Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Info-IBMPC Digest") (03/09/90)
Info-IBMPC Digest Thu, 8 Mar 90 Volume 90 : Issue 40
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <GHICKS@WSMR-Simtel20.Army.Mil>
Today's Topics:
Batch File Queries
Black boxes with Pagemaker -- another comment (2 msgs)
Can't Open NUL (Was bug in PKZIP)
Enhanced keyboard problem -- a response
Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #30
XT 360K Drives in an AT
Today's Queries:
WORD 5.0 and Novell NetWare
Disabling Control Break
FTP Transfer Problem
RE: Info on Local Talk cards for PS/2
Zenith 183 and Awkard Keys
Video producer products for PC
Where is TEXINFO?
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Date: Fri, 2-Mar-1990 09:59:37.15 CST
From: <silber%TAMCHEM.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu> (Steve Silber)
Subject: Batch File Queries
In Vol.90 #29, Andrew Ward asked about inputting information to a Batch File
for further processing.
DOS does not support this function in batch files, but there are a variety of
things that will.
The Norton Utilities (Version 4.0) include an ASK function which permits a
single character input with errorlevel testing. This may be adequate for
some simple things but is not really what Andrew wanted.
4DOS version 2.1 includes both an INKEY and INPUT function. INKEY accepts a
single key stroke, including extended characters, and INPUT accepts a text
string. Both store the response in an Environment variable, and both allow
you to specify a prompt before accepting input.
I believe also that there are a variety of such utilities in the Simtel
archives BATUTL directory, but have not used any of them.
I hope this helps.
Steve Silber SILBER@TAMCHEM BitNet
Texas A&M University SILBER@CHEMVX.TAMU.EDU Internet
Department of Chemistry
*** Usual Disclaimer *** I have no interest in 4DOS, financial or otherwise,
except as a satisfied user.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 90 11:00:18 EST
From: Joe Morris (jcmorris@mitre.org) <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org>
Subject: Black boxes with Pagemaker -- another comment
In INFO-IBMPC 90:32 Gary Dunn at WESTCOM comments about having seen the
black-box problem in printouts on a LaserJet from PageMaker. I've seen the
same problem (in the same configuration), and after much long-distance Muzak
from Microsoft still have no satisfaction. The gist of the responses I've
gotten from uSoft are:
- The Windows memory manager doesn't handle out-of-memory situations in a
clean fashion, and can effectively return the same memory block to multiple
requestors at the same time. This is a design problem in the Windows Version
2 architecture and will not be fixed until Version 3.
- Perhaps as a result of the above problem, the HPPCL driver gets extremely
confused when it runs in a marginal memory environment. (The symptoms I
usually see include not only the black boxes but grossly incorrect font
selection, usually substituting Courier for a soft font.) The user is given
no message about insufficient memory.
- In any case, uSoft repeatedly tells me that it's not their job to fix the
driver because it was written by Aldus. (This despite the fact that the
driver is part of the Windows package, not PageMaker.)
The black-box problem might be caused by fragmentation of memory which could
be causing memory allocation problems; this scenario is consistent with the
report that rebooting the machine clears it up. As far as the HP memory
limits are concerned, my memory says that the LaserJet will stop with a
nastygram on the control panel display if it runs out of memory while
composing a page.
While I've got the subject of HPPCL.DRV open, has anyone seen the following
problem:
Situation: LaserJet II with a cartridge with 8-point Helvetica roman, and
soft fonts for 8-point Helvetica bold and italic fonts. Windows is set up to
use the cartridge and the two soft fonts. There are no TSR's, and the only
driver is ANSI.SYS in a 640K machine. Windows/286 version 2.11 (with either
the original HPPCL.DRV or the recent update installed). The soft fonts are
H-P (non-scaled), and the WIN.INI file was updated by the Windows soft font
installer.
Problem: Any Windows application (including Windows Write) which emits a call
for 8-point Helvetica roman actually prints the bold font. Looking at the
printer data stream the PCL is explicitly calling out the bold soft font
instead of the cartridge roman font. The problem also occurs with
Times-Roman.
Microsoft response: Not our responsibility; complain to Aldus.
Aldus response: It's a Microsoft product.
Workaround: Sacrifice one of the 32-font limit positions (and memory) to load
the 8-point roman soft font.
Anyone recognize the problem and/or know of a better solution?
Joe Morris
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 90 11:57:54 LCL
From: "Bruce H. McIntosh" <UFWORLEY@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu>
Subject: Black boxes with Pagemaker -- another comment
Thanks for the message re: PM black boxes. We've got that particular problem
licked, thanks to my application of a truly unorthodox technical approach- I
read the manuals :-).
I found a caution buried in the Bitstream Fontware docs that warns the user
to only install the normal ("roman") and italic PCL fonts for the LaserJet
and let the HPPCL.DRV driver deal with the boldfacing.
We had explicitly installed bold and bold italic fonts, and the driver was
getting confused by them. It apparently was downloading the bold fonts
instead of bolding the normal fonts, thus sucking up most available LaserJet
memory, resulting in black boxes and other printout nastiness.
I wiped out all the old fonts, reinstalled the fonts with just normal and
italic, and the problems magically disappeared.
Bruce
ps- what's the latest release date on Pagemaker 4 for Windows 3? :-)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 07:36:27 PST
From: bmarsh@cod.nosc.mil (William C. Marsh)
Subject: Can't Open NUL (Was bug in PKZIP)
From: nyet%gap.caltech.edu@Tybalt.Caltech.Edu (Nye T. Liu)
>>I think I've found a bug in PKZIP/UNZIP 1.02! Whenever I run the -t
>>option to test the archive, for each file in the archive I get this
>>message:
>>
>>PKUNZIP: Warning! can't open: NUL
>When you say : can't open : NUL, does is really say "NUL"? Since "NUL" is
>MS-DOS's null device, I can only assume either you are using pkunzip
>through a batch file which is trying to pipe output into the the NUL
>device improperly, you have a corrupted version of pkzip (I've had no
>problems running the -t option on any IBM i've used..), or the pkzip
>program itself is trying to use the NUL device and for some reason NUL
>does not exist on your computer.
Everybody has a NUL device! It's the first device in the device chain!
It could be that this is running under DOS version 2.X. There was an obscure
bug in version 2.x which prevented opening of devices (which I had found when
working on an old version of the Jove editor).
Just a guess...
Bill Marsh, Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, CA
{arpa,mil}net: bmarsh@cod.nosc.mil
uucp: {ihnp4,akgua,decvax,dcdwest,ucbvax}!sdcsvax!nosc!bmarsh
"If everything seems to be coming your way, you're probably in the wrong lane."
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 90 11:20:30 EST
From: Joe Morris (jcmorris@mitre.org) <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org>
Subject: Enhanced keyboard problem -- a response
In INFO-IBMPC 90:34 Ian Gay reports a problem with phantom shifts when he
uses the new keys on an enhanced keyboard.
I've seen the same problem...on a true-Blue AT with an enhanced keyboard, but
which also has the old BIOS which doesn't know how to handle the extra keys.
As a workaround I install the FIXSHIFT.COM (which I think came with uSoft's C
compiler, but I'm not sure).
The problem is that the new keys send extra scan codes. For example, the key
which carries both keypad 4 and left arrow transmits scan code 4B when
pressed and CB when released. The distinct left arrow key sends the
following:
If the NumLock latch is *off*: E0 4B when pressed, E0 CB when released
If the NumLock latch is *on*: E0 2A E0 4B when pressed,
E0 CB E0 AA when released
which is supposed to temporarily "press" the left SHIFT key, send the keypad
4 code, and finally "unpress" the left SHIFT key. The E0 prefix is intended
to mark the next character as an extended key function. I suspect that both
my IBM BIOS and your Phoenix BIOS are running off the end of a table when
they attempt to interpret the E0 prefix, and are somehow causing the same
failure symptoms. (BTW: the scan code for the left SHIFT key is 2A/AA.)
This will also confuse other programs which read the keyboard scan codes
directly; I had to rewrite parts of the YTERM keyboard handler to support the
enhanced keyboard layout.
I suspect that your machines have BIOS chips which predate the support of the
extended keyboard. You'll probably have to check with the vendor (or maybe
with Phoenix itself) about upgrades.
------------------------------
Date: 02 Mar 90 07:41:25 EST
From: <PPFLUEGE@GTRI01.gatech.edu>
Subject: Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #30
One thought-Why bother to use the PC? There are burglar alarm systems that can
be programmed to phone the police (or what ever other number programmed into i
t) when tripped. These are usually battery backed up to protect against power
failure. With a relay energized by the power line voltage the operator could b
e notified when power fails or is restored. Hope this helps. Phil
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 90 08:11:16 -0500
From: carlson@gateway.mitre.org
Subject: XT 360K Drives in an AT
Greg,
In your reply about the differences between AT and PC 360k disk drives you
said that the only difference was the color of the face plate. However,
there is one additional (very important) difference with the signal lines.
One of the pins on the cable (pin 34, I think) is connected in the PC, but
not connected in the AT. Many of the newer drives have a set of jumpers for
the AT/PC selection.
I discovered this problem when I tried to put a 360k drive from a Z-100 into
an AT compatible. In the technical documentation on the Z-248 I found a
section that explained how to check that you had an AT-configured drive and I
used this to reconfigure the Shugart drive from the Z-100. On the Shugart
drive I had to cut a jumper wire to set the drive to the AT configuration.
Bruce Carlson
MITRE Corp
carlson@gateway.mitre.org
[Woops! Blew it on this one!]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 01:35:02 MEZ
From: p081202%DBORUB01.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: WORD 5.0 and Novell NetWare
Thanks to all who sent me a reply, especially to Lewis Taylor in Stockholm
and Tony Greenwood anywhere in the UK, who seem to be unable to reach the
list (unfortunately).
The solution to the problem was that MS WORD 5.0 requires that the user has
at least "search" rights in the directory ABOVE the one he is actually
working in (don't ask me why). I created subdirectories under each user's
home dir, and now they can write into this subdir without "seeing" the other
user's files....
Not the most elegant way, but quite satisfying. But I still think this is a
kind of bug in WORD 5.0. Any comments from MS? In Germany the rumour spreads
that MS will change all copies of WORD 5 older than 4 weeks into a new
flawless version. I will contact MS to ask whether this is true. If it is, I
will report to the list...
Peter Hauptmanns
Dep. of Social Sciences
Ruhr-University of Bochum
D-4630 Bochum
(P081202@dborub01.bitnet)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 90 15:11:44 CST
From: Mark Parr <JPARR1@UA1VM.ua.edu>
Subject: Control Break
Does anyone know of a .SYS file that will prevent Control-Break (Ctrl-C) from
working on an IBM PS/2 computer.
I have a couple of these that work fine on an IBM XT but they don't work on
the PS/2. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.....
Mark Parr - JPARR1@UA1VM.BITNET -- JPARR@MIBSRV.MIB.ENG.UA.EDU
University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
"The mistake you make is in trying to figure it out."
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 09:05 PST
From: MicroMan <SAM@POMONA.CLAREMONT.EDU>
Subject: RE: Info on Local Talk cards for PS/2
I have a Daystar Local Talk card for my PS/2 Model 50. It works great for
printing to our Apple LaserWriters. However, I have not tried (really hard)
to hook it to our Tops Network. TOPS v.2.1 will not run with this board.
Maybe 3.0 will. But I did not attempt to contact Daystar or TOPS to see what
I could do.
Sam Cropsey
Microsystems Manager
Pomona College
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 90 08:44:54 EST
From: Jim Tedeschi <JTT58%ALBNYVM1@UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU>
Subject: Zenith 183 and Awkard Keys
I own a Zenith 183. The PageUp, PageDown, Home,End keys all require the user
to push another key to achieve the stated function. Is there a software
solution to get around this awkwardness in the hardware? Can I redefine
keys, swap keys or something so when I push a Home key the function desired
occurs?
Thanks for any help.
Jim Tedeschi
SUNY at Albany
jtt58@albnyvm1.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 10:39:36 EST
From: gary@ctc.contel.com (Gary Bisaga x4219)
Subject: Video producer products for PC
Hello. I am looking for hardware and programs and that would allow a Mac or
PC to be used as a video producer's workstation. For example, using a
Genlock board bring in a video stream and overlay information such as a clock
and titles over it; not all of these would be "scriptable", such as you could
do with MacroMind director (e.g., the stopwatch/clock). I don't have any
information about even PC-based Genlock boards or supporting software, so
you're getting the paucity of knowledge I have at this point.
Such a workstation would also include software, maybe development libraries,
to allow program interface and control over tape decks, time code recorder
and readers, and so forth. Any information about any of these types of
products would be most appreciated. I will summarize responses if there is
any interest.
As I don't get this list, please respond to me directly at the email address
below. (An hour a day to read xpert is too much time as it is ...)
Sincerely,
Gary Bisaga (gary@ctc.contel.com)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 90 17:27 -0300
From: "Carlos A. F. Brefe" <SUBREFE%VENUS.CPQD.ANSP.BR@UICVM.uic.edu>
Subject: Where is TEXINFO?
I download the file <MSDOS.AWK>G210DOC.ARC, which contains a
documentation for GAWK210. "Inside" it there is a file GAWK.TEX, that is the
source. I've tried to run it through TEX, but the first line of the file
contains a command "\input texinfo", which I supposed to be a set of macros.
Does anybody know where I can find this file ?
| Carlos Alberto Fonseca Brefe || E-mail: subrefe@venus.cpqd.ansp.br |
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"They do certainly give very strange and new-fangled names to diseases."
_ Plato (375 B.C.)
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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