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Info-Atari16 Digest Vol. 89 Issue 619
INFO-ATARI16 Digest Wed, 8 Nov 89 Volume 89 : Issue 619
Today's Topics:
*** ATARI PRESS RELEASE ***
apology
Atari bitmaps formats and PCW
Looking for notation programs (DMCS, Finale')...
Mega with TOS 1.4 crashes!
questions, questions, questions (2 msgs)
TT, TT030/2, STE
TT and STE
Vapourware!!!
Want a fast Atari ST.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 01:48:01 GMT
From:
mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watmath!ria!uwovax!4224_5132@tut.cis.ohio
-state.edu (Andrew Semple)
Subject: *** ATARI PRESS RELEASE ***
It seems apropo to repost the Atari News Release I submitted at an earlier
date, hopefully this will clear up some of the 'rumors' flying around about
the TT. Also, I would like to personally thank Ken Badertscher of Atari Corp
for his input lately in answering numerous questions from us users.
Anyways...
Taken from Z*net newswire, August 1989...
"Atari Newswire Update
Press release from Atari: To all Atari Owners:
....
Premiering at the Dusseldorf Atari Fair, the TT, with the Motorola MC68030
processor, moves the ST family into the 32 bit realm, achieving a significant
increase in computing power with full TOS compatibility. Our goal for the
TT was to design an expandable computer that would combine ST compatibility
with superior resolution, more computing power, and improved sound generating
abilities. At the heart of the TT is a 16MHz MC68030 processor, which allows
a high degree of 68000 compatability, while operating at a higher clock
speed and providing streamlined internal operations which make it even faster.
The 68030 has built in 256 byte instruction and data caches, and an internal
Memory Management Unit. Next to it on the board is a socket for an optional
math coprocessor (MC68881/MC68882). Memory on the TT is a full 32 bits wide,
both the ST RAM which is shared by the video logic, and TT RAM which is not
shared. These factors combine to result in a memory bandwidth that is four
times greater and program execution speeds up to 17 times faster than on the
ST.
In both hardware and software, the TT is compatible with the ST. All hard-
ware registers are in the same location as they are on the ST. The ST video
modes work the same way on both TT and ST, because they are organized in
memory the same way on both machines. Most important for ST compatability
is the operating system in the TT: TOS. With TOS as the TT operating system,
existing programs can automatically use the improved resolutions of the new
video modes, as well as the larger colour palette, without any changing of
the software. All this ST compatability has the obvious benefit of allowing
TT owners to take advantage of the large and growing base of ST software.
In addition to the three ST video modes, the TT has two new colour video
modes available on it VGA monitor: 640 horizontal by 480 vertical resolution
with 16 colours, 320 horizontal by 480 vertical with 256 colours. With a
high resolution monochrome monitor, a 1280 by 960 monochrome mode is available.
All the colour modes use a new, expanded 4096 colour palette which is also
available in the ST modes. Even ST monochrome (640x400) is actually a two
colour mode on TT; we call it "duochrome."
The improved sound system uses stereo 8-bit PCM (Pulse Code Modulation).
This allows the TT to function as a digital tape player. The hardware also
includes an automatic variable low pass filter, a stereo balance control and
bass and treble tone controls. This sound is mixed through the internal
speaker as well as being output via two RCA phono jacks located on the back
of the machine. These features, combined with the high powered computing
capbilities of the 16 MHz 68030 allow the TT to produce a wide range of high
quality sounds. In keeping with the design goal of expandability, the TT
has all of the ports familiar from the ST: MIDI, parallel, serial, and the
Atari ACSI DMA port (for Atari hard disks, laser printers or CD-ROM). The
TT also includes a 25 pin SCSI port. One of the four TT serial ports can be
configured as an industry standard medium speed SDLC network port. Of course,
the machine also provides an internal speaker, a clock with battery backup,
and a Mega ST compatible keyboard with ports for mouse and joystick.
In addition to the expansion capabilities provided by the TT's external
interfaces, the TT is expandable internally as well. The housing can hold
an internal hard disk and add-in memory cards. These memory cards allow the
standard 2 megabyte TT to be expanded to 8 megabytes, or as much as 26
megabytes when 4 Mbit DRAM chips become avaliable.
Another example of internal expandability is the slot for a single standard
"Eurocard" style VME card. This slot allows use of any of the large number
of existing VME expansion cards. Some of the VME expansion options currently
available include memory expansion, Earthnet and other network boards,
coprocessors, graphics boards, and data aquisition (A/D and D/A converters).
Already planned for TT VME expansion are an Earthnet board for networking,
I/O port expansion, and graphic extensions.
The work-station like capabilities of the TT will be complemented by an
optional industry standard operating system. UNIX system V is being ported
for the TT. Also available will be X windows as well as an X windows based
graphic user interface, giving TT owners all the benefit of UNIX without
all of the difficulties usually encountered. Here is a listing of TT
specifications:
+ ST compatible operating system, giving TT an extensive software
library
+ ST compatible hardware, including all ST interface ports
+ Three new graphics modes: 1280 x 640 pixels high resolution
monochrome, 640 x 480 pixels with 16 colours, and 320 x 480
pixels with 256 colours
+ All colour graphics modes use an expanded 4096 colour palette
+ 16 MHz Motorola MC 68030 processor
+ Socket for optional MC68881/MC68882 math coprocessor
+ DMA with built in SCSI and ASCI ports
+ Two serial ports, expandable to four ports
+ Parallel interface
+ Detachable keyboard + Internal "Eurocard" VME socket (A24/D16)
+ Internal hard disk option
+ 8 bit stereo PCM sound
+ 2 Mbytes RAM, expandable to 8 Mbytes (26 Mbytes with 4 Mb DRAM)
+ Real time clock with battery backup
+ Network capable hardware
The Atari TT continues the Atari tradition of delivering Power Without
The Price! We reserve the right to change technical specifications without
notice. UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.
August, 1989, Atari Corporation, 1196 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086,
(408)745-2000"
This article appears exactly as it was in Z*net, August 1989.
The '....' indicator represents material omitted on Atari's release of
Rainbow TOS. It is also availiable on request.
All spelling errors are my own.
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Semple ads@hydra.uwo.ca
2nd Year Applied Math/Computer Science Andrew.Semple@hydra.uwo.ca
The University of Western Ontario Semple@uwovax.BITNET
London, Ontario
Canada "I think in the predicate calculus." - I. Newton :-)
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 06:39:57 GMT
From: mcgill-vision!quiche!depeche@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Sam Alan EZUST)
Subject: apology
Regarding a question I re-posted about running unix on the non-tower
TT, apparently Atari responded to my first article explaining that
the St-World article which stated UNIX wouldn't run on the this
version of the TT was a MISTAKE. For some reason the reply didn't make
it to my site, so I didn't see it, but Greg pointed it out to me,
so I cancelled the re-posting of my question.
Sorry guys. I hope that'll never happen again. To Atari: if you still
have this message on file, could you send a copy of it to me in e-mail?
thanks!
--
S. Alan Ezust aka "Depeche Modem" depeche@calvin.cs.mcgill.ca
McGill University Computer Science Disclaimer: I claim everything!
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (je pense que.... ) je me souviens
"This kind of pornography is a matter of artistic creativity"
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 01:06:46 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!tsun4.doc.ic.ac.uk!zmact59@uunet.uu.net (C A Newton)
Subject: Atari bitmaps formats and PCW
Hello there,
Doe anyybody know of a program (either for the ST or the PCW)
that will convert file formats between ANY of the many graphic
formats on the ST any ANY of those used on the Amstrad PCW ?
I have a lot of good stuff in PCW format and i'd really like to
be able to incorporate them into my Atari software,
Thanks,
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 06:20:06 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!nixba!mike@uunet.uu.net (Mike Lyons)
Subject: Looking for notation programs (DMCS, Finale')...
In article <9715@zodiac.ADS.COM> jtn@zodiac.ADS.COM (John Nelson) writes:
>[ looking for notation software for the ST ]
There was an issue of _Keyboard_ magazine a few months ago which had notation
software as its theme. I'm no big Atari fan :-|, but I think there was a
list of "everything" on the market.
Peace,
Mike
--
Michael D. Lyons / Nixdorf Computer AG / phone: +49 911 6415 609
Donaustrasse 36 :: D-8500 Nuernberg 60 :: Federal Republic of Germany
EUNET: mike@nixba.uucp NERV: lyons.nue OTHERWISE: ...unido!nixba!mike
I'd change the world for the better...if I could get my hands on the source code
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 01:26:59 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Xorg@uunet.uu.net (Peter Ted Szymonik)
Subject: Mega with TOS 1.4 crashes!
Hi Andy! And welcome to the club! I have the exact same problem and
have been trying to hunt down the problem for over two months now. After
many long discussions with people in the know (not to mention two wasted
trips to my 'local' 60-mile away dealer) I'm convinced that what we are
having trouble with is an overloaded bus due to the 2->6 chip upgrade,
ROMs -> PROMS. Add Spectre GCR with its two Mac ROMs and forget it.
The solution appears to be to remove to 'weak' 74LS373 chips and replacing
them with stronger 74AS373 chips. My machine will probably go for a trip
to have this work done (in addition to a RAM upgrade) I'll let you know
what happens.
Peter Szymonik
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 06:29:49 GMT
From: mcgill-vision!quiche!depeche@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Sam Alan EZUST)
Subject: questions, questions, questions
In response to the fellow who was interested in terminal programs,
I use a program called ST-TERM, written by Matthew R. Singer.
The version I have is 3.7b. I am not sure if it is the most recent,
but it is not very old.
St-term used to be commercial, and I bought a copy then, but since has
gone public domain, so anyone can take it. It supports an excellent
phone dialer (you can dial numbers in sequence until it gets through to
one of them) , keeps track of passwords and user numbers, baud rates,
etc.
It also supports 10 transfer protocols including SEALINK and ZMODEM.
terminal emulation: vt100 and vt52 ONLY
no gem support, or multitasking, but it is only 72k after "gerpackting",
looks and feels like procomm, and is quite reliable. I like it and have
never had even the remote desire to switch to flash or interlink, like
most of the masses have.
S. Alan Ezust aka "Depeche Modem" depeche@calvin.cs.mcgill.ca
McGill University Computer Science Disclaimer: I claim everything!
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (je pense que.... ) je me souviens
"This kind of pornography is a matter of artistic creativity"
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 10:40:50 GMT
From:
cs.utexas.edu!samsung!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!rpi!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.u
iuc.edu!uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!uxf.cso.uiuc.edu!rjk752@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Subject: questions, questions, questions
I have both Flash and Interlink. I think Interlink is slightly
more friendly because of its point and shoot capabilities, but Flash is
a more tested and reliable program from what I can tell. I got Interlink
because it got such rave reviews, but when I found the vt100 and vt52
emulations wouldn't work properly with Unix on the Sequent Balance, I was
forced to abandon Interlink as a loss. I am now using the vt100 emulation
"mode ansi" on Flash, and it works fine with "vi" (which I am using to
write this note). WithInterlink, I lost my precious arrow curser movement
and my PF keys with the best setup I could find. (Screwed up results with
the others). If I recal correctly, the Interlink vt100 in ANSI mode resulted
in nothing being shown.
This made Interlink unsatisfactory for use in dialing into a Unix
system.
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 02:27:29 GMT
From:
mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watmath!ria!uwovax!4224_5132@tut.cis.ohio
-state.edu (Andrew Semple)
Subject: TT, TT030/2, STE
Here is some more news on the TT...
From Z*net Newswire (November 1989)
" ZNET EUROPEAN NEWSWIRE
(Ed. note: Please be aware that the following is a EUROPEAN REPORT
and SOFTWARE releases discussed here are NOT necessarily available in the
United States, now or ever!)
....
---> Early 1990 is the date set for the UK release of the TT. The TT
(TT030/2), includes a 68030 at 16MHz, 2 MbRAM, 30 Mb Hard Disk, and VGA
standard colour monitor. The resident operating system called TOS030,
will be a variation of the current TOS1.4. Not included is the Unix
multi-tasking operating system or the PC emulator.
---> The 1040 should be phased out during March/April 1990 and replaced
by the once called "ST Plus" or "Enhanced ST", now called 1040STE. The
STE will include 1MbRam, fast hardware scrolling, 4096 colour palette,
8-bit stero PCM sound, TOS1.4 operating system, and four SIMM (single in
line memory module) for easy expansion to 4Mb."
All spelling errors are mine. The spelling of colour (in the correct
manner) is also of my doing.
To R. Covert: I refuse to fight with you over this.
I guess this answers the question of which TOS the STE gets?
Note: By correct manner, I mean Canadian, NOT CP-Style, relax :-)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Semple ads@hydra.uwo.ca
2nd Year Applied Math/Computer Science Andrew.Semple@hydra.uwo.ca
The University of Western Ontario Semple@uwovax.BITNET
London, Ontario
Canada "I think in the predicate calculus." - I. Newton :-)
------------------------------
Date: 7 Nov 89 21:38:36 GMT
From: nis!pwcs!stag!daemon@UMN-CS.CS.UMN.EDU (John Stanley)
Subject: TT and STE
[soohoo@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Ken "nmi" Soohoo) writes...]
>[larserio@IFI.UIO.NO (LarsErikOsterud) writes...]
>>Will the STE run some STE software (i guess not) ?
>
> Yes, STE specific software is going to be developed.
Since software has to be written to hit the widest possible market
possible, only a very VERY foolish developer would write a program that
can't run on anything but an STE. Most STE specific features may be
emulated in software and thus hit a much larger market for a very small
additional effort.
>>What I'm aiming at is: Will TT-user have the possibility of using programs
>>made for the STE (if the great TT user want to a game :-)
>
> In some cases, yes, in some cases, no.
> Say, for example, you've got a new STE Paint program, why
> then of course (as long as it doesn't scroll horizontally
> using hardware) you can use it, and the 4096 colors, on
> the TT! Problem with games is that they'll _probably_ use
> the horizontal scroll...
Any program written to use the "STE horizontal scroll" will probably be
written to also have a comperable software scroll when run on non-STE
machines...
(Please, no flames about the sound or extended graphics not being
emulatable in SW. Reasonable equivalents can be developed for non-STE
hardware and will be for any programs that are going to be anything more
than interesting very-small-market programs...)
---
John Stanley <dynasoft!john@stag.UUCP>
Software Consultant / Dynasoft Systems
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 07:09:34 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!marque!carroll1!dnewton@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
(Dave 'Post No Nicknames' Newton)
Subject: Vapourware!!!
In article <8911070804.AA12600@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 01659@AECLCR.BITNET (Greg
Csullog) writes:
>How many netters have actually used a NeXT computer or even seen one. Just
Gee, Greg, I don't know. I have. Probably most people on comp.sys.next
have. Most of the people from next.com have, seeing as how they work there and
all.
I wasn't too impressed with it, but it does represent a lot of computer for
the money. But I'd much rather have an ATW.
--
David L. Newton | uunet!marque!carroll1!dnewton | The Raging Apostle--
(414) 524-7343 (work) | dnewton@carroll1.cc.edu | for the future--
(414) 524-6809 (home) | 100 NE Ave, Waukesha WI 53186 | for the world.
"Isn't it fun to take two unrelated sentences and mix the batter lightly?" -me
------------------------------
Date: 8 Nov 89 01:21:55 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Xorg@uunet.uu.net (Peter Ted Szymonik)
Subject: Want a fast Atari ST.
I know this: I upgraded to TOS 1.4 and added TURBO ST 1.6 (the software
add-on) and my Mega 2 flies, adding the accelerator board must really
make an ST steam!
Peter Szymonik
Xorg@cup.portal.com
------------------------------
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #619
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