to install a 80-Track 5.25 inch drive. There is a problem with 40-track drives: the ST issues a step impulse every 3 milliseconds. 40 track drives need about 6 millisaconds for a step. The seek time can be changed by patching the drive parameter blocks, but the adress varies from TOS version to TOS version... hase -- Hartmut Semken, Lupsteiner Weg 67, 1000 Berlin 37 hase@netmbx.UUCP If there is something more important than my Ego, I want it caught and shot. Now! (Zaphod Beeblebrox)
neil@cs.hw.ac.uk (Neil Forsyth) (07/18/89)
In article <930@pedsga.UUCP> mikes@pedsga.UUCP (Mike Shulman,SPCSYS,7586) writes: >In article <221@nikhefh.hep.nl> l86@nikhefh.hep.nl (Hugo Burm) writes: >>(with respect to emulators)They had some problems with copy-protected games >>(as expected) > >Why is it expected that the emulator should have problems with >copy-protected games? I would think that if you can read an IBM >disk correctly, the program should run... Not so. To both machines a sector is just a sector. But if you want to go looking between sectors or reading whole tracks you must access the floppy disk controller yourself. The ST of course doesn't have the same FDC as the PC and so a program gets stuck when it trys to use the non-existant hardware itself. The Spectre 128 Mac Emulator has the same problems. Any direct access to Appletalk/Modem hardware and there is a freeze up. With new hardware & software platforms coming out, most software developers will stop doing this (we hope). Wait and see how much naughty ST software works on TOS 1.4 or on a TT. >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Mike Shulman <Insert your favorite disclaimer here> >UUCP: princeton!rutgers!petsd!pedsga!mikes >Internet: mikes%pedsga.uucp@rutgers.edu +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ! DISCLAIMER: Unless otherwise stated, the above comments are entirely my own ! ! ! ! Neil Forsyth JANET: neil@uk.ac.hw.cs ! ! Dept. of Computer Science ARPA: neil@cs.hw.ac.uk ! ! Heriot-Watt University UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!neil ! ! Edinburgh, Scotland, UK "spam spaM spAM sPAM SPAM, lovely SPAM" ! +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
f-leoe@IFI.UIO.NO (Lars-Erik 0sterud) (07/20/89)
All my copy-protected software works on TOS 1.4 Some programs that would't work on TOS 1.2 works on TOS 1.4 (yeah !!) Lars-Erik 0sterud / Summer & Christmas: / leoe@ifi.uio.no / f-leoe@ifi.uio.no / ____________________/ _______________________/
SYTANG@CSUGREEN.BITNET (SHOOU-YU TANG,PHYSICS DEPT,CSU,303-491-6372) (10/03/89)
In Oct. issue of ST-World there is a detailed review with 3 photos showing the needed steps in install it. The review seems to like it, it has Nortorn index of 4 which is faster than the PC-Ditto II.` ========= sytang@csugreen.ucc.colostate.edu
UK14@DKAUNI2.BITNET ("O. Steinmeier") (02/14/90)
In <90Feb9.235128est.57802@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca> Greg Csullog writes: > Since that posting, I formatted drive C: with MS DOS but I could > not get PC Speed to boot from hard disk. Was that because I reran > HINSTALL to have the ST boot from C: as well? Yes, that's it! If you want TOS to boot from C:, you cannot tell PC-SPEED to boot MS-DOS from TOS-drive C:. The PC-SPEED-software reads the MS-DOS- system-files from DOS-drive C:, which can be set to an arbitrary TOS-drive (e.g. D:). So all you have to do (assuming MS-DOS boot-drive is TOS-D:) is: 1. Run PCS_INST and tell PC-Speed that you have a harddisk (do NOT select 'HDBOOT') and attach MS-DOS drive C: to TOS-drive D: (other connections as you would like to have them) 2. Run PC_SPEED and boot MS-DOS using your boot floppy-disk. 3. Try to switch to drive C:. It should work - and the contents should be the contents of your TOS-partition D:. 4. Format MS-DOS-drive C: using the FORMAT-command. Don't forget to use option /s to install the system files on your boot partition. FORMAT deletes the information which was stored on MS-DOS-drive C:. Make sure that you have copied your important files to another partition or disk, before you format the partition. 5. Leave MS-DOS and rerun PCS_INST. Tell PC-SPEED that you would like to boot MS-DOS from your harddisk (i.e. select HDBOOT). 6. Run PC_SPEED and press RETURN without inserting a boot disk. Your computer should boot from your harddisk. By the way, you should NOT allow PC-SPEED to access harddisk partitions which are smaller than 4.2 MB, because MS-DOS cannot handle them. It could cause data loss! Oliver ----------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: Everything I wrote might be wrong, even this! ----------------------------------------------------------- Oliver Steinmeier (UK14@DKAUNI2.BITNET) Waldhornstrasse 4-8 D-7500 Karlsruhe, FRG -----------------------------------------------------------
shipley@tron.UUCP (Bill Shipley) (06/15/90)
Are there any PC-Speed experts on the Net? I am generally very happy with it but I have not been able to get a modem to work with the serial port. Has anyone been able to do this? Also, I have had some problems with the Tandy graphics mode. I am using version 1.40 of the software. Bill Shipley v