Info-IBMPC@C.ISI.EDU.UUCP (06/18/87)
Info-IBMPC Digest Wednesday, 17 June 1987 Volume 6 : Issue 46
This Week's Editor: Billy Brackenridge
Today's Topics:
Orchid and Sigma Designs Turbo EGA Boards
Excellent Overview of OS/2
MS-DOS 5.0 and PC/OS2
PD:<PC-BLUE.VOLnnn> up-to-date
Another Codeview / Video-7 Solution
Rainbow <--> PC
Update of GRAPH
Long Integers in Turbo Pascal
Long Integers in Turbo Pascal TOADLONG.SHA
Improved Long Integer Functions for Turbo Pascal on SIMTEL20
Kermit Paper Newsletter V1 #2
DOS 3.3 echo off
Microport V/AT vs. IBM PC/IX
Accelerator and Disk Cache Boards from PMI
Nota Bene Bulletin/Digest
Today's Queries:
Writing Programs that use Overlays
Large Print Utility for IBMPCs
'C' programmers utilities
Detecting State of Hercules
Disk Conversion Xenix to DOS
DES Board
AUTOCAD Printer Driver Needed
LED Programming on the New AT
ICon Software Wanted
Problems with RESTORE on AMSTRAD PC
MARK/RELEASE
Request for speaker disabling program.
INFO-IBMPC BBS Phone Numbers: (213)827-2635 (213)827-2515
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 87 11:43:44 EDT
From: yale!hsi!tankus@seismo.CSS.GOV (Ed Tankus)
Subject: Orchid and Sigma Designs Turbo EGA Boards
Micky,
You might want to pickup a copy of PC Magazine, dated 7/21/87, the
PS/2 issue. Inside they have review on 2 turbo/EGA boards. The
Orchid and Sigma Designs.
If you don't need EGA, then AST just announced their new half-card
HOT SHOT, a 10Mhz accelerator card for the XT with an 80286. You can
also try calling Microway, Inc. in Kingston, MA. They make some of
the BEST accelerator products on the market. I know several people
who have their products and are quite happy with them.
The PLUS Hardcard 20 has been one of the most reliable on the market.
Many mail order houses sell this card and reasonable prices. And
pickup the 6/2/87 issue of PC WEEK. Their is an article about
mail-order places that use more than one address/name to attract
business.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Ed.
Net : {noao!ihnp4!yale!}!hsi!tankus
Snail: Health Systems Int'l, 100 Broadway, New Haven, CT 06511
Bell : (203) 562-2101
------------------------------
From: Herm Fischer <hermix!fischer@rand-unix.ARPA>
Subject: Excellent Overview of OS/2
Date: Sat Jun 13 12:05:45 1987
An excellent overview of OS/2 is published in the May issue of the Microsoft
Systems Journal (just mailed out to subscribers). It not only includes
listings of system calls, discussion of the new presentation manager,
and multiprocessing, but also supplements the discussions with
source code examples. Highly recommended reading for the MS-DOS
hacker who wants to see his future in the looking glass...
The most surprising thing to me was the absence of a unix-like fork
mechanism; instead, though they do have processes, within a process
you can have multiple threads which have access to the same local
data. Ideal for communications programs, ideal for Ada rendezvous
tasking monitors, and the like.
Interesting what they left out (because of time pressures, they say):
named pipes and mountable file systems...
Also interesting is a statement that IBM's Standard Edition OS/2 and
Microsoft's clone-edition OS/2 have the same interfaces. (Several friends
have come from IBM seminars where they were given a different impression.)
Herm Fischer
[I also read this issue of Microsoft Systems Journal (MSJ) cover to
cover. I recommend this magazine as a source of the sort of
information that info-ibmpc used to provide, but no longer will be
able to provide when we cease publication on the 1st of July. For
more detailed information on OS/2 subscribe to Microsoft's Dial
service.
The lead article in MSJ states categorically that what IBM calls
"Operating System/2 Standard Edition" and what Microsoft calls
"Operating System/2" are in fact one and the same operating system.
The paragraph goes on to explain that the Microsoft Windows
presentation manager is in compliance with IBM's long range plans for
a consistent user interface across all system lines.
I had lunch last week at Ashton Tate with a programmer working with
OS/2. He lamented the passing of DOS as a hacker's system. I also
got this impression from reading about OS/2 in MSJ. Much of the fun
in Info-IBMPC was in figuring out ways around DOS. In order to make
anything work we had to take over keyboard interrupts and write
directly to Comm ports etc. Those days are over. Today you have to
learn the rules of OS/2 and stick to them. -wab]
------------------------------
From: luis@grinch.UUCP (luis)
Subject: MS-DOS 5.0 and PC/OS2
Date: 13 Jun 87 07:36:29 GMT
Organization: Textural Software, San Jose, CA.
In article <1534@megatest.UUCP> msodos@megatest.UUCP (Marty Sodos) writes:
>
>I trying to sort out the rumors pertaining to the capabilities of the
>next release of MS-DOS, and the first release of PC/OS2.
>
>Could anyone please comment/confirm/deny the following:
>
> 1) PC/OS2 will not be compatible with the current applications
> written for MS-DOS. I.e., if you have a copy of Lotus 123 and
> wish to use the multitasking/enhanced memory capabilities of
> PC/OS2, you will need a new copy.
> [...]
Well, I went to a presentation at San Francisco given by IBM on OS/2.
OS/2 *IS* multi-tasking (as we all know), but is NOT multi-user (as you
have probably guessed).
I got a 'manual' from IBM all about OS/2, which explains EVERYTHING
about OS/2. There are some VERY strange things in OS/2, yet some nice
things too... Let me give explain a few:
- NO more .BAT files (Now called .CMD files)
- although they still exist in PC-DOS Compatibility mode.
[.CMD files are super sets of the normal .BAT files. -wab]
- NO more .COM files.. EVERYTHING is .EXE. But, if you want
to give a higher priority to a file, you rename it as a .COM file.
- Because of the way OS/2 handles memory, you can run a 5 Mbyte program
in a machine that only has 2 Mbytes of RAM. (nice, eh?)
- OS/2 has a new prompt.. It's A] , but if you do a ALT-ESC (I
think that's the hot keys), you get A> which means you are
in PC-DOS Compatibility mode.
- OS/2 can run multi-tasking, but NOT PC-DOS compatible. While in
PC-DOS Compatible though, OS/2 tasks STILL keep running.
- EGA will NOT be supported AT ALL! If you have an EGA board, it
becomes a CGA board. And, in version 1.1, monochrome will NOT
be supported because they are going to go to a window environment.
- Currently, you can NOT kill a process. When asked how the computer
will know to kill an infinite loop, they replied, "The computer
will sense it, and auto-maticaly kill it." (sure it will...)
[There are system primitives to kill processes. If the
system session manager can't do this you could write a utility
to do so. -wab]
- You can run up to 16 processes (15 background, 1 foreground) at
one time.
- Communications PROBABLY will not work due to time slices.
[In order to provide compatibility with real mode on the 286
chip, interrupts could be lost when switching between real
and protected mode. The 286 chip wasn't designed to switch
between these modes in a running system. I think hardware
vendors who manufacture multi line serial cards will come
up with a hardware solution for this problem. -wab]
- AUTOEXEC.BAT is called STARTUP.CMD in OS/2.
- But, AUTOEXEC.BAT will still exist for when you go into PC-DOS
compatibility mode. (Nice, eh?)
- If you have an IBM PC or XT with an 80286 turbo board in it, OS/2
will NOT work.
- OS/2 treats an 80386 like an 80286, so no extra power is given
(except for maybe speed... But that has nothing to do with OS/2)
- OS/2 is compatible with PC-DOS file structure, so it can read/write
to PC-DOS.
- The 32 Megabyte hard disk limit is still in effect. They (IBM) said
though that in version 1.1 (late 88), they would have a partitioning
program to allow larger hard disks (i.e. 400+megabytes).
[OS/2 does support CD ROM disks much larger than 32MB but
that is another can of worms entirely. -wab]
- I asked if UNIX/XENIX could still be loaded, and their reply was,"I
don't see why not. If it works under PC-DOS, it will work here!!"
(sure it will!! From what I saw, I doubt it folks.. Be careful!)
- Time slicing is done by defining the program in to a class and level.
- Classes include: Time Critical, Regular, and Idle Time.
- Each level has 32 'levels' within.
- BOTH Class and level are HARD CODED, and _NOT_ user defined.
- OS/2 will NOT allow drivers. You _MUST_ go through function calls.
- They did this because of SAA. That way, they can port a program
(source of course) strait from a PC to a mainframe, compile it,
and have it work. Usually, with no editing of any sort.
- In PC-DOS compatible mode, it is emulating PC-DOS 3.3. So, if it
will run under PC-DOS 3.3, 'chances' are that it will run under
PC-DOS compatible mode. (Notice chances in quotes. Not everything!)
[Rules are pretty well defined as to what will work. If you
have access to source code, it shouldn't take more than an
afternoon to convert a program so it will run under compatibility
mode. -wab]
- LAN's are _NOT_ supported by OS/2. (You heard it right....)
[Here MSJ completely confused me. There was much talk about
networking particularly in the article on interprocess communication.
The author of the article used a lot of the right words, but
left the impression that they are real confused up in Redmond
when it comes to networking. This subject needs more
investigation. -wab]
- Communications will NOT be supported in compatibility mode.
[Not exactly writes to I/O ports are not supported. I
suspect one can do DOS reads and writes to the COM port and find
that the I/O gets buffered. -wab]
- All INT 21H are compatible.
- OS/2 supports three types of programs.
- Full Functions -----------------> Works ONLY in OS/2.
- Family Applications ------------> Works in BOTH OS/2 and PC-DOS.
- PC-DOS Application Programs ----> Works in PC-DOS ONLY.
- Currently, this is where most (99.9%) of all programs fall.
- Supports Dynamic Linking.
- Supports multi-terminal types. (don't ask me how)
I hope that this answers all of your questions about OS/2. Please
don't think that this is ALL that OS/2 has to offer, because it is not. It
has some very nice features, yet some dumb ones as well (i.e. can't kill
a process.. yet!).
On the last day of the class, we got to ask the instructor to do things
in OS/2 while we watched (over satellite), and I must say that they (so far)
have quite a good job.
If anyone has any questions which they would like to ask me about OS/2,
I will try my best to answer them. Please leave any comments/questions to
me via E-MAIL. I have only taken a course in it, and am not an expert, but
I will try. I hope that I answered your question. Thank you....
Luis Chanu "Live every day as if it were your last,
UUCP: ihnp4!sun!aeras!grinch!luis because one day you will be right."
UUCP: lll-crg!vecpyr!wjvax!grinch!luis -Benny Hill
Disk-Claimer: That's not your disk, that's my disk.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Jun 1987 21:04 MDT
From: "Frank J. Wancho" <WANCHO@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: PD:<PC-BLUE.VOLnnn> up-to-date
PD:<PC-BLUE.VOLnnn> is now complete up to and including nnn = 317, and
a new 000. A new version of PD:<PC-BLUE>PC-BLUE.CRCLST will be ready
sometime Sunday morning.
Also, to reduce processing time for PD:<*>*.CRCLST files by the
Archive Server, pre-ARChived and uuencoded versions of those files
will be shortly available under the name PD:<*>*.UUE, where the "*" in
both locations must be replaced by one of:
ADA CPM CPMUG MACINTOSH MISC
MSDOS PC-BLUE PCNET SIGM UNIX ZSYS
--Frank
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 87 10:15:40 pdt
From: tweten@ames-prandtl.ARPA (Dave Tweten)
Subject: Another Codeview / Video-7 Solution
Cc: U17199%UICVM@wiscvm.wisc.edu, larry@Jpl-VLSI.ARPA
I too had been bitten by the Codeview / EGA clone incompatibility which
was discussed in issue 39 of the Digest. Every time I tried running
Codeview with my Video-7 Vega Delux, the screen turned into Halloween
colors, and Codeview became unusable. Issue 39 contained the ultimate
solution to the problem, though I don't think it got the attention it
deserved.
From: U17199%UICVM@wiscvm.wisc.edu (Andrew J. Cohen 996-8205, 996-5723)
I had a similar problem with Codeview, so I filed a software
problem report with Microsoft. They (quickly) responded with a
letter from which I quote: "...We have had reports of problems
on the QuadEGA+ and VEGA-7 EGA cards. We ... have been
informed of a ROM update which will fix the problem. "
Armed with Andrew's information, I called Video-7, in Fremont, CA, at
(415) 656-7800, and inquired about Codeview and ROM updates. They told
me that there indeed was an update to fix a problem with Codeview. It
had something to do with Codeview putting trash in a byte the IBM EGA
ignores, which Video-7 does not. Anyway, they offered to send me the
ROM, free. I picked it up in person and installed it. Now, all is
well.
In case you'd like to write, Video-7's (new) address is:
Video Seven Inc.
46335 Landing Parkway
Fremont, CA 94538
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 87 09:59:59 est
From: <munnari!RSBS0.anu.oz!STRASSER@seismo.CSS.GOV>
Subject: Rainbow <--> PC
Rich Rasulis posted three solutions to the DEC Rainbow <--> PC transfer
problem. One of them (the first) has a problem: the Rainbow can read
single-sided IBM diskettes, but if it writes to them, it may write on
tracks which the PC can't read, so you get garbage. This has happened to
us with some attempts at file transfers.
Mike Strasser
Research School of Biological Sciences
Australian National University
G.P.O. Box 475
Canberra City A.C.T. 2601
Australia
ARPANET : strasser%rsbs0.anu.oz@seismo.CSS.GOV
UUCP : {seismo,hplabs,nttlab,mcvax,ukc}!munnari
!rsbs0.anu.oz!strasser
------------------------------
Date: Thursday, 4 June 1987 18:20-MDT
From: "James R. Van Zandt" <jrv@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA>
To: kpetersen@SIMTEL20.ARPA
Subject: Update of GRAPH
I have uploaded to SIMTEL20 updated versions of my GRAPH program.
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.GRAPH>
GRAPH.DOC.1 ASCII 9632 4A03H
GRAPHEGA.ARC.1 BINARY 34816 60BCH
GRAPHH.ARC.1 BINARY 36864 A26AH
GRAPHHI.ARC.1 BINARY 37888 67BAH
GRAPHHP.ARC.1 BINARY 36864 DAB6H
GRAPHLI.ARC.1 BINARY 37888 9D86H
GRAPHPC.ARC.1 BINARY 39936 F143H
GRAPHZ.ARC.1 BINARY 37888 407DH
GRAPH takes pairs of points (two numbers per line) from a file or
standard input as x- and y- values and plots them on the screen,
connected by straight lines. Axes with convenient values are chosen
automatically. Labels, lines of different styles, widths, and/or
colors, or markers of different shapes may be specified. Revisions
since 6/8/86 include capacity for 5000 data points, magnitude or phase
plot from real & imaginary part data, and multiple input files.
Equivalent to the UNIX program GRAPH. Source code, including a
portable implementation of the CORE graphics standard in C, are in the
info-ibmpc "lending library" on ARPANET host C.ISI.EDU in directory
<info-ibmpc.graph>.
VERSIONS
GRAPHPC.EXE IBM PC with CGA
GRAPHEGA.EXE IBM PC with EGA
GRAPHH.EXE IBM PC with Hercules monochrome graphics
GRAPHZ.EXE Zenith Z-100
GRAPHHI.EXE Houstin Instruments DMP-29 plotter
GRAPHHP.EXE HP 7470A plotter
GRAPHLI.EXE CIE Laser Image Printing System, or LIPS 10
- Jim Van Zandt
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 87 23:18:36 EDT
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@braggvax.arpa>
Subject: Long Integers in Turbo Pascal
Attached is my long integer package for Turbo Pascal (MS-DOS
or PC-DOS). The long int routines should run on any MS-DOS system.
Also included in the package are some timer and system clock functions
for clean, fast Date/Time manipulation.
The goodies are in TOADLONG.INC. A small test program demonstrating
the functions is also included as TOADTEST.PAS.
Credits for code sources and ideas other than my own are included.
The file format (.sha) is compatible with the U*ix shar format,
and was created with a public domain program called SHAR.EXE on an
XT clone. Hopefully this format will be more convenient than various
.CAT formats that require physical extraction.
David P Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 87 23:36:20 EDT
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@braggvax.arpa>
Subject: Long Integers in Turbo Pascal TOADLONG.SHA
TOADLONG.INC (and its accompanying test program TOADTEST.PAS) were
written to provide MS-DOS and PC-DOS Turbo Pascal users with a package
of long integer utilities. They are released to the public domain
for noncommercial application (e.g., no sales).
The long integer functions presently supported are relatively primitive
and limited: long adds, long subtracts, adding and subtracting longs
with integers, NOTs, Shifts, Rotate with Carry, etc., plus a BUNCH of
unsigned integer math from Jos Wennmakker of Holland (the Mad Dutchman
and author of REFORMAT.PAS). Hopefully this package will provide a
base to which others can contribute. At least the price is right!
Also included in TOADLONG.INC are several string routines that fiddle
with long integers in various convenient ways.
Also included are a number of system date/time routines to provide
clean, fast interfacing with DOS and its peculiar date/time formats.
Most of this is in inline assembler (and 10,000 thanks to the author
of INLINE!).
I've gained surprising advantages by using long ints in my applications,
as opposed to reals and other awkwardness. The speed test of longs vs.
reals in TOADTEST.PAS should convince you of that! And I won't even
talk about accuracy .. I can't test it except by logic. (Re the different
answers the longs. vs reals test produce!)
Enjoy the code, let the credits remain where they are.
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
7573 Jennings Lane
Fayetteville NC 28303
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA
(voice: 919 868-3471,
data: same number, via Kermit, xmodem, ymodem, wxmodem,
and the world famous CommCrypt secure communications CRYPCOMM)
[TOADLONG.SHA has been added to the info-ibmpc lending library. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Sunday, 14 June 1987 21:43-MDT
From: David Kirschbaum <kirsch@BRAGGVAX.ARPA>
To: w8sdz@SIMTEL20.ARPA
Subject: Improved Long Integer Functions for Turbo Pascal on SIMTEL20
Now available from SIMTEL20:
Filename Type Bytes CRC
Directory PD:<MSDOS.TURBO-PASCAL>
TOADLONG.ARC.1 BINARY 27648 17AAH
Directory for TOADLONG.ARC:
Name Length Stowage SF Size now Date Time CRC
============ ======== ======== ==== ======== ========= ====== ====
TOADLONG.INC 51428 Crunched 57% 22498 14 Jun 87 10:19p B2A3
TOADTEST.PAS 10892 Crunched 54% 5060 14 Jun 87 10:35p 4897
==== ======== ==== ========
Total 2 62320 56% 27558
TOADLONG.INC (and its accompanying test program TOADTEST.PAS) were
written to provide MS-DOS and PC-DOS Turbo Pascal users with a package
of long integer utilities. They are released to the public domain
for noncommercial application (e.g., no sales).
The long integer functions presently supported are relatively primitive
and limited: long adds, long subtracts, adding and subtracting longs
with integers, NOTs, Shifts, Rotate with Carry, etc., plus a BUNCH of
unsigned integer math from Jos Wennmakker of Holland (the Mad Dutchman
and author of REFORMAT.PAS). Hopefully this package will provide a
base to which others can contribute. At least the price is right!
Also included in TOADLONG.INC are several string routines that fiddle
with long integers in various convenient ways.
Also included are a number of system date/time routines to provide
clean, fast interfacing with DOS and its peculiar date/time formats.
Most of this is in inline assembler (and 10,000 thanks to the author
of INLINE!).
I've gained surprising advantages by using long ints in my
applications, as opposed to reals and other awkwardness. The speed
test of longs vs. reals in TOADTEST.PAS should convince you of that!
And I won't even talk about accuracy .. I can't test it except by
logic. (Re the different answers the longs. vs reals test produce!)
Enjoy the code, let the credits remain where they are.
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
7573 Jennings Lane
Fayetteville NC 28303
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA
(voice: 919 868-3471,
data: same number, via Kermit, xmodem, ymodem, wxmodem,
and the world famous CommCrypt secure communications CRYPCOMM)
------------------------------
Date: Mon 15 Jun 87 12:41:47-EDT
From: Christine M Gianone <SY.CHRISTINE@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Kermit Paper Newsletter V1 #2
The Kermit Distribution group at Columbia University Center for Computing
Activities are in the process of preparing V1 #2 of the Kermit Newsletter
(V1 #1 appeared last July). In addition to giving the non-network-connected
world news about the latest Kermit versions, we'd also like to publish some
articles from Kermit users all over the world who are putting Kermit to good
(and possibly interesting or unusual) uses. We would be especially
interested in stories about how Kermit is used to somehow benefit humanity
(or other creatures), or to foster international cooperation, to make life
easier for the disabled, etc. For many, Kermit is used for mundane
purposes like saving money. We'd like to hear about that too. Although we
distribute Kermit programs to thousands of sites, and probably millions of
users, we get very little feedback on how Kermit is actually used. We'd
like to get this kind of news in any form, at any time, but if you'd like to
see it published in the Kermit Newsletter, please send it soon, and keep the
article fairly short (say 100-500 words).
Also, if anyone has any semi-technical general-interest contributions to make,
e.g. using Kermit over LANs, or through public networks, etc, these would also
be most welcome.
Whether you wish to contribute or not, you can be added to the subscriber
list by sending your mailing address to Info-Kermit@CU20B, or to Kermit
Newsletter, Columbia University, 612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025
USA. This process won't be necessary if you received the first issue, or if
you've ever ordered Kermit material from us by mail, in which cases you're
already on the list.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 87 11:28:48 PDT
From: Barton Wright <bilbo.barton@CS.UCLA.EDU>
To: lisse%dacth51.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.EDU
Subject: DOS 3.3 echo off
In reply to the German gentleman in vol 6, no. 45:
RTFM, sir. DOS 3.3 doesn't need patching for echo off anymore. IBM
included a new feature that any batch file line that begins with an
at sign (@) does not echo. Thus if you begin a batch file with:
@echo off
you will get no echoing at all, including no "echo off" message.
There is also a new CALL command that can be used to call other
batch files from a batch file without loading a second command.com.
As for echoing a blank line, DOS since at least 3.1 and probably
earlier has been able to print a blank line from batch files with the
construction:
echo.
That's "echo" followed immediately by a period. Try it.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 87 22:59:32 edt
From: <benway@benway.UUCP>
Subject: Microport V/AT vs. IBM PC/IX
Let me share with you some data that I compiled as a result of some
tests which a whim of curiosity impelled me to make. The data were
acquired on my IBM PC/AT (8 Mhz. clock) equipped with 4+ MB of memory
(mix of IBM, AST), 20-MB IBM-supplied disk, 80-MB Bell Tech. disk,
and 2 serial ports (AST). I run PC/IX from the 20-MB disk and V/AT
from the 80-MB disk. (I am in the process of trying to convert my
usage from PC/IX to V/AT, but of that, more later when I have spare
time and courage.) ( *sigh*)
I connected the two serial ports together (via a null-modem) and
proceeded to sign on (at the console) and call out of one serial port
into the other, logging on as a second user. I used 'connect'(PC/IX),
'cu'(V/AT), Kermit version [4C(055) 28 Jun 85] with PC/IX, and Kermit
version [4C(061) 8 Sep 86] with version 2.2L of V/AT. I proceeded to
transfer a file of 76,000 bytes from the second logged on user to the
first. (The file was a sliding print line of all printable ascii
characters, 79 printable characters/line.) To do this, I used the
'cat' command and the Kermit 'get' command. (Yes, I EXPECTED to lose
characters with 'cat' at the 9600 bps speed which I was using.)
Timing results of these test are as follows (times for 'cat' acquired
by 'time' command, times for 'get' by observation):
PC/IX: connect/cu Kermit Kermit
------ ('cat') ('cat') ('get')
Real Time 80.4 sec. 80.4 sec. 145 sec.
CPU Time (Total) 10.2 sec. 10.8 sec. ------
Bad Lines Observed < 10 < 10 3 retransmissions
V/AT: connect/cu Kermit Kermit
------ ('cat') ('cat') ('get')
Real Time 415.4 sec. 119.5 sec. 437 sec.
CPU Time (Total) 33.9 sec. 34.3 sec. ------
Bad Lines Observed |<---- Too many to count---->| 62 retransmissions
I'm not going to state the conclusions I drew from these data. You may draw
your own.
Bob Benway
I decided to repeat this test on Xenix (v2.1.3), using one of the
original 6MHz AT's, also with Bell Tech (Tosiba) 80MB disk. The results
were as follows:
terminal emulation kermit
'cat' 76000 bytes 117.52 sec
effective baud rate 6467 bps
garbled data lines 0
kermit 'get' 210 sec
effective baud rate 3619 bps
retried packets 0
I then connected from my system (9MHz AT) to the 6MHz AT via dialup at
9600 baud, on the theory that the 6MHz AT might be using 100% of its
CPU(!) on interrupts. These are the results.
terminal emulation kermit
'cat' 76000 bytes 80.34 sec
effective baud rate 9460 bps
garbled data lines 0
terminal emulation cu
'cat' 76000 bytes 183.58 sec
effective baud rate 4140 bps
garbled data lines 0
kermit 'get' 175 sec
effective baud rate 4340 bps
retried packets 0
I not only hesitate to draw conclusions from this, I refuse.
bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa)
{chinet | philabs | sesimo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 87 10:06:03 CDT
From: "Henry Mitchel" <AGRIPM%UMCVMB.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Accelerator and Disk Cache Boards from PMI
I have recently purchased the Fast286 and the FastCard from Peripheral
Marketing, Inc. The Fast286 is a 286 8-MHz 0 wait 8Kb cache accelerator
for IBM PC's and XT's. The FastCard is a 2Mb EMS memory board with
rather nifty built in disk caching. The FastCard was reviewed in Vol 6,
Issue 39. I have some further comments.
The combination can be had for $495 from PMI, adds are in PC Week, PC
Tech Journal, and Byte. The good part. The Fast286 provides about a 2
to 1 speedup in some typical compute bound code. In particular, it
speeds up dBase III+ code interpretation and Word repagination by that
amount. That enhancement factor jives with the results in the recent
article in PC Tech Journal (June '87) by Ted Mirecki, where he looks at
286 based coprocessor boards, cached and uncached. The FastCard has the
THESYS name on the board, pasted over with a PMI label. I have used it
exclusively to cache disk buffers for a large dBase III+ application and
have been very satisfied. The disk caching software is fairly
flexible, lets one select which disks to buffer or not, and more
importantly, allows one to specify whether writes will be buffered or
not. Our data is too expensive to allow to get corrupted, and the
machine hangs periodically, so it was important to be able to force
write-thru of disk buffers. Reading can be cached up to the full
2Mb of memory, and works well for this application. We are doing
is data entry where, after filling out a screen of data, all of the data
must be checked against information already in the database, which
involves opening, checking, and closing 30 files. Then various screens
are filled and checked, with attendent opening and closing of another 30
files. Then the whole process starts over. The point is that a large
disk cache is extremely useful in such a situation, because there is a
lot of reading of the same files over and over. A typical response time
for the first screenful of data before use of the PMI boards was 45
seconds. The Fast286 trimmed that to 35 seconds, and the FastCard
trimmed it further to 10 seconds. I am very happy with the pair.
The bad part is that PMI sent me the FastCard IV, which has a parallel
port, serial port, clock calendar, etc., when I had ordered a III, which
just has the memory. They cost the same, but the III has no daughter
board, so it fits better, and presumably uses less power. I did not
need the other do-dads, but it was not worth sending it back. Second, I
ordered on May 4th, and they said they would ship in two weeks. I got
it on June 8th, about three weeks later than promised. However, the
documentation is reasonably good and mature. The Fast286 is obviously a
much newer product. The documentation is lousy, but sufficient as long
as one is somewhat knowledgeable. The 8088 must be removed and placed on
the Fast286. Then a cable plugs into the 8088 socket. The worst
problem was that the cable end that goes into the socket went in too
easily, so that the stiff cable would yank it out of the socket. The
pins had to be bent to get them to grab the socket, and if bent far
enough to really grab, the cable end would not go in. So the
installation is somewhat shaky, but will work as long as it is not
disturbed.
Usual disclaimers apply, I am just a satisfied customer.
Henry Mitchel
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 87 18:48 IST
From: Itamar Even-Zohar <PORTER%TAUNIVM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Nota Bene Bulletin/Digest
As a result of my short description of Nota Bene I have been
inundated by questions, queries etc. I have tried to answer
everybody personally, but it now occurred to me, especially since
IBM-Info Digest may regrettably stop at the end of the month, to
suggest to all interested, both users of Nota Bene and others, to
have a Nota Bene Digest for more specialized exchange of informa-
tion and a forum for queries.
Tel Aviv University Computer Center is willing to give it a
favorable thought. If you are interested in getting/participating
in such a Digest/Bulletin, please let me know to the following
address:
Nota Bene Digest
Porter at Taunivm
If the number of interested is considerable, I hope we will be
able to start quite soon.
Itamar Even-Zohar
Porter Institute for Semiotics
Tel Aviv University
(Personal Bitnet code B10@Taunivm)
PS.
Nota Bene is manufacturer's new address is:
Dragonfly Software
285 West Broadway, Suite 500
New York, N.Y. 10013
U.S.A.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 87 17:02:18 PDT
From: Roland McGrath <roland@lbl-rtsg.arpa>
Subject: Writing Programs that use Overlays
I am a C programmer new to the IBM PC. I have a 12 MHz AT clone and
Turbo C 1.0. I am going to be writing a fairly large program and am
considering using overlays in it. I have seen programs that use
overlays all in one .EXE file and ones that use many files. For the
second method, it seems simple enough to just spawn and run the
overlay file. Is this how it's done??
Any information on any overlay methods would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Roland McGrath
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 87 15:25 edt
From: David John <DJJ%wfu.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Large Print Utility for IBMPCs
I need a very simple text processor that will produce printed output that
is double high and double wide. Most word processors will do double wide
but we don't seem to have anything (except on a MAC) that will also do
double high.
I need this to be done on an IBM compatible.
David John
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Wake Forest University
CSNet: djj@wfu.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1987 16:23 CET
From: ESC1332%ESOC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: 'C' programmers utilities
I recently bought a book by Al Stevens called :
"A 'C' programmers toolkit" Or something like that.
The book describes a set of utilities:
1. File cache utility;
2. Random access file access;
3. Menu Management;
4. Screen Management;
5. ISAM Binary tree file management.
Unfortunately (!), after entering about 100k of code (which is listed at the
back of the book), I noticed that one vital routine was missing from the
listings of the B-Tree routines. Has anyone got this book/the software or
an idea where I can get hold of the routine 'prev_key' which is missing.
To anyone else, since the software is public, and I've spent the time keying
it all in, if/when I get the final bit, I'll send you a copy if you're
interested - let me know.
Please answer directly to ESC1332%ESOC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu (EARN)
Karl
End of note.
------------------------------
Date: WED, 17 JUN 87 17:00:39 BST
From: ROBERT%UK.AC.SALFORD.SYSC@ac.uk
Subject: Detecting State of Hercules
HERCULES GRAPHICS CARD
The problem of detecting EGA, CGA or MONO cards has long since been
solved and is essentially rather trivial. However, does any one know
of a way to detect the presence of a HERCULES graphics card and in what
configuration i.e DIAG, HALF or FULL it is in ? Preferably, is it
detectable separately from a CGA card with which it can cohabit ?
Helpful replies will be much appreciated.
------------------------------
Date: Mon 15 Jun 87 12:07:50-PDT
From: Steve Dennett <DENNETT@SRI-NIC.ARPA>
Subject: Disk Conversion Xenix to DOS
We recently received a 5-1/4" disk with some files on it that we want
to upload. The catch is that the disk was created on an IBM PC running
Xenix, and all our PC's are running MS DOS. I'd hoped the disk would
at least be readable by DOS, but no such luck.
We're trying to find someone in our company who is running Xenix
(no luck so far). Meanwhile, I'd really appreciate suggestions on
how to solve this problem... for example, is there software available
that runs under MS DOS that can read Xenix disks?
Thanks for your help.
Steve Dennett
dennett@sri-nic.arpa
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 87 15:24:36 PDT
From: Richard Petkiewicz <bilbo.rick@CS.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: DES Board
Does anyone know of a board for PCs that does high-speed DES
encryption/decryption?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 87 15:29:54 EST
From: Jim Ennis <JIM%UCF1VM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: AUTOCAD Printer Driver Needed
To: INFO-IBMPC <INFO-IBMPC@C.ISI.EDU>
Hello net,
Does anyone have a public domain AUTOCAD printer driver for an
EPSON FX286E Extended Graphics Printer?
We have heard that it was available on CompuServe but we do not have
access to CompuServe. We can send a pre-paid mailer to you if you
can help us out.
Thanks in advance,
Jim Ennis
University of Central Florida
JIM@UCF1VM.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 87 17:44:47 MST
From: "Kelvin Nilsen" <kelvin@arizona.edu>
Subject: LED Programming on the New AT
Related to my original query about the scan codes for F11 and F12, I've
now found it necessary to program the LED's on the AT's keyboard to
reflect the current Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock status.
I am attempting to replace the BIOS keyboard interrupt handler with
my own routine. Everything works fine now, except that the LED's
remain in whatever state they happen to be in at the moment I install
my interrupt handler.
Before removing my interrupt handler, I update the keyboard status flags
in the BIOS RAM area. I find it curious that the LED's are properly
updated from these status flags even before I type a key. Perhaps
this is caused by the interrupt that occurs when I release the enter
key, but I believe that is caught in most cases by my own interrupt
handler.
Does anyone know how to directly write to these LEDs?
Is there an AT-specific BIOS entry that writes to the LEDs?
thanks again,
kelvin nilsen
[I assume the information is in the AT hardware tech reference
manual. -wab]
------------------------------
From: sdcsvax!ames!ihnp4!alberta!auvax!kevinc@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 87 15:47:52 mdt
Subject: ICon Software Wanted
> From: "Kelvin Nilsen" <kelvin@arizona.edu>
>
>Here at the University of Arizona, we are supporting a primitive
>bulletin board system running on a Compaq computer for the distribution
> of Icon support software.
> Thanks,
> Kelvin Nilsen
I apologize for not sending this to Kelvin but I do not know how
to do this. If possible would you forward this request on to
Kelvin on my behalf or tell me how to do it.
Kelvin, I have no information on BBS' software. I have been
actively searching for ICON software and information for a number
of months now and would appreciate any help that you could provide.
Sincerely,
alberta!auvax!kevinc (Kevin Crocker Athabasca University)
[I can't send mail to ARIZONA.EDU either the host has been unreachable. -wab]
------------------------------
From: obroin%hslrswi.UUCP%cernvax.bitnet@BERKELEY.EDU (Nial O'Broin)
Subject: Problems with RESTORE on AMSTRAD PC
Organization: Hasler AG, CH-3000 Berne 14, Switzerland
Has anyone else out there had problems with using RESTORE on an
AMSTRAD PC. I backed up, using 10 disks, without using the /P
option. Now I cannot RESTORE properly. It gets to about 4 disks, then
stops with 'CANNOT RESTORE FILE'. Now that I need to RESTORE, I
recall some earlier problems with similar results, which led to my
booting with PC-DOS 3.1 and using its BACKUP/RESTORE programs.
However, this time I forgot to do so. PC-DOS RESTORE will not RESTORE
the disks backed up using Amstrad's MS-DOS. It reads through all 10
disks and says 'NO FILES FOUND TO RESTORE'. I think that this may be
because the backed up files have '/' as the path separator, rather
than the normal DOS separator '\', and I am going to try patching
that character tonight and see if that does any good. But it is a
pain in the ass to get a buggy RESTORE - you know what they say, pay
peanuts and you get monkeys !
I would appreciate any help anyone can offer on this one. Mail to me - if a
coherent response emerges, I'll summarize for the net.
Thanks in advance,
Niall O Broin.
P.S. I'm a reasonably competent DOS user and programmer, so I'll get these
files back one way or the other. But I would HATE to be Joe Small Business
With His Very First Computer running into this with the amount of support one
gets from the typical Amstrad dealer.
[This has been discussed extensively in past issues. It is well known
that backup and restore don't work if you use the undocumented DOS
call to set switchar = -. This has the desired side effect of
changing the file delimiter from \ to /, but many undesirable side
effects such as losing all your files. Joe Small Business With His
Very First Computer doesn't try to be clever and use undocumented
calls. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Tue 16 Jun 87 08:10:12-EDT
From: Mary Lou Frey <mlfrey@G.BBN.COM>
Subject: MARK/RELEASE
Does anybody out there have a copy of the public domain TSR management
pair MARK/RELEASE?. This pair of programs allows you to remove resident
programs without rebooting. They are supposed to be available on various
BBS's but I don't have a modem. I have searched the INFO-IBMPC library
and the SIMTEL20 library with no success. Can anybody suggest any other
libraries reachable via arpanet and FTP anonymous I can search? or can
somebody donate a copy to the above libraries. Also can somebody direct
me to a PD assembler reasonably equivalent to MASM? I am forced to skip
all the neat programs written in assembly language because I don't have
an assembler. (I have thought about trying to use debug for it, but haven't
quite gotten around to sitting down and figuring out the steps. Nothing has
seemed THAT exciting yet. Turbo Pascal has served me quite well).
Thanks for anything
Mary lou
------------------------------
From: Nancy Yavne <nancy%WISDOM.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 87 09:14:40 -0200
Subject: Request for speaker disabling program.
I am looking for a program ( does it have to be a TSR ? ) that
allows one to disable/enable the speaker of PC.
This must be very handy for those noisy games and other programs
that does not contain this feature.
Any suggestion, source or executable is welcomed.
Thank you.
Thank You
Alex Polyak
E-mail: ihnp4!talcott!WISDOM!nancy
uucp: ihnp4!talcott!WISDOM!nancy
ARPA: nancy%wisdom.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu
BITNET: nancy@wisdom
[I think mounting a switch on the speaker cable would be more likely
to work. -wab]
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
************************
-------