postmaster@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV (09/29/87)
*** VMS error in delivery mail, error message follows ***
EXOS Mail server: delivery error: %MAIL-E-LOGLINK, error creating network link to node THORSHRIMGMSG
EXOS Mail server: delivery error: -SYSTEM-F-UNREACHABLE, remote node is not currently reachableMGMSG
EXOS Mail server: delivery error:
%MAIL-E-LOGLINK, error creating network link to node THOR
-SYSTEM-F-UNREACHABLE, remote node is not currently reachable
*** Original message follows ***
From : Info-Atari16@Score.Stanford.edu
Subject: Info-Atari16 Digest V87 #343
Return-path: <Info-Atari16-Request@Score.Stanford.EDU>
Received: from Score.Stanford.EDU by nssdca.GSFC.NASA.GOV
id 202004B8002 ; Mon, 28 Sep 87 16:41:51 EST
Date: Mon 28 Sep 87 12:08:45 PDT
From: Info-Atari16 Digest <Info-Atari16@Score.Stanford.EDU>
Errors-to: Info-Atari16-request@Score.Stanford.EDU
Maint-Path: Info-Atari16-request@Score.Stanford.EDU
To: Info-Atari16 Distribution List: ;
Reply-to: Info-Atari16@Score.Stanford.edu
Info-Atari16 Digest Monday, September 28, 1987 Volume 87 : Issue 343
This weeks Editor: Bill Westfield
Today's Topics:
Re: TVX (VIX) End-Of-File problem
Atari Marketing Strategy (???)
Re: 5" drive on ST, monitors, E. Arthur Brown Comp.
Re: Megamax malloc()
Monochrome Atari 1040ST
printer problems fixed!
Regent Base; Mouse Question
latest versions of pd stuff?
Re: GemDraw GemWrite
Mouse buttons (was Re: Seriously Bummed)
Does the ST have a fast enough I/O system?
Re: Shell Archive
Re: 5" drive on ST, monitors, E. Arthur Brown Comp.
Re: NeWS for the ST!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 21 Sep 87 16:20:04 GMT
From: cca!mirror!rayssd!brunix!nancy!rjd@husc6.harvard.edu (Rob Demillo)
Subject: Re: TVX (VIX) End-Of-File problem
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <1987Sep14.210747.20112@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu> lansd@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Robert Lansdale) writes:
>
>
> I recently started using the TVX public domain editor program
>in conjunction with MWC. TVX (dated 10/06/86) works just fine except for
>one small problem - it appends a CP/M End-Of-File byte (0x1a, 26) to the
>end of the file. It just so happens that MWC chokes on this and reports
>an invalid character.
> Is there a newer version of TVX that solves this problem?
Nope. And there is no need for it, 'cause you can eliminate the
problem on yours: when you call up the TVX editor, use the
option switch -noz in the command line, and the EOF mark will not
be appended.
- Rob DeMillo
Brown University - Planetary Science Group
UUCP: ...{seismo!harpo}!ihnp4!brunix!rjd -- or --
...{seismo!harpo}!ihnp4!brunix!europa!demillo
BITNET: GE702025@BROWNVM
SPAN: BRNPSG::DEMILLO
CompuServe: 73537,2737
------
"...I am not so sure what you want me for!
Either your machine is a fool, or me..." -- "WarGames", CSN
- Rob DeMillo
Brown University - Planetary Science Group
UUCP: ...{seismo!harpo}!ihnp4!brunix!rjd -- or --
...{seismo!harpo}!ihnp4!brunix!europa!demillo
BITNET: GE702025@BROWNVM
SPAN: BRNPSG::DEMILLO
CompuServe: 73537,2737
------
"...I am not so sure what you want me for!
Either your machine is a fool, or me..." -- "WarGames", CSN
------------------------------
Posted-Date: 22 Sep 87 06:35 MST
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 87 06:34 MST
From: DMiddleton%pco@BCO-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: Atari Marketing Strategy (???)
To: <@BCO-MULTICS.ARPA:Info-Atari16@SCORE.STANFORD.EDU>
Well fans, I hate to tell you but up in the Great White North (Toronto)
the Amiga 500 is being marketted by (sound trumpets TA-Da-Da!!) K-MART!!
Prices are really nuts, but it sure says something about Atari marketing
policy. First cut off the mail orders, relegate the machine to small
companies, and expect it to sell. Being an ST-ite, I find it incredible
that they aren't selling through major stores (e.g. Pennys, Sears) and
letting Commodore walk all over them. Even if legitimate "dealers" were
paid (real green stuff) to repair defective units, it would be better for
market penetration. Buying Federated isn't going to get major market
penetration. Getting a major chain sure would though, and would it ever
cause a massive increase in software development and $$$SALES$$$.
Don Middleton
Honeywell Bull Ltd "My opinions, and mine alone..."
DMiddleton%pco -at BCO-Multics.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: 22 Sep 87 14:40:31 GMT
From: braner@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (braner)
Subject: Re: 5" drive on ST, monitors, E. Arthur Brown Comp.
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
[]
More queries about E. Arthur Brown Company:
They advertise (in START) several unusual products that many on this group
asked about and that seem to be hard to find. FYI I post them here. I am
NOT affiliated with E. Arthur Brown, not even as a customer (yet).
Cat # Price + S&H Description
127-403 39.95 + 3.95 Cable to connect a standard IBM-PC 5.25" drive
to an Atari ST. Formatting software included.
127-400 19.95 + 1.95 Cable to connect a standard composite (color or
monochrome) monitor to the ST (for low or med rez).
127-402 49.95 + 3.95 "ST Video Box" - lets one see all 3 video resolutions
on either the Atari mono or the Atari color monitor
(how the ^@%#&^ do they DO that?!?).
251-400 39.95 + 3.95 "ST invisible clock" - mounts inside the keyboard,
includes NiCad batteries.
If anybody has USED any of these products please let us know what they're like.
In particular I'd like to know: the picture quality with the composite cable,
and whether the 5" drive connection is reliable (is the buffer chip built into
the cable?). (Does the 5" drive need its own power supply?)
Here is their address:
E. Arthur Brown Company
3404 Pawnee Dr., Alexandria, MN 56308
(612) 762-8847, 763-6393
(S&H has a $6.95 cap for any one order)
(Again: I am not affiliated, etc.)
- Moshe Braner
------------------------------
Date: 22 Sep 87 15:14:30 GMT
From: braner@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (braner)
Subject: Re: Megamax malloc()
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
[]
Megamax malloc() supposedly gets RAM from the OS in chunks no smaller than
8K. It also never returns any RAM to the OS until the program exits. (It
does, of course, reuse the allocated blocks if you free() them). I have
not had problems with malloc() under Megamax yet, even under heavy use (in
microEMACS). If you want to minimize malloc()'s use of Malloc() you can
temp=malloc(a bunch); free(temp); to start with, then proceed to malloc(little
bits). The quantity "a bunch" should be more than 8K to help. Unfortunately
it cannot be more than 64K since it is an unsigned int.
- Moshe Braner
PS: the rumors on the qualities of Megamax 2.0 sound _great_. When?
------------------------------
Date: 22 Sep 87 18:11:55 GMT
From: ksn%psuvm.bitnet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Peter A. Krupa)
Subject: Monochrome Atari 1040ST
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
I am looking for some advice. I've pretty much decided to buy a 1040ST
(the chips a little dated, sure, but I can't shell out $3000 for an
IBM PS/2 Model 50, or I would), but I don't know if getting the monochrome
system is the best idea.
The graphics resolution of monochrome system is just what I need, but I'm
worried about software availability. Can anyone tell me if the following
types of software are available in monochrome format:
USCD Pascal (with a graphics procedures?)
C (ANSI standard)
a MIDI music editor
Thanks for you suggestions.
-------
Spiny_Norman
UUCP: gatech!akgua!ihnp4!psuvax1!psuvmb.BITNET!ksn
BITNET: kns@psuvmb.BITNET
US MAIL: 3004 Plaza Drive
State College, PA 16801
PHONE: 814-237-8092
And see ye not yon bonny road
That winds about the fernie brae?
That is the Road to fair Elfland
Where thou and I this night maun gae... -Anon
------------------------------
Date: 22 Sep 87 22:59:21 GMT
From: phoenix!mpsimon@princeton.edu (M. Patrick Simon)
Subject: printer problems fixed!
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
Thanks to all those who made suggestions relating to my printer problems
(my printer -- panasonic 1091i -- would drop the last bit on all output from
1040ST, but an IBM printer would work fine with my ST). I took it into
the dealer where I bought the ST, and he ran some diagnostics and found that
the Yamaha sound chip and the DMA chip were both failing diagnostic tests.
He replace both for $51.00 (time ~2 weeks), which of course save me about
$70 dollars over replacing the entire motherboard.
--Patrick Simon mpsimon@phoenix.princeton.edu
------------------------------
Date: 22 Sep 87 23:43:14 GMT
From: ritcv!ref0070@cs.rochester.edu (Robert E. Fortin)
Subject: Regent Base; Mouse Question
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
Bob Fortin)
Followup-To:
Distribution:
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Keywords: relational DataBase, event_multi
Two Questions:
First, has anybody used Regent Base? I am interested in finding out if it
is a relational Database. I also saw a reference someplace that hinted that
RegentBase used some type of SQL. Is this true?
Second, is it possible using event_multi or some other way to check from
within a program for EITHER the left or the right mouse button being pressed.
The way I understand it is you can check for the left or check for the right,
or check for both, but not for the left or the right.
Thanks,
Bob Fortin
{allegra seismo decvax}!rochester!ritcv!ref0070
------------------------------
Date: 22 Sep 87 23:07:04 GMT
From: phoenix!mpsimon@princeton.edu (M. Patrick Simon)
Subject: latest versions of pd stuff?
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
To the authors/distrubutors of gulam and aim, thanks for good products! I use
them both. What are the latest versions available? I have gulam alpha test
00.01.00 and aim v1.00.
To those who are not familiar with these programs, gulam is a command line
interpreter, for use by those of us who prefer to talk to our computers via
keyboard rather than mouse. Aim is an image management program out for the
ST. The programs are unrelated, except that I use them both, and they are
both in the public domain (or at least free distribution).
--Patrick Simon mpsimon@phoenix.princeton.edu
------------------------------
Date: 23 Sep 87 01:35:00 GMT
From: zen!dorothy.Berkeley.EDU!c9c-eh@cad.Berkeley.EDU (Warner Young (WHY))
Subject: Re: GemDraw GemWrite
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <67@piring.cwi.nl> steven@cwi.nl (Steven Pemberton) writes:
> ... office/office automation trade fair) and guess what? I saw both
> Gemwrite and Gemdraw running on an ST, as well as Gem version 2.2, and
> The version of Gem was obviously a post-Apple version, because there
> were no rubber-boxes, or desk-top icons and that sort of thing.
>Steven Pemberton, CWI, Amsterdam; steven@cwi.nl
By GEM version 2.2, I assume you mean on the Atari PC? As far as I know,
the version of GEM in the Megas and in all forthcoming versions of the ST
will not comform to Apple's idea of a safe competitor. Also, do you know
what versions of GEM Write and GEM Draw you saw? Are they in the beta-test
stage, or more advanced now? Also, did you happen to see anything
that mentions if DRI will market them, or Atari, or someone else?
-Warner Young
W H Y ?
-because...
------------------------------
Date: 23 Sep 87 01:52:06 GMT
From: zen!dorothy.Berkeley.EDU!c9c-eh@cad.Berkeley.EDU (Warner Young (WHY))
Subject: Mouse buttons (was Re: Seriously Bummed)
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <929@dclemans.mntgfx.MENTOR.COM> dclemans@mntgfx.MENTOR.COM (Dave Clemans) writes:
>
> the problems with mouse button detection are fixed; responses to mouse
> button hits are faster (though note that this can cause slight problems
> in programs, such as FLASH, to do mouse button detection in a non-standard
> way)
>
>dgc
As a related question, I'm wondering if the new ROMs fix the bug with
the AES call evnt_multi()? When you call that, it refuses to respond
to a right mouse button event, although the VDI does detect it. Do
the new ROMs fix this problem?
As a related, related question, how do some programs like EasyDraw work,
in regards to the mouse buttons? I've noticed that you can make your
menus disappear, and drag the window scrollers with the RIGHT mouse button.
Is this an effect of GDOS, or some fix that is written into the program
itself?
Thank you, everyone, in advance.
-Warner Young
I don't belong to any organization, so I don't have a disclaimer.
------------------------------
Date: 14 Sep 87 10:29:16 GMT
From: uop!exodus@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu (Freddy Kreuger)
Subject: Does the ST have a fast enough I/O system?
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
With the DMA bus at something like 5 m-bits a second, and that being
the fastest I/O port the ST has, is virtual memory on the ST's
a realistic thought? Of course, I am considering a different operating
system (MINIX??? && X-Windows!!!), but the hardware will remain the same.
I naturally assumed different hard drives, since the drives in the Atari
Hard drives probably do not have the best seek times...
Any thoughts, comments??
Greg Onufer
University of the Pacific
Stockton, California
------------------------------
Date: 16 Sep 87 18:29:53 GMT
From: uop!exodus@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu (Freddy Kreuger)
Subject: Re: Shell Archive
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
No, a shell archive in the UN*X world is a Bourne Shell script that
recreates a bunch of files that have been merged into one or more larger
files. There is no compaction but twenty files could be merged together
and made into a shell archive of only 3 files. The whole point is that
many many files can be mailed as a smaller group of larger files.
A little roundabout but....
Greg Onufer
Univ of the Pacific
------------------------------
Date: 23 Sep 87 06:11:00 GMT
From: super.upenn.edu!eecae!nancy!umix!hyc@rutgers.edu (Howard Chu)
Subject: Re: 5" drive on ST, monitors, E. Arthur Brown Comp.
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
I called them up to inquire about their ST Video box. The current story is
that, though it works, it seems to be unreliable and their designer is
testing it further. At the time, (last week) the person on the phone said
these boxes aren't going to be available for another month, when the
testing is finished. Personally, I can't wait...
--
-- Howard Chu
"Of *course* it's portable. It's written in C, isn't it?"
------------------------------
Date: 23 Sep 87 04:10:13 GMT
From: ssc-vax!benoni@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Charles L Ditzel)
Subject: Re: NeWS for the ST!
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <167@geovision.UUCP>, alastair@geovision.UUCP (Alastair Mayer) writes:
> I don't want this to degenerate into religious_wars.windows, but
> personally I'd like to see X for the ST. Maybe it isn't the "best"
> (whatever that means) window system, but I work with 4 different
> mfg's hardware, and X runs on all of it (including the Suns). Makes
> software porting a lot easier. It'd sure be nice to use some of that
> on my ST, or to use my ST to develop software at home.
Agreed. I should have toned down my message, since i have no desire
to start a "religous war". My impressions were gleaned from an RT
which is probably not the best place. One of the major advantages
of X11 IS that source code is available for $150 from MIT. An X
port is apparently already underway from the Idris folks... of course
Idris costs $$$. If Atari is a clever company they are working on
a Unix/X or Unix/NeWS port to the Megas right now ...(and for all i
know they are)...
The combination of GEM/TOS was good two years ago ... (at least from
a financial point of view) ... offering a choice on the Megas between
GEM/TOS and Unix/[NeWS/X] would have been fairly bright ...
------------------------------
End of Info-Atari16 Digest
**************************
-------kend@tekla.tek.COM (09/29/87)
Please remove me from your mailing list. I am buying an Amiga. -Ken Dickey