Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (01/28/89)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sat, 28 Jan 89 Volume 89 : Issue 11
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <COMFLEACT@Taegu-EMH1.army.mil>
Today's Topics:
Technical Word Processors for Word Perfect
A question about CGA, EGA
ACAD Display Driver Question
Looking for OS/88 operating system for Zenith-100
Hardcopying from Turbo Pascal Graph Unit
CD ROM Technology Discussion
Info Request for Lotus 1-2-3 .PIC file structure
Keyboard Problem
Keyboard problems on Z248s
Looking for replacement disk on PS2/30-286
Removing IBM Token Ring Drivers
SHELL and AUTOEXEC.BAT
Want to Read 8" Floppy with AT
Wierd behaviour of the COMMAND.COM
SIMCGA Usage
Back-up Program wanted for a (nearly) PC Compatable
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Date: 20 January 1989 10:21:00 CST
From: Charlie Smyth <CSMYTH@UIUCVMD.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: Technical Word Processors for Word Perfect
RE: recent inquiry concerning Word Perfect and a Scientific Word Processor
add on.
I have attempted to use a product called EXACT with very little success.
It is touted to be quite good and support Word Perfect 5.0 and various
Laser printers but thus far, we have been unable to get it to do all that
it claims. The problems have been acknowledged by the EXACT management
and they promised to return various phone calls but haven't. We are quite
frustrated since it is quite the expensive package (the HP laser support
is an extra $100 bucks!)
There have been various reviews of packages in the math, statistical and
chemistry literature (eg. Gerson and Lowe, 1987. Analytical Chemistry
59:17 pp 1031a-1048a) and there is a publication from the IBM PC UG of the
Boston Computer Society that reviews the whole mess. We have a copy of
the 3rd edition (May 1987) which has no doubt been revised. The
coordinators of the list at that time were Richard Goldstein, James Loomis
and Avarm Tetewsky. The last address that I have for it is from: Carl A
Hein; Dunster House, Apt 7; Swanson Road; Boxborough, MA 01719. The price
at the time was $12. I suspect that there is a BBS from this group that
could also be consulted.
Charlie Smyth CSMYTH@UIUCVMD.bitnet
Dept. of Statistics, UIUC csmyth@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu
101 Illini Hall
725 S. Wright Street,
Champaign, IL 61820
------------------------------
Date: 15 January 1989 11:55:10 CST
From: "Michael J. Steiner" <U23405%UICVM.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: A question about CGA, EGA
What exactly is the difference between CGA, EGA, and Hercules graphics
cards? (I'm totally ignorant about this.) Do most PC's come with EGA? Can
you do graphics on a PC without any of these?
Thanks in advance,
Michael Steiner
Email: U23405@UICVM.BITNET
[What's the difference? CGA (Color Graphics Adaptor) screen definition is
much less than that of the EGA (Extended Graphics Adaptor) or Hercules
Graphics adaptor. Most PC's do NOT come with EGA, although the companies
would like to sell the computers with an EGA adaptor. You have to specify
which video adaptor is desired. MDA (monochrome adaptor) is the least
expensive, but if the adaptor is a TRUE clone of the IBM MDA, can't do
graphics. If you don't have a Hercules adaptor (or one of the
equivalents), CGA, EGA, et al, not only can't you do graphics, but you
won't be able to use any sort of monitor... The display adaptor is what
provides the interface between the computer and the monitor. There have
been MANY articles in BYTE, PC MAGAZINE, PC WORLD and other PC oriented
magazines. It might be worthwhile to check your local library and see
what's available. gph]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 89 12:38 CST
From: Daniel Keizer <BUDANK%UOFMCC.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: ACAD Display Driver Question
We have a need for a display driver for AutoCAD release 10 for a Tandy
deluxe graphics driver or equivalent. If you have any suggestion,they
would be appreciated. Currently we know the monitor stats are H scan 26.4
Khz V scan 60 Hz and resolution of 640 by 400. The sigma 400 card does not
work.
thanks
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 89 02:40 CST
From: Timothy Ramsey <NOP%KSUVM.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: Looking for OS/88 operating system for Zenith-100
I'm looking for the OS/88 operating system for the Zenith 100. If you
have it or know someone who has it, please drop me a note.
Thanks in advance,
Tim Ramsey
NOP@KSUVM (BITNET) -or- NOP@ksuvm.ksu.edu (Internet)
Acknowledge-To: Timothy Ramsey <NOP@KSUVM>
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 89 17:20 GMT
From: William Martin Keating <KEATING%NMRC%IRUCCVAX.UCC.IE@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Hardcopying from Turbo Pascal Graph Unit
Does anyone have a program which will genertate hardcopies of the screen
using the Turbo Pascal (4.0) Graph unit.I've tried modifying the Hardcopy
procedure distributed with the Borland Graphics Toolbox,and this works ..
to an extent.. it refuses to recognise the presence of certain colours on
the screen ! If anyone knows how to solve this problem..I'd appreciate
some assistance..
Thanks in advance
Liam Keating.
[ General E-Mail : keating@nmrcvax1.ucc.ie ]
[ Bitnet : stee8015@iruccvax.bitnet]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 89 19:17:10 CST
From: BIll Hayes <IANR012%UNLVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: CD ROM Technology Discussion
CD ROM technology is still developing. With loads of standards in the
offing CD ROMs will eventually offer users many of the same benefits as
video discs.
Currently, CD ROMS are used with large character-based applications.
Each read-only CD can hold up to 600 megabytes of information, about the
equivalent of 15 King James edition Bibles. As can be expected, larger
corporations have latched on to the technology to distribute technical
manuals (FMs and TMs to y ou service guys). With sophisticated text
retrieval software, it is also an id eal vehicle for intelligence and
financial analysts who need to sift lots of in formation. There's even a
CD with loads of Public Domain software, about 5,000 programs, if I
remember correctly.
Microsoft and Lotus are key players in the CD ROM publishing business,
both are fielding CDs for product support. Lotus publishes an MIS disk
with product te chnical information as well a series of financial disks.
Microsoft has so far published three disks, MS Bookshelf, MS Programmer's
Library, and MS Stat Pack. All three can be supported on Netbios-based
networks, and the 32 node version of Bookshelf comes with a less than half
priced coupon for OPTILAN, a network software add-in for servers and
network stations. The Grollier's Electronic Encyclopedia may be offered
as a network version, according to some company reps I recently talked to.
CD players cost less than $1000. Controller cards are available for XT,
AT, and PS/2 models. I'm not so sure about the compatibles market, Tandy
models work, and Compaqs ought to work. Othersr may know more. What makes
a CD addressable by DOS is MS software called MS Extensions. A software
driver and an executable module called from a batch file extend
DOS'ability to address large disk volumes. Basically, MS Extensions
treats the CD as a large, slow (very slow) disk drive. The current
version of MS Extensions does not support OS/2 and CD ROM applications
WILL NOT run from the DOS box.
Recently, PC Week, PC Magazine and PC Tech have published good articles on
the technology's strengths and weaknesses. Thus far, the only market
widely penetrated has been university libraries. Here at the UN-L we are
looking at CD ROMs for network applications and Computer Aided Instruction
vehicles, since CD ROMS can host audio, video, graphics, and data.
CD ROM Review, by IDG Communications, is a good quarterly publication
about the CD ROM industry.
------------------------------
Date: 19 Jan 89 21:24 -0600
From: Dan Fandrich <shad04@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Info Request for Lotus 1-2-3 .PIC file structure
Aaron Morse <FSAPM%ALASKA.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> writes:
>I am programming an application that needs to be able to read
>Lotus 1-2-3 graphs. I am searching for information on the .pic
>format. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I downloaded a file recently from Compu$erve on that very subject. It's
not an official reference by any means, but should be all you need.
I've forwarded the file to Keith Petersen for inclusion in the archives.
>>> Dan Fandrich
EMAIL: shad04@ccu.umanitoba.ca
or: shad04%ccu.umanitoba.ca@ean.ubc.ca
CompuServe: 72365,306
Dialcom: 2021:svp529
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 89 10:28 EST
From: <YAN%QCVAX.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Keyboard Problem
In volume 89, number 4, HAMMERR@IUBACS.BITNET asks:
>Does anyone know the explanation for the following phenomenon? (I've run
>across this problem on Cordata and Tandon PCs specifically.) When leaving
>my PC for any length of time (coffee breaks, etc.) I return to find that
>the first character I enter *doesn't* register, i.e. entering "C:>cd\dos"
>appears as "C:>d\dos" and a bad command message is returned.
My first guess would be that you have a screen blanker loaded that is not
actually blanking the screen, but thinks it is. It "eats" the first
character typed (it uses that character as an indication to unblank the
screen).
While you may not specifically have a screen blanker loaded, one of the
TSR's or device drivers you have loaded may have screen blanking as an
extra feature.
Yan Juras (YAN@QCVAX.BITNET)
Systems Programmer, Queens College Academic Computer Center
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 89 22:49:15 +0200
From: Simon Shickman <SIMON1%HBUNOS.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Looking for replacement disk on PS2/30-286
I'd like to replace the slow 3 1/2" 20Mb hard disk on a PS2/30-286 with
something bigger and faster. I was told that there should be a Seagate
40+Mb fast disk. Is this being done? Any problems?
Thanks for any help.
Simon Shickman.
<Simon1@Hbunos.Bitnet>
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 89 10:25 EST
From: <YAN%QCVAX.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Removing IBM Token Ring Drivers
In Volume 89, Issue 1, Tal Wyatt asks why MARK/RELEASE doesn't seem to be
removing the IBM token software from memory anymore. I can't say for
certain, but I do know the following:
I have a TSR screen blanker that checks to see if it is already loaded by
searching through memory for itself. Since RELEASE does not wipe the RAM
it frees, the blanker claims it is already loaded even though it is not.
The solution in my case is to load a large program after removing the
blanker with RELEASE. This overwrites the RAM and removes every last
trace of the blanker.
Yan Juras (YAN@QCVAX.BITNET)
Systems Programmer, Queens College Academic Computer Center
------------------------------
Date: Tuesday, 17 Jan 1989 11:26:54 EST
From: m14051@mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo M14051 X7116 H3322 Z390)
Subject: SHELL and AUTOEXEC.BAT
>From: "S Triantafyllopoulos" <"34943::STRIANTAFYLL%gmr.com"@RELAY.CS.NET>
>...
>PC-DOS 3.3 would not execute AUTOEXEC.BAT upon booting from the hard
>drive.
>...
>His file was indeed called AUTOEXEC.BAT (no control characters in the
>filename (:-)) in the root directory and all commands in there were valid.
>CONFIG.SYS contained a SHELL=C:\SYSTEM\BIN\COMMAND.COM line (so
>COMMAND.COM was NOT in the root directory).
Well, if you check the DOS manual entry for SHELL, you will note that
there is a '/P' parameter which must be added to the SHELL line in
CONFIG.SYS to get it to execute AUTOEXEC.BAT.
John "I assume this parameter was not present" DeCarlo
John DeCarlo
ARPANET: jdecarlo%mdf@mitre.arpa
Usenet: @...@!uunet!hadron!blkcat!109!703!John_Decarlo
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Jan 89 21:43:41 PST
From: lim@isl.Stanford.EDU (Kelvin O. Lim)
Subject: want to read 8" floppy with AT
I need to read image data from 8" double sided, double density floppy
disks. These were written using an iRMX machine with 15 sectors/track and
256 bytes/sector. Because the data rates and rotational speeds for the AT
hi capacity drive and the 8" drives are the same, I was thinking of
connecting an 8" drive as the second floppy to my AT. The problem is
getting around the DOS use of 512 bytes/sector.
Has anyone tried or done this? Any pointers to some code or approaches
would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kelvin O. Lim
lim@isl.stanford.edu (36.10.0.201)
[If anyone HAS done this, please info <ghicks@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil> I
have a dual 8" floppy (purchased in '78 and used with my Z-80 micro) that
is just sitting around collecting dust... I sure would like to be able to
use these drives again... gph]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 89 09:04:41 CST
From: David Benson <C09800DB%WUVMD.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Wierd behaviour of the COMMAND.COM
I tried to send the following to Spiros directly, but I couldn't seem to
get it to him any way.
<To: spiros%gmr.com@relay.cs.net
<
<I stumbled on this one when a friend told me his PS/2 Model 50 with IBM
<PC-DOS 3.3 would not execute AUTOEXEC.BAT upon booting from the hard
<drive. It would just boot and come up with
<
< Microsoft Corp ... Dos 3.3 ...
< Copyright ...
<
< C>
<
<His file was indeed called AUTOEXEC.BAT (no control characters in the
<filename (:-)) in the root directory and all commands in there were valid.
<CONFIG.SYS contained a SHELL=C:\SYSTEM\BIN\COMMAND.COM line (so
<COMMAND.COM was NOT in the root directory).
<
<I tried moving AUTOEXEC.BAT in the same directory as COMMAND.COM and it
<would still not execute. Then I removed the SHELL=... line from
<CONFIG.SYS, moved COMMAND.COM to root and re-booted. It worked.
<
<My question: is this a BUG or a FEATURE?
It is neither a bug nor a feature. If you want to set up the SHELL
command you need also to tell DOS to read the COMMAND.COM as usual by
adding the /P option. The SHELL command would thus appear as follows:
SHELL=C:\SYSTEM\BIN\COMMAND.COM /P
You will find this on Page 4-43 in the DOS 3.3 Manual/
What my technician doesn't understand is why your friend is using this
particular SHELL command anyway. As it stands he believes it is taking
and wasting extra memory.
- Dave Benson BITNET:C09800DB@WUVMD
Associate Director (314) 889-5313
Educational Computing Services
Washington University
St. Louis, MO
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 89 13:14:33 IST
From: "Dr. Seth Ward" < RHHI401 % HAIFAUVM @CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: SIMCGA usage
In response to Dan Jones' query about SIMCGA1:
I use SIMCGA which does the same thing as simcga1. The ARC file came
with two small command files, which when executed switch back and forth
between CGA mode and Mono mode. Unfortunately, it is important to remember
to switch back to Mono, when in DOS. Even though most commands can be
handled, frequently a full screen results in a hung PC. Perhaps this is
what SIMCGA1 is designed to prevent. Anyway most Basic and Exec files
requiring CGA mode work just fine in SIMCGA, some even give differing
shades of your Green or Amber monochrome screen for different colors sent
by your program. I got it from PCSERVE at TAUNIVM I think, but its
probably at simtel and trickles. If SIMCGA1 doesn't have these files try
to find SIMCGA.
Seth Ward
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 89 15:50:38 MEZ
From: C0034008%DBSTU1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Back-up Program wanted for a (nearly) PC Compatable
Because I have a nearly but not fully compatible PC, I need a backup
program, like Fastback or others, which uses neither the DMA-Chip nor
direct access to floppy controller. DOS-Backup works fine, but it is not
very convenient. Can anyone help ?
Thanks in advance, Matthias Brocks
[PC Magazine recently ran an article about various back-up utilities.
gph]
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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