Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Silicon Times Report Issue 0015
_______________________________________
ST-REPORT 15 December 30, 1987
_______________________________________
Final Edition of 1987
Publisher: Syndicate Publishing
Editor: Ron Kovacs
Circulation Assistant:Susan Perry
_______________________________________
(c)1987, 1988 Syndicate Publishing
ZMAG BBS (201) 968-8148 300/1200 24 hrs
_______________________________________
ST INDEX 15
_______________________________________
<*> Syndicate Newswire <New Atari Plant>......................Antic Publishing
<*> Atari News Update.........................................Business Newswire
<*> Feature Article <Home Computing Increasing...............AP
<*> Computer Health...........................................AP
<*> Garbage On The Line.......................................Calamity Jane
<*> Probing Your ST...........................................Mr. Goodprobe
<*> Discussion On Atari Drives <From Bruce Kennedy>..........Bill Wilkinson
<*> Continuing Sage Of The Mega...............................Bill Grab
<*> GFA Help <continuing series>..............................John Holder
_______________________________________
SYNDICATE NEWSWIRE
_______________________________________
ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT 1987 REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.
NEW ATARI PLANT
In an attempt to boost personal computer sales in the United States, Atari
Corp. plans to open a 100-person small manufacturing plant somewhere in Silicon
Valley early in 1988 and a larger factory in either Texas or Nevada later in
the year, according to Atari President Sam Tramiel.
Tramiel said that domestic sales were strongly affected by the heavy European
demands for the ST line of computers, manufactured exclusively in Taiwan --
about 80% of STs manufactured this year were sold in Europe. "We never had any
product left over to bring to the U.S.," he said.
In late 1987 Atari's IBM PC-compatible went on sale in Europe, but Tramiel says
that the Atari PC same won't reach stores in the United States until well into
next year.
ATARI NO-SHOWS CES
Atari Corp. will NOT be in Las Vegas at CES in January, 1988 -- but ANTIC
ONLINE will: whatever Atari news there is will be uploaded as soon as we get
it.
_______________________________________
ATARI NEWS UPDATE
_______________________________________
WP BW617 DEC 21,1987 5:21 PACIFIC 8:21 EASTERN (BW)
(ATARI)(ATC) U.S. Marshals seize counterfeit Atari games
Business Editors SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BW)--
In a unique, highly coordinated effort with U.S. government officials, Atari
Corp. Monday seized 2,000 pirated model "2600" video game machines and
accessories.
In an aggressive attempt to stop Fund International Co. Ltd. of Taiwan from
further production and importation of counterfeit Atari game products, Atari
enlisted the aid of the U.S. Customs Service, agents of the U.S. Marshal and
Congressman Ernie Konnyu of the 12th District and his staff to seize the
counterfeit products at Terminal Island in the Port of Los Angeles, before they
could be returned to Taiwan.
The seizure was made pursuant to a court order issued by federal District Judge
Terry Hatter in conjunction with a raid on the Los Angeles warehouse of P.S.D.
Inc. on Tuesday, Dec. 8.
Atari and many other manufacturers of electronic equipment have had to deal
with an increasing problem of the production of pirated products which infringe
upon U.S. patents, trademarks and copyrights.
"It's hurting our country's industry, depressing sales and effecting the
development of new technology," remarked Sam Tramiel, president of Atari Corp.
Tramiel, who has instructed his staff to take all measures necessary to stop
the counterfeit production of Atari products, stated, "We must let the
manufacturers of pirate products know that we are very serious and will not
tolerate their criminal behavior. Atari will cooperate wherever possible with
U.S. government officials to stop the infringing actions immediately."
The goods, which had entered the Los Angeles port earlier this week, had
apparently been ordered for sale through the U.S.-based company, P.S.D. Inc. in
Los Angeles, but had not been cleared through customs.
Officials at Atari Corp. believe that after the raid on P.S.D. last week,
P.S.D. officials sought to stop the pirate goods enroute from Taiwan from
entering the United States to avoid further incrimination. Records obtained
during the P.S.D. warehouse raid indicated that further shipments of
counterfeit goods were on their way. Upon receiving information about the
arrival of the "knockoff" products, Atari personnel along with officers of the
U.S. Marshal moved in and seized the entire container. According to Dennis
Hawker, director of security for Atari, "This is a victory for Atari and just
the beginning, but should demonstrate that companies like Atari can take action
to protect their rights and the industry."
Atari Corp. of Sunnyvale is a growing manufacturer of business and home
computers and video game equipment.
The company, in existence since July of 1984, stands by its motto of "Power
Without the Price." Tramiel commented, "We want to deliver to the public the
best products at the lowest prices. It's unfortunate that companies producing
illegal, often inferior and even dangerous imitation products, affect the
market and force consumer prices up. We want this stopped."
_______________________________________
FEATURE ARTICLE <Home Computing>
_______________________________________
AP 12/21 13:00 EST V0605
NEW YORK (AP) -- When Matt Kramer vacationed in Alaska, he took friends along
via his laptop computer. If overseas pilot and union officer John Mitvalsky
needs to do union business at 3 a.m. in Rome, he dials a computer line. When
journalist Mike Greenly wants a source for a story, he turns to his computer.
The three are among a growing cadre, including business professionals and young
hobbyists, who use computers to reach friends, colleagues and contacts at any
time, from anywhere.
By using electronic mail, computer bulletin boards and now, computer
conferencing, it is possible to go online, send and receive messages and even
have long conversations, unhampered by time zones, calendars or distances.
"There's an underground network operating from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. in this
country. All you need to join is a computer and a modem," said Don Rittner, a
Troy, N.Y., social worker who uses computer networking to spread ideas on ways
to help the homeless.
In the past, computer users sent and received general messages through
electronic mail. New software makes it possible to have extended "conferences,"
where users can converse directly with one another about specific topics.
There are computer conferences for psychologists, genealogists and born-Again
Christians. Parents with missing children, peace activists, union officials and
corporate researchers stay in touch through phone lines and computer screens.
Some universities have begun experimenting with classes taught over the
computer networks. "Conferencing allows you to structure information" by topic
or correspondent, said Kramer, an editor with the computer publication PC Week.
He said it would be difficult to estimate how many of the 15 million personal
computer owners are involved in conferencing.
Conference participants do not have to be sitting in front of their screens at
the same time. They can read what's been "said" and enter their thoughts at
their convenience. The programs that run the conferences keep track of what's
been written, distribute it to the intended recipients and list the text in
sequential order.
Networkers have even developed a written body language to make communications
more personal. A passage may include a (grin) or a (wink) to let other
conferees know when humor or irony is intended. "You're talking about the same
kinds of sharings that can take place in person, except it's an electronic
meeting," said Greenly, a former Revlon vice president who abandoned the
boardroom to cover political conventions, President Reagan's 1984 inauguration
and the Academy Awards with his portable computer.
Now a computer consultant, Greenly practices what he calls "interactive
journalism" as a hobby. As he sends reports over the computer network, readers
can send in questions and comments while he's still at the scene.
"At the Academy Awards I had people who were watching their TV sets and their
computer terminal at the same time, and they would tell me what to ask Steven
Spielberg when he came off the stage," said Greenly.
Computer conferencing is not just for entertainment. Companies such as Kodak
and Exxon, even the Army, have computer networks that allow employees to bypass
traditional and slower forms of communication.
The presidential campaign of Sen. Paul Simon uses a conferencing network to
link the candidate with his staff. "Instead of the frustration of getting a
busy signal in Washington, they can quickly get something in print in front of
the candidate," said Lisa Carlson, a Washington-based computer consultant who
helped set up Simon's network as well as conferences for business
organizations.
_______________________________________
COMPUTER HEALTH
_______________________________________
AP 12/22 07:49 EST V0900 By The Associated Press
Lighting can be an important part of creating an office in the home.
What kind of lighting is needed around a desk or home computer terminal to keep
eyes from tiring?
The most comfortable and effective work or "task" lighting is distributed
evenly over the work area and in balance with surrounding light, according to
studies by General Electric and other lighting authorities.
"General room and 'task' lighting should function together to create a
comfortable environment without harsh contrasts or distracing glare," says
Nancy Christensen, lighting specialist at GE in Cleveland.
She gives this advice for lighting your home office:
-- Position the desk against a plain, light-colored, non-glossy wall. The desk
surface should be non-glossy to avoid reflected light.
-- If the desk faces a window, relocate it at an angle to reduce glare. If you
can't avoid a "busy" wall pattern, hang a light-colored tack board in front
of the desk. Do the same for a computer or word processor, to mitigate
reflections on the screen.
-- Desk lamps provide the most common lighting in home offices. "It may seem
simple, but it is important that a right-handed person place the desk lamp
to the left of the work, and a left-handed person place it to the right.
Also, the bottom of the shade should be 15 iunches above the work surface
for the best results," says Christensen.
As for brightness, the brighter -- minimum of 150 watts for ordinary desk work
-- and more diffuse the light, the better, she says.
_______________________________________
THOUGHTS ON BURNOUT
_______________________________________
Breaking up is hard to do...Thoughts on BURNOUT
By John Nagy, Michigan Atari Magazine
[Recent comments and questions in ZMAG and elsewhere seem to require answer and
clarification. What follows is a somewhat revised version of my parting
comments as publisher of MICHIGAN ATARI MAGAZINE. The comments on BURNOUT are
should be heeded by all those crazy enough to be reading all this!]
This [November 1987] is the last issue of MICHIGAN ATARI MAGAZINE that will be
published by the original CHAOS Lansing crew (Richard an Judy Barnes,
co-editors). And it's NOT easy to let go.
But the time has come. Burnout is more than a future threat- it is here.
Better to turn things over to an enthusiastic new group before the project
advances past the "burden" stage and on into the "pain" stage. Especially
since such an entusiastic group is NOW presenting itself; this opportunity
might not come again soon!
Beginning with the DECEMBER 1987 issue, MAM will be the adopted child of BILL
and PATTY RAYL, members of both WAUG (Ann Arbor) and MACE (Detroit). On their
adgenda is a merger with the MACE JOURNAL and incorporation of GLASS (Detroit's
ST club) and, with any luck, CACE (Jackson) and STING (Grand Rapids ST), as
well as continued service to the existing seven Michigan clubs. A circulation
of well over 1,500 is likely.
So, expect CHANGES. What you have seen so far has been largely MY vision of
what MAM should be... with new management comes a new vision. I hope that all
member clubs and readers across te country will be as supportive and as
outspoken about the magazine with Patty and Bill as they have been with me.
(YIKES! How's that for a mixed message?!)
As for me, I will now actually have time to WRITE more than a few lines and
compilations for the magazine (as well as for COMPUTER SHOPPER, which has been
very LIGHT on ATARI of late!), as I have a stack of clippings and notes for
MANY articles that have been patiently awaiting their turn... so you haven't
seen the last of me.
This MAM project has been one of the most satisfying (and time consuming),
educational (and frustrating), and creative jobs I have ever had. I am happy
to have have done it; I am at once happy and sad to pass it to another. Long
may it grow and prosper.
While pondering my own history in CHAOS and MAM, I also recollect the final
moments of other ATARI (and other) CLUB officers I have known. The symptoms of
BURNOUT form a relatively standard set of events and attitudes that merit
comment. Here's a typical and non-comprehensive review:
1. Only people who BURN can BURN OUT. The occasional volunteer (OH TO BE ABLE
TO KEEP MY HANDS IN MY POCKETS AND MY WORDS IN MY MIND!) somehow knows his
(her) limits and can say NO when it is appropriate. Others are habitual
DOERS that can't let things slide.
2. Real DOERS can't just do ONE THING for a club. The Librarian becomes the
SYSOP/Librarian, then the President/SYSOP/Librarian. The Treasurer adds
the publications co-ordinator duties. The editor becomes the Vice
President. More and more, fewer and fewer people do more and more jobs.
Condition 2 above has several results:
3. Things GET DONE. Prosperity and MOVEMENT mark the early stages of the
consolidation of jobs in the small, active, resposible, enthusiastic group.
4. "Regular" members get used to watching the progress, usually quite pleased
at the results. They volunteer less since, after all, the DOERS know what
needs to be done, and are doing great.
5. The DOERS get used to making decisions for the group. It is only natural
that the ones doing the bulk of the work should determine not only HOW to do
it, but WHAT to do next. In fact, the "regulars" will encourage the DOERS
to use their own judgement, and not bother them with trivial votes, etc.
6. More praise and recognition is given to the DOERS for remarkable
accomplishments. The DOERS realize that they individually are making the
club a success. At about this point, practices within each division of
activity are becoming familiar enough to become ritualistic.
7. What were once exciting challenges becoming everyday duties for the DOERS.
The thrill may be gone, but it is replaced with pride and confidence.
8. Eventually the constant run of duties becomes a perceptable drain. Tasks
that once kept the DOER up all night in creative frenzy now wait for a night
with nothing really good on TV. After all, this is a volunteer job, right?
9. Things slow down for the club. Some things go out late. Some never happen
at all. The DOERS get mad because nobody seems to want to help. The
membership isn't used to having to help. The membership isn't pleased to be
bawled out for being "regular" members.
10.Stirred by the bawlings and seeing an opening, some new people come into the
ranks of the DOERS, eager and inexperienced. The DOERS have little patience
with this, and even less interest in changing anything from the way they
have developed so successfully.
11.Resentment becomes the new bylaw of the organization. DOERS think they are
being pushed or replaced with incompetent newcomers, or else they think that
nobody cares about what they are doing enough to become involved. The new
DOERS get disillusioned by the resistance from the old DOERS and either
revolt or retreat. The "regulars" begin to drop out, because they see no
movement, because they dislike the "elitest" attitude of the officers, or in
order to avoid being assailed by the DOERS.
Finally,
12(a). The original DOERS resign, disappointed to see that support just "wasn't
there anymore" for what was once, after all, a GREAT club... (or)
12(b). The Club folds up.
Now this scenario sounds pretty grim, but it is and has been the fate of a
number of our sister clubs and organizations. It isn't always this way, of
course. We have the power to recognize ourselves in one of these stages and
redirect ourselves to a different outcome.
I think I have spotted a singular common indicator of IMMINENT BURNOUT: When an
officer (or director) simultaneously complains about too much to do, but
refuses to allow others to help in THEIR OWN ways. That's STAGE 9 or even 10,
and the end may be near.
For myself, I see that I must retreat from a DIRECTOR to a PARTICIPANT while I
still can enjoy participation. As much as it will tug at me to volunteer both
advice and effort on each and every project the club takes on, I will have to
meter my involvement. Other officers will have to arise from the "regulars",
and they will have to make their own policy and procedures. I won't like them
all, but not everyone liked all of mine, either.
It is a hard lesson for a DOER, and one that goes against reason: Often the
only way to assure that a job is done, or even to determine if it needs to be
done at all, is to NOT volunteer for it.
Not everything NEEDS to be going smoothly in a club... not every project HAS to
be a roaring success... not EVERY owner needs to be IN the club... for the club
to be an active, fun, and profitable part of every member's life.
None of this should be taken as a discouragement to people who have and will
put massive efforts into their clubs. Without them, the really GREAT things
that some of our ATARI clubs have accomplished would simplye never have been
possible. But beware courting BURNOUT. You may burn more than just yours.
_______________________________________
GARBAGE ON THE LINE
_______________________________________
By Calamity Jane
I have thoroughly enjoyed getting in on the ground floor of ST-Report. But this
can't be a success without _you. We all thank you. And I thank the SysOps of
the boards I send the file to, who have so graciously set up space in their
data bases for ST-Report.
I hope ATARI continues in 88 some of the advances they gained in 1987. Support
the programmers who work hard developing software and be patient with the
vaporware. <grin> May 1987 have been good to you, but let's all have a
spectacular '88 !! I know a few who could use it.
For 1988 >>>>> I want to get into the on-line games for the BBS's, the ST
programmer's doing marvelous new things, the discovery of just what the FoReM
Network is being used for, the facinating world of Hard Drives, and just
anything and everything else. If you have something you would like to offer,
or suggest to me, you can contact me on the ZMag BBS, thru the FoReM NetWork
Node # 45. Or call The Prairie Chip BBS in Wild Wonderful Wyoming.
303-635-0148. 1200/2400 bps -- open 24 hours....
I have made many new friends this past year, thru ST-R and the use of my modem.
The birth of the FoReM BBS Networking has made friends far away, seem so close.
Let the power and magic of the computer continue to grow and pull us closer
together. We need it... _PAX_
Well we all shine on............... Like the moon and the..............
stars and the sun.................. Well we all shine on...............
Come on and on and on and on....... John Lennon...
-=-CJ-=-
_______________________________________
PROBING YOUR ST
_______________________________________
by Mr. Goodprobe
The Practical Juggler
( Multi-tasking on the ST)
This is absolutely amazing, I created this text file while downloading a
program from a Macintosh bbs! If you care to find out how I accomplished this
minor miracle...read on!.
There is a new file transfer protocol for use with PC Interlink that allows
multi-tasking with your ST. You load it into the ???? button on your file
transfer menu, and needless to say it works like a charm. The file called
ILNMULTI.ACC must have been on your Interlink boot disk and loaded into memory.
This neat little protocol allows background downloading and uploading, editing
of the buffer (the mini word processor built-into Interlink), perform other
various disk functions, and the execution of other programs from within
Interlink's framework.
Some of the programs that have been tested with this multi-tasking protocol
are: Word Writer II by Timeworks (Yea!), Dcopy 1.91(will cause an error though
during disk access, but board will resend so its of no big consequence),
SuperBase, Data Manager ST, Swift Calc, First Word, Tempest, DC Format 1.3
(Mono version) and I assume many others will work. I tried Procopy, and it
appeared to work, but after you escape the program to come back to PC
Interlink, you have no arrow, and have no control over what happens after that.
Also, my 1 meg machine acted as though it only had less than 1/2 meg as it took
3 passes for a normal single sided disk. The reads were noticeably slower than
normal too. Picswitch 1.7 didnt work as it said I had not enough memory. Music
construction set works if you are editing or composing a tune or instrument,
but will not work while you are attempting to play a song.
One important thing to remember is the sequence of events...they seem to be...:
After the Interlink program is entirely loaded up, go to the file transfer menu
as if you were going to receive/send a file and click on the block which
contains the multiple question marks. You will then be given a file menu, and
load the multixy .txf file. Proceed with your calling as normal. When you wish
to multi-task, simply start the file transfer, and then go to the execute
program section of your menu. Choose execute, and click on the name of the
program you wish to run. Make sure the disk that ends up staying in your drive
is the blank disk you wish to receive your file on. Neat eh? And you can quit
the program, and it will immediately take you back to Interlink. Make sure your
volume is up so you can hear the end of the file transfer. The tones will help
you determine the status and progress of your file transfer. You will hear
Interlink's pleasing completion tone at the successful finishing of a file
transfer. You will hear a "blat" tone if the download/upload was unsuccessful,
or there was a block error. You will hear a "tick" with the receipt of each
successful block of data. A "tock" signifies a bad block of data. If you care
to check on the progress of your transfer, you simply take "el mouse" and go up
to the accessory area of your menu. There you will see: BL=569 ER=00 or
Interlink Waiting. BL stands for the block it is on, and ER is short for
Errors. If you see Interlink Waiting it is either completed the transfer, or
waiting for the handshaking to begin the transfer. You will not see the numbers
on this display change as it must be redrawn. Just go to a different area of
your menu, click, and then come back to this and you will see updated stats.
I believe if you plan to use a program regularly such as Word Writer II it
would also be a good idea to fit Word Writer right on my Interlink disk so they
will be together. The swapping of disks might be hectic, and it may easier to
keep track of things if the two were on one disk.
I guess you could say this is almost as good as getting a free second computer
system! Please pardon this article as it isn't written in my usual style,
trying to keep track of things is a bit harrowing, but rewarding to be sure!
Enjoy!
Oh yes, PC Interlink is available from your favorite software distributor or
computer store, and the multitasking file transfer protocol is free to
registered Interlink owners.
Keep those Atrai's hummin!
Mr. Goodprobe
(on lend from)
Midtown TV (216) 633-0997
Atari 8/16 Repair/Sales
_______________________________________
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
* FoReM BBS Coupon Offer *
* The Most Powerful BBS System for Atari ST & IBM *
* Exclusively for the Readers of Zmagazine/ST-Report *
* *
* NEW 2.0! * $59.95 *
* *
* Fifteen dollars off if you send in this coupon to: *
* *
* Commnet Systems *
* 50 Eaton Road *
* Framingham, MA 01701 *
* (617)877-0257 (Voice) *
* (617)877-8756 (BBS) *
* Specify ST or PC Please *
*12/30/87 ST-Rpt *
* This Offer May be Withdrawn At Any Time *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
__"Giving the thing away"____
DISCUSSION ON ATARI DRIVES
_______________________________________
EasyPlex
Date: 27-Dec-87 22:49 EST
From: BRUCE KENNEDY 72327,1500 [72327,1500]
Subj: THE FIRST FROM THE GREATEST
ATARI DRIVES
Fm: Bill Wilkinson [OSS] 73177,2714
Bill offers the following summary of drives available for Atari computers,
based on a question on Compuserve. If you haven't tried Compuserve, ask a
computer friend about it, get a hold of an issue of Compuserve's fabulous
ON-LINE magazine, or better, yet get online with a friend.
Here's Bill's fabulous knowledge of Atari at it's best, and I'll bet most of
it is off the top of his head! "I will give you all I remember, even though I
will duplicate ones given by others:
Percom: 3 models, SSSD, SSDD, DSDD.
I don't remember all the model numbers.
Indus: just the GT (SSDD), though they did have a couple of versions of the
ROMs. Now sold by Future Systems.
Trak: Two models, as I recall. Same drives (SSDD) but either 1 or 2 in a
cabinet.
(Oh, yes...Percom offered a two-drive system for a short while...in any case,
Percoms had a controller that could handle a total of up to 4 drives...you
could add your own industry standard drives.)
Amdek: Perhaps the best Atari-compatible controller ever done (able to read
just about anything, including off-speed disks), but it came with one or two
3-inch (_NOT_ current 3.5" standard!) drives. You could hook up a total of 4
drives, any mix, 3-inch, 5.25", 8".
SWP's ATR8000: This was/is considered the elite of controllers. It could run
CP/M (or, with add-on board, MS-DOS!) _in the controller_! The Atari computer
functions as a terminal to the controller. It could/can take virtually any
kind of drives, since it is only a controller. Many early Atari users put 8"
CP/M drives on their machines this way...and the 8" drives had capacities up to
1 MB.
(Almost forgot: Indus GT has an optional add-on 64KB memory board. With it,
you can run CP/M inside Indus in same manner as SWP).
Concorde: Went bankrupt (owing us money, sigh) before ever got into full
production. Heard about a few people who found this drive at surplus sales.
SSDD, similar to Indus, with DSDD planned.
Back to TRAK: Found model numbers: ATD1, ATD2, ATS1.
Rana: model 1000. SSDD, similar to Indus. Designed by same people, I think.
Astra: 1620, a dual-drive, SSDD machine. "The One"--DSDD. A dual drive
version of "the one" but I don't remember model number.
There was a company in CA (Sacramento, CA, I think) that had an early SSDD
drive that competed with Percom. California Peripherals? I forget. But they
did sell a few. Saw a question about one up here recently.
As for Atari: 810, of course. SSSD only, though a company in Southern Calif
made a board to turn it into SSDD.
1050: SSED (Enhanced Density, a kludge.) Happy and ICD both make add-ons to
turn this into true SSDD instead. Buy one!! The ICD US Doubler is most
popular (price is fantastic!!). The Happy is favored by pirates and others who
want to copy protected disks.
815: almost forgot this ghost. Never produced in quantity. A few (100??)
floating around.
XF551: newest.
=======================================================
Hard drives:
MPP, later Supra: 5, 10, 20 MB. Only hooks up to 800XL or 130XE.
ICD: MIO, gives 256KB to 1MB of RamDisk plus printer port plus serial port
plus hooks to most hard disks.
The one from our friends in Southern Cal, as mentioned before is the lowest
cost way to go. Definitely roll your own (don't think it even has a case).
===================================================
SSSD == 40 tracks, 18 sectors, 128 bytes per sector.
SSED == 40 tracks, 26 sectors, 128 bytes per sector.
SSDD == 40 tracks, 18 sectors, 256 bytes per sector.
DSDD == 2 sides of 40 tracks each, 18 sectors, 256 bytes per sector.
Other formats are possible with Amdek and ATR8000: e.g., DSQD == 2 sides, 80
tracks per side, 18 sectors, 256 bytes per sector.
==================================================
Only drives currently on market: All the hard drives, Atari XF551, a few Atari
1050's still floating around, INDUS GT, Astra "the one". Buy a USDoubler or
Happy Doubler _NOW_ if you have a 1050!!!
Best bargains in Atari market.
Downloaded with permission from Compuserve. Posted by Bill Wilkinson, guru of
the Atari DOS, and wizard of all Atarians want to know (look for his column in
Compute! magazine). Submitted here by Bruce Kennedy of Rhode Island ACE.
_______________________________________
CONTINUING SAGA OF THE MEGA
_______________________________________
or
Emulation is the most sincre form of Flattery
by Bill Graf
This is the second report on my progress in using my MEGA ST4, SH204 hard
drive, and I.B.DRIVE's 5.25" floppy drive with both the MAGIC SAC and PC DITTO.
Last time, when I wrote a sort of road test and experience report FILE 4603,
the 2.0 version of PC DITTO would not run any applications on the MEGA. Bill
Teal's hard work has now produced version 3.0 and the result is truly amazing.
I can now run every IBM program that I use at work. A few things did happen on
the way to making everything work together so if your interested read on.
My main reason for wanting the MEGA, aside from the fact that it is really
neat, was to provide me with the ability, at home, to communicate with big BLUE
and big MAC at work. This emulation of course to be provided by PC DITTO and
MAGIC SAC respectively. Well until today only the 'SAC produced results, and
lugging that mac home to port applications and files back and forth hasn't been
much fun either. I will soon get their drive transformer gadget, to directly
read and write mac disks.
So the last few months waiting for version 3.0 of PC DITTO were a little
disappointing, then at last it arrived! I rushed in to my home, loaded the new
program and low and behold....it worked, well more or less. It seems that ATARI
in their infinate wisdom let their format program HINSTLL.PRG and their
autoboot utility HDX>PRG write trash on the volume table or root boot sectors
of all hard drive partitions of the SH204. AVANT-GARDE's talented wizard, Bill
Teal, quickly whipped up a cure and made it available through GEnie as file
numbers 5188 and 5198. The program AHDFIX.PRG works well. OK, now DITTO likes
the SH204 and PC DOS [I use 3.3] will self boot from drive C: just like it does
at home in a big blue XT. Nice! However, when I put the ATARI autoboot back
(C:\SH204DVR.SYS), oh no... if I tried to load DITTO no go! Only a message
"This is a US version of PC DITTO not for use on non US machines ". What....?
The bad guys again? Now what? It seems that even running the AHDFIX.PRG won't
allow the MEGA to autoboot from C: and still run DITTO. The fix for this is to
use the autoboot utility from SUPRA. It works well just follow their
instructions in the doc file. I made a temporary boot disk using my
DESKTOP.INF and SUPRA's utilities in the root directory and I put I.B.drive's
floppy handler, RES.PRG in the AUTO folder with SUPRA's SUPBOOT.PRG. After
booting up with this disk I ran the SUPUTL.PRG; the utility installed its
autoboot program, SUPBOOT.SYS, on C: and all now works fine and reformating
of the hard drive again wasn't necessary. The SUPBOOT.SYS file is hidden so
don't look for it in the directory.
By the way, an auto folder on C: should contain only ATARI's AHDI.PRG and
I.B.DRIVE's RES.PRG and NOT repeat NOT SUPRA's SUPBOOT.PRG.
A DOS CONFIG.SYS file is needed to get proper formatting in 80 tracks on 3.5
inch disks. The file I use is as follows:
DEVICE=PC_DHD.SYS
DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS /D:0 /T:80 /S:9 /F:2
DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS /D:1 /T:40 /S:9 /F:0
DEVICE=C:\DOS\VDISK.SYS 100 512 64
DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS
BUFFERS=25
FILES=25
This produces the equivlent of two 3.5 and two 5.25 drives and a 100K ramdisk.
My SH204 is partitioned as follows [0 or C:=6.3meg], [1 or D:=4.0meg], [2 or
E:=4.0meg], 3 has been given to MAGIC SAC and is not read by DOS or GEM. DOS
assigns A: the logical drive letter F:. FORMAT A: makes 40 track 3.5 disks,
FORMAT F: makes 80 track 3.5 disks in the same internal drive. Using logical
drive letter G: for the physical 5.25 I.B.DRIVE permits copying from one disk
to another [COPY B:\any.fil G:] and DOS tells you to insert target or source
disks approperately. Logical drive letter H: is assigned to the virtual or ram
disk.
I hope this can be of some help, I spent quite a few hours getting it all to
work but it really was quite rewarding.
BYE for now,
Bill Graf
PS:my GEnie mail adress is ABGRAF
_______________________________________
GFA BASIC HELP
_______________________________________
Constructing a System Drive Map
By John B. Holder
Senior Software Engineer, Marathon Computer Press
This is the second in a planned series of tips on how to get the most out of
your GFA Basic Interpreter/Compiler. The topic is Mapping your System. What
this means in plain english is: "Determining how many logical drives are
connected to the system". Why do we need to know that you may ask? Unless you
will never write programs for anyone besides yourself, this will be a good
technique to learn for reasons described below.
What will this do? Well, it will give you a binary presentation of your
system's drive status. Imagine each drive hooked up to the system as a single
digit. By this I mean that if you have 3 drives attached to the machine the
drive map will be represented by the symbols 111. If there were 10 drives
connected to the system the drive map would be 1111111111. Starting to make
sense?
Now it gets a little complicated. So you say, Wow! that's great; all we have
to do now is call the Drive_map procedure and get Len(Num$) to find out which
drives are attached. Not completely true. If the user has 4 drives attached
and they are in the sequence of A B C D then you could do that. But the first
problem comes into play when you consider that the BIOS always returns a value
of 11 for drives attached. That's so you can make those handy dandy full disk
backups by dragging Icon A to Icon B and sit back while it copies all of the
files for you. So if it always returns a signal that says that Drive B is
connected whether or not it really is, how do you get around it? Well, the
answer is you don't. The operating system handles this condition by telling
the user to insert disk B into Drive A and vice versa to get around it. So not
all's bad with this condition.
Ok, so we can now accept the fact that we'll always get a return of at least
11 no matter what. Now how do we tell if another drive is missing or out of
order? At this point we must go back to the above analogy of 1 digit per
drive.
Take the following configuration:
A B C D _ F
The underscore is represented above to show that the user has somehow managed
to install a Ram Drive or something in Drive F's slot, thus bypassing drive E.
Now if you call the Drive_map procedure and use:
Print Len(Num$)
You'll see a 6 appear on the screen, but we know right off that it's not right
because we cheated and saw which drives were connected, after all we own the
machine right?. But if you use:
Print Num$
You will now see the system as it really exists. The following will appear on
the screen
101111
Pretty handy if you don't want your latest and greatest program to hopelessly
crash because Joe BetaTester had a Ram Drive out of Normal Sequence. Now
getting an actual picture of the system is as simple as:
Drive_map ! Gosub Drive_map
For X =0 To Len(Num$)-1 step 1
If Mid$(Num$,Len(Num$)-X,1)="1"
Print "Drive ";Chr$(Asc("A")+X);" Is Online"
Else
Print "Drive ";Chr$(Asc("A")+X);" Not Connected!"
Endif
Next X
I hope this little routine and explanation of how it works will assist you in
getting the most out of your investment in a wonderful Interpreter and
Compiler. Comments are welcome, good or bad. I've included the sample source
code in a Basic .BAS file in the archive for you to run as is. Have fun!
' Drive_map Returns two values for you; they are:
' Num% = a bit vector containing active drives
' Num$ = a binary representation of connected drives
' If you had drives A,B,C connected num%=7 and num$=111
' In this way you can count up the active drives from A-P by
' looking at the resulting bit vector representation.
' If drives are not in order there may be zeros in between
' numbers. Example: You have drive A & B, plus a Ram Drive M
' M__________BA
' drive map = 1000000000011
'
' Or the more classical situation:
' CBA
' drive map = 111
'
'
' Example:
Drive_map
Print Num%
Print Num$
'
'
Procedure Drive_map
Num%=Bios(10)
Num$=Bin$(Num%)
Return
_______________________________________
ST-REPORT 15 December 30, 1987
Volume 1 Number 15 (c)1987 Ron Kovacs, Syndicate Publications
_______________________________________
