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Info-Atari16 Digest Vol. 89 Issue 475
=========================================================================
INFO-ATARI16 Digest Tue, 24 Apr 90 Volume 90 : Issue 475
Today's Topics:
attribute bits and bytes
CALL FOR DISCUSSION: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
How can I "Rename()" a folder under TOS 1.4?
NTSC composite video / audio
Phantom Typist
summary of responses: changing resolutions
uuencode
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Date: 24 Apr 90 18:03:26 GMT
From:
news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!watcgl!electro!ignac@rutgers.edu
(Ignac Kolenko)
Subject: attribute bits and bytes
Message-ID: <1652@electro.UUCP>
Does the Fattrib() system call OFFICIALLY support setting the system bit,
write protect and hidden bits for subdirectories?? The GEM Desktop does not
allow you to write protect subdirectories, so i am assuming that the system
call will not allow you to change any of the attribute bits (if used unwisely,
the subdirectory could concevablly be turned into a file! not a good situation!)
by using a sector editor, i can manually set the hidden bit within the
attribute byte of a subdirectory, and everything is hunkydory. the desktop
correctly does not display the subdirectory, but using a commandline
interpreter, i can still access the hidden directory.
does MS-DOS support this feature, perchance??
--
=====Ignac A. Kolenko (The Ig)=====watmath!watcgl!electro!brasoft!ignac======
co-author of QuickST, and the entire line of Quick Software!!!!
Branch Always Software Box 2624, Station B, Kitchener, Ont. CANADA N2H 6N2
=============================================================================
------------------------------
Date: 25 Apr 90 01:14:43 GMT
From:
swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!uflorida!haven!wam!dm
b@ucsd.edu (David M. Baggett)
Subject: CALL FOR DISCUSSION: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Message-ID: <1990Apr25.011443.27059@wam.umd.edu>
[This message is being forwarded from Michael Ritzert, mjr@dmzrzu71.bitnet]
All this should be the purpose of the newsgroup you sent this posting
to. I think we should stick to this single one. We have lost too much by
splitting off the discussion on Minix-ST from this group. And, please,
also consider that Your proposal will effectively a renaming of the
present group --- after a relatively short time interval info-a16 will
have disappeared and all the atari bashing and whining we want to get
rid of will reappear in comp.sys.atari.tech.
Another issue: how many newsgroups do You want to read? Where do You
take the time to follow, say, 20 forums?
Michael Ritzert
mjr@dmzrzu71.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: 24 Apr 90 07:40:36 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!laura!heike!klute@uunet.uu.net (Rainer Klute)
Subject: How can I "Rename()" a folder under TOS 1.4?
Message-ID: <2119@laura.UUCP>
As we all know it is possible to rename a folder under TOS 1.4 using the
GEM desktop. Now I am interested in renaming a folder from my C program.
I tried the old Frename() system call but without success. I YOU know
how folder renaming can be achieved please be so kind and tell me.
Thanks in advance!
Dipl.-Inform. Rainer Klute klute@heike.informatik.uni-dortmund.de
Univ. Dortmund, IRB klute@unido.uucp, klute@unido.bitnet
Postfach 500500 |)|/ ...uunet!mcvax!unido!klute
D-4600 Dortmund 50 |\|\ Tel.: +49 231 755-4663
------------------------------
Date: 24 Apr 90 23:14:55 GMT
From: usc!samsung!dali!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!larry!gaudi!billm@ucsd.edu (Bill
Mills)
Subject: NTSC composite video / audio
Message-ID: <1990Apr24.231455.25469@gaudi.CSUFresno.EDU>
A few people have requested this, and it has bounced back at me from a
couple of addresses in mail, so I am posting it here. It is an article
describing how to add audio ports to an ST.
enjoy,
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER
The following document is _not_ an instruction manual, it is a discription of
a modification I made to my own computer. Since I have no guarantee as to what
experience the reader of this article may have, or the equipment said person
may have, I can not be liable for any damage caused as a result of reading
this article and applying the information therin.
-William Mills.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(c) Copyright 1989 by William Mills
This article may be freely reproduced and distributed, as long as it is
distributed in it's intirety, with disclaimer included.
ADDING AUDIO PORTS TO AN ATARI ST
WHY ADD AUDIO PORTS? I like a little more thunder to the sound my ST
produces. Audio ports allow the ST to be connected to a stereo, or other sound
amplifying/recording device. This allows digitally edited sounds to be recorded
to audio tape, or as sound tracks to video tape. It also allows the use of
headsets, or stereo speakers for video games. (headsets give 'FALCON' a real'in
the cocpit' feeling, while stereo speakers provide an afterburner that you can *
feel*). Although the ST only has a monaural audio output, I decided to use 2
audio jacks, because it would mean less clutter on my desk (no RCA 'Y' splitter
behind the ST).
NECESSARY PARTS AND TOOLS:
* Philips screwdriver
* Needle nose pliers
* 2 RCA female panel mount plugs (a couple of dollars from an electroncs store
)
* a couple of feet of insulated wire (I stipped out a couple of wires from a
ribbon cable, it's just the right weight)
* a soldering pencil
* a drill (hand or electric, I used a pocket knife)
* a small ammount of resin core solder
* a conductive anti-static mat with grounding wrist strap
* a pair of cutters or tin snips
The hardest thing (I would assume) to come up with is the mat. They are fairly
expensive (I think about $30 for a portable one). This is not something to
skimp on, ESD (electrostatic discharge) can do some serious damage. Any
discharge that can be felt is at least 6000 ( or is that 3000, I don't remember
for sure, still, it's quite high) volts. A discharge of as little as
60 volts can blow modern electronic circuits. Simply raising your arm while
wearing a jacket can develop a charge of 2,000+ volts. (these figures are from
'The Dangers of ESD' Apple service training video)
Fortunately, there is a low cost alternative that should do nearly as good of
a job. (I've used it with no damage to several machines that I have worked on
at home) Take a cover your work surface with a damp towel (not *soaking*, just
damp). Take some light, flexible wire, strip it's insulation, and loop it
around your wrist, so that it connects your wrist to the towel, thus balancing
the charge between the towel and yourself. Run another similar wire from the
towel to the screw that holds the panel on an electric socket. This will drain
excess charges to the ground (do *not* not put the wire into the socket, I
don't want to get sued because someone read this and plugged themself into
120volts! Also, *never* repair a monitor while grounded, it makes it that much
easier for the CRT to discharge and *KILL* you!)
The first step is to decide where to put the plugs on the case. I installed
mine to the left of the monitor cable, above the RF modulator. I have on older
520 ST (w/1meg ram). On newer STs which lack the RF modulator, there should be
plenty of room to the left of the monitor plug (assumming the modulator space
was left vacant, as it was on 1987 1040 STs)
Next, it's time to disassemble the machine. Start by wearing your wrist
strap, and making sure the mat is grounded. Set the ST (with nothing plugged
into it) face down on the mat. Next remove all of the screws from the bottom of
the case. Now, while holding it all together, flip the ST over, and remove the
top cover. The keyboard can now be easilly lifted away. You will find that it
is connected to the motherboard by about 20 wires that lead to a connector.
Carefully slide the connector off of the motherboard (don't bend the pins).
Thenext step is to remove the radio shield. Take out the screws which hold it
to the motherboard, and then use the needle nose pliers to sraighten the tabs
that hold the shield down. The shield will then lift away.
Now is the time to cut the case. drill or cut the appropriate sized
holes,and mount the RCA jack(s). Make sure that they are not in a position
where theywill touch other components, and that they will still allow the cover
to fit.
Now comes the soldering, if you hav ANY electrical soldering experience,
this will be a snap. If not, find somemone who does to give you some pointers.
I won't go basic soldering and wire stipping instuctions here, because I'm
assuming that anyone who is willing to do a hardware hack on their ST, probably
can hold their own with a soldering iron. If you are putting two jacks into
your ST, you must solder a short wire between the outside leads of each jack.
Another short wire should connect the inside leads of the jacks. Since
connecting the jacks to the motherboard will mean that it is (somewhat)
permanently wired to the case, you may want these wires about a foot long each.
------------------------------
Date: 24 Apr 90 19:15:45 GMT
From: att!cbnewsl!wkk@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (wesley.k.kaplow)
Subject: Phantom Typist
Message-ID: <5342@cbnewsl.ATT.COM>
Well,
Atari may deny it but I too have seen the Phantom Typist.
This time I was running WordPerfect (Aug. 1989). Sure enough
after some hours usage the typing
rate slowed down. Gee!, and after I would type a character on the keyboard and
shake the mouse I could actually see the character on the screen.
Although the mouse pointer tracked the mouse correctly, I had to press
the mouse button several times to make a selection. This happened twice
each on two different days.
What is really scarry is that I have also seen this while using Spectre-128.
I was running PowerPoint and after a couple of rapid deletes (I generally
type too quickly and make a lot of errrors) the machine
responded in the characteristic Phantom Typist manner. I am going to
try and duplicate this when I get a change.
By-the-way the Phantom Typist caused me to loose about an hours work.
I now use the autobackup facility in WordPerfect.
I have had my 1040ST for about 3 years and I beleive I have seen this
"non" problem several times. Since I do not generally use the machine for
serious work, I took it in stride. However, I really can't trust is
for serious work, and I am sure that the other OWNERS want to see someone
explain this problem.
Aside from all the other ATARI'isms about future availablility of products
I like my machine, however now that the time is approaching to buy a
business oriented computer, I really don't think I will buy another ATARI.
I may buy a TT when it comes out, but with the current track-record,
it will be my fun machine for programming and the like, but not a machine
for serious applications.
I really don't care whose problem this is. If it's ATARI's fault then
fix it. If it is an application fault, please lets find out what people
are doing wrong. (What we really need is a small example program that
can be shown to exhibit the problem).
Wesley Kaplow
AT&T Bell Labs.
------------------------------
Date: 24 Apr 90 21:52:13 GMT
From: eagle.wesleyan.edu!ncastellano@CS.YALE.EDU
Subject: summary of responses: changing resolutions
Message-ID: <18997@eagle.wesleyan.edu>
Many thanks to all who responded to my question about resolution switching,
and to Dave Baggett for the information on finding the palette. The
people who wrote me all said some combination of the following things:
1) You can't do it. This is not a supported operation in Gemdos.
2) A soft-boot is the only supported way to get Gem to recognize the new rez.
3) If you do manage to do it, it will be based on undocumented
locations which are subject to change in future OS versions.
4) Its probably a bad idea anyway
5) Programs which do change rez on the fly change back to the original
rez before calling dialog boxes or other GEM stuff.
6) Several of the respondents asked me to let them know if I got
anywhere with it.
Well, I spent a few hours today hacking around and looking through
memory maps and aline.h and such, and found no clues. It seems to me
that the only 2 things that get screwed up are the color palette (at
least in gulam, the text turns yellow when you go med -> low) and the
positioning of the dialogs. Assuming Gem uses some memory location
somewhere to determine the current maximum X pixel value, it seems to
me that a kludge would be easy. I'm not looking for super-portable
code, just something that _WORKS_ on Tos 1.0...If the right locations
were known for various configurations, a very simple program that
works with the undocumented locations on different OS versions would
be feasible. If anyone has ANY idea where I should start looking,
please let me know. Although I realize Atari is really into sticking
to documented ways of doing things, I'd really appreciate any help
Allan Pratt or anyone else could give me. The main reason I'm dying
to get my hands on a way to do this is it's really hard to develop
low-rez software because I have to edit in med, switch to low to test,
switch back, etc. which means exiting gulam each and every time.
Also, the few programs I use which are low-rez only require me to go
back to the desktop for the same reason.
Yours for useful kludges,
nick
--
ncastellano@eagle.wesleyan.edu ncastellano@wesleyan.bitnet
Sinkhole!dEADHEAd@mast.citadel.moundst.mn.org
"We are happy. (_silence._) What do we do now, now that we are happy?"
-Estragon, _waiting for godot_ by samuel beckett
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 15:21:20 CDT
From: "Norman R. Frech CPLS" <frech@mwraaa.army.mil>
Subject: uuencode
Greetings,
I am looking for the author, source, etc of the version of uuencode,
uudecode that runs on an ST. I mainly interested in seeing if this
version can be ported or has already been ported to System V. The
version I currently have does not have all the neat features of the
ST version and I am very interested in a port to System V. If none
such exits, I am willing to try a port myself if I can get the source.
Please post to me directly as I do not receive this digest.
Thanks,
Norman Frech <frech@mwraaa.army.mil>
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #475
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