rvanzuylen@wldwst.enet.dec.com (Ron van Zuylen) (11/07/89)
In article <8911070804.AA12638@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, E_GS18@vaxa.nerc-murchison.ac.UK (Russ Evans) writes: >1. I understand that Spectre 128 uses 128k Mac ROMs, and runs Version 6 >software. I have also been told that current Macs are running 256k ROMs and >that Version 7 will support virtual memory (though I presume only on the '030 >models). How will this affect Spectre users? Yes, the Spectre 128/GCR can use 128K Mac (Plus) ROMs or old 64K Mac ROMs. It is quite stable, at least with 6.0.2 (which I'm currently using). MultiFinder isn't rock solid; it acts pretty strange. The latest release, 6.0.4, contains numerous fixes... maybe it will run better on the Spectre. We'll know if Apple's 7.0 works when it is released. Yes, virtual memory will only be supported on MMU equipped Macintosh systems. The rest really doesn't have any reason to not work with the Spectre. >2. What facilities for disk access does Spectre GCR support? Can I read files >directly from a Mac disk into my application? Most importantly, is the GCR >an add-on extra to the Spectre 128, or is it complete in itself? >(Comment: at UK prices of UKL760 [US$1200] for 128+GCR+support kit, it would >make a real Mac look quite cheap!) The Spectre GCR is the Spectre 128 with Macintosh disk access ability. It will read, write and format Macintosh disks faster than a Macintosh. I've compared the speed side by side... and it's really true. >3. Are there any differences between the US and UK versions? I don't think so... I'm not sure. >4. Should I consider buying one when I am in California next month? How much >should I expect to pay? Well, it supposedly retails for U.S. $300. The price won't be much different at most retailers. >5. Can anyone comment on the reliability of Spectre 128 or GCR? >(Comment: I bought a BMS hard disk kit a couple of years back, and experienced >a chip failure within a couple of days of starting up. No flames on BMS; chips >do fail sometimes and they exchanged the card for a new one without question on >my next visit. Nice guys to do business with. But I'm a long way away if I am >looking for support!) The reliability is excellent. Gadgets by Small stand behind their products. >6. Is there a good Atari shack in the Santa Barbara area? Given that it's the >kind of area where anything less than a Mac IIci is considered demode (please >reinstate accents!), I would be surprised to find one. Alternatively, I will >also be visiting the west Bay area, specifically Menlo Park, although I expect >to be very busy at that time. Can anyone recommend a good place? Directions >from, say, downtown Palo Alto at El Camino Real would be particularly helpful. >Perhaps there's a good store in Sunnyvale :^) Well, there is B & C ComputerVision in Santa Clara and San Jose Computer in, surprise, San Jose. I don't know about Santa Barbara... >Russ Evans >c/o British Geological Survey, Edinburgh, UK The Spectre GCR is a really great product. The only features I can think of that I would like to see added are: - Improved MultiFinder stability (is it really just Apple's weird code?) - Shutdown/restart that works (it is hard keeping average users "ejecting" hard drive partitions before turning the machine off - ARGH!) - Selectable Spectre or Macintosh (GCR) disk format while running as a Macintosh (it only formats Macintosh now) - Macintosh SCSI device support (using ICD, Supra, etc. host adapter) so we can use real Macintosh SCSI hardware - Sound improvements: correct pitch, newer system compatibility, etc. - Expensive Christmas presents for faithful users :-) Oh yeah, a fix for my Future Systems GTS-100 drive so it can work with the GCR would be great! ANYONE have any ideas how I can get this beast to stop filtering out the high frequencies? (Is that the problem?) It figures that I own the only 3rd-party drive that does not work with the GCR. At least I have one drive that works... Ron S. van Zuylen + rvanzuylen%wldwst.enet@decwrl.dec.com Digital Equipment Corporation ASIP + decwrl!wldwst.enet!rvanzuylen Cupertino, California USA + "Order your very own VAX 9000 today!"
dsmall@well.UUCP (David Small) (12/03/89)
The referenced note contains several suggestions to Spectre GCR. 1. On Multifinder reliability, we have just recently (since releasing 2.0/) discovered that Multifinder is reading from location 0. This causes havoc with its memory mangler; it means a dangling pointer (address = 0 ). Once we fixed that, Multifinder grew rock-solid; we ran it at Comdex for five days straight, and could only crash it with a specifically non-MF friendly DA. This is the same bug that crashed Microsoft Word 3.02, which now does "Page Preview" properly and doesn't run out of memory. I've chased it for a year and half now; it's good to win at last. 2. Shutdown should work; if not, we broke it between beta and release. Restart can't work, as it executes a RESET instruction which clobbers the ST hardware. However, a fix for that is in the works for the 2.5 release (along with the multifinder/word 3.02 fix). 3. I agree, we should let you format Spectre disks from inside Spectre. We didn't only because of space reasons; getting 832K mode up, which is the tightest memory squeeze, with GCR inside was very very hard. For instance, we had to delete all Translator One support code, and that didn't help enough. We hope to do this, however. 4. Macintosh true SCSI support is very tricky. While we're researching it, no promises there. There are timing and emulation issues that resemble Vietnam. 5. Sound improvements. We're already working on true 60 hz sound, so the pitch is correct. We're also working on ST-E DMA sound, which will give sound with little to no slowdown (!). System 6.02 and above changed the ground rules for sound, but we hope to have that working soon; it's a matter of figuring out why sound works on a real Plus, and not on a Spectre -- a comparison of traces, really. 6. The GTS-100 drive we bought just for this is currently in with a major drive guru being prodded; we hope he can come up with a fix. We'll let you know wehwhen we know something. The current 2.5 version, unreleased, also has an online configuration page (press HELP and it pops up; press function keys, and various options toggle), and many other goodiesgoing into it. Doug Wheeler is doing an outstanding job hacking on it, and is even (*shudder*) cleaning up my code. Basically, it sounds like we're in agreement about where Spectre should go in the next few months. Hope you like 2.5, when we release it. -- thanks, Dave Small / Gadgets
rvanzuylen@wldwst.enet.dec.com (Ron van Zuylen) (12/04/89)
In article <14802@well.UUCP>, dsmall@well.UUCP (David Small) writes numerous
good things about future Spectre enhancements.
Hey, Dave... How about switchable Macintosh Plus keyboard emulation? You're
currently mapping the keypad as normal keys. I have numerous applications that
demand a real keypad. And losing those nasty Spectre "hot-keys" keys so we
can do normal Macintosh key-presses like SHIFT-ed arrow keys.
I'm really looking forward to the next upgrade. Keep up the good work.
Ron S. van Zuylen + rvanzuylen%wldwst.enet@decwrl.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation + decwrl!wldwst.enet!rvanzuylen
Cupertino, California USA + "I have a VAX 9000 in my cube... really."