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GEnieLamp Online Magazine Issue No.1.05
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ONLINE MAGAZINE
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AUGUST 1, 1990 ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Issue No.1.05
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Publisher/Editor ................................... John F. Peters
Co-Editor ........................................ Darlah J. Pine
GEnie Lamp Staff: Sandy Wilson - Jeff Williams
Fred Beckman - John J. Kennedy - Larry Duke
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
[IDX] IN THIS ISSUE:
""""""""""""""""""""
FROM THE DESKTOP ........ [FRM] PD_QUICKVIEW ............ [PDQ]
Notes From The Editor. Aladdin For The ST? Not Yet.
HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] QWIK_TIPS ............... [TIP]
Is That A Letter For Me? Atarians Helping Atarians.
TELETALK ONLINE ......... [TEL] ONLINE FUNNIES .......... [FUN]
What To Do About Atari? Cowtoons!
HELP!!! ................. [HEL] CLASSICS ................ [CLA]
(NOT) For Beginners Only! An Oldie But Goodie.
OFF THE RECORD .......... [OFF] ASK MS. GENIE ........... [ASK]
Mini-Qwik-Reviews. Q & A About GEnie.
GOING BUGGY ............. [BUG] ST ELSEWHERE ............ [ELS]
Problems, Problems, Problems. Other Areas Of IntereST.
LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
GEnie Lamp Information.
[EOA]
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnie Lamp GEnie Lamp has incorporated a unique indexing
"""""""""""""""""" system to help make reading the magazine a bit
easier. Just load GEnie Lamp into any ASCII word processor or text
editor. In the index you will find the following example:
FROM THE DESKTOP ........ [FRM] PD_QUICKVIEW ............ [PDQ]
Notes From The Editor. Aladdin For The ST? Not Yet.
To get to the PD_QUICKVIEW column, set your find or search command
to [PDQ]. If you would rather scan the articles, search for [EOA].
[EOF] will take you to the last page, [IDX] will take you to the index.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
///////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////////
/ "As a user of Macs and IBMs who knows a lot of users of /
/ those, as well as Amigas and others I remain a satisfied /
/ Atari owner. That doesn't mean I'm satisfied with Atari /
/ Corp., it means I'm satisfied I'm better off than they are."/
//////////////////////////////////// DAVE SMALL ///////////////
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM THE DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
o New Directions
o Calling all Ascii Artists
o RoundTable News & Views
NEW DIRECTIONS Starting with this issue, GEnie Lamp is heading in a
"""""""""""""" slightly different direction. GEnie Lamp will be
placing more emphasises on the bulletin board area. The bulletin board
area of the Atari RT contains a wealth of information, old and new, and
it builds at a rate of 75 to 150 or more messages everyday. To reflect
this change, "Hey Mister Postman" will branch off into several sub-
articles. If warranted, (.i.e. enough messages are posted) the sub-
article will branch-off into an article of its own.
o MESSAGE HIGHLIGHTS will consists of what we feel is some of the
more outstanding messages which have been recently posted.
o HOT-SPOTS will focus on the more active areas of the bulletin
board. Check this area to see where the action is.
o TID-BITS will contain various Atari related odds & ends
collected and compiled from the message bases that are of
interest to all.
o In GOING BUGGY, we will re-print messages about bugs, problems
and (hopefully) solutions concerning Atari software and
hardware.
o QWIK_TIPS is for tricks and tips that you can use on your
Atari ST.
o Check out WHAT'S NEW to find out about new Atari hardware and
software that are currently in development.
o ATARIAN MINDS WANT TO KNOW is reserved for miscellaneous facts and
fiction, rumors and other Atari related nonsense.
ASCII ART It appears that we have a couple of ASCII artists among us.
""""""""" My thanks to J.EIDSVOOG1 and DOUG.W for submitting ASCII
letters to use in the GEnie Lamp logo. It _does_ look better!
While we are on the subject... I'm amazed at what some people can
come up with using plain ole' ASCII characters. Remember Bart & family?
Cowtoons, a continuing column here in GEnie Lamp is also a good
example of what can be done with ascii characters. We'd like to see
more! If you're not into cows, maybe something else? If you would like
to give it a try, an ASCII ART topic area has been opened up in the
GEnie Lamp Bulletin Board. Who knows? You just might see your ASCII
ART published in an upcoming issue of GEnie Lamp.
PD_QUICKVIEW UPDATE After reading PD_Quickview in issue #5, Dennis
""""""""""""""""""" Kamber (D.KAMBER) uploaded the final set of
Printmaster icons and borders which he has converted to .IMG format. To
get the complete set, download:
15549 MANYICN1.ARC 177660 5 PM-->IMG converted icons, 500+!!
15856 MNYICON2.LZH 142380 5 3rd part of over 1000 borders/icons.
15594 MNYBRDRS.ARC 46620 5 PrintMaster Borders --> IMG format.
[*][*][*]
I'd like to thank Terry Quinn for submitting his PD_Q review on
DLII. You'll find Terry's article in the CLASSICS column.
Well, that pretty much cleans off my desktop for this issue. Take
care and thanks, everyone.
--= john =--
ATARI ROUNDTABLE NEWS & VIEWS
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
GRIBNIF SOFTWARE RTC Join the folks at Gribnif Software on Wednesday,
"""""""""""""""""""" August 8th, for a conference on their new:
NEODESK 3 - THE ULTIMATE DESKTOP. This exciting product is the much
awaited upgrade to their best selling desktop replacement. This will
be their first public talk about this new version anywhere, so plan to
be here so you can hear it first! That's Wednesday, August 8th at
10pm EDT. (JEFF.W, CATegory 1, TOPic 11, Msg:12)
SMPTETRACK USERS! I have just been informed by a tech at Hybrid Arts
""""""""""""""""" that they will be mailing a new program to Stacy
owners (if you contact them) that will correct the hard drive problem.
Many thanks to John Eidsvoog from this owner!
(J.MARTYN1, CATegory 14, TOPic 29, Msg:108)
"ATARI NZ" DENIES RELEASING TT INFO This is a reply to B.REHBOCK (11
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" July) and others: 'Atari NZ' is a
privately-owned distributor, Software Supplies (NZ) Ltd. We haven't
made any public announcements about the TT, in spite of what you might
read on GEnie. We also haven't received any TT's yet, but are eagerly
looking forward to the day.
Alex Davidson Software Supplies (NZ) Ltd - New Zealand
distributors for Atari computers. (CATegory 14, TOPic 35, Msg. 166)
T16E UPDATE Well the T16E prototype runs like a top!!!! It will have
""""""""""" NO WIRES, run at 16Mhz OR 8Mhz, and include an FPU
socket. The benchmarks are as follows: STE 4096/Mono/TOS 1.6/Blitter
STE T16E
""" """"
100 165
100 205
100 204
100 208
106 164 text
98 154 string
132 139 scroll
140 222 draw
A nice speedup. We have lost the "fast rom" option, just no point
and the fast chips cost too much anyway. Nobody makes 100ns 27C1001
Eproms :-(
If you want to use the 8/16 switching you must install a HW
switch, SW can't switch the clock on a running 68000. The cache on/off
is SW and requires no wire. Don't know how many people care in NA, but
hopefully Europe will be happy.
(J.ALLEN27, CATegory 4, TOPic 11, Msg.158)
WORD UP FIX Neocept has uploaded a brand new fix to the Software
""""""""""" Library. It is WUPDATE2.ARC (file #15869).
(CATegory 13, TOPic 6, Msg.122)
STe MESS CAUTION! IF YOU PLAN TO PLUG A US SHIPPED STe INTO YOUR
"""""""" EXISTING HD SYSTEM, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE IT ALL BACKED UP FIRST!
I gave all benefits of the doubt to the system. I even tried to
reformat the hard drive WITH the STe. There were no error reports.
The drive was not accessible above partition D. Write to the drive and
BOOOOMMMM! Any contents on the drive were crushed. The most glaring
of the symptoms is that when this STe is plugged into an existing
system and the drive is written to, the filenames shift left a number
of characters. NEWLTTR.TXT will become WLETTRTX.T shifted over twice.
That's in the root directory.
Data in drive may be damaged... HOOT, what an understatement!
After a repartition and restore with the MEGA and the ICD Tape, another
attempt was made. This time the actual partitions got shifted! Drive
C had the contents of drive E on it and D had F and E had G and F and G
"did not exist" according to the desktop. What a mess! I reformatted
WITH the STe and could not in any real sense do anything at all with
the drive after that. I had to set everything up with the MEGA to get
the drive back. At that point, I quite trying anything, just glad to
have my drive back.
Mebbe we can't point a finger here, but my ICD drive has performed
flawlessly with two MEGA's and three 1040's but not with this STe.
_______Chet at \/\/iz\/\/orks
WHO? o| o| Elie's comin' -- better hide your heart now... o| o| o|
"""" Almost, D.A.BRUMLEVE... Elie's here now! If you would like to
leave a welcome message to Atari's new leader, drop a note wishing him
well in CATegory 14, TOPic 19.
/////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "(It's) almost as bad as the one who told George /
/ Miller 'I think MichTron is trying to rip me off; /
/ I found these same programs online... I demand my /
/ money back...'" /
///////////////////////////////// R.TAYLOR54 ////////
[EOA]
[PDQ]//////////////////////////////
PD_QUICKVIEW /
/////////////////////////////////
Aladdin For The ST? Not Yet
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By John Peters
OS_GENIE Just as deadline was approaching, I noticed that Oscar Steele
"""""""" had uploaded a small text file in which he offers a beta
version of his GEnie Navigator OS_GENIE for a $10.00 Gift Of Time fee.
(For details on Gift Of Time and how it can be used to register
shareware programs can be found in GEnie Lamp 1.03) OS_GENIE, according
to Oscar, will save you time and money by automating your online
activities while on GEnie.
Unfortunately, due to my deadline, I'm unable to go into an in-
depth look at OS_GENIE. However, I have had a chance to use it a couple
of times and overall, my first impressions of OS_GENIE are, (with a few
reservations) generally favorable. After inserting my local access
number, my GEnie ID number, my password and changing the Flash .DO file
to reflect my hard drive configuration, I proceeded to log on to GEnie,
capture all the new messages and get a list of the new files. Once
done, I promptly received an error message. So, it does work...sorta.
Apparently, other users have not been so lucky. One person
reported that he had given up on trying to get OS_GENIE to work. I
attribute my initial (partial) success with OS_GENIE due to the fact that
before OS_GENIE, I was running the AUTOSCAN/GSCAN combination. For the
most part, both programs install and run in the same fashion.
There are problems with OS_GENIE that you should be aware of before
"purchasing" this beta package.
o Problem 1: No documentation. Well, almost no documentation.
There's enough to get you started, _if_ you know what you're
doing. I pity the poor beginner who has never listed a .DO
file. I'm not suggesting that Oscar write a tutorial on .DO
files, but a little more explanation of what to do and when
to do it could go a long way to clear up any confusion. What
would be helpful is a _complete_ step-by-step outline as to
exactly what OS_GENIE does.
o Problem 2: OS_GENIE chokes on 2400 baud. At 1200 baud,
I at least got past the welcome screen. It appears to be a
timing problem.
o Problem 3: OS_GENIE is not a complete package. Like AUTOSCAN,
OS_GENIE relies on GSCAN to read and post messages. This isn't
bad - GSCAN is an excellent program. However, Oscar makes no
mention of this fact until after you pay your $10.00 fee and get
the actual program. If you don't have GSCAN, plan on paying
the extra expense of downloading it.
o Problem 4: According to the readme file, Oscar states, "the
program downloads all files it captures. The next version will
allow you to select which files you want." He then states,
"Until then, you can delete the lines that load the support
program and downloads files." This is strange considering that
GSCAN will _write_ a .DO file listing only the files you have
selected. (Maybe I'm just reading it wrong.)
Still, in spite of all this, I remain optimistic. Oscar points out
that many of these problems will be taken care of in future releases.
From what I've seen, I have no doubts that Oscar will _eventually_ come
up with a workable, useable program. I do question asking users to pay
$10.00 for a program that is clearly still in the pre-beta stages and
then have them pay another $25.00 on top of that if and when the
finished program is released.
As the old saying goes, you can always tell who the pioneers are by
the arrows in their back. If you're the adventurous type and you
don't mind taking on a few arrows, OS_GENIE, as it stands, has
potential. If not, wait for finished version.
Provided all goes well, OS_GENIE will be featured in PD_QUICKVIEW
in the next issue of GEnie Lamp.
[EOA]
[HEY]//////////////////////////////
HEY MISTER POSTMAN /
/////////////////////////////////
Is That A Letter For Me?
""""""""""""""""""""""""
o Tid_Bits
o What's New?
o Atarian Minds Want To Know...
o Bulletin Board Spotlight
TID_BITS
""""""""
PAGE 1 Scroll bar taking on a pinkish tint? Try turning off the
"""""" blitter chip! [][][] The newest version of AREA CODE
LOCATER has been released. Look for file #15988. [][][] Patch files
to upgrade DIAMOND BACK II 2.00, 2.01 or 2.02 to Version 2.10 will be
uploaded to the library within the next three weeks. [][][] GFA will
be offering product support in the new Germany Roundtable (Page 725).
The GFA category in the BB is CAT 13. You can ask questions of the
official GFA people themselves. Rolf Hilchner is the sysop. [][][]
MAXIS SOFTWARE has responded to all the problems that some users are
having with their copy of SIM CITY. (See "Going Buggy" for more
details.)
PAGE 2 CYCLONE reports there is a there is also another little-known
"""""" "home-computer" due to market by the end of the year - known
as the Kenneth-Leigh MM1, it will run on a 68070 (and you thought the
68040 was going to be powerful). [][][] DARLAH & CRABS? Don't
panic... Darlah's latest hobby is raising hermit crabs!
PAGE 3 COMPUTROL has been generating quite a few negative messages
"""""" lately. Before sending your ST, read CATegory 4, TOPic 11
first! [][][] Another hot-spot is CATegory 8, TOPic 8. If you use
STARK BBS (or if you are thinking about buying it), this CAT/TOP will
interest you! [][][] In the, "I-wonder-where-the-topic-police-are,"
department, GEORGE BUSH and company are taking a beating over the "T"
word. (That's Taxes, in case you didn't know.) CATegory 18, TOPic 34.
PAGE 4 Looking for a good graphics adventure game? That rules out
"""""" WILLIAM TELL by Electronic Zoo. According to M.JOHNSON71,
you'll never finish the game because it will take days to get through
it... which wouldn't be all that bad _IF_ it had a _save game_ feature!
(Which it doesn't.) [][][] A new game for Tetris freaks called
Blockout is now out by California Dreams. J.THORONBURGH reports that
in Blockade, you are looking down a pit. Shapes made of 3D blocks
appear, and fall. You can rotate them on all three axes, move them,
and drop them.
>>> WHAT'S NEW? <<<
"""""""""""""""""""
o POWERBACK - a utility to backup disks, including the 1.4 meg
Powerdrive is now under development by Dreampark.
o Released by Sierra Online for the ST is "Hoyle Official Book
Of Games." It features Cribbage, Crazy 8's, Gin Rummy,
Hearts, Klondike Solitaire, and Old Maid. It features playing
opponents from other Sierra games, Sierra employees and Sierra
family members. It will run on mono systems as well as on
color systems. (JEFF.W, CATegory 9, TOPic 47, Msg:38)
o Dark Century has been released by Titus. This is a futuristic
tank combat game with programmable tanks. It is more arcade
than Omega, but has excellent graphics. It is very fast
moving. (H.BATTLES1, CATegory 9, TOPic 47, Msg:36)
o Sierra has just released Hero's Quest for the ST. Looks good!
The only problem I have so far is with the combat sequences.
It's very hard to do combat. (H.BATTLES1, CATegory 9, TOPic
47, Msg:35)
o The makers of Diamond Back II are releasing with their new
update two bonus programs, Diamond Format and Diamond Find.
Diamond Format is a stand alone version of the formatter
contained in Diamond Back II with support added for the Power
Drive and Apple File Exchange format. Diamond Find is a fast
easy to use file finder with sophisticated filter options.
Both programs will appear in both .PRG and .ACC form.
(B.LUNESKI1, CATegory 2. TOPic 42, Msg:54)
o Cherry Fonts announced a July release of five new Cherry
FontPaks. Each FontPak contains four to six high quality
fonts for use with Calamus Desktop Publishing software. They
have been packaged so that all currently available fonts
within an individual family have been kept together. All
families consist of at least two styles and some have three or
four. Each of the fully scalable outlines can be used within
Calamus to produce type at any size from extremely fine print
up to colossal characters larger than a page in height.
(JOHNSON4, CATegory 5, TOPic 4, Msg:74)
o GFA Products are on their way.... GFA Products are due to
begin shipping (again) in the U.S. sometime during the week of
July 23rd.
Retail prices will be:
GFA Interpreter/Compiler Bundle...................$139.95
GFA Basic 3.x Programmer's Guide & Disk............$39.95
GFA GEM Utility Package............................$59.95
(Advanced GEM VDI/AES progamming, includes application
skeletons, code fragments, procedures, etc.)
GFA Mission Control................................$59.95
(Similar to HotWire. Has advanced parameter passing (to
and from executed applications).
GFA G-Shell........................................$39.95
(Picks up where MENUX left off)
(B.REHBOCK, CATegory 3, TOPic 8, Msg:214)
ATARIAN MINDS WANT TO KNOW!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Facts, Fiction & Maybe
STe ACCELERATOR Gadgets will not be marketing a 16Mhz accelerator for
""""""""""""""" the STE, Atari is rumored to be toying with the use
of a 16Mhz chip in experimental STEs but it's only experimental so far.
(J.ALLEN, CATegory 14, TOPic 40, Msg:225)
DELUXE PAINT III I just heard a rumor that DaVinci is actually the
"""""""""""""""" development codename for an ST port of Deluxe Paint
III. Anybody know the scoop on this?
(D.ANDERSON22, CATegory 7, TOPic 16, Msg:0)
LYNX / ST CONNECTION? The July 1990 issue of Atari ST User (European
""""""""""""""""""""" mag) has a column called the Inside Trader for
rumors..etc. According to a "rumor" there are some new video games
being developed that will enable the Lynx to be connected to an ST for
two-player interactive game play. It goes on to say that the Lynx-
compatible ST games will include the special ComLynx data cable and
matching Lynx game card. Should be available in "a few months".
(STACE, CATegory 36, TOPic 5, Msg:113)
>>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
-----------Category 22, Topic 2
Message 25 Wed Jul 18, 1990
J.MEEHAN3 [Joe] at 05:03 EDT
to: ALL
It seems that a lot has been said here about what Atari has or
has not introduced as new products recently.
Let's look at the great IBM.
- The PS/2-25, a small crippled machine with old technology (just
a make over) with limited upgrade capabilities. - The OS/2 (or
whatever), a nice machine if they would ever finish it. It has a buggy
operating system and little or no software to take advantage of it's
new features. At least it is available in the US.
The only real excitement is Windows 3.0 a third party development,
that helps give the Messy/DOS world the same type of GUI that we have
had for years.
Atari does not really look so bad when put into perspective. If
the US perceived the name ATARI as a business machine and would buy the
product then it might pay ATARI to develop the US market.
BTW the membership at A.C.E.C in Columbus, Ohio has been
increasing during the past year. >>> Joe M <<<
[*][*][*] [*][*][*]
While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files?
If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin
Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of
what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area.
If you are serious about your Atari, the GEnie Lamp staff strongly
urge you to give the bulletin board area a try. There are literally
thousands of messages posted from people like you from all over the
country.
[EOA]
[TIP]//////////////////////////////
QWIK_TIPS /
/////////////////////////////////
Atarians Helping Atarians
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
o F-29
o Sim City
o MS-DOS, Fat, & Atari
o Syquest Screech Fix
o PowerDrive / SuperCharger
F-29 Killing MIGS: This works, but is very dangerous!!! Wait until
"""" the Mig begins to take shape in front of you (the plane looks
like a plane, not a grey square). You then fire one or two missiles,
which get in under his flares. However, he will also fire! You should
now dive and bank left or right and press T for next target. Drop 2
flare and 2 chaff. About 80% of the time this works. Your speed
should be between 550 and 600.
(H.BATTLES1, CATegory 9, TOPic 48, Msg:16)
SIM CITY
""""""""
o While shipped on DS disk, and at 362K, all could have fit
single-sided disk?
o Program can be launched or run ONLY in low resolution
(no monochrome).
o Paper-based copy-protection (don't lose it!) is not xeroxable
and is barely legible. However, there is NO copy-protection on
the disk and it supports a hard drive.
o Checked with TOS' 1.2 and 1.4, up 'n running program occupies
400K.
o Docs are multi-platform. This is no problem.
o Main program will not DC SQUISH. However, it works great with
REVOLVER!
o Accessories so far appear to be fully accessible and
surprisingly compatible (knock on plastic); eg: TURBOST,
UISIII, MULTIDESK
o ST version will not allow direct printing. At least 24 screen
dumps are thus required for complete printout <arrrgh & sigh>
o TERRAFOR (Genie file #15853) is a great cheat program for
custom funding/mapping. Wish it work with REVOLVER.
o SIM CITY IS INSTANT ADDICTION!
(MOIETY, CATegory 9, TOPic 46, Msg:56)
MORE SIM CITY I've had SIM City for a week now. There is a cheat as
""""""""""""" in the other versions for "Embezzling Funds". The
cheat is to press SHIFT and Type "MONEY". That's it, you'll get 10,000
dollars. This will work throughout the game, but "Cheaters never
prosper!" YES, there is a punishment for doing it once too often!
To find out what it is, save your game, then embezzle four times in a
row and watch what happens!! I really enjoy this ST version!! Let's
show MAXIS our support so they will port more of their programs over
when developed! (H.BATTLES1, CATegory 9, TOPic 46, Msg:40)
o Hint: Wouldn't you prefer to have "MONEY" than "FUNDS"?
o The whooping sound is the ships...
The simulation is very complex - a police station won't
automatically eliminate crime in a low-value area. Try raising the
value of the neighborhood (demolition, parks, reduced traffic). Also,
nearby industrial areas (within three 'blocks') will have a great
effect on residential values. (CYCLONE, CATegory 9, TOPic 46, Msg:41)
MS-DOS, FAT & ATARI Here's the scoop, according to a friend in the
""""""""""""""""""" industry:
MS-DOS 3.21 or above can read any standard type of 3.5" disk
regardless of fat size. They just check for the MS-DOS boot sector.
Disks formatted with TOS 1.4, NeoDesk, etc. will read fine under MS-DOS
3.21 or later.
Older versions of MS-DOS cannot read a 3.5" disk. If you find one
that can, it is because the manufacturer has "patched" it to do so.
Therefore those earlier versions may be MUCH more picky on the
requirements of their 3.5" disks.
For example, my Toshiba 1000 which runs MS-DOS 2.11 will only read
3.5" disks that have the words MS-DOS in the boot sector, something
that legally only a true copy of MS-DOS can put on the disk. But if
I boot up MS-DOS 3.3 on the same Toshiba, it has no problem reading
any TOS 1.4, NeoDesk 3.5" disk.
Does that make sense? If I somehow happen to be incorrect, please
let me know. As I said, this comes to me from an 'industry expert'.
Therefore MicroSoft only "officially" recommends using MS-DOS 3.21
or above to read a 3.5" disk...
(R.FLASHMAN, CATegory 4, TOPic 10, Msg:77)
SYQUEST SCREECH I called Syquest and found out that my "screeching"
""""""""""""""" cartridge is out of warranty. So at Doug's
suggestion I reformatted it and surprisingly enough, not only did the
bad sectors disappear but the noise stopped also. Fascinating, captain.
(J.EIDSVOOG1, CATegory 4, TOPic 55, Msg:91)
POWERDRIVE/SUPERCHARGER The PowerDrive works with SuperCharger... as
""""""""""""""""""""""" long as you format your disks first using
the Power Formatter and the "DOS BOOT" option. You can read, write
and even copy HD disks!
Unfortunately, when you try to format the disk, it goes all the
way through the process, then barfs when it is laying down the directory
information... or least that's what DOS tells you.
If you do a CHKDSK on it afterwards, it appears to have formatted
OK! Strange... I can even write to it and read from it... OK guys,
now you need to make a program that runs under DOS mode and sets the
step rate AND formats the drive.
Oh, almost forgot to tell you... The Discovery cartridge is a
definite nono with the PowerDrive. Get all kinds of "FDC motor on"
errors. And I've been working with Bob Luneski (Diamond Back II),
and he's pretty sure that the next version that he uploads to me will
work with the PowerDrive. IB Backup works, but it's so slloooowwwww.
(L.VALLEY, CATegory 4, TOPic 53, Msg:31)
[EOA]
[TEL]//////////////////////////////
TELETALK ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
What To Do About Atari?
"""""""""""""""""""""""
by Kevin Steele
Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG Newsletter Reprint
Vol. 1, No.1
Recently, with the continuing slide of Atari's US market share,
there have been a large number of angry voices crying out, demanding
that Atari get its act together and release all those wonderful new
machines it has been promising for the last two years. Many have
threatened to sell their equipment and get Macs or clones if the new
computers aren't out in this month or that month. For those of you
bemoaning the current status of the ST market in the United States, I'd
like to propose a little experiment:
1. First, sit down in front of your ST. Okay, are you seated?
2. Next, say these words directly at the monitor:
"Atari has abandoned the US market!"
3. Observe any reaction from your ST.
Did your machine stop working? Did it evaporate before your eyes?
Did it run screaming from the room, spewing floppy disks? I thought
not. Point is, odds are your ST neither knows nor cares what the
current state of the U.S. ST market is--no matter what kind of
strangeness goes on down in Sunnyvale, odds are your ST will continue to
do what it has always done, unperturbed by rumors or vaporware,
undaunted by the now-famous Atari 'revolving door' employee policy.
You have to ask yourself one very important question:
"Does my current computer meet my current computing needs?"
If it does, then there is no reason for you to panic every time a
new computer is a couple of months or years late. Why be panic-stricken
that the STe, Stacy, TT, or whatever is late when you really aren't
going to buy one right away anyhow? I don't know about you, but my
current system more than meets my needs, and I'm not going to start
worrying about which computer to buy until such time as I see a genuine
need to buy a new computer.
My ST system has more than enough muscle for my needs, and my
needs are pretty big. As a freelance technical writer, I spend eight
hours or more a day in front of my ST, churning out page after page of
manuals, diagrams, invoices, and such. I've gotten nothing but positive
remarks on the quality of the work I've created with my Atari ST, and as
long as I can continue to produce professional-quality work in an
expedient manner with this system, I see no reason to waste time
worrying about what my next type of computer will be.
However, don't interpret any of the above as any sort of
'glossing-over' of the current status of Atari and their US policy -- my
personal views of Atari's management style really aren't that positive.
However, unlike many notable ST owners, I've made a conscious decision
to stay out of the pulpit when it comes to the ever-popular "Atari-
Bashing" sermon. If you've owned an ST for more than a month, you're
bound to have heard it -- that endless diatribe on the evils underfoot
in Sunnyvale, about the doom that each of us faces if Atari doesn't tow
the line and submit to our wishes.
Why do I avoid "Atari-Bashing" when I share the same negative
views? Well, think of it as a cost/benefit analysis: what will bashing
cost me, and in what way will I (and others) benefit from it? In my
opinion, bashing tends to simply make one look like a whiner, especially
since it really doesn't yield any tangible benefits. If you're not a
member of Atari Corp., you're powerless to instigate changes, and all of
your angry Atari-Bashing screaming is just so much hot air in the wind.
You'll save yourself (and others) an ulcer by avoiding this practice.
Owning an Atari computer these days is discouraging enough with the
scarcity of dealers and support--there's no need to add to the doom and
gloom with endless tirades on the evils of Atari Corp.
The ST user community would be greatly enhanced if everyone who
is currently spending their evenings "flaming" about Atari on local
BBS's would instead upload a PD program, send in a shareware payment,
participate in a user group, or spend a minute or two with another user
who needs some help with their system. Take things in stride -- if your
ST isn't affected by the current antics at Atari, then you shouldn't be
either!
//////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ "What magazine was that again? ST-what? ST-World? /
/ ST-User? ST-Informer? And what issue number was that?/
/ And why can't I keep these magazine titles straight? /
/ And who was that that replied to you from that ST- /
/ whatever magazine? Was that Rod, or was it Ron, or /
/ was it Rob? And... how do you remember all that?" /
/////////////////////////////////////// W.PARKS3 ///////
[EOA]
[FUN]//////////////////////////////
ONLINE FUNNIES /
/////////////////////////////////
Cowtoons!
"""""""""
____ From: chuck@ics-m.UCAR.EDU
(____)
.xxxx.
(__) '(oo)`
(oo) /-----'-\/ `
/-------\/ / | |============>
/ | || * ||----| (~)
* ||----|| ~~ ~
~~ ~~ Moo-ammar Cowdafi
holy cow armed and dangerous
[EOA]
[HEL]//////////////////////////////
HELP!!! /
/////////////////////////////////
(NOT) For Beginners Only
""""""""""""""""""""""""
o Take Command: Faster = Less $$$
o GEnie Lamp QWIK_TIP
GETTING HELP Time is money, and that is especially true when you're
"""""""""""" online. Your best defense against a enormous bill at the
end of the month is knowing what to do and when to do it. "(NOT) For
Beginners Only" is a column written with that principle in mind. Over
the next few issues, this column will discuss some of the tricks and
procedures that you can use on GEnie that will cut the amount of time
you spend online AND at the same time increase your online productivity.
[*][*][*]
TAKE COMMAND Tired waiting for menus to scroll by? For those of you
"""""""""""" that are not aware what Command mode is, try it out. It
will allow you to get around the system without menus. With the added
feature of " ? " you need never get out of it again.
COMMAND ON <- will turn command mode on.
COMMAND OFF <- will turn command mode off.
The ability to toggle command mode with a "C" will still be
available.
? <- will cause the full menu to be displayed without
toggling in and out of command mode. With this
added feature, you can quickly see a forgotten
menu without getting out of command mode.
GENIE QWIK_TIP Have you ever wondered if someone has received the
"""""""""""""" GEnie mail you sent? Have you ever wondered if there
was some way to re-read a letter you have received recently, but lost
from your capture buffer? Have you ever been confused about how to send
the same letter or file to a number of different people, without having
to type in all of those addresses while online?
Answers to all of these questions and _many_ more are available
from the command mode for GEnie mail. Just go to page 200, type 9 to
enter command mode, at the prompt type help, capture all of that
wonderful information (it's only a little over 6 screens), type exit
to leave command mode, then sit back and digest all of that useful
information. (M.EASTER, CATegory 1, TOPic 6, Msg:14)
////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE //////
/ /
/ o o /
/ < /
/ \o/ /
/ /
////////////////////////////////////// RON KOVACS ////
[EOA]
[CLA]//////////////////////////////
CLASSICS! /
/////////////////////////////////
An Oldie But A Goodie
"""""""""""""""""""""
By Terry Quinn
Program Name : DLII
Filename : DLII_024.ARC
Library Area : 2
Program Number : 3434 (& 3559)
File Size : 79380
Program Type : Hard Drive Organizer
Author : Simon Poole
Version Reviewed: 0.24
File Type : Freeware
[*][*][*]
WHAT IT IS DLII is an integrated hard disk tester (similar to
"""""""""" CHK.TTP) and reorganizer with a full GEM interface. It
will test for and correct several types of hard disk errors including
but not limited to defective FAT tables, isolated allocated clusters,
and other logical problems. The reorganization function will unfragment
files resulting in faster access.
WHAT IT DOES DLII operates in two stages. First, your disk is
"""""""""""" checked for a variety of logical errors and you will be
given the the opportunity to fix them within the program. This is
essential since the succeeding step (reorganizing) can totally trash a
hard disk if it is run on a hard drive with some types of logical
errors. There are certain types of errors which this program will not
correct for (bad sectors for example) so you will still need to use the
appropriate utilities provided with your hard drive to solve these types
of problems. After getting a clean bill of health from the diagnostic
part of this program, the reorganizer is run. This program will move
around the files beginning at the start of a partition so that all
related files are contiguous and can be read with a single read/seek
operation. After the program is finished, it forces a reboot so that
TOS will recognize the newly reorganized disk.
PD_Q RATING * * *
"""""""""""
DOCUMENTATION Sparse but adequate
"""""""""""""
PD_Q COMMENTS Although an older program, this one deserves a second
""""""""""""" look if you have installed TOS 1.4 in your machine.
First, the user interface is very good making it an easy program to use.
Second, it is apparently the only program this reviewer has seen which
will preserve existing bad sector data on your drive. If you have an
adaptec or other hard drive controller which does not support SCSI level
sector reassignment (to hide bad sectors), this is the one for you since
the program will not damage your files by attempting to write them over
bad sectors. Oddly enough, even commercial programs sold for this
purpose tend to erase bad sector data from the FAT. Since this program
moves files to the beginning of a partition, it is not terribly
satisfactory for TOS 1.0 due to the slow FAT lookup routine but since
TOS 1.4 has fixed this particular problem, this should work extremely
well for such machines. As to the larger question "why reorganize?",
doing so can speed up hard drive operations to an amazing degree. Try
it. For most of us, the difference is well worth the effort.
[EOA]
[OFF]//////////////////////////////
OFF THE RECORD /
/////////////////////////////////
Mini-Qwik-Views
"""""""""""""""
o TENNIS CUP
o ATARI STe
o DAMOCLES
o PARSEC GRAPHICS BOARD
TENNIS CUP Just picked up Tennis Cup by Loriciels, Distributed by
"""""""""" Electronic Zoo. This appears to be a winner. Finally,
a Tennis game where two players have the same advantage of looking at
each other due to a split screen. This puts each player having the
same prospectus as the other. I've waited a long time for something
like this.
Digitizing sound of the ball hitting the raquet and court are
good. Also the judge yelling fault and net ball really puts you in the
action. Singles, doubles, practice machine and selecting or creating
you and your opponent really adds a real feel for the game. I don't play
real tennis, (then again, I don't play hockey either and have programs
to compliment those sports). I haven't had a chance to try all aspects
of the game yet but this is a keeper and for $24.00 it was a steal.
(M.JOHNSON71, CATegory 9, TOPic 47, Msg:54)
ATARI STE Well, WizWorks got their STe last week. It's nice and not
""""""""" nice. First the nice. The speed increases are noticeable!
We took it to the NEO STAG meeting last night and everyone instantly
noticed the speed increases of the draws and many other things. This
puppy is FAST! even compared to our MEGA 4 with blitter and QUICKST in
there. QUICKST makes the STe FLY! (But the Ste does real good by
itself cold!)
The very first time we booted with the STe I thought that Atari had
indeed installed a "fixed" TOS 1.62 in it since it booted directly to
MEDIUM res. However, on subsequent boots, this was found not to be the
case. It definitely does _not_ boot to medium res regardless of the
DESKTOP.INF configuration. Upon further investigation (actually, just
a close look at the disk with which it booted to MEDIUM right away) it
was discovered that the first disk had a DESKTOP.INF saved as HIGH res
(which we see that others have discovered already). Now, I'll say for
the record that the MEDIUM RES bug is not that big a deal. In fact,
once some enterprising programmer out there gets to digging, it will
soon turn into a feature (perhaps an executable boot sector a la DC
Formatter [which doesn't work right now BTW]) which will allow you to
boot with an HD to LOW or MED depending on the floppy in drive A at the
time (the ST always reads the boot sector). However, that such an
OBVIOUS bug got past the programmers and into the field doesn't say
much for the testing process installed at Atari (mebbe it's that "C"
thing again).
For the general info, the US STe has two 28 pin masked OS chips
set into 32 pin sockets. It's loaded with jumpers both very long (8
inches or more) and very short (blob of solder). It is also shielded
To the max! And HEAVY to say the least. Unlike the 1040's, every
screw slot is used in the STe. It takes quite some time to remove all
the shields to look at the "inner" innards. However, to upgrade the
SIMMs you don't need to dig that deep and it's really quite an easy
operation. Remove the drive, its shield and the SIMM shield. Reach
with with a doodabber ("screwdriver" for those not familiar with my
daughter's name for it), pop the clips and R & R. X9SIMMs for the
"blue" machines work ok as do the X8 SIMMs. Your best bet is to get
the fastest chips you can get (not more than 80's).
Now for the not nice. Our "US Production" model STe craps out our
hard drive. This is stone cold out of the box. No memory upgrades or
anything. Out of the box. If we write to the drive, the drive is
trashed. Since this was such a surprise to us, we lost a good twenty
days worth of work on MUG SHOT and will have to delay release until
August sometime (we will not put a day to that announcement which
gives us some leeway). However, it seems that the STe works fine as
long as there are certain programs _not_ installed in the AUTO folder
of the drive. Dunno, testing this is a bear! Even with the ICD FAST
TAPE backup, it takes 20 minutes to repartition and restore the drive
when it dies. This has happened on two different systems, ours and our
club's VP system. Both are older ICD units and it's consistent. We
will have to wait with more on this until we can call ICD and Atari
during business hours. We are looking very hard into this and will
keep everyone posted here and elsewhere. We have heard reports of
this but those reports always involved Ste's that were upgraded
memory-wise. Ours is not. Anyone else having HD troubles?
(C.WALTERS1, CATegory 14, TOPic 40, Msg.189
DAMOCLES I've only had this about 2 days now, and I am very, very
"""""""" impressed! This is the BIGGEST 3D universe I've seen in a
computer game! I never played Mercenary, so I don't know how to
compare it, but just the sheer scope of this game is mind-boggling.
I've already found some nifty things, (and some not so nifty)--
first off, look for the post office on Eris--it contains a great item!
I have traded and found some things in the trading posts, but nothing
of note as of yet...
This game is a solar system simulation (of sorts). You can fly
between planets, land on islands, fly into cities, go into buildings,
up/down in the elevators and find items to trade. You must save Eris
from the comet Damocles in about 3 hours (real time). This is all
rendered in solid 3D graphics! If you get a chance to see it, boot it
up and watch the intro scene---you'll be hooked!
(R.LOWREY, CATegory 9, TOPic 37, Msg:1)
PARSEC GRAPHICS Well, I finally saw it! The ParSec is a BLAST! To
""""""""""""""" quell the other rumours, DATEL is definitely selling
this innovative product. They have a working model that they are very
happy to demo for you, too! On Topaz, the Gemulator, the final version
is due next month, and will be compatible with GEM software, so long as
it doesn't BEND the rules.
The demos I saw ARE incredible! The unit was showing a spinning
object, but the difference here was that the ParSec was ACTUALLY
spinning the object! Not showing a frame by frame- this was all in
REAL time!!!
The 640x480 and 1024x768 modes ARE beautiful, and the ParSec is
capable of doing ultra sophisticated DTP, too! One other note, the
Multiscan monitor was hooked to the ParSec while it did its thing, and
the ST was using an SC124 from which you could order ParSec to run
various demos... all at the same time. In effect, it was like parallel
processing!
As you can tell, I was VERY impressed. If you are interested,
call Richard Ollins @ (702) 734-9100, and tell him I sent you- (the
guy from Jersey who videotaped the ParSec while drooling over the
demos!)
(P.MCCULLOUGH, CATegory 4, TOPic 41, Msg:40)
/////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too /
/ much disk space....." /
////////////////////////////////////// MRAYMOND /////
[EOA]
[ASK]//////////////////////////////
ASK Ms. GEnie /
/////////////////////////////////
Questions & Answers About GEnie
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
o Self-extracting files?
o Read messages efficiently.
Hi everyone, welcome to, "ASK Ms. GEnie!" I've been selected by
the GEnie Lamp Staff to field any questions that you may have about the
Atari ST RoundTable or GEnie in general. Let's get started...
[*][*][*]
Dear Ms. GEnie,
A while back I was happy to find a program here on GEnie that
turns an LZH file into a self-extracting file -- You don't need to use
any of the LZH or UN-LZH programs to use this file. I thought (and
still do) that this was a great idea! Then I saw a message in the
welcome screen that said something along the lines of: GEnie is not
accepting self-extracting lzh files at this time. ... How come? Is
it because of the possibility of viruses, or because of
incompatibilities between different LZH programs?
Thanks again,
Joe Mirando
Dear Joe,
Our current policy is to _not_ accept self-extracting files. From
what I remember of the discussion we had awhile back, there are two
reasons we are not accepting self-extraction files in the library.
Self extractions _increases_ the file size, but more importantly, (as
you correctly pointed out,) it is very easy to hide a virus in a self
extracting file.
It's my understanding that we're not the only RT that has this
policy. When we were considering allowing self-extracting files in the
library, we were cautioned by several programmers/developers of the
potential dangers involved. It's unfortunate... it _is_ convenient.
Have a Happy!
Ms. GEnie
[*][*][*]
Dear Ms. GEnie,
My message was about GEnie's annoying habit of assuming that you
want to read _every_ message in a topic if you specify its message at
the time that you type REA. For example, REA 15 <return> starts with
the first message in the topic even if I've already seen the first 200.
REA <return> 15 <return>, on the other hand, presents the options to
view only the new messages, etc. I wish I didn't have to type REA
<ret?> 15 <return>... I often do it the other way by accident and
have to BREAK into the display of two year old stuff. :-)
I can live with it though.
Steve
Dear Steve,
Nobody should have to live with that, Steve! One can type:
rea all new
rea 5 new
rea all new cat=1-5
rea all 5-80 cat=1-10
I mean you can even type:
rea all last
The order of the commands above are:
1. REA Read command
2. all,5 etc Topic command
3. new, 5-80 Message command
4, Cat=1-5, cat=1-10 Category command
As you can see, there are NUMEROUS ways to read the bulletin
board. Best way is to type REA then follow the prompts. This will
give you all the options available to you.
There is also the help file in the Software Library (BB.HLP
#11984) that goes into more detail on a lot of these commands.
Have a Happy!
Ms. GEnie
[*][*][*] [*][*][*]
The questions and answers found in Ask Ms. GEnie have been taken
from the bulletin board area. Ms. GEnie would like to thank SANDY.W and
M.EASTER for taking the time and effort to answer the above questions.
If you have a question you would like for Ms. GEnie to address,
post your question on the GEnie Lamp Bulletin Board, CAT 34, TOPic 4 or
leave E/Mail to me, Ms. GEnie, in the "Feedback to SysOps" option on
page 475.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "I must admit.. what Jason (Loveman) and the rest did was /
/ amazing. Jason was part of a team that brought the TOS/GEM /
/ combination up and running in around 6 months. That is /
/ quite a feat! I have heard old folk tales that Jason sat /
/ at home in his kitchen with his IBM PC and hacked out GEM- /
/ DOS. Pretty incredible. BTW.. you can still see his name /
/ all over the GEMDOS sources.." /
///////////////////////////////////////// TOWNS ///////////////
[EOA]
[BUG]//////////////////////////////
GOING BUGGY? /
/////////////////////////////////
Problems, Problems, Problems...
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
o STe Fix?
o PowerDrive / Atari Laser
o F-29
o Word Up!
o Tos 1.4 / Templemon
o SuperCharger! / Procom
o SIM CITY: Virus?
In GOING BUGGY? you will find messages that have been posted by RT
members that have found a problem with a particular piece of software
or hardware. It's important to remember that just because someone says
they have found a bug or caught a virus that things are sometimes not
always as they seem. There is always the possibility that they may be
having a problem with a conflicting desk accessory or auto-program or
it could even be hardware related and specific only to their set-up.
[*][*][*]
STe FIX? Hot flash from Vancouver BC. A local user who had problems
"""""""" with his STe hard drive replaced his DMA chip with one from
a junked 520ST and now says everything works fine. He also says the
DMA sound is cleaner with less noise. Could be the problem has been
found. (D.LEMAY2 CATegory 14, TOPic 40, Msg:207)
POWERDRIVE/ATARI LASER It seems the Atari LP needs to be the first in
"""""""""""""""""""""" the SCSI chain, and when a PowerDrive is
connected, the desktop comes up without any disk icons. We *think*
that this is a problem with the LP, since 'real' SCSI devices should be
able to be placed anywhere on the chain, despite their logical device
number. We think a line is being pulled low and held, which is fouling
the switch to tell the CPU when it can access the FDC instead of the
DMA....Brad / DreamPark (CATegory 4, TOPic 53, Msg.32)
F-29 I'm running F-29 with no problems on a Mega 2 with TOS 1.4.
"""" F-29 is a good game, with some simulator qualities. However, I
find it hard to believe that I can slow down to 250 mph then dive from
10,000 feet and not increase speed (this is without brakes or flaps).
I am flying at the Colonel's level now. I have found two other
problems with the game, these involve missions in the European Theater
and the MidEast Theater. Mission 5 in the European Missions will not
recognize completion. It says to destroy the six enemy tanks. I
destroy them but do not get a completion message. I've overflown this
area with 12 mavericks, and picked off the tanks one at a time. I've
also used CSW to destroy them all at once! To no avail! No completion
message and mission failure at the end.
I MIDEAST: Mission 4 in Warupdate 5, RED. Provide aerial support
for the convoy. I've overflown this convoy until I ran out of fuel.
No migs show up.
The European mission is in Warupdate 1.
(H.BATTLES1, CATegory 9, TOPic 48, Msg.16)
MORE F-29 It's definitely a 4M bug on F-29; I pulled a RAM chip from
""""""""" the hi bank and then F-29 booted up and ran fine...sigh...
it looks like I'll have to keep a couple of spare DRAMS around in case
I blow one taking it in and out when I play F-29!
Let's hope the Ocean (or someone) will come out with a patch
program (or a memory lowering program that can survive a reset) so
that we don't have to resort to "hardware hacking" to play a game!
(R.LOWREY, CATegory 9, TOPic 7, Msg:69)
WORD UP! Got an install of 3.0 that finally works, sort of. At least
"""""""" the bugs are repeatable and much more consistent. It is
running on a 520 with one DS disk.
(1) Quitting always locks up the machine or generates a random
number of bombs. Sort of like the early versions of PageStream.
(2) Works only with GDOS. Attempts to use g+plus causes reboots
and
lockups.
(3) In text mode, choosing DRAFT will work about half the time.
Final mode and the other 50% of draft has WUP working like
crazy (the normal "ESC to exit..." box shows) but all
output goes to the big bit-bucket in the sky.
(4) Random pieces of the screen (the "garbage") never disappear
like they should. After a while, the screen gets too messy
to read. Once again, this use to occur to a lesser extent
in pre 1.8 PageStream.
(5) Export to ASCII did work with my version 2.0 WUP files, so
at least I haven't lost the work I really need.
Any attempts to run on my normal machine (1 MEG 520, Atari HD) or
a friend's machine (1040, Toad HD) fail even with all ACC's removed and
nothing else done to modify the base configuration. I'll be sending
the disks back to see if the files are damaged in some way (although
the install works fine).
(M.FANELLI, CATegory 13, TOPic 6, Msg.62)
MORE WORD UP! Another quick thought: I too had a bad disk #4. I
""""""""""""" called Mike and the temporary fix is easy. Just make
another disk, put some file on it, and rename it THES.SYN. The file
will simply be copied during the install process. You won't be able to
use the Thesaurus until you get the new disk, but at least you can
bypass the install process.
(G.FOLLWEILER, CATegory 13, TOPic 6, Msg.95)
TOS 1.4/TEMPLEMON Here's an interesting thing I discovered yesterday,
""""""""""""""""" for TOS 1.4 users. If you use Templemon, make sure
that you have TOS14FIX.PRG _after_ Templemon in your AUTO folder --
otherwise Templemon will disable the "Line F" portion of TOS14FIX, and
you may very well see unexplained bombs at odd times.
(C.F.JOHNSON, CATegory 2, TOPic 30, Msg.9)
SUPERCHARGER/PROCOMM+ Procomm + does work on SuperCharger! If you
"""""""""""""""""""" would like to make your version of Procomm work
use the following instructions:
1. Run the SETUP program provided with your version of Procomm.
2. Go to the Section called "Port Assignments".
3. Give Comm port 1 the Same address as Comm port 2. The addresses
are in HEX. Just make the numbers for Comm 1 look like the
numbers for comm 2 and save the new settings.
4. Procomm should boot up fine now.
(TALON.TECH, CATegory 33, TOPic 3, Msg.57)
SIM CITY VIRUS VIRUS WARNING !!! THIS IS NOT A PRANK!!! After
"""""""""""""" waiting for my local dealer to get in another
shipment here in Honolulu, I rushed down to the store and bought the
first one out of the carton. Luckily, being a cautious kinda guy, I
checked the disk in Drive B: and what to my surprise does Vkiller
3.11 discover?? The Mouse Inversion (or Ghost) Virus!! I sent the
boot sector to George Woodside via Email here on GEnie and he confirms
the finding. BEWARE!!! If it helps, the ID number on the disk is
MAX-101-601. This package was not opened by my local distributor, so..
(R.W.DEAN, CATegory 9, TOPic 46, Msg:66)
MAXIS RESPONDS MAXIS is working hard and correcting several problems
"""""""""""""" with the US release of SIMCITY. They advise they are
very embarrassed over what has happened with the missing CODE SHEETs,
abbreviated manual, to say nothing of the VIRUS.
Here is the text of the E-Mail message I received from MAXIS:
Item 4513686 90/07/27 14:27
From: MAXIS/Jeff Braun
To: S.COLLER/Stephen C. Coller
Sub: SimCity ST Problems
Steve:
The release of SimCity for the ST has really turned out to be a
disaster for Maxis and we're terribly embarrassed about it. Several
problems have occurred, due to the fault of ourselves, Infogrames who
did the conversion, and our manufacturer. It seems that just about
everything that could go wrong did. In any case, we're working hard to
correct the problems.
Here's the list, most of which you've noticed already. Many
packages went out without the red code sheets. This is Maxis' fault,
we forgot to include it on the packing list for the manufacturer. Most
copies went out with a 16 page manual, and the manual is really about
50 pages. We're supposed to receive the new manuals here next week.
The manual was our printer's fault, and we didn't see it before it had
been shipped. That is, we didn't see the 16-page version. The sample
they sent us was fine.
Then, we discover the virus. Infogrames, who did the conversion
for us, gave us a master with a virus. We didn't have a virus checking
program for the ST at the time we got the master, and we assumed (bad
idea) that Infogrames had checked out the disk (since they publish
SimCity in Europe). The virus is the "ghost" virus that inverts the
cursor movements. The last problem is that we sent out a double sided
disk. Maxis is new to the ST market and we didn't realize that there
were a lot of single-sided disk drives out there.
So, we got a disk formatter to create an 80-track 10-sector master
so we could create a single-sided master. We got a virus detector/
killer to remove viruses, and we'll be more careful now. New manuals
are on the way from the printer, and we recalled a lot of copies to add
the red sheets and new manual. We're taking care of the problems, and
we want to help all the users out there who've suffered.
Please let all SimCity ST owners you speak to know about the virus
and short manual, and tell them to call us or write us (much better)
asking for new disks and manual. The manual should arrive here next
week.
We're probably not going to have future conversions done by
Infogrames, because we've had a few other problems aside from this
virus (which we have yet to discuss with them).
Thanks for you assistance, and please let me know if I can be of
further help.
Jake Hoelter / Maxis Technical Support
[*][*][*]
I don't think you could ask them to do more than they are. I think
MAXIS response to this series of problems is the mark of a real class
act, and my hat is off to them.
Steve Coller President STaXE The Central Missouri Atari Support
Group, Columbia, MO (S.COLLER, CATegory 9, TOPic 46, Msg:77)
///////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "In the slightly paraphrased words of Richard Nixon, /
/ 'We are not crooks!'" /
/////////////////////////////////// BOB-BRODIE /////////
[EOA]
[ELS]//////////////////////////////
ST ELSEWHERE /
/////////////////////////////////
Other Areas Of IntereST
"""""""""""""""""""""""
BULLETIN BOARDS Can't find what your looking for in the Atari ST
""""""""""""""" RoundTable?
Gadgets By Small Product Support RoundTable
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Category 1 This category is the place for "general" information
"""""""""" dealing with both the Gadgets By Small RT and Gadgets By
Small products.
Category 2 This category is the place to "kick-off-your-shoes" and
"""""""""" have a nice chat about whatever is on your mind (but not
specific to a Gadgets By Small product).
CATegory 3 This category is the place to raise questions/post comments
"""""""""" to Dave that are not specific to any Gadgets By Small
products.
CATegory 4 This is the category reserved for the discussion of
"""""""""" commercially available Macintosh software and its use with
Gadgets By Small products.
CATegory 5 This is the category reserved for the discussion of public
"""""""""" domain/shareware Macintosh software and its use with
Gadgets By Small products.
CATegory 6 This is the category reserved for the discussion of system
"""""""""" software for the Macintosh and its use with Gadgets By
Small products.
CATegory 7 This is the category reserved for the discussion of the
"""""""""" Spectre 128 and its use with the Atari Mega/ST line of
computers.
CATegory 8 This is the category reserved for the discussion of Spectre
"""""""""" GCR and its use with the Atari Mega/ST line of computers.
The Michtron RoundTable
"""""""""""""""""""""""
CATegory 1 (General Info) is for questions and comments about GEnie,
"""""""""" the MichTron RT, MichTron company policies and warranties,
"welcome messages", etc. - that is, anything not pertaining to any
particular piece of MichTron software. Please leave all questions and
comments about specific products in the Category for that product.
CATegory 2 (Games) is all about MichTron's arcade, adventure, and
"""""""""" simulation games. Questions, comments, and general hints
and tips are all welcome, although _very_ specific adventure game hints
which might tend to spoil the game for everyone else may be deleted
(leave 'em in GE Mail, if you must).
CATegory 3 (Utilities) is where you'll find information about
"""""""""" Michtron's utility programs - how to use 'em, when to use
'em, why to use 'em, and so on.
CATegory 4 (Applications) is all about MichTron's complete line of
"""""""""" business applications and personal productivity programs.
You'll find hints and tips here from other users and the authors
themselves.
CATegory 5 (Telecommunications) is all about what you're doing right
"""""""""" now - sending and receiving characters via modem and phone
line. All aspects of modemizing will be covered here, including RS-232
technicalities, cable configurations, modem comparisons, and (of course)
MichTron's communication programs (the MichTron BBS and MI-TERM).
CATegory 6 (Programmers) is the MichTron Information Exchange.
"""""""""" MichTron's programmers have amassed years of experience
working with many different computers, languages and microprocessors,
which they will be happy to share, and this is the Category for it.
Naturally, everyone else is invited to chime in, too.
CATegory 7 (GFA Basic) Here is where you will find all the notices
"""""""""" about updates to GFA Basic. You can also ask question's
about a particular aspect of GFA Basic or any general questions.
CATegory 8 (GFA Product Support) Here is where you will find all the
"""""""""" latest about the fine line of GFA products such as GFA
Object,GFA Vector,GFA Draft. Ask any question and we will strive to get
an answer for you.
CATegory 9 (Controversial) is "where tempers are lost and found".
"""""""""" This Category is not for the faint of heart or weak of
stomach - the idea here is to get all of those things off your chest
that you can't say anywhere else. The subject matter is up to you, and
the rest (as they say) is history.
CATegory 10 (Publications User Groups) is the place where User's
""""""""""" Groups can exchange information with MichTron to support
their efforts. This is also the perfect place for local newsletter
editors to swap articles and information about MichTron programs.
CATegory 11 (Microdeal Product Support) Here you will find support for
""""""""""" all Microdeals fine products for the Atari ST.
CATegory 12 (Amiga Software) Here you will find support for all of the
""""""""""" Amiga software produced by MichTron and Microdeal.
////////////////////////////// GEnie QWIK_QUOTE ///////
/ "'Sort by Color"...there is an idea...does red come /
/ before blue? What about green? yellow? pink?" /
/////////////////////////////////// R.FLASHMAN ////////
[EOA]
[LOG]////////////////////////////////
LOG OFF /
///////////////////////////////////
GEnie Lamp Info
"""""""""""""""
COMMENTS? If you would like to ask a question, leave a comment or just
""""""""" drop in and say hi, you can contact us in CAT 34. Or if you
prefer to remain private, you may use the "FEEDBACK TO SYSOPS" command
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addresses:
o John F. Peters (ST-GUEST) Publisher/Editor
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o Sandy Wilson (SANDY.W)
o Fred Beckman (FB)
o Jeff Williams (JEFF.W)
o John J. Kennedy (JJKENNEDY)
o Larry Duke (LARRY.D)
HOT OFF THE PRESS GEnie Lamp is published on the 1st and the 15th of
""""""""""""""""" every month for our Atari ST RoundTable members on
page 145, option 5.
If you prefer to download your issue of GEnie Lamp, you will find
the current issue as well as all the back issues on page 146, in the
GEnie Lamp library, #35.
PROBLEMS? If you are having trouble finding your way around GEnie or
""""""""" have a question you would like an answer to, we've asked
Ms. GEnie, our resident expert, to start a column just for you. If
you would like to have Ms. GEnie tackle one of your questions, you can
post your message in CAT 34, TOPic 4. (See "[ASK] MS. GEnie" for more
details.)
WRITERS! Do you want instant riches, fame and good health? Well, you
"""""""" won't find it here, but you will find the satisfaction of
seeing your article published and distributed world-wide via GEnie Lamp
Online Magazine. Get in on the fun... contact us now!
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
½ 1990 by T/TalkNET OnLine Publishing, Atari Corporation, GEnie, and
the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact.
The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services
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To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon
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Signed articles are the opinion of the authors and are not necessarily
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////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
[EOF]
