U0179@DGOGWDG5.BITNET ("GWDGV1::WHUEBNER") (09/05/88)
Attn.: Allan Pratt
In one of your mails in the INFO-ATARI16 Digest Volume 88 Issue 376
(ibm pc disk (LOTS OF DETAIL)) you told us some facts about new disk
formatting and media change.
Sorry about the following, but as one of the BETA TOS tester here in
Germany I have to tell you some bugs within the new TOS v1.4 beta
release (some days ago i was confined by my professional discretion) :
1) the IBM PC don't like a disk formatted with the new TOS release ...
(using standard DESKTOP formatting capability)
2) it seems that pressing ESC didn't flush all buffers (FAT cache ??) ...
try the following with two ST's :
a) insert a disk into the first ST (standard DESKTOP formatted)
b) open a window under DESKTOP
c) execute any program, finish the prgm, return to the DESKTOP
d) remove this disk and insert it into the second ST
e) overwrite the program you have executed on the first ST
(eg. copy a new (size different) version of the program onto
this disk)
f) insert this disk into the first ST, hit ESC and execute the
program again
g) --> you will get a TOS error !!
I hope, that some other (minor) odds within the new TOS release covered
by BETA testers are already known to you.
Let me say here thanks for your work on the new TOS release. You have
really corrected the most crucial bugs (40 folder, malloc, IO redirection,
disk performance). This kind of upgrading is the way to become a Operating
System wich we (the ungrateful (?!) ATARI users) can live with.
Please, keep going on this way in the future ...
Best regards
W.Huebner
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| BITNET: U0179 at DGoGWDG5 (W.Huebner) |
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.apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt) (09/07/88)
I hope I can quench the flames about this FAST... To summarize "GWDGV1::WHUEBNER": > 1) the IBM PC don't like a disk formatted with the new TOS release ... > > 2) it seems that pressing ESC didn't flush all buffers... > >[3] [open a window, pop the disk, change it on a different ST, put > it back in the original ST and do something.] First and most importantly, yes, we will ask this tester not to post to usenet about the Beta ROMs. Second, we all know that point (1) below has been fixed. Third, pressing ESCape on the desktop now DOES cause the ST to forget everything about the disk in the drive, and invalidate its caches, even if the serial number matches. Fourth, the ST has NEVER been able to handle a disk which is removed, changed on another machine, and placed back in the drive. The reason is that the serial number is still the same, so the ST assumes the rest of the disk is the same, too. The fix for this is to put a DIFFERENT disk in the drive and access it before putting the changed media back in. The rationale for this is that you might pop a disk, to read the label or change the write-protect tab, then place the same disk back in. If the ST invalidated everything as soon as you popped the disk, this would be disasterous: you would get lost clusters and closed handles. ============================================ Opinions expressed above do not necessarily -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp. reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else. ...ames!atari!apratt