dave@dms3b1.uucp (Dave Hanna) (11/14/90)
In article <1990Nov12.041705.27425@uhura.neoucom.EDU> wtm@uhura.neoucom.EDU (Bill Mayhew) writes: >I had problems with poor serial port performance with the 3.51m >kernel, though I did like the metermaid display and improved screen >blanker being able to be unblanked even with non-typing keys. All >the patches to the other programs seemed backwards compatible to >the standard 3.51 kernel, so I kept those. Speaking of the Metermaid display, I've been intending to ask about it for awhile. I installed the fixdisk about 2 months ago, and like it, although it doesn't seem like a big deal. I like the screen unblanking on any key (e.g., Shift or Control alone). Lenny's post about the features (see Frequently Asked Questions) says that the triple key sequence F6 is supposed to "Toggle" the Metermaid display. Well, on my system, it "Toggles" it on, but it won't Toggle it off. Also, when the screen blanker activates, the metermaid display does not blank. And the triple key-F1 (display status of the triple key function keys) never goes away, i.e., once you hit triplekey-F1, that display stays there, too. Is this normal behavior, or have I screwed something up, and if so, any idea what? Also, can someone give me the file name of the metermaid info file at osu? I can't find it in my [admittedly old] listing of the files there. (The display is cute, but it would be nice to know what it meant!) >==Bill== > > >-- >Bill Mayhew NEOUCOM Computer Services Department >Rootstown, OH 44272-9995 USA phone: 216-325-2511 >wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu ....!uunet!aablue!neoucom!wtm >via internet: (140.220.001.001) -- Dave Hanna, Infotouch Systems, Inc. | "Do or do not -- There is no try" P.O. Box 584, Bedford, TX 76095 | - Yoda (214) 358-4534 (817) 540-1524 | UUCP: ...!letni!dms3b1!dave |
lenny@icus.ICUS.COM (Lenny Tropiano) (11/19/90)
In article <1990Nov14.125622.10784@dms3b1.uucp> dave@dms3b1.UUCP (Dave Hanna) writes: [...] |>Speaking of the Metermaid display, I've been intending to ask about |>it for awhile. I installed the fixdisk about 2 months ago, and |>like it, although it doesn't seem like a big deal. I like the screen |>unblanking on any key (e.g., Shift or Control alone). |> |>Lenny's post about the features (see Frequently Asked Questions) |>says that the triple key sequence F6 is supposed to "Toggle" the [...] |>(display status of the triple key function keys) never goes away, |>i.e., once you hit triplekey-F1, that display stays there, too. |>Is this normal behavior, or have I screwed something up, and |>if so, any idea what? Since metermaid writes directly to screen memory practically on the 60th/sec, bypassing all the other video controls, the screen blanking will not affect the blanking. You can toggle it off doing a Left-Cntrl-Shift-F6 and then typing "windy" (if you have that) or just press "Shift-Suspd" like I do, and that will clear out that area. |>Also, can someone give me the file name of the metermaid info |>file at osu? I can't find it in my [admittedly old] listing [...] Well the file is call... FD2.info.Z (FIXDISK 2 info -- a shar file containing the metermaid description I posted -- which is short enough for me to repost here...) |>From: lenny@icus.islp.ny.us (Lenny Tropiano) |Newsgroups: unix-pc.general,comp.sys.att |Subject: What is "metermaid" and how did it get there?! |Keywords: metermaid, 3.51m kernel |Message-ID: <1075@icus.islp.ny.us> |Date: 30 Jan 90 03:37:41 GMT |Organization: ICUS Software Systems, Islip, New York |Lines: 59 |Xref: icus unix-pc.general:6034 comp.sys.att:8409 Metermaid(tm) of the Pond wanderer from AT&T. What is it? ----------- Well it's a real-time graph of system resources and CPU states (from struct sysinfo ...) How did it get there, and why? ------------------------------ It got there from the twisted mind of a kernel hacker at AT&T (no offense...) Basically it was put there to satify some problems when us "beta" testers were trying to figure out where the "clists" were disappearing to. It was basically a quick-instant reference to the availability of system resources, among those the # clist buffers available. History?! --------- metermaid in it's earliest form, appeared in one of the beta kernels (3.51dA, maybe earlier?) It moved from it's first home, where the smgr displays the time, to the last lines (SLK lines) in subsequent beta-kernel releases, to it's current home, the least obtrusive -- to the left of the [working] icon. metermaid was basically a one 3 bar meter, until it grew, and grew, and grew. And now there exists the 3 bar representation of the metermaid in 3.51m (also in 3.51dG1 beta) Note: metermaid activity lines will not blank with the normal blanking process of the window driver since it is writing directly to video RAM. What are these "cutsy" lines telling me? ---------------------------------------- Left Column Center Column Right Column ============================================================================= Miscellaneous info CPU usage /--- WAIT states/Parallel Port / % of serial buffers avail. % CPU_IDLE / % W_IO (BIO) % of clists buffers avail. % CPU_USER / % W_SWAP % of RAM pages avail. % CPU_KERNEL / % W_PIO (Physical I/O) % CPU_WAIT ---/ Busy : Selcted : Ppr Out : NoError Legend: Center column sums to 100% Last line in the 3 column is the parallel port information. (BOLD line = ON DIM line = OFF) If Paper Out (Ppr Out) and NoError is ON, printer is disconnected. Center and Right Columns are system standard data [per <sys/sysinfo.h>] -- | Lenny Tropiano ICUS Software Systems lenny@icus.ICUS.COM | | ...!{ames,cs.utexas.edu,pacbell}!icus!lenny attmail!icus!lenny | +---------------- 14300 Tandem Blvd #222, Austin, TX 78728 -----------------+