
31343 18-AUG 14:59 Telcom
     RE: Terminal Programs OS9 (Re: Msg 31329)
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: SQUAREB (NR)

Most RSDOS term programs do support XModem.  I know for certain that Autoterm
does, since I've heard many people report problems with it! <grin>
   If you're interested in downloading OS9 files, then you can use an RSDOS
terminal program to download the file, and then use one of two programs to
transfer it to an OS9-format disk.
   - RS2OS9.BAS (many other names) is an RSBASIC program that "converts" an
RSDOS disk into an OS9 disk.  You can then read the files from OS9, and copy
them to a "real" OS9 disk.  Many of these programs unfortunately have
restrictions on the number and size of files they can deal with.
   - "rsdos" is an OS9 program that can read/write RSDOS disks. It's a bit
tricky to install, since it requires patching some parts of OS9.  You'll need to

use something like RS2OS9.BAS to get the needed files ("rsdos" binary,
documentation, patch files, and the patch program "ipatch") onto an OS9 disk to
get started.  Worth the effort, though, if you plan to transfer a lot of files
back and forth.

Once you can transfer files from RSDOS to OS9, you can then work on getting an
OS9 terminal program working.  Be aware that using a terminal program reliably
under OS9 _requires_ an RS232 pak. I recommend Telstar, Supercomm, or JTerm as
probably being among the easiest to start with.  Once you have one of those
running, you'll be able to download directly to an OS9 disk, and can start
thinking about getting another terminal program, such as OSTerm, KBCom, or
WizPro.  All of these (and more!) are in the databases here.

                Good luck,
                  Tim Kientzle

-*-

31412 21-AUG 04:29 Telcom
     RE: Terminal Programs OS9 (Re: Msg 31343)
     From: FRANCALCRAFT To: TIMKIENTZLE (NR)

You forgot to mention that one also needs the archiving program to unarchive
those programs. Ipatch & associated files, and RSDOS and associated files are
both archived.

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31344 18-AUG 15:02 Device Drivers
     RE: 80track qume (Re: Msg 31330)
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: SCG

The standard Tandy-compatible controllers can only step as fast as 6ms. All of
that timing is handled by the FDC chip, and all standard disk controllers use
the WD1773 FDC, which can only go as fast as 6ms.
   The Eliminator or some of the SCSI floppy controller boards can go faster,
but I doubt it's worth it just to get faster floppies. If you want to get a hard

disk, you might keep this in mind, that some of the hard disk interfaces can
also interface floppy controller boards.
                 - Tim

-*-

31424 21-AUG 22:32 Device Drivers
     RE: 80track qume (Re: Msg 31344)
     From: SCG          To: TIMKIENTZLE (NR)

Thanks for the reply ... unfortunetly I kind of figured that but thanks again!

and also dodgecolt thanks

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31345 18-AUG 15:05 General Information
     RE: Cave Walker (Re: Msg 31328)
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: DRDUDE

One other desperate idea.... a very few programs do have problems with Shell+,
and you may want to at least try it with the stock Shell. Someone else mentioned

that they had run it by booting from the stock Tandy OS9 Level II boot.  Have
you tried that?
                     - Tim

-*-

31348 18-AUG 18:19 General Information
     RE: Cave Walker (Re: Msg 31342)
     From: DRDUDE       To: TIMKIENTZLE

Well, I have tried all of this, and no go... I even booted up my OS-9 disk that
came out od the box, and still no go... thanks for everything though!
                                   -Dr. Dude
                                   -Andy DePue

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-
C334$LNK@ULR":%=I55IM"Un
     RE: large data file problem (Re: Msg 31341)
     From: GREGL        To: THUNDERFNGRS (NR)

I would suggest changing your offset variables from an integer to a real. For
example, use something like this:

    DIM Offset:REAL
    DIM Path:BYTE

    OPEN #Path,"temporary_file":UPDATE
    Offset:=140250
    SEEK #Path,Offset

The problem with integers (in BASIC09) is that the value is limited to a range
of -32768 to +32767. This is much to small for large files and the signed
arithmetic will drive you nuts. BASIC09 is a good language but it has a serious
limitation of data types. But REAL variables do work - BASIC09 will automaticall

convert from REAL to LONG when necessary. But note that this will not work if
you use system calls via SysCall; but you shouldn't use SysCall for seeks
anyway.

    -- Greg

-*-

31347 18-AUG 18:00 Patches
     RE: b&b + PBJ CC-BUS (Re: Msg 30752)
     From: SALZARD      To: DENNYSKALA

I downloaded the article on the PBJ modifications to work with the Co/Co-3 but
references to "U-9" etc. did not help since I must have an earlier or later
model PBJ C-C Bus with differenct "U" assignments to the same chips.

What is the Chip ID for U-9?  Is it 74LS10N ?

I also discovered that the Schotkey (sp) diode interrupt fix suggested in last
november's Rainbow caused some really weird problems unless the Rad Shack
Multipak is plugged in, so I had to rip that out too.

--Rodger Alexander

-*-

31401 20-AUG 22:08 Patches
     RE: b&b + PBJ CC-BUS (Re: Msg 31347)
     From: DENNYSKALA   To: SALZARD

Yup, U-9 is indeed a 74LS10 - the only one on the board.

I guess I'm not too surprised the the diode hack is incompatible with the CCBus
- it always *WAS* kinda touchy.  Keep that cable short fer sure!

                                    ***** Dennis *****





-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31349 18-AUG 19:40 General Information
     SCSI HD
     From: MATTSINGER   To: MATHOMPSON

Matt, Since you have a Seagate, you would know this, and I want to make sure
that I have the story straight.  Does the disto board plug DIRECTLY into a HD
that has an imbedded controller <ie. the ST296N 5.25in 84meg 28ms> or does it
plug into that card they sell to plug into the IBM bus?

-*-

31364 19-AUG 04:00 General Information
     RE: SCSI HD (Re: Msg 31349)
     From: MATHOMPSON   To: MATTSINGER

Hi Matt,

Like I said, I've never seen Disto's new drivers/patch/whatever, so I dunno what

they do.  Also, when I said get Ken Scales SASI drivers, I didn't know that
minutes before, he was uploading new SCSI drivers. So you might wanna try them.
My drivers are coming along.  I highly recommend that you wait until mine are
available before you do the format tho, so that you don't have to reformat to
get an extra few meg (dunno why Seagate used so #$%& much inter-sector control
byte garbage).  Also, you can bet your drive will already be preformatted for
512, so you won't even have to use a single RuSty-DOS formatter program.  And
there is one other hitch.

I highly suspect that the ST296N can only handle 512-byte sectors. In this whole

SCSI debate on the forum, I have an extra card in my favor. There's a guy in my
department at work who is the SCSI drive expert/ hacker/purchaser for my
company, Northern Telecom/BNR, a $6BillionUS/yr Canadian telecommuncations
company.  I will check his vast library of product manuals and SCSI specs to
find out for sure, but my suspicion is that only the 125N, 138N and 157N can do
256.  I got talking to this guy about this once and he said the only reason they

added to 256 support to SOME drives was for the retro-fit market, to replace
dying competitors' drives.  Hardly any new computers/systems/whatever these days

use 256 byte sectors.  The 225N and 251N have also been upgraded to 256 sector
capability.  These are older 5.25" drives, while the others above are 3.5".
Originally none of these drives supported 256.  The manual I have at home only
talks about the 125N, 138N and 157N.

Another reason I am led to believe that the 296N won't work is recent messages
on the forum by XLIONX that he can't get his friend's 296N to work.  If the
RuSty-DOS format program tells it 256 bytes, & the the 296N doesn't like it, it
dies.  But in all, I am not *totally* sure that the 296N cannot handle 256, so
don't take my word for it unless I find out for sure.  As far as I know, Ken
Scales is not planning 512 support.  He basically wrote his drivers to get a
friend's SASI system up and running, and Disto's drivers weren't so hot.  I am
writing mine to help get my new hard drive, which I got free but is 512-only, up

& running. I've got over 90 megs riding on these drivers.  And having access to
a mountain of SCSI docs like me sure helps!

Also, I sure hope you didn't get suckered into getting an IBM SCSI controller to

go with your 296N-- you don't need it, and you can't even use it.  Some dealers
in Computer Shopper sell IBM package deals as opposed to just the drive, so you
gotta watch out.  The Disto or any other SCSI controller plugs right into the
drive.  That's what I like about embedded SCSI... a minimum of cables and cards
to get it the way and soak up power supply juice.

And since you ETA is 2-3 weeks, sit tight.  I'll see what I can do to get my 512

byte drivers uploaded by then.  Note that I will not be able to logon to Delphi
from Aug 30 - Sep 10, as I will be moving.  I also won't be working in Ottawa
anymore, so I won't be able to consult Northern Telecom's SCSI oracle, either.
One way or the other your 296N will be up and running in no time.

- Matthew Thompson

-*-

31374 19-AUG 13:38 General Information
     RE: SCSI HD (Re: Msg 31364)
     From: MATTSINGER   To: MATHOMPSON

Just wanted to make sure that I don't buy the card if I don't need it. Well,
TTYL! Thanks!

-*-

31409 21-AUG 00:59 General Information
     RE: SCSI HD (Re: Msg 31364)
     From: 07ESRTIMOTHY To: MATHOMPSON

How about ESDI drivers.   I have 2 327 meg esdi drives and two esdi scsi to esdi

controlers.   Also how about drivers for a 60 meg 1/4 inch tape drive with scsi
controler.   Are they a lot different than what we have been talking about?   Is

it possible to partition disks like have a discriptor for h0a, and h0b being
able to format each seperatly have there fat table etc?

If you need hardware specifics let me know.

Thanks

    Tim Fadden

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31350 18-AUG 21:24 Utilities
     RE: help (Re: Msg 31336)
     From: DCJR         To: ROYBUR

Roy, I use HDKit for backing up my hard drive, and I would highly recommend
getting the "ReBack" utility also. This is a Basic09 program that acts as an
interface for the HDKit utils and takes a lot of the pain out of using them. The

command lines for HDKit can be just a wee bit abstruse at times...

 DCJR (Doug James)


-*-

31351 18-AUG 22:26 Utilities
     RE: help (Re: Msg 31350)
     From: ROYBUR       To: DCJR

 Thanks a lot, Doug - for both the tips. I'll have to wait 'til I can get off
this 'other' computer (and I use the term loosely   :)  ) to get hdkit, etc.
downloaded. But get it I shall!
          thanx again
            Roy

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31352 18-AUG 22:28 Device Drivers
     RE: New DIsto Driver (Re: Msg 31320)
     From: XLIONX       To: KSCALES

Howdy Ken,

I am helping (trying) a friend with a ST296N (manufactured this or last year)
and a second hand DISTO 4in1 system. The docs were crashed but another friend
had a set of originals. The drive came formatted with 512 bytes per sector and
a spec sheet with ZERO defects! The question I have is: Can this drive be
formatted for 256 bytes/sector and can the RSDOS low-level format be patched (or

edited) to work with this drive.

A call was placed to CRC/DISTO and they said "Oh, yes this should work fine".
Was there another revision of software released for the larger drives? Where can

I get a copy FAST? When do you forsee a patched driver (or new) for the 512
byte/sector format? (from you or MATHOMPSON (spell?))

Thanks -Mark W. Farrell (PegaSystems) -XLIONX (DELPHI) -SIGOp ProSIG (Pinball
Haven RiBBS v2.0 (708)428-8445) -mwf@SANDV

-*-

31363 19-AUG 04:00 Device Drivers
     RE: New DIsto Driver (Re: Msg 31352)
     From: MATHOMPSON   To: XLIONX

Hi Mike,

I think I can help you more with your problem than Ken Scales (Ken would agree,
I am sure :-) or Disto.  In the last week I've created alot of noise on the
forum with my SCSI experiences, and one thing that I have tried to point out to
people is the 256/512 byte sector dilemma.  If you haven't read all the forum
messages from the last week carefully, you might wanna check all messages
from/to MATTSINGER, KSCALES, COLINMACKAY, ANTNIE and myself from the last week
or so to get a complete lowdown on the subject. I recommend this for anybody who

hasn't already done so and is considering hard drives.  As for your 296N
problem, see my reply to MATTSINGER which follows this message.  It should
answer some of your questions.  If you have a Seagate N-Series drive you should
wait for my 512 drivers anyways. Becuase the real advantage of 512 on a Seagate
N is MANY MORE MEGS of storage (the full 80-odd meg) as opposed to an
inefficient 256 (oh, say 75 or so).  This is assuming the 296N even works at
256... which I doubt. See the following message.  Good luck...

- Matthew Thompson Ottawa Canada

-*-

31365 19-AUG 04:01 Device Drivers
     RE: New DIsto Driver (Re: Msg 31319)
     From: MATHOMPSON   To: KSCALES

Hi Ken,

Private business: Yes I am getting a PIN so I can dial in.  Would like to get
your 3270 emu plus kermit xfer prog, assuming you get it working.  I just found
a few meg of gif & mac gfx files on the token ring... wouldn't wanna bog you
with 'em, so will do 'em myself.  May try xfer from my Apollo if I can find an
xym-type cmd.

Delphi business: 1) Open mouth 2) Insert foot.  I guess you just uploaded your
SCSI drivers as I was recommending people to get your SASI <blush>.

In case you forumers aren't aware, Ken Scales SASI/SCSI drivers is a culmination

of what has to be the ultimate helping-to-get-a-fellow-OS9er's- hard-drive-
system-up-and-running story that you'll probably ever know. He slaved untold of
hundreds hours and late nites trying to get a friend's SASI system up and
running.  He eventually gave up on all available SASI drivers and wrote his own,

and has uploaded them here.  It is the product of two years of head banging and
wild goose chases, trying to get this elusive system working.  So you really
gotta give him credit for these drivers.  He had no other reason to write them
except to help this guy out. Now this guy is buying my SC-II/4-in-1 when I get
my MM/1, and I'LL have to support his drive system.  Ken, HHHHEEEELLLLPPPP!!!!

You know who :=]

-*-

31430 22-AUG 01:36 Device Drivers
     RE: New DIsto Driver (Re: Msg 31352)
     From: KSCALES      To: XLIONX

Mark -

By now you have probably read Matthew Thompson's msg #31363, which identifies
our main worry about the ST296N drive -- we aren't sure if the controller
firmware has support for 256-byte sectors.  Matt was going to try to check his
available docs to see if support was documented.  But as he implied in his msg,
this capability was being retrofitted into selected Seagate drives, so might
only be mentioned in the very latest docs.

Might be that the only way to get the definitive answer, is for you to just try
it out.  If so, either the ST225N or ST157N formatter should do the job with
some bug fixes (MPI slot selection if you use an MPI, and addition of a timeout
following the SCSI bus reset -- see my msg #31321 to ANTNIE for details).  For
optimum performance, a minor change is needed for the interleave factor
[variable C(5) in line 65].

ASSUMING that the ST296N CAN be formatted for 256-byte sectors, we still don't
know a couple of very important things:
  - how many sectors/track result?  If docs don't tell us, we will have to
    create a program to query the drive itself for this info.
  - what is the optimum interleave factor [variable C(5)]?  This may require
    some very tedious trial-and-error work on your part.

So... the big question is... How quickly do you want to get this drive up and
running?  Can you wait for Matt to complete his driver, or do you want to get it

working sooner (meaning 256-byte sectors)?

  ... / Ken

PS - By the way, I have NO plans to add 512-byte support to my version of the
drivers.  This is Matt's project, and he is in a better position to tackle this
one, since he has all the necessary hardware.  Incidentally, we are NOT working
in isolation -- we are friends, and currently work for the same employer.
Though sometimes he doesn't listen to me as much as he should <grin>.


-*-

31443 22-AUG 03:11 Device Drivers
     RE: New DIsto Driver (Re: Msg 31352)
     From: AJMLFCO      To: XLIONX

 can say for sure that you can use a ST296N drive under OS9 with 256 byte
sectors.  I have spent the time to re-write the Disto program to properly work
with ST157N and ST296N drives.  I am talking about the RS-basic formatter, not
the OS9 drivers.  I will ask Disto's permission to put the corrected code here
in the forum. I am eagerly awaiting better SCSI drivers.  I think those are
already posted here.  I have two ST157N's and my friend Mark Johnson has the
ST296N.  Mark is the sysop of Columbia Heights BBS at 206-425-5804 2400bd 24hrs.

Fidonet 105/641. Allen Morgan

-*-

31451 22-AUG 23:18 Device Drivers
     RE: New DIsto Driver (Re: Msg 31430)
     From: XLIONX       To: KSCALES

Howdy Ken,

just logged on to leave you a message and you have one for me! Well things are
looking MUCH better as I have talked to Tony (DISTO) and CRC. The ST296N WILL
handle 256/512/1024 bytes per sector. (WHEW) We have installed your SCSI patch
and are holding you responsible for the thing suddenly starting to....WORK!!!
THANKS. What we had here was a failure to communicate! (The drive and I <grin>)

What Tony said (and it seems to be working) is that since the drive works by LSN

alone, the only reason you need the info in the descriptor (H/C/S) is to develop

the correct (usualy less than the drive capacity) size of the sector allocation
table starting at LSN1. Otherwise, since we don't give the drive any of this
info for normal use, all we have to make sure of is that Heads x Cyl x
Sect_Track x Bytes_Sector = 75Mb (approx size of ST296N fmtd).

Our main problem is/was that we have a copy of the initial release for the SC-II

and the 4in1 board and we are probably missing some DOCS. Tony says that the
most current DISTO 'ware is dated Dec 28, 89. The dates on some of the files on
these disks date to April, 87?!?!?!?!? (OOPS)


Well thanks from Jeff Chapin (Tangerine) and I (XLIONX) for the help and the
driver patch.

-Mark W. Farrell (PegaSystems) -XLIONX (DELPHI) -SIGOp ProSIG (Pinball Haven
(708) 428-8445) -mwf@SANDV

p.s. Our first attempt will use the built in ILV and STP. CYL=820 SCT=60 TOS=60
SAS=16 SID=6

We will give you an update after we load software.


-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31353 18-AUG 22:37 Device Drivers
     SCSI the universe and everything
     From: XLIONX       To: DISTO

Howdy Tony,

Hey, are you aware of a method to make a Segate ST296N work with a 4in1 system?

We are trying to get the system to work (second hand 4in1 (old I think)) and
have no way so far to low-level format the system. What should we do guy???

I will call CRC on monday morning to ask for myself...mabey we need some new
software or something?!?!?! Mabey there is a trick to it that is on a page that
is missing?

Thanks for any hael you can offer!!! :-) (That's help BTW) -Mark W. Farrell
(PegaSystems) -XLIONX (DELPHI) -SIGOp ProSIG (Pinball Haven RiBBS v2.0
(708)428-8445) -mwf@SANDV

-*-

31354 19-AUG 03:30 General Information
     RE: UUCP port (Re: Msg 31277)
     From: EDDIEKUNS    To: THEFERRET

The "%" signs mean something like "gateway" to the internet, I believe. ie:
Something like name%mts@itsgw.rpi.edu  means the address itsgw.rpi.edu is a
gateway that has access to the machine mts.

              Eddie


-*-

31355 19-AUG 03:31 Programmers Den
     RE: MM1 & C (Re: Msg 31279)
     From: EDDIEKUNS    To: ALPHASOFT

Does anyone know if the MM/1 will come with a debugger?  I'm hoping to be able
to debug C, of course!  (I wonder if Microware sells a debugger, or if it comes
as part of the C package?)

                   Eddie

-*-

31366 19-AUG 04:13 Programmers Den
     RE: MM1 & C (Re: Msg 31355)
     From: THEFERRET    To: EDDIEKUNS

I don't think it comes with a "real" debugger.  it may come with the 68000
debug, but that'S about it, I think.  What were you expecting, Saber-C ? :-)

-*-

31379 19-AUG 16:55 Programmers Den
     RE: MM1 & C (Re: Msg 31366)
     From: GREGL        To: EDDIEKUNS (NR)

    Microware does have a C source debugger if you are willing to pay $695 for
it. But what else did you expect from Microware besides exhorbatant prices.
Sometimes it really makes me sick, especially considering that you can get a
professional development system for MS-DOS for $150 - including ANSI C and C++
compiler, assembler, source debugger, and profiler. And if the 6809 C compiler
from Microware reflects their workmanship, I wouldn't expect the 68000 C
compiler to be any better. We all know the defects in the 6809 compiler and from

looking at the source, I'd say it was thrown together in the course of two weeks

and shipped out the door. And as for getting it fixed, I've come to the
conclusion that a total rewrite is the only way to fix it.
    Hopefully Microware has more heart in the 68000 products and is willing to
put in the time and energy to deliver a working product that is, for all intents

and purposes, without bugs. If not, perhaps Microware can take lessons from
their early days when they had the drive and determination to be the best they
could be.

    -- Greg

-*-

31404 20-AUG 23:16 Programmers Den
     RE: MM1 & C (Re: Msg 31379)
     From: ALPHASOFT    To: GREGL

Hopefully Microware will make a special cheapie version of their debugger for us

small time users.  I wish they would go after the mass market insteppOad of the
high end market.  I've seen companies produce cheapie versions of their software

for different markets (Microsoft C/QuickC  $595/$99).

If Microware doesn't come through, maybe we can make one of our own?  I have put

some thought into this.  A simple way to get at least source
 could be implemented as follows

Have the compiler output assembler code with the source code in comments (theres

an option for that).  Read in the assembler code, and stick SWI statements after

every comment line (code).  A special Cstart could then be written that
processed the SWI calls and output proper lines of code.

I'm sure there would be some things to work out, but this might get us at least
a source level stepper (not a real debugger).

If anyone else has comments, let me know!

Keith.

-*-

31422 21-AUG 21:10 Programmers Den
     RE: MM1 & C (Re: Msg 31404)
     From: GREGL        To: ALPHASOFT

I understand what you are trying to get at but I do have some disagreement. In
the specific case of Microsoft C and Quick C, the end result is an overpriced C
compiler with a cheap debugger and a torn-down version of a Quick C compiler.
Granted, some people think Microsoft Quick C is the best thing since sliced
bread but I disagree. Especially considering that you can purchase Turbo C++
Professional for $150 which is both an ANSI C compiler and an AT&T C++ compiler
with a debugger that supports 386-protected mode and 286-protected mode along
with a source profiler. Of course that means real hardware breakpoints on the
386 - yeah, it took Intel that long to add hardware breakpoints. I think all of
the 68000-series has hardware breakpoint registers. Hooray Motorola! <grin>

It's too bad that Borland is marketing to a wider end-user market and Microware
is marketing to a narrow industrial market. That means Borland can maintain a
nice profit margin by selling large quantities of its products whereas
Microware's products gather dust on the shelves. Maybe, finally after all these
years, OS-9 will come out of the closet and give all of us the luxury of
marketing to a vast number of end-users. Sheesh, these guys on MS-DOS systems
think being able to hot-key into Sidekick from another application is real
multitasking. They haven't seen anything yet - like compiling huge amounts of
source code while downloading files from Delphi and editing other files
simultaneously. Even Microsoft Windows can't do that without an extremely fast
processor with gigabytes of memory and disk space.

    -- Greg

-*-

31428 22-AUG 00:40 Programmers Den
     RE: MM1 & C (Re: Msg 31366)
     From: EDDIEKUNS    To: THEFERRET

Hehehe.  Well, something like Turbo's debugger would have been really nice.  :)

               Eddie

P.S.  Hey, I'd be overjoyed even with something as primitive as UNIX's
debuggers!  :)

-*-

31437 22-AUG 02:05 Programmers Den
     RE: MM1 & C (Re: Msg 31428)
     From: THEFERRET    To: EDDIEKUNS (NR)

  "I'd be happy with something as primitive as UNIX's debuggers" Actually, I was

referring to OUR primitive debugger in the developer's pak (Which is the same
debug that was released with os9 Level I, I believe!!!)


-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31356 19-AUG 03:36 General Information
     RE: Tetris (Re: Msg 31114)
     From: BRIANWHITE   To: DODGECOLT

Mike,

Okay, it was just an idea.  I played Tetris once in an arcade and a couple of
times on an IBM-PC (both PD and original version) and I always remember being
able to move a block until it tried to move over an existing block, not only
until it touched an e xisting block.  I'm not very experienced with Tetris
either (getting better every day -- now have a score over 1000!!!), but that is
what I remember.  What do other people say?

Have you seen the take-offs on Tetris?  One was called something like "Those
Darned Columns" and involved matching rows/columns/diagonals of the same color.
All of the pieces came in multi colors.  I can give you more info if you are
interested.  By far
 the most interesting was 3-D Tetris.  Now that is a challenge!

                                                           Brian

-*-

31375 19-AUG 14:05 General Information
     RE: Tetris (Re: Msg 31356)
     From: DODGECOLT    To: BRIANWHITE (NR)

The only takeoff from Tetris I have seen was 3-D tetris.  Yea, that did look
REALLY nice, tho I don't know if I could get the graphics smooth enough. Sure,
you can send me info about any of the takeoffs, but knowing me I probably won't
get to it until next year... :)
 -Mike

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31357 19-AUG 03:36 General Information
     RE: GFX2 & MM/1 (Re: Msg 31123)
     From: BRIANWHITE   To: GREGL

Greg,

The OS-9 file descriptors aren't that bad...  They could have been done like
RS-DOS!  Still, they could use improvement.  I was just trying to think of a way

to expand them without losing any real compatability.

                                                           Brian

-*-

31378 19-AUG 16:12 General Information
     RE: GFX2 & MM/1 (Re: Msg 31357)
     From: GREGL        To: BRIANWHITE (NR)

I agree for the most part. When OS-9 Level I, the file descriptors were perfect
- or nearly so. But with more powerful systems and mega-mega hard drives, it is
obvious that it could use some help. What you may be missing is that it does
have to be totally incompatible. After all, RBF is the guru handling the file
descriptors and who's to say that you can't have two RBF's sitting in memory.
For example, Old_RBF and its floppy driver and descriptor could handle
compatibility with older systems while RBF and its hard/floppy drivers and
descriptors handle the new stuff. The first step would be to back up the hard
drive and install the new RBF and old_RBF simultaneously; reformat the hard
drive and restore using old_RBF from floppies. The only time you would need to
use old_RBF after this would be to  copy files from outmoded floppies. The only
problem is that it isn't this clean. old_RBF could fake the new stuff to return
to the kernel to help with the conversion. But you can't make everybody use it.
<sigh>

    -- Greg

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31358 19-AUG 03:37 Programmers Den
     RE: Speeding up the coco3 (Re: Msg 31134)
     From: BRIANWHITE   To: DSRTFOX (NR)

Send that last message to MATHOMPSON.  He designed something like that and could

give you more info.

                                                           Brian

-*-

31359 19-AUG 03:37 General Information
     RE: Alias (Re: Msg 31245)
     From: BRIANWHITE   To: TIMKIENTZLE

Tim,

Yeah, I was thinking about the UNiX dot convention for hiding files, too.  It
was one of the reasons why I said that those two flags were both pretty useless.

One idea for an extra byte could be last-modified "seconds".  That would keep
make from re-compiling/assembling files that had their source and output written

within the same minute.

Do you write your milti-megabyte files as a background task while you do disk
access in the foreground?  OS-9 should simply extend the last segment most of
the time, unless you have two or more process that are leap-frogging.

                                                           Brian

-*-

31394 20-AUG 10:10 General Information
     RE: Alias (Re: Msg 31359)
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: BRIANWHITE (NR)

No, Brian, these files were written while nothing else was running.  The reason
they got so badly fragmented was that OS9 couldn't simply extend the last
segment.  My hard disk is large, and I've been running it for almost two years,
so there are lots of holes in the allocation. Since the output was from a pipe,
there's no preextension, so OS9 just tries to allocate segments as large as the
current SAS setting. This setting is normally 32, and there are LOTS of
32-sector holes in my disk structure.  Setting SAS to 255 keeps OS9 from
allocating segments in those smaller holes.
   The only (temporary) fix is to defragment my hard disk.  Ugh. And even with
that, it will eventually get this bad anyway. You see the problem?
                            - Tim

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31360 19-AUG 03:37 Telcom
     RE: remote login question (Re: Msg 31214)
     From: BRIANWHITE   To: ZACKSESSIONS

Zack,

I got a suggestion for your login problem.  Since login will pass parameters to
a program when it starts it, why not change the last part of the password file
to be:
                 ...,shell p="What Now? " i=/1

Note: I also discovered that if you were to put a program name in the above
parameter list, the immortal shell would run that program and then send it's
prompt to "/1" when finished.  (Shell+ v2.1)

                                                           Brian

-*-

31372 19-AUG 11:35 Telcom
     RE: remote login question (Re: Msg 31360)
     From: ZACKSESSIONS To: BRIANWHITE (NR)

Actually, a previous responder supplied me with the solution. It was to patch
the binary with the string "What now? " INCLUDING the quotes. This works in
window devices and for device /t2.

Zack

-*-

31396 20-AUG 10:21 Telcom
     RE: remote login question (Re: Msg 31360)
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: BRIANWHITE (NR)

Brian,
   Care to try your comment about putting a program name as part of the shell?
I couldn't get it to work here.  Just  curious, since your comment doesn't quite

match my impression of how the shell handles certain things.
                  - Tim

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31361 19-AUG 03:37 General Information
     SCSI Driver Speed
     From: BRIANWHITE   To: COLINMCKAY

Colin,

Watch what you say about SCSI!  I personally re-wrote Roger's SCSI drivers (the
same ones that Matthew uses) to be capable of moving 1 MB of data in under 14.5
seconds (no-halt, no-IRQ-mask, of course) and its hard to see how how any data
transfer loop f or any controller could be much smaller/faster!  TOP THAT!!!
SCSI, however, is capable of handling up to 4MB per second in its transfer rate,

though few drives around the CoCo users price range go above 1MB per second.
The speed slowdown is not SCSI, n or is it the SCSI controller on the computer.
As far as Matt and I have been able to tell, the biggest slowdown for our drives

is the interleave factor when used with the CoCo's inefficient RBFMan.  We have
not bothered to optimize that...yet.  Matt can
 give more info on the actual drive because he has the tech-specs on it.  It is
most difinitely not SCSI that is the speed factor here.

                                                           Brian

P.S.  Don't forget that SCSI is far more portable than anything else, including
access to most all computer brands.  It also has such wonderful things as 800MB
optical WORM drives and upcoming THOR-CD's -- Writable, Eraseable, Readable
600MB storage!  Ai n't SCSI grand...

-*-

31390 20-AUG 02:45 General Information
     RE: SCSI Driver Speed (Re: Msg 31361)
     From: THEFERRET    To: BRIANWHITE (NR)

 "the problem is the interleave factor"  ??? I presume you know that you can
change the interleave factor when formatting any new volume.  What I suppose you

mean is that RBFman cannot COPE with close interleaving ?
  Philip

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31362 19-AUG 03:38 General Information
     Message Replies
     From: BRIANWHITE   To: KSCALES

Ken,

Whatsa matter Ken?  Never sure if the people you send mail to have read your
message because they never reply back?  Hmmm...  Seems to me (and Matt) that
there was some other "KS" guy here on Delphi who did something like that...

                                                           Brian

-*-

31367 19-AUG 07:18 Utilities
     rssave
     From: WB4GCS       To: ZACKSESSIONS

Zack Just got a look at rssave --- SUPER!  One thought -- how about a pcsave
version using pcdos???  I'm going to attempt to patch the source code, but you
could probably do better since you wrote the original code.  I have a great use
for a pcdos version. 73, Jim wb4gcs

-*-

31373 19-AUG 11:38 Utilities
     RE: rssave (Re: Msg 31367)
     From: ZACKSESSIONS To: WB4GCS

Simply patching to use PCDos instead of RSDos will not do it. You will also have

to modify the interpetation of the directory output for MS-DOS. I will look into

it, though. Good suggestion!

Zack

-*-

31398 20-AUG 19:11 Utilities
     RE: rssave (Re: Msg 31373)
     From: WB4GCS       To: ZACKSESSIONS

Zack Yes, I knew that directory interpretation would be required...working on
it. If I get it done before I hear from you, I'll send you the changes...also
considering removing the hardcoding of the RSDOS device ...it's not clear to me
why that was necessary.  Anyway, will keep u advised.  tnx & 73! Jim

-*-

31403 20-AUG 23:11 Utilities
     RE: rssave (Re: Msg 31398)
     From: ZACKSESSIONS To: WB4GCS

73, huh? Should've known from your "handle" that you were a HAM! Hardcoding of
the RSDOS device? Hmm, I guess you mean forcing it to be /d0? I felt that that
/d0 would be the most common device name for this application, and anyone who
want to change it only had to patch one location. I didn't want to have users to

have to enter it every time, since this device, once established should never
change. Keep me informed on the progress!

Zack

-*-

31420 21-AUG 20:52 Utilities
     RE: rssave (Re: Msg 31403)
     From: GREGL        To: ZACKSESSIONS

Perhaps in most cases the device used by RSDOS will never change, but certainly
not in all cases. The device I use will either be /F0 or /F1, depending on
whether I am transferring files from 3.5 or 5.25 inch disks. But even with all
the hoopla about hard-coding device names, I can understand why you made the
decision. After all, I use 3.5 inch disks with RSDOS about once a blue moon, if
that often. And storing something as trivial as that in a configuration file
seems like a such a waste of disk space.

    -- Greg

-*-

31427 21-AUG 23:22 Utilities
     RE: rssave (Re: Msg 31420)
     From: ZACKSESSIONS To: GREGL

The big diff between your system and mine is that you call your floppy drives
/Fn where I call mine /dn. The reference to /d0 is a constant so a simple dEd
patch will fix it up, and knowing you, a simple re-edit of the source with a
re-compile could fix ya up.

Zack

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31369 19-AUG 08:27 General Information
     Tymnet
     From: JTHUIRER     To: ALL

Is there any special setup required for 2400 baud operation on Tymnet? On a non
stop read of forum mesages the down load stops after about a minute. Will
restart with break key, but that is a pain.

No such problem using Telenet. With new pricing I want to change to Tymnet. By
the way the terminal program is Wizpro. Never had any problems before. Any help
will be appreciated.

                           John

-*-

31391 20-AUG 02:52 General Information
     RE: Tymnet (Re: Msg 31369)
     From: THEFERRET    To: JTHUIRER (NR)

I use tymnet ALL the time, at 2400 baud, and I don't have any problems with non-

stop stuff.  If it'S just the form, may be it'S something to do with your DELPHI

setup or something.  Tried downloading long files?


-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31370 19-AUG 10:46 Utilities
     Copy.ar
     From: PAULRINEAR   To: ALL

           Hi,
          I am having alot of trouble with COPY.AR that was
     downloaded from here. It works fine until you try to do
     a multiple file copy with wild cards, for example:

       OS9::copy #40k /d0/lib/* -w=/r0

           returns ERROR 216 can't copy /d0/lib/clib.l

       OS9::copy #40k /d0/lib/*.* -w=/r0

           returns the help menu ??

          Sometimes, it works and will copy multiple files.
     Usually when I first boot and haven't done very much else.
     Any ideas?
                         PAULRINEAR


-*-

31393 20-AUG 03:46 Utilities
     RE: Copy.ar (Re: Msg 31370)
     From: KNOT1        To: PAULRINEAR

Paul,

Why not try my program, "cp"? :-)  What?  Plugging my own program?  I don't know

what you're talking about!

Really.  It does work well with multi-file copies, ect., and doesn't require a
memory specifier (e.g. #40k).  You can find it in the "new" database.  I haven't

used the other program, so, sorry that I can help you there.

                                 -Jamie (KNOT1)-

-*-

31399 20-AUG 19:46 Utilities
     RE: Copy.ar (Re: Msg 31393)
     From: PAULRINEAR   To: KNOT1

      I will download it and try it right now. Let you know how
 it works.
                        Paul

-*-

31441 22-AUG 02:43 Utilities
     RE: Copy.ar (Re: Msg 31399)
     From: KNOT1        To: PAULRINEAR

Ok, Paul.  Also, did you ever get that "Zenix" game?  If so, how do you like it?

                                 -Jamie (KNOT1)-

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31371 19-AUG 10:55 General Information
     RE: Repeating keys (Re: Msg 31340)
     From: KINGTRENT    To: TIMKIENTZLE

No, the multi-pak is not upgraded, and yes, the IRQ line is disconnected. So now

I might be talked into the mpak upgrade. Would be curious as to why it would
have any effect (affect - where is that dictionary!). - Mike


-*-

31395 20-AUG 10:13 General Information
     RE: Repeating keys (Re: Msg 31371)
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: KINGTRENT (NR)

The explanation I've heard is that the MPI upgrade keeps the MPI from responding

when the CoCo accesses the GIME.  Without the upgrade, the CoCo can't always
correctly read the GIME registers.  In particular, it (incorrectly) thinks that
the interrupt used for keyboard scanning happens more often than it does.  (i.e.

whenever an interrupt happens, it checks to see what interrupt it was, and the
MPI causes OS9 to beleive that it was a keyboard interrupt)  Since the keyboard
scan code assumes it gets called at fixed intervals, if it gets called more
often, the key repeat counts get decremented too fast.
  Make sense?
                       - Tim

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31376 19-AUG 15:41 General Information
     RE: Solid State Disk SRAM PACK (Re: Msg 31331)
     From: ADLSL        To: SCG

Tnx for Disco suggestion.  I will check their catalog.  They were not the vendor

I remember however.  It was a single product company that had a regular 1/8 page

advertisement in Rainbow.  The unit had built in battery backup and came with
OS9 drivers.


-*-

31380 19-AUG 16:58 General Information
     RE: 80 Track Drive (Re: Msg 31327)
     From: MPASSER      To: DRDUDE (NR)

Congrats on the hard drive acquisition, but I'm afraid that I know little to
nothing about them, not having one myself.  However, I am certain that you will
be able to find plenty of competent people on the subject here in the forum.

Mike Passer [MPASSER]

-*-

31382 19-AUG 18:36 Telcom
     OSTerm
     From: PHILSCHERER  To: ALL

I use Osterm but I cant get it to backspace. Does any one have any ideas? All
appreciated.

-*-

31386 19-AUG 23:11 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31382)
     From: ZACKSESSIONS To: PHILSCHERER

Try a ^h (control H).

-*-

31392 20-AUG 02:55 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31386)
     From: THEFERRET    To: PHILSCHERER

  Some systems want a DELETE for a backspace character (many UNIX systems do).
I do not believe OSterm supports delete (chr$ 127).  However, KBcom in the
database, DOES have delete.
  Philip

  P.S. if you want it for a UNIX system, all youse have to do is use "stty erase

^H", the ^H being a "real" ^H, not a composite, as I just did here.

-*-

31414 21-AUG 18:12 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31386)
     From: PHILSCHERER  To: ZACKSESSIONS

Hi Zack--I just tried what you said and it had no effect. Thanks for the reply.

-*-

31416 21-AUG 18:14 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31392)
     From: PHILSCHERER  To: THEFERRET

Thanks for the reply. Does KBcom have an ANSI option??

-*-

31436 22-AUG 02:04 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31416)
     From: THEFERRET    To: PHILSCHERER (NR)

Not quite sure about ANSI.  VT100 usually is about the same thing, but without
color.  It probably does, thou.


-*-

31440 22-AUG 02:42 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31392)
     From: KNOT1        To: THEFERRET

You can generate a DELETE character under OS-9 by pressing Ctrl-Simicolon ( ^;
).  It would appear as an underscore on a text screen, as a shaded box on a
graphics screen.  Thus, any OS-9 terminal program should be able to produce a
DELETE character.

                                 -Jamie (KNOT1)-

-*-

31442 22-AUG 02:49 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31440)
     From: THEFERRET    To: KNOT1

Thank-You!  IS that delete character actually in the manual, or is it just a
bizzare fact you stumbled upon?

-*-

31456 23-AUG 01:07 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31442)
     From: KNOT1        To: THEFERRET

Philip,

I didn't find it in the manual myself, but it may be there.  I believe I was
just trying every key combination I could, to see what characters were produced.

Produced a shaded box and wondered what character it was.  Turned out to be the
DELETE character.  Of course, this was AFTER I added a function to my terminal
program to send a DELETE character!

                                 -Jamie (KNOT1)-

-*-

31457 23-AUG 01:43 Telcom
     RE: OSTerm (Re: Msg 31456)
     From: THEFERRET    To: KNOT1

Well, it IS nice to have delete as ONE key (say, the back arrow), instead of a
control key!

   Philip

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31383 19-AUG 22:27 General Information
     SCSI ETC...
     From: COLINMCKAY   To: BRIANWHITE (NR)

Greetings, Brian!

Long-time-no-argue! I wasn't deliberately belittling SCSI, only most of
the implimentations that I have seen on the CoCo. Plan to get a SCSI
drive myself, just as soon as my MM/1 arrives.

Could you post a copy of your megaread program if it is different from
the version that Bruce Isted posted? Would be interesting to run it on
the Eliminator, and Ken's B&B system to make a legitimate speed
comparison. 14.5 seconds is amazing! But if you are using the version
that Ken gave you, watch out, as he had patched it for use on Bill's
drive to only read 1/4 meg. The CRC for the unmodified version of
MegaRead is $FE97D8.

Assuming that you were using the patched version, that would put your
speed at about 58 seconds. The Eliminator gives me a time of 41, though
I haven't played with interleave etc. pending arrival of the daughter-
board plans for the controller from Bruce Isted.

Got MVCanvas recently, pretty good program, especially considering that
it obeys all the rules. Not quite as fancy as CoCo Max, but it doesn't
take over the entire screen either.

Matt passed around a copy of your MIDI sound file spec at the last
meeting. Looks pretty complete, though we really didn't have much time
to look at them during the meeting.

Finally got my system completely repackaged in a PC case. Even has a
nameplate on the front -- KMA 09. Kinda neat, eh?

Not too much happening locally. You are aware of the fun Ken is having
with Bill's drive, and you've heard all about Matt's new drive. (Are
you green with envy too?) Hope you find a job locally during your next
work term, as you and Matt do help to keep the meetings interesting.

TTYL. Colin.

-*-

31384 19-AUG 22:29 General Information
     Stuff
     From: COLINMCKAY   To: JENG

Jerry,

Yes, it looks like a few of us from Ottawa will be making the trek
down to Atlantafest, all in pursuit of the elusive MM/1. <Grin>

Thanks for the new (at least to me!) info on the GUI for the MM/1.
Also saw it mentioned by a guy named Mark Sheffield (who reportedly
works for IMS) that the machine will come with CoCo style windows,
with the GUI to arrive later, essentially the same way that the
CoCo 3 version of OS-9 level two did, with Multivue arriving at
a later date, and hopefully in much better shape.

I agree with your assessment of OSGateway. Looks like there is no
support planned initially, though some may arrive later. (PKW, any
comments?)

I suggested to GREGL that a conference be held online, with Frank
Hogg, Paul Ward and Kevin Darling be held here to discuss the new
machines. Also created a poll, so vote if you are interested.

So you're from Pincher Creek? Ken Scales (KSCALES) used to be in a
band that played there once. I guess they blinked the second time.
<GRIN!>

-*-

31385 19-AUG 22:30 General Information
     MM/1
     From: COLINMCKAY   To: PKW (NR)

Greetings, Paul

A lot of confusion has been cleared up during the past few weeks
with regards to the MM/1. Prices, details on some of the hardware
options, software and so on are starting to fall into place.

BTW, in message # 31286, you mentioned that Quick Basic is being
bundled with DOS 5.0. Better be careful that line doesn't get
misinterpreted as meaning the MM/1 comes with DOS...

I do see the problem that you had phrasing your ad to say that
DOS programs would be available.

What would be reasonable estimates for the availability of hardware
and software? I work at a project management office, so I know
the difference between what the supplier says, and when the equip-
ment actually starts arriving.

The MM/1 was most recently announced as shipping in mid-September.
Does this still hold true for the first units? When do you expect
to start shipping in quantity to end users?

When do you expect to start shipping the bus? How many slots will
it be? And what cards will be available?

Any estimates on when the Open Look clone will start shipping? How
about Quick Basic? Any other titles to announce yet? And their
shipping date?

Thanks. Colin.

-*-

31387 20-AUG 01:33 General Information
     RE: ROBOT ODYESSY I (Re: Msg 30719)
     From: WAYNELAIRD   To: OS9BERT

hmm can't think of a think of a thing, have you tried opening it in a graphics
window? 32X16? or are you sure that the changing of the execution directories is

the problems -wayne

-*-

31429 22-AUG 01:16 General Information
     RE: ROBOT ODYESSY I (Re: Msg 31387)
     From: OS9BERT      To: WAYNELAIRD (NR)

I did that already.  But the original program changes the execution directory to

"/D0" which complicates things.  I have disassembled the code and tried to patch

it to run on a hard drive with a path "/dd/misc/robot" but with only about half
of the code working.

Bert

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31388 20-AUG 01:48 General Information
     RE: Copyrights (Re: Msg 31050)
     From: WAYNELAIRD   To: XLIONX

hi mark, not wanting to jump too far into this discussion but I thought I saw a
lawyer mention this about copyrights in an old rainbow issue. That if you buy
someones program, that you can change it to suit your personal desires but if
you sell that program to someone else then you have give all up all rights to
owning that program including any changed ones that you may have made. the law
currently says, I believe, that you can't change someones effort a litle and put

your name on it. Which I believe is what you had in mind. if you have old
rainbows check 'em out for that article. I belive there's currently
congressional discussions on copyrighting going on as to how to protect your
ideas. best, wayne

-*-

31389 20-AUG 02:01 General Information
     68K
     From: ATRDES       To: ALL

Does anyone know how compatible the file systems are between os9 6809 and osk?
I have several disks which I believe to be from osk systems but I cannot read
the file system.  I have been able to t perform a sector by sector search of the

disks, but I would like to view the actual file system.

Is there a utility out there already?  Does anyone have the info on how osk
differs from the os9 filesystem so I can write my own utility to do this?

-*-

31397 20-AUG 10:29 General Information
     RE: 68K (Re: Msg 31389)
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: ATRDES (NR)

I suspect you'll have to be more specific about _what_ OSk system they are from.

You see, OS9 (and OSk) have been around long enough on enough different hardware

that there are actually several different OS9 disk formats.  Mostly, they differ

just in the number of tracks/sectors, and Universal" OS9 format which has a few
other changes.  OS9 and OSk have (to my knowledge) always used the same basic
file structure, though there are differences in the physical formats used.
                         - Tim

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31400 20-AUG 21:07 General Information
     RE: WIZ (Re: Msg 30978)
     From: OS9UGED      To: KELLYH (NR)

Either remove ACIAPAK driver from your boot, or make **very** sure that it is
not being directly or indirectly INIZ'd. Also, make sure you are set for 7 bits
SPC parity.

-*-

31402 20-AUG 22:32 General Information
     RE: 15 meg Tandy HD (Re: Msg 31297)
     From: 6809ER       To: TEDJAEGER

Yes, I still have a Tandy 15 meg hard drive with controler card. Send me some
Email and we will talk.

   Steve, 6809er

-*-

31405 20-AUG 23:38 Programmers Den
     c wINDOWS
     From: MFAHY        To: ALL

I'm in the process of writing my own graphic editor for OS-9 using C.  So far,
so good (although it's only the second C program I've (and fastest way) to copy
yet, to another window. I'd like to use such a routine as an 'UNDO' command
(What goods an editor without one?) Any suggestions???

Also, who can tell me what word processor to buy for OS-9?  I'm tir of powering
down to use Telewriter in BASIC, but the people at Owl Ware don't seem to want
to sell Window Writer lately.  Help!

-*-

31408 21-AUG 00:47 Programmers Den
     RE: c wINDOWS (Re: Msg 31405)
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: MFAHY

Looks like part of your message got lost.  Be careful to press <ENTER> at the
end of each screen line, or else stuff will get lost. As for Undo, the fastest
way is probably to just "GET" chunks of the screen.  Should be able to get the
entire screen in just a few chunks, and fairly quickly at that.  No need to mess

with another window at all. (Though I guess you could use two windows, and swap
between them... Hmmm..)
                   - Tim

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31406 20-AUG 23:42 Graphics & Music
     CGP COLOR DUMP
     From: MFAHY        To: ALL

   Anyone interested in a color screen dump program for the CGP-220 anymore? I
waited and waited for someone to make one, but I finally broke down and did it
myself.  Works great (All 64 colors displayed true), but could use a little
refining.  If you'd like, I could go ahead and upload it, or I could spend a
little more time w ith (It just needs to be a little smaller, perhaps a little
faster). It's written in C andoes what it's supposed to.

-*-

31407 21-AUG 00:07 Graphics & Music
     RE: CGP COLOR DUMP (Re: Msg 31406)
     From: CBJ          To: MFAHY

Yes, by all means do upload it here.  I have a CGP-220 and I'd love a copy.  I
feel there is never too much in our databases anyhow.
 ---Carl---

-*-

31415 21-AUG 18:13 Graphics & Music
     RE: CGP COLOR DUMP (Re: Msg 31406)
     From: ZACKSESSIONS To: MFAHY

Since I just got a CGP-220, I'd be interested!

-*-

31421 21-AUG 21:03 Graphics & Music
     RE: CGP COLOR DUMP (Re: Msg 31415)
     From: RAYMAYEUX    To: MFAHY

By all means upload it!

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31410 21-AUG 02:03 Programmers Den
     Walias
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: ZACKSESSIONS

Zack,
   Take a look at "walias" I just uploaded.  I think you'll like it. <grin>
                    - Tim

-*-

31411 21-AUG 02:05 Telcom
     Automatic file type detection
     From: TIMKIENTZLE  To: EDDIEKUNS (NR)

Eddie,
    I did just yesterday find a file that XYDown guessed wrong on, so I made a
change to the file type determination code.  You can look at the source I just
uploaded, but the general jist is that I added a check to make sure that any
nulls or Ctrl-Z's are at the end of the tested section, before a file will be
accepted as ASCII.
                  - Tim

-*-

31413 21-AUG 15:11 General Information
     Hard drive with 4-in-1
     From: RGRAHAM      To: ALL

 I have a Seagate 157N SCSI drive I have hooked up with my Disto 4-in-1.
Unfortunately I was unable to get the software off of it that should come on a
small partition (I have a friend with an IBM who tried). Anyway, I couldn't
figure out the basic logical format program, and don't know what to set the
HMODE params to afterward. Can someone please help me with what to change in the

BASIC program and what to set in the HMODE params.


   Thanx,
   RGRAHAM

-*-

31417 21-AUG 20:23 General Information
     RE: EZGEN (Re: Msg 31381)
     From: BANDMAN      To: ZACKSESSIONS

Thanks...will check it out!  ...Gary...

-*-

31418 21-AUG 20:29 General Information
     MM/1
     From: COLINMCKAY   To: ALL

Well, found another piece of the puzzle...

-------------------------------------------------------
From: Kevin Darling

DMA SCSI interface for the MM/1 on the second board is
a WD 33C93. Any SCSI hard disk, or a regular hard drive
with an Adaptec 4000A/4070 SCSI controller board should
work.
-------------------------------------------------------
From Computer Shopper, March 1990, p391:

4000  SCSI to ST506/412     $ 89
4000A SCSI - ST506          $139
4070  SCSI to ST506/412 RLL $119

Also of note:

4520  SCSI to ESDI          $ 98
5500  SCSI to ST506/412     $125
5580  SCSI to SMD           $175

-*-

31419 21-AUG 20:34 Device Drivers
     RE: SASI on the 4in1 (Re: Msg 31099)
     From: DISTO        To: XLIONX

Mark,  Ken answered your questions much better than I would have......Thanks
Ken!!!! -Tony.

-*-

31423 21-AUG 22:27 General Information
     UUCP
     From: RICKADAMS    To: GREGL

Well, I've been having fun with my uucp implementation.

On Wednesday, August 15th, I posted my first direct message to Usenet.  This is
the first Usenet message ever to be posted directly from a Coco 3.

This morning, I saw that my entry into the UUCP maps had been accepted and
distributed world-wide.  I am, at this point, the only Color Computer 3 in the
entire world that is an officially registered UUCP site.

Yeeee HAW!

--Rick Adams   ...!apple!fico2!ccentral!rickadams

-*-

31425 21-AUG 22:50 Patches
     SCSI patch
     From: MATTSINGER   To: KSCALES

When you say that your patches to the SCSI drivers for the disto board help
eliminate lost characters, does that mean that some are STILL lost? Will I lose
keystokes also at some times? Also, will they work withjh the 2 in one board?
(HD and RS-232 port?) Thanks!

-*-

31433 22-AUG 01:51 Patches
     RE: SCSI patch (Re: Msg 31425)
     From: KSCALES      To: MATTSINGER

There are many factors that can contribute to lost characters, and my patch can
only help with one aspect of this problem.  Please read the doc file provided
with my patch for further detail.  My driver is optimized to try to ensure that
it absolutely minimizes the number of characters lost from the serial port
(especially at 4800 baud and lower... higher baud rates will also be improved.)
All of the preceeding applies to received RS232 characters.

In terms of keyboard keystrokes, my driver should completely eliminate any lost
characters.  Clarification -- completely eliminate any characters lost due to
the Hard Disk drive, of course!!

Regarding the 2-in-1 board -- I am not aware of anyone who has tried this
configuration.  I see no reason why it would not work, since the drivers are
compatible with the Disto stand-alone HDI, as well as the 4-in-1.  Unless Tony
made some incompatible changes for the 2-in-1.

 ... / Ken

-*-

31446 22-AUG 19:16 Patches
     RE: SCSI patch (Re: Msg 31433)
     From: MATTSINGER   To: KSCALES

Thanks...just for some re-assurance in purchasing my hard drive, I am planning
to buy a ST157N.  Can you give me a very short abbreviation of what I will be
doing to get it up and running? <let's say I already have it hooked up and
ready>  Thanks.

-*-

31448 22-AUG 19:46 Patches
     RE: SCSI patch (Re: Msg 31425)
     From: ROYBUR       To: MATTSINGER

 Don't know about the SCSI patches, but I used the SASI patches with my 2-in-1
 DISTO board and it seems just fine - but it looks like I may need to re-format
 the thing, though for OTHER reasons.
 Other reasons.
 (I think I just screwed that up - hope it's still readable!) BTW, in order to
 get my rs232 port to work (it's IN the SC2) I had to place jumper J3 in the
 alternate memory map location. Is that also true for you, or do I have an odd
 one here?
                          Roy

-*-

31450 22-AUG 20:06 Patches
     RE: SCSI patch (Re: Msg 31448)
     From: MATTSINGER   To: ROYBUR

I don't have the board yet, but as I think, I may get the 4-in-1 at the last
minute.  Tell me something though, does the 2in1 extend OVER the rom socket?
i.e. I want to put a smartwatch in there.

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31426 21-AUG 23:11 Programmers Den
     WALIAS
     From: XLIONX       To: TIMKOONCE (NR)

Hey Tim (couldn't remember how to spell your new alias <grin>)!!!



-*-

31431 22-AUG 01:47 General Information
     Choose
     From: REVWCP       To: STEVECLARK (NR)

I d/l your choose program and I have a few questions. I cannot get it to work
when the hires adapter is plugged in. You mentioned a set of fonts, are they
available for downloading? I am new to OS9 and really don't have a very good
grasp of it, but I liked your program and I think it will be something I can add

to. Thank you. Brother Jeremy, CSJW (I am a monk in the Episcopal Church if you
wonder what the initials stand for. My order is the Community of St. Jospeh the
Worker.)


-*-

31432 22-AUG 01:50 General Information
     MAX10
     From: REVWCP       To: ALL

How many of you would like to see a MAX10 type of word processor to run under
OS9. Lets have a poll. If their is enough interest, perhaps it would be
commercially feasible to develope. Or, it might be a good group programming
project. Perhaps this could be posted as a Letter to the Editor in Rainbow. Lets

see what happens. Br. Jeremy, CSJW.


-*-

31454 23-AUG 00:27 General Information
     RE: MAX10 (Re: Msg 31432)
     From: IVANSC       To: REVWCP

I for one would LOVE to see DTP on OS9!


-*-

31455 23-AUG 00:37 General Information
     RE: MAX10 (Re: Msg 31454)
     From: REVWCP       To: IVANSC (NR)

Good, lets make our voices heard. Maybe Dave Stampe could rewrite MAX10 or
allowthe code to be changed by someone who can program in OS(.

-*-

31458 23-AUG 01:48 General Information
     RE: MAX10 (Re: Msg 31454)
     From: MFAHY        To: IVANSC (NR)

Count me in as well.  Home Publisher just isn't funny!

-*-

31461 23-AUG 06:26 General Information
     RE: MAX10 (Re: Msg 31432)
     From: WLADI        To: REVWCP (NR)

I would be interested to have a word processor, like MAX-10, to run under OS-9.
I haven't had much experience with it, but I like what I know about it, and like

most OS-9 users, I don't see an overabundance of good quality programming going
on.  Please help us.

wladi

-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31434 22-AUG 01:52 Grits & Gravy
     msg 31432
     From: REVWCP       To: MARTYGOODMAN (NR)

Marty, please see ms9 31432 and let me know what you think. I am not certain if
I can do much programming at this point, but I would be willing to help in any
way I can. Jeremy, CSJW


-*-

31435 22-AUG 01:54 Graphics & Music
     WORDPROCESSING
     From: REVWCP       To: JEFFPARKER (NR)

Do you think that there would be any interest for a MAX10 type of program under
OS9? I am not a programmer, but since word processing is one of your areas, may
be you could help generate some interest. see msg 31432

-*-

31438 22-AUG 02:24 Telcom
     xydown
     From: THEFERRET    To: TIMKIENTZLE (NR)

  THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU!  Just what I've been waiting for.  Now hopefully I shall

never have to switch terminal programs again, just because I want to download
something.


Ahhh,   Tim...

<begin wheedling tone here>

  Now that you've got most of the hard part done , like CRC checking, and the
file system done, and all that fun stuff....   Ummmm..
    How about adding WXmodem, huh?  Please?  Pretty please?

   <end wheedling tone>
   <begin aura of hopefull expectation>

  Philip

-*-

31439 22-AUG 02:30 Telcom
     xydown
     From: THEFERRET    To: TIMKIENTZLE (NR)

ahh, Tim?  I got  a  "read error while copying" trying to unAR the executable.

First lesson in uploading AR files:  Put text files LAST, so Executables don't
get chewed up!!

-*-

31444 22-AUG 06:57 New Uploads
     Hard Disk Formatting
     From: ROYBUR       To: KSCALES

  Hi, Ken!
    Thanx to all the Forum messages about your DISTO hard drive patches, I got
 'em. And I must say the results were immediately noticeable!!! Now it's the
DRIVERCHECK program that ends up waiting...
   But to quit rambling - in the docs, you mention a 'physical format' of the
 hard disk - could you/would you clarify that a little, please. My drive was
 already formatted (by ASCP, the vendor - heard not-so-nice comments about 'em)
 and so I really don't know, since I (thought I!) had no need to learn about
 hard drive installation, set-uo, etc. But now it seems I must learn, and where
 better to start than with a recognized expert???!! BTW, SAS=1 on this drive -
 thus my concern...
                                  Thanx for the patches
                                    Roy

-*-

31445 22-AUG 12:09 General Information
     1 Meg Upgrade
     From: AARONS       To: ALL

I have just installed the Disto CRC 1 Meg upgrade. No problems !!! It's
Fantastic!

But I'm concerned.....

It appears that it is adding considerably to the heat inside the CoCo. Is it now

nessary or wise to install a fan? Has anyone installed a fan?  Where was the
best place to install it? What size did you use and is there a tandy part
number?

Also, When I had the CoCo apart to install the upgrade I noticed that
electrolytic capacitors C29 and C31 looked like they were leaking (looks like
wax around there base).  Before I run out and get or order replacements, I would

like to know if anyone recommends replacing them with larger caps (greater
inMfds), if so what size fits and do you have Tandy part numbers?


-Aaron



-*-

31452 22-AUG 23:28 General Information
     RE: 1 Meg Upgrade (Re: Msg 31445)
     From: XLIONX       To: AARONS

Howdy Aaron,

YES YES YES add a fan. The size is not that important as long as the heat can't
build up. (The more CFM the better) I have a fan on EVERYTHING!!! I even use the

exhaust from the hard drive case to cool the Multi-Pak!


The "WAX" around your Caps is "probably" just a mounting compound used to keep
the Caps from flopping around and breaking the two small wires that are soledred

in But check any ways. I would replace them with some comercial caps from NEWARK

or DIGI-KEY. Get the ones rated at 105 deg C and they will probably last forever

(will cost a little more).

-Mark W. Farrell (PegaSystems) -XLIONX (DELPHI) -SIGOp ProSIG (Pinball Haven
RiBBS v2.0 (708)428-8445) -mwf@SANDV


-*-

31463 23-AUG 08:33 General Information
     RE: 1 Meg Upgrade (Re: Msg 31452)
     From: AARONS       To: XLIONX (NR)

Mark,

Thanks for the info.  I'm going to mount a fan ASAP.

-Aaron


-*-

End of Thread.

-*-

31447 22-AUG 19:27 General Information
     Conferencing
     From: TEDJAEGER    To: COLINMCKAY

Just wanted to say I wasnt being snooty last week when you invited me to
conference and I did not respond. Couldn't figure out how!! It was my first
shot. Could you provide a little instruction? --Thanks, TedJaeger

-*-

31449 22-AUG 20:05 Patches
     1  meg upgrade software
     From: WB4GCS       To: KDARLING (NR)

Kevin: Please check the mail I left u......have problems with the software I got

from crc with the 1 meg upgrade. thanks & 73, Jim

-*-

31453 22-AUG 23:40 Device Drivers
     adaptec
     From: 07ESRTIMOTHY To: ALL

Hi,
   I also went round and round with a hard disk.   Just an added note to the
last message.

   An Adaptec 4000 controller is SCSI only.   the 4000A is settable for either
SCSI or SASI.   If you want SCSI save some money and get the 4000.

   Also I have the manufacturers original docs for the 4000, 4000A, 4070(RLL)
controlers.  Includes sample driver routines, jumper settings, formating data
etc.

Tim Fadden

-*-

31460 23-AUG 01:59 Graphics & Music
     CGP-220
     From: MFAHY        To: ALL

Well, it's here now.  By popular demand, I uploaded my CGPDump program. Try it
out and tell me what you think.  It's rough, but it does the job!

Thanks,

- Mike Fahy
  <MFAHY>

-*-

31462 23-AUG 07:27 Device Drivers
     Hitchhiker's Guide To SCSI
     From: MATHOMPSON   To: ALL

I've got lots to say to many people so to $ave time and money, I've squeezed it
all into one message: Look for your name here:

 ALL:

I have from a very reliable source that Disto never came out with any new SCSI
drivers, and that Kevin Darling never wrote them, either.  So if you were
wondering about them, stop holding your breath.

 BRIANWHITE, COLINMACKAY:

I believe Brian's timing was for a hypothetical OS/9 system where RBFman had
zero overhead.  For the heck of it, I'm gonna throw a hook in my drivers while
I'm writing them to see how long megaread takes when the driver just returns
without doing diddley squat.  This will give a final result as to total RBFman
overhead in reading a megabyte.  Will post results on the forum, for all to see.

Also, Brian and I are using Bruce Isted's original megaread for all of our
tests.  About the only thing that can be truly said is the SCSI protocol
supports more megabytes/sec than ST412/506/ESDI/SMD/IDE.  I also believe SMD (
SMart Drive) = IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics).

 XLIONX, MATTSINGER, AJMLFCO:

XLIONX and MATTSINGER, it would seem that AJMLFCO has answered your question re:

256 bytes under OS/9. The 296N can crank it.  But the Northern Telecom SCSI
oracle didn't have a product spec for the drive, and the only literature I could

find was a spec sheet that only gave the sectors/track for 512-byte blocks.  But

remember, with my new drivers, and ONLY with MY new drivers, will Seagate N
owners get several more megabytes out of their drives when they (re-)format for
512-byte sectors.  Instead of 75MB on your 296N, you'll have the full 84!!!
Hang in there.

 RGRAHAM:

For the ST157N, you have 44 sectors per track, about 612 useful sectors, and 6
heads.  Do an hmode /h0 cyls=612 hds=6 sectrk=44 sectrk0=44 alloc=32 ilv=15
initcmd=0.  Also, for now, I suggest you get Ken Scale's SCSI drivers from the
database and use them in place of Disto's drivers.  Then get mine when I upload
them.  Then you'll get 7 more megs from your drive than you would with any other

driver available.  Keep tuned.

 ROYBUR:

If your drive was physically formatted once, there really isn't much point in
formatting it again, unless you want to fine tune the interleave for a marginal
performance gain that isn't worth a backup and restore.  You can change your SAS

in the device descriptor to whatever you want, whenever you want to.  It doesn't

matter what the drive was formatted as.  Dunno if SAS is even stored on the
drive (could be wrong on that last point).

 07ESRTIMOTHY:

Well, the only thing ESDI I will support is anything hooked to a SCSI-to-ESDI
interface.  Obviously, a full ESDI driver would preclude there being ESDI
controllers for the CoCo, which there are none.  But you might ask Chris Burke
about it (COCOXT on Delphi).  He made the CoCo XT interface, which basically
fudges an IBM card slot for the CoCo, so you can plug in an XT drive controller
and an ST412 drive.  Maybe he could be convinced to write something to support
an XT ESDI drive controller card.  I am also looking into supporting cartridge
and tape drives.  Cartridges are easy, since you access them like a disk.  Tape
drives are different, but I dunno how different.  May have to support other
things like rewind or whatever.  May even have to write an SBFman
(Sequential-Block-File) for them.  Or maybe you can just treat them like a
drive, and they figure it all out.  Will see...

 ALL:

By the way, does anybody in forum land know if Chris Burke still uses COCOXT
much around here.  Haven't seen or heard much of COCOXT, or gotten replies to
mail.  Chris, are you out there?

Matthew Thompson


-*-

31464 23-AUG 17:13 General Information
     RE: 4-in-1 board and ST-157N (Re: Msg 31306)
     From: ANTNIE       To: MATHOMPSON (NR)

Thanks so much for the help!!!! I will wait to see if your drivers work well,
and maybe get in touch with RGB. Thanks a million! Anthony

-*-


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