INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (Moderators Dwayne Virnau... and Lance Nakata) (11/23/87)
INFO-MAC Digest Sunday, 22 Nov 1987 Volume 5 : Issue 139
Today's Topics:
Re: Lightspeed Pascal - Mac II
LaserWriter 5.0 driver problems
HD Backup problems and complaints
Ram disks which work w/ MultiFinder
gray scaled fonts
Connecting Macs to Unisys (Sperry) S80s
Re: Help for sight impaired
Memory upgrades
VersaTerm & MultiFinder
Re: Database management for MPW
Usenet Mac Digest V3 #94
Usenet Mac Digest V3 #95
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Date: Sat, 21 Nov 87 22:44:41 MET
From: Norbert Lindenberg - U Karlsruhe
From: <norbert%germany.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Re: Lightspeed Pascal - Mac II
Lightspeed Pascal 1.11 comes with all the units David Ascher asked for,
but in a version that's about halfway between the February APDA Draft
of Inside Mac V and the July Final Draft, comparable to (based on?)
MPW 2.0b1. The problem of changing interfaces is not limited to
Lightspeed, even MPW 2.0 and the July Final Draft are not fully
compatible (is there any newer version of either?)
As the upgrade to LSP 1.11 was freely distributed, there is hope that
Think Technologies will come up with new interfaces as soon as things
have settled.
LSP 1.11 runs fine on a Mac II, except for some spurious "Memory
Blockage" complaints occurring when starting very small programs.
It does not run under MultiFinder.
Norbert
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 87 08:47 EST
From: Paul Christensen <PCHRISTENSEN%rca.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: LaserWriter 5.0 driver problems
Before upgrading everyone at our site to LaserWriter 5.0, we decided to
do a few test prints. MacDraw, MacWrite, MacPaint, etc... all printed
without problems (and slightly faster than under version 4.0).
But when we went to print from Ready Set Go! 4.0, some of the pages
had garbage characters printed in bands across several pages. After
calling LetraSet, they informed me that it was a bug in the LaserWriter 5.0
printer drivers that Apple was aware of. According to LetraSet, RSG is
not the only program that prints garbage text under 5.0...apparently any
of the "high end" (as they called them) packages such as RSG and PageMaker
react the same.
Does anyone know if Apple has a new version of the LaserWriter and LaserPrep
files? If not, is there a problem with the specialized PostScript code that
RSG and PageMaker use?
It would be most helpful to upgrade to LaserWriter 5.0...it corrects some
printing problems with MacPaint files, and allows background printing under
MultiFinder.
Paul Christensen
CSNET: PCHRISTENSEN%HENRY.DECNET@CRD.GE.COM (preferrable)
PCHRISTENSEN@RCA.COM (until the end of December)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 87 08:39 EST
From: Paul Christensen <PCHRISTENSEN%rca.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: HD Backup problems and complaints
Last weekend, I was configuring a couple of friends' hard disks. What I
had done, was to create one hard disk from scratch, building an extremely
large system file (many useful DAs and fonts), and then loading a good
part of my PD library.
Unfortunately, both hard disks were internal (brand new SE/20s), so there
was no way for me to connect them together and transfer the information.
Having only one backup program available (Apple's HD Backup), I proceeded
to back up the entire disk onto floppies, and then restore the disks on
the other hard disk. Configuration:
Source Destination
****** ***********
MacSE/HD20 internal MacSE/HD20 internal
2.5MB memory 1MB memory
System 4.2 System 4.2
Finder 6.0 Finder 6.0
MultiFinder 1.0 MultiFinder 1.0
HD Backup 1.0 HD Backup 1.0
Easy Access 1.0 Easy Access 1.0
No other INITs or "non-standard" enhancements were installed. Basically,
I was running a "plain vanilla" system, taken from the Apple System 5.0
distribution (both machines came with MultiFinder and docs).
Well, I had HD Backup running from the internal hard disk on the source
machine. It was running under MultiFinder. On the destination, I had
booted the SE from System 5.0 Utilities #1, and was running HD Backup
in restore mode there. Basically, as I backed up the one machine, I
inserted the floppy (after write-locking it) in the other. HD Backup
informed me that I would need 38 sides. The first 11 disks were created
with no problem (although very slowly). But after the 12th disk was
ejected, the system posted a disk-insert alert for 12.HD20SC . After
inserting the disk, the system bombed with and ID=2.
I decided, well, let's just try the backup again, without running under
MultiFinder and just "backup changed files" after all, I'd backed up
over half of the hard disk, and HD Backup is supposed to flag each file
as backed up, right? To my anger, HD Backup informed me that I couldn't
select "backup changed files" until I'd selected "backup entire disk".
Like a good little boy, I backed up the entire disk again, and completed
it without incident...this time.
Now for the flame...
How can Apple distribute such a totally worthless piece of rubbage like
HD Backup? Not only is it slow, it's unreliable and definately not
standard. When restoring an entire disk, folders are not restored in
their original positions or sizes. I had to go through all 56 folders
and resize and rearrange them manually!
When creating backups, HD Backup writes the files to disk in Finder-readable
form...sort of. If a file is split between floppies, it creates one file
(eg. "1.SOUNDS") with an HD Backup split-file icon. The last file in the
split (eg. "4.SOUNDS") has its own icon, which could mislead people into
copying just that file to disk. What happens if you want to distribute a
split file to a friend? You can't unless you give him exact copies of the
backup disks!!!!! If you merely copy (or send via modem) the split files,
and place them on floppies, HD Backup (in its characteristic lack of
intelligence) informs you "This disk was not created with HD Backup".
What a useless piece of ........
Flame off...
Has anyone else had the crashing experience I encountered? What do
people say about DiskFit (before I buy it)? I'm aware that it's fast,
and writes over files when doing its incremental backups. But how does
it handle split files? Does it restore folder positions and sizes?
Can you backup selected files or folders, or must you backup either the
entire disk or one file at a time?
Paul Christensen
CSNET: PCHRISTENSEN%HENRY.DECNET@CRD.GE.COM (preferrably)
PCHRISTENSEN@RCA.COM (until the end of December)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 87 21:03 EST
From: Brian Campbell <EE2Y%CRNLVAX5.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Ram disks which work w/ MultiFinder
SUmmary: I've found 3 ram disks that work
Reply to: ee2y@vax5.ccs.cornell.edu (Brian Campbell)
I've found 3 Ram disks which work with MultFinder. One is called "Ram disk",
and has a generic icon. No info. of the author is given, so this is all I can
tell you. It allows one to have the prog. startup with a RamDisk upon booting,
but this feature usually bombs the system.
An other is Ramdisk+ 1.3 (I think 1.4 is most current, though.) It allows HFS
ramdisks,and is one of the most flexible ramdisks I've ever used. It seemed to
freeze up the Mac under MultiFinder way too many times (1 or 2 is too many).
When running just under Finder, Ramdisk+ 1.3 seems to work fine.
Maybe vers. 1.4 of Ramdisk+ works better under MF, but I'd doubt it, since
MF was just released, and Ramdisk+ 1.4 has been around awhile.
The 3rd I've discovered is Max Ram from MacMemory. It is a commercial product.
MaxRam is a very good product. You can set it to make a ram disk upon booting
though I've been having some problems with this feature. But so far, it's
worked flawlessly with MultiFinder. No bombs, no freezes. What more can I
say? It's a product worth checking out.
It's been stated before, but bears repeating: Ram Start 1.3 DOES NOT work
with MultiFinder.
Cheers..
Brian Campbell
Cornell University
ee2y@vax5.ccs.cornell.edu
"I'm on the verge of success. Somebody please push me over!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 87 16:27:22 PST
From: benson@lbl-csam.arpa (Bill Benson [csr])
Subject: gray scaled fonts
There's an interesting article by Gupta and McCabe on "Personal Computer
Displays" in the Oct 87 IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications. Looking to
the future, they argue that as memories get larger, the increase in the
number of bits will be used more to increase color/gray scale resolution
than increase spatial resolution. In particular, applications like desktop
publishing which are striving for greater realism will use gray scaled
typography to enhance the apparent screen resolution.
Charles Bigelow discusses some of the pros and cons of gray scaled text in
the Jan 85 Byte, but is sceptical that it is more legible than bit-mapped
text.
As one with terrible eyesight, legibility is getting to be more and more
important. Does anyone have examples of gray scale text for the Mac II so
we could judge for ourselves? Is it reasonable or not to expect QuickDraw
to handle gray scaled fonts? Does anyone have gray scale fonts they would
be willing to share?
Bill Benson 415-486-5703
benson@lbl-csam.arpa
MS 50B-3238
Lawrence Berkeley Lab
Berkeley CA 94720
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 87 22:26 CST
From: Mike Borsetti
From: <MBORSETTI%nuacc.acns.nwu.edu@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Connecting Macs to Unisys (Sperry) S80s
I have to connect Macintoshes to a Unisys/Sperry System 80/8 using the
UTS-400 protocol. I have heard that Tri-Data makes a series of extremely
expensive connecting boxes named NetWay that would accomplish the job (at
an enormous cost).
Does anyone has any experience with NetWay or with connecting Macs to
system 80/8s?
Thanks
mborsetti@nuacc.acns.nwu.edu
mborsetti@nuacc.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 87 22:41:24 MET
From: Norbert Lindenberg - U Karlsruhe
From: <norbert%germany.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Re: Help for sight impaired
Turbo Pascal comes with a sample program that reads text files to you. It
is quite difficult for me to understand what the program utters, but
I am no native listener...
Norbert
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 87 20:52 EST
From: Brian Campbell <EE2Y%CRNLVAX5.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: Memory upgrades
Summary: SuperMac upgrades work well
Reply-To: ee2y@vax5.ccs.cornell.edu (Brian Campbell)
There have been several messages concerning memory upgrades. I'd just like to
add my 2 bits:
I recently upgraded my 512Ke to a 2Mb Mac with SuperMac's Enhance upgrade. It
has been a reliable upgrade, no problems. It includes a SCSI port, a quiet
fan, and 1 year warranty. Often you get upgrades from SuperMac cheaper than
Dove or Apple.
SuperMac also makes the SuperRam 2, which expands a Mac Plus to 2 MB. This is
also covered by 1 yr. warranty and includes a (quiet) fan.
I work at an authorized Apple dealership. We sell more SuperMac upgrades (and
hard disks, for that matter) than we do Apple. We've also had customers who
have had problems with Dove upgrades. They don't seem to be as reliable.
We've stopped selling the Dove 512Ke-->1Mb upgrade because of this.
So check out SuperMac's upgrade packages. You'll probably like what you see.
Brian Campbell
Cornell University
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 87 20:59 EST
From: Brian Campbell <EE2Y%CRNLVAX5.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: VersaTerm & MultiFinder
Summary: VersaTerm Pro 2.1 downloads in background
Reply-To: ee2y@vax5.ccs.cornell.edu (Brian Campbell)
VersaTerm Pro 2.1, when run with MultiFinder, will transfer files in the
background, ie. up & download transparently. It is wonderful! THis is what
I've been waiting for the Mac to do since I bought it.
One problem I've encountered, though, is the following: While downloading
from the Vax mainframe here via Kermit, I was working in MS Word 3.01 when
the download was finished. I had the bell option turned on, so it alerted me
when it was finished with the download. I switched back to VersaTerm to
do another download, but the mainframe's Kermit> prompt would not come back
up.
Any clues as to what the problem is? Is it a bug in VersaTerm Pro, or in
Kermit on the Vax?
VersaTerm 3.1 is the correct version for background downloading, as I'm told
by reliable sources.
Please send any answers or commentvia Bitnet, cuz I don't always have a
chance to read InfoMac.
Brian Campbell
Cornell Univ.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 87 22:39:36 MET
From: Norbert Lindenberg - U Karlsruhe
From: <norbert%germany.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Re: Database management for MPW
Both Mark Richer and Alexander Falk in recent info-mac issues asked for
information about database management back ends. Mark already mentioned
Inside Out. Here is some information I got from Mark (who called up Shana
Enterprises and sent me a note) and friends at a Berlin-based software
house who have been working with Inside Out for several months:
Mark's information:
"I did call them up in Canada, the product manager was very willing to speak
on the phone. The program is written in MPW Pascal and they will make it
available as an object library for various Pascal and C compilers. Basically
I was told that they have their own code dispatcher so that your program
written in another language (for example Lightspeed C) will be able to use
their compiled MPW Pascal object code as a library. Multi-user version
isn't ready yet; they claim they will have it at the end of the year."
And the information I collected in Berlin:
Inside Out comes with a "Setup" application that allows you to
interactively define the logical schema of your database and views on
that data. The program shows you a plethora of lists, it is not as
intuitive as the 4th Dimension Design mode, but better than writing
it all in Pascal prose. Setup generates a Pascal interface file with
all record declarations you need to access your views. C does not seem
to be supported by the version I saw.
Fields of a record can be one of 13 types - string, 6 numeric types,
boolean, 3 date types, handle and general (byte) - or arrays thereof.
Handles are used for variable length data.
The number of logical files is limited to 128, the other "limits" are
not worth mentioning. The database does not support transactions.
My Berlin friends in general like Inside Out. They built MacApp
TDBDocument and TDBView objects around it, which seem to work quite
well (I still try to talk them into releasing them via MacApp Developers
Association...). They had to struggle with two problems: first, Inside
Out defined some symbols that were also defined by MacApp (that's funny,
as the documentation gives some hints for using Inside Out with
MacApp), second, Inside Out was compiled with MPW Pascal 1.0, they work
with MPW Pascal 2.0, and 2.0 sometimes packs records more densely then
1.0. Shana has promised to provide a new version that is to solve these
problems, maybe it is already shipping.
Interestingly, I did not find the words "relational database" in the
manual. Obviously the Shana people know something about database
models...
{$I Standard.Disclaimers}
Norbert
------------------------------
Date: Sat 21 Nov 87 21:24:57-GMT
From: Jeff Shulman <SHULMAN@SDR>
Subject: Usenet Mac Digest V3 #94
Usenet Mac Digest Saturday, November 21, 1987 Volume 3 : Issue 94
Today's Topics:
annoying Finder/Macwrite bug (feature?)
Re: Slow DeskTop-Updating with Finder-6.0 PROBLEM??
Dreams of the Phoenix?
Software emulation of PC
Re: ESD causes degenerative brain disease in Mac IIs
Lightspeed Modula-2?
EtherTalk
MPW C, MPW Pascal, LSP and LSC compatibility
Idealiner info needed
Re: Lightspeed Modula-2?
Re: MPW C, MPW Pascal, LSP and LSC compatibility
Re: Shareware fonts
Multifinder floppy copying/swapping...
Re: Mac II screen savers
Memory test for Mac II?
Re: MPW C, MPW Pascal, LSP and LSC compatibility
OLD ROM's no longer supported
Clip Art recommendations
Looking for Avatar Corp. and MDPIC software for PICT-to-pic conversion
2 problems with multifinder (2 messages)
Re: Any experience with screen projecto
GCC Personal Laser Printer?
Mac programs that run under A/UX
Re: FullWrite Update
Cray - Finder
Xpress bombs with new system!
PhoneNET Users--I need your input!!!!
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DoD
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Date: Sat 21 Nov 87 21:26:00-GMT
From: Jeff Shulman <SHULMAN@SDR>
Subject: Usenet Mac Digest V3 #95
Usenet Mac Digest Saturday, November 21, 1987 Volume 3 : Issue 95
Today's Topics:
Falcon review (LONG)
Snapshots with MultiFinder & Mac II?
MPW debugger
emacs and WordMarc on mac II
Re: MPW debugger
Falcon - the F-15 Fighter Simulation - Initial Thoughts (review)
LSC 2.13 upgrade bug
Re: MultiUser BBS Software
Re: Slow DeskTop-Updating with Finder-6.0 PROBLEM??
Re: Multifinder floppy copying/swapping...
Re: Installer 2.5 glitches
Re: LSC 2.13 upgrade bug
Problem adding a second floppy to a II
Re: Falcon - the F-15 Fighter Simulation - Initial Thoughts (review)
Running DAs under MultiFinder
Odd Formatting of Word 3.01 Footnotes
Re: Installer 2.5 glitches (2 messages)
Computer Graphic Manager wanted
Re: MultiUser BBS Software
Making Transparencies with the IM II
RE: System Software 5.0
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archived as [SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU]<INFO-MAC>USENETV3-95.ARC
DoD
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End of INFO-MAC Digest
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