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Silicon Times Report Issue 0026
______________________________________
|////////////////////////////////////|
|////////////////////////////////////|
|//ST-REPORT WEEKLY ONLINE MAGAZINE//|
|//--------------------------------//|
|//PUBLISHER/EDITOR|March 14, 1988 //|
|// Ron Kovacs |Issue #26 //|
|////////////////////////////////////|
|////////////////////////////////////|
|(c)1988 SPC/Ron Kovacs /////////////|
|____________________________________|
|SPC |
|Post Office Box 74 |
|Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 |
|____________________________________|
|BBS: Syndicate BBS (201) 968-8148 |
|____________________________________|
|<Contents> Volume 1 Number 26 |
|____________________________________|
|*|Editors Desk |
|*|Antic Online Reports |
|*|SX212 Modem Review - Antic Online |
|*|SPC Newswire |
|*|Garbage On The Line |
|*|Mini-Review GT100 Disk Drive |
|*|Computer Shopper Joins GEnie |
|*|HyperCard Update |
|*|Monitor Modification |
|*|Computer Show Details |
|*|MAC Report |
|_|__________________________________|
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Editors Desk
_______________________________________
by Ron Kovacs
Things are moving on on GEnie. Since we have debuted on GEnie in the
ST Roundtable Bulletin Board, things have been slow but productive. If
you are a GEnie user, Please pay us a visit in CAT #22 and browse the
Topics.
In the weeks ahead look for some PD reviews and Shareware titles. We are
working on other projects too. If you have a suggestion, Leave them on
GEnie or call the BBS. We want to continue being the best source for
weekly Atari News.
The ST-Report Network of Systems has been completed. We are now at a
point to start selecting Regional systems to carry and support the
magazine. If you are interested in applying for network status, Please
call the BBS for more information.
This weeks ZMagazine is devoted entirely to the Beta Release of BBS
Express! Professional. Check it out for some interesting information on
the BBS system. There are features not included in the ST version!
The ST Transformer looks close to another updated release. Just waiting
for the CIS SIG sysops to allow Darek some room for the upload. GEnie
users are already downloading it. Look for an expanded review on the
release in a future edition of ST-Report!
Free advertising to any Atari sanctioned User Group. This special offer
starts April 1, 1988 and will continue through September 1988. Call for
details. There are special requirements for advertising.
Thanks for reading.
______________________________________
ANTIC ONLINE REPORTS
______________________________________
ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT 1988 REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.
ATARI EARNINGS UP FOR 1987
By Carolyn Cushman, Antic Editorial Assistant
March 3, 1988
Atari's earnings for 1987 were reported March 3, 1988 by the Reuter news
service. Although fourth quarter earnings were down over the previous
quarter, overall earnings were up significantly over last year (with a
net operating income of 44.2 million, as opposed to 1986 figures of 25.1
million). Sales revenues for the quarter were up significantly, $276.96
million from 92.67 million, due mostly to Atari's acquisition of the
Federated Group on October 4, 1987.
However, net figures were down from the previous quarter, at $18.70
million or 32 cents per share, down from $23 million or 43 cents. The
decreased net was again due to losses from Federated, which is expected
to continue showing losses through the third quarter of 1988.
However, according to McGraw-Hill News, Atari Corp expects the
electronics chain's performance to improve, and predicts that Federated
(as separate from Atari) will break even for the year.
Considered apart from Federated, Atari Corp's computer sales grew at a
record pace, according to the company, with computer sales representing
51% of total Atari sales. Other contributing factors included
strengthened computer sales in Europe and "booming videogame sales in the
United States," said Greg Pratt, company spokesman, "Videogames were a
hot category this year. There were no teddy bears or laser guns to take
those dollars away."
Atari's purchase of Federated Group Inc. has been seen as a smart
marketing move, considering Atari's distribution problems in the U.S.
With the acquisition of Federated, Atari gained 65 retail consumer
electronics stores in California, Arizona, Texas and Kansas.
Atari moved quickly to get their products into the stores, providing at
least some Atari users with a source for new Atari products.
NOTE FOR MARKET WATCHERS:
The Federated Group, bought by Atari in October, is no longer being
traded under that name, but is included in the Atari (ATC) reports. The
FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES (FDS) recently in the news is a different
company which owns chains of department stores (including I. Magnin),
grocery stores, and other retail outlets. As of March 2, FDS has agreed
to combine with Macy's, putting an end to the attempted buyouts that have
kept FDS in the news recently.
CD ROM PLAYER DEMO
Atari Corp plans to demonstrate a new compact disk ROM player at the
Third International Conference on CD-ROM in Seattle, taking place this
week, according to McGRAW-HILL NEWS. The dual-purpose CD player stores
up to 540 megabytes, plays standard music cd's (and includes a built-in
headphone jack and remote control), and will work with available CD
information disks such as the Grolier Encyclopedia or MicroSoft's
Bookshelf, according to John Skrutch of Atari. It will connect to any
Atari ST or Mega, and can be controlled by desk accessories (for setting
up that program of your favorite music tracks, for example). The player
can read three CD-ROM formats (the industry has yet to standardize)
including High Sierra Group format. It also includes an IBM-PC interface
card, so it can run on MS-DOS systems.
The player will be available to developers this month, and should be
available to computer dealers and retail outlets in May 1988, at a
suggested retail price of $599.
The CD-ROM was introduced in Las Vegas at the November '87 Comdex. Here
is an excerpt from ANTIC ONLINE's first Comdex report, describing the
CD-ROM player in its early stages:
"The exciting CD-ROM player introduced at Comdex can read up to 540
megabytes of data or play music. It connects to Atari's ST and Mega
computers through the DMA (direct memory access) channel, a
communications port that transmits data at up to 10 million bits per
second. At 540Mb, the player can store more data than 1,000 floppy disks
or 200,000 printed pages.
"Demonstrated at the show is an English and French visual dictionary from
Facts on File. It is categorized by topics such as transportation and
food: click on the transportation theme and choose from an array of
topics such as ferrys, container ships, airport terminals and so on --all
items illustrated. Speech output identifies each image in French and
English. Grolier's Encyclopedia also runs on this CD-ROM, as do audio
CDs. Atari has a task force at work now developing more products for this
player, which will be available at computer specialty dealers and retail
outlets in February, 1988, at a suggested retail price of $599."
______________________________________
ATARI SX212 MODEM
______________________________________
Atari Corp.
1196 Borregas Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
(408) 745-2000
For Atari 8-bit or ST $99.95
Reviewed by Charles Jackson - Antic Technical and Online Editor
The SX212 ($99.95) is Atari's first 300/1200 baud, Hayes-compatible
direct-connect modem. It will work with your ST OR your Atari 8-bit
computer -- without any additional interface devices. All in all, the
SX212 is a safe, workable modem that offers Atari users an easy way to
move up to 1200 baud online speed at the most affordable price on the
market.
Best of all, the SX212 WORKS fine! During hours of online testing at
ANTIC, we did not have any problems with the SX212 power supply, a weak
point of the Atari 1030 modem. Nor did we find any bare wire-tips
dangling inside the case, as has been a worry to Atari XM301 modem owners
(although it remains unclear if any equipment damage can be blamed on
this threat).
The SX212 has a speaker, permitting you to hear busy signals, carrier
tones and wrong numbers. If you've seen Atari's XEP80 eighty-column
module (ANTIC, July 1987), you've already seen the SX212. Both were
designed to use the same case. (This may explain why the silent XEP-80
has speaker brackets and a hole for a volume control. It also has
recesses for eight modem status lights).
Your SX212 will also work with your ST. No special cables or adapters
are necessary -- just use a standard modem cable and plug it into the
ST's modem port.
On the ST, the SX212 can be used with any terminal program which supports
a Hayes-compatible modem. Using the ST, we successfully tested the SX212
with Flash and several types of VT-52 emulators. Finally, we used the
SX212 and FoReM-ST software (Commnet Systems) to create and control a
BBS.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Atari's SX212 modem appears almost suspiciously competent. The $99.95
SX212 uploads, downloads and runs a BBS as efficiently as ANTIC'S Hayes
Smartmodem 1200 -- which sold for $599!
But although the SX212 costs only a fraction of Hayes Smartmodem, it is a
bit more difficult to live with. The SX212 speaker volume control is
located deep within the modem. You need a long, thin screwdriver to
adjust it.
The status lights, which let you know what the modem is up to, are dim
and difficult to see. Your eyes must be perfectly level with the modem
to see ANY of the status lights.
The SX212 only has one SIO port, so it must be placed at the far end of
your chain of peripherals. Because of this limitation, you can't use the
SX212 with any other single-port peripheral, such as a program recorder.
Documentation for the SX212 is adequate for a telecommunications novice,
but there is very little for the serious programmer, and there is no
documentation for the SX212's handler. The manual is a 51-page guide to
installing the SX212 and using its command set.
Still, despite any imperfections, at only $99.95 the SX212 is an
unbeatable value for any Atari computer owner.
_______________________________________
SPC Newswire
_______________________________________
Compiled by Ron Kovacs
Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. has developed a new 1200-bps modem
specifically for use on Trintex's Prodigy videotex service when it rolls
out in trial mode sometime this spring. The modem measures 2.75 x 3.5 x
1.75 inches and weighs less than 13 ounces. The auto-dial/auto-answer
modem also is compatible with the latest versions of Hayes' own Smartcom
I, II and III communications software.
Apple Computer has acquired Network Innovations Corp., the Cupertino,
Calif., developer of the CL/1 connectivity language.
Corvus Systems announced new communications software for networks running
its PC/NOS operating system. The $495 NosTalk Asynchronous Communications
Service software makes it possible for modems located anywhere on the
network to be accessed by any user, regardless of the location of the
modem. The software supports the Hayes AT-compatible command set and
modem speeds from 300 baud to 19.2 kilobaud.
One of the first library CD-ROM applications for the Macintosh has been
developed by R.R. Bowker. The new product integrates the powerful search
and storage capabilities with the Macintosh's user-friendly, graphics-
oriented environment. Books in Print Plus, contains over 770,000
citations that can be accessed by any one of 17 categories, either alone
or in combination, including the author, title, subject, keyword,
publisher, language, price, publication date, edition and audience. Final
versions of the two Macintosh-compatible CD-ROM disks are scheduled for
publication in July 1988.
Telenet has established a new division called the "PC Services Group"
designed to develop messaging services for the personal computer market.
PSGS will come up with future versions of Telenet's PC Telemail software
for IBMs and compatibles and a PC Telemail version for local area
networks.
March 15, IBM and Microsoft will demonstrate new software for IBM's PS/2
line of personal computers at the Stouffer Concourse Hotel in Los
Angeles. The type of software to be shown is unknown at the present time.
_______________________________________
Garbage On The Line
_______________________________________
[Ed.]
This week Linda continues her coverage of the FoReM FNET Mailer and her
conversation with David Chiquelin. Stay tuned for more FoReM news in the
weeks ahead. Thanks Linda for a job well done!!
FoReM Net Mailer Program by David Chiquelin
F-Net Interview by Linda Woodworth
_Sector # Two_
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (cut here) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
<Me> Getting back to the work on the Mailer...
DAVE - After completing the interpreter part (that reads the file on how
to dial other BBSs) I started on the actual message transfers. At first
it was to use Ymodem batch for sending messages, and I had the Ymodem
batch receive routines that I had written for the Desk Accessory, I
wrote, but did not have the send routines. I started to write them when
it occured to me that a lot of what was in the Ymodem routines would not
be needed and would be wasteful in the data transfer, such as sending
extra filler bytes for short messages. Since I was having to write a
whole set of routines, I decided to 'simplify' (ha!) it by just writing
my own 'protocol', hoping to maximize efficiency.
<Me> The changes FoReM SysOps watched you make to the mailer, was
phenomenal, and as with the Beta 2.0 of FoReM, updates came out so fast
it was hard to keep up with them. Ok, go on with the transfers...
DAVE - More things had to be worked out with Matt Singer, for the sending
of the same message to duplicate nodes, for example sending a message to
5 boards, without actually sending the same message five different times.
Also all the messages went to the same message base. I came up with the
message base 'type' idea, which means that the SysOp of each BBS would
classify his/her individual message bases, picking a match from a list of
the different types I had seen, and that 'type' would be attached to all
messages sent from that base. On the receiving end, the mailer checks
the message type, and looks at another list the SysOp has created that
tells it where to save all of the different types that come in. The user
does nothing, and there was no change to the FoReM message structure.
<Me> So the message type is sent immediately before the body of the
message. There were NO changes in the message structure of FoReM, but
there were some changes to FoReM. The one doc file of yours stated,
"Matt's gonna kill me for this!" You have gotten to know the FoReM BBS
program well, I know you answered several questions for me. BIG question:
Do you have a guess on how many hours you have spent with this GEM of
yours?
DAVE - OK, I've been doing some research on the mailer (for prosterity,
of course... hehehe) I have a doc file dated 7/27/87 for version 0.6, I
just can't figure out when I started on the mailer. I wonder if Matt
remembers better... Anyway, assume mid to late June for the start, and
about 8 hours/day, 5 days a week (haha) for two months on the initial
work, and then 4 hours a day 5 days a week until mid November. That would
probably give a fair conservative estimate of the time spent. Some days I
worked from 10AM until 1AM on it, and would do that for days on end. And
then I would take a break for a day, and back... And when it was testing,
I'd work from 11AM to 3 or 4AM, and then watch it run. I think that works
out to about 580 hours. Then you could round it out with the time spent
on it here <Texas> to 600 hours.
<Me> Wow, I do know one thing... everytime we called, you picked up the
phone usually on the first ring. Yep, Dave's hard at work!! We had many
updates to the mailer, any idea how many >>??
DAVE - How many versions? hahahahahahahah!!! What I have is 19 versions
on my backup disks, but that is not all of them by a long shot. I didn't
start keeping backup source codes until version .92B, dated 8/17/87. So
knowing there was a 0.6 through 0.9 on to 0.91 0.92, 0.93, 0.93A dated
the 18th of August, and I went into the 'type' - A, B etc. Type E Mailer
would not connect with earlier versions! and also a Pascal 2.0 - 1.11
fmailer, and a debug version, which you remember no doubt!
<Me> Yes, I remember the debug version... boy do I remember that!!
DAVE - And then you have to remember the updates where the version number
didn't change, just the date/time on the file! So how many versions?
Hahahahah! You got me, take a guess...
<Me> Yeah, something .arcd at 8AM was _entirely different that one .arcd
at 6 that evening. It became a race to keep up with FoReM _and_ the
Mailer... It's called, "we're having some fun now..." And it truly was.
I sat and watched the mailer run also... Didn't get much sleep back
then, but I didn't care... I was entranced. You were out of direct touch
with things for awhile, but are now back in the swing of things and have
added some _very nice features to the Mailer. Some of it for our own
protection, dealing with our passwords and PC Pursuit. While you were
moving to the great state of Texas, some of us SysOp's <hopefully> became
a bit organized and tried to act like we knew what we were doing!! A
campaign was begun to get the SysOps to send you the registeration fee of
a mere ten dollars. How is that coming >>??
DAVE - Well, at last count, about 60 had sent in their registeration fee.
And I really appreciate it.
<Me> We appreciate what _you do !! I find the F-Net totally fasinating
and a challenge. One last question. Will the Mailer ever be done >>??
I know, I know... is a program EVER done >>??
Coming next... How the callers of FoReM/F-Netting Boards are using the
Moose Mail... Thank you Dave... Thank you Matt. The work you put in is
acknowledged!! Dave Chiquelin is at Node #3 and Matt Singer is at Node #
1 <of course>.
_______________________________________
Mini-Review GT100 Disk Drive
_______________________________________
GTS-100 3 1/2" Disk Drive
Double-sided Double-density
Future Systems, Inc.
21634 Lassen Street
Chatsworth, CA 91311
Sugg. Retail: $249.00
Now THIS is how you build a disk drive! An all-metal case surrounds the
NEC-built drive mechanism in Future Systems's GTS-100 3 1/2" drive, and
it's also QUIET-something that cant' be readily answered by some of the
drives Atari has shipped in the past. If you were looking to buy an Atari
SF314 it may be worth your time and money to look at this drive. If there
are any sour grapes with the GTS-100 is that its index position readout
isn't all that accurate (a nice trick, tho) and you may have to get the
drive speed adjusted-the sure sign of this is some of your floppies won't
read when inserted in the GTS-100 (this usually happens with mass-
duplicated floppies: your originals may not read but your backups may.)
Depending on the price of this drive versus the Atari SF314 the GTS-100
may be a better buy. The GTS-100, does NOT like a 2 ms step rate and does
NOT go beyond 80 tracks-so you are warned. Overall, it's a solid
performer and deserves consideration.
***SYSOP'S NOTE: I think the person who wrote this review was a little
confused and mixed up! His/her facts are WRONG! The Indus GT 100
will read to track 83 and the track window is not in step with some
of the PD formatter programs but...it is very accurate, all one needs
to do is try it's accuracy while editing a program.
_______________________________________
Computer Shopper Joins GEnie
_______________________________________
=======================================
WELCOME -- Glad you could join our new Computer Shopper Roundtable on
Genie!!! We're looking forward to hearing from you with suggestions,
input, feedback, etc. Let's get the ball rolling...and stay tuned for
more great news from Computer Shopper!
=======================================
GEnie Page 755
Computer Shopper RoundTable
Library: ALL Libraries
1. Computer Shopper Bulletin Board
2. Computer Shopper Real-Time Conference
3. Computer Shopper Software Libraries
4. About the RoundTable
5. RoundTable News 880303
Enter #, <P>revious, or <H>elp?
_______________________________________
HyPer Card Update
_______________________________________
ST Owners:
After reading the impromtu conference with Sam Tramiel that appeared on
Genie recently, we feel compelled to let you know of our plans for a
"Hypercard-like" application. This program, currently called, "Omnicard"
will enable the ST user to completely meld with his computer in a new and
exciting way. The friendly interface puts the user to rest immediately
via the familiar icons and mouse-clicking, none of which is implemented
in programs such as "Zoomracks."
A completely integrated software package is also available from the new
desktop, including a word-processor, paint program, database,
telecommmunications, mini-desktop (particularly of interest to the power
user with a lot of folders), and an exceptionally easy to use program
"Authoring Environment" akin to hypercard itself.
This Authoring Environment allows the novice to begin programming in the
most effective way, without him even realizing it! A card metaphor is
used throughout, to heighten the Stack (We call them decks) image. If
you can organize a speech, you can write a program. Buttons, icons,
graphics and text replace hundreds of lines of code, that to most look
like Greek!
Based on many of the underlying concepts that are currently being
explored in the realms of artificial intelligence, this program will be
THE program for the Atari ST. Optimized on a Mega 2 or above, Omnicard
will be available on all ST machines.
BeerysBit, A.S.C.,Inc; is currently marketing seven products specifically
geared to support the ST Market. In addition, the Omnicard project is
utilizing the talents of a PHD physicist, 2 CAD engineers, 2 professional
programmers, and a professional artist, all with extensive experience on
the Atari ST.
Thank you,
Andrew B.Beery
Steven T.Gray
Peter D.Beery
Kevin J.VanHook
Mario Perdue
Genie:Beerysbit
GEnie(2)K.VanHook
BeerysBit ASC,Inc;
8174 Century Circle East #8
Indianapolis, In 46260
(317)872-8622
_______________________________________
Modification
_______________________________________
by Dave Davey
This file explains how to connect an Atari ST or Mega ST to to a
Princeton Graphic Systems Ultasync. This is a multisync monitor with a
12" screen, 0.28mm dot pitch, and 800*600 max resolution. Some of the
features of the Ultrasync are a tilt/swivel base, adjustments for
vertical position, vertical size, horizontal position, and horizontal
size, an underscan/overscan capability which allows full screen display
in all resolutions, and three text modes for high resolution (green,
amber, cyan). I have compared this monitor side-by-side with the NEC
Multisync, and find it to give sharper text and at least as brilliant
color display. I highly recommend this monitor to all ST users who want
to be able to display all three resolutions on one monitor. The following
connections detail how to rewire the Monitor Master from Practical
Solutions to a DB9 pin (female) connector for use with the Ultrasync.
Hardware Approx. Prices
======================================================
PGS Ultrasync $485
Practical Solutions MONITOR MASTER $50
DB9 female connector
Realistic SA-10 amplifier $30
Speaker (Radio Shack) $10
THE CONNECTIONS
COMPUTER ULTRASYNC
=========================================================
(DB9)
Pin 1 (audio) Already connected to RCA jack
in Monitor Master.
Pin 2 not connected
Pin 3 not connected
Pin 4 (monochrome detect) already connected
Pin 5 not connected
Pin 6 (Green) Pin 2
Pin 7 (Red) Pin 1
Pin 8 not connected
Pin 9 (Horizontal Sync.) Pin 4
Pin 10 (Blue) Pin 3
Pin 11 (Monochrome signal) Pins 1,2,3
Pin 12 (Vertical Sync.) Pin 9
Pin 13 (Ground) Pin 6
Rewire the Monitor Master so that when the button is in the OUT position,
the mono detect is grounded, and the monochrome signal is switched with
the RGB signals so it will be sent over all three lines. With the button
IN, the RGB signals are switched on and the monochrome signal is off, and
the mono detect is not connected. Wire the output to the DB9 female
connector. The Ultrasync comes with a cable which has a DB9 male
connector. Also, 68 ohm 1/4 watt resistors must be inserted in lines 6,7,
and 10 from the ST (the RGB analog signals) to reduce the intensity. No
resistor is required for the monochrome signal. Also, make sure that the
signal ground and all shields are connected together. For audio, I
connected the Monitor Master with a 10 watt amplifier with a $10 speaker
from Radio Shack. And that's it. Good luck!
If you have any problems just leave me a measage and I'll get back to you
as soon as possible. Dave Davey 73357,645
_______________________________________
Computer Show
_______________________________________
ATARI TREK88 COMPUTER SHOW TO BE HELD IN SEATTLE MAY 14TH TO 15TH 1988.
by CD Martin
May 14-15 1988 Atari users groups of the greater Pacific Northwest are
proud to bring you the second annual ATARI TREK COMPUTER SHOW. TREK88
will be held, once again, in the spacious Seattle Center Flag Pavilion,
9am to 5pm May 14th and 15th, 1988.
Since last years show was so successful, fee will continue to be $3 and
children under 12 free. Fee entitles you to a chance of winning one of
dozens of prize drawings held through out the show. There will be
exciting exhibits and dazzling displays by vendors from across the
country. Speakers will discuss the many aspects of Atari computers and
their contributions and affects on society. Ofcourse, one of the nations
most devoted Atari users, Pacific Northwest Atari users groups, will be
there to show you how we love our Ataris. For other information and
available vendor participation for K88, contact: Dave Hanthorn
(206)232-3009.
_______________________________________
MAC Report
_______________________________________
by David Small
Magic Sac version 5.9
Addendum
New features:
1. ICD and Atari SH205 hard disks now work.
2. Color mode now works in the multi-megabyte sizes.
3. A disk status display we refer to as "Orwell's Monitor" was added to
5.9. It only works in monochrome (crashes in color). To activate it,
press SHIFT-UP ARROW; to de-activate, SHIFT-DOWN ARROW.
4. A floppy disk cache was added to all the memory sizes except 832K. A
cache is like a "smart" ram disk, as things are read from the disk
they are also placed in the cache. The next time that data is needed
it is read from the copy in the cache in memory instead of from the
actual disk. This makes all the floppy disk i/o much faster.
5. We now support HFS. This is the newer DOS that Apple introduced for
double sided floppy disks and hard drives. It has true folders
(unlike MFS) and has much better performance on larger, larger than 4
meg, hard disk partitions. It also doesn't limit you to 400 files
per hard disk partition. If you don't have a hard disk or a
Translator there is no reason to use HFS.
MFS and HFS: A Story.
When the Mac first came out in 1984, it used single sided disks. The
people at Apple came up with a "filing system", or "disk operating
system", called MFS. (MFS is short for, "Macintosh Filing System".) MFS
worked just fine for floppy disks with a small amount of storage on them.
MFS was built into the "64K" Macintosh ROMS. And so things stayed for
awhile.
Then the Mac started growing up. It began to use double sided disks and
even hard disks. And a sad truth was discovered: the old filing system,
MFS, just didn't make it for these bigger disks. It was way too slow and
cumbersome.
So Apple came up with a new filing system, called HFS. HFS is short for
"Heirarchical Filing System". HFS did the trick; it made double sided and
hard disks work acceptably quickly.
Apple built support for HFS into the new "128K" ROMS. They came up with a
more - or -less standard: the Mac always used MFS for single sided disks,
and always used HFS for double sided and hard disks. They've stuck with
HFS ever since.
Now, for owners with the 64K ROMs that wanted HFS, Apple came out with a
file called "Hard Disk 20". "Hard Disk 20" was for the Apple Hard Disk
20, a 20-megabyte hard disk that plugged into the back of the Mac. The
file "Hard Disk 20" was basically a disk version of HFS; it made a 64K
ROM Mac, which would normally run MFS, able to run HFS as well.
As of 1987, the Apple standard is still this: MFS on single sided floppy
disks (400K floppies), and HFS for double sided floppies and hard disks.
That's right; if you put a double sided disk into a 64K (older) Mac, it
won't work.
HFS is downwards compatible. This means, if you're running an HFS Mac,
then you can read old MFS single sided floppies with no trouble. But the
reverse is not true; you can't read new double sided Mac disks on an old
MFS Mac.
During all this, Apple was shipping various Systems and Finders, which
some people think has something to do with MFS/HFS. They're really not
that related. For instance, just because you're running (say) Finder 5.4
doesn't mean you're running HFS. Honest; we run all the Finders under MFS
with no trouble.
If you're going to run HFS, you're going to want Finder 5.3 or later (5.4
works better than 5.3, in our experience). Apple added some goodies to
5.3 and later and that made HFS work if it was running.
The Magic Sac: MFS/HFS.
We've always used MFS, for everything. For instance, our single and
double sided Magic formats were all MFS, and our hard disk formatter
makes you an MFS hard disk.
We've had no trouble with floppies, and hard disks only get unwieldy when
they pass around 100 files on a given partition. (See the Magic Sac
manual for more on this). At this point, the hard disk slows down anytime
you go to the "desktop", or Finder; you'll see a visible delay. You need
to particularly notice that Apple uses HFS for double sided formats, and
we use MFS. This means if you directly "clone" an Apple double sided disk
to a Magic double sided disk, there will be problems with the filing
system. (This is why we haven't supported double sided transfers via the
serial cable. Think about it.)
The newest (Version 5.0 and above) hard disk formatters also give you an
MFS/HFS button; you pick between MFS and HFS at format time. (I bet you
could have figured that out). The version 4.52 hard disk formatter only
allowed MFS.
How to Start Up An HFS-Capable system
Okay, you say, I need to work with double sided Mac disks, or I want HFS
for my harddisk so I can use more than 100 files at acceptable speed, or
maybe even both. How do I get HFS running?
First, you need "Hard Disk 20", from Apple. This is the guts of a disk-
based HFS for a 64K ROM machine (which is basically what the Magic Sac
is). The Hard Disk 20 you want is "Version 1.1" (not version 1.0 or 1.1a,
which have problems); it's dated May 1986. Look in the "Get Info" window
to see if you have the proper "Hard Disk 20".
Next, you need a plain, bootable System & Finder disk. The Finder must be
version 5.3 or bigger, and the System must be version 3.2 or bigger. In
fact, we'll go ahead and recommend Finder 5.3 / System 3.2 to you, since
it looks like the brand bew Finders act weirdly with HardDisk 20, and we
know 5.3/3.2 works fine. Again, you should always keep the System and
Finder matched together, the same way they came on the Apple disk, to
avoid weird compatability problems.
Now, put the "Hard Disk 20" file into the System Folder, which already
has the System and Finder files on. Next, if you have a hard disk, put
this System Folder, with Hard Disk 20 and Finder 5.3/System 3.2, on the
first partition. Sorry, folks, Finder 4.1/System 2.0 or almost any other
Finder/System will just bomb you out. Finally, start up the Magic Sac
using this new startup disk.
Now, if you've done everything right, when you see the "Welcome to
Macintosh" page, you'll also see something new: "Hard Disk 20 Installed".
This means your Magic Sac is now HFS capable. Now at this point, what
happens depends on if you have a hard disk or not.
Hard Disk 20 (HFS) Startup from floppy; no hard disk.
1. System starts up; "Hard Disk 20 Installed" is displayed after "Welcome
to Macintosh".
2. The System and Finder off the floppy disk are used; you're taken to
the "desktop" (Finder).
3. You're HFS capable; double sided Mac disks work okay.
Hard Disk 20 (HFS) Startup from hard disk; in other words, you selected
"Boot from HD" on the Magic Startup page.
You'd better have Finder 5.3 / System 3.2 / Hard Disk 20 on your hard
disk's first partition and Finder 5.3 (or 5.4) / System 3.2 on the
second partitions, and you'd better have at least two partitions.
1. System starts up; "Hard Disk 20 Installed" is displayed after "Welcome
to Macintosh". "Hard Disk 20" is read from the first partition of the
hard disk.
2. The first partition of the hard disk is "ejected". Since hard disk
ejects are ignored, this pretty much does nothing except get rid of
that disk's icon.
3. The System and Finder off the second partition of the hard disk are
loaded; you're taken to the "desktop" (Finder). There won't be a disk
icon for the first partition; you'll have to press Shift-F3 if you
want to use it.
4. You're now HFS capable; double sided HFS disks and HFS formatted hard
disks work okay.
There are, of course, several things that can go wrong in this whole
procedure. The first is you don't use a Finder 5.3 or above. Finder 4.1
in particular doesn't work right with Hard Disk 20. The second is if you
mix Systems and Finders. For instance, you might use the System 2.0 from
a Finder 4.1 disk with a new Finder 5.3. This won't work well at all,
either; you must keep Systems and Finders together. The best way to solve
this is to keep your System and Finder in a "System Folder", and always
drag the folder around to disks you want to update; this ensures all
files are updated at the same time. The third comes when using a hard
disk. If you mix up Systems and Finders there, you've got problems as
well. For instance, if your startup floppy is (quite properly) a Finder
5.3/System 3.2 disk, but the System and Finder on your hard disk is
different, you'll have problems. The lesson here is update all your hard
disk partitions with the new System and Finder you'll be using. The easy
way to do this is to make one System Folder with all the right things on
it, and copy it onto each hard disk partition.
The fourth comes if you try to boot up with the hard disk, and if your
first and second partitions don't have the same Systems and Finders on
them. Remember, the system will use a little bit of your first partition,
eject it, then finish starting up off the second partition. You have to
accomodate it.
Of course, if you're planning on using HFS a lot, you may want to set up
your hard disk with this in mind, with a small, (say) one megabyte "boot"
partition containing only the System Folder, then the second partition
containing all the files you'd like to use plus another copy of the
System Folder.
We're fully aware that this isn't a lot of fun to do. Please bear in mind
we didn't write Hard Disk 20, or we'd have done things differently, okay?
Recommended Disk Setups
Since almost no other combinations of System and Finder and Hard Disk 20
work than our recommendations, you're going to find out really fast why
they're our recommendations.
1. Floppy Only.
Put a Finder 5.3/System 3.2/Hard Disk 20 in a System Folder on a startup
disk, and put it in your drive A: Try to update your other disks with
this same System Folder if you want to start up using them. If you do
something like the following, you're going to change Finder versions on
the fly, and might have trouble:
Disks:
in drive A, Finder 5.3/System 3.2/Hard Disk 20
in drive B, Finder 4.1/System 2.0 and any Application
1. You start up off drive A.
2. You put in disk B.
3. You double-click on B's program (MacPaint).
4. You doddle awhile, then exit MacPaint.
At this point, the Mac operating system cleverly switches Finders to the
Finder on the disk you were just using, e.g., drive B. Suddenly you are
running Finder 4.1, and HFS isn't working for you.
If you want to get back to HFS, try this miracle fix: hold down CONTROL
and ALTERNATE, and double click on drive A's Finder (the Finder 5.3).
This will launch you back into Finder 5.3, which is HFS compatible.
See why we recommend you update your disks? If you mix Systems and
Finders, you'll always be running into this nonsense.
Finally, note that if you install RAMSTART, our recommended (and free)
Ramdisk, then you'll always be treated to the System and Finder you began
with; RAMSTART "locks" those into the operating system. This is most
handy. If you've got a megabyte or more of RAM, be certaint to check out
RAMSTART.
2. Hard disk startup (boot and run off hard disk).
This can be tricky, because the Mac thinks our hard disks are just big,
fast floppies. It does just like it would do with option two: it ejects
the "boot" drive, e.g., the first hard disk partition. Then it continues
to start up off the second partition it finds. If you haven't got two,
you crash. Look, I didn't write it.
It's up to you, but I'd recommend placing a small partition on your hard
disk before your normal sized partition(s). This is a "boot" partition,
meant to be ejected. (You can always get at it, if need by, with
SHIFT-F3. See your Magic Sac manual).
Your "Boot" partition must be MFS; remember, when it's read in, the
computer has no idea what HFS is. That must come in off the disk drive
first!
Something like this would be fine:
Drive C: (GEM)
Drive D: (GEM)
Drive E: 1 megabyte, Magic Sac, MFS format ("boot" partition)
System Folder w/ Finder 5.3/System 3.2/Hard Disk 20
Drive F, 10 Megabytes, Magic Sac, HFS format (normally used partition)
System Folder w/ Finder 5.3/System 3.2
or
System Folder w/ Finder 5.4/System 3.2
To set up HFS on your hard disk, try this:
1. Use MagicHD to create two Magic partitions, one 1 megabyte (pretty
small) MFS partition, one however sized (up to 16mb) HFS partition.
2. Create two floppies. One ("A") has Finder 5.3/System 3.2 on it. The
other ("B") has Finder 5.3/System 3.2/Hard Disk 20 1.1 on it.
3. Run 1magic5, enable the hard disk, don't enable boot from HD. Use Disk
A as a startup disk.
4. After booting, press shift-F3 to access the MFS (first) partition. You
should get the "Empty Hard Disk" icon.
5. Get disk B into the system.. Copy "Hard Disk 20" from B to the MFS
partition. We can't just boot with disk "B" because of the way Hard
Disk 20 works; if you try to boot a floppy with Hard Disk 20 on it
with the hard disk enabled, it will try to use data on the hard disk
that's not there yet. In particular, the Finder/System/HD-20 needs to
be on the hard disk.
6. Eject hard disk partition, restart system.
Okay, we've got the MFS partition all set up. Now we need to get Finder/
System/HD-20 onto the HFS partition. We'll have to get HFS running to do
that, so:
7. Run 1magic5, enable HD but not boot, this time boot with disk "B".
You'll get the "Hard Disk 20 Installed" message". You'll get a little
farther, then be asked to eject the A: floppy drive. Do so. This is a
"feature" of HD-20; it automagically ejects the floppy boot disk on
startup. You've now got the MFS icon onscreen; press shift-F4 to get
the HFS disk icon. Hooray, we're now accessing the HFS hard disk.
8. Copy Finder/System/Hard Disk 20 from the MFS partition to the HFS
partition. Eject both HD partitions, then restart.
9. Your system is now FINALLY set up to boot from the hard disk. So, run
1magic5, enable BOTH hard disk and hard disk boot. What you'll see is
the "Hard Disk 20 Installed" message, then an "invisible" eject where
the MFS partition is ejected, then the startup will continue into the
HFS area. This is why we made the MFS partition so tiny; we don't
really use much of it, just enough to sort of bootstrap up with.
It is doubly or triply crucial that you not crash under HFS, nor forget
to Eject the HFS hard disk before shutting down. HFS is real twitchy
about these things, and I've lost data many a time on crashes, even on
real Macs. Be careful; don't run new, unknown applications with your
HFS hard disk. After all, it's your data.
You may notice Finder 5.3 refuses to eject disks. We don't know why
either. To eject a disk under Finder 5.3, just drag the disk icon to the
trash can -- don't worry about that "throwing away all your data". It's
just another way to do an eject. Most Magic Sac users seem to have gone
to Finder 5.4 because Eject works properly on it. If you want to do this,
put Finder 5.4 on the HFS hard disk partition ONLY -- not on the MFS
disk. Hard Disk 20 wants Finder 5.3 out there on the MFS partition.
Other Systems/ Finders
Here's what we definitely know.
1. System 2.0 and below fizzle with Hard Disk 20; they do not work. Weird
crashes will greet you if you try. You're welcome to try.
2. Finder 4.1 and below fizzle with Hard Disk 20. See above comments.
3. Finder 5.4/System 4.0 and Finder 5.5/System 4.1 don't seem very stable
with Hard Disk 20. This is due to changes in the System file. Part of
the System file is used to fix bugs in the Mac ROMs. The bug fixes
for the 64K ROMs were removed from the System file starting with
version 4.0. THIS MEANS YOU WILL BE RUNNING WITH KNOWN BUGS IF YOU RUN
FINDER 5.5 / SYSTEM 4.1 or FINDER 6.0 / SYSTEM 4.2 OKAY?
4. Finder 5.4 /System 3.2 works okay on a hard disk system if you put it
in the "continuing boot" partition (second partition on a hard disk
boot system). I use that myself at the moment, since I like the
features of Finder 5.4 over those of Finder 5.3.
** Known Problems as of 3/88 **
Running with Finder 5.5 / System 4.1 *may* cause hard disk damage. We
have had reports of this. They are not verified.
USING FILE NAMES BIGGER THAN 21 CHARACTERS CAUSES PROBLEMS IN THE CURRENT
RELEASE. DON'T DO IT -- YOU CAN DAMAGE YOUR DIRECTORY THAT WAY, which
means, kiss your hard disk's data goodbye.
Apparently, there's some problem in the subtle workings of HFS (if you're
interested, it's a B-* Tree structured directory), and over 21 characters
causes trouble. You will see this if copy files with long names into an
HFS disk (either floppy or hard), try to save a long file, or try to
rename a file with a long name.
I managed to lose 15 megabytes of data this way, so be careful; try not
to do this until we get it fixed, okay? We've locked our busy little
elves in the dungeon to find this one.
***********
I hope this little section ripped out of our Translator manual helps you
set up and get rolling with HFS. -- Thanks, Dave
_______________________________________
ST-Report #26 March 14, 1988
(c)1988 SPC/Ron Kovacs
_______________________________________
