Info-Atari16@SCORE.STANFORD.EDU (Info-Atari16 Digest) (11/27/86)
Info-Atari16 Digest Wednesday, November 26, 1986 Volume 86 : Issue 23
This weeks Editor: Bill Westfield
Today's Topics:
Too many disk swaps required!
ROM upgrades?
Device Drivers (VDI)
GDOS distribution
Development Docs?
HabaCom and Kermit Send
Public Domain Midi Software (attn: Pixar)
38 folder limit
Re: Downloading problems & software req
Gkermit request
file transfers
Printer driver for Smith Corona
Problems with the "breakout" da I posted
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 86 22:16:33 est
From: Eric Terrell <terrell@ohio-state.ARPA>
To: info-atari16@su-score.arpa
Subject: Too many disk swaps required!
I don't know why such a remarkable number of swaps is required to transfer
small files. Fewer swaps are necessary to copy an entire disk than a small
file. This could be due to poor design, or could have been done to
encourage sales of disk drives.
Probably the best way to cope with the problem is to purchase another
drive. Drives are going for $100 and $200, respectively for single
and double sided drives through mail order.
A ram disk can solve some of the problems. If you have such a program
you could copy a file into the ram disk, change (physical) disks, and
copy the file in the ram disk into the (physical) disk. This will require
only one swap. Ram disks abound in the public domain.
Terrell
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Date: 26 Nov 86 01:43:12 GMT
From: husc6!husc2!grunau@eddie.mit.edu (grunau)
Subject: ROM upgrades?
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
Ok, let's see if we can get some information here we can really sink our
teeth into:
I keep hearing, from what are, not doubt -- and by no fault of their own --
probably unreliable sources, about new ROM upgrades from Atari that will
address various bugs (and undesirable "features"). Is there anybody out
there with some authority to speak on the subject who is willing to comment
on these rumours?
Concretely, I am interested in whether Atari is planning to distribute ROMs
that
-- will allow booting of the system from a hard disk
(i.e. if you don't have a disk in drive A:, you will
actually be able to use your hard disk anyway, and
you will be able to put an AUTO folder in your HD)
-- will eliminate the ridiculous limit on 40 "folders" (i.e.
devices, directories, and subdirectories) total (!)
-- will remove various bugs, such as the creation of multiple
files w/ the same name, etc.
I am also curious as to whether such upgrades will be free (as they should
be, shouldn't they? or am I being naive), or if not, what their cost would
be.
I understand that the blitter upgrade will include new ROMs: are these
going to be debugged? If so, will it be possible to acquire enhanced ROMs
WITHOUT going all the way for the blitter upgrade?
JJMG
Harvard Grad. School
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 86 22:33:11 GMT
To: info-atari16@su-score.ARPA
From: K538915%CZHRZU1A.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Return-Receipt-To: K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET
Subject: Device Drivers (VDI)
Has anybody got any info on how to write VDI device drivers? I spent a larger
part of this afternoon browsing thru what our local shop has got of the dev-
pac, but I couldn't find anything there.
Simon Poole
K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET
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Date: 26 Nov 86 01:51:17 GMT
From: yale!husc6!husc2!grunau@nyu.arpa (grunau)
Subject: GDOS distribution
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
Ok, once again, there are a lot of apocryphal rumours going around, and a lot
of conflicting information from Atari itself. Is there anybody out there w/
any authority to comment on the following inquiry:
Will GDOS be distributed to non-developers at any time in the near future, and
if so, at what sort of cost? There are those who speak of GDOS as a "missing"
part of GEM, or something that was "supposed to have been included" in GEM from
the beginning: this would imply that it should (eventually, when fully
debugged, of course) be distributed without charge: I seem to sense that
this is unlikely.
On Neil Harris's earlier comments, I am willing to accept that GDOS is
currently available to developers: however, contrary to what he claimed,
when I phoned Atari on Mr. Harris's information that any developer, not
only those who have purchased Atari's developer's kit, can be registered
with Atari, I was told (1) that this was not so, but that I had to buy
the full kit, Alcyon C included, and (2) that currently GDOS is only being
distributed to large, institutional developers, anyway: not to just any
person in off the street who got the developers kit, even. This confuses
me. Is there any more up-to-date information available?
JJMG
Harvard Grad. School
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Date: 26 Nov 86 01:57:36 GMT
From: yale!husc6!husc2!grunau@nyu.arpa (grunau)
Subject: Development Docs?
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
One last, related question for this evening: is anybody willing to
give advice on choosing between the currently available developer's
documentation? I am not attempting to resuscitate the endless
squabbling on what compiler to buy, but more importantly on whether it
is advisable to go with Atari's own documentation (which I presume can
only be purchased with Alcyon C, which I have not heard good things
about), or whether independent vendors' documentation is just as
complete, which I doubt.
And, if the independents' stuff is ok, then which does one choose
from? Abacus has a whole complement of things, but Compute! has a
number of things out, as well, and it is not at all clear how much
they overlap. Also I hear about things like "The Hitchikers Guide to
BIOS"; is this part of the Atari kit?
Lastly, the Atari kit includes in addition to the
compiler/linker/assembler/ editor business, a number of utilities
(resource editor, etc.) -- are equivalents to these available for
people who go the non-Atari way? Basically, I want to know if it is a
good risk to avoid the Atari development kit, for so long at least as
their compiler continues to get bad reviews.
(on another note, is there anybody from Atari who might have a guess
as to whether the developers kit may change in constitution in future:
i.e. whether it will be possible to buy a portion of it (docs only, or
docs + utils), or some such more flexible arrangement?)
thanks,
JJMG
Harvard Grad. School
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 86 01:40:55 est
From: Eric Terrell <terrell@ohio-state.ARPA>
To: info-atari16@su-score.arpa
Subject: HabaCom and Kermit Send
I think that I've finally figured out what the problem is with
HabaCom and sending files from my computer to another.
The Kermit protocol includes optional file compression. The compression
can be handled by using repeat characters. A repeat character is a
special character that signals that other characters following the repeat
character should be repeated a
certain number of times. In the line above, for example, if repeat characters
were used in front of space characters, fewer characters would need to be
transmitted.
Since repeat characters are optional, they are only used if both nodes
agree. The VAX I try to send files to is willing to do this, and I
think that HabaCom tells the VAX that it too is willing to use repeat
characters (the ~ character is the repeat character). However, it
seems that after HabaCom has agreed that ~ is the repeat character, it
seems to forget about this when the file is actually transferred.
During the transfer, ~s seem to get sent literally, and so if a file
happens to have some ~s it it (and most binary files will), they are
sent unaltered to the VAX, which considers them as repeat characters,
and repeats the character(s) following them.
So when a binary file is transferred that happens to have ~s in it, the
file saved on the VAX has a few more characters than it should.
This problem is really obvious when a text file containing ~s is sent.
In this case one can see the characters following the ~s in the
original file getting repeated in the file on the VAX.
Since the use of repeat characters is performed if both Kermits agree,
there is no way to enable or disable this in HabaCom or C-Kermit on
the VAX. I hope that this is fixed in the next version, but since my
impressions of the current version are rather negative, I don't know
whether I'd buy the next version unless all the problems were fixed.
Once again, if anyone knows how to aviod this problem, I would like to
hear from them!
Terrell
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Date: 25 Nov 86 15:13:02 GMT
From: mimsy!aplcen!jhunix!ins_adjb@seismo.css.gov (Daniel Jay Barrett)
Subject: Public Domain Midi Software (attn: Pixar)
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
To the person who responded to my request for public domain MIDI
software, from "Pixar" in Marin County, CA:
Your return address got munched somewhere. Could you please
re-send me
1) Your return (e-mail) address? (Please explicitly write it at
the end of your letter)
2) Your US Mail address (so I can send you the SASE and floppy)?
3) Whether your program was for the Amiga or the ST??
Thanks!
-- Dan
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Date: 25 Nov 86 17:47:12 GMT
From: mcvax!philmds!duvel!frans@seismo.css.gov (Frans Meulenbroeks)
Subject: 38 folder limit
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
Hi,
Just having a 1040 (yes, they are delivering now) and being a little
bored, I decided to check whether the famous 40 folder limit also
applies to floppies.
I did the following:
Create a bunch of (partially nested) folders.
diskinfo tells I have 38 folders.
Create three new folders.
diskinfo still tells I have 38 folders.
Delete a folder (to trash)
Still 38 folders left. Repetitive
Deleted another folder. Got an error message, that the selected folder
cannot be found in the admin. All icons in the window disappear.
close the window
reopen the disk : All icons are back in town.
Ah... the problem seems repetitive.
Try to open the faulty folder: works fine!
Close the faulty folder and delete it: Hey it works!
Is there any explanation for this behaviour which can be expressed by
words other than BUG etc.??
Or is this just a beginners problem (don't yell too loud)?
--
Frans Meulenbroeks
Philips Distributed Realtime Multiprocessor System
uucp: for the time being: philmds!frans
sometime in the future: phildr2!frans
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Date: 24 Nov 86 21:49:00 GMT
From: ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!franco@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Re: Downloading problems & software req
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
I think your best bet for the moment is to send for the STarter Kit.
As was mentioned in a recent posting this contains lots of utilities
plus a development system (in FORTH) plus HACK. For a copy send
five disks formatted single sided, SASE, packing material to
John Franco
2535 Spicewood Lane
Bloomington, IN 47401
USA
Since you (and all others on the net) are such a nice guy I will copy
uniterm etc. if you request that stuff instead of HACK.
Mailing from Europe? send $3.00 in U.S. postal coupons
Mailing from Canada? send $1.50 in U.S. postal coupons
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 86 19:07:44 EST
From: Terry Conklin <conklin%cps.mich-state.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
To: info-atari16@SU-SCORE.ARPA
This is somewhat in reply to Jan Frajkor's request for net files to be
downloadable or for some means for him to get them.
Some time ago, I offered to host any net files in binary and source on
the Club II BBS in Detroit, which I operate. For a while, it picked it
very well, and we had a fairly consistent copy of everything that was
being discussed on the net. Coupled with the several hundred other ST
files we had online, it worked failry well, plus being a Fido is supports
every worthwhile transfer protocol known to man.
But in the last month month and a half, the net mail has eluded it. My local
system manager there notes that while national and international ST usage
has remained steady, the number of ST uploads has dropped sharply. Since I
just recently got the facilities to return to the net, it seems "all of the
sudden" that there really is a vivid ST public domain directory out there.
We'll try and get a copy of all the recent netmail online for anyone who
can't get the software off the net, but it is helpful if people could
deposit it directly. We strongly reccommend source code and docs accompany
all software.
The number is US (313) 334-8877. 300/1200. 2400 access is still under
examanation as a viable investement for the number of 2400 users.
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Date: 25 Nov 86 16:07:34 GMT
From: decvax!mcnc!ravi@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Ravi Subrahmanyan)
Subject: Gkermit request
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
I'd like to collectively thank all the people who responded to my
request for Gem-kermit. For the people who asked me to send them
copies, please send mail to me again, and let me know if you can
accept ARCed files. Thanks again folks,
-ravi
{ucbvax, decvax, ihnp4, seismo}!mcnc!ravi
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 86 06:49:34 cst
From: moore@ncsc.ARPA (Moore)
To: rutgers\!husc6\!husc2\!grunau@titan.arc.nasa.gov
Subject: file transfers
Justin, you still must buy (or download somehow) a communications program that
has binary file transfer capability. I'm in about the same situation you are:
occasionally (!) I download stuff from Atari Base or the Tanj or whatever onto
my IBM PC using an Xmodem xfer program, then upload it to our host VAX using
Kermit (MS-KERMIT, that is), then download it from the VAX to my ST using
Uniterm (yea!!!) and Bmodem, a small (you guessed it) Xmodem module. If you're
interested, and you can't find anyone closer, drop me a note (and a disk) and
I'll USmail you Uniterm and Bmodem.
Jim
Moore@NCSC.arpa
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Date: 26 Nov 86 19:09:48 GMT
From: zen!zooey.Berkeley.EDU!c160-fk@cad.Berkeley.EDU (Duy Le)
Subject: Printer driver for Smith Corona
To: info-atari16@score.stanford.edu
Hello to all ST owners,
I currently have a Smith Corona fastext 80. Can anyone show me how to
configure my printer so that it works at least for 1st_word?
Thanks in advance.
Duy
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Date: Wed, 26 Nov 86 16:42:24 est
From: Eric Terrell <terrell@ohio-state.ARPA>
To: info-atari16@su-score.arpa
Subject: Problems with the "breakout" da I posted
There is a problem with the breakout desk accessory that I posted to
the net a couple of days ago. It has been known to lock up the system
(requiring a reset) when it is played.
SO if you are working with another program (e.g. a word processor) and
take a break to play the game, be sure to save your work before you
start the game.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Terrell
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End of Info-Atari16 Digest
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