Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Info-IBMPC Digest") (11/15/90)
Info-IBMPC Digest Thu, 15 Nov 90 Volume 90 : Issue 181
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <GHICKS@WSMR-Simtel20.Army.Mil>
Today's Topics:
Floppy drive problem
Hard Disk Saver
How to order SIMTEL20 files by e-mail
ICCI'91
Slow memory check
Tape backup systems
TSR demo program
Today's Queries:
Adobe downloader on 386
AST I/O MINI II
Can't get TVGA 512K to work in 256 colours. HELP!!
Hewlett-Packard PCL Fonts: LaserJet vs. DeskJet
RE: Windows TCP/IP
Serial mouse on PS/2 mouse port?
Windows 3 special bboard?
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: Mon, 29 Oct 90 18:33:00 EST
From: ZHANGSH@SSCvax.CIS.McMaster.CA
Subject: Floppy drive problem
On Friday, Oct. 12, 1990, Walt Lazear asked:
> I have an odd configuration question. What would make my vintage 1984
> IBM PC think there were 3 floppy drives? I have two floppy drives and
> a Herculese board and a Techmar "Captain" board. When I boot anything
> from DOS 3.0 to DOS 3.3 (don't have any other versions), accesses to
> drive C: give error messages relating to floppy drives. When I added a
> KardDisk, it would only be recognized as D:. This machine is new to
> me, so I've never seen it boot otherwise.
The problem probably stems from the conflict between the drive
controllers on your machine. As we know, things are fine for a system
with a hard and a floppy drive controllers installed on it. Problems
could rise when a second floppy driver controller is to be added for a
third floppy drive. This is because the original controllers will not
work properly with the added one if it is not so designed. Such
controller usually comes with separate ROM chips, and has jumpers on
it. By inserting correct chip and setting jumpers, you can configure
it as a secondary controller to avoid conflict with the primary one
which is already installed.
Alternatively, you can buy a three- or four-floppy controller. There
are such products on the market. It is simpler this way.
One more thing. DOS 3.3 is the prefered version (over DOS 4.01) for
systems with more than two floppy drives. This is because it allows
you to assign letters A, B, C and D to floppies; hard disks get the
letters thereafter. DOS 4.01, however, accepts, by default, only A B
as floppies. If you want to install more, you have to do some
tinkering. Using DOS 3.3 is thus more straightforward.
Hope this helps.
Shenmin Zhang (ZHANGSH@SSCVAX.CIS.MCMASTER.CA)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 1990 12:33:02 EST
From: Joseph M Newcomer <newcomer@F.GP.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Hard Disk Saver
A complete waste of time and money. My hard disks run 24 hours per
day, 7 days per week, and I find their average lifetime to be 3.5
years. Don't believe everything you hear about hard disks wearing out;
my original CMS 20Mb drive from my original AT (now 6 years old) still
spins fine and will soon be part of a network print server I'm throwing
together. The only drive I've had serious problems with is a CDC 70MB
drive (95115-85?) which failed after only two years, but that included
six airplane trips and two UPS shipments of my complete processor box.
After repairs it is running in another machine.
joe
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 1990 01:44 MST
From: Keith Petersen <w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: How to order SIMTEL20 files by e-mail
> I'd like to access the archive at SIMTEL20, but my system doesn't
> allow me to FTP remote sites. Does SIMTEL20 support some sort of a
> mail server that I can use for downloads?
SIMTEL20 files may be ordered from LISTSERV@VM1.NODAK.EDU or
LISTSERV@VM.ECS.RPI.EDU.
If you are on BITNET: LISTSERV@NDSUVM1
LISTSERV@RPIECS
If your mailer knows domains: listserv@vm1.nodak.edu
listserv@vm.ecs.rpi.edu
If your mailer wants bang paths: uunet!vm1.nodak.edu!listserv or
uunet!vm.ecs.rpi.edu!listserv
If you use bang paths, substitute your nearest neighbor which is also
on the Internet for uunet in the examples above. Some examples are:
ames, decvax, decwrl, harvard, hplabs, nosc, rutgers, sharkey, sun,
ucbvax, ucsd, udel, uw-beaver, wuarchive.
Send this command to the server to get its help file:
GET PDGET HELP
Sample command (which gets our catalog of files):
/PDGET MAIL PD:<MSDOS.FILEDOCS>SIMIBM.ARC UUENCODE
These commands should be sent as the body of a regular email message.
Do not include a signature because it confuses the server. If you have
xxdecode, you may wish to specify XXENCODE instead of UUENCODE to avoid
character translation problems.
> Who do I contact with suggestions or unsolvable problems?
Depending on which server you normally use:
Internet BITNET
"John Fisher" <FISHER@VM.ECS.RPI.EDU> <FISHER@RPIECS>
"Marty Hoag" <INFO@VM1.NODAK.EDU> <INFO@NDSUVM1>
DO NOT send your comment or question about the servers to SIMTEL20.
However, if you wish to report program bug or to request information on
how to upload files to SIMTEL20, you may send e-mail to me at one of
the addresses below.
Keith
--
Keith Petersen
Maintainer of SIMTEL20's MSDOS, MISC & CP/M archives [IP address 26.2.0.74]
Internet: w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil or w8sdz@vela.acs.oakland.edu
Uucp: uunet!wsmr-simtel20.army.mil!w8sdz BITNET: w8sdz@OAKLAND
------------------------------
Date: 1990 October 29
From: ICCI%LAUVAX01.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu
Subject: ICCI'91
Wake up, it is time to send your paper to ICCI'91. It is a great and
friendly conference. Please join us. Grab whatever you have on your
desk, throw in an envelope, step on it, seal and mail today (do not
forget about the address).
I C C I ' 9 1
International Conference on Computing and Information
Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, May 27-29, 1991
Call for Papers and Participation
ICCI '91 is an international forum for the presentation of original
results in research, development, and applications in computing and
information processing. The conference is aimed at both, practitioners
and theoreticians.
There will be five streams:
- A Algorithms & Complexity,
- B Databases & Information Systems,
- C Parallel Processing & Systems,
- D Distributed Computing & Systems,
- E Expert Systems, AI.
General Chair: W.W. Koczkodaj, Laurentian University, Canada Organizing
Committee Chair: F. Fiala, Carleton University, Canada
For more information, please contact:
Frank Fiala
School of Computer Science
Carleton University
Ottawa, Canada K1S 5B6;
(613) 788-4333,
fax: (613) 788-4334,
e-mail: icci@scs.carleton.ca
With best regards,
Waldemar W. Koczkodaj
ICCI'91 General Chair
P.S. We do not need your reply to this message: we need YOU and your
paper.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 90 11:05:51 -0500
From: p4tustin!carl@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Slow memory check
In Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #170 Paul Andrews writes:
> ... Last week I had to unplug the computer for about 4 days, and when I
> started it up again two days ago two things happened. (1) the "Tick"
> sound one hears when memory is checked is VERY SLOW.
...
> (2) I then received an "XCMOS CHECKSUM" error after the POST. I fixed
> the XCMOS error.
...
> Anyone have an idea why I still have the SLOW memory check? The day/date
> is fine; the rest of the CMOS setup is as it should be. Is it just a
> low battery?
Yes, the reason you got the XCMOS error is most likely a defective
battery.
The reason the memory check is painfully slow is that you failed to
enable shadowing of the system BIOS.
The system BIOS is stored in EPROM which is memory that is considerably
slower than your RAM. (Also the BIOS EPROM is usually only sixteen bits
wide as opposed to the 32 bit width of you RAM memory accesses.)
When you enable shadowing, the system copies the BIOS from the EPROM
into RAM and then uses the copy, greatly speeding up all BIOS related
operations. POST is in the BIOS EPROM.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 90 13:47:24 PDT
From: Rob_Carpenter@cc.sfu.ca
Subject: Tape backup systems
In a message from Jim Kenyon <jkenyon@us.cc.umich.edu>
Dated: Fri, 12 Oct 90 13:32 [INFO-IBMPC 90-170]
>...I have used a Colorado Memory Systems Jumbo tape backup for
>about 6 months now and have been very happy with its performance.
>...CDS claims 2x tape capacity on average.
50% data compression would most likely be all text files. I found that
most executables would shrink very little. 0% if you've used LZEXE.
I have had a few problems with the tape drive. It's very susceptible
to a dirty head. Clean the head on it often and ALWAYS verify your
files after you've backed them up. If the compare fails it's most
likely due to a dirty head.
The only other problem I've had with the tape drive is not, IMHO, CDS's
fault. I use PCBACKUP 6.0 on my Jumbo + drive. The compression seems
a little better as well as the backup time.
For some unknown reason it hangs in the middle of a backup.
I set my STACKS = 17,128 in my CONFIG.SYS as suggested in PCTOOLS and
the Tape software. If anyone else uses one of these drives and/or
PCBACKUP 6.0 send your mail to me and I'll post a synopsis here.
Rob Carpenter Simon Fraser University
bobert@cc.sfu.ca [Internet] Burnaby, B.C. Canada
userdbob@sfu [Bitnet] V5A 1S6
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 90 12:50:02 EST
From: Curt Priest <BMSLIB@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject: TSR demo program
I was contacted by S.M. Clarke to forward him a copy of TSRDEMO2.ASM
that I mentioned in a previous reply. Unfortunately, our mailer does
not know how to reach smc7@uk.ac.bradford.eleceng. Could S.M. Clarke
or someone who knows the rooting to that machine get in touch, thanks.
[Try smc7@eleceng.bradford.ac.uk... gph]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 90 22:20:23 IST
From: Lew Golan <LEW%TAUNIVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Adobe downloader on 386
Is there any reason why PSDOWN.EXE. the Adobe font downloader,
should report that COM1 and COM2 are disconnected when, in fact, COM1
is connected to my Postscript printer and I'm able to print through it
from Ventura Publisher? My setup utility for the printer (QMS 800+)
also verifies that the connection is working.
I used PSDOWN for three years on my 286 with no trouble. Now I
have a Zeos 386. I can't see why that should make any difference, but
the downloader can't connect with the port on the 386.
I took out all TSRs, drivers, memory managers, etc. from
config.sys and autoexec.bat. I'm running MS-DOS 3.3.
I'm using version 1.01 (10-14-88) of PSDOWN.EXE. Since the fonts
are encoded, I can't simply copy them to COM1; I have to use the
downloader. Which means I can't use the fonts.
Lew Golan
Tel Aviv University
------------------------------
Date: 30 Oct 90 12:10:00 EDT
From: "DRCV06::OPER1" <oper1%drcv06.decnet@drcvax.af.mil>
Subject: AST I/O MINI II
I have in my possession an "AST I/O MINI II" i/o card. But of course
no documentation. The card has 3 blocks of jumpers labeled E1-E18.
E1-E7 are of the 3-prong variety, E8-E16 are 2-prong, E17 & E18 are
2-prong side by side. There are also 4 sockets labeled U1,U2,U6,U8 &
U10 which are of the 16,20,14,14 & 40 pin variety. I am assuming that
U10 is a socket for another 8250/16550 but I have NO idea what the
other sockets are supposed to contain (again I will assume that they
are to enable another serial/game port?)
If anyone could tell me what the jumpers mean, and what chips are
supposed to go in those sockets I would appreciate it. Below is a
diagram of my current jumper settings...
E1 . .-. E8 .-. Thank you, Glenn Andrews aka. OPER1
E2 . .-. E9 . .
E3 . .-. E10 .-.
E11 . .
E4 .-. . E12 . .
E5 .-. . E13 .-.
E6 .-. . E14 .-.
E7 . .-. E15 . .
E16 .-.
.-. . .
E17 E18
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 90 06:22:38 GMT
From: edwin@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz
Subject: Can't get TVGA 512K to work in 256 colours. HELP!!
Keywords: TVGA, Trident, Display 256 colours
Summary: I can't get hires 256 colours on my TVGA with 512K Ram. HELP!!
I have a TVGA card with 512K ram which no drivers seem to be able to
set to 640x480 256 colours.
It has a Trident TVGA BIOS C3-129 Ver 1.01 dated 22-May-89. I have
been using it for 6 months for wordprocessing (50 lines) on a 386SX
with 2MB ram running on AMI 386 bios (1989). Now I have started using
Windows 3.0 and I just get a screenful of green lines when I configure
with tvgawin3 drivers recently posted on comp.binaries.ibm.pc. That is
only with 640x480 256 colour mode. The other drivers for 16 colour
800x600 and 1024x768 worked perfectly!
I have also tried using CSHOW, VPIC & VUIMG to view gifs in hires mode
and got even worse results except for CSHOW. CSHOW is able to display
640x480 (256C) in its standard mode but not when I use Trident or any
other video drivers. VPIC and VUIMG only works in the standard VGA
300x200 (256C). All the supplied drivers can't work at all in ANY
extended VGA mode.
I've tried everything I can think of and just can't get it to work.
Even using PICEM to set the video mode numbers according to the manual
can't get it to work. The screen just changes to the background colour
of the gif picture but remains in text mode.
My dealer isn't any help at all and I've run out of ideas. So PLEASE
if anyone can help, I'll really appreciate it.
I prefer replies by email but post if you want. I'll summarise if
there are others with a similar problem.
Thanks in advance.
* Edwin Ng *
* E&E Engineering, University of Auckland, New Zealand *
* E-mail: edwin@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz *
------------------------------
Date: 29 October 1990 12:24:26 CST
From: Darius Vaskelis <U39648@UICVM.uic.edu>
Subject: Hewlett-Packard PCL Fonts: LaserJet vs. DeskJet
I've recently purchased a Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 500 and am very
pleased with it. Having come across many LaserJet Plus/500/Series II
Soft Font files, I decided to convert them to DeskJet Soft Font files
using the DJFONT program from PD:<MSDOS.DESKJET>. They work
beautifully... almost. They are downloaded to the printer, and will
print correctly from any application I've tried so far except for
Microsoft Windows 3.0.
I'm using the DeskJet Family Printer Driver, Version A.03.01, set up
for a DeskJet Plus with one 256K RAM cartridge (which I do have). The
problem is although the driver recognizes the soft font files, it
thinks each one is only 0 points. The causes some sticky problems if I
have two identical font files with differing point sizes.
Also in the PD:<MSDOS.DESKJET> area, there is a file called DJFONFMT
that describes what the descriptor area of a DeskJet Soft Font is
supposed to look like. It may be noted that the soft font files DJFONT
produces do not follow what DJFONFMT describes, although in some places
it's darn close.
So here's what I'm ultimately looking for:
1. A program, hopefully public domain or shareware but commercial will
do, that will take a LaserJet font and convert it to a DeskJet font.
As the above states, I'm familiar with DJFONT. The version I have is
0.3. (I've also seen a commercial program called LaserTwin that lets
almost anything look like a LaserJet... this is not what I'm looking
for.)
2. A good description of what a LaserJet Soft Font should contain, and
also one for the DeskJet, and I'll make my own LaserJet to DeskJet
converter.
3. A newer Windows 3.0 printer driver. I've called Microsoft, and the
people I spoke to said the lastest version is A.03.00. Strange that I
have A.03.01 though, eh?
As an aside, the DeskJet 500 is supposed to be able to automatically
kern fonts that are DeskJet 500 specific. Any information on how a
DeskJet 500 Soft Font may differ from a regular DeskJet/DeskJet Plus
font?
- Darius
BITNET: U39648@UICVM | "Don't set fire to strangers."
Internet: u39648@uicvm.uic.edu | - Mr. Zarniwoop
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 90 13:38:13 CST
From: Bill Hayes <IANR012%UNLVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: RE: Windows TCP/IP
Does anyone know of a package running under Windows 3.0 and Token Ring
for TCP and FTP? I know of WNQVTNET for Ethernet, a VT220 emulator.
Ideally it should support VT220 and 3270 terminal emulation.
Bill......
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 90 11:21:20 CST
From: Brian Piersel <S1CH%SDSUMUS.BITNET@VM1.NoDak.EDU>
Subject: Serial mouse on PS/2 mouse port?
My computer has a PS/2 compatible mouse port. However, my mouse is a
serial mouse. I would really like to free up that serial port, so I was
wondering if there is any way to connect the mouse to the mouse port. I
have seen various adapters for some mice that allow the same mouse to
be connected to either a serial port or a PS/2 port, so apparently
there isn't any difference in the mouse itself. Is it just a matter of
connecting the right pins on the serial plug to the PS/2 port, or are
there additional differences to be accounted for (signal levels, etc)?
Any ideas, anyone? Even a description of the PS/2 mouse port and/or the
serial port as it applies to a mouse would be helpful. Thanks in
advance...
|Brian Piersel |
|BITNET: S1CH@SDSUMUS ICBM: 96.50W 44.20N |
|BITNET: SBPK09@SDNET |
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 1990 12:35:17 EST
From: Joseph M Newcomer <newcomer@F.GP.CS.CMU.EDU>
Subject: Windows 3 special bboard?
Is there any network bboard specifically for W3 hackers? I'd rather
not plow through the non-W3 queries for the occasional W3 tidbit. I've
got a number of serious questions on W3 and can't afford the $800 SDK
support contract.
joe
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #181
*********************************
-------