hicks@WALKER-EMH.ARPA (Gregory Hicks COMFLEACTS) (10/01/87)
Info-IBMPC Digest Wed, 30 September 1987 Volume 6 : Issue 66
This Week's Editor: Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <hicks@walker-emh.arpa>
Today's Topics:
OS/2 Developers Kit
Mixed language programs problem in linking
MS Windows and IBM Mouse on PS/50 (2 msgs)
PKARC Serious Squash Bug
NDMAKE 4.3 - make utility for MSDOS now available
HD Park Software available from SIMTEL20
Commercial Programs Redirecting LPT# to disk
PRTEGA.ASM Updated
Unix compatible tools source and binarys from SIMTEL20
CapsCtrl & Buf160 Utilities for new keyboards
Today's Queries:
Crossword Puzzles
Eagle-PC info needed
Reformat 1.50 trashing logical disks under DOS 3.3
FORTRAN 'interval arithmetic' compiler query
Modifying a Program to read Drive C:
Adding a 1.2 MB 5.25" floppy to an IBM PC/XT
Adding a 3.5 inch drive to AT&T 6300
Sunshine EPROM Burner Software needed
80386 motherboard upgrade to IBM-PC/xt
Adding Memory to an IBM EGA Card
Experience with RightWriter/Rightwords
Uncompress for unix .Z wanted
MultiSync monitor with Hercules
INFO-IBMPC BBS Phone Numbers: (213) 827-2635 (213) 827-2515
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 87 14:10:54 PDT
From: bmarsh@cod.nosc.mil (William C. Marsh)
Subject: OS/2 Developers Kit
>From: Anonymous
>I've used OS/2 (Version 10.0, Rev 3.42.1.1) for approximately two months
on both an IBM PC-AT model 139 (boosted to 8 MHz, 1 ws; 2.5 Mb ram; 32 Mb,
46 ms, I2L disk), and an AT clone (8 MHz, 0 ws; 2 Mb ram; 72 Mb, 24 ms,
Toshiba disk. I've given up on OS/2. Why?
My setups: AST Premium AT clone (10 Mhz, 0 ws), AT clone (10 Mhz, 1 ws).
Both with approx. 2 Meg of ram.
>1. OS/2 is slooooow. For example, OS/2 scrolls text on a MDA in real
mode at about 2400 baud.
I am using the same version (3.42.1.1 87/05/08), and I don't see this
'slowness'. I am using a Hercules compatable MDA, and text 'screams' by.
The version of jove I have ported to OS/2 talks through DOS (as in
write(1...) and I have no intention to change to using the video services
provided by OS/2, it's fast enough as it is.
>2. OS/2 is buggy. I experienced lots of mysterious crashes with lots of
mysterious messages, i.e., "System detected an internal processing error",
"Internal thread attempting to leave kernel", etc. OS/2 would even crash
(for no reason at all) in the middle of boot.
Mostly the 'thread attempting to leave kernel' error is caused by linking
to the wrong c library (model size), then trying to run codeview to see why
it doesn't work. I haven't had that error at any other time.
But that's not to say there are no bugs: Trying to do anything (copy, dir,
etc.) with either of my PC/VI (V 1.11) distribution disks causes an inter-
nal processing error...
>3. OS/2 is huge.
Agreed. I'll wait to pass any judgements until the real distribution oc-
curs.
> And what do you get for 7 Mb of disk space? Not much. Only the bare
basics, e.g., CD, COMP, COPY, DEL, DIR, EDLIN, MORE, REN, etc., are in-
cluded with OS/2 (MORE still requires a "<").
Plus two C compilers, CodeView, MASM, sdked, bind, all the libraries...
> "MS OS/2 will run ... with the following hardware:
> ...
> 1 meg of memory (2-3 recommended).
> ..."
>
> Don't believe it. Don't even think about trying to use OS/2 with less
> than 2 Mb ram. The C compiler, linker, etc. won't run in less.
I ran fine with 1 meg in my AST until I could put more in.
>4. OS/2 won't boot with foreign cards installed, such as a 3Com Ethernet
> card...
I have a 3Com Ethernet card in my AST, and it boots fine. Sounds to me
that you have the card sharing an interrupt or DMA channel. I also have an
ARNET 8 port serial card installed in the same computer. Haven't had to
switch any boards, except the AST EGA card (which just needs a new ROM, as
we learned from the AST guy at the conference).
>5. Many of OS/2's "new" features did not work. At least Microsoft was
kind enough to warn you of some,
> "...memory swapping to disk is not solid in this release. If you
> stress it too hard it will fail and the system will stop."
> Hey, I couldn't get swapping to work AT ALL. Codeview doesn't under-
stand the concept of threads, nor can it debug dynamic link libraries. The
list goes on and on. And that's what MS was nice enough to acknowledge---
LOTS of OS/2 just doesn't work.
CodeView needs work, as it can crash the system. But other than that, I
haven't had any problems, associated with swapping (which I use) or others.
I have tries queues, pipes (jove uses them for running other processes),
and threads with no problems. The C library needs to support multi-thread
programs better, though...
>6. OS/2 uses the same pathetic file system found in MS-DOS...
Do you want to re-format your hard disk everytime you switch operating
systems? If I need to run DOS 3.3 (to use our network or tape backup) I
simply boot from a diskette. Make life very easy for me. If you want UNIX
4.2 BSD, then I would suggest talking to Berkeley.
>Conclusion
>OS/2 was a terrible waste of $3000 and 2 months of my time.
I'm sorry you feel that way. It has been a very enjoyable three weeks for
me, and I'm looking forward for more. I really think it is childish to
think Microsoft is trying to rip off 2000+ people. If the developers all
thought like you, they wouldn't be able to sell the $395 operating system
to anybody.
>And that's just for the beta version---when the real OS/2 comes out,
>you get them to pay you again! About $395.
Developers will get all releases, up to the OS/2 version 1.1 release. Be-
sides, do you remember paying $200 for CP/M? I do.
>But wait, there's more! You'll need new OS/2 software too.
The C compiler, MASM, and sdked come with the developers kit now. All the
others work in the dos compatability box anyway, so why do you feel you
'have' to upgrade?
>P.S., if you own a non-IBM keyboard destined for OS/2 use, you might want
to test it to make sure that it handles ctl-esc and alt-esc, the key com-
binations used to bring up the session manager and switch between screen
groups. Alt-esc doesn't work on many AT-clone keyboards!
Certainly not Microsoft's fault that your clone keyboard doesn't work. All
my clone keyboards work...
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: Sat, 26 Sep 1987 21:40-EDT
From: kwh@di.sei.cmu.edu.UUCP (Kurt Hoyt)
Subject: Mixed language programs problem in linking
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, SEI, Pgh, Pa
In article <582@uvm-gen.UUCP> haviland@uvm-gen.UUCP (Tom Haviland) writes:
>
> I have an interesting problem I wonder if anyone out there might have
>experienced. I'm writing a menu system to go with a fortran modelling
>package, and since supposedly microsoft C and FORTRAN work together, I
>wrote the menu system in C. I've set up an INTERFACE block in the fortran
>program to call the C routines, and it seems to call the routine ok, but
>when the C routine calls the fscanf() function, reading floating point
>numbers from a file (%f) I get an error "Floating point not loaded" and
>the program stops. Now the C routines do some floating point calculations
> Thomas P. Haviland
Your problem isn't in the compiling -- its in the linking. If you link from
FORTRAN instead of from cc, the proper library for scanf/printf for float-
ing point numbers isn't linked. See page 367 of the C compiler user's guide
manual:
"Your program needs the foating-point library, but the library was
not loaded. The error causes the program to terminate with an exit
status of 255."
You need to link in the C floating point library when you link. FORTRAN
won't know that you need the C floating point library. Hope this helps. It
is a common error when mixing languages. I ran into similar problems mixing
C and Ada because Ada didn't link in some startup code that the C code
needed, so I had to explicitly tell Ada to link in the C startup code.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 87 00:52:29 PDT
From: Jeff Wallace <jeffw%con.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: MS Windows and the IBM Mouse on PS/50
Cc: Doug_Wade%UBC.MAILNET@mit-multics.arpa
>I've had no luck trying to get Microsoft Windows to recognize a IBM mouse
>on my PS/50.
I had the same problem with my model 60 when I purchased it in May. The
problem I had was that I had Windows v1.03. Version 1.03 does not have the
proper drivers for the PS/2 mouse and the 8512, 8513, 8514 and 8514/A
monitors. You can substitute one of the video drivers (I think the EGA
one) and it will work fine, but the mouse is a different story.
I called Aldus Corp. (the makers of PageMaker) and found out from technical
support that they had created a version 1.0a of PageMaker that incorporated
the new Windows 1.04 drivers. Great, I thought. But no. Aldus no longer
distributes the full Windows package, only the run-time package. I got
that for $10 (plus one Federal Express charge) in two days. I then took
the new drivers and various other new files from the Aldus stuff and mixed
it with my 1.03 files, shook vigorously and prayed. Finally, I got my PS/2
mouse working with Windows and the 1.04 bug fixes applied to Windows (some
PS/2 specific problems apparently).
I called Microsoft and found out that there exists a version 1.04 which you
can get for free if you are a registered owner of 1.03.
I later found out that the drivers are available on Compuserve in
Microsoft's forum. That didn't help much since I don't subscribe to Com-
puserve.
Jeff Wallace ARPA/Internet: jeffw@scam.Berkeley.Edu
U.C. Berkeley UUCP: ...!ucbvax!scam!jeffw
------------------------------
Date: 26 Sep 87 16:34 +0200
From: "Niklas Mollberg" <P15738%QZCOM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: MS-Mouse and Windows on PS/2
Answer to: Doug_Wade%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-Multics.ARPA
IF you have a Windows version 1.00, 1.01, 1.02 or 1.03 you must get a copy
of Windows 1.04 or the MOUSE.DRv from that version.
Windows does not recognize any other drivers (MOUSE.COM, MOUSE.SYS)
- Niklas
------------------------------
Date: Sunday, 20 September 1987 02:41-MDT
From: Phil Katz <katz@UWM-CS.MILW.WISC.EDU>
Subject: PKARC Serious Squash Bug
I have been able to confirm the bug in PKXARC 3.5 if a file (uncompressed)
starts with 0x90, and the file is Squashed. To date, I have received two
direct reports of this problem. For trivia buffs, this bug was also
present in PKXARC 3.4, and never reported.
If a file starts with a 0x90 character (144 decimal) and is Squashed,
PKXARC (and PKXARCjr and PKSFX) will not output this character, and will
report the file fails CRC check. The resulting extracted file will be ex-
actly 1 byte shorter than it should be (it is missing the 0x90 character at
the beginning). Except for missing the first character, the extracted file
will compare exactly with the original. Re-inserting a 0x90 character at
the beginning of the extracted file will restore it to the original file.
This problem can be fixed by the applying the following patches to the
PKXARC/PKXARCjr/PKSFX version 3.5 programs:
debug pkxarc.com
e 1d0b 8b 3e c8 f4 80 3e d0 f5 0c 75 06 e8 a9 06 eb 1a 90 aa
w
q
debug pkxarcjr.com
e 1c92 8b 3e aa f5 80 3e b2 f6 0c 75 06 e8 a8 06 eb 1a 90 aa
w
q
debug pksfx.pgm
e 112 8c f5
e 16a4 8b 3e 2a f7 80 3e 24 f8 0c 75 06 e8 17 04 eb 1a 90 aa
w
q
>Phil Katz>
Exec-PC BBS, Shorewood WI ......... 414-964-5160, 24 hours, 1200/2400 baud
RBBS of Chicago ................... 312-352-1035, 24 hours, 1200/2400 baud
Sound of Music BBS, Oceanside NY .. 516-536-8723, 24 hours, 1200/2400 baud
PKWARE BBS ........................ 414-352-7176, 24 hours, 1200/2400 baud
USENET ............................ katz@uwm-cs.milw.wisc.edu
BIX ............................... Username: philkatz
U.S. Mail ......................... 7032 N. Ardara Ave., Glendale, WI 53209
------------------------------
Date: Monday, 21 September 1987 23:41-MDT
From: kneller@CGL.UCSF.EDU (Don Kneller)
Subject: NDMAKE 4.3 - make utility for MSDOS now available
Now available from SIMTEL20...
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.C>
NDMAKE43.ARC.1 BINARY 54214 30B6H
NDMAKE (ver. 4.3) is a shareware make utility for MSDOS. For those un-
familiar with `make', it is a utility that automates development of other
programs. This MSDOS version includes:
- auto response file generation to overcome the command line limit
- VPATH (find sources in alternate directories)
- full macro capability
- default rules
- looping over commands
Don Kneller
UUCP: ...ucbvax!ucsfcgl!kneller
INTERNET: kneller@cgl.ucsf.edu
BITNET: kneller@ucsfcgl.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 87 15:50:10 EDT
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@braggvax.arpa>
Subject: HD Park software available from SIMTEL20
NetLandians,
Recently read a query about PD disk park utilities on this newsletter. I'd
suggest snarfing (all from SIMTEL20):
PD:<MSDOS.DSKUTL>
PDTIMPRK.ARC 9 kb
TIMEPARK.ARC 4 kb
TIMPARK1.LBR 4 kb
and maybe??
DISKP.EXE 8 kb
I snarfed one of these a while ago, works just fine, but can't remember
which one. Haven't looked at the contents lately to see what's there, but
expect nice assembler source (right?).
Coulda sworn there was one clean utility to park on command, but can't find
it.
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: 28 Sep 87 11:35:23 GMT
From: hsi!tankus@uunet.UU.NET (Ed Tankus)
Subject: Commercial Programs Redirecting LPT# to disk
There is a commercial product called PrintQ that retails for $89. I think
it does exactly what you are looking for. It allows any print program to be
spooled to disk for printout at a later date.
The product has received favorable reviews from PC MAG and others. The
company is in NJ. I don't have a phone number but they advertise in most PC
magazines anyway.
Cheers!
-- Ed.
Net : {uunet,ihnp4,noao,hao,yale}!hsi!tankus
Snail: Health Systems Int'l, 100 Broadway, New Haven, CT 06511
Bell : (203) 562-2101
[The program LPTX.ASM in the Info-IBMPC Lending Library also works, is
free, and is source code. --gph]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 87 15:55 CET
From: Helmut Waelder <ZRWA001%DTUZDV1%DEARN.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: PRTEGA.ASM
I have added code to reset the printer to 6 lpi after graphics output.
The complete source file follows:
[PRTEGA.asm has been updated in the lending library - gph]
------------------------------
Date: Wednesday, 23 September 1987 07:17-MDT
From: mcvax!dutrun!dutesta!karel@SEISMO.CSS.GOV (Karel van Houten)
Subject: Unix compatible tools source and binarys from SIMTEL20
Now available from SIMTEL20...
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.DIRUTL>
TOOLS.ARC.1 BINARY 69883 3B14H
Some time ago there was a request for a UNIX compatible 'mv' command for
MS-DOS. As a UNIX addict, I have written some commonly used UNIX tools in
Microsoft C / MASM for myself. Here are the executables and sources for
those who want to try them too.
This package consist of: df, du, ls, mv, rm.
--
Karel van Houten BITNET : NO! NO! NO!
Delft University of Technology INTERNET : karel@dutesta.UUCP
Faculty of Electrical Engineering UUCP :
..!mcvax!dutrun!dutesta!karel
Room 9.29H, Mekelweg 4 SURFnet : DUTRUN::KAREL
2628 CD DELFT, The Netherlands VOICE : +31 15 783502
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 87 21:23 EDT
From: Hess.Unicorn@MIT-Multics.ARPA
Subject: CapsCtrl & Buf160 Utilities, for new keyboards
Mailed under separate cover for the Info-IBMPC library are two pieces of
source code, both intended for effective use of the new almost-not-
braindamaged IBM keyboards.
The first, CAPSCTRL.ASM, makes the Caps Lock key turn into a control key.
To get a "real" Caps Lock press, do Shift-CapsLock or Alt-CapsLock.
[CAPSCTRL.ASM got lost in the Mail System Somewhere. gph]
The second, BUF160.ASM, is a replacement for the existing one. It works
with the new keyboards, and enables the use of the F11 and F12 keys as well
as the usual 160 character buffer. No ill effects from using this with an
old keyboard.
Both CapsCtrl and the Buf160 changes are courtesy of Bill Spitzak at Mark
of the Unicorn, Inc.
Brian
[BUF160NEW.ASM has been added to the Info-IBMPC Lending Library - gph]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 87 09:26:57 EDT
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@braggvax.arpa>
Subject: Crossword Puzzles
NetLandians,
A critic recently asked me, "Well, if your computer is so smart, how come
it can't do crossword puzzles?" Got into a discussion, suddenly realized
I'd NEVER seen any code around to have a micro MAKE a crossword puzzle!
Shouldn't be TOO hard .. especially in one of the recursive-friendly lan-
guages like LISP or something, I'd think .. can anyone point me to some
public domain source (any language, I guess) that creates crossword puzzles
from word lists or dictionaries?
Thanks in advance,
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA
[A cross word puzzle generator (written in FORTRAN) appeared in an issue of
"Dr. Dobb's Journal" in the late 70's. I have the program somewhere in one
of the boxes from my numerous moves. If I can find it, I'll send it to you
and the Lending Library. I also saw a program (also written in FORTRAN) in
a somewhat later issue of Dr. Dobb's that generated hidden word puzzles but
for the life of me, I don't know where it went to... Does anyone have back
issues of Dr. Dobb's? gph]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 87 23:27:50 EDT
From: weikert@nadc.arpa (J. Weikert)
Subject: Eagle-PC info needed
I know someone who has acquired an old Eagle-PC computer and would like to
put a standard 20 meg. hard disk system in it. He has not been successful
so far. Does anyone know anything about these machines?
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 87 10:29 N
From: <IUS%DACTH51.BITNET@CUVMA.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Reformat 1.50 trashing logical disks under DOS 3.3
I have been using your excellent Reformat program for about one year or so
without any major problems. (I do backup, but so far, this has not proven
necessary)
One thing though. I have found that REFORMAT runs quite well under DOS 3.3
without any glitchs.
However, if I want to use that new feature of 3.3 FDISK to have two logical
disks on one physical (let's say a 33MB+) disk and reformat either of those
logical disks then it trashes the other (logical) disk.
Any ideas? Fixes?
regards, el
Eberhard W. Lisse
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Burn Unit
Technical University Aachen, West Germany
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 87 21:51:11 CDT
From: "Rich Winkel UMC Math Department"
<MATHPG1%UMCVMB.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: FORTRAN 'interval arithmetic' compiler query
Does anyone know of such a beast for the PC? For the record, such a com-
piler automatically keeps track of computational error bounds as the errors
propagate through arithmetic calculations, so that results can be derived
in the form 'answer= 1.22323 +- .00002'.
Thanks for any help!
Rich Winkel (MATHPG1@UMCVMB.BITNET)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 87 22:55:40 MDT
From: dd@lanl.gov (Dan Davison)
Subject: Program always reads from drive A:
I have an application program, available only as a .EXE file, which always
tries to read a data file from the A: drive. Is there a way to change this
using DEBUG? I'd like to change this to the C: drive. This program is not
a commerical program, and source code is not available so that I can fix
this problem. Any hints would be welcome.
Dan Davison Arpa: dd@lanl.gov BITNET: dd%lanl.gov@wiscvm.bitnet
CIS: 74065,41 UUCP: dd@lanl.uucp or ...cmcl2!lanl!dd
Voice:505-665-1355| T-10 MS K710, Los Alamos Natl. Lab, Los Alamos,NM 87545
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 87 22:55:58 MDT
From: dd@lanl.gov (Dan Davison)
Subject: How to add a 1.2 MB 5.25" floppy to an IBM PC/XT
I have asked a local computer store if it is possible to add a 1.2 MB
floppy drive to an IBM PC/XT (actually, it's an IBM PC Portable, which has
the XT motherboard). After about a month they tell me this is not pos-
sible. I'm aware that I'll have to get a different controller card, but
surely there is a 1.2MB floppy controller for the PC bus. Does anyone have
a high density floppy in an XT, and if so can you recommend a controller?
Dan Davison Arpa: dd@lanl.gov BITNET:
dd%lanl.gov@wiscvm.bitnet
CIS: 74065,41 UUCP: dd@lanl.uucp or ...cmcl2!lanl!dd
Voice:505-665-1355| T-10 MS K710, Los Alamos Natl. Lab, Los Alamos,NM 87545
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 87 16:57:57 EDT
From: Glen Jones <gdj5t@krebs.acc.virginia.edu>
Subject: Adding a 3.5 inch drive to AT&T 6300
Is there any way to add an external 3.5 inch drive to an AT&T 6300 PC
***AND*** keep both internal 5.25 floppy drives? If not, are there any
cautions involving buying/installing an internal 3.5 in place of a 5.25
inch? I would really like to keep both 5.25 inch drives, however.
I am currently running PC-DOS 3.2 (by IBM) on the 6300; has anyone
done this with a 3.5 inch drive on an AT&T6300?
Details on my current setup follow:
ROB bios 1.43
640K RAM
HardCard20 installed (from Plus Dev.)
both serial and parallel ports used
Thanks in advance for ANY advice!
Glen Jones
U.Va. Biochem Dept., Box 440 > UUCP: ...!uunet!virginia!gdj5t
Charlottesville, VA 22908 > BITNET: gdj5t@virginia.BITNET
(804) 924-2373 > CSNET: gdj5t@acc.virginia.edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 87 17:03 EST
From: <JWS%PSUARLC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Sunshine EPROM Burner
We purchased a Sunshine EPROM burner through third parties. The accompany-
ing software does not function on an EGA, but works OK on CGA.
Do you know an address or telephone number for this company or a "quick
fix" for the problem?
Thanks in advance, Jack Sharer, JWS@PSUARLC
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 87 23:11:42 EDT
From: Dimitri Vulis <CLDLV%NASAGISS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Measuring speed from Turbo Pascal-bug fixed
> From: RECK%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu (Gisbert W.Selke)
> Subject: Measuring speed from within Turbo Pascal
>
> I need to measure the approximate clock rate of a PC from within a Turbo
> Pascal program. So I wrote a little procedure which first got the cur-
rent
> time (via a DOS call), then executed some silly little loop and then got
> the time again.
>
> >>> First question: Is there a simpler or more intelligent way to find
the
> speed?
Consider the following:
program measurespeed;
function speed:byte;
const NN=3;
begin inline(
$1E (* push ds *)
/$31/$C0 (* xor ax,ax *)
/$8E/$D8 (* mov ds,ax *)
/$8A/$1E/>$46C (* mov bl,46c *)
/$88/$DF (* mov bh,bl *)
/$80/$C7/<NN (* add bh,NN *)
/$3A/$1E/>$46C (*L1:cmp bl,46c *)
/$74/$FA (*jz L1 *)
/$40 (*L2:inc ax *)
/$3A/$3E/>$46C (*cmp bh,46c *)
/$75/$F9 (*jnz L2 *)
/$1F (*pop ds *)
/$88/$66/$04 (*mov bp+4,ah *)
) end;
begin
writeln('Speed returns ',speed);
end.
ALGORITHM:
program measurespeed;
const NN=3;
var
z:byte;
count:integer;
speed:byte;
begin
z:=mem0:$46C; (* or use 'absolute'... *)
while z=mem0:$46C do; (* here we start a new tick *)
z:=(mem0:$46C+NN) mod 256; (* wait for this value *)
count:=0;
repeat
count:=count+1;
until z=mem0:$46C;
speed:=count div 256;
end.
EXPLANATION:
On every PC-compatible, the timer interrupt (IRQ0) occurs 18.2 times per
second and the handler routine increments the 4-byte value at 0:46Ch. We
get its least significant byte, wait until it changes, and then increment a
counter until the timer reaches t+NN, where NN is a number like 3 or 5. We
return the MSB of the counter (i.e. counter mod 256) only, since the LSB is
sometimes inconsistent (if a keyboard interrupt etc occurs, it steals some
CPU time I guess).
ADVANTAGES OVER PASCAL CODE:
1) The counter has to be 16-bit. When TP allocates it, it's as likely as
not to fall on odd address, with significant performance difference on a
16-bit machine, not every time you run it, but when you change the program
someplace else, so the address changes between even and odd. (the only real
advantage)
2) The instruction mix generated for the repeat-until is a lot richer than
loop L2, making the number of cycles more CPU model dependent.
3) On a very fast machine, the counter may overflow. We treat AX as un-
signed.
RELIABILITY:
This function seems to give consistent results every time. This result is
proportional (with a large error margin) to some sort of performance coef-
ficient. Obviously, the result is affected by prefetch queues, wait states
etc a whole lot. It's not really the clock speed, but some number propr-
tional to some sort of 'performance index'. It's about as (un)reliable as
Norton SI.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 87 17:12:26 PDT
From: Ya'akov_Miles%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-Multics.ARPA
Subject: 80386 motherboard upgrade to IBM-PC/xt
On Page 36, of "Computing Now!", Sept. 1987, is advertised an 80386 mother-
board that is a drop-in replacement for the standard IBM-PC/xt motherboard.
This 80386 motherboard runs at 6/16 mHz with zero wait states, and features
four 16 bit and four 8 bit slots. Made by:
Chie Dar Electronic Ind. Co., Ltd. Telex 34181
P.O. Box 89-36, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Phone (02) 981-4487
Does anybody have any further information - it may be a cheap and dirty way
to upgrade a plain vanilla XT-clone. A super "BABY-AT"?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 87 13:06:45 edt
From: moss!cbosgd!neoucom!wtm@RUTGERS.EDU (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Adding Memory to an IBM EGA Card
One of our faculty people would like to increase the memory on his real IBM
brand EGA card from 128K to 256K. He has the daughter board for holding
the additonal chips. Alas, the board was installed by a dealer who was not
kind enough to send along the installation notes.
It looks as if the chips are just plain old 4164, 150 nS chips, but I want
to be sure before I take screwdriver in hand (the IBM-supplied chips have
some unrecognizable in-house part no.). When I add the extra memory, are
there any jumpers that need to be changed?
Thanks much to anybody who can assist.
--Bill
Bill Mayhew, Electrical Engineering
Division of Basic Medical Sciences
Northeastern Ohio Universities' College of Medicine
Rootstown (what a name!), OH 44272-9989 USA phone: 216-325-2511
(wtm@neoucom.UUCP ...!cbosgd!neoucom!wtm)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 87 16:51:00 MEZ
From: Z3000JD%AWITUW01.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
(Johannes Demel Digitalrechenzentrum)
Subject: Experience with RightWriter/Rightwords
Does anyone has experience with the Grammer and Style-Checker RightWriter
and Dictionary-Utility RightWords from RIGHTSOFT Inc. (At the moment of-
fered by IEEE at a reduced price).
I am most interested using this in an application with the TeX and LaTeX
Typesetting system by Donald Knuth.
Johannes Demel, Technical University Vienna (BITNET: Z3000JD@AWITUW01)
------------------------------
Date: Tue 29 Sep 87 14:53:04-PDT
From: Ted Shapin <BEC.SHAPIN@ECLA.USC.EDU>
Subject: Uncompress for unix .Z wanted
Phone: (714)961-3393; Mail:Beckman Instruments, Inc.
Mail-addr: 2500 Harbor Blvd., X-11, Fullerton CA 92634
I would like to uncompress some unix .Z files. Is there such
a program that runs under PC-DOS?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 87 14:25:44 MEZ
From: "Rainer Kleinrensing" UNI217%DBNRHRZ1.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: MultiSync monitor with Hercules
Some time ago I bought a QuadEGA ProSync graphics card and a Multisync
monitor from Quadram. I have read several times that Multisync compatible
monitors can operate with a Hercules monochrome graphics card. The ProSync
card is capable of emulating a Hercules card. My question: how do I have
to connect the monitor to the card in order to operate in Hercules mode?
The manuals don't give any clues. I have heard that all I have to change
is the monitor cable. If anybody out there successfully operates a Her-
cules card with a MultiSync monitor, please let me know.
Thank you ,
Rainer
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
************************hicks@WALKER-EMH.ARPA (Gregory Hicks COMFLEACTS) (10/01/87)
Info-IBMPC Digest Wed, 30 September 1987 Volume 6 : Issue 66
This Week's Editor: Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <hicks@walker-emh.arpa>
Today's Topics:
OS/2 Developers Kit
Mixed language programs problem in linking
MS Windows and IBM Mouse on PS/50 (2 msgs)
PKARC Serious Squash Bug
NDMAKE 4.3 - make utility for MSDOS now available
HD Park Software available from SIMTEL20
Commercial Programs Redirecting LPT# to disk
PRTEGA.ASM Updated
Unix compatible tools source and binarys from SIMTEL20
CapsCtrl & Buf160 Utilities for new keyboards
Today's Queries:
Crossword Puzzles
Eagle-PC info needed
Reformat 1.50 trashing logical disks under DOS 3.3
FORTRAN 'interval arithmetic' compiler query
Modifying a Program to read Drive C:
Adding a 1.2 MB 5.25" floppy to an IBM PC/XT
Adding a 3.5 inch drive to AT&T 6300
Sunshine EPROM Burner Software needed
80386 motherboard upgrade to IBM-PC/xt
Adding Memory to an IBM EGA Card
Experience with RightWriter/Rightwords
Uncompress for unix .Z wanted
MultiSync monitor with Hercules
INFO-IBMPC BBS Phone Numbers: (213) 827-2635 (213) 827-2515
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 87 14:10:54 PDT
From: bmarsh@cod.nosc.mil (William C. Marsh)
Subject: OS/2 Developers Kit
>From: Anonymous
>I've used OS/2 (Version 10.0, Rev 3.42.1.1) for approximately two months
on both an IBM PC-AT model 139 (boosted to 8 MHz, 1 ws; 2.5 Mb ram; 32 Mb,
46 ms, I2L disk), and an AT clone (8 MHz, 0 ws; 2 Mb ram; 72 Mb, 24 ms,
Toshiba disk. I've given up on OS/2. Why?
My setups: AST Premium AT clone (10 Mhz, 0 ws), AT clone (10 Mhz, 1 ws).
Both with approx. 2 Meg of ram.
>1. OS/2 is slooooow. For example, OS/2 scrolls text on a MDA in real
mode at about 2400 baud.
I am using the same version (3.42.1.1 87/05/08), and I don't see this
'slowness'. I am using a Hercules compatable MDA, and text 'screams' by.
The version of jove I have ported to OS/2 talks through DOS (as in
write(1...) and I have no intention to change to using the video services
provided by OS/2, it's fast enough as it is.
>2. OS/2 is buggy. I experienced lots of mysterious crashes with lots of
mysterious messages, i.e., "System detected an internal processing error",
"Internal thread attempting to leave kernel", etc. OS/2 would even crash
(for no reason at all) in the middle of boot.
Mostly the 'thread attempting to leave kernel' error is caused by linking
to the wrong c library (model size), then trying to run codeview to see why
it doesn't work. I haven't had that error at any other time.
But that's not to say there are no bugs: Trying to do anything (copy, dir,
etc.) with either of my PC/VI (V 1.11) distribution disks causes an inter-
nal processing error...
>3. OS/2 is huge.
Agreed. I'll wait to pass any judgements until the real distribution oc-
curs.
> And what do you get for 7 Mb of disk space? Not much. Only the bare
basics, e.g., CD, COMP, COPY, DEL, DIR, EDLIN, MORE, REN, etc., are in-
cluded with OS/2 (MORE still requires a "<").
Plus two C compilers, CodeView, MASM, sdked, bind, all the libraries...
> "MS OS/2 will run ... with the following hardware:
> ...
> 1 meg of memory (2-3 recommended).
> ..."
>
> Don't believe it. Don't even think about trying to use OS/2 with less
> than 2 Mb ram. The C compiler, linker, etc. won't run in less.
I ran fine with 1 meg in my AST until I could put more in.
>4. OS/2 won't boot with foreign cards installed, such as a 3Com Ethernet
> card...
I have a 3Com Ethernet card in my AST, and it boots fine. Sounds to me
that you have the card sharing an interrupt or DMA channel. I also have an
ARNET 8 port serial card installed in the same computer. Haven't had to
switch any boards, except the AST EGA card (which just needs a new ROM, as
we learned from the AST guy at the conference).
>5. Many of OS/2's "new" features did not work. At least Microsoft was
kind enough to warn you of some,
> "...memory swapping to disk is not solid in this release. If you
> stress it too hard it will fail and the system will stop."
> Hey, I couldn't get swapping to work AT ALL. Codeview doesn't under-
stand the concept of threads, nor can it debug dynamic link libraries. The
list goes on and on. And that's what MS was nice enough to acknowledge---
LOTS of OS/2 just doesn't work.
CodeView needs work, as it can crash the system. But other than that, I
haven't had any problems, associated with swapping (which I use) or others.
I have tries queues, pipes (jove uses them for running other processes),
and threads with no problems. The C library needs to support multi-thread
programs better, though...
>6. OS/2 uses the same pathetic file system found in MS-DOS...
Do you want to re-format your hard disk everytime you switch operating
systems? If I need to run DOS 3.3 (to use our network or tape backup) I
simply boot from a diskette. Make life very easy for me. If you want UNIX
4.2 BSD, then I would suggest talking to Berkeley.
>Conclusion
>OS/2 was a terrible waste of $3000 and 2 months of my time.
I'm sorry you feel that way. It has been a very enjoyable three weeks for
me, and I'm looking forward for more. I really think it is childish to
think Microsoft is trying to rip off 2000+ people. If the developers all
thought like you, they wouldn't be able to sell the $395 operating system
to anybody.
>And that's just for the beta version---when the real OS/2 comes out,
>you get them to pay you again! About $395.
Developers will get all releases, up to the OS/2 version 1.1 release. Be-
sides, do you remember paying $200 for CP/M? I do.
>But wait, there's more! You'll need new OS/2 software too.
The C compiler, MASM, and sdked come with the developers kit now. All the
others work in the dos compatability box anyway, so why do you feel you
'have' to upgrade?
>P.S., if you own a non-IBM keyboard destined for OS/2 use, you might want
to test it to make sure that it handles ctl-esc and alt-esc, the key com-
binations used to bring up the session manager and switch between screen
groups. Alt-esc doesn't work on many AT-clone keyboards!
Certainly not Microsoft's fault that your clone keyboard doesn't work. All
my clone keyboards work...
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: Sat, 26 Sep 1987 21:40-EDT
From: kwh@di.sei.cmu.edu.UUCP (Kurt Hoyt)
Subject: Mixed language programs problem in linking
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, SEI, Pgh, Pa
In article <582@uvm-gen.UUCP> haviland@uvm-gen.UUCP (Tom Haviland) writes:
>
> I have an interesting problem I wonder if anyone out there might have
>experienced. I'm writing a menu system to go with a fortran modelling
>package, and since supposedly microsoft C and FORTRAN work together, I
>wrote the menu system in C. I've set up an INTERFACE block in the fortran
>program to call the C routines, and it seems to call the routine ok, but
>when the C routine calls the fscanf() function, reading floating point
>numbers from a file (%f) I get an error "Floating point not loaded" and
>the program stops. Now the C routines do some floating point calculations
> Thomas P. Haviland
Your problem isn't in the compiling -- its in the linking. If you link from
FORTRAN instead of from cc, the proper library for scanf/printf for float-
ing point numbers isn't linked. See page 367 of the C compiler user's guide
manual:
"Your program needs the foating-point library, but the library was
not loaded. The error causes the program to terminate with an exit
status of 255."
You need to link in the C floating point library when you link. FORTRAN
won't know that you need the C floating point library. Hope this helps. It
is a common error when mixing languages. I ran into similar problems mixing
C and Ada because Ada didn't link in some startup code that the C code
needed, so I had to explicitly tell Ada to link in the C startup code.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 87 00:52:29 PDT
From: Jeff Wallace <jeffw%con.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: MS Windows and the IBM Mouse on PS/50
Cc: Doug_Wade%UBC.MAILNET@mit-multics.arpa
>I've had no luck trying to get Microsoft Windows to recognize a IBM mouse
>on my PS/50.
I had the same problem with my model 60 when I purchased it in May. The
problem I had was that I had Windows v1.03. Version 1.03 does not have the
proper drivers for the PS/2 mouse and the 8512, 8513, 8514 and 8514/A
monitors. You can substitute one of the video drivers (I think the EGA
one) and it will work fine, but the mouse is a different story.
I called Aldus Corp. (the makers of PageMaker) and found out from technical
support that they had created a version 1.0a of PageMaker that incorporated
the new Windows 1.04 drivers. Great, I thought. But no. Aldus no longer
distributes the full Windows package, only the run-time package. I got
that for $10 (plus one Federal Express charge) in two days. I then took
the new drivers and various other new files from the Aldus stuff and mixed
it with my 1.03 files, shook vigorously and prayed. Finally, I got my PS/2
mouse working with Windows and the 1.04 bug fixes applied to Windows (some
PS/2 specific problems apparently).
I called Microsoft and found out that there exists a version 1.04 which you
can get for free if you are a registered owner of 1.03.
I later found out that the drivers are available on Compuserve in
Microsoft's forum. That didn't help much since I don't subscribe to Com-
puserve.
Jeff Wallace ARPA/Internet: jeffw@scam.Berkeley.Edu
U.C. Berkeley UUCP: ...!ucbvax!scam!jeffw
------------------------------
Date: 26 Sep 87 16:34 +0200
From: "Niklas Mollberg" <P15738%QZCOM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: MS-Mouse and Windows on PS/2
Answer to: Doug_Wade%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-Multics.ARPA
IF you have a Windows version 1.00, 1.01, 1.02 or 1.03 you must get a copy
of Windows 1.04 or the MOUSE.DRv from that version.
Windows does not recognize any other drivers (MOUSE.COM, MOUSE.SYS)
- Niklas
------------------------------
Date: Sunday, 20 September 1987 02:41-MDT
From: Phil Katz <katz@UWM-CS.MILW.WISC.EDU>
Subject: PKARC Serious Squash Bug
I have been able to confirm the bug in PKXARC 3.5 if a file (uncompressed)
starts with 0x90, and the file is Squashed. To date, I have received two
direct reports of this problem. For trivia buffs, this bug was also
present in PKXARC 3.4, and never reported.
If a file starts with a 0x90 character (144 decimal) and is Squashed,
PKXARC (and PKXARCjr and PKSFX) will not output this character, and will
report the file fails CRC check. The resulting extracted file will be ex-
actly 1 byte shorter than it should be (it is missing the 0x90 character at
the beginning). Except for missing the first character, the extracted file
will compare exactly with the original. Re-inserting a 0x90 character at
the beginning of the extracted file will restore it to the original file.
This problem can be fixed by the applying the following patches to the
PKXARC/PKXARCjr/PKSFX version 3.5 programs:
debug pkxarc.com
e 1d0b 8b 3e c8 f4 80 3e d0 f5 0c 75 06 e8 a9 06 eb 1a 90 aa
w
q
debug pkxarcjr.com
e 1c92 8b 3e aa f5 80 3e b2 f6 0c 75 06 e8 a8 06 eb 1a 90 aa
w
q
debug pksfx.pgm
e 112 8c f5
e 16a4 8b 3e 2a f7 80 3e 24 f8 0c 75 06 e8 17 04 eb 1a 90 aa
w
q
>Phil Katz>
Exec-PC BBS, Shorewood WI ......... 414-964-5160, 24 hours, 1200/2400 baud
RBBS of Chicago ................... 312-352-1035, 24 hours, 1200/2400 baud
Sound of Music BBS, Oceanside NY .. 516-536-8723, 24 hours, 1200/2400 baud
PKWARE BBS ........................ 414-352-7176, 24 hours, 1200/2400 baud
USENET ............................ katz@uwm-cs.milw.wisc.edu
BIX ............................... Username: philkatz
U.S. Mail ......................... 7032 N. Ardara Ave., Glendale, WI 53209
------------------------------
Date: Monday, 21 September 1987 23:41-MDT
From: kneller@CGL.UCSF.EDU (Don Kneller)
Subject: NDMAKE 4.3 - make utility for MSDOS now available
Now available from SIMTEL20...
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.C>
NDMAKE43.ARC.1 BINARY 54214 30B6H
NDMAKE (ver. 4.3) is a shareware make utility for MSDOS. For those un-
familiar with `make', it is a utility that automates development of other
programs. This MSDOS version includes:
- auto response file generation to overcome the command line limit
- VPATH (find sources in alternate directories)
- full macro capability
- default rules
- looping over commands
Don Kneller
UUCP: ...ucbvax!ucsfcgl!kneller
INTERNET: kneller@cgl.ucsf.edu
BITNET: kneller@ucsfcgl.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 87 15:50:10 EDT
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@braggvax.arpa>
Subject: HD Park software available from SIMTEL20
NetLandians,
Recently read a query about PD disk park utilities on this newsletter. I'd
suggest snarfing (all from SIMTEL20):
PD:<MSDOS.DSKUTL>
PDTIMPRK.ARC 9 kb
TIMEPARK.ARC 4 kb
TIMPARK1.LBR 4 kb
and maybe??
DISKP.EXE 8 kb
I snarfed one of these a while ago, works just fine, but can't remember
which one. Haven't looked at the contents lately to see what's there, but
expect nice assembler source (right?).
Coulda sworn there was one clean utility to park on command, but can't find
it.
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: 28 Sep 87 11:35:23 GMT
From: hsi!tankus@uunet.UU.NET (Ed Tankus)
Subject: Commercial Programs Redirecting LPT# to disk
There is a commercial product called PrintQ that retails for $89. I think
it does exactly what you are looking for. It allows any print program to be
spooled to disk for printout at a later date.
The product has received favorable reviews from PC MAG and others. The
company is in NJ. I don't have a phone number but they advertise in most PC
magazines anyway.
Cheers!
-- Ed.
Net : {uunet,ihnp4,noao,hao,yale}!hsi!tankus
Snail: Health Systems Int'l, 100 Broadway, New Haven, CT 06511
Bell : (203) 562-2101
[The program LPTX.ASM in the Info-IBMPC Lending Library also works, is
free, and is source code. --gph]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 87 15:55 CET
From: Helmut Waelder <ZRWA001%DTUZDV1%DEARN.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: PRTEGA.ASM
I have added code to reset the printer to 6 lpi after graphics output.
The complete source file follows:
[PRTEGA.asm has been updated in the lending library - gph]
------------------------------
Date: Wednesday, 23 September 1987 07:17-MDT
From: mcvax!dutrun!dutesta!karel@SEISMO.CSS.GOV (Karel van Houten)
Subject: Unix compatible tools source and binarys from SIMTEL20
Now available from SIMTEL20...
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.DIRUTL>
TOOLS.ARC.1 BINARY 69883 3B14H
Some time ago there was a request for a UNIX compatible 'mv' command for
MS-DOS. As a UNIX addict, I have written some commonly used UNIX tools in
Microsoft C / MASM for myself. Here are the executables and sources for
those who want to try them too.
This package consist of: df, du, ls, mv, rm.
--
Karel van Houten BITNET : NO! NO! NO!
Delft University of Technology INTERNET : karel@dutesta.UUCP
Faculty of Electrical Engineering UUCP :
..!mcvax!dutrun!dutesta!karel
Room 9.29H, Mekelweg 4 SURFnet : DUTRUN::KAREL
2628 CD DELFT, The Netherlands VOICE : +31 15 783502
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 87 21:23 EDT
From: Hess.Unicorn@MIT-Multics.ARPA
Subject: CapsCtrl & Buf160 Utilities, for new keyboards
Mailed under separate cover for the Info-IBMPC library are two pieces of
source code, both intended for effective use of the new almost-not-
braindamaged IBM keyboards.
The first, CAPSCTRL.ASM, makes the Caps Lock key turn into a control key.
To get a "real" Caps Lock press, do Shift-CapsLock or Alt-CapsLock.
[CAPSCTRL.ASM got lost in the Mail System Somewhere. gph]
The second, BUF160.ASM, is a replacement for the existing one. It works
with the new keyboards, and enables the use of the F11 and F12 keys as well
as the usual 160 character buffer. No ill effects from using this with an
old keyboard.
Both CapsCtrl and the Buf160 changes are courtesy of Bill Spitzak at Mark
of the Unicorn, Inc.
Brian
[BUF160NEW.ASM has been added to the Info-IBMPC Lending Library - gph]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 87 09:26:57 EDT
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@braggvax.arpa>
Subject: Crossword Puzzles
NetLandians,
A critic recently asked me, "Well, if your computer is so smart, how come
it can't do crossword puzzles?" Got into a discussion, suddenly realized
I'd NEVER seen any code around to have a micro MAKE a crossword puzzle!
Shouldn't be TOO hard .. especially in one of the recursive-friendly lan-
guages like LISP or something, I'd think .. can anyone point me to some
public domain source (any language, I guess) that creates crossword puzzles
from word lists or dictionaries?
Thanks in advance,
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA
[A cross word puzzle generator (written in FORTRAN) appeared in an issue of
"Dr. Dobb's Journal" in the late 70's. I have the program somewhere in one
of the boxes from my numerous moves. If I can find it, I'll send it to you
and the Lending Library. I also saw a program (also written in FORTRAN) in
a somewhat later issue of Dr. Dobb's that generated hidden word puzzles but
for the life of me, I don't know where it went to... Does anyone have back
issues of Dr. Dobb's? gph]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 87 23:27:50 EDT
From: weikert@nadc.arpa (J. Weikert)
Subject: Eagle-PC info needed
I know someone who has acquired an old Eagle-PC computer and would like to
put a standard 20 meg. hard disk system in it. He has not been successful
so far. Does anyone know anything about these machines?
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 87 10:29 N
From: <IUS%DACTH51.BITNET@CUVMA.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Reformat 1.50 trashing logical disks under DOS 3.3
I have been using your excellent Reformat program for about one year or so
without any major problems. (I do backup, but so far, this has not proven
necessary)
One thing though. I have found that REFORMAT runs quite well under DOS 3.3
without any glitchs.
However, if I want to use that new feature of 3.3 FDISK to have two logical
disks on one physical (let's say a 33MB+) disk and reformat either of those
logical disks then it trashes the other (logical) disk.
Any ideas? Fixes?
regards, el
Eberhard W. Lisse
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Burn Unit
Technical University Aachen, West Germany
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 87 21:51:11 CDT
From: "Rich Winkel UMC Math Department"
<MATHPG1%UMCVMB.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: FORTRAN 'interval arithmetic' compiler query
Does anyone know of such a beast for the PC? For the record, such a com-
piler automatically keeps track of computational error bounds as the errors
propagate through arithmetic calculations, so that results can be derived
in the form 'answer= 1.22323 +- .00002'.
Thanks for any help!
Rich Winkel (MATHPG1@UMCVMB.BITNET)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 87 22:55:40 MDT
From: dd@lanl.gov (Dan Davison)
Subject: Program always reads from drive A:
I have an application program, available only as a .EXE file, which always
tries to read a data file from the A: drive. Is there a way to change this
using DEBUG? I'd like to change this to the C: drive. This program is not
a commerical program, and source code is not available so that I can fix
this problem. Any hints would be welcome.
Dan Davison Arpa: dd@lanl.gov BITNET: dd%lanl.gov@wiscvm.bitnet
CIS: 74065,41 UUCP: dd@lanl.uucp or ...cmcl2!lanl!dd
Voice:505-665-1355| T-10 MS K710, Los Alamos Natl. Lab, Los Alamos,NM 87545
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 87 22:55:58 MDT
From: dd@lanl.gov (Dan Davison)
Subject: How to add a 1.2 MB 5.25" floppy to an IBM PC/XT
I have asked a local computer store if it is possible to add a 1.2 MB
floppy drive to an IBM PC/XT (actually, it's an IBM PC Portable, which has
the XT motherboard). After about a month they tell me this is not pos-
sible. I'm aware that I'll have to get a different controller card, but
surely there is a 1.2MB floppy controller for the PC bus. Does anyone have
a high density floppy in an XT, and if so can you recommend a controller?
Dan Davison Arpa: dd@lanl.gov BITNET:
dd%lanl.gov@wiscvm.bitnet
CIS: 74065,41 UUCP: dd@lanl.uucp or ...cmcl2!lanl!dd
Voice:505-665-1355| T-10 MS K710, Los Alamos Natl. Lab, Los Alamos,NM 87545
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 87 16:57:57 EDT
From: Glen Jones <gdj5t@krebs.acc.virginia.edu>
Subject: Adding a 3.5 inch drive to AT&T 6300
Is there any way to add an external 3.5 inch drive to an AT&T 6300 PC
***AND*** keep both internal 5.25 floppy drives? If not, are there any
cautions involving buying/installing an internal 3.5 in place of a 5.25
inch? I would really like to keep both 5.25 inch drives, however.
I am currently running PC-DOS 3.2 (by IBM) on the 6300; has anyone
done this with a 3.5 inch drive on an AT&T6300?
Details on my current setup follow:
ROB bios 1.43
640K RAM
HardCard20 installed (from Plus Dev.)
both serial and parallel ports used
Thanks in advance for ANY advice!
Glen Jones
U.Va. Biochem Dept., Box 440 > UUCP: ...!uunet!virginia!gdj5t
Charlottesville, VA 22908 > BITNET: gdj5t@virginia.BITNET
(804) 924-2373 > CSNET: gdj5t@acc.virginia.edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 87 17:03 EST
From: <JWS%PSUARLC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Sunshine EPROM Burner
We purchased a Sunshine EPROM burner through third parties. The accompany-
ing software does not function on an EGA, but works OK on CGA.
Do you know an address or telephone number for this company or a "quick
fix" for the problem?
Thanks in advance, Jack Sharer, JWS@PSUARLC
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 87 23:11:42 EDT
From: Dimitri Vulis <CLDLV%NASAGISS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Measuring speed from Turbo Pascal-bug fixed
> From: RECK%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu (Gisbert W.Selke)
> Subject: Measuring speed from within Turbo Pascal
>
> I need to measure the approximate clock rate of a PC from within a Turbo
> Pascal program. So I wrote a little procedure which first got the cur-
rent
> time (via a DOS call), then executed some silly little loop and then got
> the time again.
>
> >>> First question: Is there a simpler or more intelligent way to find
the
> speed?
Consider the following:
program measurespeed;
function speed:byte;
const NN=3;
begin inline(
$1E (* push ds *)
/$31/$C0 (* xor ax,ax *)
/$8E/$D8 (* mov ds,ax *)
/$8A/$1E/>$46C (* mov bl,46c *)
/$88/$DF (* mov bh,bl *)
/$80/$C7/<NN (* add bh,NN *)
/$3A/$1E/>$46C (*L1:cmp bl,46c *)
/$74/$FA (*jz L1 *)
/$40 (*L2:inc ax *)
/$3A/$3E/>$46C (*cmp bh,46c *)
/$75/$F9 (*jnz L2 *)
/$1F (*pop ds *)
/$88/$66/$04 (*mov bp+4,ah *)
) end;
begin
writeln('Speed returns ',speed);
end.
ALGORITHM:
program measurespeed;
const NN=3;
var
z:byte;
count:integer;
speed:byte;
begin
z:=mem0:$46C; (* or use 'absolute'... *)
while z=mem0:$46C do; (* here we start a new tick *)
z:=(mem0:$46C+NN) mod 256; (* wait for this value *)
count:=0;
repeat
count:=count+1;
until z=mem0:$46C;
speed:=count div 256;
end.
EXPLANATION:
On every PC-compatible, the timer interrupt (IRQ0) occurs 18.2 times per
second and the handler routine increments the 4-byte value at 0:46Ch. We
get its least significant byte, wait until it changes, and then increment a
counter until the timer reaches t+NN, where NN is a number like 3 or 5. We
return the MSB of the counter (i.e. counter mod 256) only, since the LSB is
sometimes inconsistent (if a keyboard interrupt etc occurs, it steals some
CPU time I guess).
ADVANTAGES OVER PASCAL CODE:
1) The counter has to be 16-bit. When TP allocates it, it's as likely as
not to fall on odd address, with significant performance difference on a
16-bit machine, not every time you run it, but when you change the program
someplace else, so the address changes between even and odd. (the only real
advantage)
2) The instruction mix generated for the repeat-until is a lot richer than
loop L2, making the number of cycles more CPU model dependent.
3) On a very fast machine, the counter may overflow. We treat AX as un-
signed.
RELIABILITY:
This function seems to give consistent results every time. This result is
proportional (with a large error margin) to some sort of performance coef-
ficient. Obviously, the result is affected by prefetch queues, wait states
etc a whole lot. It's not really the clock speed, but some number propr-
tional to some sort of 'performance index'. It's about as (un)reliable as
Norton SI.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 87 17:12:26 PDT
From: Ya'akov_Miles%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-Multics.ARPA
Subject: 80386 motherboard upgrade to IBM-PC/xt
On Page 36, of "Computing Now!", Sept. 1987, is advertised an 80386 mother-
board that is a drop-in replacement for the standard IBM-PC/xt motherboard.
This 80386 motherboard runs at 6/16 mHz with zero wait states, and features
four 16 bit and four 8 bit slots. Made by:
Chie Dar Electronic Ind. Co., Ltd. Telex 34181
P.O. Box 89-36, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Phone (02) 981-4487
Does anybody have any further information - it may be a cheap and dirty way
to upgrade a plain vanilla XT-clone. A super "BABY-AT"?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 87 13:06:45 edt
From: moss!cbosgd!neoucom!wtm@RUTGERS.EDU (Bill Mayhew)
Subject: Adding Memory to an IBM EGA Card
One of our faculty people would like to increase the memory on his real IBM
brand EGA card from 128K to 256K. He has the daughter board for holding
the additonal chips. Alas, the board was installed by a dealer who was not
kind enough to send along the installation notes.
It looks as if the chips are just plain old 4164, 150 nS chips, but I want
to be sure before I take screwdriver in hand (the IBM-supplied chips have
some unrecognizable in-house part no.). When I add the extra memory, are
there any jumpers that need to be changed?
Thanks much to anybody who can assist.
--Bill
Bill Mayhew, Electrical Engineering
Division of Basic Medical Sciences
Northeastern Ohio Universities' College of Medicine
Rootstown (what a name!), OH 44272-9989 USA phone: 216-325-2511
(wtm@neoucom.UUCP ...!cbosgd!neoucom!wtm)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 87 16:51:00 MEZ
From: Z3000JD%AWITUW01.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
(Johannes Demel Digitalrechenzentrum)
Subject: Experience with RightWriter/Rightwords
Does anyone has experience with the Grammer and Style-Checker RightWriter
and Dictionary-Utility RightWords from RIGHTSOFT Inc. (At the moment of-
fered by IEEE at a reduced price).
I am most interested using this in an application with the TeX and LaTeX
Typesetting system by Donald Knuth.
Johannes Demel, Technical University Vienna (BITNET: Z3000JD@AWITUW01)
------------------------------
Date: Tue 29 Sep 87 14:53:04-PDT
From: Ted Shapin <BEC.SHAPIN@ECLA.USC.EDU>
Subject: Uncompress for unix .Z wanted
Phone: (714)961-3393; Mail:Beckman Instruments, Inc.
Mail-addr: 2500 Harbor Blvd., X-11, Fullerton CA 92634
I would like to uncompress some unix .Z files. Is there such
a program that runs under PC-DOS?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 87 14:25:44 MEZ
From: "Rainer Kleinrensing" UNI217%DBNRHRZ1.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: MultiSync monitor with Hercules
Some time ago I bought a QuadEGA ProSync graphics card and a Multisync
monitor from Quadram. I have read several times that Multisync compatible
monitors can operate with a Hercules monochrome graphics card. The ProSync
card is capable of emulating a Hercules card. My question: how do I have
to connect the monitor to the card in order to operate in Hercules mode?
The manuals don't give any clues. I have heard that all I have to change
is the monitor cable. If anybody out there successfully operates a Her-
cules card with a MultiSync monitor, please let me know.
Thank you ,
Rainer
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
******************figu!re