Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Info-IBMPC Digest") (01/01/91)
Info-IBMPC Digest Tue, 1 Jan 91 Volume 91 : Issue 1
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <GHICKS@WSMR-Simtel20.Army.Mil>
Today's Topics:
8087 Emulation software
Character Generation (fwd)
Running CPM on MSDOS machines (V90 #214)
Lindo
making calendars (2 msgs)
NUL, the file (2 msgs)
Summary of PC Brand Responses
X-windows for MS-DOS
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Date: Sat, 29 Dec 90 10:43:46 CST
From: david@wubios.wustl.edu (David J. Camp)
Subject: 8087 Emulation software
In Reply to this Note From: <JONATHAN DURSI>
>Does anyone know of a (preferably PD/ShareWare) 8087 emulation package
>out there?
Sure. Look on simtel20 for the following files: -David-
Directory PD1:<MSDOS.SYSUTL>
387.ZIP B 24147 900523 Software emulation of 80387 coprocessor chip
EM87V1_3.ARC B 13073 900306 8087 math coprocessor emulator for AT or 386
EMUL87.ARC B 14655 891204 TSR emulates 8087 math processor (286/386 req)
You can also get the simtel20 MsDos collection from wuarchive.wustl.edu
(128.252.135.4) via anonymous ftp or NFS. -David-
# david@wubios.wustl.edu ^ Mr. David J. Camp
# david%wubios@wugate.wustl.edu < * > +1 314 382 0584
# ...!uunet!wugate!wubios!david v "God loves material things."
# abs (investment#1 - investment#2) << abs (anyinvestment - anydebt)
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Date: Sat, 29 Dec 90 9:10:51 CST
From: david@wubios.wustl.edu (David J. Camp)
Subject: Character Generation (fwd)
In Reply to this Note From: <Rick Beebe>
>>Question: Are the video ROM characters stored on the video board
>> or are they somewhere on the motherboard (in BIOS chips?)
>>I thought they were on the motherboard, but apparently not.
>Since different video standards (Mono, CGA, EGA, VGA) use different
>character sets (for example, EGA is an 8x8 pixel matrix, VGA is 9x14),
>the character sets *must* reside on the video card. The video BIOS and
>video memory are also on the card. My IBM technical reference seems to
>imply that there is character ROM on the motherboard, but if so it's
>probably for CGA.
There is no way the ISA bus could service a video ROM. The data rate
is much too fast, and it would slow down everything in the system.
Consider this: The screen is refreshed every 30-60 times per second.
At 30 times per second, it is necessary to access the character ROM
approximately 8 times per character. AT 80x24 characters, that is
8x80x24 accesses 30 times per second, or once per 2 microseconds.
To transfer data from the motherboard to the video adapter at this
rate would swamp the bus. These numbers are very conservative. At
higher display densities, the data rate would be higher. -David-
# david@wubios.wustl.edu ^ Mr. David J. Camp
# david%wubios@wugate.wustl.edu < * > +1 314 382 0584
# ...!uunet!wugate!wubios!david v "God loves material things."
# abs (investment#1 - investment#2) << abs (anyinvestment - anydebt)
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Date: Sat, 29 Dec 90 11:20:56 CST
From: David Lemson <lemson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Running CPM on MSDOS machines (V90 #214)
In reply to the note from David J. Camp <david@wubios.wustl.edu>
> In Reply to this Note From: <John W. Herman>
>> One of my colleagues has an old CPM machine and doesn't want to waste
>>his software investment. I told him that there is software that will
>>allow him to run CPM and CPM software on an MSDOS machine and even read
>>and write CPM disks. He checked with Egghead Discount Software and
>>they had no leads to this. But I remember seeing it on the net last
>>summer, so I was wandering if one of you would send me a pointer to the
>>company that produces that software. Thank you.
> There are a few of these in simtel20::pd1:<msdos.emulators> I have not
> used any of these, and so cannot vouch for them. -David-
Most of the CP/M 2.2 emulators (the shareware/PD ones, at least) that
I've used require an NEC CPU such as the V20, V30, or V40. The reason
is that NEC has enhanced the 8088 by including an 8086 compatibility
mode in these CPUs. If your friend has an 8088 machine, he might want
to upgrade to a V20, which will cost about $10 and give a slight
performance boost as well as the ability to run a PD CP/M emulator.
Theoretically, if you have an 8086 CPU (like a PS/2 Model 30), the
emulators should work as well. This is untested, and largely
undocumented, as when these shareware CP/M emulators came out, there
were very few popular PCs with 8086 CPUs.
-- David Lemson
U of Illinois Computing Services Student Consultant
Internet : lemson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
University of Illinois, Urbana
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Date: Sun, 30 Dec 90 00:36:00 EST
From: CHOWR@HSCvax.CSU.McMaster.CA
Subject: Lindo
In response to the question from Einstein Lopes Tonini
The LINDO linear programming software is available from:
Lindo Systems Inc.
P.O. Box 148231
Chicago, Illinois
USA 60614
telephone: +1 312 871 2524
I have never used the PC version, but I have worked with it on the VAX.
The company also produces a non-linear optimizer called GINO. I have
no affiliation with Lindo Systems, except as a user.
Ray Chow, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
--
rc chowr@hscvax.csu.mcmaster.ca
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Date: Sun, 30 Dec 90 16:44:10 EST
From: "Chuck R." <346B36G%CMUVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: making calendars
Does anybody have a formula to tell me which day of the week a month of
any given year starts on? I'm making a calendar program. Thanks for
you help.
Chuck R. bitnet: 346b36g@cmuvm.bitnet Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, USA
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Date: Mon, 31 Dec 90 01:18:26 MST
From: Gregory Hicks <GHICKS@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: making calendars
When I was an undergrad at the University of Utah, one of the
requirements for the beginning programming class in Cobol was to figure
out the date of Easter for any given year. Knowing this date, it was a
simple matter to figure out the date for Jan 1, XX. This algorithm
used something called a "Golden Number".
There are references to this in the Collected Algorithm of the ACM and
is dated sometime in the early '60s. However, I have been unable to
find the reference cited.
Regards,
Gregory Hicks
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Date: Sat, 29 Dec 90 16:18:50 -0500
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@usasoc.soc.mil>
Subject: NUL, the file
>How may I delete a file called NUL?
>I've tried the easy way. I've looked at FAQ files. I've RTFM. Still
>I have the file.
>I do not know how I created it, but I would like help or suggestions
>for getting rid of it.
Whenever I get one of those weird ones, I fire up my public domain
DELETE wildcard delete utility. It's one of those prompting deleters,
maybe from PC Magazine or some such. It usually handles about any
weird filename I (or braindamaged software) can produce.
I suspect one of those nice "point and shoot" "user-friendly" DOS shell
programs would do the same.
Sure worth a try though.
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
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Date: Fri, 28 Dec 90 21:46:56 CST
From: david@wubios.wustl.edu (David J. Camp)
Subject: NUL, the file
In Reply to this Note From: <Thom Tellez>
>How may I delete a file called NUL?
>I've tried the easy way. I've looked at FAQ files. I've RTFM. Still
>I have the file.
I suggest you try something like PC Tools or The Norton Utilities. I
have never had that problem, so I am not sure what works. -David-
# david@wubios.wustl.edu ^ Mr. David J. Camp
# david%wubios@wugate.wustl.edu < * > +1 314 382 0584
# ...!uunet!wugate!wubios!david v "God loves material things."
# abs (investment#1 - investment#2) << abs (anyinvestment - anydebt)
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Date: Sat, 29 Dec 90 9:15:15 CST
From: david@wubios.wustl.edu (David J. Camp)
Subject: Summary of PC Brand Responses
A while ago, I inquired on the list for information about PC Brand
computers. I received a few responses, and one testimonial from an
ex-coworker.
The responses from people with experience with PC Brand computers were
mostly negative. I decided to delete the details from my summary. If
you want more information, write to me.
The bottom line is: PC Brand computers have numerous problems, because
the manufacturer uses cheaper components beyond their specifications.
# david@wubios.wustl.edu ^ Mr. David J. Camp
# david%wubios@wugate.wustl.edu < * > +1 314 382 0584
# ...!uunet!wugate!wubios!david v "God loves material things."
# abs (investment#1 - investment#2) << abs (anyinvestment - anydebt)
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Date: Sun, 30 Dec 90 5:45:04 CST
From: david@wubios.wustl.edu (David J. Camp)
Subject: X-windows for MS-DOS
In Reply to this Note From: <johnp@gssc.gss.com> (John Providenza)
>Our company, Graphic Software Systems, makes several products that
>"turn your PC into an X terminal". If you're interested, we are at
> 9590 SW Gemini Dr.
> Beaverton, Or, 97005
> (503) 641-2200
>Our facility is closed for the holidays until Jan 2.
I have no personal connection with this company, and have never used
their product. However, I had been assigned to do a market survey of
various X Window packages for MsDos. After much study, I recommended
the package from GSS mentioned above. We did not buy it (or anything
else), because of the high cost per node, and because we were
considering the purchase of "real" Unix workstations for our desktops.
My recommendation was based largely on the testimonials of others. The
GSS product was said to be relatively bug-free, and was capable of
becoming dormant to return most or all of your memory for other
programs. -David-
# david@wubios.wustl.edu ^ Mr. David J. Camp
# david%wubios@wugate.wustl.edu < * > +1 314 382 0584
# ...!uunet!wugate!wubios!david v "God loves material things."
# abs (investment#1 - investment#2) << abs (anyinvestment - anydebt)
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest V91 #1
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