Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (01/30/89)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sun, 29 Jan 89 Volume 89 : Issue 13
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <COMFLEACT@Taegu-EMH1.army.mil>
Today's Topics:
National IBM PC User's group info Desired
A Question about .COM and .EXE files
Stack Content Changes
DOS 4.01 Problems
Bug in TP-4/5 RANDOM Function
FORTRAN libraries/subroutines and Torbo Pascal
DOS X11 Server from HP
Is a Tandon TM603se drive compatible with MFM
Joysticks
LAN Asynchronuous gateways
Old XT and 20MByte
Info Needed on Reported Problem with NORTON SD Program
Resident TEK driver
screen dump from Hercules card?
Self deleting installation bat file
Word Processing Conversion Utility Query
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 25 Jan 1989 21:25-CST
From: SAC.55SRW-LGS@E.ISI.EDU
Subject: National IBM User's Group
I am looking for the name and address of a magazine for a national IBM
user's group, if such exists. I know that Zenith has two for their
products: REMark and Sextant magazines. Outside of mags like PC, PC
Computing, Byte, etc., I am looking for a magazine dedicated to the
national IBM user's group, if such an animal exists.
If one does, so far as you know, appreciate a name and address for
the mag.
Thanx,
Frank Starr
------------------------------
Date: 25 January 1989 18:29:52 CST
From: "Michael J. Steiner " <U23405%UICVM.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: A question about .COM and .EXE files...
What is the difference between .COM and .EXE files? If I rename a file
with extension .EXE to extension .COM, will it make any difference?
[What's the difference? Well, a major difference is that a .COM file
is a CORE image while an .EXE still requires 'loading fix-ups' by the DOS
EXEC loader. An .EXE file has the various registers (CS, IP, et al) set
according to what the loader calculates while a .COM file has them set
the same and the program does the pre-setting after it starts execution.
There are other differences. You should consult the "DOS Technical
Reference Manual" (chap 7, pg 7-4 to 7-7) for more details. If you want
to know if a particular .EXE program can be converted to a .COM, the best
way to find out is to try "EXE2BIN <file>.EXE <file>.COM" (from your "DOS
Users Guide"). If the conversion works, EXE2BIN won't complain and when
the program is run, it'll work. If EXE2BIN can't make the conversion,
it'll complain and/or the program won't run... Hope this helps. gph]
Also, does anyone know of a program that will allow the user to write a
file (not just data) to specific sectors on a hard disk? (I have located a
bad sector on my hard disk and have left a "junk" file over it so that it
can't be used. Since the file is over 100K long, I would like to find out
exactly which sectors of the 100K are bad. Then I could write a (smaller)
junk file over it and then hide it, effectively removing the bad sector
from use. If I just erase it and then copy tiny files onto the hard disk,
DOS may not put the files over the bad sector, even though the space freed
by the erasing of the large file is available for use.)
Any help would be appreciated.
Michael Steiner
Email: U23405@UICVM.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Thursday, 26 January 1989 13:09:56 GMT
From: <OEBL8724%TREARN.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: Stack content changes
I was writing a routine which would return the results on the stack.
Every thing seemed to be ok just before the (Ret 10) instruction which
would just step over the parameters to be returned. But couldn't find the
returned values on the stack in the main prog..
After some debugging sessions i have figured out that
Add sp,? (any number)
Sub sp,?
changes the contents of the stack.
Any one knowing the reason..
Berkay Baykal
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 89 15:55 EDT
From: <S_RICHMOND%UTOROISE.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: DOS 4.01 Problems
I've noticed some strange occurrences with IBM DOS 4.01:
1) When I installed it with thesmallest resident ram reserved for DOS,
file copying and using EDLIN became erratic.
2) When installed with the moderate and maximum DOS ram, dBASE IV did not
have sufficient space for its application generator, SQL help files, and
some other features.
3) PC-TOOLS also has problems with this DOS, i.e. the MIRROR program
cannot open its MIRROR.FIL for saving an image of the FAT.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Sheldon Richmond
S_RICHMOND@UTOROISE
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 89 13:11:31 PST
From: madler@Hamlet.Bitnet (Mark Adler)
Subject: Bug in TP-4/5 RANDOM Function
A comment on:
>>
>> Bug in TP4/5 RANDOM function.
>>
>> Some time ago I noticed a bug in the Turbo Pascal 4.0 RANDOM
>> function. If one counts how many times RANDOM(44000) is less than
>> 22000 compared to how often it is equal to or greater, one finds
>> it is less about twice as often as not. I presumed this would be
>> corrected in TP5, but I find the same result. The underlying
>> random generator seems pretty good, but in computing RANDOM(n),
>> the remainder after division by n is used. This does not always
>> yield a uniform distribution.
>>
>> Wayne Sullivan
>>
The method you describe to get a random number in the range 0..n-1 (to
divide by n and take the remainder) is exactly the wrong method to use.
I'm suprised Borland isn't up on this. The best source of information on
random numbers and pseudo-random number generators is Knuth's
"Seminumerical Algorithms, 2nd ed." (the 2nd volume of the Art of Computer
Programming series). In there, Knuth states that when you use the linear
congruential method where the modulus is simply the word size of the
machine (which is usually the case), then the low bits of that number are
much less "random" than the high bits. Therefore, it is best to consider
a random, say, 32 bit number as a fraction with the "binary point" to the
left of the first digit. Then to get a number in the range 0..n-1, you
MULTIPLY the fraction by n and take the integer part. (See pages 170-173
in Knuth.) In machine languge, this just amounts to multiplying the 32
bits by n and taking the part of the product ABOVE the low 32 bits. It
should be possible for you to write your own routine that uses the
underlying random generator and the above technique to get a number in the
range 0..n-1.
I have written my own random number generators for use with Turbo C that
incorporate many of the recommendations of Knuth including the above and
shuffling to make a random sequence "more random". My routines also allow
one to switch between linear congruential and additive generation
techniques to allow testing the sensitivity of a simulation to the method
of making the pseudo-random sequence. They should be easily adapted to
Turbo Pascal, but I have not done so. If you are interested, I can send
them to you.
Mark Adler
BITNET: madler@hamlet
ARPA: madler@hamlet.caltech.edu
------------------------------
Date: 25 Jan 89 22:29 +0100
From: <l_christophe%use.uio.uninett%NORUNIX.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: FORTRAN libraries/ subroutines
Do any know if it is possible or will be made possible to call/ integrate
FORTRAN libraries/subroutines in Turbo Pascal? I am interested to
incorporate some advanced free-text database systems written in Assembly
and Fortran in a Pascal program. If Turbo will not include such
possibilities, are there an other version of Pascal available for IBM
clones which do incorporate such possibilities??? If none, is there an
other language (except Fortran, which I personally hate to use) which
could make use of Fortran subroutines?
I know that e.g. Zilog ZEUS on Z8000-51 and other computers can mix
Fortran freely with other languages, but I have no Z8000 computer, nor any
other UNIX computer available, just an Olivetti M24 with Seagate 277R 65
MB drive and a Sanyo 17+ 10 MHz AT with 30 MB harddisk.
Eng. Alf Christophersen
Institute for Nutrition Research
University of Oslo
PO Box 1046, Blindern
N-0316 Oslo 3
Norway
Internet: L_CHRISTOPHE@INGER.UIO.NO
MHS X.400: L_CHRISTOPHE@USE.UIO.UNINETT
BITNET/EARN: CHRISTOP@NORUNIT.EARN
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 89 14:29:32 EST
From: jbvb@vax.ftp.com (James Van Bokkelen)
Subject: DOS X11 server from HP
HP sells a DOS X11 server, which goes with their ARPA Services/Vectra
product (which prints an FTP Software copyright...).
James VanBokkelen
FTP Software Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Thu 26 Jan 89 11:42:45-PST
From: ROHAN%ASTRO.SPAN@STAR.STANFORD.EDU
Subject: Is a Tandon TM603se drive compatible with MFM
Does any old timer hardware person remember anything about the old 10MB
Tandon 603SE harddrive, circa 1982. It was given to me with a huge double
decker Davong controller card with the part number of 58300005. I am
wondering if the drive would work with today's modern controller cards
(normal MFM or possibly even an RLL). Included are both a 20-wire and
34-wire drive connectors but both ends have circuit board edge connectors
(instead of the pin connector on the controller side). This along with
the fact that the drive came from the pre-XT days, makes me worry that it
may not work (or worse yet, blow out) my existing controller card. Using
it on a new MFM controller would free up a slot, plus allow the drive to
be bootable (for some reason you have to use special software to drive the
disk with the older card (or so the previous owner tells me)). All
documentation for the drive is long gone, so I don't have Davong or
Tandon's phone number to call or ask.
Also with the drive and controller was an IBM/UDS adapter. Does anybody
know what's it for? It looks like a board used to connect an external
expansion box to the PC.
Help me I'm a software person,
Rick Rohan
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 89 20:43:46 PST
From: Alan Ariel <1052P%NAVPGS.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Joysticks
I need some information. I don't have a game or serial port on my
Turbo XT clone and I was looking to pick up an I/O card. My question is
this: I have an Atari 2600 video game with 2 joysticks. Can I use one of
them with the game port provided I match gender(F-F) ? People have told
me it can be done, but it would require some patching.
Does anyone have the straight gouge on this one ?
Alan D. Ariel BITNET: 1052P@NAVPGS
LT USN DDN: 1052P@CC.NPS.NAVY.MIL
SMC 1624 (or) LEEKW@A.ISI.EDU
Naval Postgraduate School Tel: (408) 646-2786
Monterey, CA 93943 AV: 878-2786
Acknowledge-To: <1052P@NAVPGS>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 89 15:06 B
From: <MIDS%HGRRUG5.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: LAN Asynchronuous gateways
We are utilizing a 3COM version 1.2.1. Local Area Network for workgroup
computing. To connect to the University Mainframe computers some of the
workstations have a direct modem connection. As communication software we
use MS-Kermit version 2.32A.
It appears that the newer kermit versions have the possibility to set the
communications port not only to the physical device but also to the Bios
and the Netbios level. In principle it should now be possible to
concentrate the modems on one server of the network, and running kermit on
every node. I know of some rather expensive software that performs the
function of an asynchronuous gateway, but they only support very little of
the kermit protocol. What I think I really need is a little (resident?)
program on each workstation which can intercept Bios calls from kermit and
place thes in network packages. On the server side one would need a
program that takes packages from the network and puts them on a modem. Of
course some bookkeeping features would be needed.
I have tried a demo version of SPARKLE SHARE which according to the
documentation should provide for the server part but I can't get it
running on our 3COM network. Besides it needs full netbios, and I don't
think that's actually needed.
I wonder whether there is anyone out there who has worked on this problem
in a 3COM environment.
Please send your comments to this list and/or directly to me
Pieter E Zanstra email MIDS@HGRRUG5.bitnet
University Hospital
Oosterhamrikkade 7 tel +31 50 612940
GRONINGEN fax +31 50 614759
The Netherlands
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 89 16:04:58 GMT
From: "M.D. Templeton GEC" (Alvey) <mcvax!sys.uea.ac.uk!mdt@uunet.UU.NET>
Subject: Old XT and 20MByte
You need to alter a couple of numbers in the EPROM on your HD card. I did
this some time ago for a Rodime drive - I think the patches would be the
same. If you need me to hunt out the HOW, WHAT WHERE, mail me and ask.
The Druid.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 89 17:22:22 PST
From: malone@nprdc.arpa (John S. Malone)
Subject: Info Needed on reported problem with NORTON SD program
An earlier posting indicated that some users have had problems with the
Speed Disk (SD) program provided with NORTON Utilities. I cannot locate
that posting and today I heard that several Zenith 248's had their hard
disks wiped out while using SD. I would like to verify that there is in
fact a problem with this utility, what version(s) are involved, has it
been fixed, what versions are safe, does it affect only certain hardware
configurations (if so, please specify which), etc.
... John malone@nprdc.arpa
... !ucsd!nprdc!malone
... John Malone
... Code 152, Building 329
... Navy Personnel Research and Development Ceter
... San Diego, CA 92152-6800
... Tel: (619) 553-7795
(A/V) 553-7795
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 89 21:49:18 EST
From: "Robert E. Zaret" <ZARET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Resident TEK driver
MicroPlot Systems
1897 Red Fern Dr.
Columbus, OH 43229
(614) 882-4786
might have an appropriate driver. They make some nice VT100/Tek
emulators. They also make a program called PlotDev, a "graphic device
driver which adds graphics and command editing to PC-DOS". I haven't
tried it, so I'm not sure. I have tried PC-PLOT, one of their emulators;
it doesn't do everything, but it is clean and inexpensive.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 88 13:21:22 EST
From: Darren Kinley <kinley@CRIM.CA>
Subject: screen dump from Hercules card?
Hello. I need to create a screen dump of a PC/AT with a Hercules card in
a file so that it can be manipulated and eventually sent to a laser
printer (not connected to the PC). Does there exist a (possibly
memory-resident) program to do this? In what format is the resulting
file?
Please mail to me directly, and I will summarize to the list.
Thank you.
--
Darren Kinley
Centre de recherche informatique de Montreal
<kinley@crim.ca>
514/848-8685
------------------------------
Date: 25 Jan 1989 12:15:41 EST
From: Ray.Curci@SCRI1.SCRI.FSU.EDU
Subject: Self deleting installation bat file
Erich Neuwirth, A4422DAB%AWIUNI11.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU, wrote
that he was having trouble making an installation .BAT file delete itself
without producing error messages on STDOUT. The trick is to place an
MS-DOS EOF mark (control-Z) on the same line as your DEL command as
follows:
echo Install Proceedure
,
,
,
del install.bat^Z
You may have to read your editor's documentation to figure out how to
insert a control-Z. In my VI editor, I just type control-V control-Z.
Good Luck!
ray curci, network support
supercomputer computations research institute
florida state university
inet: curci@scri1.scri.fsu.edu
bitnet: curci@fsu.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 89 07:55:38 CST
From: steve@ncsc.ARPA (Mahan)
SUBJ: Word processing conversion utility query
Due to various management decisions we have group of engineers and
technical people using WordPerfect 5.0 wordprocessing software while all
of the secretarial people use Lotus Manuscript. We would like to be able
to exchange documents between the two programs. I would appreciate
pointers to any conversion utilities that would perform this task.
Commercial, Shareware, and public domain software will be considered. It
would be nice to be able to translate formatting information along with
the text.
The conversion program from the archives at SIMTEL20, xword.exe, will
convert from WP to ascii and could be used but I am searching for
something better. Any help will be appreciated.
Reply to:
steve@ncsc.ARPA
Stephen Mahan
Code 5330
Naval Coastal Systems Center
Panama City, FL 32408-5000
(904) 234-4224
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
************************
-------