Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Info-IBMPC Digest") (06/15/91)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sat, 15 Jun 91 Volume 91 : Issue 143
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <GHICKS@WSMR-Simtel20.Army.Mil>
Today's Topics:
720 - 1440 Kb disk question (2 msgs)
DOS immovable files
Re: upgrading to PowerBASIC 2.0 or QuickBASIC (V91 #116)
Limitation of TRICKLE nodes
Low-density, High-Density 3 1/2 diskettes, and a cure
Software to double disk space
unmovable blocks in Norton Speed disk
View .ARJ files with Buerg's LIST.COM
Today's Queries:
IBM PC's motherboard switch settings
API available for Backup Drives?
Maxtor 213 and AWARD bios incompatibility ?
network cards - Token Ring or ARCNET
Networking development library
OCR-Scanner Combo
SCO List?
sending key strokes from within a program
UNIX > DOS
Send Replies or notes for publication to:
<INFO-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Send requests of an administrative nature (addition to, deletion from
the distribution list, et al) to:
<INFO-IBMPC-REQUEST@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Archives of past issues of the Info-IBMPC Digest are available by FTP
only from WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL in directory PD2:<ARCHIVES.IBMPC>.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 May 91 11:24:08 MST
From: Andrew Lee <ANLEE%MISVAX.MIS.ARIZONA.EDU@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: 720 - 1440 Kb disk question
>Here I am with another question (a new computer gives a lot of new
>questions):
> Here at school I've formatted a 3.5" disk (on a real IBM PS/2) with
>the storage cappacity of 1.44 Mbyte. When I came at home, my computer
>(a clone) told me: "I'm sorry, but I can't read this disk" (nice OS,
>isn't it?). When I took the drill and made a hole in it, my computer
>was able to read it!!! Can something like this be done by software?
The reason that the PS/2 formatted your DD disk to 1.44MB is that the
PS/2 drive is brain dead. Unlike most other disk drives, the PS/2
drive doesn't check for the HD indicator hole. If you want to be
totally compatible with other 3.5" drives, you should format all DD
disks with the /f:720 or /t:80/n:9 options. To my knowledge, this is a
hardware issue and cannot be done via software.
Andrew Lee
anlee@mis.arizona.edu
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 May 91 11:17:34 +0200
From: Andr'e PIRARD <PIRARD%VM1.ULG.AC.BE@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: 720 - 1440 Kb disk question
On Wed, 29 May 91 11:48:19 +0200 Edwin Groothuis said:
>Here I am with another question (a new computer gives a lot of new
>questions): Here at school I've formatted a 3.5" disk (on a real IBM
>PS/2) with the [... text deleted ...]
The radial density a PS/2 3.5" drive uses is only programmed by BIOS
software. Thus, working is irrespective of the presence of a hole:
a) to read a newly inserted diskette it tries both
b) FORMAT needs to be told the density explicitly and does try any
density.
Most of the 3.5" drives sold obey the whole only.
a) the hole must correspond to actual density.
b) FORMAT high won't work without whole (because it does it low and
there's no room for the count of sectors).
So:
1) punch a hole before FORMAT if you like
2) but always give FORMAT the correct density.
3) if it fails and you want to reformat low, buy chewing gum first.
Andr'e.
PS: It's not much worse than formatting a high capacity diskette in a
Mac with low capacity drive and having one with high capacity drive
where you insert the diskette propose to initialize it :)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 May 91 16:25:02 GMT
From: djakman@fwi.uva.nl (Kemal Djakman -- I89)
Subject: DOS immovable files
Just to add some notes regarding what kind of files is considered
'immoveable' by Norton's SD (Speed Disk): My own experience with NU
v4.5 suggest that a file whose size is an exact size of the cluster
size will also considered as 'immoveable'.
---kemal---
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 May 91 02:05:12 -0400
From: pshuang@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: upgrading to PowerBASIC 2.0 or QuickBASIC (V91 #116)
Right now it looks like as if Microsoft has the BASIC market sewn up.
I would go with Microsoft, especially since they seem to be doing a
fair amount with their QuickBASIC product (whereas PowerBASIC isn't
likely to go much farther than where they are now) and many of the
future innovation in the BASIC language is likely to arise from
Microsoft's embedding BASIC as a macro language for Word for Windows
and as a system-level macro language for Windows (Visual BASIC).
Singing off,
UNIX:/etc/ping instantiated (Ping Huang).
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 May 91 13:21:28 +0300
From: Yuval Fuchs <fuchs%HURDLE.HUJI.AC.IL@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Limitation of TRICKLE nodes
> Date: Tue, 7 May 91 10:58:12 UCR
> From: "Mario A. Guerra" <MGUERRA@UCRVM2>
> I want to know how many files can be downloaded per day and limitations
> about how many bytes can I download by TRICKLE.
> The limitations are for each node or for the TRICKLE service?
Here is a such a list:
adrs credit wait
TRICKLE@FRMOP11 60 9
In Denmark: TRICKLE@DKTC11 30 8
In Turkey: TRICKLE@TREARN 40 9
In Italy: TRICKLE@IMIPOLI 100 8
In Belgium: TRICKLE@BANUFS11 50 5
In Austria: TRICKLE@AWIWUW11 30 8
In Germany: TRICKLE@DTUZDV1
In Spain: TRICKLE@EB0UB011 30 9
In Israel: TRICKLE@TAUNIVM 20 14
In Netherlands: TRICKLE@HEARN 20 9
TRICKLE@DS0RUS11 25
if any one has a correction for this list, please update me.
-hyf
Yuval Fuchs
sophomore - Comp. Sci. Dpt.
Jerusalem Collage of Technology
Jerusalem, Israel
E-mail: fuchs@hurdle.huji.ac.il
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 May 91 13:12:05 TUR
From: Turgut Kalfaoglu <TURGUT%TREARN.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Low-density, High-Density 3 1/2 diskettes, and a cure
My solution (actually, Matti Aarnio told me this :) was to remove the
drive, find the detector that looks for that hole (a mechanical
switch), remove the detector, solder two wires in its place, and
connect a switch at the end of the wires. Now, when I want 720K
diskettes, I flick the switch, format with appropriate options. When I
need 1.44, flick the switch the other way, and format.
I always format my regular-density 3 1/2 diskettes at high capacity,
and never had trouble. I heartily recommend the above solution as it
works like a charm -- provided you don't mind fiddling with the drive.
I have been using it over a year. Regards, -turgut
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 May 91 03:14:18 GMT
From: sequent!techbook.com!mikeraz@uunet.UU.NET (Michael Rasmussen)
Subject: Software to double disk space
Stuart Milligan <MILLIGAN%BROCK1P.bitnet@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU> writes:
>There is a piece of software called Double Disk that is advertised to
>almost double your disk storage space. It apparently creates
>additional virtual disk drives and automatically compresses and expands
>files stored there. It is published by Vertisoft Systems, Inc. Has
>anyone used this product and does it really work? It lists for $99.95.
I haven't used Double Disk but I have used Stacker which does the same
thing.
It works very well. Even ZIP files get slight compression. "Normal"
data and programs are compressed by a 2:1 or better ratio. The
argument normally made against these products is that they slow down
your access time. It does slightly but only slightly.
mikeraz@techbook.com
Wondering what I'll do the next time I run out of disk space.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 May 91 09:35:44 CST
From: dbartel@csaadel.adl.csa.oz.au (Danny Bartel)
Subject: unmovable blocks in Norton Speed disk
Hidden/Read-only files are not the whole story with unmovable files.
Norton Speed Disk marks some files as unmovable based on their name!!
And these don't show up in its editable list of unmovable files. Its a
real pain, but the only way to mark these as movable is to RENAME the
files before calling Speed Disk. It makes Speed Disk a little tedious
to use. I've found this with a couple of files from MS Word. Other
people have found the problem with other files. No I'm not imagining
this. It is the act of renaming the file which renders it
movable/immovable.
(I've not tried sending to the Digest before, I hope this works)
[It did. gph]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 May 91 15:15:09 +03
From: Nadav Horesh 2245 <CFNADAV%WEIZMANN.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: View .ARJ files with Buerg's LIST.COM
For those who are interested:
In the new version of list.com (LIST75H) there is a bug when trying to
view an .ARJ files. You can fix it by patching the program at offset
016C hex replacing the letter "E" there either by "p" or "P".
Nadav.
------------------------------
Date: 31 May 91 00:05:42 GMT
From: lkistler@pyred.pyramid.com (Larry Kistler)
Subject: IBM PC's motherboard switch settings...HELP!!!
Keywords: IBM PC motherboard switch
We have an old IBM PC with two 1.2 MB floppies and a 40 MB harddisk.
It wants to believe that the harddrive is E: rather than C:.
Fdisk and DM don't seem to dissuade the poor thing. Does anyone know
if the determining factor is a switch setting on the motherboard (which
one and which configuration?) or on the floppy or harddrive controller
board (again...which one and which configuration?)
Any information would be MUCH appreciated.
Larry Kistler
Educational Services Dept.
Pyramid Technology Corporation
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 May 91 02:10:33 -0400
From: pshuang@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Subject: API available for Backup Drives?
I would like to know, seeing that there are several commercial backup
programs which can access tape drives, and that at least one can do so
without explicitly configuring it for the hardware that you have,
whether there is some API for communicating with the drive, finding out
if it is there, what size tape is in it, what kind of drive, etc.
Singing off,
UNIX:/etc/ping instantiated (Ping Huang).
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 May 91 18:11 EDT
From: <KARAGEOR%CTSTATEU.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Maxtor 213 and AWARD bios incompatibility ?
A friend bought a Maxtor 213 ( 200 megs ) drive from a flea market.
This is an IDE drive. When he plugged it in his AWARD BIOS machine he
only managed to get 130 Megs out of 200. We know that our BIOS does not
support 26 sector drives, that means we need a low level formatter with
a device driver to do the job. We brought the machine to a local store
so that they would use DM (disk manager) on it, but DM did not have
the 213 drive , so the folks gave up. A third party low-level formatter
we used only allowed 17 sector formats (MFM probably), so there goes
that idea.
Any ideas, pointers, vendors, packages, sysops with
software,something? 70 megs is a lot of space to be wasted.
Thanks in advance to all that respond.
BITNET: KARAGEOR_ANG@CTSTATEU.BITNET
INTERNET: karage@cmx.npac.syr.edu
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 May 91 09:20:24 EDT
From: "William Senter, Computing Help Center PH. 455-416"
Subject: network cards - Token Ring or ARCNET
we are having a war on networks. some people want to use the ibm
token-ring card and some want to use a arcnet card. the cost
difference is big between the cards.
which one would you use and why?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 May 91 14:58 PDT
From: RAMANUJAN%ITIVAX.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu
Subject: Networking development library
I would like to know where can i get libraries (c libraries) for
writing a communication application. This one is to be done through
the ethernet network using TCP/IP. It should have routines for handling
socket and datagram support.
With regards
RAMANUJAN
RAMANUJA@ITIVAX.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: 29 May 91 16:22:00 CDT
From: bradley@eglin.af.mil
Subject: OCR-Scanner Combo
I am looking for a color scanner that also works well as a grey-scale
scanner and an optical character reader (OCR). This machine will be
connected to an 80386 PC running MS-DOS version 4.0 and Windows 3.0.
The research that I have conducted indicates that good color scanners
make lousy OCRs. I would like to survey the readers of this list to
see if any of you have found a machine that performs the OCR and color
scanning well. Please respond directly to me with hardware/software
configurations and I'll summarize to the list next week.
Thanks,
Don Bradley
DDN: BRADLEY@EGLIN.AF.MIL
P.S. I have no fancy sig blocks and everything I do on this list is of
my own doing, without the knowledge of anyone else (and usually
without the knowledge of myself)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 May 91 15:54:03 MDT
From: flintw@CORRAL.UWYO.EDU (Flint G Waters)
Subject: SCO List?
Does anyone know of a list specifically geared towards SCO Unix? I
haven't seen any SCO questions on the PC or 386 users list and sure
have a few to post.
Flint G. Waters flintw@corral.uwyo.edu
University of Wyoming 766-2710 Rm 232-Ivinson
Information Technology - Systems Development
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 15:48:26 CDT
From: KUMAR@ENTO.TAMU.EDU
Subject: sending key strokes from within a program
Hi! Netters,
I have two simple questions.
1.) I have a laserwriter+ connected to my 486 through an Appletops
card. Since this 486 is too fast for the card to handle, whenever I
have to print something, I have to slow down my system ( by pressing
ALT + CNTL + MINUS). After the printing is over, I can get back the
original performance of the system by pressing ALT + CNTL + PLUS.
I would like to create a batch file which will take care of these
three operations. Does anyone know how I can send these keyboard signal
to the computer through a batch file?
2.) I have finished writing a fast SVGA driver. Now I am looking for
different screen fonts to add to my library. Does anyone know where I
can get some public domain fonts? Also, I have some fonts which come
which Microsoft `C' compiler's graphics library, but I do not know the
structure of these fonts. Can someone tell me how to use these font
files with my routines ?
Thank you.
- Kumar
INTERNET: tpradeep@cs.tamu.edu
YELLNET: (409)846-2757
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 May 91 22:46:24 EDT
From: cat@buast9.bu.edu (James Howard)
Subject: UNIX > DOS
I have attempted, though anonymous ftp, to get files for my IBM, but I
can never quite get them to work. I use ftp to transfer files (as
binary files) to my UNIX account, and then I use kermit to transfer
them to my PC. I have tried several sites, including SIMTEL, and tried
getting everything from gif to exe to zip files, but they always have
errors in them when I try to use them. ASCII files transfer ok. Is
there something else I need to do?
James Howard
[After you start Kermit on the Unix machine, do you SET FILE TYPE
BINARY? (or whatever your system equivalent is?) gph]
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest V91 #143
*********************************
-------