[comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest] Info-IBMPC Digest V91 #16

Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Info-IBMPC Digest") (01/24/91)

Info-IBMPC Digest           Wed, 23 Jan 91       Volume 91 : Issue  16 

Today's Editor:
         Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <GHICKS@WSMR-Simtel20.Army.Mil>

Today's Topics:

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Date: Sun, 20 Jan 91 15:00:55 -0800
From: Bob Perigo <bperigo@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Accessing the WSMR-SIMTEL20 Archives

Scary how the tenex failed yet the binary worked.  Do you suppose the
ftp run here might be smart enough to deal with the extra 4 bits on its
own?

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Jan 91 14:47:07 MST
From: Gregory Hicks <GHICKS@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: Accessing the WSMR-SIMTEL20 Archives

> From: Bob Perigo <bperigo@u.washington.edu>

> Strange that the BINARY command worked while TENEX didn't.  Wonder if
> you're still running on a PDP-10?  Wonder what would happen to the 
> extra bits if I ignored the use of TENEX instructions?  

Sorry, but, we're STILL on a DEC PDP-10.

You can ignore the TENEX use instructions at your peril (of having a
faulty download...)  

An alternate method of forcing your FTP process into the TENEX mode is 
as follows:

TYPE BINARY
QUOTE TYPE 8 L

> How come I 
> haven't been able to connect to you for the past few days?

The reason you couldn't connect was because the host was down due to
A/C problems..

Regards,
Gregory Hicks

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Jan 91 14:05:00 CST
From: Jack Hendricks <C70JDH1%NIU.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Connecting PC's (DB-9 => DB-25)

        DB 9                      DB 25
        1  DCD ------------------- 8
        2  REC DATA -------------- 3
        3  TRAN DATA-------------- 2
        4  DTR ------------------- 20
        5  SIGNAL GND ------------ 7
        6  DSR ------------------- 6
     |--7  RTS                     4--|
     |--8  CTS                     5--|

ok this is what your cable should look like when your done.  pins 7&8
are jumped together on the db9 and pins 4 & 5 are jumped together on
the db25...

 If ya have any other questions just ask and I'll try to help you out
...  Jack...

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Date: Wed, 9 Jan 91 09:36:17 CST
From: Gary Samek <C133GES%UTARLVM1.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: DOS 4.0 evaluation

Ronald Hahm @ University of Northern Iowa said: (deleted text)

>media hard disks easier.  With DOS 3.3 one is limited to 32 mb 
>partitions when in DOS 4.01 one is not.

I have been told that the first partition must be 32 meg or less.  And
the second partition may be much larger.  Does anyone have any
experience with this, or is the salesman pulling my leg?  thx.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 9 Jan 91 10:33:00 CST
From: "John D. Larson <Beep>" <JLARSON@VAX1.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: Re: DOS 4.01 partitiion size & DOS 4.0 + 4DOS

-- ORIGIONAL QUESTION DELETED --

>I have been told that the first partition must be 32 meg or less.  And the
>second partition may be much larger.  Does anyone have any experience with
>this, or is the salesman pulling my leg?
>thx.

Well, Gary Samek <C133GES@UTARLVM1.BITNET>,

I recently bought a 106meg RLL drive and installed DOS 4.01 and am
using it quite sucessfuly on my system. It works like a charm. All but
the most stubborn programs that directly read the hard drive and
haven't been updated to handle 16bit FATs work fine.

The only problem I have had was using 4DOS (a command.com replacement)
under 4.01 with PC Tools Compress program. (Yes, I have the latest
version that is supposedly compatible with 4DOS.)

What it did was trash my file allocation tables so I would have a
number of lost chains and cross-allocated files. When there was major
change when compressing, DISKFIX would give 5-15 lost chains and 30-50
cross-allocated files. Anyone know if there is a remedy to this
situation or if anyone else has experienced it?

-John Larson/Never mind me, I came with the 14inch Bulwinkle doll.
 INTERNET
 JLarson@vax1.mankato.msus.edu  (134.29.1.1)
 JLarson@att1.mankato.msus.edu
 Grubbles!JLarson@att1.mankato.msus.edu  <- Sometimes flakey

 BITNET
 JLarson%MKVAX.DECNET@MSUS1.BITNET

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 10 Jan 91 11:29:04 +0100
From: S89406316%HSEPM1.HSE.NL@uga.cc.uga.edu
Subject: DOS4.1 and Two fixed disks

Hans Verhoeven (OHK_HV@HNYKUN51) writes:

>Does DOS4.1 work with two different sized harddisks ? I have one Seagate
>ST251 (40 MB) and one Seagate ST225 (20 MB). This works fine under
>DOS3.3 (the 40 MB disk is partitioned in two 20 MB blocks). But under
>DOS4.1 I cann't get it working.

I have a Miniscribe 20MB harddisk and a BASF 10MB harddisk (BTW that
one's *really* ancient - my controller BIOS doesn't support it so I use
a trick to install a disk parameter table and INT 13h handler while
booting from the Miniscribe) and use them under DOS4.01. At least that
is the version I think you are referring to.

Maybe it helps if you use FDISK to re-initialize the partition table
for the second fixed disk under DOS 4. Use option 5 ("next disk") in
the FDISK main menu to switch to the second drive, then do whatever is
necessary to setup the second disk. Remember to backup the disk first
(You probably already did that before you switched to DOS 4). FDISK
will restart your PC, after which you will have to FORMAT your drive.

I found out that the drive letters are assigned in the following sequence:
First hard disk, primary partition (Always C:)
Other hard disks, primary partitions (D: and following)
First hard disk, secondary partition.
Other hard disks, secondary partition.
This may help to determine what drive letter to use when FORMATting
your drive.

Good luck!

Laat wat van je horen als het niet lukt (Drop me a line if it doesn't work)

Jac Goudsmit                         
Student, Information Technology      
Hogeschool Eindhoven, The Netherlands
S89406316@HSEPM1.HSE.NL              

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 19 Jan 91 12:13:49 EST
From: Mohit Chadha <MCHADHA@SBCCVM>
Subject: Printer output redirection? (V91 #11)

> I would like to know if it is possible to make the PC think a
> printer is attached to it, while in fact there is nothing there.
> I need to have something that can be done from DOS, like redirecting
> printer output to a file or a null-device or something like that
> (I don't need to save the printer-output). Maybe some TSR-program
> that does the job?  Any advice or pointers greatly appreciated.

PC Magazine has a utility called PRN2FILE that is a TSR and redirects
all printer output to a specified file.  I've used it numerous times
with no problem.  You could get it off of PC Magnet (via CompuServe),
or look through the SIMTEL archives for similar programs.

                                 ---  Mohit Chadha

  24 Hastings Drive           Bitnet : mchadha @ sbccvm
  Stony Brook, NY 11790.      Internet : mchadha @ ccvm.sunysb.edu
    (516) 751-5289            CompuServe : 70132,1546

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 19 Jan 91 08:47:43 MET
From: SIRKS%HROEUR1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Printer output Redirection (V91 #11)

In Volume 91:11 Derk Ederveen is asking:

>I would like to know if it is possible to make the PC think a printer
>is attached to it, while in fact there is nothing there. I need to have
>something that can be done from DOS, like redirecting printer output to
>a file or a null-device or something like that (I don't need to save
>the printer-output). Maybe some TSR-program that does the job?  Any
>advice or pointers greatly appreciated.

I am using for years the TSR program NOPRINT.COM, which will simulate
an always-ready printer on the LPT1: The program is very small,
therefore I give here the DEBUG-Assembler listing.

2590:0100 BB5C00        MOV   BX,005C
2590:0103 31C0          XOR   AX,AX
2590:0105 8EC0          MOV   ES,AX
2590:0107 26            ES:
2590:0108 C7071801      MOV   WORD PTR [BX],0118
2590:010C 43            INC   BX
2590:010D 43            INC   BX
2590:010E 26            ES:
2590:010F 8C0F          MOV   [BX],CS
2590:0111 BA1B01        MOV   DX,011B
2590:0114 CD27          INT   27
2590:0116 90            NOP
2590:0117 90            NOP
2590:0118 B400          MOV   AH,00
2590:011A CF            IRET

Jan J Sirks
SIRKS@HROEUR1.BITNET
Management Faculty - Foundation of Knowledge Based Systems
Erasmus University Rotterdam

------------------------------

Subject: Today's Queries:
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 91 17:16:24 CST
From: dogface!bei@cs.utexas.edu (Bob Izenberg)
Subject: Voice Sampling on a Soundblaster

I'm all set to try voice sampling on a Soundblaster.  Any advice, war
stories, et cetera will make this much less frustrating, I'm sure.

Thanks!
-- Bob

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 19 Jan 91 17:13:53 MST
From: bauer@cns.ucalgary.ca (Mike Bauer)
Subject: Looking for program to track/schedule rental equipment

I'm looking for some software that will allow me to set up a schedule
for equipment I intend to rent out (about 25 units in all).  These
units could be cars, computers, etc. but will regularly change hands,
sometimes staying for longer than expected periods, sometimes shorter.

Does anyone know of any such software?  It doesn't have to be PD, I'll
gladly pay for it if it does what I need.  Of course it would be nice
if it would be able to give a report on where a single unit has been,
where it is scheduled to go, etc.  Also if a unit can't be returned on
time, the software should list options on what other units might be
available to fill it's place.  Just the sort of thing that a rental car
company might use to keep track of rental cars.

Mike Bauer (bauer@cns.ucalgary.ca)
Dept. of Clinical Neurosciences, The University of Calgary,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Jan 91 20:45:43 -0800
From: d3e608@pnli.pnl.gov (JP Nye)
Subject: LZH decompression program

	What kind of compression produces *.LZH files?  Where can I find a
program to decompress these files?

Thanks,
Jeff Nye, K6-10            email:  d3e608%pnli.pnl.gov@pnlg.pnl.gov 
Battelle PNL               voice:  (509) 376-4571, days, PDT 
PO Box 999                 
Richland, WA 99352         

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 12 Jan 91 14:55:57 CST
From: Jhinuk Chowdhury <FF76%UNTVM1.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Non-interlaced VS Interlaced SVGA monitors

Hardware experts, enthusiuasts, and users:

I am perilously close to committing a great deal of my own money in a
386/33 system with 64K cache (CPU).  At work, I sit in front of a NEC
Mutisync II monitor (EGA color) tied to a Compuadd 286 for long hours.
At the end of the day, I frequently have a headache and sometimes feel
a little giddy/dizzy/whatever.  It may be no fault of the monitor or
the computer system, but I don't feel comfortable about this at all.
Since I am required to wear glasses for myopia (not much, though), it's
possible that my eyes are responsible for the way I feel.

Anyway . . .  I discovered, after a little reading, that for the new
system I will put at home, it would be kinder to my eyes if I purchase
a *non-interlaced* SVGA monitor instead of an interlaced SVGA monitor.
To my dismay, I found out that non-interlaced monitors are about $300-
$400 more expensive than interlaced SVGA monitors.  In fact, I could
only locate two brands - a SONY and a Seiko.

I have some questions, now.  Please help me clear up my confusion.

1.  Are the monitors that have resloutions lower than 1024 x 768,
always non-interlaced?  That is, is interlacing something that becomes
necessary to keep costs down for the 1024 x 768 display monitors, since
the display density otherwise becomes too high?

2.  Do the advantages of non-interlacing become more critical at higher
resolutions (1024 x 768, 800 x 760, etc) and less critical at lower
resolutions (640 x 480, etc.)?

3.  Is the lower eye-strain associated with non-interlaced display a
fact, or a lot of hype?  Especially, from my perspective.

4.  What are some brands of non-interlaced monitors other than the Sony
1304 and the Seiko 1450?  Where are they available and at what kind of
bargains?

5.  Are there any *optimum* resolution levels?  Users' favorites or
critics' choices?  What makes them so?

I would really appreciate knowledgable responses from people,
especially from those who have had experience with both kinds -
non-interlaced and interlaced display monitors.

I really cannot afford the additional money for the non-interlaced,
especially after the 386/33 CPU.  But if I must, I will wait until I do
have the cash.

Thanks in advance.       - Jhinuk Chowdhury  (FF76@UNTVM1.BITNET)

------------------------------

Date: 20 Jan 91 13:15:00 CST
From: "55SRWLGS" <55srwlgs@sacemnet.af.mil>
Subject: LIMS/EMS 4.0 and TSRs to High Memory?

     PC Magazine released a LIMS/EMS40 utility to convert extended
memory into expanded memory. Does anyone know whether they also
released a utility to force TSR's into this memory? I've tried the VRAM
and HRAM utilities from SIMTEL20. VRAM is supposed to only creates a
very small (128K) expanded memory, but I couldn't get it to do that.
HRAM won't work with PC Magazine's EMS40V11.ZIP file.

     I want to do more than just use my extended memory for a RAM disk.
The PC magazine LIMS/EMS40 utility is interesting, but I don't have any
programs like LOTUS 1-2-3 to use it. I do have a few TSR's I'd like to
keep in memory, but have to use the MARK/RELEASE utility set at present
to get them out of the way.

Thanks in advance,
Frank Starr
55srwlgs@sacemnet.af.mil

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Jan 91 22:13 MST
From: "Norman E. Powroz" <Powroz@SYSTEM-M.PHX.BULL.COM>
Subject: Strange Controller Setup

Today, I was helping out a friend with some problems on his wife's
machine, and ran into a truly weird setup.  Mayhap, someone out there
has run into it, and could give me a hand, as it has personal
implications.

Background -- she has an Everex Step 386/33MHz, with a 330 MB SCSI
drive (Micropolis).  The controller for this drive is a Future Domain
TMC-885. When I opened the system up, I found that the floppy side of
the HD controller was not being used, and instead there was a separate
floppy controller installed to handle the usual 5.25 and 3.5 inch
drives.  The SCSI controller had been jumpered to indicate that an AT
controller was also present in the system.

I re-jumpered the SCSI controller to deactivate the AT floppy
controller, recabled the floppy drives, then pulled the floppy card
from the system. As expected, it booted and ran, although it did give a
couple of weird floppy access errors.  For example, a straight DOS COPY
command aborted with "Sector not found" errors, but Vern Buerg's LIST
command could process every file on a floppy, and Windows 3.0 handled
the drive perfectly.  Afterwards, the drives seemed to run fine.

Now the questions (finally) -- first, has anyone run into similar
setups, especially with either an Everex system, or the Future Domain
controller?  Does the Future Domain SCSI controller have problems
handling floppies on a high-speed system?  Is there any good reason for
bypassing a seemingly perfectly good floppy controller, and installing
another one in its place?

The answers are of personal interest both for the problem at hand, and
for the fact that I just bought a Future Domain TMC-885 SCSI
controller, and have a new 200MB SCSI drive on order. I am planning to
upgrade my system with these goodies in a few days, and I'd like to
know if I am liable to run into problems with the new setup.

My apologies for the length of this diatribe, but it usually helps to
fully describe the problem.  If you've read this far, thanks.  All
replies gratefully accepted.  You can reply directly to me, or the
digest. I'll summarize any direct replies to the net.

Cheers
Norm Powroz

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 19 Jan 91 15:52:57 pst
From: rnelson@yoda.eecs.wsu.edu (Roger Nelson - Grad Student)
Subject: slide format conversion .EPS->.SDA

Does anyone know of a program for converting Quattro Pro 2.0 slide
format (.EPS files) to Harvard Graphics metric slide format (.SDA
files)?

Thanks,
      ______________
____  | ^          |    Roger Nelson          rnelson@yoda.eecs.wsu.edu
\^^ |*| ^          |    Agricultural Engineering Department     ///
 |^^//  ^^         |    Computer Science Department            ///
 |  '  ^          +|    Washington State University        \\\/// 2000
 \_  ^    _________|    Pullman, WA 99164                   \XX/
   `-----'

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End of Info-IBMPC Digest V91 #16
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