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Info-Atari16 Digest Vol. 89 Issue 830
=========================================================================
INFO-ATARI16 Digest Tue, 19 Dec 89 Volume 89 : Issue 830
Today's Topics:
Chaos Strikes Back (CSB) bugs?
FLAMES and SUPPORT IN THE MINUS REALM (2 msgs)
Futher Adventures of ATM & Spectre
Ghostscript (Was: LaserPrinters and the ST)
GnuEmacs 18.51 and Scrolling (2 msgs)
How to know we are in TOS 1.0?
New Atari Developers Package
No more shar files please
TOS 1.4 in oz
Unexpandable megas (2 msgs)
Word Perfect users?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 18 Dec 89 20:07:48 GMT
From: cacilj!paul@ucsd.edu (Paul Close)
Subject: Chaos Strikes Back (CSB) bugs?
Message-ID: <1342@cacilj.UUCP>
In article <10354@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu> dyer@math.lsa.umich.edu (Jon Brode)
writes:
>Well, after a few days of intensive playing I think I've noticed a few bugs.
>
>Crash - while going down a flight of stairs, the game crashed with two
> bombs.
>
>Glitch - after a save, there appeared ?8 squares of multi-colored badness
> indicators across the name, sleep and disk buttons. They cleared
> up and normal play resumed after switching screens.
These are bugs, all right. As one of the playtesters, I can tell you that FTL
is very careful and particular about *any* odd behaviour, let alone blatant
bugs like these. You should report this to them. Make sure and mention your
machine type, TOS release, and and hardware mods. I've never seen either of
these....
>Oddness - Fireballs stopped working. This has happened to me twice. Both
> times it was while entering the room with the spider critters.
> I cast a fireball, it appears on the screen in front of me,
> it disappears, a few seconds later the sound comes but no monster
> appears to be affected and no visual effects. You can enter this
> room from the room with the humanoid-blue-insect-people. However,
> fireballs only seem to break when you enter the room from the
> opposite direction.
That's not a bug, it's a feature. Ask the oracle.... This is the KU
(fighter) path. You didn't think you could use magic to conquer the fighter
path, did you? :-) Fireballs don't work here, and on the level above with the
insects, they aren't effective near you. They are also dangerous in the "No
Fireballs" section a few levels down.
This is a great game! As a playtester, I've logged close to a hundred hours
so far, and have only completed 1/4 of the game! Good luck in the maze (heh,
heh :-). I've been all the way through the KU path, and part way through the
others, so if anyone needs some help (that the oracle doesn't help with), feel
free to ask.
--
Paul Close paul@cacilj.CTS.COM ...!?uunet, ucsd, crash?!cacilj!paul
The Obi-wan Kenobi method: "Use the Source, Luke" -Jim Fulton
------------------------------
Date: 18 Dec 89 23:55:38 GMT
From: imagen!atari!danscott@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Dan Scott)
Subject: FLAMES and SUPPORT IN THE MINUS REALM
Message-ID: <1901@atari.UUCP>
in article <24958@cup.portal.com>, Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com says:
>
> Just one question in this discussion...
>
> If Atari has such a low opinion of the "end users" who buy their machines,
> and can assume that 90% of them only want to run programs, not write them,
> why has Atari traditionally supplied a *programming language* with the
> computers..?
>
> In fact, my ST came with *two* programming languages...
You call LOGO and ST BASIC *REAL* programming languages?
Dan
------------------------------
Date: 19 Dec 89 07:09:22 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@uunet.uu.net
Subject: FLAMES and SUPPORT IN THE MINUS REALM
Message-ID: <25183@cup.portal.com>
The Mark Williams C manual "Lexicon" is VERY good.. probably one of the most
useful references to the ST... also the Compute! Books series by
Sheldon Leemon on the AES/VDI is worth tracking down...
The Sybex book on the GEM interface was also very good...
I just wish Atari Corp. had easily available documentation that was anywhere
as good...
BobR
------------------------------
Date: 19 Dec 89 10:42:40 GMT
From: mcsun!hp4nl!tnoibbc!remco@uunet.uu.net (Remco Bruyne)
Subject: Futher Adventures of ATM & Spectre
Message-ID: <1365@tnoibbc.UUCP>
In article <15095@well.UUCP> dsmall@well.UUCP (David Small) writes:
>
>My thanks for the very kind comments concerning Adobe Type Manger and Spectre
> [(exciting) stuff deleted]
> If you have a strong need for it, we could probably arrange a
>quick-release of 2.5A. It also features on-line configuration (press HELP
>and a config page pops up; use F1-F10 to toggle features) and some other
>goodies. Doug is also rewriting the launcher for some pretty stunning stuff.
A strong need ? You shouldn't have mentioned this!
Can you ship this yesterday ? (ARC-ed and UUE-ed is fine with me)
BTW :-).
Remco
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Remco Bruijne USENET: remco@tnoibbc PHONE: +31 15 606437
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 11:36:53 SET
From: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Ghostscript (Was: LaserPrinters and the ST)
Hello all,
In Info-Atari16 Digest #749, agate!web-1d!laba-1aj@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
(John Kawakami) said:
>The only PD PS I can think of off hand is Ghostscript from the GNU project.
>Ghostscript is a PS screen previewer.
Has anyone taken a shot at porting this to the ST? It shouldn't be too hard,
now that there is a GCC for TOS. I know there is an executable version for the
PC (in fact, I have it, but haven't even unpacked it yet).
I'd do it myself, but I lack the time and I'm not a C wizard either. I would
prefer to have Ghostscipt on the ST, and I wouldn't mind that much if it's big
and/or slow.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bitnet: VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1 (will go away some day ...) Volker A. Brandt
UNM409@DBNRHRZ1 (alternative) Angewandte Mathematik
UUCP: ...!unido!DBNUAMA1.bitnet!vbrandt (Bonn, West Germany)
ARPAnet: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
------------------------------
Date: 19 Dec 89 00:19:15 GMT
From: rochester!rit!ultb!sto9719@louie.udel.edu (S.T. Organek)
Subject: GnuEmacs 18.51 and Scrolling
Message-ID: <1791@ultb.isc.rit.edu>
In article <1790@ultb.isc.rit.edu>, sto9719@ultb.isc.rit.edu (S.T. Organek)
writes:
> not powerful enough because it couldn't position the cursor. What I
> didn't know was that the ST saved files in most editors with a CR and LF
> and that GnuEmacs wanted the termcap saved with only LF ( 0x0d ), the extra
> CR ( 0x0a ) was confusing the termcap reader in the editor.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Dec 89 23:57:36 GMT
From: rochester!rit!ultb!sto9719@rutgers.edu (S.T. Organek)
Subject: GnuEmacs 18.51 and Scrolling
Message-ID: <1790@ultb.isc.rit.edu>
>Has anyone else had a problem with the scrolling that Gnuemacs 18.51
>does on the Atari ST. The problem I have found is that when the screen
>scrolls, the status bar also moves and gives the appearance of an a
>window shade. Does anyone have an idea what this might be. Some said
>something about the termcap I am using.
The problem did have to do with the termcap, however, there was also
another catch to it. First to stop the"window shade scrolling" delete
the insert line (al) and (dl) entries from the termcap and save the
file. However, this only resulted in GnuEmacs saying the termcap was
not powerful enough because it couldn't position the cursor. What I
didn't know was that the ST saved files in most editors with a CR and LF
and that GnuEmacs wanted the termcap saved with only LF ( 0x0d ), the extra
CR ( 0x0a ) was confusing the termcap reader in the editor.
To solve this problem, I created a filter in 'C' that will remove the
LF's from the termcap file. Its been working fine since.
Thanks for the prompt replies,
STeve Organek
STO9719@RITVAX.BITNET
rochester!ultb!sto9719
rochester!ur-valhalla!asyst!sto
------------------------------
Date: 19 Dec 89 07:59:24 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!laura!klute%trillian@uunet.uu.net
Subject: How to know we are in TOS 1.0?
Message-ID: <1843@laura.UUCP>
Path: trillian
!klute
In article <452@mirsa.inria.fr> colas@modja.inria.fr (Colas Nahaboo) writes:
>My question is: what is the LEGAL way to know I am running on an ST with
>TOS 1.0 roms from a C program? The only legal way I knew of was Sversion,
>but it returns 0,19 on both TOS 1.0 & TOS 1.2
Yesterday I sent a little program *with* *source* to Steven
Grimm that finds out exactly that. It should be posted to
comp.binaries.atari.st and comp.sources.atari.st really soon
now.
The program TOS_VERS shows TOS version number (with date and
nickname (e. g. "Rainbow TOS")), GEMDOS version number and AES
version number. The program is really short and should be self
explanatory. If it is not, an article by Ken Badertscher is
appended that explains how things are to be done. Not to
mention that everything is of course perfectly legal.
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: 19 Dec 89 07:15:07 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@uunet.uu.net
Subject: New Atari Developers Package
Message-ID: <25184@cup.portal.com>
Ed June asks:
>What if you're like me?
>I bought a used 'developers package'. I've tried to get it re-registered in
>Ed <wonderin' what to do> June
I'd recommend calling Charles Cherry at Atari Corp and seeing what he can
do for you...
Call him at (408) 745-2000 and see what he says... it should be worth the
call...
...and, let us know what happens...
BobR
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 11:35:55 SET
From: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: No more shar files please
Hello all,
In Info-Atari16 Digest #747, thelake!steve@UMN-CS.CS.UMN.EDU (Steve Yelvington)
asked:
>On a (sort of) related subject, does anybody else find the shar'ed source
>code in comp.sources.atari.st to be a constant source of trouble?
>
>The shar format doubtless is an excellent solution for Un*x systems, but
>for non-Un*x sites, there is just enough variation in the formats to
>frustrate any attempts at automated unpacking. One of the TOS-based
>shar utilities that I use here has a bug that makes it double lines.
>Another can't handle shell archives that do not have a strippable
>character (usually X) prepended to each line.
>
>I almost always wind up having to repair the sharred sources or the
>resulting files with a text editor, and often it's easier just to split up
>the shell archive manually with MicroEMACS. Arggh! UUDecoding a .ZOO file
>is *so* much simpler.
Yes, yes, please stop those shar files. I have to manually repair each and
every one I receive, if only because of long lines having been wrapped. I'm
grateful to Steve Grimm for the work he puts into the archives, but I'd rather
get sources in ZOO (or ARC or ZIP or ...) format.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bitnet: VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1 (will go away some day ...) Volker A. Brandt
UNM409@DBNRHRZ1 (alternative) Angewandte Mathematik
UUCP: ...!unido!DBNUAMA1.bitnet!vbrandt (Bonn, West Germany)
ARPAnet: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
------------------------------
Date: 18 Dec 89 23:49:05 GMT
From: imagen!atari!danscott@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Dan Scott)
Subject: TOS 1.4 in oz
Message-ID: <1900@atari.UUCP>
in article <1209@diemen.cc.utas.oz>, jmw@tasis.utas.oz.au@munnari.oz (John
Williams) says:
>
> Any ideas on when TOS 1.4 will become available in Australia, and how much
> it will cost? A friend of mine was most disappointed recently when he bought
> a new 1040ST and discovered that the OS had not been upgraded. Will new
> STs get the new ROMS?
All the Atari subs in each country are handling the release of TOS 1.4
in their own way(s). You can contact the Australia sub directly just as
people here in the states deal with the U.S. sub directly (for TOS 1.4 and
other issues).
Atari Australia
376 Lane Cove Road
North Ryde
N.S.W. 2113 Australia
011-61-2-805-0322
011-61-2-887-2231 (FAX)
Dan/Atari Corp. (U.S.)
------------------------------
Date: 19 Dec 89 00:17:00 GMT
From: imagen!atari!danscott@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Dan Scott)
Subject: Unexpandable megas
Message-ID: <1902@atari.UUCP>
in article <25126@cup.portal.com>, Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com says:
>
> Consider that the *cheapest* IBM clone board comes *socketed* for easy memory
> expansion to the maximum RAM the system can utilize...
However, the *cheapest* IBM clone still only knows about 640K of memory
max (8086 based here). Without an *EXPENSIVE* memory board in one of the
card slots and some driver software 640K is all you'll ever get to use.
Of course even on a 80286 computer w/ say 10Megs of RAM MS-DOS still sees
only 640K (we tested one under windows once for memory use)...
Dan
------------------------------
Date: 19 Dec 89 07:24:28 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Unexpandable megas
Message-ID: <25185@cup.portal.com>
Kevin Clendenien makes some observations about my comments about Atari Corp's
redesigning their printed circuit boards...
Kevin.. if you can think of a reason why Atari Corp would pay circuit board
designers to redesign the Mega ST motherboard to eliminate the extra RAM
positions, and pay extra to have *TWO* different motherboards produced,
instead of ONE, and have to inventory TWO different motherboards instead of
ONE, as they used to, ... I'd like to hear your thoughts...
It's always been my understanding of "business" that making one part serve
several purposes is more economical... unless you're trying to "force"
customers into paying your price for your product...
Why would Atari Corp make *TWO* different PC boards, when it would cost them]
more to do it that way...?
Still wondering...
BobR
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 89 09:57 EST
From: John R. Dunning <jrd@STONY-BROOK.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
Subject: Word Perfect users?
Message-ID: <19891219145717.4.JRD@CORD.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
I'm looking for opinions from Word Perfect users about how they like it.
Thanks in advance...
------------------------------
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #830
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