Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Info-IBMPC Digest") (10/28/90)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sun, 28 Oct 90 Volume 90 : Issue 170
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <GHICKS@WSMR-Simtel20.Army.Mil>
Today's Topics:
Re: Spooler & LPT interception queries
What is the PKUNZIP saying to me?
Assorted replies, and pointer to an information archive
Calendar software
Re: Hard Drive Saver?
Re: Hard Disk Troubles
Re: AT Bus Drives
tape backup system for 286 system
Tape backup unit for 286
Re: WordPerfect Mailing List (3 msgs)
Today's Queries:
NU 5.0's FILESAVE and Desqview 2.25
PFs:Professional Write 2.21 and Desqview 2.25
Technical problem with Word Perfect and JT Fax
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Archives of past issues of the Info-IBMPC Digest are available by FTP
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Date: Fri, 12 Oct 1990 13:34 EDT
From: Karl Brendel <CDCKAB%EMUVM1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Re: Spooler & LPT interception queries
One recent query:
>What I need is a spooler, that will send the files coming in to a
>temporary file and then via aque print them out. (I did this under OS2
>using there spooler and it worked fine). I need a spooler that works in
And another:
>I need something to intercept the output to the serial port in order to
>build a file to be sent later to the printer. Thank you in advance|
SIMTEL shows this listing for DMP, which is a _very_ versatile print
spooler, available as Shareware. It is industrial strength. If it won't
do the trick for you, I doubt the trick can be done. Support the
author: please pay him if you use this product.
"PD1:","<MSDOS.PRINTER>","DMP202.ARC",1,58663,8,900303,
"Resident print spooler, spools to disk, memory"
Karl Brendel Centers for Disease Control
Internet: CDCKAB@EMUVM1.BITNET Epidemiology Program Office
Bitnet: CDCKAB@EMUVM1 Atlanta, GA, USA
InterLink/RIME: KARL BRENDEL phone 404/639-2709
CIS : 73307,3101 fts 236-2709
GEnie: K.BRENDEL Home of Epi Info 5.0
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 1990 13:40 EDT
From: Karl Brendel <CDCKAB%EMUVM1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: What is the PKUNZIP saying to me?
>And did the send to my micro. When I invoked PKUNZIP on my micro, I
>get a message saying: Warning! I don't know how to handle: file.ext
>"file.ext" was correct for all the files that were supposed to be in
>SNAP402D.ZIP. I got the above message for all the files, but one. It
>unZIPped that one. That file PERSONAL.KEY was four lines long, i.e. real
>short.
>
>I tried all the permutations of downloading from KERMIT: I tried SET
>FILE V-BINARY and SET LRECL 8192. Each time I get the result when I
>invoke PKUNZIP, i.e. all files but PERSONAL.KEY do not get unZIPped.
>After 4 tries, I am unable to get it to work.
You almost certainly have an outdated version of PKUNZIP. The version I
have is 1.10, dated 3-15-90. The recent versions support a compression
technique not recognized by the earlier ones. Update your PKUNZIP and
I'll bet you can UNZIP SNAP402D.ZIP.
Karl Brendel Centers for Disease Control
Internet: CDCKAB@EMUVM1.BITNET Epidemiology Program Office
Bitnet: CDCKAB@EMUVM1 Atlanta, GA, USA
InterLink/RIME: KARL BRENDEL phone 404/639-2709
CIS : 73307,3101 fts 236-2709
GEnie: K.BRENDEL Home of Epi Info 5.0
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 90 10:43:49 PDT
From: raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen)
Subject: Assorted replies, and pointer to an information archive
From Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #158:
Kevin Patrick asked for sites that contain GIF files of dubious social
value. Such sites tend to fade out of existence, not only due to the
current political situation, but also because so many people ftp into
them that the machine is too heavily loaded to do much of anything
else. Nevertheless, the file "gif.sites" in my information archives
contains a few such lists, as well as the address of a fellow willing
to trade by (postal) mail.
Doug Moncur asked for a document that describes the various PC graphics
file formats, such as PIC, PCX, and GIF. Such descriptions can be
found on SIMTEL20 in the PD1:<MSDOS.GRAPHICS> directory.
From Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #158:
Christoph Baumhof asked for the address of Western Digital Corporation.
This information and the addresses/phone numbers/email addresses of
other computer companies can be found in the file "contact" in my
information archives.
Alessandro Russo wanted to know if there was a program to intercept LPT
output and send it into a file. Indeed, this is the example I use in
my information archives help file, which contains a facility whereby
you can search SIMTEL20 and other major archive sites for a program
that matches some description you specify.
Okay, so how do you access these information archives?
If you have FTP access, you can just ftp to math.princeton.edu
(128.112.128.157) and obtain the files from the directory pub/rjc and
its subdirectories. Most of the files have been compressed with the
UNIX utility of the same name.
If you don't have FTP access, you can send a help message to the
information server to receive additional instructions. Send email with
no subject and containing the two lines
path your-email-address
help
and *nothing else*. (In particular, no signatures.) The string
your-email-address should, of course, be replaced by your actual email
address. Make sure it is a fully-qualified domain-style address
(bitnet users should say user@machine.BITNET; users in the UK should
remember to do the standard address reversal).
------------------------------
Date: Fri Oct 12 12:51:51 1990
From: sadler@lognet2.hq.aflc.af.mil (Cpt Don A. Sadler)
Subject: Calendar software
Terry Lewis recently asked for calendar software for MSDOS. I would
like to recommend one source, Power Up Software. They make several
time management products but you would be interested in Calendar
Creator Plus 3.0... this is a fantastic product. It prints several
size calendars including day planners, week planners, etc. It allows
you to create your own events and handles recurring and floating events
(every 2nd Tuesday, Apr 5 of each year, every day in November, etc..).
It automatically increments counted events (birthdays, anniversaries,
etc).
Their number is (800) 851-2917. In California, (800) 223-1479. They
have a free catalog. I don't own any stock in the company but I am a
very satisfied user and have done some software reviews for them.. I
am a tough reviewer so believe me when I tell you these are good! By
the way, I think Calendar Creator sells for around $50-$60 but I have
seen it mail order for around $30.
Don Sadler
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 1990 09:52:53 PDT
From: George_C._Burkitt.El_Segundo@xerox.com
Subject: Re: Hard Drive Saver?
>Date: Mon Sep 17 12:06:03 1990
>From: guhsd000@crash.cts.com (Paula Ferris)
>
>Is there such a beast as a hard drive saver? A small TSR that can kick
>in and set a bit (or something) low to disable the motor in the hard
>drive?
I would recommend that you reconsider whether you want to substitute
the reliability problems associated with power turn on stress and
thermal cycling for the ones you now have ... noise, power
consumption, whatever.
The drive benefits more from a static temperature environment, even
fairly high operating temperatures, than from the reduced mechanical
wear you get with no spinning. A recent article by Steve Gibson
(SpinRite) reviews the pros and cons, and he recommends that the drives
be kept spinning unless the period of disuse is really long, like
hours. Same with all of the computer elements which dissipate power
and get hot.
My experience, with a workstation which is on all day, is that I lost
the drive twice in 9 months following a my employer's power down daily
rule. Now, I power down only on weekends or other periods of 24 hours
or more; it has only been 10 months since the last failure, so it's too
early to tell much. But I believe it.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 1990 10:04:07 PDT
From: George_C._Burkitt.El_Segundo@xerox.com
Subject: Re: Hard Disk Troubles
The usual cause of a drive failing to spin up (assuming no real
electrical or mechanical damage) is what's called "stiction" ... the
spindle motor has low torque at 0 speed and the surface coatings
(lubricants) on the disks cause the heads to adhere too much. It is a
very common 'failure' mode in smaller drives.
The temporary fix is to give the whole drive a spin in the disk spin
direction, a slight bump, or whatever. Some kind of handling is all
that's required to jar it to life. Sharp jolts are bad, 'thumps' are
better, 'thuds' are safest. With the drive still in the computer,
shaking th e box from side to side might do it, otherwise, you can
remove the drive and spin it. 'Parking' the heads before turning off
the power helps, because the parking zone is near the center, where the
spindle motor has a better advantage.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 1990 10:17:25 PDT
From: George_C._Burkitt.El_Segundo@xerox.com
Subject: AT bus drives
In Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #158 a question was asked regarding:
1. What is an "AT bus"-drive?
It is usually called an IDE interface in the store; it has the
controller on the drive, so all it needs to work in an AT computer is
the cable and plug to match the motherboard. They are RLL drives, so
have capacity and data rates comparable to an SDI drive. Obviously,
(?) they require an AT type motherboard.
3. What about compatibility: there is no direct compatibility between
drives with dissimilar interfaces. With a SCSI host, you can use MFM
and ESDI bridge controllers for those types of drives; I haven't heard
of bridge controllers for IDE or RLL. I've never heard of bridge
controllers for other host interfaces.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 1990 10:30:22 PDT
From: George_C._Burkitt.El_Segundo@xerox.com
Subject: tape backup system for 286 system
There are a lot of QIC (Quarter Inch Cartridge) systems available for a
few hundred $$. Some work from the floppy bus, so the added hardware
is minimal, keeping costs down. Others use a plug in SCSI board that
allows faster transfers at higher cost. Older versions used
aproprietary interface, but I think that's passe now. I have a
magazine ad that lists a surplus 40 MB floppy controller drive for
$189, and a fast drive, capacity not listed for $399. (Nevada
Computer, (800)654-7762). I asssume these are for internal mounting.
External drives are easier to install and use with several computers,
more $$$ to buy.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 90 13:32:13 -0400
From: Jim Kenyon <jkenyon@us.cc.umich.edu>
Subject: Tape backup unit for 286
Tape backup unit for 286 (actually, any DOS box) I have used a Colorado
Memory Systems Jumbo tape backup unit for about 6 months now and have
been very happy with its performance. It uses the floppy controller (B
drive but can use an optional controller card if you need to have drive
B installed. This means it's no speed demon but it is definitely great
for the money. Locally, it's $299 -- uses standard DC2000 (or
DC2000XL) carts and will do compression on the fly -- CDS claims 2x
tape capacity on average.
Jim Kenyon University of Michigan
jkenyon@css.itd.umich.edu 401 Washtenaw Ave
jkenyon@us.cc.umich.edu Division of Kinsesiology, Motor Behavior Lab
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
(313) 763-0498
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Date: Fri, 12 Oct 90 12:43:54 EDT
From: Peter Jones <MAINT%UQAM.bitnet@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Re: WordPerfect Mailing List
On Mon, 1 Oct 90 01:25:18 +0200 you Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #157 said:
>From: m11805@mwvm.mitre.org (Ted McMichael)
>
> I don't know about an Internet mailing list. If you find out
>about such a mailing list, please let me and everyone else know about
>it!
WP50-L, at UBVM on BITNET (ask your local site about gateways from Internet)
To subscribe, send mail to LISTSERV@UBVM.bitnet on BITNET containing:
HELP (optional)
SUBSCRIBE WP50-L Your name
Peter Jones (514)-987-3542
Internet:Peter Jones <MAINT%UQAM.bitnet@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>
UUCP: ...psuvax1!uqam.bitnet!maint
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 90 14:02:37 EDT
From: "Bernardo M. Ferdman" <BMF13@UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU>
Subject: Re: WordPerfect Mailing List
Someone asked about a WPerfect mailing list on the Internet. There is
one. It's called WP50-L and resides on the LISTSERVer at UBVM. To
sign up, send this command to LISTSERV@UBVM (Bitnet address):
SUBscribe WP50-L <your full name>.
Bernardo M. Ferdman
Dept. of Psychology
Dept. of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
State University of New York at Albany
Albany, New York 12222 U.S.A.
E-mail: bmf13@albnyvm1.bitnet
Telephone: (518) 442-4839
Fax: (518) 442-4867
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 90 15:06:41 BST
From: MCGDRKG%CMS.Manchester-Computing-Centre.AC.UK@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: WordPerfect mailing list.
With regard to the recent enquiries about a mailing list for
WordPerfect. There is one on Bitnet. It is moderately active with, on
average 15 postings per day. To subscribe use Listserv in the usual
manner.
To submit queries, et al, from hosts located in Europe, send messages
to the list address at WP50-L@HEARN. Do NOT try and subscribe using
this address!
For European readers who want to subscribe, send LISTSERV@HEARN.bitnet
a note saying SUBSCRIBE WP50-L John C. Doe (or your own full name if
you prefer...)
Bob Gowans
JANET: R.Gowans@UMIST
Internet: mcgdrkg%MCC.CMS.ac.uk@cunyvm.cuny.edu Dept Civil Eng,
EARN/BITNET: mcgdrkg%MCC.CMS.ac.uk@UKACRL U.M.I.S.T,
UUCP: ...!ukc!umist!R.Gowans Sackville St.,
Manchester,
FAX: [044 61 | 061] 200-4016 M60 1QD.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 90 13:55 EDT
From: DATAUB%vassar.bitnet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: NU 5.0's FILESAVE and Desqview 2.25
Has anyone been able to successfully use Norton Utilities'
FILESAVE and Desqview 2.25? I have had numerous problems including:
1) Machine will lock up very frequently when deleting files, and at
other times when it normally shouldn't (I have not as yet looked for
patterns of when it locks up).
2) Sometimes files are not saved. (The file takes a lot shorter to
delete, so I'll go back and check that it was saved, but it was only
deleted, not saved as well).
If anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing from you
- either directly, or through the net.
Danny Taub
Dataub@Vassar.Bitnet
Dataub%Vassar.Bitnet@Cunyvm.Cuny.Edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 90 13:45 EDT
From: DATAUB%vassar.bitnet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: PFs:Professional Write 2.21 and Desqview 2.25
Has anyone been able to successfully use Pfs:Professional Write
version 2.21 AND Desqview 2.25 (with QEMM installed)? Everything seems
to work fine in PFS until I decide to save the file. When I save it
outside of Desqview, it works perfectly, but when I try to save it in
Desqview, I get an I/O Error - which only lets me escape, never saving
my file...
I have tried everything from giving it more memory, to changing
the protection on the window and I can't seem to make it work. I
called SPC to find out what they changed in the program since the last
version (2.12 - which, incidentally, works fine in Desqview) and the
technical support person was completely unhelpful.
Any help on this matter would be appreciated.
Danny Taub
Dataub@Vassar.Bitnet
Dataub%Vassar.Bitnet@Cunyvm.Cuny.Edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 90 15:20 IST
From: DAVID%ILNCRD.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Technical problem with Word Perfect and JT Fax
Is there anyone who can think of a solution for this technical problem?:
I am running Word Perfect 5.1, with a Brother 1409 dot matrix printer
(emulates Epson LX-80) and a Quadram JT Fax 4800 board as output
devices. The JT Fax can take ASCII text files and translate them into
its native graphics format for transmission, either on-line or using a
supplied utility. It can also translate PC Paintbrush .PCX files and
either transmit them whole, or include them as graphics images in the
text files, which is a convenient way to include scanned signatures,
etc. However, there is no way, apparently, to take the whole graphics
page output from Word Perfect and translate it into JT Fax format,
since the supplied JT Fax drivers only support ASCII text.
It seems to me that a possible work-round is to output the entire
graphics page (including text) from WP in HP Control Language, and
translate it using the commercial utility Hijaak. However, Hijaak will
NOT translate HPCL hard or soft fonts.
Is there any way I can make Word Perfect output mixed pages of text and
graphics to a dummy-printer device in pure graphics (HPCL) format -- in
other words, using WP's built-in font emulations to send text as
graphics instructions instead of font and text commands? Has a printer
driver like this been written, or how could it be done?
Any answers or advice would be much appreciated.
David Nordell
david@ilncrd.bitnet
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #170
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