========================================================================= INFO-ATARI16 Digest Fri, 1 Dec 89 Volume 89 : Issue 735 Today's Topics: How to get new members?? INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 #725 Portfolio Concept Seagate 296N with SH204 Host adapter. Does it work ? STE vs ST Shifter Still searching... THE MAC LAPTOP and STacey TOS *.* ROMs Ultrascript experience Who's got ZOO ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 1 Dec 89 07:43:34 GMT From: fox!portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@apple.com Subject: How to get new members?? Message-ID: <24623@cup.portal.com> Richard Covert asks about getting new members for Atari Users' Groups: You've probably hit on the best way to contact new ST owners, by getting in touch with the dealers who are selling them. If you post flyers in the stores too, you can make the club known to people who already own STs as well... One thing MACE has done (the Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts.. I'm the ST disk librarian this year, and I've been in various other offices in past years...), is to put together a disk of the "basic" few programs a new ST owner will need. Things like ST Writer, ARC, a simple terminal program, an easy to use database... things like that... with text files on how to use them, and an offer of help at the club meetings for new users. By having the dealer give a disk away with every ST sold, it gives the new owners a boost by supplying them with something to use their shiny new ST to run, and the dealers like to be able to give their customers something for free (especially when it doesn't cost them anything..!). Of course, the disk also has information on when and where the club meets, and phone numbers for more information. As far as meeting places, that's always a tough question. A few years ago, when MACE's membership stood at around 2000 members, we could fill a large civic center pavillion to capacity. Now we use a smaller room, and are looking for something smaller (and cheaper). One thing about the university meeting rooms to look into is whether the club could qualify as a school sponsored group if they have enough active students as members. The University of Michigan has a really good deal for their groups. As far as Atari, I guess I better not comment about the screwing over that MACE received from Atari when we put on the AtariFest that Atari asked us to do. Those who were involved in that are gone now, and there's a new person in charge who is really good. Call Bob Brodie, the new User Group Coordinator and talk to him about how to register your club. As long as the "Atari Revolving Door" doesn't snag him, Atari User Groups are going to be very well treated. BobR ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 01:15:20 MST From: INFO-ATARI16%WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu Subject: INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 #725 >The file `atari.mf' is packed with the various previewer packages that >we've distributed. Its purpose is to provide those with metafont, the >setup information required to generate the screen fonts. It is not a >TeX/LaTeX file. Apparently, metafont is available for the ST series. > > Tyler Metafont for the ST is FTPable from terminator.cc.umich.edu I've used it. It takes a long time to generate fonts on the ST, but you can set up a batch file in GULAM to run for a couple of days to generate all the standard TeX and LaTeX fonts you'll need or you can use the atari.mf on a bigger box the has metafont available. I ran it on our VM/CMS system here. Brian Holmes UCC Operating Systems & Communications PHONE: (313) 577-3750 FAX=577-5626 Wayne State University BITNET: BHOLMES@WAYNEST1 5925 Woodward INTERNET: Brian_Holmes@UM.CC.UMICH.EDU Detroit, MI 48202 U.S.A ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 01 Dec 1989 10:01 EST From: Greg Csullog <01659%AECLCR.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Portfolio Concept I like the Portfolio concept but I think that Atari should extend it. Just about everyone I know who has had to lug a Zenith, Toshiba, etc laptop with a 20 meg drive agrees that its a pain (in the shoulder as well as other places). Myself and a few others have taken to travelling with the old Radio Shack Model 100 because it is light, has a good keyboard, nice built in software and a modem (albeit 300 baud). The M100 keyboard is also preferred to the Portfolio's. A few years ago, an 8K M100 sold for $299 Canadian - the bargain of the century. Atari should get its OEM to bring out an M100 sized portable that has: 1. an 80 x 24 LCD display 2. an internal 1200/2400 baud modem 3. DOS (80c88) or TOS (CMOS 68000) 4. parallel/serial ports If NEC could engineer the M100 about 4/5 years ago, Atari should be able to do something similar with a DOS/TOS system this year. There is a large number of people who hate heavy laptops and would love a light laptop. Unlike the Poquet or the Portfolio, it does not have to be ultra small, like I said, the M100 scale is great. If a popular WP and SpreadSheet were included (Word Perfect Executive and Quattro) the system would sell well. Hell, Atari could buy the rights for the M100 and sell it as is. Believe me, the concept of a light portable would do well if marketed right (then again Atari has not been known for its marketing skill!) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 02:21:14 -0800 From: heiden@kbomfg.enet.dec.com (Matthias Heiden, Advanced System Process Development 01-Dec-1989 1017) Subject: Seagate 296N with SH204 Host adapter. Does it work ? Message-ID: <8912011021.AA01660@decwrl.dec.com> Did somebody succeed in getting the famous Seagate 296N drive to work with the host adapter of a SH204? What was the transfer rate and was it possible to boot from the harddisk? Which formatting software and HD driver was used ? Thanks for any reply. Matthias Heiden ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 89 11:51:51 GMT From: pasteur!cory.Berkeley.EDU!soohoo@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Ken "nmi" Soohoo) Subject: STE vs ST Shifter Message-ID: <20157@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> There's been quite a few ponderings in the last few days about the possiblity of an STE shifter that's pin-pin compadible with the ST shifter -- I just wanna add my $0.02 ;-) The STE shifter outputs 4 bits of color per gun, which means that the DACs required to go to your video are gonna be different, no? It would mean Atari would have to lay out another chip that's an ST replacement shifter w/o the extra color bit... Seems kinda pointless for them, lots of R&D $$, little return, plus they'd need lots of packages to hit all the shifter versions out there... Sigh, that's the way it seemed to me, not likely to be an ST STE shifter out any time soon... --Kenneth "kens" Soohoo (soohoo@cory.Berkeley.Edu) Atari Hacker (Atari's Hacker...) "It could be worse, you could get hit by a bus..." My opinions are my OWN, _not_ necessarily Atari's. But "hey", who knows? ------------------------------ Date: 30 Nov 89 08:33:00 GMT From: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxa.cso.uiuc.edu!glk01126@iuvax.cs.indiana.ed u Subject: Still searching... Message-ID: <111500075@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> You silly goose, if 50% were taken off the price of a TT, then everyone would send in the $500 to become a registered developer! -Spieu! ------------------------------ Date: 01 DEC 89 08:10:10 CST From: Z4648252 Subject: THE MAC LAPTOP and STacey Message-ID: <891201.08100897.017890@SFA.CP6> Folks, I finally got to see one. At our Macintosh User's Group meeting, a Macintosh representative brought a Mac laptop in and I thought that I'd share a few impressions...specifically, with the Stacey in mind. Right off, the much-hyped LCD display was a disappointment to me. Recall that Apple spent a small fortune in giving an easy to read and FAST LCD. It is also larger than the standard 9 inch Mac screen. Refresh is incredibly fast, no lag at all. But the let down for me was the dimness and restrictive viewing angle. Other than screen refresh speed, I see no improvement at all over the bluish SuperTwist displays used by the IBMish laptops. If the Stacey ever makes it to market and it sports the SuperTwist, then we will be in good shape. The much-hyped case was also a disappointment. Advertisements have it that the laptop uses the same plastic as that of motorcyle helmets. Maybe so, but I could flex the case. It creaked and would squeak. It did not have the same tightness as commercial-grade portable electronic typewriters and their construction. Positive features were noted, i.e., configurable keyboard (you can swap the roller ball and keys, or install a ten keypad [very nice]). "Third Party" circuits (also known as 'cartridges') plug in a yawning space located within the case. In other words, these do not hang off the side as they do for the Stacey. Oh, how I wish that cartridges could be mounted likewise on the ST in a manner sort of similar to that of the ATari 800. This particular laptop had a 40 meg hard drive mounted inside. It was the quietest that I have ever heard. Indeed, I never heard it. After examining the laptop carefully (yep, the rep allowed us to take the case off and poke inside), I'm convinced that ATari is correct in holding production until everything is RIGHT. When examining the Mac Lap, it is obvious that a lot of pain was involved. Regarding the STacey, delays are unfortunate, particularly in a marketting-point of view, but the STacey needs to be RIGHT before it enters the consumers' hands. With the heavy weight, the physical integrity of the box is going to have to be secure. Apple paid dearly for their design and I'm convinced after handling their expensive laptop that Atari is going to pull a major coup with the STacey (price in mind). Larry Rymal: |East Texas Atari 68NNNers| ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 11:28:16 GMT From: Malcolm Ray Subject: TOS *.* ROMs Message-ID: <25701.8912011128@unixa.clp.ac.uk> Firstly, (sigh) the non-availability of TOS 1.4 in the UK: much as I'd like to join Neil Forsyth on the soapbox, I recognise that radical changes of policy take time (even assuming Atari UK can be persuaded to change at all!), so it might be better for us to look elsewhere. So, what's to stop me buying TOS 1.4 ROMs from the US, sussing out what changes need to be made for UK use, then blowing my own modified copy? Never having met a US ST I'm not sure what the differences are (beyond the obvious) - has anyone done a comparison of the ROMs? My first thought was shamefully profiteering. I considered buying a stack of TOS 1.4 ROMs and reselling them along with details of the UK patches, to punters who would then blow their own EPROMs. Trouble with that is that many of the buyers would then flog the Atari ROMs, so I'd be encouraging piracy (and the fact that Atari UK brought it on themselves has no bearing on the legality). Anyway, I've got bugger-all capital. Moving on, it seems questions about ROM versions are flavour of the month. Perhaps it would be a good idea if apratt or kbad could post a complete list of all ROM-based TOS versions in the field, with the following information for each: 1. Version number 2. Date hex-string (for identification) 3. Machine (i.e. 'STE only' for 1.6) 4. Hopefully, a *brief* list of salient features, such as bugs fixed since last release and known bugs Is this a reasonable request? It occurs to me that registered developers may already have this, but it'd be nice if the rest of us could as well. JANET: malcolm@uk.ac.clp.unixa Internet: malcolm@unixa.clp.ac.uk EARN/Bitnet: ditto You faint from lack of ROMs.--More-- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 01 Dec 1989 08:57 EST From: Greg Csullog <01659%AECLCR.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Ultrascript experience One netter asked if anyone had UltraScript experience. One work group at my company is PC based but one Atari enthusiast convinced the group to buy a Mega an SLM804 and UltraScript. Now, the PC users direct their PostScript files to the ST and everyone is VERY happy with (i) the quality and (ii) the cost effectiveness of the system. We have a lot of STs on site and the SLM804 has wowed a number of people - hopefully we can get more on site. RE: Rich Covert, maybe it's YOU who has the problem and not Atari ------------------------------ Date: 01 Dec 89 04:38 PST From: Ralf Werner Subject: Who's got ZOO ? Message-ID: <20:werner@vax1.informatik.fh-regensburg.dbp.de> Hello world. Ok, I got all 17 parts of the "FORM" posting. But... could someone be so kind to mail me the unZOOing software? Or at least tell me where and how to get it. Thank you! Ralf Ralf Werner - werner%vax1.informatik.fh-regensburg.dbp.de@relay.cs.net - No disclaimer or cookie (they're often bigger than the message itself) - ------------------------------ End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #735 *****************************************