nms@cbnewsh.att.com (n.m.scribner) (12/14/90)
I have been trying to download some c64 utilities from the anonymous FTP sites, and have some simple questions about the use and dissection of archived programs. The questions pertain to *.arc *.lnx and *.sda files. I have been using FTP to move the files to a local UNIX host, and then using XMODEM to download them. 1. Do all these archive type files need to be FTP'd in Binary mode, or will ASCII work fine? 2. Do regular, non-archived c64 programs need to be FTP'd in Binary mode. 3. What is the archive program associated with each of the three types? I figured out that a program called "lynx9" is supposed to be used with *.lnx, but don't know about *.arc. I speculated that *.arc files are self-defining or self-dissolving in the sense that when loaded and run on a c64, they will expand the archive. What's the real story? 4. Are there any special instructions needed for downloading or loading or running the various archives and programs on the c64? Thanks for any advice. Neal Scribner (nms@homxb.att.com)
MORRISON%ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu@ncsuvm.ncsu.edu (Aaron) (12/14/90)
In article <1990Dec13.224253.12999@cbnewsh.att.com>, nms@cbnewsh.att.com (n.m.scribner) says: > >I have been trying to download some c64 utilities from >the anonymous FTP sites, and have some simple questions >about the use and dissection of archived programs. >The questions pertain to *.arc *.lnx and *.sda files. > >1. Do all these archive type files need to be FTP'd >in Binary mode, or will ASCII work fine? > Use Binary on *all* program files, Commodore or not. >2. Do regular, non-archived c64 programs need to be >FTP'd in Binary mode. > See answer to #1 >3. What is the archive program associated with each of >the three types? I figured out that a program called "lynx9" >is supposed to be used with *.lnx, but don't know about *.arc. >I speculated that *.arc files are self-defining or self-dissolving >in the sense that when loaded and run on a c64, they will >expand the archive. What's the real story? *.lnx Lynx files (think of "links" 'cuz that's what it does) *.arc Archive files - compresses the files: works much like PKARC etc for MS-DOS machines *.ark Similar to *.arc only uses a completely different program. *.sda Self-Dissolving Archive - file is compressed in an *.arc format and a small ML program is tacked on the beginning to dissolve it when loaded and runned. *.sfx SelF-eXtracting LHARC. Variation on a theme. compressed in the LHARC format, dissolved when runned. ARC 's are created/dissolved by a program called uniquely "arc". there are different versions out - the latest I've seen is 2.50, the most popular is 2.30. There is also a 128 version (ARC128 v2.41) that is very nice. The *.sda files are small programs (around 4 blocks) that the archive is added to. Look for the SDAx.xx variety (or the like) for these files. These also come in multi computer varieties (seen 64, 128, Pet, and +4 versions. Lynx can be dissolved by Lynx ix and possibly ARKIVE (I dont remember) The *.sfx files - I havent got a working version of this thing yet. {I think I forgot to set the FTP to binart :-) } > >4. Are there any special instructions needed for downloading or >loading or running the various archives and programs on the c64? > >Thanks for any advice. >Neal Scribner (nms@homxb.att.com) Not really. Most are self explanatory. - Aaron :) MO
bhelf@athena.mit.edu (Bill Helfinstine) (12/15/90)
In article <1990Dec13.224253.12999@cbnewsh.att.com> nms@cbnewsh.att.com (n.m.scribner) writes: >I have been trying to download some c64 utilities from >the anonymous FTP sites, and have some simple questions >about the use and dissection of archived programs. >The questions pertain to *.arc *.lnx and *.sda files. >I have been using FTP to move the files to a local UNIX host, >and then using XMODEM to download them. > >1. Do all these archive type files need to be FTP'd >in Binary mode, or will ASCII work fine? You need to use binary, or some information will be lost (the high bit) >2. Do regular, non-archived c64 programs need to be >FTP'd in Binary mode. Programs, yes. ASCII is just for text files. >3. What is the archive program associated with each of >the three types? I figured out that a program called "lynx9" >is supposed to be used with *.lnx, but don't know about *.arc. >I speculated that *.arc files are self-defining or self-dissolving >in the sense that when loaded and run on a c64, they will >expand the archive. What's the real story? Lynx is a very fast, very machine-specific linker program. It will only run with 64s and 1541s. There are many versions of this program, and they all seem to be incompatible with each other. It also doesn't actually reduce the size of the files, just puts them all in one file. .arc files are produced by a program called archive, which is my personal favorite. It crunches the files down until they take up less than half the space they originally did (usually) and links them all together. It is slower than Lynx, but much better from a telecommunicating point of view. .sda programs are .arc files with a de-archiver appended to the front, so they will self-dissolve. There are some other archivers around, such as library, but .arc, .lnx, and .sda are the most common. A new one that is showing up is .sfx, which is similar to .sda, but works on both 64s and 128s. >4. Are there any special instructions needed for downloading or >loading or running the various archives and programs on the c64? Just use arc250 to dearchive files and various versions of lynx to delynx files. Also, if you are a Q-Link user, check out a program called Omega-Q, which dearchives many different compacted files. Bill Helfinstine bhelf@athena.mit.edu
CMWOLF@MTUS5.BITNET (12/16/90)
If it possible to get this OMEGA-Q from Q-link posted on some FTP site? (C)
dcarpent@hydra.unm.edu (Daniel E Carpenter SOCIOL) (12/17/90)
In article <90349.131643CMWOLF@MTUS5.BITNET> CMWOLF@MTUS5.BITNET writes: >If it possible to get this OMEGA-Q from Q-link posted on some FTP >site? QLink has a copyright on Omega-Q and is not available for distribution. Dan Carpenter Galaxy Telecomm
digdon@ug.cs.dal.ca (Mike Digdon) (12/19/90)
Actually, another new one just coming around is SDL (self-dissolving lynx) and another popular one is the zip format (files with 1!, 2!, etc in front of the name) This is good for sending disks with strange directories, or weird tracks... it copies the whole thing, compacts it and there you are.. it is usually pretty fast too.. -- +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + Mike Digdon: digdon@ug.cs.dal.ca + My 64 can still get the + + mike@ac.dal.ca + job at hand completed!! + +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
cs4344af@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Fuzzy Fox) (12/20/90)
In article <1990Dec13.224253.12999@cbnewsh.att.com> nms@cbnewsh.att.com (n.m.scribner) writes: >I have been trying to download some c64 utilities from >the anonymous FTP sites, and have some simple questions >about the use and dissection of archived programs. >1. Do all these archive type files need to be FTP'd >in Binary mode, or will ASCII work fine? The only files that should ever be FTP'd in ASCII mode are pure text-only files. Any type of PROGRAM file or archived file of any kind (essentially, any non-text file) should be FTP'd in BINARY mode. >2. Do regular, non-archived c64 programs need to be >FTP'd in Binary mode. Yes, see above. >3. What is the archive program associated with each of >the three types? I figured out that a program called "lynx9" >is supposed to be used with *.lnx, but don't know about *.arc. >I speculated that *.arc files are self-defining or self-dissolving >in the sense that when loaded and run on a c64, they will >expand the archive. What's the real story? If you see a program or sequential file named *.lnx, you need one of the many versions of Lynx in order to extract the archive. Lynx is not a very good way to archive files, because it does NO COMPRESSION AT ALL. The only thing going in Lynx's favor is that it is rather fast, but shorter download times and disk storage requirements are better than speed, when downloading. If you see a program called *.sda, this is a self-dissolving archive that you simply LOAD and RUN in order to extract. Beware, though, if the program is a C128 program, you might have a C128 SDA, which must be run in C128 mode in order to work properly. Most files run in C64 mode, including many C128 programs. If you see a file called *.arc, you will need a de-archiving program to extract the files. For C64 mode, you should use ARC230. For C128 mode, use ARC128 from CS-DOS. ARC230 is a bit buggy, in my opinion, so if you have a C128, use CS-DOS. If you see a set of files called 1!*, 2!*, 3!*, and 4!*, these files have been Zip-Coded, and you will need the Zip-Code program in order to extract the archive. Zip-Code archives are special, in that an entire disk has been archived in the four files. The disk that you unZip onto is erased and replaced with the contents of the archive. There is a new archive format appearing known as *.sfx. This is the latest self-extracting archive from CS-DOS, and can be run in either C64 or C128 mode, and lets you write to the disk and drive you specify. The compression ratios are better, but it takes a C128 to create such an archive. >4. Are there any special instructions needed for downloading or >loading or running the various archives and programs on the c64? Oops, I already answerd this one. :) As for downloading, ALWAYS FTP in BINARY mode, unless you are extracting a text file, such as *.doc. -- begin 644 .signature G5&AI<R!S<&%C92!I;G1E;G1I;VYA;&QY(&QE9G0@8FQA;FLN#0H: end
CMWOLF@MTUS5.BITNET (12/20/90)
Isn't it true that library (.lbr ?) should be done in ASCII mode? (C)
an207@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (David DeSimone) (12/20/90)
In a previous article, CMWOLF@MTUS5.BITNET writes: >Isn't it true that library (.lbr ?) should be done in ASCII mode? Nope, .LBR files are binary, just like every other archived file out there. Unfortunately, .LBR files are not compressed, so there is absolutely no reason to use them. ARC is just as fast, and usually compresses to 50-70% of the original size, so you should always use ARC. -- begin 644 .signature G5&AI<R!S<&%C92!I;G1E;G1I;VYA;&QY(&QE9G0@8FQA;FLN#0H: end