

#: 11523 S14/misc/info/Soapbox
    28-Jul-91  21:46:13
Sb: #11519-#Bad drive, isn't!
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 (X)

John - thanks for the tips!   I can't believe it took me so long to link the
A/C with my disk problems... ah well, live and learn, eh?  <grin>

My life is infinitely easier now that I know the cause. thx - kev

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11546 S14/misc/info/Soapbox
    30-Jul-91  21:30:24
Sb: #11523-#Bad drive, isn't!
Fm: John R. Wainwright 72517,676
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)

Sometimes it just doesn't occur to me to look for things like that either.   I
once did three (3) trips to a customer's house trying to find out why his
freezer kept thawing.  Did every diagnostic test you can do on a freezer.  As I
was leaving the house on the last day, the ductomer turned off the basement
light ........and I heard the freezer stop. AAAAaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh.

JohnW

((that "ductomer" a couple lines back is a "customer" - I really oughta learn
how to use the message editor))

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11549 S14/misc/info/Soapbox
    31-Jul-91  00:07:29
Sb: #11546-#Bad drive, isn't!
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 (X)

GRIN.  Great story!  Sounds like those outside lights in National Lampoon's
Christmas Vacation, eh?  :-) kev

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11555 S14/misc/info/Soapbox
    31-Jul-91  19:07:08
Sb: #11549-#Bad drive, isn't!
Fm: John R. Wainwright 72517,676
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)

Missed that one, lemme guess, he hit the switch and turned off:

 a.  the Stars

 b.  a small town in New Jersey.

am I close? ;)  JohnW

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11558 S14/misc/info/Soapbox
    31-Jul-91  23:18:08
Sb: #11555-Bad drive, isn't!
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 (X)

Close!  Poor Chevy Chase had strung zillions of lights all over his house, and
gathered his family together to watch them light up when he plugged two cords
together.  Naturally, nothing happened, and he looked like an idiot.

So the family went inside while he kept plugging and unplugging... and his wife
went into the storage room, where she turned on the room light (yep, that
switch was the power source to Chevy's cords!!).  So every time she went to
that room, the lights worked for him... but when he called for everyone to come
out and see, she of course first automatically turned off the storage room
light (and his outside lights, of course).

Pretty much just like your basement story!  grin - kev

#: 11524 S1/General Interest
    29-Jul-91  03:12:04
Sb: #11513-line_junk
Fm: Wayne Day 76703,376
To: KENHEIST 71750,551 (X)

Kenheist,

You need to give CompuServe's Customer Service folks a call at (800) 848-8990.
They're the only ones that can steer the network folks in the right direction
if it is your local node (like it sounds like).

Unfortunately, we can't report it for you...

Wayne

#: 11525 S7/Telecommunications
    29-Jul-91  08:04:11
Sb: #11522-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Erich,

Since you're seeing a reaction with the chaange of baud rate ... how fast is
your modem? When I gave you the value of 4 for th baud parameter, I made thhe
assumption you have a 2400 baud modem attached. If you're running something
slower, you'll need to adjust accordingly.

1200 baud=3, 300 baud=1.

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11526 S7/Telecommunications
    29-Jul-91  13:43:44
Sb: #11525-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

The modem is 2400 baud.  I have also went into the manual to try to construct
my own hex numbers, and I came up with type=00 and baud=04. Just what is that
Modem Kill?  Should I have adjusted for that?  And it seems weird that I can
log on to something but nothing works right from then on.  I might try a slower
baud rate in case, perhaps, sterm can't handle 2400 very well.  I finally found
some documentataion for the xcom9 you sent me some time ago so I'll soon give
that a try (I was never able to do anything with that til now).  But if I can
get something to work right at 2400, is there a OS-9 term program like
Mikeyterm or Ultimaterm available for download or purchase?

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11536 S7/Telecommunications
    30-Jul-91  07:38:56
Sb: #11526-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Erich,

Ok ... at 2400 baud, the value should be 4. Type at 0 is fine. The modem kill
bit, when on, sends a signal back to the system when a drop in carrier is
detected. This is used generaly with dial up systems.

Ok ... by the book, now. Does the modem have any lights? What are lit when you
bring up sterm? Specifically look for the HS lamp. Is it on (indicating high
speed -- 2400 baud).

Also, check your modem manual for the proper commands to reset the modem to
it's factory defaults. AT&F is what does it for me (and most other Hayes
compatable modems). Write that out to the modem's memory with AT&W and try
dialing up again.

Let's start here and see what happens.

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11543 S7/Telecommunications
    30-Jul-91  19:23:48
Sb: #11536-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

I do have status lights.  They are HS, AA, CD, OH, RD, SD, TR, and MR. The HS
light is on as I go into sterm and after it starts.  I cannont use factory
default since my CoCoPRO! RS-232 adapter needs DCD to be forced high.  That is
the only change from defaults that I keep in nonvolatile RAM; the manual states
they use different defaults from usual.  The only otherr thing I like to do is
AT S11=50, and in Ulterm, I also add D to my initialization string.  But the
modem will not respond to sterm at all.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11552 S7/Telecommunications
    31-Jul-91  08:21:22
Sb: #11543-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Erich,

The fact the HS lamp is lit tells me the modem is expecting high speed. The
only other changes I would make for the time being (until we get this thing
straightend out is: AT&C&D1.

Is the TR lamp lit when you fire up sterm? Do the rx and tx lamp blink when you
type blindly in sterm?


What does the s11 register do? My Hayes has this one as 'reserved'.

What brand of modem do you have?

Does it work properly under RSDOS? ARe you using the pak or the bit banger
under RSDOS?

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11574 S7/Telecommunications
    01-Aug-91  23:34:51
Sb: #11552-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

I don't recall about those lights; I'll post the answer after I try sterm again
later today.  I'll see about the &d1 too.  The s11 register controls dialing
speed.  50 is very fast dialing--about the fastest I can use with 100%
reliability.  Without it, dialing is as slow as my fingers (that is why I has
asked about a voice call dialer in the COCO FOrum.  My modem is the Supra
SupraModem 2400 widely advertised in InCider/A+ for less than what I paid
locally (sigh).  The modem works fine under DECB.  I use the bit banger for
null modems (or connect 2 modems to each other) and I use my CoCoPRO! pak for
all normal Ulterm, Mterm, RLETRM, and sterm usage (CIS, etc.)

There are 2 Replies.

#: 11578 S7/Telecommunications
    02-Aug-91  07:07:09
Sb: #11574-sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

All good info, Erich!

I use a Supra myself ...with Sterm, and it does fine. The fact you can use the
CoCoPRO pak with DECB tells me the hardware is ok. Looks like all we're left
with is some fine tuning.

Let us know about the lamps ...

Steve

#: 11579 S7/Telecommunications
    02-Aug-91  07:11:15
Sb: #11574-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

One other thought, Erich:

You have a proper driver and descritor for the CoCoPRO pak in your OS9 boot,
jes? (Generally /t2 and ACIAPAK).

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11580 S7/Telecommunications
    02-Aug-91  09:06:28
Sb: #11579-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

I do have /t2 and ACIAPAK there.  I now know exactly what's in my OS9Boot
thanks to EZGen 1.08.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11595 S7/Telecommunications
    03-Aug-91  09:07:59
Sb: #11580-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Ok ... drivers and descriptors are in place. What do the lamps do when you type
on the keyboard under sterm?



There is 1 Reply.

#: 11608 S7/Telecommunications
    03-Aug-91  23:57:19
Sb: #11595-#sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

I'll have to try to look while typing very fast.  Even under Ulterm and Mterm I
still can't see activity.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11612 S7/Telecommunications
    04-Aug-91  09:21:48
Sb: #11608-sterm 1.2 w/o modem pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175

Let the key repeat handle the fast typing for you. Just sit on a key and watch
what happens to the lamps.

Steve

#: 11527 S1/General Interest
    29-Jul-91  13:53:05
Sb: #Go to 6mS or Not Go?
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: ALL

I am in the process of trying to create a new system disk (still (g)).  As I
have the patches printed in The Rainbow Guide to OS-9 Level II for making d0
run at 6mS, I was wondering whether I should.  I have heard that running the
drive faster puts a lot of extra wear on it, can be unreliable (though I have
never had a problem under DECB on the occasions I've done it), and there are
problems with trying to boot OS-9 with a 6mS descriptor in the boot file
(sudden change of speed???).  So is this really worth doing?  If not, what
would be a 20mS patch if that would work better?  My controller is the FD-502
and is 40 track double sided.

There are 2 Replies.

#: 11528 S1/General Interest
    29-Jul-91  14:55:18
Sb: #11527-Go to 6mS or Not Go?
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

I guess it depends on the drive.  However, I've been running my Mitsumi drives
at 6ms for a long time.  About the only thing that still uses the slower step
rates on my systems is the original Lvl 2 System Disk.

I'd say go ahead and set your system up for 6ms step rates.

I booted my system from floppy descriptors that were set up for 6ms even though
the initial booting module still accessed the drive at 30ms.  The 'sudden
change of speed' did nothing to hinder my systems' operation.

Have you got the DMODE program from Lib 9 or 10?  It's a great utility for
setting several floppy descriptor parameters.

Lee



#: 11533 S1/General Interest
    29-Jul-91  21:51:14
Sb: #11527-#Go to 6mS or Not Go?
Fm: Rick Ulland 70540,3305
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Erich-
 I've also used that patch on TEAC,TEC,and whatever-it-is-they-put-inna502
drives with no problem.My thinking is if it didn't break a TEC drive, it won't
break anything! But while you're 'apatchin', this is the one that speeds Boot
up to 6ms as well-
 l boot
 c 00c0 03 00
 c 017c 1310
 v I can't tell if this really speeds the boot up much, but some drives sound
like a broken MixMaster at 30ms...
                                     Rick

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11542 S1/General Interest
    30-Jul-91  19:19:27
Sb: #11533-Go to 6mS or Not Go?
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Rick Ulland 70540,3305 (X)

So there is more to the story (g)!  Now that I can make some good use of my
EZGen, I'll be doing both patches soon.  Thanks for your "bonus" tip.

#: 11529 S15/Hot Topics
    29-Jul-91  20:14:26
Sb: #11416-#MM/1 delivery
Fm: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004
To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 (X)

John,

Ship that drive to

IMS Shipping 108 Elmwood Terrace Greensboro NC 27408

Include a note describing the problem, the diagnosis, and request a
replacement.

Thanks!

Paul IMS

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11545 S15/Hot Topics
    30-Jul-91  21:20:24
Sb: #11529-#MM/1 delivery
Fm: John R. Wainwright 72517,676
To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 (X)

Thanks for the info, Paul.  I'll get it shipped.  Learning how to use all this
stuff little by little - think I'll dive into OddJob next.

JohnW

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11585 S15/Hot Topics
    02-Aug-91  17:41:08
Sb: #11545-#MM/1 delivery
Fm: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004
To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 (X)

OddJob is one heck of a language. Call TechnoTeacher for support, too - they
are extremely knowledgeable about OSK, UNIX, and multimedia stuff.

Their phone number can be found by typing

oj -?

Talk to ya soon!

Best,

Paul

IMS

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11588 S15/Hot Topics
    02-Aug-91  20:53:57
Sb: #11585-MM/1 delivery
Fm: John R. Wainwright 72517,676
To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004

Thanks Paul.  Another question, where is the "rdump" command.  Did it get left
out?  I thought I would poke around in the LIB files and see what I could
learn.

JohnW

#: 11531 S15/Hot Topics
    29-Jul-91  20:22:31
Sb: #11509-#MM/1 delivery
Fm: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004
To: GLEN HATHAWAY 71446,166 (X)

Glen,

Taken care of -- I'll call you to confirm your order this week.

Best,

Paul IMS

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11548 S15/Hot Topics
    30-Jul-91  23:05:17
Sb: #11531-#MM/1 delivery
Fm: GLEN HATHAWAY 71446,166
To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 (X)

Thanks Paul... Waiting for your cal... If you get the answering machine after 6
or 7 rings (meaning the Cellular has call-forwarded you to the house), leave a
message. I usually call and get my messages 2 or 3 times a day. I'll get back
to you right away. I am interested (if you have any available) in also getting
a hard drive packaged with the new machine rather than having to right away
have to tear down and adapt my old 30 megger off the CoCo3. I am interested in
something 40 - 80 megs (larger, if the price is right).
                                     Glen Hathaway 71446,166

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11586 S15/Hot Topics
    02-Aug-91  17:42:51
Sb: #11548-MM/1 delivery
Fm: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004
To: GLEN HATHAWAY 71446,166

Glen,

Tried calling you. Will try again over the weekend -- hope you're in!

Reaction to the MM/1 has been OVERWHELMING. I now get double the phone calls I
used to get, and the literature is going out FAST.

It really keeps me from doing other stuff I have to get done, like the rep
marketing plan and so on.

Best,

Paul

IMS

#: 11606 S15/Hot Topics
    03-Aug-91  22:47:15
Sb: #11293-#MM/1 delivery
Fm: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111
To: Colin J. Smith 73777,1360 (X)

Colin, in your July 5th message you mentioned "latest issue of OSKer." From
that, I gather it has published an issue since the April Rainbowfest -is that
right?  If so, it looks good for that mag.  'Bout time I subscribed, maybe? 
--mike k

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11616 S15/Hot Topics
    04-Aug-91  16:13:09
Sb: #11606-MM/1 delivery
Fm: Colin J. Smith 73777,1360
To: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111

YEAH, SEEMS LIKE I GOT THAT ISSUE (#5) MAYBE JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO.  IT'S WORTH
THE $12.

  --COLIN

#: 11530 S1/General Interest
    29-Jul-91  20:20:04
Sb: #11421-Apple Mac
Fm: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004
To: BRUCE MOORE 70075,143 (X)

Bruce,

You CAN connect 5 terminals up the ports, but then you have no serial port for
a modem or mouse.

Best best is to decide HOW you want to use the console, then figure how many
terminals you will be able to use on the console. When you need more serial
ports, add another MM/1 personal (allows three more users per Personal) via the
MM/1 network. This connection does not use up a serial port. It allows 128
MM/1s to be networked together -- Network File Manager is already included,
saving you hundreds of dollars.

Anyway, that's the scoop!

Best,

Paul IMS

#: 11534 S14/misc/info/Soapbox
    29-Jul-91  23:34:28
Sb: '68 MJ for sale
Fm: Hitoshi Yoshimoto 74140,13
To: ALL

I have a set of '68 Micro Journal from April 1986 to October 1988.  Some of
these issues include articles about OS-9, too.  I need to make room for newer
project, so I would like to sell them for $15.  Those who are interested in,
please send a message. Thank you.

#: 11537 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    30-Jul-91  09:05:09
Sb: #Modempak
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: All

There's now a kit available that, when installed correctly, will convert an old
and nearly worthless Modem Pak into functional RS-232 Pak that works at the
FF68 address.

Question:  What does it take to use the modified Modem Pak as a second Deluxe
RS-232 Pak running from Slot #2 of the MPI?
 - Re-addressing to avoid conflicts with RS-232 Pak in Slot #1
 - IRQ Hack

What else?

Any advice and help will be appreciated.

Thanks, Lee




There is 1 Reply.

#: 11538 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    30-Jul-91  10:12:30
Sb: #11537-#Modempak
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X)

Lee - that sounds about like it... except perhaps that if the IRQ hack used
doesn't include a path all the way past the GIME, then ACIAPAK needs to have
its code which shuts off GIME interrupts taken out (set to NOPs). This so that
deiniz'ing one port doesn't shut the other one out :-)

Ummm... that patch should be around here somewhere, unless you have done it
already ?  kev

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11539 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    30-Jul-91  11:24:58
Sb: #11538-Modempak
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)


Kevin,
 I'm using the Comm-4 and Alpha Software gave me a patch that I think did the
NOPing that you talked about.  I had already discussed that with the guy in our
club that's doing the ModemPak hack as a probability.  It seems like it was
about a 5 or 6 byte string of NOPs (hex 12s as I recall).

Thanks for the info.

Lee



#: 11540 S7/Telecommunications
    30-Jul-91  14:46:03
Sb: #Sterm
Fm: Jim Sutemeier 70673,1754
To: ALL

I am using Sterm for the first time today & seem to have a problem getting the
menu up (or for that matter, anything!!)

The startup menu says hit ESC H for a menu.  Welp, I tried ESC-H, CTL-H,
ALT-H,CTL-ALT-H,SHIFT-RIGHT-H (like xcom9).....

pretty much every combination I can think of, and I still can't get the menu to
come up.

Any help from you experienced OS9/Sterm users??

Thanks!

jim



There are 2 Replies.

#: 11541 S7/Telecommunications
    30-Jul-91  15:05:46
Sb: #11540-Sterm
Fm: Robert A. Hengstebeck 76417,2751
To: Jim Sutemeier 70673,1754 (X)

Escape on the coco is the contral key and the break key pressed at the same
time together.  I've always hated that since I don't have the span in one hand
to do that.  this is a two hand operation.



#: 11553 S7/Telecommunications
    31-Jul-91  08:24:24
Sb: #11540-Sterm
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Jim Sutemeier 70673,1754 (X)

Jim,

It's a nimble fingered trick on the CoCo keyboard, but depress <cntl><break>
_THEN_ the option letter.

<CNTL><BREAK> is the <ESC> sequence.

Steve

#: 11544 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    30-Jul-91  19:29:42
Sb: Making New System Disks
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Brother Jeremy

A problem with my documentation has made it difficult for me to use my copy of
EZGen 1.08.  But I finally figured it out and after 22 hours I finally got the
system disk I wanted.  Well almost.  I now know that the RAMdisk modules that
came with my 512K upgrade are fine if you bring up the RAMdisk by commands, but
don't work in the bootfile.  A procedure file to do this helps except for how
much memory is being wasted.  So thanks for encouragging me to finally
seriously try something other than CONFIG.

#: 11547 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    30-Jul-91  22:29:12
Sb: #URGENT-need answr 2nite!
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: all


Could someone respond ASAP to this question?  I might buy a guy's Atari system,
and I need some input VERY QUICKLY, like Tonight, Right Now, Pronto, please.

I'm being offered a $400.00 price for an Atari 1040ST, including a built-in
3.5" floppy, 1-meg RAM installed, a monochrome monitor (higher resolution for
MIDI stuff), and probably whatever game/software collection he has.  Or $500
for all that but a color monitor instead.

Microware said they could still sell Personal OS9 2.4 (the older version) for
the Atari ST for $150.00, so this system looks rather inticing.

IS THIS A GOOD PRICE FOR USED EQUIPMENT?

Do any of the KMAers offer substantially more power for same price range?

I've heard others using the CM-8 monitor on the Atari ST.  Can I do this and
save even more by not buying the monochrome tube?

I need to know TONIGHT July 30 if you can answer.  The guy is leaving sometime
tomorrow afternoon so I won't be able to log onto CIS before then (daytime
rates & all that).

- Thx, Paul Seniura.



There are 3 Replies.

#: 11550 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    31-Jul-91  00:11:36
Sb: #11547-#URGENT-need answr 2nite!
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

Paul - let me go check out some prices on the other nets... also you might ask
the same Q in ATARIPRO or ATARIARTS forums.

In the meantime, $400-500 is about right for a 1meg ST with monitor.  Since I'm
pretty sure you can use (or build a tiny circuit to use) the CM-8 with it, then
definitely get the monochrome monitor... it gives a sharp 640x400 screen.

Again, let me check - there may be deals including hard disks around. - kev

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11559 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    31-Jul-91  23:34:38
Sb: #11550-URGENT-need answr 2nite!
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)

Goodness gracious ... I'm very glad I didn't go spend that money! I'll go see
about that 2.5meg ST & stuff.  Now maybe I can get into OSK pretty cheap, eh? 
-- Thx, Paul Seniura.

#: 11551 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    31-Jul-91  00:16:05
Sb: #11547-URGENT-need answr 2nite!
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

HEY! Read message 48197 in ATARIP forum!!  2.5meg ST with 30 meg HD, both
monitors for $550.

You might also still want to check ATARIA forum tho.  luck!

#: 11554 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    31-Jul-91  08:30:04
Sb: #11547-#URGENT-need answr 2nite!
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

Paul,

I'm curious about your 'daytime rates' comment ....

CIS has had the same rates day and evening for several years now. Or did you
mean the daytime rates from a network such as Tymnet/Telenet?

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11560 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    31-Jul-91  23:43:42
Sb: #11554-#URGENT-need answr 2nite!
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

As recently as last year when I bought another CIS subscription package, their
little booklet had a $8 difference for Telenet & Tymnet prices between the
day/night rates.

But that message was formatted for simultaneous display on CIS and Delphi. The
20/20 plan goes away during the day over yonder.

-- Thx, Paul Seniura.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11569 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK)
    01-Aug-91  07:49:38
Sb: #11560-URGENT-need answr 2nite!
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

Paul,

There still is a day/night pricing difference in the network surchage imposed
by Telenet & Tymnet. Nothing to do with CompuServe tho.

No local CompuServe node in your area? With some of the better long distance
plans now in place, (i.e. Reach Out America, etc) a LD call can be cheaper than
those surcharge.

Steve

#: 11556 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  20:48:51
Sb: Spoker error 48
Fm: BRUCE MOORE 70075,143
To:  76264,142

I am having trouble with strippker (SPoker) I get marlena on half the screen
and then an error 48?

#: 11557 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  22:08:04
Sb: #flakey port
Fm: Rick Ulland 70540,3305
To: all

Been STERM'in for a while with no problem. But recently, I've noticed no 'Hot
Topics' or whatever menu. Get the header, a long wait, then -
 userv  TOP etc. just like that- first menu and Comp never received.I'm
wondering... since GShell is patched to 1.24a and I never fixed the I/O modules
in boot does that cause this or other problems? Or has anybody ran into this
before? Or if this is a new one please send me an 'I don't know whatyou're
talking about'
                           Thanks    -Rick

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11568 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-Aug-91  07:45:14
Sb: #11557-#flakey port
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Rick Ulland 70540,3305 (X)

Rick, "I don't know what you're talking about"!   :-)


Seriously .... your descritpion was a bit disjointed. Are you thumping <ENTER>
every 80 or so characters?

Sterm is pretty generic, so it shouldn't rely on patches and mods to your
system. If you have an OS9 shell ... then Sterm should be working fine.

Like wise... no change on the forum that might make HOT TOPICs  take a hike. Is
it possible your forum parameters have been modified in some way?

Type OPtions and check out what subtopics you have enabled. Maybe 15 got turned
off.

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11615 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    04-Aug-91  15:15:36
Sb: #11568-#flakey port
Fm: Rick Ulland 70540,3305
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

 Actually, this crops up right after compuservs header, not in forum.I get the
header, then it just sits for awhile. When the cursor resumes, it starts in the
middle of a word. The minor version only loses a few letters, ; so GO RATES for
current... becomes ATES for current.... This isn't really a problem. The major
version loses the first menu alltogether,along with holiday announcements,etc.
and resumes somewhere in the TOP menu. This all happens before sending
anything.(except id and password). Which makes me want to blame my system. BTW,
is there any reason STERM won't run from an AIF with the params on line 2? I
can only >start a shell >hotkey over, and >start STERM from the command line.
Double clicking an AIF gives a pretty pink screen with what looks like an 20x10
window in the top corner.
 Thanks for the help  -Rick

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11626 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    05-Aug-91  07:53:54
Sb: #11615-flakey port
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Rick Ulland 70540,3305

Rick,

What you're describing sounds like your system is dropping characters big time!

HAve you installed the IRQ hack? If not, this could be the source of your
trouble.

Also:


Are you running the patched gshell or stock? (If stock ... get the patches).
Also, it's possible that the mouse is stealing too many cycles. Move the cursor
to the far edge of the screen and ssee if things improve.

On using an AIF ... no problem at all. What appears to be happening is that
your next window descriptor in line is set up incorrectly. You should nab wmode
from the libraries and check out the parameters. (wmode works much like dmode
for drives).

Steve

#: 11561 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  23:49:55
Sb: #11520-#you better read this
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

I've been waiting more than a half year for some useful help and feedback on
several articles I've uploaded, not just the Timer project either.

The forum MESSAGES are not where the articles are located; they are uploaded
into the library sections.  After uploading an article, I'll start a message
intending for that to be the "reply thread" for the ARTICLE.  Those text files
can't fit into a message here on CIS, and most people would have to suffer
through them if they *did* fit (Delphi's system will allow such a fit).  So if
you want to calculate how long I've been waiting for responses, check the
upload dates of the ARTICLES not the messages.  And start browsing those
messages I left -- the NICE ones -- intending on starting discussion threads,
one thread for each various subject related to those article text files.

Now count how many times I've logged on silently to see if there were any
replies to those initial thread-starting messages.  That all adds up in terms
of CIS on-line charges.  They *do* count.  You weren't counting all of these
times I passed by to find "nothing's going on", because I *was* silent. Nothing
useable on the forums, no e-mail, no requests for conferences to do the details
interactively, no volunteers to go ask people on Usenet, no nuthin.

Just plain ol' wasting money.  Which is why I burst a few days ago after I
found out CIS has a contest going on about "How Calling CIS Saved My Day" or
some such subject.  They are doing that to justify the high cost of using this
service.  I felt they need to know why people like me are just burning dollar
bills on their phone lines.  And I still feel like they need to know.

Shoot, I feel very embarrassed I had to get that flaming angry just to eeek out
a response out of someone.  It's not fun doing this; it demonstrates the sheer
lack of knowledge we have when we want to develop something (despite all the
books I've bought which also helped those authors earn a living).  Lack of
knowledge is frustrating in itself, not counting the waiting we've been doing
here.

-- Thx, Paul Seniura.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11614 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    04-Aug-91  09:57:31
Sb: #11561-you better read this
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

Paul,

Thanks for taking the time to respond with a very well thought out argument. I
can appreciate your frustration, but to place the blame on the entire OS9
community is pretty heavy.

I've been associated with the forum for a long time (both as a user and as
'staff') and can offer this observation:

When in Rome ...

It's been my experience that an approach to a problem that starts out with
dumping a disertation to the libraries, calling for comment on multiple issues,
then looking for discussion in the message base never seems to work. I've seen
it fail with a call for a standard regarding MV, issues revolving around the
now-defuncted UG and a handful of other topics.

What I _have_ seen work is to take the same multiple issues, break them up into
smaller single topics and start a discussion in the message base. Folks tend to
respond better, are more apt to talk off the top of their head, and some good
ideas result. Of course this places the burden of compilation of thoughts upon
you as the 'moderator', but I think you're up for it!

This technique has worked extremely well with the development of the first UUCP
port to the CoCo. Mark would call for comments on a single facet of his
efforts, retreive the offered feedback, chew on it off line and respond with
some code fragment for us to pound on.

It also worked fantastically with the development of the imfamous Level II
upgrade. Hidden behind the scenes in a private subtopic, library and conference
area, this type of give and take went on with over a dozen individuals.

Development by committee works .... it's the approach that needs careful
application.

The OS9 forum has a great reputation for helping out. I'd be happy to offer my
assistance, but I'm user ... not a techician. Your knowledge of the subject
matter is far and away past mine. I'd suggest that it's the same for many
others as well. We're overwhelmed by the scope of what you've presented.

Piece it out and let's see what happens.

Steve



#: 11562 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  23:54:24
Sb: #11515-you better read this
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)

You quoted only part of the text that explains the copyright.  I also said I
was asking for feedback for these ideas and YOUR ideas would be protected as
well and fully acknowledged if anything ever comes out of these various
projects.  I even explained this latter part to you more than this one time!

And I'm trying to do it in such a way that the whole OS9 Community will become
involved.  Delphians have been more active than anyone on CIS here.  Shoot, I
even mentioned that in the second Timer article update.  (You didn't see any
CIS members mentioned except for yourself, did you? :-)

I coined the "pessemistic" term upon myself due to the fact that I can't get
the OS9 Community involved in ANYTHING.  We're talking about several different
projects remember.  *Still* nothing on the "undocumented Stat calls" for the
Acia project.  Still nothing on the CoCo battery backup project.  We ditched
trying to get a response from SCSI interface companies in wanting to come up
with a decent tape backup system; and the CD-ROM discussion we had here a while
back died likewise since it involved those same SCSI companies.  (Disto,
OwlWare, those KMA companies, no one responded.)

I replied to Steve Wegert (see reply to his msg #11520) explaining how long
we've actually been waiting for feedback.  If you care, you might like to read
it, too.

GEnie managers already got a lashing quite some time ago, mostly concerning how
their MIDI users won't provide files using a universally available archive
method.  You can't use Standard MIDI Files if the stupid file is in those weird
formats like ZOO, LZH, SIT, etc.  The IMA should look into why that kind of
practice is allowed -- defeats the whole purpose of having standard file
formats, the SMF directly being controlled by the IMA.  Lessons we can all
learn.

So having said all of this, let me get on with the other questions you typed.

#: 11563 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  23:55:53
Sb: #Timer Thoughts
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)


The second Timer article update is a very watered-down (or boiled away) set of
ideas we ended up discussing on Delphi.  I didn't include the whole history and
the entire reasoning behind those three ways of supporting the timer.

And there's nothing vague about our ideas whatsoever.  I ended up stating how
we want to make the SVC support games and MIDI and whatever else would need a
Programmable Timer interrupt.  That's the crux of our project right there.

We don't want a constant cycle interrupting all the time -- the 60-Hz vertical
sync interrupt is for that.  We want a programmable-length delayed one-shot IRQ
and the quickest way to kick in the user task's "timer pop" routine.

If some program calculates the need for a 0.045-second delay, for example, the
12-bit timer can give us incredible accuracy compared to counting 60-Hz VIRQs
(the way those Sierra games do it; I studied Bruce Isted's VRN sources).  The
number of 60-Hz pulses for a 0.045-sec pause turns out to be 2.7.  But you
can't count 0.7 pulses, and that's where the inaccurate timing can be fixed by
using the 12-bit timer.  If we count 2 VIRQs, that's almost a -26% error;
counting 3 VIRQs has a +11% error.  And those errors will be cumulative as the
program continues to time things that way.

Using 63.5-microsecond resolution of the 12-bit timer, we would set a 0.045-sec
delay this way:  That turns out to be 708 or 709 units, and that's the number
to poke into the timer register after setting the IRQ flags on.  It produces an
error of less than 0.1% (that's one-TENTH of 1%).

This lets the program continue generating whatever it needs to accomplish the
"next" time, i.e. after the timer pops, without wasting CPU resources to count
VIRQs.  Since we want a one-shot effect, immediately after it pops, the SVC
must turn off those IRQ flags before making OS9 kick in the user task's code.

..

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11564 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  23:56:51
Sb: #11563-#Timer Thoughts
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

..

Our discussions on Delphi have concentrated on how best to get that user task
kicked in or "goosed" once the timer pops.  I need to know more about lots of
things before we can even do some tests.  Those questions were brought up in
the second Timer article update.

If we did the pseudo-driver method, we already described what the record
formats would look like: not much different than the way MFConv/MFPlay does it,
but we'd need an extra field at the head of the record to specify the path# of
the real physical device to send the data when the timer pops.  But Jason
Bucata brought up the points I covered in that article: We have too much
overhead here, where the user pgm I$Writes to the pseudo-driver via SCF,
wherein the pseudo-driver buffers the data until the timer pops, at which time
another I$Write is issued with D.Proc saved/set to the user task# and writes
the buffered data to that passed path#, more SCF overhead.  You, Kevin, gave us
a response this last time concerning using P$DATImg, which I assume will
replace the act of I$Writing data from the user pgm to the pseudo-driver the
first time around.  *That* is an idea worth reconsidering this method of using
the timer.

But then some people on Delphi had an honest concern to not make the Timer
Driver be so ridged to do only Timed I/O like this.  Make it flexible and
usable in a variety of ways.  So I'm still very swayed about ditching the
pseudo-driver method.

Then came the SVC ideas, two of them (rounding out the three methods as
mentioned).  When we found out about F$Send, what you typed this last time, all
pretty much matched.  We tossed F$Icpt/F$Send out the door.  Too inaccurate to
base this 12-bit timer's resolution on.

..

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11565 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  23:57:41
Sb: #11564-#Timer Thoughts
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

..

So we scratched our heads (again on Delphi -- no one was responding to CIS here
as I've been saying during this time).  I "discovered" F$SSWI on page 8-37 in
the Tandy L2 Tech Ref.  Tried to get people to find out if OS9 would swap a
task in (if sleeping or whatever) immediately if not sooner after a SWIn. Eddie
Kuns (who was very responsive as Jason was) said he thought it would since it
seemed such an important action.

And the watered-down boiled-down ideas are in that second Timer update article
I posted.  That's where we stand today, still in the research phase even before
we can write code to test it.  I *always* do this kind of research before
sharing even an alpha-test program with people.  I can't continue without some
solid facts whether our ideas have any merit whatsoever, or should we consider
other alternatives, or go completely back to the drawing board?

So now let me reexplain the SVC/F$SSWI method we'd like to try but have no idea
how to pursue testing it (I don't have a system-level debugger) or if it'd even
work with our assumptions.

First, the user pgm would do a SVC to inquire about the timer's resolution etc.
The user pgm can use this in the mathmatics of converting its timing to that of
the hardware/system.

The user pgm then sets up a computed-length delay, and tells OS9 to branch to a
routine (in its own area *or* to another subroutine module) when the timer
pops.  The user pgm may decide to sleep or to generate advanced data while
waiting for the delay to end; this shouldn't matter to the timer SVC itself.

..

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11566 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  23:58:46
Sb: #11565-#Timer Thoughts
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

..

(Okay, here's a place we need to set a standard: which of the "user SVCs"
ranging from $70 to $7F as stated on page 8-108 of Tandy L2 Tech Ref can we use
that someone hasn't used yet, considering all the "official" patches we see
here, and considering sample OS9Pn materials or actual extensions people are
using out there?  We need to make sure we don't blap our SVC definitions on top
of those!  Then we can discuss good parameter-passing ideas later after we test
and debug a few things.  For fastness, we'd need 3 SVC numbers.  I already
explained two of 'em; the third would be to kill a "live" countdown being
performed in the case of the user pgm deciding it doesn't want/need that delay
for some reason.)

Back on the road here.  Somehow the user pgm will pass a parm to the Timer SVC
to start actual timing, and the user pgm will also issue F$SSWI to point to its
timer-pop routine.  Not F$Icpt mind you: F$SSWI.

(Okay here's another place we need help with: we can use SWI [type #1] or SWI3
[type #3] as the Tandy books says on 8-37, right?  Just stay away from SWI2?
What should be "in" the "user software interrupt routine" pointed to by
register X when the F$SSWI is issued?  Do we use RTI or RTS when ending this
routine?)

The user pgm now isn't the main concern.  The Timer SVC *is*.  Once the SVC has
been called to set up a delay, it lights up the various IRQ flags and F$IRQ
service pointer packet to cause a branch to its code when OS9 determines that
timer was the dude who belched.  The SVC code itself will not be able to reread
the IRQ tell-tale flags since the CoCo3's GIME resets 'em once they are read
the first time, right?  We must assume OS9 can do this on its own with the
flip/flag bytes in the F$IRQ packet, right?  And is the 12-bit timer register a
"readable" register?  What I'm getting at is that we don't have any way to
ensure the timer interrupted, do we, as a double-check?

..

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11567 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    31-Jul-91  23:59:39
Sb: #11566-#Timer Thoughts
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

..

Well let's say once the timer interrupts, we "know" it's "us" who needs to
respond.  What to do?  Remember we're in system mode at this point, and the
user pgm probably is nowhere mapped-in right now.  In order to call the user
pgm's F$SSWI vector, we must "become" that task by saving then poking D.Proc
with the id of that task.  Then we can issue a matching SWIn 6809 instruction
right then & there.  Right?  OS9's software interrupt routine will cause the
user pgm to get mapped in and *bingo* we're running the code for that task.
Right?  We don't need to mess with map-in calls and DAT-image calls etc. Right?

And the second Timer article update still has further questions which should be
consulted at this time.  And I hope these replies have made it clearer in order
to understand that second update?

-- Thx, Paul Seniura.



There is 1 Reply.

#: 11570 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-Aug-91  10:35:16
Sb: #11567-#Timer Thoughts
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

Paul  (this seems the easiest way of answering),

  "Our discussions on Delphi have concentrated on how best to get that user
task kicked in or "goosed" once the timer pops.

The main thing is: there really are different best methods for each need. And
".045" second accuracy is usually something critical handled inside driver irq
code. Few games need great accuracy, either.  MIDI seems like about the only
unique case to me... and it probably needs a driver, not a user task method.

  "need to know more about lots of things before we can even do some tests."

Some testing you can/should do immediately.  Such as checking out the way the
timer works, etc... which can be done under RSDOS, even.  You need the info and
experience.

  "If we did the pseudo-driver method, ..."

You could also do a file manager just to make the speed better for some types
of timer apps... such as output to MIDI drivers.

<continued in reply>

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11571 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-Aug-91  10:35:37
Sb: #11570-#Timer Thoughts
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)

<continued>

  "which of the [SWI2] user SVCs ranging from $70 to $7F [can be used?]"

Umm, probably any of them.  Q: why not just use driver-specific statcalls? And
speaking of the driver...

  "The [driver interrupt service] code itself will not be able to reread the
IRQ tell-tale flags since the CoCo3's GIME resets 'em once they are read the
first time, right?  We must assume OS9 can do this on its own with the
flip/flag bytes in the F$IRQ packet, right?  And is the 12-bit timer register a
"readable" register?  What I'm getting at is that we don't have any way to
ensure the timer interrupted, do we, as a double-check?"

No, it can't re-read the GIME IRQ flags... which is why Clock stores a copy of
them at D.IRQS ($00AF) in the Direct Page variables (see my book, or check the
source for anyone's Clock module).  From that copy it's easy to tell if the
timer caused an interrupt.

In fact, since there is no other indicator, you should use the D.IRQS variable
address as the fake address of your "status register" in a F$IRQ setup packet. 
I've done this before (it's durned clever too, I might add :-).

IRQPacket fcb 0,$20,255 flip,mask,priority

DrivInit
 ldd  #D.IRQS       use GIME irq flag bits copy as
 leax IRQPacket,pc    "status register" with
 leay IRQCode,pc      bit 5 is the "irq" bit
 OS9  F$IRQ
 ...

IRQCode
 lda  D.IRQS        acknowledge timer irq tken care of
 anda #^$20
 sta  D.IRQS
 ...

<continued in reply>

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11572 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-Aug-91  10:36:23
Sb: #11571-Timer Thoughts
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)

<continued>

  "(Okay here's another place we need help with: we can use SWI or SWI3 as the
Tandy books says on 8-37, right?  Just stay away from SWI2? What should be "in"
the "user software interrupt routine" pointed to by register X when the F$SSWI
is issued?  Do we use RTI or RTS when ending this routine?)"

Alright, more detail: a SWI/SWI3 causes the 6809 to stack the current register
values.  SWI also sets the I and F interrupt flags, if that matters to y'all.
Then OS-9 maps in the system, jumps to the SWI/SWI3 vector, and that simply
jumps back to the _last_ user process map at the offset set by previous F$SWI
with the SP still pointing at your SWIx stackframe.  The kernel is now done.

Your user process now can look up parameters from the stacked register values,
and of course to return it can do either a RTI or drop most of the stack and do
an RTS.  This all assumes the user process does the SWI/SWI3 tho.

  "Well let's say once the timer interrupts, we "know" it's "us" who needs to
respond.  What to do?  Remember we're in system mode at this point, and the
user pgm probably is nowhere mapped-in right now.  In order to call the user
pgm's F$SSWI vector, we must "become" that task by saving then poking D.Proc
with the id of that task.  Then we can issue a matching SWIn 6809 instruction
right then & there.  Right?"

Sorry, the SWI/SWI3 stuff isn't quite that fancy (see above)... and if you did
one from a driver, then ummmm... maybe you could by with it if you did the
change to D.Proc and also an F$SetTsk to set up the user DAT mapping. Oh, and
also set up the P$variables such as the process timeout etc.

Ooops.  You'd be leaving the system set up for system state stuff tho, and a
stackframe on the system stack.  That might still be okay... not sure. Hafta
look.  In any case, I'd go for a driver right now and wait on F$SWI stuff... it
wasn't meant for this kind of thing. - kev

#: 11573 S3/Languages
    01-Aug-91  19:02:40
Sb: #CENV.AR
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: All

I recently downloaded the CENV.AR archive from Lib 3.  When I de-ARchived it,
there were three new files in the data directory.  They were CENV (the program

and support programs), CENVDOC (which I assumed was the docs file), and
RELEASE.DOC (which was a small one page thank you note.)

CENV seems to work, I've set up an AIF which I click on and the program starts.

The problem is that some configuring needs to be done, but the docs file
(CENVDOC) seems to be an archive of an archive.  There appears to be some
nested files within the CENVDOC file, but they don't seem correctly formatted
so that a simple additional "AR -x CENVDOC" can extract them.

I figured a few things without the docs, but having the docs would be extremely
helpful (I hope!), but up to now the docs are defying extraction.

Has anyone got a good set of docs out of CENV.AR?

Lee

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11576 S3/Languages
    02-Aug-91  00:12:50
Sb: #11573-#CENV.AR
Fm: James Jones 76257,562
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X)

I have.  To get them out, it looks like one needs the "cuts" utility that is
used by folks on the BITNET CoCo mailing list to encode files for transmission.
Cuts does have advantages, especially in the mixed ASCII/EBCDORK environment of
BITNET...but anyway, do you have cuts?

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11582 S3/Languages
    02-Aug-91  11:47:29
Sb: #11576-#CENV.AR
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: James Jones 76257,562 (X)

I have bruises but no cuts!!!

I wonder if some one could un-CUT the CENVDOC file that's got the CENV docs
imbedded in there, and then put the un-CUT docs back up in the LIB?

It sure would help if someone could cut loose the docs on CENV.

Thanks,

Lee

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11590 S3/Languages
    02-Aug-91  21:53:41
Sb: #11582-#CENV.AR
Fm: James Jones 76257,562
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X)

I think I could manage that...watch this space.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11593 S3/Languages
    03-Aug-91  01:25:04
Sb: #11590-CENV.AR
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: James Jones 76257,562 (X)

Thanks, James.

Lee

#: 11575 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    01-Aug-91  23:42:12
Sb: #Disk Drive Fix--/d1
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: ALL

I may soon get my second physical disk drive--a standard 360K like my drive 0.
I downloaded a text file some time ago about making a drive fix.  Is this fix
required on any disk drive I get or just Tandy's?  The line where it says the
drive upgrade "as supplied" may require the fix makes it look like it might
only be Tandy's.  My local PC dealer will do it for free if I get the drive
there and have it done at time of sale, so I need to know now whether I should
request the service.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11577 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    02-Aug-91  04:02:43
Sb: #11575-Disk Drive Fix--/d1
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

Erich - I think that fix was only for the second FD502 drive from Tandy.

Any other drive... just set the jumper so that the motor is always on with the
"motor on" signal (versus motor on with drive select).  There may be a very few
drives out there with no such jumper tho.  They're usually there, tho (oops, I
can't recall the jumper markings... MM maybe?  guys?).

#: 11581 S7/Telecommunications
    02-Aug-91  10:04:38
Sb: #sterm w/o Modem Pak
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Steve Wegert

I ran sterm the way I usually do and the same problems occurred.  I do get TR
on the modem after the opening menu appears.  When I communicate with the
modem, RD and SD lights are active.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11596 S7/Telecommunications
    03-Aug-91  09:13:28
Sb: #11581-#sterm w/o Modem Pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 (X)

If the RD and SD lights are active, then there is a link between sterm and the
port. That's good!

Is it possible that the modem's echo is truned off? What happens if you type
ATe1 ? You should get a '0' in response if you have non verbal error messages
set ... and'OK' if you have verbose on.

Also ... is the 'CD' lamp lit when you're trying to use Sterm? If not, then
your DCD line is not being held high as required by aciapak.

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11609 S7/Telecommunications
    03-Aug-91  23:59:12
Sb: #11596-#sterm w/o Modem Pak
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

The CD light is always on whenever the modem is on.  I never changed the echo
from its defaults setting.  The problem is after logon the modem now responds
to my ATDT commands.

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11613 S7/Telecommunications
    04-Aug-91  09:24:23
Sb: #11609-sterm w/o Modem Pak
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175

Things are begining to get fuzzy, Erich. (Joys of diagostics via modem!)

Do you mean to say that you're able to log into ...say... CompuServe, then the
modem drops into command mode? If so ... what happens if you type ATO ?

Steve

#: 11583 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    02-Aug-91  16:51:47
Sb: #DS-69B and Hard Drive...
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: All

I recently acquired a DS-69B video digitizer.  The DECB software that I have to
operate it seems to work fine.  I'm still on the lookout for some OS-9 drivers
so that I don't have to drop back to DECB, when I want to use the digitizer. 
However, I may have discovered somethang that may cause a problem depending on
whether the system that I ultimately put this thing on has a B&B hard drive
system with the AutoBoot XT-ROM.
  The other night after using the digitizer, I wanted t  switch back over to
run Lvl 2.
  I powered off my system.
  I moved the MPI slot switch to 3 (where the B&B Autoboot ROM is)
  I powered on my system.
  The hard drive came ready.
  The Autoboot ROM dib it's memory check,
    then when it tried to start the OS9 BOOT,
      the hard drive was accessed as if the BOOT was being looked for, but
      the OS9 BOOT message never appeared on the screen, and then
      floppy drive 0 started spinning, the Autoboot seemed be defaulting to
        the floppy boot procedure.
  Since I don't boot from floppy there was not boot disk in drive 0, the DECB
  message eventually popped onto the screen!

......continued in next message.....

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11584 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    02-Aug-91  16:53:33
Sb: #11583-#DS-69B and Hard Drive...
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X)

..... continued from previous message.......

I use the Puppo keyboard interface (which has a ROM that bypasses his built-in
menu), so I did a CTRL-ALT-INS to do the full reset.  The results were the
same.  After the memory check, the hard drive was accessed but the boot
apparently wtsn't found, then the floppy was accessed, and the DECB message
popped onto the screen.
  Initially, I thought that the HD was on the fritz.  I checked the cabling,
power, connections, contacts, and tried the boot again.  Same results!

  Remembering that I had plugged in the DS-69B before I started having trouble,
and even though I knew that "it couldn't be causing the problem", I unplugged
it and retried the boot process.  The system booted and came up without a
hitch!!!

  Later after finishing my OS-9 work, I wanted to make sure that the earlier
booting failures weren't just quirky one-time anomales.  I plugged the DS-69B
back into the MPI (slot 2, just as before).  Powered on the system and the
sywtem would not boot.  In every case the HD was accessed then floppy drive 0
accessed as if the boot couldn't be fouId on the HD.  I can only assume that
the system would have booted from floppy had I had a bootable diskette
installed in drive 0, but I don't know that for sure.  The object was to get
the system to boot from the HD while the DS-69B was plugged in.  The objective
was not reached.

Anyone have any clues as to what is going on here?

If I haven't provided enough details, I will be glad to answer any questions
that come up and that I can.

Thanx,

Lee

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11587 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    02-Aug-91  20:05:10
Sb: #11584-#DS-69B and Hard Drive...
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X)

Lee - any idea where the DS-69B is addressed?

Also, does it use the SLENB line or the interrupts or ?

kev

There are 2 Replies.

#: 11591 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    03-Aug-91  01:18:03
Sb: #11587-DS-69B and Hard Drive...
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)

I scanned the docs looking for the DS-69B's address, but didn't see it. I'll
look again.  Let's see, B&B is addressed at FF50, if I get your drift, any
overlaping of the DS-69B's address and B&B's really invites problems doesn't
it?

Lee

#: 11592 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    03-Aug-91  01:24:38
Sb: #11587-#DS-69B and Hard Drive...
Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752
To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X)

The only technical info that I've noticed so far is that, if the DS-69B is to
be used with a PBJ C-C Bus, then the CART* must be connected to the bus. The
owner's manual shows a simple diagram of the C-C Bus. *Interrupt Input for
Cartridge Detection. (The above virtually a direct quote from the owner's
manual.)

Lee

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11597 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    03-Aug-91  10:11:31
Sb: #11592-DS-69B and Hard Drive...
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X)

Hmm. I guess what I was thinking of was this: I've had paks which left the irq
line low on power up or reset sometimes... and that makes booting nearly
impossible.  Must be an article on the DS69B somewhere.  Maybe in the coco
forum?  I'll look.

#: 11589 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    02-Aug-91  21:08:39
Sb: #STERM 1.5
Fm: thomas aubin 70540,1666
To:  76703,4255 (X)

Steve,

Remember the disk you sent me? I have not figured out how to use the sterm 1.5
yet. I am using 1.2 now and would like to try the other version you sent me but
when I do all I get is NO TERMINAL NAME. What is wrong?

Tom

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11594 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    03-Aug-91  09:07:20
Sb: #11589-#STERM 1.5
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: thomas aubin 70540,1666 (X)

Tom,

Ahhh! Easy questions!

On that disk, you should find a file called termcap and a file called ttytype.
Move both of these critters to your /dd/sys directory and things should be
fine.

Steve

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11598 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    03-Aug-91  21:09:40
Sb: #11594-STERM 1.5
Fm: thomas aubin 70540,1666
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X)

Thanks Steve,

Gotta have an easy one once and a while.

TOM

#: 11599 S3/Languages
    03-Aug-91  22:06:31
Sb: #Help with C compiler
Fm: Keith H. March 70541,1413
To: All

Hello:

I thought if I deleted all of the c compiler off of /dd and then recopied it to
/dd (hard drive) from /d2, it would get rid of the following:

/* khm.c */

#include <stdio.h>

main()

   {
   printf"Keith March\n";
   }

CC1 VERSION RS 01.00.00 COPYRIGHT 1983 MICROWARE REPRODUCED UNDER LICENSE TO
TANDY 'khm.c' c.prep: c.pass1: c.pass2: c.opt: c.asm: c.link: Unresolved
references:
 main             cstart_a         in /dd/lib/cstart.r linker fatal: unresolved
references

OS9:rdump /dd/lib/cstart.r

Module name: cstart_a TyLa/RvAt:   11/81 Asm valid:   Yes Create date: Jul 18,
1983 12:23 Edition/ROF:  1/0
  Section    Init Uninit
   Code:     0168
     DP:       01   00
   Data:     0000 0050
  Stack:     0380 Entry point: 0009

OS9:dir /dd/lib

    Directory of  /dd/lib  22:54:36 cgfx.l          clib.l          cstart.r
sys.l

Every program I try to compile I end up with this error!

HELP!!

Keith H. March

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11620 S3/Languages
    04-Aug-91  22:56:53
Sb: #11599-#Help with C compiler
Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230
To: Keith H. March 70541,1413 (X)

Keith -

A few questions:

Are you using Carl Kreider's stuff? If so, are you using HIS ctsart.r?

Are you using his/my 'cc'?

Is there adequate free space in whatever directory your temp files are being
written? The compiler/linker deals with space problems in a very uncool manner.

Pete

#: 11600 S4/MIDI and Music
    03-Aug-91  22:11:40
Sb: #11146-UltiMuse3
Fm: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111
To: Mark Wuest 74030,332

Hi Mark.  I started using Suns about 5 years ago, and in fact the menu buttons
in Umuse3 are based on Sun, rather than on Tandy Multi-Vu (ugh).

#: 11601 S4/MIDI and Music
    03-Aug-91  22:12:34
Sb: #11163-latest SMF stuff
Fm: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X)

Nope, rather use Delphi, especially for long stuff.

#: 11602 S4/MIDI and Music
    03-Aug-91  22:14:25
Sb: #11228-UMUSE3
Fm: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111
To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004

Hi.  Maybe you can pry Rainbow's UME-K copy out of them. I can send you a
better one, at least better grafix borders, but not for a couple of weeks. Hope
Rainbow got their copy OK.  I called Cray and told him it was coming.  And hope
they're playing with a loaner MM/1.

#: 11604 S4/MIDI and Music
    03-Aug-91  22:24:03
Sb: #11228-UMUSE3
Fm: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111
To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004

Hi again.  Forgot to mention, the DW8000 upgrade is advertised in back of
Keyboard Mag for $200 by some outift with the word "Heaven" (or is it "Angel"?)
in their name. It was reviewed in one issue.  I think it's just a ROM upgrade,
but it gives you two timbres, keyboard splits, at least double the patch
memory, and a lot of minor improvements. I haven't bothered getting it yet.

You install it yourself (or get Mark to do it for you, he he).

I'd much rather see an upgrade fo the MT-32 -- this box REALLY NEEDS one! Nice
hardware spoiled by buggy, slow firmware. Some company will take your MT32 and
hack it for $150 - $400 depending on how many mods you ask for.  Not known
whether these fix the real problems. --mike k

#: 11603 S4/MIDI and Music
    03-Aug-91  22:18:00
Sb: #11420-#Bad Download
Fm: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111
To: Lester Hands 70135,430 (X)

Yes, we do recommend each other's programs when it suits the customer -glad you
have that attitude too.  I steer users to "Lyra COmpanion" for general
discussions of music and MIDI, too.

Nice to hear about that COvox board, sorta like Muisc Feature or SOundblaster. 
Yes, my PC is not doing any music so far, since ya gotta buy real hardware to
run MIDI (unlike our RatShack "toy"). It's a COmpaq portable with only two
slots open, so I have to watch what I put in there.

What does that Covox package sell for, roughly?  THanks, mike k

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11628 S4/MIDI and Music
    05-Aug-91  08:46:13
Sb: #11603-Bad Download
Fm: Lester Hands 70135,430
To: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111

Mike, the Covox package retails for $239, which includes the FM synth, MIDI
interface, digitizer, PC-Lyra, and cables. Might even be useful on a 6809
system like the one Delmar is selling.

#: 11605 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    03-Aug-91  22:36:31
Sb: LInput
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: anyone

LInput.ar was posted some time ago and I may have missed a thread on
same.  I've tried to use LInput in B09 programs but get error 234 in  each
case.  It seems to be an OS9 module and as such wouldn't be a B09 command but
is used as a B09 procedure in the examples given.  (???)  Have I overlooked
something?    -ph-

#: 11607 S14/misc/info/Soapbox
    03-Aug-91  23:03:14
Sb: #11090-PCoid keyboards & CTRL
Fm: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111
To: Scott t. Griepentrog 72427,335

Hi Scott.  Glad to hear that you've put out another OSKer since the
RainbowFest. Guess it's time for me to subscribe, or maybe even write an
article on 101 ways to mess up a C program port from Coco to OSK. It ain't
simple if the program is non-trivial.  Basic09 is a lot easier to move over,
tho I avoid that language except for quickie throwaways to do odd things like
zap a couple bytes in a disk file.  --mike knudsen

#: 11610 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    04-Aug-91  00:02:14
Sb: #Multi-Vue Questions
Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175
To: ALL

Is it possible to use MultiVue's Windint and W8 through W15 drivers in an
ordinary OS-9 boot le?  And use W8-W15 as any other windows?  Also, I know how
to tell MV to run a standard shell.  But how do I cancel it and return to MV
when I'm through with it
  I found out the hard way that EX is no   not it!

(lots of line noise I couldn't backspace over)

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11611 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    04-Aug-91  02:40:06
Sb: #11610-Multi-Vue Questions
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Erich Schulman 75140,3175

Erich - if I read you right, then sure... many of us boot to a normal shell,
but have windint etc in our boot.   All GShell is, is an application program.
Just rename "autoex" in your CMDS dir to something else, and you won't boot
into gshell.  You can always call it up if needed, tho.

To exit a shell, type ESC (CTRL-BREAK).

kev

#: 11617 S1/General Interest
    04-Aug-91  20:32:47
Sb: #Sterm1.5
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: anyone

I recently downloaded Sterm.AR, un-arced it and read the manual.   After
setting attributes, creating a SYS directory, etc. I was able to get to the
boot-up screen and test the commands.  But Sterm was stuck at 9600 baud. 
Setting xmode /term=4 type=0    I re-tried but was not able to change the
setting to 2400 baud. What else is necessary to change the baud rate?  Also,
does Sterm work on Multi-Vue as well as from regular OS9?  Couldn't even get to
main menu if I booted from MV.  Can /M1 as well as /T2 be used as a port?
-ph- 

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11619 S1/General Interest
    04-Aug-91  21:57:09
Sb: #11617-#Sterm1.5
Fm: John R. Wainwright 72517,676
To: Paul Hanke 73467,403 (X)

Paul,
 If the "xmode" line in your message is the one you used, and not a typo, then
there lies the problem.   To set T2 to 2400 baud, you should give it "xmode /t2
baud=4".  I THINK Sterm should be able to use M1, but I have never tried it, so
I'm not sure. I HAVE used Sterm on Multi-Vue, both on it's own and as a proc
called by WizPro to do CIS"B" transfers.  Are you sure your MV boot has T2 in
it?

JohnW

There are 2 Replies.

#: 11624 S1/General Interest
    05-Aug-91  06:58:09
Sb: #11619-Sterm1.5
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676

Thanks for the tips. I'll check on the /t2 module for MV right now.

#: 11625 S1/General Interest
    05-Aug-91  07:40:52
Sb: #11619-#Sterm1.5
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676

/t2 not being in the MV modules dir was the problem alright!  Now,  how does
one initiate communication with host?  Is there an Sterm equivalent to ctrl-c ?
I notice the modem's TR status light comes on as soon as Sterm boots.   -ph- 

There is 1 Reply.

#: 11627 S1/General Interest
    05-Aug-91  07:57:57
Sb: #11625-#Sterm1.5
Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255
To: Paul Hanke 73467,403 (X)

Paul,

Now that you've gotten things straigtend out, all you need do is dial your
Compuserve number, and hit <CNTL><C> for the User Id prompt. Alternately,
hitting enter will net you a Host: prompt. CompuServe's host is CIS or CPS.



There are 2 Replies.

#: 11629 S1/General Interest
    05-Aug-91  16:18:27
Sb: #11627-Sterm1.5
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255

Ok, thanks. I'll give it a try.

One last item:  would you know about LINPUT.AR's  line input command for basic
09?  Couldn't seem to get that one to work.  -ph-

#: 11630 S1/General Interest
    05-Aug-91  16:53:59
Sb: #11627-Sterm1.5
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255

Tried cntl-c as well as <enter> after dialing up CIS but got no results, CIS
disconnected after time-out.  Dunno what the problem is.  Even a null modem
setup with another computer I was able to transfer keyboard input back & forth
with sterm but apparently no output goes thru to the modem.  Just to be sure
that MPI & rs232 pack were interacting properly (sometimes they are out of
alignment) I hit reset with DM-3 in the drive and was able to connect to CIS
using telecom,  ruling out that possibility.   -ph- 

#: 11618 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    04-Aug-91  21:25:41
Sb: #KRNL.AR problems?
Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464
To:  76703,4227 (X)


Hi Kevin,

We're having a terrible summer storm right now.  It might be a doosie.  Just
wanted to say I captured your replies and will study them.

Late last week I decided to install the KRNL.AR patches and I'm having some
funny things happening (this started days before today's storm! :-).  I use to
run the Performance Peripheral's no-halt cacheing driver at 160k and a 96k RAM
disk (Tandy's that'd been patched to fix that block-computation bug.)  Now I
also have Disto's 1-meg dealie.  The Mega pgm kicked things in just fine.  The
Krnl patch, though, is doing something different (when booting from this
patched kernal, I do not run Mega).  I can't seem to use the last 256k -- if I
have 320k or less on the MFree display, and I start running the version of
DirCopy I found here on CIS, the video gets sparklies and the CoCo has crashed.
DirCopy has worked great all these years, though!  (Oh the system area was at
9k free with your SMap pgm.)

Well on top of this, Mike Sweat's BRU crashes, too, on around the 8th diskette
doing a full backup from my first 40-meg h.d.  The output diskette is in RS
format, 720k 80-track (5.25").  BRU ended with a stack overflow and an error
code of 207.  MFree said 296k after that; clearly another indication we're
getting screwed up in that last 256k block somehow.

I'm going to go back to the Mega way of using the 1-meg upgrade.  I've gotta
get more space on my drives to do those projects!:  In the B&B adapter, I'm
swapping the WD-XTGEN card (MFM) for a Seagate RLL card (the drives just happen
to be RLL types already, so I'll soon have 130-meg on-line!).  Plus the speed
will help things a lot (ST277-1 model, 28-mS step!).  If we could just get B&B
to do cache for the h.d. ... But could you help or relay the KRNL.AR problem to
whomever needs to know?  I'll help anyway I can.

-- Thx, Paul Seniura (76476,464).



There is 1 Reply.

#: 11622 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    05-Aug-91  04:44:28
Sb: #11618-KRNL.AR problems?
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: PaulSeniura 76476,464

Hi Paul,

Yah, lots of storms here in NC, too... I sometimes have to run in and shut
everything down.  Which I hate, since I like using the ramdisk so much :-).

I'll mention the mega problem to Bruce, if he doesn't see your message first.
The kernel patch is his, but I'm not sure if he used his own ram checker or
mine.  One of us may have goofed and/or something else may be happening.

Thanks for the tip - kevin

#: 11621 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    05-Aug-91  00:17:43
Sb: #@???
Fm: Paul Rinear 73757,1413
To: Kevin Darling

     Hi Kevin,
              it's been a pretty wild summer here so far. Haven't
       been online much. Did you ever find a copy of your book
       that you are willing to part with?
              I haven't been keeping track; how are the MM/1's
       going over (if you don't know, is there someone I could ask?)?
       Am interested in how people like them.

                                 take care,
                                            Paul



There is 1 Reply.

#: 11623 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    05-Aug-91  04:52:53
Sb: #11621-@???
Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227
To: Paul Rinear 73757,1413

Hi Paul,

I have a red face.  I thought I read that you found a book from the coco list.
Mea culpa.  Still have your address; bought an envelope to mail it in before;
so will send it out (and the good Jeremy's) tomorrow.

All the machines seem to be selling well, or at least interest is high :-)
Traditionally, this is the dead time of the year for computer sales, tho.
Everyone should ask Santa for one <grin>.  But the coco is still rolling along
also, I must note.

You'd probably have to ask the vendors in email, exactly how many systems
they've sold... you know how that goes :)    best - kev

#: 11631 S7/Telecommunications
    05-Aug-91  20:22:43
Sb: telecom parameters
Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403
To: all

Some observations on parameters may be in order:
  They say that logon to CIS with 7E1 is best.
  Deskmate for OS9 doesn't change to 8N1 for xmodem transfers to 7E1 doesn't
work.  But CIS does accept a logon with 8N1 from deskmate and xmodem transfers
work fine!
  Ultimaterm can logon with 7E1 or 8N1 but line feeds get lost with 8N1 and
text wraps around, even menus, but it works.
  CIS, however, doesn't like pc's to logon using 8N1 and will produce enough
jumbled charcters to make legibility quite difficult.

  Given the above, what would be the explanation, short of partiality to
Deskmate's telecom? 

#: 11632 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo)
    05-Aug-91  20:30:31
Sb: COCO in 1 box
Fm: thomas aubin 70540,1666
To: ALL

I have a COCO 3, MPI , 2 drives etc. that takes up alot of desk space. Sound
familiar?

I want to do what several others have done and install the whole mess into a PC
Clone case and use the pc power supply.

My problem is that I don't know where to get the case and power supply I need
for this project.

Any ideas???

Thanks

TOM

Press <CR> !>