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Silicon Times Report Issue 0102
*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
"The Original Online ST Magazine"
_______________________________
August 25, 1989 Vol III No.102
=======================================================================
ST Report Online Magazine¿
__________________________
Post Office Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida
32205 ~ 6672
R.F. Mariano
Publisher - Editor
_________________________________________
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT
BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST
FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT
_________________________________________
** F-NET NODE 350 ** FIDOMAIL NODE 1:363/37 **
Our support BBS carries ALL issues of STReport
and
An International list of private BBS systems
carrying STReport for their users enjoyment
__________________________________________________________________
> Issue: #102 STReport¿ The Online Magazine of Choice!
-------------------
- The Editors' Podium - CPU REPORT
- TV Football a Dud? - Warranties to be Better
- TT DEBUTS in GERMANY!! - INSIDE HP Desk Jet+
- WOA DALLAS Report - Another FOOT SHOT?
- STE uses 1040 type Case - ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL
----===*** "The STE will replace the current ST machines" ***===----
---===*** FULL RELEASE INFORMATION ON NEW PRODUCTS!! ***===---
=======================================================================
AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX
=======================================================================
> The Editor's Podium¿
It would appear the 'sleeping giant' is about to awakened. You ask,
what or who is the sleeping giant? This is our descriptive depiction of
the US home computer marketplace. The 'new' product line is super in all
it's up to date technology and glory. Now, Atari has to do the next
logical step and put heavy dollars in a National Advertising Campaign.
All the new products will die a slow and horrible death if this is not
done.
We have, in the past, had numerous pointers aimed at the new products
and it was quite amusing to see how many of our "supporters" tried to
dismiss the info we brought forward to our readers. Well, once again we
bring you "just the facts", the information about the new gear is concise,
to the point and minus all the hype and hoopla. ( All that can come later
from the ad agencies Atari is PAYING to do it).
Atari is now at the crossroads of it's endeavors to penetrate the US
marketplace in a significant manner. We, at STReport will strive to help
in any we can. At the same time though, we feel it is essential to expose
any conspicuous 'hot spots' seemingly engendered by policy change,
procedure change or any impropriety that may demonstrate itself to be
detrimental to Atari's US marketing penetration goals.
many thanks for your continued support...
Ralph.....
ATARI IS BACK!!
***********************************************************************
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COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME
to the Readers
ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE
The Online Magazine of Choice!
NEW USERS SIGN UP TODAY!
Call any of the St Report Official BBS numbers
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or
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***********************************************************************
> TT UNVEILED!! CPU REPORT½ LONG AWAITED NEWS OF ALL THE NEW PRODUCTS!
========================
Atari (Canada) Corp.
(Verbatim from handout sheets)
>- TT -<
========
- 16 Mhz Motorola 68030 - full 32 bit microprocessor
- Optional math co-processor
- 2Mb of RAM (expandable to 8Mb)
- 512 Kb of ROM
- 1.44 Mb 3.5" floppy drive
- VME bus with three single Eurocard slots for expansion
- ACSI internal bus with external connector for expansion
- SCSI internal bus with external connector for expansion
- Serial ports:
- 2 asynchronous RS-232 ports
- 2 asynchronous/synchronous RS-232 ports
- Parallel port
- MIDI in/out ports
- Keyboard port(including mouse and joystick)
- Digital 8 bit stereo sound
- Stereo audio output jack
- Monitor output (6 modes): RGB and Monochrome
VGA monitor for color modes, special monochrome monitor
- Video modes:
Resolution Colors Palette
========== ====== =======
320x200 16 512 or 4096
310x480 256 4096
640x200 4 512 or 4096
640x400 2 4096
640x480 16 4096
1280x960 Monochrome
- Battery backed Time/Date clock and RAM
- 145 watt power supply
- Desktop packaging
- Operating systems
- TOS 1.4
- Unix V Release 3.1 (with goodies)
Lots of FUTURE here. Further, Atari added (verbally) that the
co-processor was the 16 Mhz 68881 (just plug in the chip), the digital
sound was the same as that in the new 1040STE (enhanced 4096 colors etc.),
and joystick ports would support current joysticks and the new 15 pin
analog joysticks (both machines).
BAD NEWS:
The monitors will be proprietary as the STs are. (ie NO EASY WAY TO
HOOK UP A MULTISYNC) although if you could get a cable/connector it should
be easy to setup.
----====******====----
NO announced prices OR release date (although "before 1990")
Anyone care to wager $100 that it will be Dec 29th?
----====******====----
TWO MODELS:
===========
TTD - A desktop version in an AT style case (limited expandability)
- ABSOLUTELY NO UNIX ON THIS VERSION. (PERIOD)
TTX - A Tower configuration. Multiple harddrive/floppy/optical drive
bays (3+) Will support both TOS and Unix.
- Unix will be separate (as per STart interview with Sam T.)
Why is it the TTD is unable to run Unix (any ideas people?)
Other SUPER GOODIES:
====================
- Portfolio (final version)
- 4160 STE (4Mb ST enhanced in a 1040 box, increased color
palette, Stereo digital 8 bit sound, analog joystick ports)
----===*** "The STE will replace the current ST machines" ***===----
STacey:
They showed a 4Mb STacey with a 40Mb HD (33ms). Current plans
are for initial machines to be shipped with 1Mb and 1 726K
floppy. A 20Mb HD model will also be available.
1040STE:
1Mb, 4096 colors, Genlock, Stereo etc. (see above)
MegaFile 44:
28ms (strongly assured) will also be available before 1990.
Editor Note:
Looks like we were on the mark in STReport Confidential. It's about time
the new goodies were verified, Atari still has to deliver these jewels.
In the meantime, it all looks and sounds very good.
__________________________________________________________
> ATW INFO CPU REPORT½ Bringing it to you first and accurately.
===================
ATARI GETS GRAPHIC WITH TRANSPUTER
==================================
Parallel-Processing Workstation
Handles Complex Renderings
by Richard Doherty
Boston-Atari Corp. chose Sigraph as the venue at which to show off the
graphics prowess of it's Transputer Workstation. The debut comes 20 months
after the company first revealed a breadboarded version of the Inmos
Transputer at Comdex/fall.
The $8,000 ATW system packs twin 20-MHZ T800 Transputers, 4 Mbytes of
RAM, 68000 microcomputer and Helios (a Unix-like operating system
developed by Atari's Perhelion subsidiary) operating into 1 slim tower.
The workstation dedicates 1 Mbyte of dual-ported video RAM to the job of
refreshing the 1,280 x 960-pixel display.
------Display blossoms------
A 15,000-gate video genarator, dubbed Blossom, operates in four
display modes; increasing color planes teaded off for raw resolution down
to 512 x 480 pixels, with each pixel backed by 32 bits. Also supplied are
a DMA SCSI port, Hard-disk and microfloppy drives & foru internal T800
expansion slots. Each slot can be filled with a card carrying four T800's,
each with 4 Mbytes of RAM.
At full capacity, a whopping 130 Mips of processing power is
available, about 10 times that of a SUN-4. Each Transputer is paired with
a floating-point math processor, pushing the processing power to 20
Mflops.
A high-bandwidth bus allows parallel processing of complex ray
tracings and renderings. X-windows 11.2 was running at Sigraph, showing
off faster screen updates than rival offerings far above ATW's $7,995 base
price. X-windows hh.4 is the next slated update.
The Blossombit-blitter is also capable of comparing images on a pixel-
by-pixel and block-by-block basis. Blossom can accommodate 32 x 32-pixel
masks, 16-bit wide source and destination functions, four linear
comparisons per pixel per cycle, as well as fill trapezoids at 32
Mpixels/s- traditionally, imaging workstation territory. The Atari
Transputer Workstation is already shipping in Europe and will be available
here before year's end through Atari business centers.
Contact: Frank Foster (408) 745-2000
This article is from the August 21, 1989 Electronic Engineering Times
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
---------------------
A special formal conference on GEnie is scheduled with Sam Tramiel,
President of Atari Corporation, next Wednesday, August 30th at 10pm EDT
(7pm PDT).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Atari Stock ~ STReport
======================
THE TICKERTAPE
==============
by Glenn Gorman
Atari Stock dropped 1/4 of a point on Monday. Rose 1/4 on Tuesday and
1/8 on Wednesday. Thursday it dropped 1/4 and on Friday it rose 1/8 of a
point. Finishing up the week at 9 5/8 points. No change from last Friday.
I will be on vacation for the next two weeks. The next stock report
will be for the week of September 4th to the 8th.
Glenn Gorman
+---------------------+
| ATARI STOCK WATCH |
| Week 08-14 to 08-18 |
+=======+==========+===========+=============+============+=============+
| | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Sales | 1732 | 4361 | 5895 | 4869 | 3202 |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Last | 8 3/8 | 9 5/8 | 9 3/4 | 9 1/2 | 9 5/8 |
+-------+----------+-----------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| Chg. | -1/4 | +1/4 | +1/8 | -1/4 | +1/8 |
+=======+==========+===========+=============+============+=============+
| From > THE CAVE ST BBS <> 609-882-9195 <> 300/14400 HST <> F-NET #351 |
+=======================================================================+
__________________________________________________________________
> SHOW CANCELLED! STR NewsPlus¿ Kentucky show fails to gain momentum.
============================
The Atari Exchange Of Louisville,Kentucky has announced the
cancellation of the Kentuckiana Atari Fest '89 that was scheduled for
October 28th and 29th at the Sheraton Lakeview hotel in Clarksville,
Indiana.
The primary reason for the cancellation was lack of support and a firm
commitment from Atari Corporation, according to Lawrence Estep, AEL
Convention Coordinator. The problem was further complicated by the
dismissal of Chris Roberts, user group coordinator of Atari Corp., who was
helping with the organization of the convention.
The AEL felt that the quality and reputation of the show could have
been ruined by the cancellation of Atari Corp., and that the time
restraints caused by the October convention could have caused many
coordination problems.
According to Lawrence, the convention has been tentatively rescheduled
for sometime in July, 1990, and that interest exhibitors may contact the
AEL Kentuckiana Atari Fest headquarters at (812) 944-8997 for more
information.
The Atari Exchange Of Louisville, Kentucky would like to thank
everyone who expressed an interest in the convention, and apologizes for
any inconvenience that this cancellation may have caused.
As a token of our appreciation to user groups, dealers, developers,
and PD authors, the AEL is offering two advertising packages for our
newsletter, AELien Transmissions. For one piece of Atari software &
hardware per month, you will receive a free advertisement, or for a
donation for our December computer raffle, you will receive an ad in
either our November or December newsletter.
A special price has been set-up for advertisements without donations,
and more information can be obtained from tEL Promotions director,
Lawrence Estep.
The AEL would also like to encourage user groups to exchange
newsletters and PD catalogs with us. All materials can be sent to the
address below.
Thank you for your time, and patience.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Estep
AEL PD Librarian/Promotions director
08/23/89 Atari Exchange Of Louisville
c/o Lawrence R. Estep
524 Roseview Terrace
New Albany,IN 47150-4457
_________________________________________________________________
> TV FOOTBALL is QUALITY?? STR FOCUS¿ Why the chop and slash??
==================================
ctsy: CIS
WEDNESDAY'S CHILD AGAIN!
=======================
->a few comments observed on the "lines"
Okay, I now have TV Sports Football for the ST, and I have very mixed
feelings about it. Following is a review, and I hope that the Cinemaware
people see this message.
First of all, TV Sports Football has absolutely the finest animated
football graphics I have seen, along with a superb amount of playability.
You have four basic offensive sets and three offensive (I formation,
Proset and shotgun). You then have four plays available from each of
these, but since you have optional control over all the players you can
basically run anywhere you want to, set players in motion and back again,
whatever. The graphics and sound are top notch, with digitized touchdown
sounds, cheerleaders etc. If you are a junkie for arcade action with
unbelievable graphics and sound, this game may be for you.
If you want more, however, forget it. The reason is that Cinemaware
released' TV Sports football first for the Amiga. It has a half time
show, marching band, tv commentators, sideline shots of players and other
frills. More importantly, it has completely statistics for all the teams
with comparisons in thirty different categories and rankings etc. You
also have the ability to edit teams and divide up talent with Speed,
Agility, Strength and Hands factors. You can give the players names and
the teams are modelled after the 1988 NFL season complete with matching
schedules. You can play exhibition games, league games or just practice.
You can play the computer or another player, have games be automatically
computer played (giving you just the score) or you can watch them (like
TV).
When they did the port from the two-disk wonderful Amiga version, they
lobotomized the ST version, removing everything but the cheerleaders, and
the stats are all but gone. I spoke with Cinemaware twice today, and was
informed that the policy regarding the ST was to offer only the stripped
down version of the game, no stats, no nothing. So, if you are a football
freak, forget this program because they yanked all but the basic arcade
game, no frills, no statistics. I was informed that the St market was
too small and they outright refused to consider updating the program to
include all the features.
The topper of it all---they still want the same $44.95 for the ST
version as they do the Amiga. Half a program for the same price. I can't
help but feel the favoritism on the part of Cinemaware. I know they are
concerned with profits, but my feeling is that if something is worth
doing, its worth doing right. Not only this, but the manuals have not
been changed for the ST version. You are given a general football manual
with enticing comments about statistical capabilities for the program
...such as "Deluged with statistics, injury data and kinetic imagery,
contemporary gridiron fanatics view the game through eyes far more
sophisticated than their grandparents... It is to these fans that we
respectfully dedicate this simulation"
So how much respect do we as Atari ST owners get? We get half a
program, a lobotomized version of the real thing, because we don't deserve
a full port of the game.
I'd be interested in hearing other opinions about this. Yes, I've also
read all the stuff about falcon. If I remember correctly, Falcon finally
made a profit on the ST, and Spectrum Holobyte has been great about
program updates and mission disks....THEY OBVIOUSLY FELT IT WAS WORTH
DOING RIGHT. I was going to buy Rocket Ranger, but God knows what they've
chopped out of THAT!!!!!
_____________________________________________________________________
> EXCHANGE PROGRAM STR Spotlight¿ Atari's Exchange Program Torpedoed?
==============================
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
=======================
by R. F. Mariano
For quite some time, the Atari userbase has regarded the security of
Atari's fine equipment exchange program a real value, with it's realistic
costs and excellent service. Now comes Mr. Eager Beaver executive who
felt he needed to do "something" to brighten the day when the dismal
figures came out for the quarter.
Along comes Mr. "Work Every Day Joe" who took anywhere from one to ten
percent of his annual income to purchase his "pride and joy" Atari ST
computing system... Joe and all the users just like him enjoy using their
computers and most do so everyday. One bright and sunny afternoon, Joe
turned on his computer and observed a small mushroom cloud rise slowly and
deliberately from the vents of his beloved 1040 ST....Oh no! After
checking the receipts, he found he has had the computer for over 24
months. NO MORE WARRANTY (90 days). "Not to worry Joe, Atari has one of
the very best exchange programs in the industry, many good users have
barely lost a step in their daily enjoyment of using the Atari ST Computer
Line". When one considers the cost of a Mega ST4 and SLM 804, the Desktop
Publishing System, combined. And then read the warranty -> 90 days!! <-
It becomes somewhat reprehensible to the person who has just dropped
thousands of dollars on a new computer system to find that it's covered
for only 3 months!
Most dealers and users comfort themselves in the security of the
exchange program, the dealers had an excellent selling point and the end
user knew, that if anything did happen to his equipment, he could, for a
nominal fee, get it either fixed or replaced.
Enter Mr. Eager Beaver Executive; "Hey! let's double and triple the
exchange rates, that'll help make up the losses!! What a wonderful idea!"
..This "jewel of leader" gloats to himself. (Picture, if you will, an
angel on one of his shoulders and the devil on the other) The sweet
little angel whispers, don't do this, you will hurt hundreds of users and
force them to regard a broken computer as a throw-away. It is wrong!
Outraged, the devil screams in the other ear; awww, go ahead give 'em the
business! they'll only squawk for a little while!
Folks ..the DEVIL WON! Atari has drastically increased the exchange
rates for both the users and the dealers.
Drastic = DOUBLED AND TRIPLED!
The "End User Cost" has risen to a point where it no longer makes sense to
have the exchange program in place. Could this possibly be one of the
reasons why a bright guy like Dendo is not there now, perhaps, he
disagreed with putting the "short end of the stick" to the dealers, new
and old alike. We KNOW Dendo had good results (numbers) coming in.
The cost to the user is now roughly 50% of factory recommended retail
prices. This is another fine example of progressive, positive, decision
making at Atari! Simply put, it is an insult to the userbase.
Unfortunately, this move appears to be a plain old fashioned gouge.
We, at STReport, realize this is not actually what is going on here. In
fact, we feel it is a bungled attempt on Atari's part to try and protect
it's dealers! The Time is coming when Atari is going to forced to look at
the entire US marketplace instead of the market conditions prevalent in
California. The rest of the country is nowhere near the level of
penetration and expertise the California market enjoys. In any case, the
price increases should be rescinded or, at least, reviewed and modified on
a regional basis!
Examples of the price increases:
PRODUCT LIST PRICE DEALER EXCHANGE USER EXCHANGE
Old - New Old - New
SC1224 Color Monitor $399.95 95.00 175.00 95.00 260.00
SM124 Mono Monitor $199.95 60.00 80.00 60.00 130.00
.5mb Computer System $599.95 115.00 115.00 115.00 300.00
1mb Computer System $799.95 125.00 125.00 125.00 375.00
2mb Computer System $1499.95 175.00 265.00 175.00 525.00
4mb Computer System $2199.95 225.00 350.00 225.00 675.00
SLM 804 Laser Printer $1999.95 425.00 700.00 Dealer Only
Folks, most of the increases that will effect the majority of the
users and dealers have not gone into effect YET. There are those who
would say, "Atari was loosing money on the exchange program". Nothing
could possibly be farther from the truth. As most folks know, the public
information act allows any U.S. citizen the right to see gov't. documents.
Check out the filings with the U.S. Customs on the import values of
'certain electronic goods' ..when you do, be prepared for quite a shock.
When the price changes do go into effect, those users who do not have a
dealer(s) within a reasonable distance from their homes or those users who
have a poor relationship with their * only * dealer for "hundreds" of
miles are really put to the gaff. By all surface appearances it looks
like the minds at Atari were not considering the "LOYAL, EVANGELISTIC"
users when these new tariffs were "slapped" in place. In the long run,
both the dealers and the users will feel the effects of this catastrophic
decision and policy change.
Remember when Sam asked that we become evangelists? Most folks and
Usergroups smiled because they already were very busy promoting the ST to
friends, neighbors and folks they were doing business with. All in all,
it was very satisfying to see those people who bought an ST at our urging
and found it to be as satisfying as we do.
Could it be possible that Sam and his fellow corporate leaders are
willing to forget the support the entire userbase gave through the thin
times? Is it possible that they look at us as being purely 'expendable'?
Are all the indicators true that they are trying to penetrate a different
market level? Is this really the 'payback' for the months of relatively
blind faith, fellowship and support for Atari while THEY were busy
bestowing their offerings upon the European marketplace?
In our humble opinion, Atari has dealt a rather severe blow to the
loyal users and dealers new and old alike. They should, without
hesitation, restore the exchange program to it's former state. The
goodwill generated by this move would far outweigh any monetary benefits
derived from the increased tariffs. Besides, this would definitely be the
least expensive way to reach a majority of the users in an extremely
positive manner. The exchange program, once again, was the envy of the
industry. Also, it was one of the strongest selling points for the
Computer lines considering the meager 90 day warranty. Perhaps, the
brightest facet of the program was the mighty fact that Atari had not
forgotten those whose 90 day warranty had expired. The new exchange
prices aimed at the end user, who has problems with his Atari products and
has had his equipment longer than the ninety day period, are outrageous.
_____________________________________________________________
> Reader Input STReport OnLine¿ The F-NET hotlines...
============================
Electronic Mail
Sent : Aug 22, 1989 at 12:01 PM
To : SYSOP
From : DOC HOLIDAY at FLASH BBS St Louis, MO
Subj : Atari Exchange Program
One of the factors that made the Exchange Program especially useful is
that there are few Atari dealers in this country. Those users fortunate
enough to have a dealer within a half day's drive can always act locally
to have their machine fixed. Atari users not that lucky at least had the
exchange program. Now what do they have? Since the decision to alter the
exchange program was not preceded by a revamping of the dealer network,
Atari cannot claim that repairs are now generally locally available.
Perhaps the thoughts of "more money" is Atari's sole objective.
Rather short sighted in the decision making department. Atari Corp. was
the default dealer for a large percentage of it's users. Since the ST
isn't a $100 throw away machine, we have a negative indicator towards one
of the questions I asked in my "Re-emergence" article. That question had
to do with how Atari served it's users.
Electronic Mail
Sent : Aug 23, 1989 at 9:12 AM
To : SYSOP
From : DIONYSIS at SPACE STATION CYN CNTRY, CA
Subj : STReport 101
BOY, did I find out about the change in the exchange program!!! I called
ATARI one day to ask how to go about getting my monitor replaced, and they
said to box it up and send it up with a check/money order for $95.00.. I
called the NEXT day to confirm the address, and was told that the prices
were DOUBLED!!!!
Dionysis @248
Editor Note:
For those who are genuinely interested in bringing the gross injustice
perpetrated upon the users by "jacking the prices up" to outrageous
levels, I direct this question and request: would you the users care to
have a petition sent to Atari or a bonifide letter campaign where each
user sends a letter or postcard protesting this increase to Sam Tramiel.
Conf : Atari 16/32 Bit
Msg# : 1887 Lines: 7 Read: 1
Sent : Aug 22, 1989 at 9:37 PM
To : ERETH AKBE
From : JIM TROCKI at THE CAVE ST in W.Trenton, N.J.
Subj : Re: <1672> Ditto?
I just picked up the new issue of ST informer and it had an article on
STacey and Portfolio. Pretty cool. But the rest of the mag wasn't that
impressive. I seriously prefer ST Report.
____
/rok
Editor...It's nice to see a compliment one in a while, thanks Jim!
_____________________________________________________________________
> DESKJET PLUS STReport InfoFile¿ HP's Deskjet Plus -> Hints & Pointers!
==============================
HP DeskJet Plus / Atari ST power-up sequence problem -- SOLVED!
===============================================================
by John M. Logajan
I have discovered that if the Atari ST parallel (printer) port STROBE
line (normally high) is pulled toward ground (low) by a heavy load (such
as a powered-off HP DeskJet Plus), the ST STROBE line will thereafter stay
low until the load is removed (by powering up the DJ+), and until software
intentionally sets the STROBE line high again. (Weird note: the STROBE
line has to be pulled low for something on the order of 1/2 second or
longer for it to "stick" low -- I do not know why this is.)
Once the STROBE line gets stuck low, the DJ+ responds with a BUSY set
high. The Atari TOS will not send any data to the printer while the BUSY
line is high -- so no printing can take place.
There are six solutions to this grid-lock (I recommend #6):
1.) Power up the DJ+ first and the ST second. (Then the ST will
never see a heavy "low" load on the STROBE line.)
2.) Push the Atari RESET button. (The reset sequence sets the
STROBE line high, clearing the problem.)
3.) Have a software routine which sets the STROBE line high. (No
sense putting this in the auto folder to clear it on reboot,
since reboot itself clears the problem -- until next time.) If
the program is an accessory (like Diane and Paul Close's
djrest.acc) then it should work just fine.
4.) Power cycle the DJ+ with a print job in the ST "queue". (You
will lose the first part of the print job, and I think the
print job must be a minimum length of bytes long to get it
over the DJ+ power-up self-test delay.)
5.) Momentarily ground the BUSY line with a print job in the ST
"queue". (I'm not sure if you will lose the first byte of
your listing with this method.)
6.) Install a PNP transistor in the STROBE line. This fix is
much simpler than it may seem. Also it simultaneously solves
the heavy loading problem the DJ+ puts on the Atari STROBE
line. (Without the transistor, the loading on the STROBE line
appears to push it near the 0.8 volt level limit. The DATA
lines do not seem to have same problem, their low levels seem
to be well within limits -- so no buffering seems needed.)
You need:
- One 2N2907 (or practically any PNP transistor)
- Access to the Printer cable wires for pin #1 (STROBE) and any
ground pin (pins 18-25 on the Atari end, or pins 19-30 on the
DJ+ end.) I managed to do this inside the cover of the
Centronics-type connector.
Step #1 Disconnect the STROBE wire from pin #1.
Step #2 Connect the Emitter (E) wire of the transistor to the
Printer side of the wire/pin#1 split you did in step #1.
(It depends upon which end of the cable you put your
transistor into.)
Step #3 Connect the Base (B) of the transistor to the Atari side
of the wire/pin#1 split you did in step #1.
Step #4 Connect the Collector (C) of the transistor to one of the
ground pins (18-25 Atari end, or 19-30 DJ+ end.)
[Caution: Metal cased transistors often have the case
electrically connected to the Collector -- hence the case
will most likely be grounded -- avoid having the case
touch anything that should not be grounded.]
Step #5 Close up and/or wrap up. Make sure the transistor case
and connections are not touching anything they shouldn't
be touching.
Figures:
-----> Ground
!
/ C
B !/
from Atari STROBE >----!
!\
\ E
!
----------> to Printer STROBE
-------
/ B \
/ E \ Metal Can style transistor -- common pin
== ! configuration -- bottom view.
\ C /
\ /
-------
----
! C \
! B ! Plastic Flat sided style transistor -- common
! E / pin configuration -- bottom view.
----
Appendix:
Speed on the parallel printer port.
The Atari does screen dumps at about 1250 bytes/second.
The Atari does text dumps at about 714 bytes/second.
A GFA Basic program I wrote dumps graphic bytes to the DJ+ at about
2174 bytes/second. Since an 8 by 8 inch graphic picture with 300dpi
density requires 720,000 bytes -- you can see that the dump alone should
take almost 6 minutes for even the GFA program.
This all suggests that one might want to take advantage of the DJ+'s
mixed mode graphic commands, where "blank" space is jumped over. Software
should be able to "count" over these locations much faster than it would
take to dump them in dumb mode.
John M. Logajan Usenet addresses:
Network Systems logajan@ns.network.com or
7600 Boone Ave john@logajan.mn.org or
Brooklyn Park, MN 55428 rutgers!umn-cs!ns!logajan
__________________________________________________________________
> ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL¿ You'll always see it here FIRST!
======================
- New York City, NY ***** WALLSTREET BULLISH ON PORTFOLIO *****
------------------
Tonight's guest on Wall Street Week (PBS financial news show, hosted
by Louis Rukeyser) was Lee Isgur. He mentioned that Atari had announced a
pocket computer, that it would be available in time for Christmas, and
that he had one in his pocket as he was talking. This man is an
influential enough financial analyst that one can understand Atari
buttering him up with early samples. It's encouraging to hear that there
are enough machines for ANY of them to leave home. Isgur also referred to
the hand-held game machine. And no, he didn't say what he thought of
Atari or show any goodies. It was just something he said
in passing.
- Sunnyvale, CA. ***** DUSSELDORF GERMANY TO SEE TT FIRST! *****
--------------
Atari execs, some of whom are already in Germany, are getting ready
for the big show opening this weekend. Antonio Salerno, the driving force
behind many of Atari's new dynamic ideas is also in Germany confering with
the big wigs of Atari Germany. This show (Dusseldorf) promises to kick
off the "big push", marketing wise, in the USA.
- Sunnyvale, CA. ***** TOS 1.4 IS SOON TO BE A REALITY! *****
--------------
TOS 1.4 is a SUBSTANTIAL upgrade for all ST computers and I urge
everyone to upgrade when it becomes available. I think Lloyd can vouch for
the usefulness and "bang for the buck" that TOS 1.4 has provided for him.
As for a disk version online, I am afraid that isn't going to happen.
There are several reasons for this that I won't go into unless asked. The
main reason is standards. TOS 1.4 on disk acts differently than TOS 1.4
in PROM form. Ask Charles Johnson on this one. There are things that are
hard to do with the disk version. Also, we want ONE version of TOS 1.4
available. This version being the ROMs. ...John Townsend
- Dallas, TX ***** NETWORKING SYSTEM FOR THE ST! *****
----------
A low-cost networking system was shown at the World of Atari Show in
Dallas from a SGS Software and Paradise Computers. It costs $160 for
everything needed to network two ST's together. For additional node
add-on kits, they cost $110. The features are: Shared access of hard
drives or RAM disks on the file server. Network 1 to 32 ST computers. Up
to 500 feet of coax cabling between systems. A network OS for reliability
and compatibility. Non-dedicated, networking functions in the background.
Fault tolerant data line errors are detected and corrected. Permissions;
you can restrict operations like file deletion. File locking multiple
systems won't corrupt the same file. Low cost uses the built-in hardware
(MIDI ports).
Their address is: Paradise Computers
3485-B Sacamento Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
(805) 544-7130
- Lafayette, CO ***** GOGO ST UPGRADED! NOW EVEN BETTER! *****
-------------
Version 1.1 of GoGo-ST is now shipping. Demo version coming this
weekend to CIS. GoGo-ST is a new utility program for the ST that allows
quick selection of programs for execution. Save associated programs in
list files quickly loadable into GoGo selection buttons. Run GoGo from
the desktop by just striking a key combination, no need to even open a
window for GoGo. Keep a record of your ST activities with GoGo's log
function. Keep a watch on father time with the editable digital clock and
date. And, version 1.1 brings some new features. Works in all screen
modes and versions of TOS. A demo version of GoGo-ST will be in the
uploads section this weekend!
FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:
MaxWell C.P.U.
507 West Baseline
Lafayette, Colorado 80026
- Sunnyvale CA. **** LOOKING AROUND INSIDE ATARI! ****
-------------
Walking around at Atari, these eyes saw all kinds of stuff I couldn't
have! I saw a TON of CDR504 CD-Rom drives at Atari... almost _all_ being
used as audio disk players! Arrgh! Programmers had them plugged into
their boom boxes! So, I'm just sharing the pain with all the readers when
I tell you how nice it is to use an Atari that lets you use two colors in
"high" res (on a multisynch monitor), or one that has... memory expansion
connectors! Then again, there was that SCSI... but you're not interested
in that. Atari is on the move!
- Sunnyvale, CA. ****** ATARI TO CONSIDER A BETTER WARRANTY *****
--------------
The Atari National Field Service Manager, Ted Maciejewski, is alleged
to be putting the finishing touches on an extended warranty program for
Atari Computers. In the same breath Atari "brags" about creating 'new
opportunities' for dealers to "maintain service centers profitably" as a
result of the new end user product exchange price schedule. If such is
the case, then why were the dealer prices hiked too?
- Columbus, OH. ****** CIS ATARI EXPANDS TRANSFER PROTOCOLS ******
-------------
Ron Luks, head sysop CIS Atari Fora, proudly brought to our attention
the new "Y" modem protocol now available in the file areas, we decided to
bring you a snapshot of the selections and and how the files appear to
the user. (for new or prospective users)
STR101.ARC/binary 18-Aug-89 43264 Accesses: 131
23-Aug-89
Keywords: ST REPORT 101 ATARI NEWS CPU FEDEX TOS TT WOA RFM
STReport 101, The Online Magazine of Choice!
- Millenium, Review - MasterCad, Review
- NightHawks, Review - FALCON-Mission Disk Review
- TOS 1.4, Review - TOUCHUP v1.53, Review
- TT's - Configurable! - NEW UG Co-ordinator!
EXCLUSIVE! BOSTON SIGRAPH INTERVIEWS!
Disposition !
Library Protocol Menu
Transfer protocols available -
1 XMODEM
2 CompuServe B+ and original B
3 CompuServe A
4 DC2/DC4 (Capture)
5 YMODEM ..................The "NEW KID ON THE BLOCK"
6 CompuServe QB (B w/send ahead) ->almost as fast as ZMODEM
7 Kermit
0 Abort transfer request
Also to be added soon will be a scan feature, where the user may scan
the files and see an abbreviated description.
- Rockford, IL **** ICD - PROGRESS AT IT'S BEST! ****
------------
ICD's new autoboot software allows unprecedented speed for all hard
drive systems equipped with an ICD ST Host Adapter. Our new version 4.0
includes a new intelligent caching scheme to make your hard drive operate
much faster than before! User configurable buffers cache both reads and
writes. AHDI 3.0x is also supported to allow our ICD booter to read those
"illogical" sector sizes and non-conforming partitions. And the best news
is that this upgrade will cost you absolutely nothing! (Except for
download time or long distance charges which you must pay.) As with all
our other hard drive format and booter upgrades, ICD's new booter is
available free to all owners of our ICD ST Host Adapter. Soon to be
announced is the new and improved ICD Host Adapter, reportedly this
version enhances the operation of Seagate mechanisms and removable media
devices.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
ICD, Inc.
1220 Rock Street
Rockford, IL 61101
815-968-2228
_______________________________________________________________________
> WOA DALLAS STR FOCUS¿ "A fair turnout and moderate success"
====================
A WOA DALLAS IMPRESSION
=======================
by Larry Rymal
Hello everyone,
I just returned from the World of Atari show at Dallas and, from a
user's point of view who bought over $300.00 worth of goodies, it was
fantastic. If there is an Atari Fest in your area, you owe it to yourself
and your developers to attend.
Meeting the ST gurus, programmers, and developers is a treat.
Everyone which I met demonstrated patience, in spite of the constant
crowds, and were more than eager to discuss modifications complete with
the hows, whys and why nots.
One program utility disk which I purchased and am so impressed with
that I'm barely able to contain myself is DC Utilities by Double Click.
There have already been ample reviews and mentions of this disk so I'm not
going to sum it up. However, I do wish to praise one program and rate it
as a "must have". On the disk is a program named DCSQUISH. Basically, it
'squishes' any executable program, saves a copy of the original, and gives
you an executable squished copy back. Disk space savings appear to
average about twenty percent with some squished files being much higher in
savings. I have saved 800k of disk space in my C partition, if that is an
indicator of savings. Time of execution of the squished program? It is
FAST. On my Mega2 ST with original Mega roms (1.2), I noticed that Flash,
executed from floppy, came up one second QUICKER.
Again, nothing but praise for this program and my thanks and
congratulations to Double Click for such a utility.
Another product which I am now wooing over is Turbo 1.6. It does
everything that you have heard. I booted up WordPerfect, loading in a
four paged file. My Mega, of course, has the blitter. Doing a down arrow
scroll, it took the Mega without Turbo 1.6 to reach the end of the
document in 23 seconds. Installing Turbo 1.6 gave me a time of 21
seconds. Without the blitter but with Turbo, the time was 27 seconds.
With both turned off, well.........forget it. Wasn't even worth timing!
Turbo 1.6 gives such an improvement and approaches the blitter in
performance that I don't really see the need for the purchase of the chip.
This is from my impressions as a user and I know nothing about what is
going on behind the scenes of the blitter. However, Turbo 1.6 "has
arrived". It is a product worthy of purchase and even for the Mega, makes
a substantial improvement.
World of Atari is a great opportunity for the user. I hope that if
any other Atari Fest occurs and it is reachable by you, then by all means
go. Meeting and talking with the programmers gives one a great
appreciation of the products used and indeed, you will feel as if you, as
the user, are part of the process.
Larry Rymal in East Texas
<Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET>
EDITOR NOTE: Although, the show here in Dallas was not another Anaheim,
there was at least 1200-1700 folks passing through for the duration of the
show and... by all sales indications the folks who attended were serious
buyers! Atari alone generated over 18k in sales. Perhaps this points to
what most of us have been hollering for so long ...the market is there,
Atari simply must reach for it!
________________________________________________________________
> PC-DITTO II STReport InfoFile¿ Avante Garde keeps you informed...
=============================
PC_DITTTO II
============
PC-DITTO II will be much more compatible (in other words, more
compatible with an IBM XT) than pc-ditto. Due to its slowness, especially
with communications, Prodigy is not recommended. (I don't need to say
that we have a variety of fast machines, and Prodigy runs slowly on all of
them...mainly because the software waits for the host computer to send
some information. So, no matter how fast the local Prodigy software
redraws the screen, there is still a significant wait between screen
drawings, due to the host).
PC-DITTO II can run Prodigy, if that's what you wanted to know. I
certainly can't question the usefulness of Prodigy, but it seems to have
some merit. (In our situation, we are not located near a local phone
number, so we would have to call long distance to use Prodigy).
As far as your "hacked up" utilities, I'm not sure what "new" tricks
they have learned, but I think you will find pc-ditto II very capable and
able to handle the best of them. If you have any examples, you can send
them to us (If that's OK with the authors, of course), and we'll give them
a test drive.
Keep in mind, if there are any incompatibilities at this point, we can
update pc-ditto II solely by software to clear up the problem. That
means, we can upload an update to the services almost immediately, with
little effort on your part to do anything more than just download it (or
you can send us a blank disk for a copy, if you preferred). In any case,
I think we have you covered. Please understand, too, that our testing
begins with the most popular software in the market. We then work our way
down to lesser popular software. This approach makes sure that the
majority of consumer's needs are met. Custom software relying on "tricks"
are not always usable accross the spectrum of IBM compatibles, including
the 286 and 386 systems. We find that most software developers are
staying away from tricks in commercial products, because incompatiblilites
become headaches, or limit their product's markets.
I know you may say, well, these programs are special little local
things I use. Perhaps, and perhpas the compatibility on other clones is
OK, but the best I can offer to you, as we have been doing the last two
years here online, is to say that we are genuinely interested in your
problems, when they occur. We do our best to check them out, fix them if
possible, or let you know that we cannot fix them (and why).
Naturally, we try to ship products with as few incompatibilities as
possible. I think our track record reflects that. pc-ditto II will be no
different. But, as I said above, should a problem arise, we're here to
help. I know you didn't ask for this long dialogue, but I just thought I
would take the opportunity from your question to restate our thoughts
about our obligations to users such as yourself.
Thanks for the info, and please, let us know if we can provide any
additional assistance.
Bill Teal
Avante Garde
_____________________________________________________________________
> STReport InfoFile¿ High Quality, Custom built hard drives....
=================
ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC.
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
Est. 1985
_________________________________________
Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT
BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST
FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT
_________________________________________
HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET
_____________________________________
All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST
are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).
ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE
(you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!)
(all cables and connectors installed)
SEAGATE HARD DISK MECHANISMS ONLY!
ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED
EXCLUSIVELY
* OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS *
42mb #SG44710 569.00 - (1) mech 65mb #SG60101 729.00 - (1) mech
85mb #SG840110 949.00 - (2) mech 132mb #SG3A1210 1149.00 - (2) mech
*** 264mb #SGT41776 1889.00 - (4) mech ***
The above are just a few of the types of systems available.
(over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited)
* Embedded controller ("N" type) drives available *
* REMOVABLE MEDIA -> 44MB <- DRIVES NOW AVIALABLE *
We HAVE plenty of HOST Adapters in stock!
*** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 26ms - 30ms ***
ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> MAGIC SAC - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR
LARGER units are available - (special order only)
*** Available for ST - Amiga - IBM ***
LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS
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ORDER YOURS TODAY!
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____________________________________________________________________
> A "Quotable Quote"¿
=================
"The road to oblivion is paved with acts of sheer stupidity...
..disguised as deeds of treachery!"
"ATARI IS BACK!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST-REPORT¿ Issue #102 "Your Independent News Source" August 25, 1989
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ½ copyright 1989
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
the editors, staff, ST Report¿ or CPU Report¿. Reprint permission is
hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. All reprints must include ST
Report or CPU Report and the author's name. All information presented
herein is believed correct, STReport or CPU Report, it's editors and staff
are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
