Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Info-IBMPC Digest") (12/17/90)
Info-IBMPC Digest Mon, 17 Dec 90 Volume 90 : Issue 206
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <GHICKS@WSMR-Simtel20.Army.Mil>
Today's Topics:
DAK Industries Summary
Help desk software for LAN
Re: ZIP files (2 msgs)
Zip files over multiple disks
Today's Queries:
COM3: on Ps/2 mocro-channel
Diskcopy/Diskcomp problems
Novell Netware 2.15
QEMM and SCSI
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Date: 14 Dec 90 22:13:00 CST
From: "55SRWLGS" <55srwlgs@sacemnet.af.mil>
Subject: DAK Industries Summary
So far, I have 23 replies to my query regarding DAK industries. I
was mainly considering the purchase of a laptop. Thanks to all who
responded. The replies would be far too numerous to post, or even to
send out via e-mail.
Without doing a scientific count, or anything, I'd say that about
85% of my replies related positive experiences, even with non-PC
purchases. Many felt that the equipment was discontinued merchandise or
remarketing of very offbrand equipment, but there was general
satisfaction anyway. Several felt that the advertisements were extreme
in exaggeration and self-congratulation.
I can summarize feelings of dissatisfaction under the caveat of
"buyer beware". Although all buyers of the 386 equipment were
especially satisfied, one equipment reseller noted that DAK sold a
discontinued ZENITH micro for more than ZENITH itself was selling it
for, and at the same time.
One buyer bought a modem which wasn't as close to HAYES comatible
as he would have preferred. Many noted DAK's policy of 3O day, no
questions asked refund policy. Which this buyer was able to use.
Even satisfied customers noted that delivery, at least of PCs,
took from 7 weeks average to 3 months for the new 386. Customer support
is available via telephone, although it can be trying to get through.
Although none of the software received within the past year has
been hopelessly outdated, there was some disappointment with paperbound
manuals, all of which were copies made, apparently by DAK, with
original manufacturer's permission, as noted in the liscense paperwork.
The software generally performed well, and up to realistic expectations
(in light of price paid to a discount mailorder firm).
DAK does provide in addition it's own setup and quick getting
started guides, for the PCs. Many were impressed with the easy set up,
and the performance of the equipment once assembled.
In summary, I'd say that DAK would be a good place for someone to
shop, providing that they're very conscientious consumers. Since the
advertising in the catalogs is liable to get you to order, be sure that
you have a good idea of what you want, and compare around for prices
available, especially from other mail-order places (such as those
listed in Computer Shopper). Then, look at the DAK catalog. All
technical specs may not be available until you have read the entire
entry, and disregarded the hype. DAK's prices may not be the best. They
have been around for about 20 years, however, and their refund policy
does seem to be good, as well as customer support.
Please note that this is my own summary of these messages. It's
not guaranteed to be perfectly definitive, or technically accurate. I
think I had a DAK catalog or two in the mail this year. I wasn't
looking to buy at the time, and so threw them away. I don't know their
address.
These messages take about 300 lines of ASCII text. I was editing
out a lot of the mail headers, but blew the session. It was still about
175 lines, so I gave up. However, again, if there's enough interest,
and they think it worth the bother, I could place an archived copy of
the messages, minus the headers, on SIMTEL20.
Frank Starr
55srwlgs@sacemnet.af.mil
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 90 10:27:00 EST
From: Rick Beebe <BEEBE%YALEMED.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Help desk software for LAN
>I'm looking for software that would run on a PC under some LAN (like
>NOVELL) that would assist a help desk in assigning problems numbers
>for a problem as well as creating a database of know problems (and
>their various solutions) to assist less experienced staff members. If
>you know of a product, a telephone no. to call the vendor would be
>helpful. Thanks in advance.
I have a demo (Bricklin Slide Show) of a program called Rapid Hotline.
The demo looks *very* good. I haven't seen the actual program, so I
make no claims about whether it really _is_ any good. RH logs calls,
prints out and keeps track of work orders, parts, warrantees, etc. It
has a database of common problems and solutions so that the help desk
person can make some attempt at fixing the problem over the phone. It
comes from
Cosmotron Systems, Ltd.
40 Alexis Road
Thornhill, Ontario L3T-6Z9 CANADA
(416) 886-5830
Best of luck.
Rick Beebe (203) 785-4566
Biomedical Computing Unit
Yale University School of Medicine
333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06514
BEEBE@YALEMED.BITNET
beebe%biomed.decnet@venus.ycc.yale.edu
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Date: Thu, 13 Dec 90 16:08:43 GLT
From: CDAZ0207%GRTHEUN1.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu
Subject: Re: ZIP files
>Regarding ZIPs over multiple disks...
Try ARJ, the new file compression : <msdos.arc-lbr>arj014.zip or
something like that (via SIMTEL).
It compresses (on a 10 MHz XT) about 2.5 Kbytes/Sec (slow) but with
the best compression ratio i've seen yet. Unpacks about 40K/Sec and
supports multiple media (i think).
>>So I was wondering:
>>- Can PKZIP actually create a multi-disk ZIP file?
> ARJ .. just archived up my entire 20Mb hard disk (well, all 15Mb
> of stuff) .. only took four hours, about 30 floppies, and ARJ broke
> in the middle. Other than that ...
Oh, I see... everybody wants a *blind eyes* utility that will backup a
whole XX? Mbyte Hard Disk without asking any questions. Sorry but
then ARJ is not what you wanted. Anyway, I backed up my TurboC subdir
into 43 % with 4 diskettes and it was restored fine. Take your risks
and try PcBackup...(i don't)
* John Sabaziotis
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Date: Fri, 14 Dec 90 10:49:53 -0500
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch%USASOC.SOC.MIL@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Re: ZIP files
>So I was wondering:
>- Can PKZIP actually create a multi-disk ZIP file?
Nope. He lied .. er .. he hasn't implemented that fetchur yet.
>- Is it a special option on the PKZIP file?
Nope, it don't work yet.
> If yes, is it an undocumented option or am I missing something?
> If yes, should an option also be included while unZIPping?
> If yes, could it be that it is only in the American version? (I am of course
> using the export version :( )
> If no, is there another program that will do it?
Yep, ARJ .. just archived up my entire 20Mb hard disk (well, all
15Mb of stuff) .. only took four hours, about 30 floppies, and ARJ
broke in the middle. Other than that ...
> If no, could it be that you could simply split up a file (by using a
>utility to break a file in two, if that exists). I guess this is not
>so, since the APPNOTES mention that the disk number is stored in the
>ZIP file.
I've discussed here how I use Vern Buerg's FBR (Fast Backup and
Recover) package on ZIPped directories: it'll handle multi-diskette
stuff, filling a diskette to the last byte, wrapping over to the next,
etc. Unfortunately, NO compression: you gotta do that beforehand.
> If no, does someone know if the option is supported in other
>versions, or will be supported in future versions of PKZIP/UNZIP? I am
>using V1.10 (export)
Well, Phil *said* he was gonna do it .... meanwhile, certain unnamed
Info-ZIP wizards are discussing it during our regular meetings (e.g.,
when we paint ourselves blue and howl at the moon).
>Sorry, my cookie factory went on strike...
Oh oh .. well, now you're in *real* trouble! <where *is* that "delete
page" key?>
David Kirschbaum
Info-ZIP Coordinator
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 90 12:03:10 EST
From: Dave Richardson <dsrich%ENGR.UKY.EDU@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: Zip files over multiple disks
> From: Norman Walsh <NORM@ionaacad>
>Regarding ZIPs over multiple disks...
>I am (reasonably) sure that the PKZIP program does not support it
>directly. The APPNOTES only indicates that Phil Katz designed the
>file format to support it either via third party programs or in
>a later release.
>Now, since we're talking about this, has anyone else looked into writing
>a program that could do this? I tried but eventually gave up because
>it appears to me that the file format doesn't really support it! It
>seems to me (it's been a while now) that the primary "dictionary" of
>files in the ZIP file is located in only one place at the very end of
>the file. If that's the case, what good is splitting up files? You
>would have to insert the last 'n' disks first to read the table before
>could do anything. If anyone else has looked into this and knows where
>my missconception is, I'd be really happy if they pointed it out to me...
Suggestion: Use "SPLIT" from PC magazine (latest revision should be
around on SIMTEL20 or wuarchive for Internet users, TRICKLE servers for
you BITNET types) on a pre-built zip file. The only problem with this
is that it requires a hard disk to build the ZIP on first, so it
assumes that you are using floppies only for archival storage.
This requires you to rebuild the ZIP file to get a listing of files in
it, but that is what diskette labels are for, eh?
I am sorry that this doesn't help those diskette-only users, but how
are you generating ZIP files that big if you are operating from
diskettes anyway? (Just curious...)
Later,
Dave
Dave Richardson \ UUCP: !{rutgers, rayssd, uunet}!ukma!ukecc!dsrich
University of Kentucky \ BITNET: dsrich%engr.uky.edu@UKMA.BITNET
Engineering Computing Center \ Internet: dsrich@engr.uky.edu
**>Unless noted, the opinions expressed here are those of the
author ONLY!<**
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 90 09:03:00 EST
From: Marc TARDIF <S004%HECMTL01.bitnet@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Subject: COM3: on Ps/2 mocro-channel
Here at HEC we have IBM PS/2 model 50 and up, we need for some
user more then 2 serial port. We brought the Dual Asynchrone adapter
card from IBM but we are not able to use the COM3: with software like
Smarterm 320 that is supposed to support COM1-4.
Has someone experienced this device and what do we need to operate on
COM3: (the second serial port on the adapter)?
Thanks!
For everyone, have a great Christmas and a happy new year.
MARC TARDIF Net: S004@HECMTL01.BITNET |
Ecole des HAUTES ETUDES COMMERCIALES
MONTREAL, QUEBEC
CANADA H3T 1V6
Phone: (514) 340-6066
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Date: Fri, 14 Dec 90 10:42:12 PST
From: rzh@icf.llnl.gov (R. Hanscom)
Subject: Diskcopy/Diskcomp problems
I'm having a problem with diskcopy/diskcomp on an IBM clone machine,
and wonder if anybody else has seen anything like this before. Let me
start off by saying that I've never had any 5.25" drive problems except
for an occasional format error that I've blamed on bad (cheap??)
floppies. Oh, and we're talking 360K 5.25" formats here, and the
machine is an XT clone with the 8088 replaced with the NEC chip.
Recently, I bought some software, and tried to make back-up copies of
the distribution diskettes with diskcopy/diskcomp. The diskcomp failed
with numerous errors. I thought it was the distribution diskettes
(poor quality or written on bad drive??), but copying them at work with
the same programs on a TRUE IBM PC worked fine. I've switched versions
of MSDOS, tried all different flavors of diskette, cleaned my drives,
and used different combinations of my two 5.25" drives.
Diskcopy/diskcomp just won't work on my home machine. Is there a
problem with these programs on clones?? Are my drives bad?? Any
comments/help appreciated.
roger rzh@phoenix.ocf.llnl.gov
icf!rzh@lll-winken.llnl.gov
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Date: Sat, 15 Dec 90 01:02 MET
From: VDVELDE%rullf2.LeidenUniv.nl@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Novell Netware 2.15
I have 2 questions about Novell Netware (286 advanced 2.15), two
specific and one global question. We have installed Novell on our LAN 2
months ago, and currently about 25 PC's (286) are connected. In global
terms, it would be very helpful if there was a electronic forum
somewhere specially for Novell, just like this forum is for PC's in
general. Regularly, Novell exhibits some quirks that I'm sure others
already encountered an have found the solution for. The 2 specific
questions:
- According to the manual and all other books on Novell, you can let
the user leave the network from the Novell menu program, by including
the instruction "!LOGOUT", thus with an exclamation mark in front of
it, telling Novell to quit the menu program and then log the user off.
However, in our version of Novell 286, this does not work! Any
suggestions?
- When we include in the general login script lines for mapping to
general usage search drives with :
map ins s1:= \public
map ins s1:= \public\utils
map ins s1:= \.....
etcetera. However, if you do a"MAP" command then, the last mapped
search drive appears as an empty search drive, which you cannot delete
with map del sxx. But what is worse, on some (!) of the connected PC's,
if you want to start up an application like WordPerfect, which is done
by calling a batch file "wpb.bat" from the menu, the PC locks up,
sometimes with a message: error Rxxxx -null pointer assignment - , a
familiar message if you also do programming in Microsoft C. We want to
use the map ins ... command instead of only map sx:= because this way
the local path settings are not overwritten by Novell. Any suggestions?
Enno van der Velde
Technical Services, supervisor
Department of Cardiology
Leiden University Hospital
The Netherlands
VDVELDE@HLERUL53.BITNET
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Date: 14 Dec 90 20:14:28 GMT
From: kusumoto@chsun1.uchicago.edu (Bob Kusumoto)
Subject: QEMM and SCSI
I'm not sure why you're WD controller isn't working with either QEMM or
386MAX. I'm currently working off an AST Premium 386/25, 8MB RAM,
using the WD 7000-FASST 2 controller and QEMM 386 v5.1 and MS Windows
to boot on a novell netware network (over arcnet, ugh!). With this
setup, I'm able to load all the drivers for the network, the
controller, and some other devices (got a CD-ROM drive and a scanner
hooked up as well), and be able to run windows under desqview 2.3.
When I got my WD SCSI controller though, it had v3.34 ROMs and v3.35
software drivers. It costs $50 to get the newer ROMs and drivers from
CDP (v3.36 when I got them). After that, everything went swimmingly.
Bob
Bob Kusumoto
Internet: kusumoto@chsun1.uchicago.edu
Bitnet: kusumoto@chsun1.uchicago.bitnet
UUCP: ...!{oddjob,gargoyle}!chsun1!kusumoto
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #206
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