

#: 10487 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  13:21:46
Sb: #OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)

Here is the source code I used for the relay program.
PROCEDURE CassRelay
V=PEEK(65313)
IF V=60 THEN
POKE 65313,52
ELSE
POKE 65313,60
ENDIF
END
I haven't had any problems with this PACKed procedure so far.  Do you
foresee any?

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10492 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  17:20:03
Sb: #10487-#OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Yep -


I don't recall if the cassette is controlled from  one of the PIA port or PIA
control bits. In either case, the preferable method is to take what you PEEK at
that location, use AND to clear or OR to set the appropriate bits, and the POKE
the updated value (believe that they are LAND and LOR, or something like that
in B09).

Pete

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10499 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  20:37:06
Sb: #10492-OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)

Do you have more detail on this?  I (obviously)  still have a weak knowledge of
programming within OS-9.

#: 10488 S7/Telecommunications
    28-Apr-91  14:05:06
Sb: #sterm Problem
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)

I tried a DUMP of sterm on both the DOSOR9 disk and the OS9-formatted disk
sterm was copied to.  The results were totally different.  The results I got on
the DOSOR9 disk might be OK, but are not on the OS-9 disk.  I had DUMP running
in the 40-col mode.  In the middle, every line went E5E5E5... and in the right
col, every line was just lowercase e's.  No wonder I kept                    
;getting ERROR 205 when I tried to load sterm from the true OS-9 disk. How
could copy -s have messed up the copy like this?




There is 1 Reply.

#: 10493 S7/Telecommunications
    28-Apr-91  17:22:35
Sb: #10488-#sterm Problem
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Aha... evidence. The 'E5' patterns is what the formatter puts in the sectors
when it formats the disk. In short it looks like the disk never actually got
written to.

Pete

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10500 S7/Telecommunications
    28-Apr-91  20:40:53
Sb: #10493-#sterm Problem
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)

OK, but why didn't copy -s actually put the file on the disk?  It did at least
put an entry in the file allocation table.  Under what conditions will copy not
copy?  And for those times, how can I copy a file, short of Backup of the whole
disk and deleting everything else one by one?

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10511 S7/Telecommunications
    29-Apr-91  11:31:11
Sb: #10500-sterm Problem
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Can't help you there... I wasn't there. Was the disk write protected? (probably
not if the directory and FD sector entries made it.. BTW, there is no FAT per
se under os9). Was there a bad spot on the media that caused copy to die out
prematurely? Was the disk drive flakey or dirty? Any of the normal disk related
suspicions apply.

Best bet is to repeat the whole affair, checking results at every step. That
way, at least we can point a finger at the culprit, and move from that point.
Has this been consistant with all file copies? Have you got the latest copy of
DOSOR9.BAS? Is your 'copy' good (ident it)? CHeck its version and CRC with
others here.

Pete

#: 10489 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    28-Apr-91  16:19:14
Sb: SCSI board
Fm: Paul Rinear 73757,1413
To: Anyone

    Hi,
        I saw advertised from CocoPro an Adaptec 4000a hard disk board.
 It says 'rare SCSI board'. What do you need to use one of these with
 the Coco3 under OS9 LII ? Will any SCSI drive work ?

                                 Paul



#: 10491 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  17:16:36
Sb: #10486-OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Chris Bergerson 72227,127 (X)

Chris -

It's possible that Mike Ward has them archived offline. He'll reupload them if
that's the case. Not in DL6 eh? Hmmm...

Pete

#: 10494 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  17:33:33
Sb: #10486-#OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Chris Bergerson 72227,127 (X)

Chris -

Just checked... DL6 has X10.txt and X10ar1.ar (bins & docs), but X10ar2.ar is
probably archived. A note to Mike Ward at 76703,2013 should get it back online
for you.

Pete

P.S. It's a behemoth. Took over 20-30 minutes to compile on the Gimix @
2.25MHZ. That's why all the .r files are included.

There are 2 Replies.

#: 10498 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  19:45:34
Sb: #10494-#OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)

I may have them as well, Pete. If Mike can't dig 'em up.... I'll take stroll
through the hard disk.

Steve

There are 2 Replies.

#: 10508 S1/General Interest
    29-Apr-91  09:29:23
Sb: #10498-#OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Mike Ward 76703,2013
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

I don't gots 'em in me archives.




There is 1 Reply.

#: 10518 S1/General Interest
    29-Apr-91  19:58:32
Sb: #10508-OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Mike Ward 76703,2013 (X)

I may have been too hasty myself ... found the executable and docs, but no sign
of source .....yet.

I have 'files' working in the background as I type. Let's see what he finds!

Steve

#: 10526 S1/General Interest
    30-Apr-91  08:19:05
Sb: #10498-#OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Bill Dickhaus 70325,523
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

Steve,

If you can't find it, I'm sure I have it around here somewhere, but its on one
of many, many floppies, so let me know and I'll search for it.

Bill

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10533 S1/General Interest
    01-May-91  07:45:32
Sb: #10526-OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Bill Dickhaus 70325,523 (X)

Better take a look, Bill. Things look bleak at this end.

Steve

#: 10514 S1/General Interest
    29-Apr-91  16:29:29
Sb: #10494-OS-9 and the Cass Port
Fm: Chris Bergerson 72227,127
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)

OK, Pete.  Thanks for checking.  I'll drop a note to Mike.

#: 10495 S15/Hot Topics
    28-Apr-91  17:51:58
Sb: #10452-#TC-9
Fm: Chris Perrault 75346,165
To: REX GOODE 73777,3663 (X)

Basicly I've heard that the TS-9 may be Mac compatible<that is/was a
possibility when I heard it which was a while ago but things probably have
changed since then>,It will have expansion slots,and that it is a far cry from
the PC compatibles that are everywhere.I'm not a real OS-9 or computer genious
for that matter so I really don't remember all the in depth,technical
descriptions but from the sound of it,it will be real powerful e3specially for
something out of the COCO family<not technicallly out of the coco family but
pretty close to it>. I'm really looking forward to seeing and experiencing this
machine since I always wellcome something new especially when it comes to the
COCO.


Chris Perrault

There are 2 Replies.

#: 10501 S15/Hot Topics
    28-Apr-91  20:50:03
Sb: #10495-#TC-9
Fm: James Jones 76257,562
To: Chris Perrault 75346,165

Eh?  The TC9 has a 6809 (well, perhaps a 6309, but it's equivalent) in it.  It
would be very hard indeed to make that emulate a Macintosh.  If there's some
plan to make "the Tomcat" (I put that in quotes because with so many options, I
am not sure the definite article applies) emulate a Macintosh, I would very
much expect that it will require an addition 680xx board.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10516 S15/Hot Topics
    29-Apr-91  17:39:46
Sb: #10501-#TC-9
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: James Jones 76257,562 (X)

Could it be the TC70 board could be used to emulate a Mac?

Lee



There is 1 Reply.

#: 10521 S15/Hot Topics
    29-Apr-91  21:06:53
Sb: #10516-TC-9
Fm: James Jones 76257,562
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X)

Could be--goodness knows other 680xx systems have done it.  They require that
one buy Mac ROMs--though that might change, what with that Asian outfit that is
said to have done a clean-room Mac workalike.

#: 10510 S15/Hot Topics
    29-Apr-91  10:01:57
Sb: #10495-#TC-9
Fm: REX GOODE 73777,3663
To: Chris Perrault 75346,165

Chris,
 I wonder mainly about compatibility with my current CoCo software.
  Rex

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10517 S15/Hot Topics
    29-Apr-91  17:42:59
Sb: #10510-#TC-9
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: REX GOODE 73777,3663 (X)

From what I understand the TC9 will be compatible with most if not all
OS9-based application software.  There will be several newly patched modules
required in order to allow OS9 properly access some of the new features in the
TC9.

Lee



There is 1 Reply.

#: 10527 S15/Hot Topics
    30-Apr-91  09:16:54
Sb: #10517-#TC-9
Fm: REX GOODE 73777,3663
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X)

Lee,
 Then can I assume that DECB programs are out?
  Rex

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10530 S15/Hot Topics
    30-Apr-91  21:32:14
Sb: #10527-#TC-9
Fm: Frank Hogg of FHL 70310,317
To: REX GOODE 73777,3663 (X)

DECB programs will be able to run with the TC9. Kenton is doing RGBDOS and
Chriss Burke is doing a no cost DECB for the TC9. Expect 2-3 months for either.

Frank.

There are 2 Replies.

#: 10536 S15/Hot Topics
    01-May-91  09:53:57
Sb: #10530-#TC-9
Fm: REX GOODE 73777,3663
To: Frank Hogg of FHL 70310,317 (X)

Frank,
 Great to hear from you. I've seen a couple of your adds in Rainbow and I'm
getting more and more interested. My kids, five of them, have taken a big
interest in my CoCo3. I've been waiting for some answers about TC9 so I can
decide whether or not to proceed teaching them a few things about CoCo3. How do
I get more info about TC9, especially about it's CoCo compatibility? How about
RomPAKs?
  Rex

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10541 S15/Hot Topics
    01-May-91  21:12:10
Sb: #10536-#TC-9
Fm: Frank Hogg of FHL 70310,317
To: REX GOODE 73777,3663

Just give me your address and I'll send you tons of paper with advise printed
all over it to encourage you to buy a{Tomcat :).

Fran{ {ex

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10545 S15/Hot Topics
    01-May-91  22:28:05
Sb: #10541-TC-9
Fm: James Jones 76257,562
To: Frank Hogg of FHL 70310,317

Say, speaking of the TC9--alas, I was running hither and yon during the Fest,
and didn't get a chance to ask about the Tiger.  Your ad says it can speed up
OS-9/6809 by a factor of 2 or 3, and I was wondering how that's done.  If I
write a compute-bound program, will the Tiger make it run faster?

#: 10537 S15/Hot Topics
    01-May-91  17:32:23
Sb: #10530-#TC-9
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: Frank Hogg of FHL 70310,317 (X)

What is Kenton's address and phone #?

Lee



There is 1 Reply.

#: 10542 S15/Hot Topics
    01-May-91  21:14:27
Sb: #10537-TC-9
Fm: Frank Hogg of FHL 70310,317
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752

Guys name is Joe yMShin{o and he is outside Buffalo NY. (Tonowanda) but I don't
have his number here. Give me a call at the office and I'll give it to you.

He did advertise a while back in Rainbow if you look over some old issues you
may find it.

Frank

#: 10496 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  19:41:20
Sb: #10483-#my articles
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

Paul,

Rather than dumping many issues into a file that needs to be downloaded for
complete understanding, why not allow the message base to deal with one issue
at a time.

I'm certain you'll find many folk willing to dash off a reply to a message
thread before they'll take the time to digest issue files.

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10523 S1/General Interest
    29-Apr-91  23:25:28
Sb: #10496-my articles
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

I had several "threads" started here, one for each issue.  Kevin, for example,
replied to the TMRDRV.TXT thread and -- while I appreciate his time -- it
didn't help one bit because I need some details.  And CIS won't let me upload
an entire 17k MESSAGE of what we are discussing in our brain-storming sessions
at my place!  Hence the "articles".

I uploaded many of these articles several months ago on both CIS and Delphi.
Most of the users on Delphi actually took the time to tell me they couldn't
help.  Contrast that to the "dead air" I'm getting here.  I had hoped CIS would
be a "better" place to discuss this, since the gurus "live" here and how CIS
costs so much more than Delphi & GEnie (which *is* carrying a *very* dead
CoCo/OS9 sections).

Now, someone knows how these new OSK machines work.  Paul Ward hasn't mentioned
any specifics at all, and I know Frank Hogg and the "Delmar" Ed frequent this
place, too.  Am I to understand that NO OTHER 68K machine has hardware timers
akin to the 12-bitter in the CoCo3?  Am I to understand that there is no
Microware-defined SVCs for the specific calls I have mentioned in my articles?
Do I take this lack of response as that no one knows what I'm talking about?

Do y'all understand why I am perplexed concerning the lack of responses I'm
getting?  At least people should say "something" rather than "nothing", or give
me some ideas where to go write for such info.

I'm getting "none of the above" type of help from everyone here!  I wish I
didn't need to get this upset, but I think this PRECISELY shows why OS9 is such
a dead system, and why it shows OSK will *soon* BE a dead system.

Don't mean to belittle anyone ... but I *am* starting to wonder.  I'm one who
wants to "do" things rather than wait for someone to come up with something
useful.  I have bought everyone's books on OS9 and I'm still very much in
creating some new leading-edge ideas and projects (at Okla.D.O.T. we sometimes
say "bleeding edge" ideas!).

I know I can do these projects -- but I need a lot of input.  And of course I
do plan on sharing everything for free.

-- Thx, Paul S.

#: 10497 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  19:43:33
Sb: #10485-#Finance
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Chris Bergerson 72227,127 (X)

Chris,

Mail is cheaper than free upload time?


Hmmmmm .....



I for one would like to see the program as well. Why not take a few moments and
upload the file for those of us who choose not to wait for the postman?

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10515 S1/General Interest
    29-Apr-91  16:31:14
Sb: #10497-#Finance
Fm: Chris Bergerson 72227,127
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

Well, I suppose that since the original appeared in CS, that it is copyright. 
And I assume that strictly speaking it is a no-no to upload it here?

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10519 S1/General Interest
    29-Apr-91  20:04:26
Sb: #10515-Finance
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Chris Bergerson 72227,127 (X)

Could be, Chris.... was there a copyright notice in the source listing? A
restriction on distribution, perhaps?

I would be surprised if something as generic as an amortization program would
be restricted ...however, when in doubt err to the conservative.

Don't post it unless you know you're in the clear.

Steve

#: 10502 S1/General Interest
    28-Apr-91  21:32:00
Sb: #10405-SPELL2.PAK
Fm: Carl Kreider 71076,76
To: SIMMULE TURNER 70651,67

Thanks for the call.  Nice to talk to you again.  I just got another port going
on the 030 here and I found ar stuff in the mail when I logged on to test the
port.  I will get it merged with the other versions and put it back up here.

Thanks again.

Carl

#: 10503 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    28-Apr-91  22:34:54
Sb: #creat() help
Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203
To: all

Is it possible to set the file attributes when using creat()?

If I do something like creat(filename,S_IREAD+S_IOREAD) I get a "illegal mode"
error. I've tried various combinations, but the only ones which seem to take
are S_IREAD, S_IWRITE and S_ISHARE. Trying to set any public bits causes
errors. I'm beginning to think that creat() will always set the file
permissions to S_IREAD+S_IWRITE and uses the 'mode' param as the access mode
when opening the file. But this is not what the docs imply. I know I can use
create() to do what I want, but this has really got me bugged. I see that there
is a mask defined in the modes.h file, but I really don't understand what to do
with it. This is probably really simple and I'll feel stupid (again) once
someone points out the answer....

Oh, I tried this under Level II and it seems that the file is always created
for public read and owner read/write, no matter what the value of 'mode'. No
errors, but mode doesn't seem to have much effect either.

There are 2 Replies.

#: 10512 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    29-Apr-91  11:36:01
Sb: #10503-#creat() help
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X)

Bob -

I believe there are two variations of 'creat()' in the Kreider C library. One
of them allows for initial file mode bit setting.

Pete

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10522 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    29-Apr-91  22:04:34
Sb: #10512-#creat() help
Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203
To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X)

Pete, I'm using the creat() which comes with osk. Also, I belive you're
thinking of the creat() and create() which come with Carl's library. The same
applies to osk.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10524 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    30-Apr-91  00:01:20
Sb: #10522-creat() help
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X)

In that case, I guess you'll have to get hold of Carl's 68K library (if he's
making it available). Yup - thems was the functions I was thinking of.

Pete

#: 10528 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    30-Apr-91  12:46:38
Sb: #10503-creat() help
Fm: Mark Wuest 74030,332
To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X)

Bob,
 The documentation in the Microware manual is misleading: under creat(), it
says "The permissions are ..." when it means "The access permissions ...". The
function you want to use is create():
 create(name,mode,perm[,initial_size])
 where mode is the access permissions as in creat(), perm is the file's
attributes - what you are wanting to set.
 You can probably guess how I knew the answer to this one so fast!
 Mark

#: 10504 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    29-Apr-91  01:50:11
Sb: #10338-OS9 Windowing System
Fm: George Hendrickson 71071,2003
To: James Jones 76257,562 (X)

Okay, thanks for the info. I've been working with OS9 for quite a while now and
it suddenly seemed to be slow for some reason. Could be because I've been
looking at faster machines lately....

#: 10505 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    29-Apr-91  02:09:02
Sb: #Help with Shell+!
Fm: George Hendrickson 71071,2003
To: all

I recently discovered what I think may be a bug in Shell v2.1. I sometimes get
an Error 201 when I use either one of these commands:

  SHELL "tmode echo"

 -

  SHELL "tmode -echo"

 This happens while I'm working on a Basic09 program and I test run it. If this
is not the case, somebody tell me why it
 does that.


 Thanks

George

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10506 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    29-Apr-91  05:08:06
Sb: #10505-Help with Shell+!
Fm: James Jones 76257,562
To: George Hendrickson 71071,2003

Hmmm...201 is "illegal path number".  What state is standard input in when you
try to do the tmode?

#: 10507 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    29-Apr-91  08:35:52
Sb: #Extension cable
Fm: David Betz 76704,47
To: all

Is it possible to add a ribbon cable between the connector on the side of the
CoCo3 and the FD-501 floppy controller?  I'd like to put the controller inside
a box with the floppy drives and am wondering if the ribbon cable will cause
any problems.  Also, what about a ribbon cable between the CoCo3 and one of the
Disto interfaces?

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10509 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    29-Apr-91  09:50:21
Sb: #10507-#Extension cable
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: David Betz 76704,47 (X)

There are (or were) extension cables available.  But you should make your own
instead if you can.  By making your own, you have control over two very
important factors: a)the cable should be as short as possible, and b)you can
use low-capacitance cable.  Also look for well-shielded cable.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10513 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    29-Apr-91  13:20:26
Sb: #10509-#Extension cable
Fm: David Betz 76704,47
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Shielded cable?  I was thinking of using plain old ribbon cable.  Guess that
wouldn't work, eh?

Also, I asked this before and nobody responded.  Can someone give me the phone
number for CRC?  I can't find a copy of Rainbow and would like to get prices on
the Disto controllers.

Thanks in advance! David Betz

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10532 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    30-Apr-91  22:30:12
Sb: #10513-#Extension cable
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: David Betz 76704,47 (X)

There is shielded ribbon cable available, but it seems to be a bit on the side
of expensive and hard to find.  You can make your own shield as well. I don't
have a number for CRC (do you actually mean CMC??  If so, your local RS should
have it.)

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10535 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-May-91  09:24:39
Sb: #10532-#Extension cable
Fm: David Betz 76704,47
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175

Hmmm...  Maybe I *do* mean CMC.  What I'm looking for is a place that used to
advertise in Rainbow and sold Disto disk controllers.  Unfortunately, I'm
unable to find a copy of Rainbow (even at my local RS store).

There is 1 Reply.

#: 10544 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-May-91  21:38:51
Sb: #10535-Extension cable
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: David Betz 76704,47

David - you were right: CRC.  Canada: 1-514-383-5293 is one number I have
(might be old).  They're selling off the last stuff the have... I believe
someone else will be taking over the CoCo hardware from them soon.

Which controller are you looking for, btw?  Might be someone around selling
one. best - kev

#: 10520 S1/General Interest
    29-Apr-91  21:02:41
Sb: X10 source AR
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

Steve -

If you folks can't find it, Carl Kreider may have a copy of the X10 source
package.

Pete

#: 10525 S4/MIDI and Music
    30-Apr-91  06:27:39
Sb: #10441-latest SMF stuff
Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464

Thanks, Paul.  Pulled in mffcp.ar last week (just before a trip) and used it
just enough to have my appetite whetted.  After a few more hours, I have just
barely scratched surface of what I want to do.  Thanks for this fine addition
to the tools for music file manipulation.  Regards, Ches.

#: 10529 S4/MIDI and Music
    30-Apr-91  21:03:26
Sb: #10441-latest SMF stuff
Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464

Paul, a somewhat belated thank you for putting the unzip.ar in the library.
I've used it successfully on a few files; no problems at all.  Regards, Ches.

#: 10534 S1/General Interest
    01-May-91  07:54:32
Sb: #'fest a bust or what?
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: All

Geez, I guess I have to ask .... :-(


How was the 'fest? I would have thought someone would have posted a min review
by now for those of us that couldn't make it.

Did all 3 OSK entries make their grand entrance? Anything else worthy of note?
Inquiring minds want to know!


Steve

There are 2 Replies.

#: 10538 S1/General Interest
    01-May-91  19:57:46
Sb: #10534-'fest a bust or what?
Fm: James Jones 76257,562
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255

Well, let's see.  Mike Knudsen's two-part review that showed up in the BITNET
mailing list will, no doubt, appear in the DL, but my recollections are as
follows:

1.  I was rushed, so I didn't get a chance to see things in as much detail as
I'd have liked--for example, I should've played with the Tomcats on display and
asked whether the TC9s could run non-OS-9 software yet.  (I don't want to run
any such software, but I am curious to see it actually work.)

2.  I didn't make it to all the discussions--in particular, I didn't get to
what appears now to be a traditional panel discussion featuring FHL, Delmar,
and IMS representatives.  I did catch the tail end of it, though, and I was
struck by two consecutive questions among the last few.  One: can we hook up
our old CoCo hardware to your machines?  Two: when the world goes for 64-bit
stuff, can we still use your machines?  (If I were a manufacturer or seller of
systems, I think I'd be pulling my hair at that point.)

3. There were fewer but bigger booths--eighteen, I think.  Still some
interesting stuff, though: Burke**2 was showing stuff to hook up a scanner to a
CoCo; FHL now sells Ultrascience's products, and was advertising a cheap 68000
board as a TC9 speedup; IMS was showing various demos on MM/1s, including a
very interesting thing that looked like a frame grabber that Tony DiStefano had
hooked up to a camera on one end and an MM/1 on the other, if I observed
correctly; Delmar was showing various demos on their systems (some sound from a
Soundblaster, if I remember rightly).  Tandy was selling CoCo stuff for *real*
cheap--I hesitated about buying an Orchestra-90 and a guy said OK, I'll let you
have 20 of them for $10 (!?!).  I turned him down, because I didn't know how
I'd get them all home!

(Oops!  I should say "inexpensive," not "cheap;" don't want to give the wrong
impression about FHL's board!)

Perhaps of mainly personal interest, I picked up most of my MM/1 kit--still
waiting for a slight assembly bogosity (the assemblers used substitute parts
where they shouldn't have) in the second board to be corrected, but that
shouldn't take long



#: 10539 S1/General Interest
    01-May-91  20:01:16
Sb: #10534-'fest a bust or what?
Fm: James Jones 76257,562
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255

..oops, went over the limit.  Anyway--it shouldn't be long before the extra 2
Mbytes of RAM and the SCSI drive that are calling to me are connected and
running, and then I'll be an even happier camper than I am now.

Met lotsa nice folks, including Brother Jeremy (nice tabard and tunic, and a
most pleasant person).  Had fun.  What more could I ask?  (Well, it would have
been nice to stay longer; next time I'll resist the temptation to stay with
friends, despite the hotel bill and even though they are good friends.)

#: 10543 S3/Languages
    01-May-91  21:30:22
Sb: #10470-Packing in Basic09
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175

Erich - take apart the FD502 case, and I believe it has the second drive
connector already there.  The only caveat is that I believe Tandy installs a
small fan when a 2nd drive is added, as the power supply in there is a little
overloaded and will run very hot with both drives turning.  You might consider
adding an external fan on the back, or something.

Oh. Tell us what jumpers are marked on the 2nd drive you get... will give us
all a clue as to how you should set them. best - kev

Press <CR> !>