Mailer@ECLA.USC.EDU.UUCP (05/16/87)
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Received: from SCORE.STANFORD.EDU by ECLA.USC.EDU; Thu 14 May 87 14:45:28-PDT
Date: Thu 14 May 87 09:33:42 PDT
Subject: Info-Atari16 Digest V87 #211
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 Thursday, May 14, 1987 Volume 87 : Issue 211
This weeks Editor: Bill Westfield
Today's Topics:
INDEX PROG-A16
Re: Doesn't Anyone Have FORMAT+ ???????
Re: Minix on the ST
Re: Uniterm problem
Re: Mark Williams C 2.0 (plus request for benchmark help)
Re: Bug report: 'The Russian Doll' sp. nova (?)
NITE and SCACHE interaction bug
'wefax' interface for Atari
Interactive fiction
Re: Bug report: 'The Russian Doll' sp. nova (?)
Re: Mark Williams ver 2.0 info
Re: Megamax inline assembly woes
Dallas Atarifest (warning: LONG)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 May 45 11:59:11 EDT
From: Herbert Goertzel <goertzel@dca-ems.arpa>
Subject: INDEX PROG-A16
To: INFO-Atari16@Score.Stanford.EDU
There appears to be a problem with the INDex command in LISTSERV as it
applies to the PROG-A16 archive at CANADA01 when the message is sent from
arpanet. INDEX INFO-A16 works just as advertised but for prog-a16 you get
only the first entry in the archive (hence my previous, ill conceived
message). I 4{ave been talking with the postmaster (I believe) about the
problem and I believe we both agree that the problem is real, but not what I
originally thought it was (i.e. nothing in the archive).
Has nayone else on milnet been successful doing an INDEX PROG-A16? If so,
maybe I have a problem at my mail host if not maybe we have a bigger problem.
Please let me know.
Herb Goertzel
(Goertzel "at" DCA-EMS.arpa)
------------------------------
Date: 9 May 87 22:03:04 GMT
From: hao!gatech!hubcap!ncrcae!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!jack!man!wolf!billw@ames.arpa (Bill Wisner)
Subject: Re: Doesn't Anyone Have FORMAT+ ???????
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <6481@mhuxu.UUCP>, cbz@mhuxu.UUCP (Craig B. Ziemer) writes:
> Isn't there anyone out there who will send me uuencoded binaries
> for the fast formatting program FORMAT+? I have a truncated copy
> that was posted by M. Vederman back in October (for ROM based TOS).
> I would be eternally (or at least a week or two) grateful.
How about TWISTER 2 from Antic? It isn't fast, but gets you about 80K more
on a double-sided disk.
--
Bill Wisner
..{sdcsvax,ihnp4}!jack!wolf!billw
------------------------------
Date: 9 May 87 21:59:56 GMT
From: hao!gatech!hubcap!ncrcae!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!jack!man!wolf!billw@ames.arpa (Bill Wisner)
Subject: Re: Minix on the ST
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <2907@eagle.ukc.ac.uk>, pc@eagle.ukc.ac.uk (R.P.A.Collinson) writes:
> Any news of this, anyone?
[Don't panic! There is SUPPOSED to be a file from my Mail directory here!]
From sdcsvax!seismo!mcvax!cs.vu.nl!ast Wed May 6 08:04:36 1987
Received: by sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (5.57/5.0)
id AA22665 for billw; Wed, 6 May 87 04:00:58 PST
Received: from mcvax.UUCP by seismo.CSS.GOV (5.54/1.14) with UUCP
id AA06935; Wed, 6 May 87 08:00:29 EDT
Received: by mcvax.cwi.nl; Wed, 6 May 87 13:55:10 +0200 (MET)
To: wolf!billw
From: Andy Tanenbaum <sdcsvax!seismo!mcvax!cs.vu.nl!ast>
Subject: Re: MINIX for the Atari ST
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
In-Reply-To: <325@wolf.UUCP>
Organization: VU Informatica, Amsterdam
Date: Wed, 6 May 87 13:41:57 MDT
Sender: sdcsvax!seismo!mcvax!cs.vu.nl!ast
Message-Id: <8705061342.aa28690@botter.cs.vu.nl>
An Atari version is in the works. It is about 2/3 done.
It will be announced in comp.os.minix when it is done, later this year.
Andy Tanenbaum
--
Bill Wisner
..{sdcsvax,ihnp4}!jack!wolf!billw
------------------------------
Date: 9 May 87 22:18:46 GMT
From: hao!gatech!hubcap!ncrcae!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!jack!man!wolf!billw@ames.arpa (Bill Wisner)
Subject: Re: Uniterm problem
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
: From: <SYSTEM@UVPHYS.BITNET> (NAME NIK ZAPANTIS)
:
: I am having a small problem with UNITERM 1.7b and the RS-232 port on the ST.
:
: I am using the ST and Uniterm to communicate with a VAX/VMS system over a
: direct line, which is set to AUTOBAUD by VMS. I have set my UNITERM.SET file
: so uniterm will communicate at 9600baud. And here is the problem; somehow, the
: VAX reads the RS-232 port BEFORE the UNITERM.SET file is executed, and as a
: result sets my line to 19200baud--max baud rate for the ST--. The UNITERM.SET
: file is then executed, resets the ST port to 9600, and I cannot communicate
: with the host, without changing the rate to 19200.
:
: Any ideas on how to go about fixing this little problem?
I don't know that much about VMS, but try turning autobaud off.
: I can certainly operate at 19200, but I found that when I display large files
: on the screen, the buffer overflows and I get garbage.
If you have version 1.7b, you can change the size of the RS232 buffer on the
startup screen. Try, oh, 30000. If none of that works, I guess you're up the
creek without a mouse, stuck with 19200 and liberal use of ^S. (Now, there's
an idea.. if your buffer keeps overfilling, XON/XOFF should help...)
: Any help with this would be appreciated.
--
Bill Wisner
..{sdcsvax,ihnp4}!jack!wolf!billw
------------------------------
Date: 10 May 87 17:59:00 GMT
From: braner@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (braner)
Subject: Re: Mark Williams C 2.0 (plus request for benchmark help)
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
[]
One thing the MWC users did not post: how many seconds (minutes?)
does it take to compile and link a program and reenter the editor,
using your optimized floppy+RAMdisk setup? (Using Megamax on a
RAMdisk, the time for that cycle is less than 20 seconds for a
small program.) (Using Absoft FORTRAN: about 5 seconds...)
- Moshe Braner
------------------------------
Date: 10 May 87 18:17:12 GMT
From: braner@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (braner)
Subject: Re: Bug report: 'The Russian Doll' sp. nova (?)
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
[]
If you create lots of folders anywhere (e.g. RAMdisk) you're in the
40-folders-bug's den. Watch out! (This is due to TOS keeping info
about folders in a finite-size area.)
If you access the same few folders repeatedly you are also courting
disaster! (This is due to TOS creating multiple copies of info about
the same folders (a bug that I consider separate from the 40-folders
bug), and then the finite space...). You're safe if you remove the media
periodically - but what about the RAMdisk (or Harddisk)?
I've written a program (called 'Uproot') that forces TOS to believe
the media has been changed on a specified drive. I hope it will be
posted soon on comp.*.atari.st (it's "in the queue"). E-mail me
if you're desperate.
- Moshe Braner
------------------------------
Date: 10 May 87 18:40:56 GMT
From: braner@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (braner)
Subject: NITE and SCACHE interaction bug
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
[]
I finally experienced the reported bug of getting two cherry bombs when
trying to access drive A: after the ST sitting for hours with NITE blanking
the screen and SCACHE also active. That was from micro-C-Shell. Doing
a 'logout' (to the RAMdisk!) and accessing drive A: from the desktop cured
it completely: I could then run mCS again (from the RAMdisk!) and keep
accessing drive A. I have done this _twice_ since last time I booted my ST,
with no ill effects. Is it mCS's fault? Explanation?
- Moshe Braner
PS: I boot with AUTODISK, copying mCS and all into the RAMdisk. I then
run mCS, and the login.sh file does "set home=D:\" and "set path=D:\".
When I 'logout', it returns to the desktop and the window it was invoked
from, i.e. the RAMdisk. I find that very convenient. I can always
remove mCS from the RAMdisk (even from inside mCS!) to gain space if needed.
------------------------------
Date: 11 May 87 04:09:37 GMT
From: labrea!Lindy!kevin@decwrl.dec.com (Kevin Burnett)
Subject: 'wefax' interface for Atari
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
I'm interested in finding out about the Weather FAX interface and program
for the ST that appeared in Antic sometime last year. Now that I've got
the appropriate receiver, I'd like to try this thing out, but I don't have
the issue of Antic it was in, nor do I remember which one it was.
Could someone fill me in?
Also, I'd be interested in knowing if there's an RTTY/CW interface, like
the ones available for the C64 or the Atari 400/800.
Thanks...
--
Kevin Burnett
Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre / Santa Clara Class of '88
Arpa: kevin@Lindy.Stanford.EDU Bitnet: KJBSF@SLACVM.BITNET
Old-style UUCP: ...!decwrl!labrea!Lindy!kevin
------------------------------
Date: 11 May 87 02:45:05 GMT
From: engst@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Adam C. Engst)
Subject: Interactive fiction
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
Many of you saw my postings several days (weeks?) ago on
interactive fiction. I posted those notices to these groups
because of the current status of interactive fiction on the 68000-
based micros and because of the necessity (at least I think so,
but I may be wrong) of working inside of a graphic environment,
which allows the author to keep track of a complex branching
structure.
I received quite a number of responses from different people
expressing an interest in being put on a mailing list or in
starting a new Usenet discussion group. I asked around to find
out the proper method of starting a new group and was told that I
needed to talk about interactive fiction on an existing newsgroup
for a while, then get names on a petition, and then apply to the
net powers that be for a new newsgroup provided that I had shown
that there was enough interest to warrant the new group. This
procedure seems reasonable, so I am writing to these newsgroups to
inform all those who are interested in interactive fiction and
those who previously replied that I will be discussing it in
MISC.MISC.
I decided on MISC.MISC because it is for those topics which
don't really fit into any existing newsgroup. I don't think that
interactive fiction does. It is not a game, yet it is
entertainment while also being serious literature. It can also be
used for computer-aided instruction and has a certain relationship
to artificial intelligence. It needs the technology of the
computer and the creativity of the writer. What it needs more
than anything else at the moment is interest. People must realize
that it is not a game and it is not trivial, it is real. This
discussion will be devoted to any and all of the aspects of
interactive fiction with the goal of developing it as a new medium
for reading and writing with the aid of the computer.
To start the new discussion off on the right foot (or left
foot, it's non-discriminatory), I will start posting the messages
from the CSNEWS@MAINE discussion group that I started at the
beginning of 1987. I will also accept any email, but please
specify if you don't want your ideas posted because I believe in
free distribution of pertinant information. In short, please give
the subject a chance. I think it is very interesting and has a
great future.
Thank you,
Adam Engst
engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu.UUCP
pv9y@cornella.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: 9 May 87 22:17:08 GMT
From: cbatt!cwruecmp!bammi@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Jwahar R. Bammi)
Subject: Re: Bug report: 'The Russian Doll' sp. nova (?)
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <8705081618.AA15013@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 051332@UOTTAWA.BITNET writes:
>Questions:
>1) is this new? (can I name it)
>2) is it the 40 folder thing? ... and what are the symptoms
>3) is it the underscore thing? (did I neglect to mention that I use
>4) is there some incompatibility in the programs that I used?
>5) is there a TROGEN-HORSE on ATARINET or PROG-A16? (this beast seems
>6) is the procedure that I described above expressly prohibited on pg1
It is NONE of the above. It is due to the short-cut you
took. You absolutely have to do the point-ESC step, otherwise gemdos
does'nt log in the new disk. The simple solution to this problem is
to use a decent shell (like the one that we will be posting soon to
the net -- plug plug).
--
usenet: {decvax,cbatt,cbosgd,sun}!cwruecmp!bammi jwahar r. bammi
csnet: bammi@case
arpa: bammi%case@csnet-relay
compuServe: 71515,155
------------------------------
Date: 9 May 87 22:40:44 GMT
From: cbatt!cwruecmp!bammi@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Jwahar R. Bammi)
Subject: Re: Mark Williams ver 2.0 info
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <692@ttidca.TTI.COM> woodside@ttidcb.UUCP (George Woodside) writes:
>Known bugs - there is a glitch in the assembler which causes the value of
>generated long constants to have their high order byte zeroed (ie. 0x87654321L
>yields 0x00654321L in the object. Printf will still not write any output until
>it gets a line feed (this is not a bug as far as MW is concerned, but a design
>"feature").
Firstly, many kudos to George Woodside for his excellent TURTLE
hard disk backup program. It is absolutely the best backup utility out
there, commercial or otherwise. Thanks.
Just to add to to the bugs list above, we've come across the
following:
- Some of the Bit testing type constructs generate a cryptic
internal compiler error message. For instance
typedef struct {
char *name;
int flags;
....
} AType;
#define THISFLAG 0x0020
Atype *x;
.....
if(x->flags & THISFLAG) ...
^^^^^^
On this line it will generate an internal compiler error and
will display a hex number.
This was reported to MWC and they said it would be fixed.
- the rindex() library routine does not return a NULL is a
NULL string is passed to it. pm@case spent many hours tracking down
a bug caused by this.
char *s, *t;
extern char *rindex();
s = "";
t = rindex(s,'<any chararacter>');
returns s, and not (char *)NULL;
The printf bug you describe above is not a bug, as standard i/o streams
(except perhaps stderr, depending on who you talk to) are buffered.
These buffers are flushed only when they are full, or when and end
of line is written, or when they are closed. If you need to flush a
stream, use the fflush() call.
Now i wish MW would lift the silly 32k limits on the static data structures.
Other than the minor inconveniences listed above, MW works great
for me.
--
usenet: {decvax,cbatt,cbosgd,sun}!cwruecmp!bammi jwahar r. bammi
csnet: bammi@case
arpa: bammi%case@csnet-relay
compuServe: 71515,155
------------------------------
Date: 8 May 87 18:58:39 GMT
From: ptsfa!hoptoad!academ!killer!pollux!bobkat!m5d@ames.arpa (Mike McNally )
Subject: Re: Megamax inline assembly woes
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
In article <8705030519.AA18707@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> KIMMEL@ecs.umass.EDU (Matt Kimmel) writes:
>
>movem.l d0-d7/a0-a6,-(sp)
>movem.l (sp)+,d0-d7/a0-a6
>
>-Matt Kimmel
Register names have to be in upper case. Also, SP is not defined --
use A6.
--
Mike McNally, mercifully employed at Digital Lynx ---
Where Plano Road the Mighty Flood of Forest Lane doth meet,
And Garland fair, whose perfumed air flows soft about my feet...
uucp: {texsun,killer,infotel}!pollux!bobkat!m5d (214) 238-7474
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 10 May 87 14:03:49 PDT
From: <UACE0%UHUPVM1.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
To: INFO-ATARI16@score.stanford.edu
Subject: Dallas Atarifest (warning: LONG)
Received: by UHUPVM1 (Mailer X1.23b) id 9349; Sun, 10 May 87 15:23:29 CDT
Date: Sun, 10 May 87 14:17:56 CDT
From: "University (of Houston) ACE (UACE)" <UACE0@UHUPVM1>
Subject: Dallas Atarifest (warning: LONG)
To: ST Users <INFO-ATARI16@score.stanford.EDU>
Well, I just got back from the AtariFest (actually last night) and I must say
that I was impressed by some sights. So, here is a *BRIEF* account of some
of the STuff.
The biggest display at the AtariFest, besides Atari themselves, was the Hybrid
Arts booths. They had 8 STs coupled via the MIDI and each was playing the
MIDI Maze game, which allows up to 16 different STs to play against each other
in a 'maze war' where the object is to 'Kill A Happy Face!' I was particularly
impressed by the synthesizers, video players, CD players, etc. that was being
used in conjunction with the ST. Unfortunately, the representative of the
company had wiped out his hard disk early in the week in Austin, and the demo
was not as effective or complete as it could have been. Non-the-less, the
MIDI software they had was excellent, and I believe this company is definitely
the ultimate source of MIDI knowledge. I had not taken MIDI too seriously up
till then, but I could see that they sure did!
Other companies present were Beckemeyer, Megamax, ICD (8-bit), Astra Systems,
Sub-logic, Word Perfect, Analog and Antic, plus others.
Beckmeyer had some very interesting STuff promised, a UNIX OS, I believe.
Megamax said that Version 2.0 would ship in 6 weeks - 2 months (sure, sure).
ICD had some 8-bit upgrade stuff.
Astra Systems was showing off their 20 meg disk drive with built in DS floppy.
This set up retails for about $999, but can be found for less. The drive
really impressed me. It was running since the show started Friday, and was not
warm at all, but just room temperature. Also, they were taking the drive and
while the demo was running, held the drive sideways, upside down, every way
it could go, with no problems (don't try that with your drive!). In fact, the
demo was moving so fast (and was composed of several hundred pictuires run
together to produce animation) that I thought it was running from a ramdisk,
not from the drive. A friend commented that the light on the front of the
drive never turned off, so was probably rigged and running from the ramdisk.
I asked for them to disconnect the drive from the ST, and sure enough, the
light went out, and the demo stopped. So.... Although the price seems steep,
I have to give this drive a four star rating (at least for the demo). They
are very proud of their drives, and even stated that the Moody Blues, Pointer
Sisters, and other big bands buy their drive for use with the ST and Hybrid
Arts software. Clearly two companies made for each other...
Sub-logic was showing flight simulator, and had some brochures. ho-hum.
Word Perfect was busy showing off their word processor Word Perfect. I got
a complete demo of the product (which wasn't even a beta version, 'It was
thrown together for the show.') I played around with it myself, and I
can honestly say that it beats anything available in the states right now.
However, there were some annoyances in the program which I didn't care for.
The program (being a port from the MS-DOS world) is basically designed to be
used from the keyboard, and is indeed strongest if used in this way. The
mouse response, on the other hand, was slow and awkward feeling. I didn't
care for the slow response. Nice points: you can hit 'Y', 'N', or 'C' keys
for dialog boxes requiring yes, no or cancel responses. Plus, all options
are reachable thru keyboard input, not just mouse. This is nice, but seems
to defeat the purpose of the mouse, but does allow maximum flexibility. All in
all, this should be the word processor to get for some time to come.
Analog was there with their magazine, and Lee Pappas (publisher/editor) was
present, manning the booth.
Antic had a lot of their software, and their 3-d glasses. The glasses are neat
to try on, but I question their use. This is a wait and see product.
ATARI - A little about the show, then 'Where we are going.'
The greatest thrill of the Atari display was the presence of Dave Staugas, the
author of NEOchrome. Dave is a truly pleasent and cordial fellow, who really
seemed to enjoy being at the show. He was showing off the one machine that
had the blitter (IT IS FAST!!!). We even got a look inside the 1040ST which
housed the blitter, and got to see the actual chip. The chip (yes one chip)
was piggy-backed to the 68000. That is all. The new OS ROMs offered a choice
from the OPTIONS menubar TITLE, simple called BLITTER. That is how it is
turned on and off. The demo running was the flying bird demo, but with about
5-6 birds. The demo was running faster than ours with one bird! (I have this
demo, and will shortly place it on ATARINET.)
Also, Dave showed us how to get to the animation in NEO v1.0 That is right,
NEO 1.0 has animation built in, but you have to know how to get to it thru
the 'back door.' One note, the animation portion of NEO is NOT complete, but
does work once you get it up. The trick is to select the GRABBER, then go over
to the right side of the screen where the word GRABBER appears, with a blank
box below it. Then, you must place the arrow cursor on the 'R' in GRABBER,
and with one pixel from the R to the left of the arrow, and one pixel above
the arrow, click on the mouse button. If you do this correctly, the icon of
a movie projector will appear, and you are ready to go. (I'll do a screen
dump of the exact placing of the cursor, and place the file on ATARINET).
PLEASE NOTE: The animation is not supported by ATARI, but Dave says that enough
people figured it out themsleves, and others wanted to know about it, so he
broke down and showed it. If you have questions about how to use it, keep it
to yourself. This is not documented, and you gotta figure it out for yourself.
Dave Staugas is now working on the printer drivers for the ATARI laser printer,
and I may post another article which goes into what is being done with the
printer. We spent about a half hour talking about this.
No Mega STs were at the show. Boo-Hoo!!! :-(
Where Atari is going - briefly :-)
MEGA ST - end of June. Only 2 and 4 meg versions. Will have blitter.
Blitter upgrade for 520 and 1040 - September
Laser printer - End of July???? This is up in the air.
TT and EST - your guess is as good as mine. (I think they really have to find
a market for this stuff.)
ATARI PC and MS-DOS box - not until 1988, at the earliest.
8-bit line - new 65xe game machine should be the ticket for ATARI. Has a plug
in keyboard, attachable gun, and SIO port. Basically it is a 65XE
but is redesigned to look like a game machine. The price is $150
and the market is better for them than if they advertise it as a
computer. I agree whole-heartedly!!! Good move Atari. They say
that this money will go towards development of their hi-end
machines, the ST line!!!!
That is it in a big nutshell. More later, as I write about the Atari laser
printer, and what I learned.
- Mike
------------------------------
End of Info-Atari16 Digest
**************************
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