Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (11/27/89)
Info-IBMPC Digest Mon, 27 Nov 89 Volume 89 : Issue 107
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <COMFLEACT@Taegu-EMH1.army.mil>
Today's Topics:
Absolute disk read/write problems (2 msgs)
Call Waiting (2 msgs)
Environment length problems (2 msgs)
First Cluster of a file
360K drive as third floppy
Windows based M6809 Interpreter/Simulator
Today's Queries:
A/D Cards for the PC
Microsoft Windows Shareware Programs
MS-Windows: Why?
pcx effects kit
Problem with GAWK and command line arguments
32 Mbyte Hard Disk
Bulletin Boards
FTP File Servers
Documentation needed for 70 MByte IBM Disk Drive
New Programs:
CDISK431.ARC - Disk catalog system also does ARC/PAK/ZIP/LBR
The Lending Library is available from: WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (see
file PD1:<MSDOS.FILEDOCS>AAAREAD.ME details on file directories
and descriptions.)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 17:58:17 EST
From: Joe Morris (jcmorris@mitre.org) <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org>
Subject: Absolute disk read/write problems
From INFO-IBMPC Digest 89:83 (which just reached me today):
> From: <KAHN@VOID.MCEO.DG.COM>
> A person here at work is trying to do Absolute Disk R/W calls from C but
> is having problems. It seems that DOS puts something extra on the stack
> that needs to be poped off or else you get totally lost. Any ideas?
I don't know where this issue has been for the past six weeks, but in case
nobody else has responded...
For some strange reason Microsoft designed the absolute read and write
interrupts so that they leave their flags still on the stack when they
return to the caller. You must pop the flags off the stack yourself;
since C doesn't do this you can't use the int86x function to do the work.
This strange behavior is documented in several places, including the
PC-DOS Technical Reference (from IBM), the Norton Guides, and the
interrupt crib sheets which are available from the SIMTEL20 archives.
It seems that somebody went out of their way to make the interface
nonstandard. Does anyone in netland have any idea what the justification
for this might be?
Joe Morris
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 1989 11:56 EST
From: Norman Walsh <NORM%IONAACAD.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Absolute disk read/write services:
DOS deliberately leaves the flag word on the stack after calls to
interrupts 25h and 26h. This precaution was taken to preserve the
caller's flag register because some of the flags are used to return
information. Pretty silly if you ask me, I'd have been just as happy to
preserve the flags myself on those occasions where I care. The way I
handled this problem (in Pascal) was an assembler subroutine that cleaned
up the flags for me.
ndw
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 20:51:56 EST
From: Sarah_Gray@ub.cc.umich.edu
Subject: call waiting
*Some* phones can turn off call-waiting by prefixing the number with
*70. As soon as you hang up, the call-waiting is turned back on. Call
your local phone company to see if your exchange can do this.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 08:42 MST
From: "DENNIS W. VIEHLAND, INFO TECHNOLOGY PLANNING & POLICY"
Subject: Call Waiting
Dave @ UBUMSC asked about disabling call waiting so incoming calls would
not disrupt the modem signal and knock him off line.
The solution is a close as the nearest telephone book. I quote:
"To deactivate Call Waiting: Before making a call, push the * button and
70 if you have Touch-Tone Service. If you don't, dial 1170. Call Waiting
will automatically be reactivated when you hang up."
I use the *70 in the dialing directory of my communications package: *70
XXX-XXXX It works just fine.
Dennis W. Viehland
University of Arizona
VIEHLAND@ARIZRVAX
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 17:46:14 EST
From: Joe Morris (jcmorris@mitre.org) <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org>
Subject: Environment length problems
In INFO-IBMPC Digest 89:99 appeared the following:
> From: The Time Traveler <HE891C%GWUVM.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
> I'm having problems with my environment. No matter how large I set the
> environment with CONFIG.SYS's SHELL /E switch, I have practically no room
> in my environment to add strings. This only happens under a second copy
> of COMMAND.COM. Anyone know why?
The problem is that unless the command line which invoked the secondary
copy of COMMAND.COM included the /E switch, your secondary process gets
only the default size of 160 bytes or enough to hold the current size of
the environment variables, whichever is greater. Neither PC-DOS nor
MS-DOS take the obvious path of generating an environment with the same
size as the one for the higher-level interpreter.
I patched the COMMAND.COM at release 3.3 to change the default size of the
environment, so when I shell out of a program I get a usable environment
space. The patch is performed by using debug on command.com...
c:\> debug command.com
- d eb4 eb9 <---- show where we will patch
xxxx:0EB0 C7 06 60 16 - 0A 00
-e eb8 20 <--- the magic patch
-w <--- write out the patched module
Writing 62DB bytes
-q <--- leave debug
C:\>
The patch value is the number of 16-byte paragraphs to be allocated. The
default is 10 (decimal), representing 10*16 or 160 bytes. The number is
in the word at EB8, with the usual screwy inversion of characters. The
example above changes the default to 512 decimal (020h*010h=0200h).
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 17:53:05 EST
From: SAGE@LL.LL.MIT.EDU
Subject: Environment length problems
Someone recently asked about a problem he was having with the environment
under subsidiary COMMAND.COM tasks being too small no matter how big an
environment he had declared in his CONFIG.SYS. I just learned of this
problem myself. Apparently, when creating a subsidiary task, DOS creates
a 'child' environment that is only big enough to contain the environment
space that is ACTUALLY USED in the parent environment.
One solution I heard to this problem is to create a long dummy environment
variable in the parent (e.g., SET JUNK=12345678901234.....etc.). Then you
can make some free space in the child environment by killing this dummy
variable (e.g., SET JUNK=). It's a kluge, but then so is most of MS-DOS
:-)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 19:21 PDT
From: Dennis Calkins <Dennis-Calkins@l66a.ladc.bull.com>
Subject: First Cluster of a file
>I need to write a small, C Callable Routine that, Given a file name,
>outputs the number of the first cluster on disk of the file. Is there
>something like a DOS/Bios call that I can use for this purpose?
The first cluster number of a file resides in the DIRectory entry for
that file. You would have to write a routine to read the directory
sectors 5-11 on a 5 1/4. I dont' know the format of a 3 1/2(Norton Does).
Sub-Directories cluster number points to a Directory Sector for that
Directory. Tracing Subdirectories is no worse than tracing any other type
of file. You just have to interpret the data differently.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 18:11 EST
From: <SYMOLON_%CTSTATEU.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: 360K drive as third floppy
>I have a problem. (My friendly local computer store dealer is the cause...)
>I have 3 floppy drives, the first is a 1.2M the second a 1.44M and the
>third is a 360 K. The third drive has some additional hardware, but the
>drivers I received only support 720K floppies for these drives. Are there
>any drivers for my situtation available? I know my dealer should solve
>that problem, but perhaps somebody can help he and I.
Basically your disk controller (& drive) must be able to handle the extra
storage. I had a 1.44 3.5 disk connected to a standard 360K interface.
Using the hardware alone, it would access the drive as a 360K. With
driver software, the drive was accessed as a 720K drive. I finally
replaced the card with one that would handle that kind of density. The
drive will now access with the 1.44M format. I would say, get another
card that will handle the density.
Jim Symolon
Computer Repair
CCSU
This has been a public service announcement, not neccessary for the public.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 18:11 EST
From: <SYMOLON_%CTSTATEU.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Windows based M6809 Interpreter/Simulator
>From: J Sturgeon <csc352@CENTRAL1.LANCASTER.AC.UK>
>Hi...I'm a 3rd year computer science student at Lancaster University in
>England, doing a project on a Windows-based M6809 interpreter/simulator.
>I can't seem to find any books or other information on writing hardware
>simulators in software for the above chip over here, so could I put an
>entry on your BB to appeal for info?
>
I am not quite sure on what you want. Do you want :
1. guidelines for writing simulators OR
2. M6809 hardware description OR
3. all of the above.
2. is easy but, I do not have the specs.
1. Ok, it is not that hard to simulate a cpu on another computer.
Basically, you load the code you want to execute into memory. Set up the
registers & flags in memory. Set the IP (instruction pointer) to the
first instruction and get it. Decode the instruction, and jump to the
corresponding routine that will "do" that instruction. Increment the IP
or jump or branch and continue the Fetch, Decode, & Execute cycle.
It is easy to show the status after each execute, show the
registers, or any type of information. (i.e. stack, variables, or flags.)
I think the 6809 has I/O built into it also, so you might have to
simulate the IN/OUT? instructions. Or you could leave them out. It all
depends on how deep you want to go.
Of course simulating a computer is different, and you should not try
and emulate an more powerful, huge, just too damn big, computer on a
smaller one. (i.e. IBM 370 on a PC) !
Keep in mind that simulating a rich instruction set is interesting, but
can be very tiring. I simulated an IBM 370 cpu on a VAX with an
integrated debugger. I also wrote the corresponding assembler. I had
some time to burn.
Jim Symolon
Computer Repair
CCSU
This has been a public service announcement, not neccessary for the public.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 12:03 MST
From: GORDON_A%CUBLDR.Colorado.EDU@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: A/D Cards for the PC
regarding the question about A/D cards for the PC...
I have used the Data Translation models DT2801a and DT2821 boards. Both
allow DMA for high speed acquisition. The 2821 runs up to 40KHz and costs
about $1400, the 2801 is about $900. The difference between the two is
that the 2821 has 2 DMA channels while the 2801a has 1. Thus with the
2821 you can do double buffering, one buffer with each dma channel or if
you are clever can do A/D on one channel and D/A on the other.
Allen
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 14:50:22 MEZ
From: "M.J.Hepperle" <PACP%DS0RUS1I.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Microsoft Windows Shareware Programs
Hi there,
I am looking for some Windows Shareware programs:
"Click & Show", a picture show generator
"Tiffany", a screendump utility for TIFF-format
"sedwin", a text editor
"cmnview", a Common View example ?
"Eval", a DDE Evaluator
"Dsklk", a Disk looker
"Finder-X", a Mac like Windows shell
Can someone tell me where to get these files, upload these files to
SIMTEL20, or send them directly to me ? I only have access to BITNET, so
ftp is not possible for me. I am especially interested in information on
DDE connections to Excel, because I always have problems with my own
applications.
Thanks, Martin
MARTIN J. HEPPERLE MMMMMMMMMMMMH HHH
UNIVERSITAET STUTTGART MM MMMMM MMMH HHH
PFAFFENWALDRING 9 M MMM MMHH HHHH
D-7000 STUTTGART 80 M MMM MMHHHHHHH
WEST GERMANY M MMM MMHH HHHH
------------------------ M MMM MMH HHH
PACP@DS0RUS1I.BITNET M MMM MMH HHH
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 17:14:29 EST
From: Don Malpass <malpass@ll-vlsi.arpa>
Subject: MS-Windows: Why?
Do you use MicroLimp's WINDOWS? Somebody told me to get it (with
the Lab's money!), and having done so, I fail to see what all the fuss is
about. It's slick, but for the life of me, I can't figure out who needs
it. It provides a nice clock (*yawn*), rolodex, yaite (yet another
inferior text editor), and the equivalent of painter's apprentice, but
wouldn't the various pieces be nearly as good (and a LOT less space
consuming) as standalone programs? Multi-tasking it ain't! WHAT AM I
MISSING? I may simply not have gone deep enough into it to appreciate it,
but I have the feeling it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist,
unless perhaps a PC owner has second thoughts about not having bought a
Mac. That doesn't include me! Again: WHAT AM I MISSING? rsvp before I
reclaim the disk space. Cheers,
Don Malpass [malpass@LL-vlsi.arpa], [malpass@gandalf.LL.mit.edu]
... A concerned and somewhat ashamed member of the only species
which DESERVES extinction, Homo sapiens. 11/89
PS. Perhaps today's announcement that IBM is about to embrace the
product adds strength to my misgivings.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 13:48 EST
From: S7182rcb%semassu.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu
Subject: pcx effects kit..
a while back, Ted Fabian asked about manipulation of bit-mapped images
in the PCX format.....he wanted to do a alide ahow of scanned images, but
no commercial software read the PCX format....
one solution is from a company called "GENUS microprogramming"
they sell "PCX toolkit," "PCX Effects," and "PCX Text."......
these are functions written in quote " 12 compilers for C, basic, pascal,
assembly, fortran, and clipper."
PCX Toolkit LIM 4.0 support, Super VGA modes, and "over 60 functions
to support bit-mapped images." $195
PCX effects is a "Music Languge" and effects for "exploding your
graphics." $99
PCX Text allows proportional text, font editor, and 85 (!) fonts.
$149..
******** NOTE *******
ALL of the information above was taken from the GENUS ad in the Nov.
issue of the C Users Journal....I am IN NO WAY affiliated w/ GENUS, and I
have NOT USED any of the products described above....I'm merely passing
along info.....
********* end of note ********
the address for GENUS is...
GENUS microprogramming
11315 Meadow Lake
Houston, TX 77077
(713) 870-0737
1-800-227-0918
Rich Beaudry (S7182rcb@semassu BITNET)
[You have GOT to do something about your 'signature' ("I took...") on your
return address line (the From: line). It is so long that your mailer
can't get your NET address on the same line... gph]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 13:38:47 MEZ
From: Erich Neuwirth <A4422DAB%AWIUNI11.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Problem with GAWK and command line arguments
Some time ago I asked about a problem with GAWK. The problem has been
solved in the meantime.
The problem was: You can give GAWK a program on the command line as a
command line argument. You have to use double quotes to make one argument
from a text containing blanks. But some AWK programs contain double
quotes. How to get them through to AWK? Solution: precede the double
quote you need in the program with a backslash. Example:
GAWK "$4==\"m\""
is a valid command line
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 10:13 EST
From: <LIANG%IPFWCVAX.BITNET@UICVM.uic.edu>
Subject: 32 Mbyte Hard Disk
Would anyone please help me on this small question.
we have some pc in the lab that has 40mb hard disk each. the way they are
is there is only a C drive in each machine. the dos version is 3.2.
Now more than 32mb hard disk memory has been loaded in each machine. It
is said that dos 3.2 can only access to 32mb maximum. I do not know
whether it means that CERTAIN files on our hard disk will never be able to
be run, typed, copied, edited, ..., before partitioning the disk or
reducing the load on the disk.
thank you.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 12:09:25 EST
From: Joel Saunders <RJFS%SNYCENVM.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: Bulletin Boards
I would appreciate it if I could get any info on a BBS program called
OPUS. I also would like information on any BBS's that have the capability
to allow users to run DOS programs from BBS menu's (DOORS ???).
Thanks much in advance.... Please reply directly as time is of the
essence. (Sorry, BOARD members!!!)
I will summarize to the BOARD.
Thanks .... Joel
@ __ JOEL F. SAUNDERS
( ) RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF S.U.N.Y.
/ \/ SUNY PLAZA - BROADWAY F205
__/_______________ /\ ALBANY, NEW YORK 12246
/ / / / (___ / \
(_/ (____/ (_______/ \__ MICRO SUPPORT UNIT
The opinions expressed are generally my own, sometimes my employer's, but
not at any one time everyone who is involved!!!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 19:30 EST
From: Andrew C Beers <V109QG7U@ubvmsc.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: FTP File Servers
Does anyone know of any public FTP file servers that have MS-DOS
files them?? I have been on SIMTEL and would like to see more, especially
if there are MIDI and graphics directories.
Thanks.
v109qg7u
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 14:35:52 CST
From: Fetcher of Large Rocks <lantz@skvax1.csc.ti.com>
Subject: Documentation needed for 70 MByte IBM Disk Drive
I just obtained a disk drive which I was told was a 70 meg MFM drive made
by IBM. The TYPE id was an 0669. It is a full high drive with six dip
switches on the back. My problem is, I have no documentation.
What I need to know is the number of tracks, the number of heads, and the
number of sectors. I would also like to know the setting for the dip
switches if the drive is going to be used as drive D and/or drive C.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Bernie Lantz
Adjunct Professor
Graduate School of Management
University of Dallas
Irving, Texas.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1989 08:05 MST
From: Keith Petersen <w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: CDISK431.ARC - Disk catalog system also does ARC/PAK/ZIP/LBR
[--forwarded message--]
From: feg@clyde.ATT.COM (Forrest Gehrke)
I have uploaded the following file to SIMTEL20:
<msdos.catalog>
CDISK431.ARC Disk catalog system also does ARC/PAK/ZIP/LBR
This is a popular floppy disk cataloger.
Forrest Gehrke
Thanks, Forrest!
--Keith
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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