Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Info-IBMPC Digest") (06/26/91)
Info-IBMPC Digest Tue, 25 Jun 91 Volume 91 : Issue 163
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <GHICKS@WSMR-Simtel20.Army.Mil>
Today's Topics:
bitftp (V91, #146)
DOS 5.0 (2 msgs)
IDE Drive Assistance needed (V91 #143)
List of Recommended PC (DOS) Archive Sites Accessible Via FTP
Parallel Ports revisited
PC help utility
Synchronising DOS time with chip time or Date rollover at midnight
Differences between 360K and 1.2m diskettes
Today's Queries:
Apple LaserWriter
changing drive boot order
DMA#2 ERROR - a new DMAC needed ???
Memory Parity Error
latex
Problem with Fractint 16.0
Professional Editor?
Help with AIX Requested
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 16:30 MET
From: KAI ROHRBACHER <S_ROHRBACHER%irav1.ira.uka.de@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: bitftp (V91, #146)
In (V91, #146) Adriano Santoni <SANTONI@IMIMNVX.IRFMN.MNEGRI.IT>
wrote:
>Hello, there! I used to download SIMTEL20 software through BITFTP, the
>one in Princeton, I mean. Now, BITFTP@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU says that it
>cannot forward files to this area anymore, due to some kind of network
>problem or change. Does anybody know what other similar system exist
>(if any) that can be used from this area (northern Italy).
If you are a BITNET node, BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET (sometimes...) works; for
the rest of us, there is a similiar mailserver reachable at
ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
For further details, send a mail with the subject/contents HELP to this
address!
Bye,
Kai
|Kai Rohrbacher, University Karlsruhe/Germany|God is dead! - Nietzsche |
|E-Mail: S_ROHRBACHER@IRAVCL.IRA.UKA.DE |Nietzsche is dead! - God |
| UKB8@DKAUNI2.BITNET |Nietzsche is God! - Dead |
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 08:26:11 EST
From: Uhrmacher Mark <Uhrmacher_Mark@Bethesda.BAH.pc.niaid.nih.gov>
Subject: DOS 5.0
On the subject of upgrading, how does this version tell what you have?
Will it work from PC-DOS? I'm currently running PC-DOS 3.3 and would
like to upgrade as long as DOS 5.0 doesn't freak.
(|)ark
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1991 10:01 -0500
From: PDCHAPIN%AMHERST.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: DOS 5.0 Upgrade
With all the upgrade talk, people should be warned about a documented
gotcha that they might have missed. According to the documentation,
once 5.0 is loaded, booting the system with an older version of DOS may
seriously mess with your hard disk. We found this idea so incredible
that we had just about convinced ourselves that they meant an earlier
setup disk, but a quick call to Microsoft confirmed the documentation.
ANY boot disk can, under unspecified conditions, have very bad, but
unspecified, results.
Who cares? you might well ask. How about those of us who have to support
a lot of naive users. Since 5.0 is going to be bundled with the machines
our students buy, we are going to have users out there with a variety of
of DOS versions.
Take the following situation. A novice user with 3.3 wants to transfer
a file to another student. He loads it on a disk, which happens to be
bootable. He goes to the other students machine, puts in his disk and
starts the machine up. ("It always worked before!").
I also know of people who routinely use a bootable disk to when they
use backup and restore to transfer large amounts of material. Since
backup and restore are version sensitive, using a bootable disk with
the programs on them makes the transfer easy. Under 5.0 it could make
it dangerous.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 08:14:26 EDT
From: Mahesh Jayaraman <ST102071@brownvm.brown.edu>
Subject: IDE Drive Assistance needed (V91 #143)
What You Need to do about your IDE Drive is to choose any drive type
near 210 megabytes - the drive will automatically configure itself
(even if your BIOS type has 17 sectors only). In addition, you should
NOT low-level format IDE drives unless absolutely, since they come
pre-formatted. The suggestion is as follows: find a bios type near
210 or create your own type and then re-fdisk and format the drive with
DOS (or OS/2 or XENIX) You get the point!!!
Be sure to backup your data since it will fly out the window otherwise
:)
If You do need to do a low level format, get DM 4.1, just for IDE
drives.
Good Luck
------------------------------
Date: 19 Jun 91 23:06:12 GMT
From: noring@netcom.COM (Jon Noring)
Subject: List of Recommended PC (DOS) Archive Sites Accessible Via FTP
Comment: Forwarded by Keith Petersen
(Revision of 19-June-1991)
List of Recommended PC (DOS) Archive Sites Accessible via Anonymous FTP
A huge amount of Shareware and Public Domain software for the pc-user
is available via anonymous ftp from many sites in the world. For the
average user, it is a very time-consuming task to access the sites
known to archive pc software and related information, and to sort and
sift through them looking for what he/she wants. A list of a few
recommended archive sites would help most pc-users focus their software
search strategy thus saving them time with the added benefit of
reducing network load.
The following list presents the recommended sites for various broad
categories of interest to the pc (dos) user. My criteria for including
an archive site in this list are:
1) The archive site should be actively maintained and new files
added in a timely manner.
2) The site should archive a fairly complete selection of all the
currently available software in the categories it specializes in.
3) The site should have a clearly understandable directory
structure with downloadable file indexes containing complete file
descriptions.
4) The site should be accessible most of the time (i.e., high
reliability). In addition, it should not be geographically restricted
(some sites do not want overseas access).
5) File access and dowloading should be reasonably fast.
I will strive to keep the total number of sites included in this list
down to a minimum based on the above criteria. I will, however, try to
include enough alternate sites so that if one site is down for whatever
reason, the pc-user can ftp to an alternate site. Obviously there will
be some give and take as this list develops over time.
If the pc-user cannot find what they're looking for at these sites,
they can always access the complete ftp site list at pilot.njin.net
[128.6.18.38] or access archie at quiche.cs.mcgill.ca [132.206.2.3]
(telnet to this site and enter 'archie' as the username and follow the
instructions). Of course, you can always issue a plea to Usenet if you
are really desperate.
Final Note: Pc-users should start their search close to home before
going overseas. Most of the files that you need are right in your own
backyard.
GENERAL PC (DOS) ARCHIVE SITES
wuarchive.wustl.edu A mirror to several archives, including Simtel,
[128.252.135.4] PC-BLUE, and comp.binaries.ibm.pc. It also has an
extensive GIF library, and archives some games. Overall, this site is
the best in North America with regards to access, completeness,
indexing, and downloading speed. A real class archive.
garbo.uwasa.fi One of the well-known Finnish sites. Like
[128.214.12.37] wuarchive, Garbo has an excellent selection,
including Windows 3.0 files. It is also a world-class archive.
vega.hut.fi Another Finnish archive. It has a good selection
[130.233.200.42] of files in most categories.
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil The well-known Simtel archive. It also includes
[192.88.110.20] the PC-Blue collection. Unfortunately, it is
difficult to access because of equipment limitations and it is usually
slow. I only include it here since leaving it out would raise a lot of
eyebrows. It is best to access one of it's mirrors such as
wuarchive.wustl.edu before trying to connect to this site.
msdos.archive.umich.edu An up and coming archive, which has a good
[141.211.165.34] selection in many categories, including games and
windows 3.0.
SPECIALIZED APPLICATIONS ARCHIVE SITES
SIMTEL MSDOS MIRRORS
wuarchive.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4
isca01.isca.uiowa.edu 128.255.16.175
nic.funet.fi 128.214.6.100
sol.deakin.edu.au 128.184.1.1
CHYDE (GARBO) MIRRORS
sol.deakin.edu.au 128.184.1.1
PC-SIG COLLECTION
ksuvm.ksu.edu 129.130.1.1
ux1.cso.uiuc.edu 128.174.5.59
PC-BLUE COLLECTION
wuarchive.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil 192.88.110.20
EXEC-PC COLLECTION
ux1.cso.uiuc.edu 128.174.5.59 Exec-PC is a BBS that claims to bbe
'the Worlds Largest'.
COMP.BINARIES.IBM.PC ARCHIVE
wuarchive.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4
grape.ecs.clarkson.edu 128.153.28.129 Accessible by modem
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil 192.88.110.20
WINDOWS 3 APPLICATIONS
cica.cica.indiana.edu 129.79.20.22 Specializes in Windows 3
wuarchive.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4
garbo.uwasa.fi 128.214.12.37
GAMES
(I'm still looking for sites that carry a large number of up-to-date
games as found on most public BBS's. Rumor has it that
mars.ee.msstate.edu [130.18.64.3] carries a lot of games, but I can
never seem to connect to it to find out. Most of the sites listed here
do carry some games, but not anywhere near to the extent that is
possible. How about it, is there some site out there that'd like to
take on the challenge of doing this?
GIF FILES
wuarchive.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 Excellent selection with index.
ames.arc.nasa.gov 128.102.18.3 Many space-related GIF files,
very unique.
isca01.isca.uiowa.edu 128.255.16.175
schizo.samsung.com 134.228.1.2
ticsys.tamu.edu 128.194.43.66 Restricted to evening use.
vmd.cso.uiuc.edu 128.174.5.98 Daily weather satellite photos in
directory phil.515.
vmtecmex.cem.itesm.mx 132.254.1.4 Slow access, but does contain a
lot of files, probably duplicated
by wuarchive.wustl.edu. However,
it keeps an updated list of all
the known GIF file archive sites
on the Internet.
zurich.ai.mit.edu 18.26.0.176
(Note on GIF sites: It is NSF policy that no site on their backbone
can keep or maintain any R or X rated GIF's except for valid research
purposes (I know, it's hard to define a pornographic image, but we all
know one when we see it). Please do not recommend to me any
clandestine sites which happen to carry this "forbidden" material - I
will not include them here).
Remember, this is your list, so, please help me update it! If you
maintain a specialized archive of PC software, let me know and I'll
consider including it on this list. subject to the criteria set forth
above.
Corrections, additions, deletions, differences of opinion, flames,
etc., are welcome! I'm especially interested in finding other mirror
sites for SIMTEL, PC-SIG, PC-BLUE, comp.binaries.ibm.pc, and for
commercial BBS collections such as EXEC-PC. And, of course, GAMES!
Thanks for everybody's input so far.
| Jon Noring | noring@netcom.netcom.com
| JKN International | IP : 192.100.81.100
| 754 Catalina Drive | Phone : (415) 294-8153
| Livermore, CA 94550 | V-Mail: (415) 862-1101
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are those of JKN International. I own it.
[This has GOT to be the most truthful 'disclaimer yet! gph]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 10:01:33 EDT
From: Dan Newcombe <STDN%MARIST.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Parallel Ports revisited
I am trying to communicate via the parallel port between two PC's.
Here are the two programs I am using:
For the sending computer:
10 a=asc(input$(1)) 'Get's a character and set's a to it's ASCII.
20 Out &H378,a 'Send the value to the 1st parallel port.
30 Goto 10 'Hmmmmm.....
For the receiving computer:
10 a=inp(&h378) 'Pull the value of the port into A
20 if a<>170 then print chr$(a); 'Print the character if it isn't 170
'which is what the port usually reads.
30 Goto 10
Here's what happens.
When I send a peice of data through, there is no problem...just that
what comes out the other end isn't what I sent through. Any clue as to
why? Anyone have any success with this? Thanks...
-Dan
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 12:31:29 EDT
From: Jean-Serge Gagnon <JSG8A%ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: PC help utility
I don't remerber where, but a couple of issues ago, I saw a mention
about a help utility for PC's. The reason is that I erased the
Info-IBMPC digest.
Could you please remind me of the subdirectory and files that I have to
FTP. I beleive there were two.
[ PD1:<MSDOS.SYSUTL>HELPPC21.ZIP ]
Thanks...
Jean-Serge Gagnon Internet: <JSG8A@ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA>
Bitnet: <JSG8A@UOTTAWA.BITNET>
Specialiste en Equipement Informatique
Hardware Maintenance Specialist
Universite d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
(613) 564-5903 ou/or 7183
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1991 22:55 +0200 (SAST)
From: Alan P Barrett <barrett@Daisy.EE.UND.AC.ZA>
Subject: Synchronising DOS time with chip time (was: Date rollover at midnight)
CARL FUSSELL <CARL@SCUACC.SCU.EDU> says:
> I am running a 386 machine which remains on 24 hours/day (running DOS
> 3.1). Does anyone know of a tsr or other fix that will advance the
> date properly at midnight? It could either advance the DOS date or
> read the CMOS date which is correct.
I wrote a DOS device driver which solves this problem, and now I hardly
ever write a config.sys file that doesn't say DEVICE=CLOCK.DEV. On AT
machines and on XT's with a couple of the popular types of add-on clock
chips, it reads the time from the chip often enough to prevent the DOS
time from drifting far from the chip time, and sets the chip time
whenever you change the DOS time (with the DATE or TIME commands). So
you don't have to run setup or one of those little setclock/getclock
programs all the time. BTW, it fixes the MS-DOS 3.1 date change bug
thet Carl asked about even if you don't have a clock chip.
If there is sufficient interest, I will post clockdev to the net.
(Which newsgroup would be most appropriate?) As well as the
executable, you would get moderately well commented source code in
assembler, but there is no other documentation.
--apb
Alan Barrett, Dept. of Electronic Eng., Univ. of Natal, Durban, South Africa
RFC822: barrett@ee.und.ac.za Bang: m2xenix!quagga!undeed!barrett
[Send a note to Keith Petersen <w8sdz@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil> and
ask for instructions. gph]
------------------------------
Date: 19 Jun 91 23:24:47 GMT
From: Gordon Edwards <gedwards@ncratl.atlantaga.NCR.COM>
Subject: Telling the difference between 360K and 1.2m diskettes
In digest V91 #149 Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.mil writes:
>The review of Pctools' Backup utility in the June 11th PC Magazine
>says:" Because it's impossible to tell visually whether an unlabeled
>5.25-inch floppy disk is high-density or low-density, ...". This is
>news to me. I've always thought that the low-density diskettes have a
>reinforcement ring around the big hole in the centre; something the
>high-density diskettes I've seen don't have. Am I right, or have I
>just been lucky, so far?
The low-density disks have a dull brown color to the disk surface and
high-density disks have a shiny black color to them. This also applies
to tapes.
Gordon Edwards, N4VPH
NCR Engineering & Manufacturing
gedwards@ncratl.atlantaga.ncr.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 09:30:01 -0400
From: "Paul P. Dziomba" <dziomba@a1.benhur.upenn.edu>
Subject: Apple LaserWriter
We've recently removed some old (real old) Apple Macintoshes from our
offices. The machines were replaced by IBM PS/2's.
The original Mac configurations included Apple LaserWriter printers.
The printers are still in good operating condition. I've been able to
connect the printer to the serial port of the PS/2 and produce decent
looking output from packages with postscript drivers (Multimate,
WordPerfect, etc.). However, I'm unable to get straight text to print.
Does anyone know of a way (TSR utility or something) that I can get
straight ASCII text to print on the Apple LaserWriter?? I'd also like
to get the print screen function to work. Thanks in advance,
Paul P. Dziomba
Human Resources Information Mgt.
3401 Walnut Street Suite 527A
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228
Internet: Dziomba@A1.BenHur.UPenn.Edu
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 09:50:53 MDT
From: bauer@cns.ucalgary.ca (Mike Bauer)
Subject: changing drive boot order
Does anyone know of a way to modify the order of the drives DOS polls
when it tries to boot? i.e. DOS tries to boot from drive A: then drive
B: (if present), then drive C: I would like to modify this so that it
tries to boot from C: first, then A: and B: (if present). My guess is
that it might require a change to the BIOS prom.
Thanks, Mike (bauer@cns.ucalgary.ca)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 91 14:35:29 BST
From: Andie Ness <andie@cstr.edinburgh.ac.uk>
Subject: DMA#2 ERROR - a new DMAC needed ???
When I went to turn on my trusty old PC the other day, it went through
the usual memory check and then beeped once, the display cleared and it
proclaimed in a "larger than usual" font, "
DMA #2 ERROR
SYSTEM HALTED
(or something very similar)
At first, I thought it would be a chip seating problem so I removed all
the socketed chips, cleaned the contacts and resat them. No joy.
Could this be a case for a new 82C206 ?
My beast is a NEAT 286 with AMI bios and a 82C206 Integrated peripheral
controller. Unfortunately, the manual for the motherboard has
obviously been mistranslated from it's original language so it's less
than useless.
Thanks for ANY advice/info.
--Andie.
Andie Ness, CSTR, University of Edinburgh, EDINBURGH.
JANET: andie@uk.ac.ed.cstr Phone: +44 31 650 2770
ARPA: andie%ed.cstr@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk +44 31 225 8883
UUCP: ...!uunet!mcsun!cstr!andie Fax: +44 31 226 2730
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 91 20:51:05 EST
From: "Kelvin Thompson" <KTHOMPSO@novell.business.uwo.ca>
Subject: Memory Parity Error
I do the majority of my writing and programming on 'Little Zork', my
old 8088 XT (32M HD, Low Density 5.25 & 3.5, 640K Ram, Hercules Mono,
Dos 4.01). About a month ago, Zork started giving me a random "Bad
Ram.." message when I cold-booted. This did not happen every time, and
a Ctrl-Alt-Del rectified the problem.
Now, I can only boot the system from a floppy (after I 'three-key'
after the Ram message). Once booted, I can change to C: drive, change
directories, run programs, etc. When I try manually running the
Autoexec.bat file, I hear the disk access, but the system hangs. I also
get the occaisional message:
'Memory Parity Non-Maskable Interrupt 327A:0023
(S)hut off NMI .... any other key to continue'
I have NO idea what this message signifies (sounds bad!)---the address
it gives does change.
The Bad RAM message is:
Bad Ram at 3390F = 04h, expected 00h
The ram check sequence always stops at 206 kb, and the above address
never changes.
I was appalled to find that all the RAM chips were soldered
to the motherboard, and piggy-backing a good RAM chip (properly
aligned) atop each chip gave no change of result.
Does anyone have a suggestion (other than buying a new system --
already thinking on those lines!)? Is it fixable?
Thanks in advance (from myself AND Little Zork!)
Kelvin Thompson
aka. "Storm"
Internet: KTHOMPSO@NOVELL.BUSINESS.UWO.CA
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 12:32 CDT
From: pvogel%cecux1.cec.uchile.cl@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Pablo Vogel Rossenbluth)
Subject: latex
I want to get the latest version of Latex text procesor for ibm-pc. I
need the addresses where it is available
Thanks
Pablo Vogel
Email: pvogel@cecux1.cec.uchile.cl
olea@uchdci01.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 15:44 N
From: <DUG%CZHETH5A.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject: Problem with Fractint 16.0
I think Fractint 16.0 is a very fine Program and it works very well
on all of our PC's (AT's) but ONE. The one is an Olivetti M28 (AT&T
6300 Plus) with Olivetti BIOS 2.12.
If I trie to start the Programm, it loads for quite a while, but
instead of starting, it just writes aprox. 5 Bytes to the Screen (no
text, just some Bytes) and then crashes. (Scan 77 finds no Virus and
the same .exe file just works fine on an other Machine (Brand))
Version 15.1 (?) also worked fine on the M28 !!
Do others have the same Problem ??? When is a Fix to expect ???
(Unfortunately I am no C-Champion) ...
Thanks
Toby from Switzerland (ETH Zurich IIIB/4
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 09:47 EDT
From: <PJORGENS%COLGATEU.bitnet@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU> (Peter Jorgensen)
Subject: Professional Editor?
Does IBM still market the Professional Editor (PE) for PCs? If not, is
there a similar product that you'd recommend. We DON'T want a word
processor, just a good text editor like Professional Editor.
Thanks in advance.
Peter Jorgensen - PJORGENSEN@COLGATEU.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 91 9:14 GMT
From: "T.HOLT " <F033%CPC865.EAST-ANGLIA.AC.UK@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Help with AIX Requested
I would be grateful for any help people with experience using AIX could
give me.
We are currently in the process of setting up a small research network
linked to an IBM RS6000 running AIX v. 3.0. At present we are talking
to the RS6000 using a standard ASCII terminal with VT220 emulation.
Although this is OK for setting up AIX the way we want it to work we
would like to be able to use AIX-windows as well.
Since most of the people who will eventually be connected to the RS6000
are using PC's (386's and 486') we would ideally like to use a PC as
the the system terminal as well.
Does anyone know of, or have experience of, software running under
MSDOS or Windows3 which will enable a PC to emulate an X-Windows
terminal. I understand that Quarterdeck are working on such software
but have been unable to get details of this.
Thanks in advance,
Tom Holt (Climatic Research Unit,UEA,Norwich,UK)
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest V91 #163
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