SHULMAN@sdr.slb.COM (Jeffrey Shulman) (03/09/88)
Date: Wed 9 Mar 88 08:57:44-GMT
From: Jeff Shulman <SHULMAN@SDR>
Subject: Delphi Mac Digest V4 #5
To: Delphi-List: ;
Message-ID: <573901065.0.SHULMAN@SDR>
Mail-System-Version: <VAX-MM(218)+TOPSLIB(129)@SDR>
Delphi Mac Digest Wednesday, March 9, 1988 Volume 4 : Issue 5
Today's Topics:
My poor Lisa's Internal Hard Disk
RE: re: Alphabetizing Icons?
comeserve 1.0 problems (2 messages)
re: power supply repairs
SLIMs and SmartCards
re: Using C in Pascal
SCSI HELP (2 messages)
SCSI AGAIN
HyperCard 1.1
gama resource ?
re: MultiFinder Info Again
re: WriteNow format needed
re: WriteNow vs. Easy Access on the Mac
RE: Usenet Mac Digest V4 #29
BMUG CD-ROM Library
Re: Maybe I'm dumb but... [DrawPicture]
Re: Device driver status call with csCod
Re: AUX SCSI driver question
RE: ListMgr Scrollbar Anomalies
RE: Full screen access
RE: Chaining Disk Drives
hardrives/reliability (3 messages)
mac speaker output (3 messages)
35mm slide of MacII screen (3 messages)
re: Request for wargamers
Hard disks disappearing (2 messages)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: MACLAIRD
Subject: My poor Lisa's Internal Hard Disk
Date: 21-FEB 17:43 Hardware & Peripherals
Just a word of caution to all you Lisaphiles --
I recently installed the double-sided floppy drive in my Lisa 2/10,
which I still use with pleasure: what it does it does well enough for
me. The disk drive is longer than the Sony drive it replaces, with the
result that a fan sitting under the Widget and Sony drives on the
Macintosh XL cannot be used.
The DS drive works all right, although it will not format disks in the
Lisa Pascal Workshop, and presumably the Lisa Office System. Formatting
a disk which is already formatted can take a while, but not long enough
to make me hack into the driver. The HFS hack recalls "Hard Disk 20" on
my Mac 512K.
However, my internal hard disk, so reliable before, has failed twice
since I removed the fan. The first time I re-initialized the drive
several times until it seemed to be working okay. The second time the
drive ready light was out, and I suspected a controller failure. I
unplugged the hard drive.
I then discovered that the INIT file would not work from floppy at boot.
I can post the fix if anyone wants, but I wanted to warn Macintosh XL
owners.
It could be that Sun stands to profit from selling their 20-megabyte
drive. Me, I will put the drive into my Lisa 2/5, which has no internal
hard disk.
Laird
------------------------------
From: DSACHS
Subject: RE: re: Alphabetizing Icons? (Re: Msg 25359)
Date: 21-FEB 20:04 Network Digests
I prefer the following sequence, which is less accident prone.
1) Move folder to desktop
2) Open folder
3) Select view by name
(I actually prefer view by kind or color)
4) Resize folder to about 1 icon less than "normal"
5) Select all (Command -A)
6) Drag Icons into (same) Folder
7) Select View by Icon
8) Resize as needed
9) Close Folder
10) Move Folder back to its position
This way an accidental click is less trouble. The resizing of the Folder
is needed because of eccenmtricities in the Finder.
------------------------------
From: CHUQ
Subject: comeserve 1.0 problems
Date: 22-FEB 01:30 Business Mac
Folks on the CO tonight knew I was coming and going rather suddenly.
Well, After five hours, I tracked down the problem.
I'm running Comserve 1.0 to get to the modem on my other Mac. Well, the
comserve client got upgraded today, and it's now running under
Muiltifinder. Surpised, Surprise, Comserve isn't multifinder compatible.
Needless, I"m wonderfully non-thrilled. I've spent all evening ripping
apart the software and hardware, only to find this.
Anyway, for folks who've considered Comserve, here's teh problems I've
run into.
o You can run Comserve's server under Multifinder, as long as you don't
print in the background (this is what tripped me up. The server
basically works fine under multifinder, and you can use the local modem
under multifinder.)
o To use comserve to talk to a modem, you have to reboot into
singlefinder. Otherwise, you'll get random hangs that require rebooting
both the server and the client (ooph!)
o Don't expect to use the modem port on the local machine while comserve
is active. Despite what the comserve people told me at macExpo, comserve
wires itself into this and virtually detaches the hardware, replacing it
with the comserve port. This is fine unless you're doing something with
the port at the time, like, say, Data Acquisistion, or, like me, running
an od, but reliable seial hard disk (my Paradise 10 is still alive and
well, and MUCH more compatible with Multifinder than the brand new
Comserve program. Ain't progress wonderful?)
I'm going to be, um, talking with comserve in the morning. I'll let you
know anything I find out about compatibility.
chuq
------------------------------
From: CHUQ
Subject: RE: comeserve 1.0 problems (Re: Msg 25459)
Date: 22-FEB 21:42 Business Mac
I talked to InfoSpehre today. there's a maintenance release (comserve
1.1) due out in about 30 days. It clears up a lot of the bugs and
compatibility issues they've found. As far as we can tell, the problems
I saw are being addressed. What I was told was that it would go out to
all registered users.
So it looks like their working on it. I'll let folks know when I hear
more.
chuq
------------------------------
From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: re: power supply repairs (Re: Msg 25475)
Date: 24-FEB 08:15 Network Digests
Re: Power Supply repairs
A cost-effective alternative to dealer repairs of Mac Plus power
supplies is ComputerQuick, La Mirada CA 213-941-7951. They have been
active in MacTutor magazine and it seems like a good company. They will
send you the parts for module replacement, and you ship back the old
ones. Loy Spurlock is the contact.
Last time I checked, they didn't handle SE power supplies, which was a
disappointment when a friend's SE died.
Ric Ford
------------------------------
From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: SLIMs and SmartCards
Date: 24-FEB 08:27 Hardware & Peripherals
I'm looking for information about SLIMs (Slim Line IC Modules,
supposedly), SmartCards and similar technology. Rumor has it that
Apple's using some of this stuff in the laptop, but they're talking
about 2MB, credit card sized RAM modules. Sounds weird to me. Anyone
know much about these things for speculating on how Apple might use 'em?
I'm especially interested in companies that manufacture them.
Ric
------------------------------
From: DDUNHAM
Subject: re: Using C in Pascal (Re: Msg 25477)
Date: 24-FEB 23:31 Network Digests
> From: Major John Buono
> Subject: Using C in Pascal
The article Jim Hopper and I wrote for the January MacTutor (it's on
writing Acta format drivers; Acta's in C, Jim's format driver in Pascal)
explains one solution to the multiple-language problem: code resources.
David Dunham "The more laws there are, the more people are
Maitreya Design inclined to break them"
------------------------------
From: PSTAR
Subject: SCSI HELP
Date: 24-FEB 23:46 Hardware & Peripherals
I have a 512KE upgraded with a MacMemory RAM upgrade to 2 megs. When I
got the memory upgrade, I figured that eventually I'd add a SCSI port
and a hard disk. Today I called my dealer and asked about th e MacMemory
SCSI port, which is the only one compatible with my MacMemory RAM
upgrade. He told me that they weren'trecommending the SCSI port add-on
because their customers who had gotten them pretty much indicated that
they didn't wor k (!!!). So now -- any suggestions as to what I can do?
I'd hate to have to ditch my RAM upgrade and start all over again with
my trusty 512KE -- but I don't want to depend upon an undependable SCSI
port. SUGGESTIONS MUCH APPRECIATED.
------------------------------
From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: RE: SCSI HELP (Re: Msg 25512)
Date: 25-FEB 14:56 Hardware & Peripherals
The Dove SCSI port seems to be most popular, though it's not compatible
with all hard disks. (It is reportedly incompatible with Micah drives.).
I'd be surprised if you couldn't use it with the MacMemory upgrade - I
think it's worth investigating.
Ric Ford
------------------------------
From: PSTAR
Subject: SCSI AGAIN
Date: 27-FEB 18:25 Hardware & Peripherals
I've asked a couple of questions here about the MacMemory SCSI ports.
Is there anyone out there who uses one? Are they any good? Is the
combo of the MacMem ory RAM upgrade and the SCSI port really no good?
Thanks for your help.
------------------------------
From: DDUNHAM
Subject: HyperCard 1.1
Date: 25-FEB 23:30 HyperCard
For those of you who use a default font other than Geneva, but like
icons to be labelled in Geneva-9, the following patch makes HyperCard
use Geneva-9 (rather than the default font in 9-point size) as the
default font for buttons with icons and Show Name.
Change: 6724 3F2D F318
to: 3F3C 0003 (the 0003 is for Geneva)
------------------------------
From: ROWLAND
Subject: gama resource ?
Date: 24-FEB 20:54 Inside Mac
I'm looking for information on the gamma correction resource "gama" -
specifically what is its form and how is it used ? Inside Mac V says
that a -1 entry (in the scrn device resource structure) gives the
default correction which is for an Apple 13 inch color monitor (and that
it may be different for other monitors). The device/card manual info for
the Apple video card doesn't even mention it; however it does say that
the DACs are 11 bit but that only 16.8 million colors are allowed (8
bits per gun) - so I presume the extra 3 bits allow for gamma correction
in addition, but exactly how ? It is important for some visual
psychophysical experiments that I understand what's going on. Does
anyone know, or have any suggestions on where to go to find out ?
-Thanks
Mike Burns
------------------------------
From: DDUNHAM
Subject: re: MultiFinder Info Again (Re: Msg 25549)
Date: 29-FEB 04:57 Network Digests
>From: raylau@dasys1.UUCP (Raymond Lau)
>Subject: MultiFinder Info Again
The story I heard was that Apple purposely did not release internal
docs for MultiFinder 1.0 because they intended to change them for the
next release (maybe they'll have a way to get rid of layers!).
David Dunham "Efficiency is intelligent laziness."
Maitreya Design
------------------------------
From: DDUNHAM
Subject: re: WriteNow format needed (Re: Msg 25550)
Date: 29-FEB 04:58 Network Digests
> From: dorner@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu
> Subject: WriteNow format needed
Yes, I have the format. I think I uploaded it to DELPHI, and you can
also get it from T|Maker.
David Dunham "If voting could change the system, it would be
illegal. If
Maitreya Design not voting could change the system, it would be be
illegal."
------------------------------
From: DDUNHAM
Subject: re: WriteNow vs. Easy Access on the Mac (Re: Msg 25550)
Date: 29-FEB 04:59 Network Digests
> From: dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt)
> Subject: WriteNow vs. Easy Access on the Mac II
I don't use Easy Access, but I can attest that WriteNow has some bug on
the Mac II. I don't know what bug that is, but it's obvious when things
garbage up, and I'm willing to put up with it until there's a better
word processor available (which may even be the next version of
WriteNow).
David Dunham "The more laws there are, the more people are
Maitreya Design inclined to break them"
------------------------------
From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: RE: Usenet Mac Digest V4 #29 (Re: Msg 25549)
Date: 29-FEB 15:08 Network Digests
Re: ~Summer Workshops/Programs for High School
The Boston Computer Society can direct you to the Summer Computer
Institute, which features many courses on Macintosh and other computers.
The B.C.S. is at 617-367-8080.
Ric ford
------------------------------
From: PEABO
Subject: BMUG CD-ROM Library
Date: 1-MAR-02:14: Mousing Around
March 1, 1988
For Immediate Release
Contact: Stephen Howard (415) 549-BMUG
BMUG to Produce PD ROM(tm)
Seattle, WA - BMUG, Inc. announced today that it will publish a special
anthology of its shareware library on CD ROM. This product, called the
BMUG PD ROM(tm), will include public domain (PD) software and shareware
as well as digests of public messages from selected electronic services.
The PD ROM will give an individual easy access to the several hundred
megabytes of software and information which would previously have been
difficult and expensive to store and maintain.
Through an agreement with Discovery Systems, a publisher of compact disc
products based in Dublin, Ohio, the anthology should be available for
under $100 retail. "We were fortunate to team up with a publisher who
shares our goal of delivering this material to the users as
inexpensively as possible, like we do with our floppy-disk-based library
of over 150 disks available at $3 each. BMUG is not looking at this
project as a money-maker for the group; we're producing the PD ROM as a
public service to the community. The disc ties in nicely with BMUG's
Registration Assistance Program ('the BMUG RAP', where we pay the
postage and help deliver Shareware registration checks), to help both
shareware users and authors."
"This is really great. You would have to have been crazy to collect all
this stuff before. Now, with the PD ROM, you would be dumb not to,"
said Stephen Howard of BMUG. "Everyone should pick one up when they buy
a CD ROM drive," he added.
The PD ROM will be designed for use with Apple's today-announced CD SC
compact disk drive and HyperCard system software. The contents of the
disc have been drawn from a wealth of available material and will be
tested and screened prior to publication. "I think it's great, too,"
said Marsh Williams of Discovery Systems, "the price and utility of this
product make it a terrific value for every Mac CD ROM user."
BMUG, the world's largest independent non-profit Macintosh users group,
is well known for its excellent member services and publications. The
semi-annual BMUG Newsletter contains over 300 pages of candid,
informative articles and is widely read by novice users and industry
leaders alike. Discovery Systems is a full- service publisher and
manufacturer of compact disc products for professional audio and
computer use.
For more information:
The BMUG PD-ROM(tm) Project:
BMUG, Inc.
1442A Walnut #62
Berkeley, CA 94709
------------------------------
From: BRECHER
Subject: Re: Maybe I'm dumb but... [DrawPicture]
Date: 5-MAR-18:51: Network Digests
To: omh@nancy (Owen M. Hartnett) Subject: Re: Maybe I'm dumb but...
[DrawPicture]
> Draw a Picture in MacPaint, save to Scrapbook, copy it out of Scrapbook
> with ResEdit and paste into my application [and then in ResEdit offset
> the picFrame so its top,left is 0,0].
>
> Now, from my application, Get the picture, and call
> DrawPicture(myPic,myPic^^.picFrame);
>
> Now, wouldn't you expect the picture to get drawn in the upper left
> corner of your window? Nah... It's somewhere in your window.
A picture contains drawing commands. These commands contain embedded
coordinates; merely altering the frame does not alter the embedded
drawing coordinates. The drawing coordinates are in the same coordinate
system as the frame; they are not *relative* to the frame. For your
purpose, the easiest solution is to move the picture to the extreme
upper left corner of the MacPaint page before cutting it.
------------------------------
From: BRECHER
Subject: Re: Device driver status call with csCod
Date: 5-MAR-18:52: Network Digests
>To: woody@tybalt.caltech.edu (William Edward Woody)
>Subject: Re: Device driver status call with csCode == 1
Yes, _Status with csCode=1 returns the DCE handle in the csParam field
on all ROMs to date. I do not recall seeing this documented.
------------------------------
From: BRECHER
Subject: Re: AUX SCSI driver question
Date: 5-MAR-18:52: Network Digests
>Re: howarth@mandrill (David J. Howarth)
>Subject: Re: AUX SCSI driver question
> How does the SCSI driver handle seeking under AUX. Does the driver issue
> a seek, put itself to sleep, and let AUX do some more processing until
> an interrupt arrives...
I don't know anything about A/UX, but the SCSI hardware cannot interrupt
the CPU -- the NCR 5380 chip's interrupt line is not connected.
------------------------------
From: TONYN
Subject: RE: ListMgr Scrollbar Anomalies (Re: Msg 2319)
Date: 6-MAR-12:57: Programming Techniques
I don't know for sure why the scroll bar doesn't draw, but when I cause
such behavior in my own code, it is usually because I set my clip region
wrong. If you feel up to it, you might trace through the List Mgr code
with this in mind. Perhaps it would help to specifically invalidate the
scroll bar rect?
Tony N.:'
'
FORUM>
------------------------------
From: TONYN
Subject: RE: Full screen access (Re: Msg 2339)
Date: 6-MAR-13:09: Programming Techniques
The "right" way to do full screen access is with a window. The problem
is to get control of the menu bar. What I believe has worked for others
in the past is to alter the WMgrPort clipRgn, change the window size,
and restore the clipRgn. Remember, this change is likely to be
ephemeral, as anything that makes the window mgr recalculate visRgns
will undo your work. You could leave the clipRgn as you want it -- as
long as your application is in front, so be careful when you are
switched out.
Tony N.:'
'
------------------------------
From: MACENGLISH
Subject: RE: Chaining Disk Drives (Re: Msg 25650)
Date: 7-MAR-21:37: Hardware & Peripherals
Well, there is a place at the back of the 800K that allows you to hook
another one to it. I know because I did it. What happens though is the
Mac simply doesn't recognize the second external disk drive. So I
figured if I did something, I could get it to work. If you guys say no
way, I believe you. :-)
Debbie
------------------------------
From: RAMARREN
Subject: hardrives/reliability
Date: 8-MAR-02:27: Hardware & Peripherals
I'd be interested in hearing more on reliability problems with drives.
I frequently have to answer questions on "which one to buy" and lately
I'm not believeing in my own answers.
I have a DataFrame XP60 on my home machine, bought (!) last August,
which has NEVER missed a beat, never been formatted since I got it, and
runs, well, 20 hours in 24 most days. Yet at my office, there have been
a spate of XP40's and XP60's belly-upped in the past couple of months.
Another friend buying from a different source lost 2 XP40's. GCC drives
are just plain junk: I've been through 6 of them (gratis replacements on
a 1985 HyperDink Machine). Both I and
the official consultant have CMS 80's on our Mac II's and we both
"nearly" lost the data - I managed to wangle a new replacement just
before mine froze (happened when the tech came to exchange it) and the
other guy's managed to UnStick just long enough for him to back it up.
I've seen:
Jasmine 10 down out of 40
Rodime 6 down out of 20
EasyDrive 0 down out of 4
CMS 60 2 down out of 20
Apple HD20 3 down out of 70
Apple HD20SC 0 down out of 20
Apple HD40 internal 0 down out of 4
Apple HD80 internal 0 down out of 3
X 8 down out of 16, 3 twice
XP60 2 down out of 4
I'm wondering if the CDC "Wrenn" series drives might be a good bet..
their 150 /300Meg series has much more impressive ratings for duty
cycles. We're looking for something to support a big network (many
LocalTalk/Farallon star clusters and bridges) and need turn it on and
forget it kind of running.
Anyone with more info on this sort of thing, please let me know
gdg
------------------------------
From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: RE: hardrives/reliability (Re: Msg 25726)
Date: 8-MAR-15:46: Hardware & Peripherals
I'd love to see this thread grow to a useful sample. Here's some quick
data from my testing:
DataFrame 20's: more than 50% failure over time, 5 samples (some XP's
some not)
DataFrame 40's: 1 out of 3 failed. One runs great over a year's time
DataFrame 60's: Out of 5 or 6 I know of, no failures
GCC FI40 and FX40, one each: no failures
HyperDrive 20's: unmitigated disaster, as were all HyperDrive's owned
by anyone I've ever met or talked to (internals only)
MacBottom 20: one, no problem; good reliability from others I've talked
with
Apple Hard Disk 20: bulletproof from people I've talked with
Apple HD20SC: one sample, no problems (ask Peabo about his, too)
Priam EM100: two, both failed
CMS internal 150MB Rodime: one failure, one working fine for months
CMS 40MB internal: no problems
Racet Administrator: 1 power supply failure out of two
I'd love to see a collective database where each entry held:
REPORTER - DATE Placed in use - Date Failed/No failure - failure type
Oops, forgot some others:
Tecmars: 3 out of 3 failures (serial port drive)
Rodimes: internal 20 and 40 and external 45: no problems
reports from other people have indicated low failure rates on GCC FX
external drives.
Ric Ford
This sample is too small to draw any good conclusions from, but it may
be useful when combined with a lot of others...
------------------------------
From: HALL
Subject: RE: hardrives/reliability (Re: Msg 25726)
Date: 8-MAR-21:09: Hardware & Peripherals
Well, I've had a CDC Wren III for six months now (it's a NuData), and I
haven't had any trouble whatsoever with it. This drive gets moved
around (and banged around) quite a bit. It probably travels at least
100 miles a week by car without a carrying case. How's that for
durability?
Brian
------------------------------
From: CWT
Subject: mac speaker output
Date: 8-MAR-10:18: Hardware & Peripherals
will SOMEBODY let me know whether (1) any old speaker can be connected
to my mac plus audio port or (2) do I have to run the audio through an
amplifier? If so, how much amplification is too much? Keep up the good
forum!
------------------------------
From: MACWEEKBOS
Subject: RE: mac speaker output (Re: Msg 25733)
Date: 8-MAR-15:48: Hardware & Peripherals
I believe an ordinary 8-ohm speaker will work fine. I hooked up one I
had from a CB and got more volume and better fidelity than the standard
one provides. The only thing to watch out for is too inefficient a
speaker (like a big, acoustic-suspension hi-fi speaker).
Ric
------------------------------
From: RAMARREN
Subject: re: mac speaker output (re: msg25733)
Date: 9-MAR-03:32: Creative Pursuits
I use a Radio Shack CB extension speaker, with one of the "Archer
Private TV Listener" modules hooked in line: you just leave the mac
volume setting on full this way and have a nice, easy to reach, analog
volume control for fine tuning the volume... I find (to my surprise)
that the machine seems to like this better too -- since I set the volume
on '7' in the control panel, my screen jitters have gone away (yeah, I
know, I'm lazy about bringing it into the lab and resoldering the analog
board joints... probably will soon...)
gdg
------------------------------
From: ACOTE
Subject: 35mm slide of MacII screen
Date: 8-MAR-21:13: Hardware & Peripherals
Does any one Know of a 35mm Camera device to take pictures of a
Macintosh II screen. This must be for the Sony 1024 X 768 Super High end
graphics monitor. It may be possable that most are universal in screen
resolution (i.e. Mac II, 640x480) If the one that can show me exactly
what I need, I will send a disk stuffed with PD soft- ware of Mac II
stuff, including the infamous MacWorld and other Trade journal displays
of the Floating ball demo on a 800k Sony disk, of course for free (PDS
is FREE). If you think you may have a lot of Mac II stuff, a spare 800k
(NEW) sony disk is always needed. This is not just insentive, but time
is of the essence. Vertical synchronization is obviously a must by this
device to inhibit gray bar interference. I will reply to those who have
not pointed me in the right direction for this device (example: a
Polaroid one step in a dark room.), but I assure you that the one that
has used, or seen this type of Hi end presentation Slide film tool will
be given, postage and handling paid, 800k PDS Disk. A description, the
vendor source, tel number,and if possable, price is required. Thanks for
your help, --Anthony Cote.
------------------------------
From: RAMARREN
Subject: RE: 35mm slide of MacII screen
Date: 9-MAR-03:52: Hardware & Peripherals
Anthony, long time ago I did a lot of photography for a buddy with a
fractal graphics thesis he was doing. I used a Nikon with an 85mm lens,
stopped down for healthy depth of field, Ektachrome 64 transparency
film.
We blanked off the precise edges of the CRT with Photo Opaque tape,
heavily curtained and removed all possible sources of reflection from
the room, and scrutinized the focussing screen carefully for spurious
reflections with a 15x magnifying eyepiece. I than ran three test rolls
(no exposure shorter than 1/8 second) with varying time and development
to get the gamma and exposure levels just right for each of his 10
images.
If I remember correctly, the sharpest with some minor loss of dynamic
range happened with standard development around 2 sec exposures at f/16.
I exper- imented with a thin clear nylon 'filter' stretched over the
lens to reduce the contrast with good results. (that may have been
black).
the CRT was leveled with a standard carpenters' level, the distance from
ground to center was measured with a yardstick, and a HEAVY duty tripod
with bubble level was used on the camera end. I used the Nikon screen
which is a plain fine matte fresnel screen with gridwork reference
lines. Distance from film plain to screen was ~6 feet, but that will
depend on the size of your screen ( I can't remember the display
dimensions).
What does this really say? That without HiRes photo-imageing boxes
equipped with flat-field CRT and calibration components, you must
simply do very careful macro-photography, remembering that a CRT screen
is a 3D surface instead of copy-planar artwork. I guarantee that if you
do the homework of photography religiously like this, you will get
acceptable representations on film of the CRT images, but be aware that
some experimentation with exposure saturation and color combinations is
usually justified as the dyes in film react differently to the phosphors
than the appropriation that your eyes make. This sort of amateur setup
actually can make better transpar- encies than professional equipment
given poor handling. The only issue is the amount of time it will take
you to get a 'calibrated' setup, and just how critically sharp the
output results need to be for your purposes. (a setup like this, by the
way, is how we have produced many of our animated computer graphics
sequences, adding in an RS232 trigger to a 16mm movie camera with the
VAX drawing flip frames for a couple hundred CPU hours here at the Jet
Propulsion Lab)
Godfrey DiGiorgi digiorgi@jpl-vlsi.arpa DELPHI ::: Ramarren 9 Mar 1988
------------------------------
From: PEABO
Subject: RE: 35mm slide of MacII screen (Re: Msg 2350)
Date: 8-MAR-23:05: Macintosh Developers
Try Matrox Systems or Dunn Instruments. I'm sorry I don't have the
addresses (I
think Matrox is in Ontario, Canada). These two companies have been
making film recorders for all sorts of graphics processors for years and
I would be surprised if they didn't have something that could handle a
Mac II RGB output.
peter
------------------------------
From: DDUNHAM
Subject: re: Request for wargamers (Re: Msg 25711)
Date: 8-MAR-21:45: Network Digests
> From: <PORTERG%VCUVAX.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
> Subject: Request for wargamers
I play wargames -- the multiplayer kind (Civilization, Britannia), the
kind with hexes, and rolegames (RuneQuest), tho I don't consider RPGs to
be wargames.
David Dunham "If voting could change the system, it would be
illegal. If
Maitreya Design not voting could change the system, it would be be
illegal."
------------------------------
From: DDUNHAM
Subject: Hard disks disappearing
Date: 8-MAR-21:46: Hardware & Peripherals
One of the scariest things that can happen is when your hard disk
refuses to start your Mac, and won't even show up on the Finder desktop
when you start from a floppy. Not only that, you can't get to it with
Apple's Disk First Aid program. Even if you have a current backup, what
good is it if the Mac can't find the hard disk so you can restore it?
In technical terms, the Mac can't mount the hard disk. When the Mac
sees a SCSI device attached, it asks it to provide some software with
which the Mac can read from it. This is called a driver, and this
scheme lets new and strange SCSI devices to be introduced, without
requiring a new release of Macintosh system software. (For example,
I'll bet the new CD-ROM player accesses information differently from an
HD20SC.) Perhaps you can spot the potential weakness -- if the driver
is damaged, the Mac is unable to access any information from the device.
Luckily, Apple provides a program called Apple HD SC Setup. One of
its functions is to update the driver on the SCSI device. This lets you
replace the original driver with a new one (presumably faster or less
buggy). More importantly, it lets you replace one that has become
damaged.
As you've probably guessed, I had to do this recently. My hard disk
obstinately refused to be recognized by the Mac, so I scrounged up Apple
HD SC Setup and updated the driver. When I quit, there was the hard
disk icon!
I recommend you prepare a special recovery floppy, with all the
programs you'll need to restore or recover your hard disk if anything
goes wrong. Apple's Apple HD SC Setup (or an equivalent program from
your hard disk manufacturer) and Disk First Aid are obvious candidates.
Paul Mercer's free SCSI Tools control panel extension is another, as
well as FEdit Plus and a copy of your backup program (I'm currently
using the brand new Redux from Microseeds).
------------------------------
From: NWOLF
Subject: RE: Hard disks disappearing (Re: Msg 25753)
Date: 8-MAR-22:29: Hardware & Peripherals
I had this happen to me recently. Although the problem was apparently
not with he driver. I didn't undertake all the preliminary steps you
mention - although I probably should have. Nevertheless, the drive (a
Jasmine 50 - Quantum) went back and was replaced - apparently the media
had failed, although I have not gotten back to them for a determination
of th cause. I had backed up with Fastback - which I detest - because I
am doing some testing for them. It's diskfit for me all the way now. I
haven't seen REdux but would like to check it out. Disk fit would have
solved many of my problems while the drive was being repaired because a)
it prepares a directory of where all the files are at in the backup
floppies and b) the files are finder readable. The nightmare I had to
endure with Fastback will become a subject for a future NL article. For
the record, the Fastback people have been fairly unresponsive to my
suggestions, questions, criticisms and input. Too bad. I'd like to like
the program, but I can'[t. It's flaws are too much - outweighing it's
benefits by a hefty margin. I.e., what good is a backup set you can't
read if you don't have enough floppies to translate it into useable
files - what to speak of time lost doing so, and then having to back up
the disk later - which, unlike the backup process (I meant restore,
earlier), takes quite a long time, unless you're doing a miror image
restore, which probably takes about the same anount of time. If,
however, you had a rather large backup set - i.e., the number of backup
disks exceeeded the capacity o the hard drive, I wonder just how good a
job it would do. Since I had backed up the day the drive died I had no
such excess. But Fast back, for one, creates duplicate files in an ever-
increasing backup set that can only be reduced by backing up the drive
anew. A royla pain to do every few weeks.
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End of Delphi Mac Digest
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