Info-Atari16 Digest Sun, 24 Mar 91 Volume 91 : Issue 166 Today's Topics: 1 year warranty and stuff Connecting Macintosh Hard Disks to Atari (2 msgs) connecting VGA mono monitor to ST Drunk Phones too! (was Re: Drunk Mice!) Easy money For Sale: SC-1224 Color Monitor --must move! hdv_init (0x46A) Help Me With DM! Help with ST <-> NeXT disk swapping HEP' ME HEP' ME, I NEED UUE Looking for a way to print with Spectre GCR (3.0) Macrovision Eliminators ST and shortwave radio question ST Pad specs Summary: "Help! Hot Memory?" Two New Computer Announcements - CeBIT Uniterm & Kermit Welcome to the Info-Atari16 Digest. The configuration for the automatic cross-posting to/from Usenet is getting closer, but still getting thrashed out. Please send notifications about broken digests or bogus messages to Info-Atari16-Request@NAUCSE.CSE.NAU.EDU. Please send requests for un/subscription and other administrivia to Info-Atari16-Request, *NOT* Info-Atari16. Requests that go to the list instead of the moderators are likely to be lost or ignored. If you want to unsubscribe, and you're receiving the digest indirectly from someplace (usually a BITNET host) that redistributes it, please contact the redistributor, not us. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 23 Mar 91 21:16:12 GMT From: o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!mc4c+@pt.cs.cmu.edu (Mark Choi) Subject: 1 year warranty and stuff To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu As per the one year warranty, I do believe I read it on ZNET As per the internal board, straigh out of the mouth of dave himself, quite awhile back, before Apple pulled the ROM sillyness. I can't afford to call colorado all the time to keep up with him, though! He said he was thinking about the possiblility of hooing into the TOS?GEM ROM space! -GEISHA- ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 91 08:59:07 GMT From: mcsun!unido!math.fu-berlin.de!tmpmbx!netmbx!hase@uunet.uu.net (Hartmut Semken) Subject: Connecting Macintosh Hard Disks to Atari To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu zimm@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dylan Yolles) writes: >I already have a hard disk with ICD controller, so it shouldn't be too >tough to do; there even seems to be some kind of SCSI plug on the back of my >hard disk. If that SCSI connector is an 25 pin SUB D connector (the same as the printer port of the ST), You will need nothing but the Macintosh harddisk susbsystem. The 25 pin connector "standard" is set by the Mac; cables from this connector to the drive should be included with the drive. You have the ICD software to format and partition the disk, ans Spectre will use it fine. If You have a 50 pin (well, the contacts are not pins really) Amphenol connector (the "real" SCSI connector), that looks like the parallel connector of Your parallel printer, Youll probably need an adaptor. 50 to 25 pin adaptors are pretty much nonstandard, but Your Mac drive will probably have the same 50 pin connector, ans 50 to 50 pin cables *are* standard. Termination of the cables *is* a problem. Refer to your ICD manual and the manual of Your Mac drive. >my ST hard drive? How do I go about doing 2)? What is the chance >that this won't work at all? (The hard drive I'm planning to connect >is one of the Syquest 44 meg removable's; probably the one made >by Jasmine.) If it does not work, the drive is broken. Mine works fine. If You format the cartridge on the Mac, You can even exchange it with a "real" Mac (I am doing this sometimes). hase -- Hartmut Semken, Lupsteiner Weg 67, 1000 Berlin 37 hase@netmbx.UUCP Hi! (Zaphod Beeblebrox) ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 91 15:54:03 GMT From: noao!ncar!gatech!prism!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!nu!boyd@arizona.edu (Mickey Boyd) Subject: Connecting Macintosh Hard Disks to Atari To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu zimm@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dylan Yolles) writes: >my ST hard drive? How do I go about doing 2)? What is the chance >that this won't work at all? (The hard drive I'm planning to connect >is one of the Syquest 44 meg removable's; probably the one made >by Jasmine.) ~~~~~~~ Huh? I thought they were all made by Syquest! I am soon to purchase one of these units, any history/information would be appreciated. I know that there was an upgrade in design at some point, and that there is some way of telling if a particular unit is the newer (better, faster) design or not. Something about the color of LED's or something. Also, it was announced that at least two totally new mechs are to be introduced, one a 3.5" device, the other 5.25" (like the old one), but capable of using both 120mb and the old 44mb cartridges. When this occurs, they also announced that they will still sell the old 44mb-only mechs for $200 less (and the new 5.25" mech will cost the same list price as the old). Can anyone confirm any of this (it was gleaned mostly from the nets, and Computer Shopper)? Has anyone seen either of the two new mechs, or more importantly a lower price on the old one? Does Syquest have a 1-800 number? What is the cheapest price quoted to you for just the bare mech (the lowest I have heard is $519)? -- ---------------------------------+------------------------------------- Mickey R. Boyd | "Kirk to Enterprise. All clear FSU Computer Science | down here. Beam down Technical Support Group | yeoman Rand and a six-pack . ." email: boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu | ---------------------------------+------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 91 09:05:02 GMT From: math.fu-berlin.de!tmpmbx!netmbx!hase@uunet.uu.net (Hartmut Semken) Subject: connecting VGA mono monitor to ST To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu dth@cs.brown.edu (Dzung T. Hoang) writes: >Has anyone tried to hook up a monochrome VGA monitor to the ST? I suspect >that it will work. The only difficulty is the 70Hz horizontal scanning rate >of the ST's monochrome monitor. How about using the monochrome VGA monitor >as a grey-scale monitor for medium and low resolutions? Any ideas and/or >comments would be greatly appreciated. A simple VGA monitor (btw. VGA monochrome is always grayscale) will not work, because of the different scan rates. That is the horizontal scan rate. Pictures per second (vertical scan rate) is no so important and is no problem at all (mostly :-). A gray scale multi scan (Multisync is a trademark of Nippon Electronic Corp.) monitor will do. Multi scan monitors have a scan *range* rather than a scan *frequency* (horizontal again). If You pick a monitor with a scan range from 14.point.something to 38.point.something, all Youll need is a cable and a switch (to switch monochrome detect between ground and open). hase -- Hartmut Semken, Lupsteiner Weg 67, 1000 Berlin 37 hase@netmbx.UUCP Hi! (Zaphod Beeblebrox) ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 91 02:03:18 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu !pitt!cuphub!edinboro!gcc!stu892103@arizona.edu (Mr. Fantasy) Subject: Drunk Phones too! (was Re: Drunk Mice!) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <3258@unccvax.uncc.edu>, cs00bd@unccvax.uncc.edu (brian daniels) writes: > Booted up my 1040st yesterday. Discovered serious case of > "drunk mouse syndrome" (it moves jumpily/randomly/wrong direction etc..) > [misc. deleted] > Removed new (just bought and installed that morning) Panasonic cordless > phone from the desk that the atari resides on. > Mouse sobered up instantly. > > Apparently the keyboard controller chip is not fond of nearby radio > transmitters. > [misc. deleted] > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Reality is what YOU make of it. Brian Daniels (cs00bd@unccvax.uncc.edu) > "My opinions are mine and do not represent those of my host computer" > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Howdy, I have also had a slightly similar experience. It all started when I got my Supercharger [IBM emulator, for those who don't know] a couple of months ago. I set it up and had been messing around with running different things and getting everything right and everything (other than some Supercharger problems) was going along pretty smoothly. Then, I heard the portable phone ring. I got up from the ST commanders chair and went to answer the phone. (You know that the portable phone is never where you need it.) When I found the phone, it was in it's base in the next room, and nobody was on the line. Ok, I thought, whatever. Being smart, I left the phone in the other room and went back to the trusty ST. I was using the mouse with an IBM program and about 10 minutes later the phone rang again, but I noticed that it sounded a bit strange. I answered it again and nobody was there, again. Not long afterwards I discovered the problem, because it continued to get worse. When I would move the mouse, the phone would start it's nice shrill ringing. This became CONSTANT, whenever I would move the mouse. I thought that it was the Supercharger along w/the mouse because it had never happened before that. I guess that it could have been the mouse alone, though. Also, the fact that my 1040 now has so many cables running out of it that it resembles a mutant octopus may have contributed to the problem. My solution is to shut the phone off. It only happens at seemingly random intervals and not that often. I think that the phone base is the key, as I have not relocated it and the phone will start whining no matter where the phone happens to be. Well, that's my story...watch this space for more stories. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven J. Greer | UUCP: ...!pitt!edinboro!gcc!stu892103 School:Box 2444 | INTERNET: stu892103%gcc@edinboro.edu Grove City College |=============================================== Grove City, PA 16127 |I LOVE | | ||| |"It is unwise to meddle in the affairs Home:--Box 25, Main St. | / | \ | of wizards." Volant, PA 16156-0025 | ATARI | -J.R.R. TOLKIEN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 23 Mar 91 21:25:58 GMT From: o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!mc4c+@pt.cs.cmu.edu (Mark Choi) Subject: Easy money To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu A list of fools follows: 1. Vic Ricker 511 Spruce St. Hollidaysburg, PA 16648 2. Charlie Pan 19 Locke Dr. Pittsford, NY 14534 3. Sopho Metsis Box # 2996 100 Institute Road Worcester, MA 01609 4. Loren Looger 1104 Nahan Dr. Madison, AL 35758 5. Woody Baker Rt.1 Box I Manor, Tx. 78653 6. Nick Johnson 3619 N.W. Twinberry Pl. Corvallis, OR 97330 7. David Cassidy PO Box 5796 Walhalla, SC 29691 8. Jeff Murphy 11 Cottonwood Drive Commack, NY 11725 9. Siva Prasad 2 Down Crt., Para Hills, SA 5096, AUSTRALIA. 10. Bill Tway 5726 Willowbend Houston, TX 77096 -GEISHA- ------------------------------ Date: 23 Mar 91 14:48:35 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!pitt! cuphub!kar7481@arizona.edu Subject: For Sale: SC-1224 Color Monitor --must move! To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu A friend of mine has an SC-1224 colour monitor he wants to sell. Anyone buying? The first $275.00/or best offer plus shipping(like $10.00?) has it..... Will ship UPS (c.o.d.) from Pittsburgh,PA area to anywhere in lower 48 states. !!!!! PLEASE REPLY TO WITH A SUBJECT HEADER OF "1224-WANT" IF INTERESTED!! ***** Contact me via the NET only. Thank You. -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ !AvaST-Development uucp: kar7481@pitt!cuphub.cup.edu ! !Dan Karbowsky,R&D ! !102 Lee Drive Belle Vernon, PA 15012-2016 ! +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 91 04:41:10 GMT From: mcsun!unido!horga!veeble!fiction!Daniel_Roedding@uunet.uu.net Subject: hdv_init (0x46A) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu hase@netmbx.UUCP (Hartmut Semken) writes: (... about Floprate() ...) > This is true if You want to set different seek rates for both drives. > If You want to set both drives to te same seek rate, place the new seek > rate in adress 0x440 (zero: six, 1: 12, 2: 2, 3: 3 milliseconds) and > call the function pointed to by the vector in adress 0x46A (hdv_init). > This will make new Bios parameter blocks for both drives and tel TOS to > use the new seek rate. > Works on all TOS versions, cause it uses only documented system > variables. Yes, but it also tries to execute the boot sectors of drives A and B. Fur- termore, the routine is *very* slow if just one drive is attached (needs more than one second). Daniel ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 91 01:11:13 GMT From: uvaarpa!vger.nsu.edu!cs170703644@mcnc.org Subject: Help Me With DM! To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <7161@ncrcae.Columbia.NCR.COM>, ricks@ncrcae.Columbia.NCR.COM (Rick Silverstein) writes: > What's the best way to kill the Spell Vines? > The ones near the end of level 12 are tough! > > Rick 'Spell vines"????? What's a spell vine? Jean ------------------------------ Date: 23 Mar 91 21:20:26 GMT From: rosie!sstreep@uunet.uu.net (Sam Streeper) Subject: Help with ST <-> NeXT disk swapping To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1991Mar22.211223.15978@wuphys.wustl.edu> petcher@wuphys.UUCP (Donald N. Petcher) writes: >I myself have a NeXTstation, and an Atari ST, and when I format an IBM >compatible 720K MS-DOS disk on the Atari, the NeXT seems to have no >problem reading it. However, if I write anything on the disk with the >NeXT, and then try to get the Atari to read it, it always acts as if the >disk is damaged and the files are unreadable. I have been able to get >the Atari to read a couple of small files but that is all. This is my experience too. IBM compatible formatted disks from the Atari read fine on the nextstation, but going the other way is problematic, and reads fail if the file spans more than about 3 sectors. Here is my guess as to the problem: When you write 720K disks on the atari, you write the sectors as comparatively strong, fat tracks. A single data track is fairly wide, so a single track looks something like this after formatting with 0xE5 as a formatting value: E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 The NeXT drive by default writes tracks twice as dense and half as narrow, which is how it offers 4x the data capacity. When it senses that it is writing a 720K dos disk, it writes the data at the same data density and track spacing of a DOS disk, but the tracks are still comparatively narrow. Thus, on a clean disk, the NeXT might lay down a track like this: FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF The NeXT has no problem reading this, but I suspect that the track is too narrow (and perhaps weak) for the Atari drive, which only correctly reads it sporadically. The worst case scenario could occur when fat tracks are written (as in formatting) on the Atari and overwritten by the NeXT. In this case, a single track might look like this: E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 E5 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF This track would be correctly read by the NeXT, but the Atari drive head simultaneously reads both tracks with predictably poor results. This situation may apply to 720K IBM machines as well, but I don't have any experience there. For what it's worth, NeXT written disks read perfectly on a Compaq 386 with a 1.44 meg drive. Also, this problem could affect Atari machines differently; when I worked at an Atari service center, we counted _nine_ (!) different suppliers of floppy drives, with widely varying degrees of quality. >I would like to know if this is similar to others' experiences or if it >is peculiar to my system. Also is there a way to format an IBM >compatible disk using the NeXT? Use /NextAdmin/BuildDOS to format the disk. -sam (sam_s@NeXT.com) Opinions are not those of my employer, and could be totally wrong, besides... ------------------------------ Date: 22 Mar 91 08:45:52 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu !pitt!cuphub!edinboro!gcc!stu892103@arizona.edu (Mr. Fantasy) Subject: HEP' ME HEP' ME, I NEED UUE To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Greetings. Could some kind soul PLEASE mail me a "uue" uuencoder/decoder program? I don't have FTP access and it seems that if I figure how to get programs via mail, I still need this uue program no matter what. But of course the program can't be uuencoded (kinda like the chicken & egg deal ;-] I DO have ARC, LHARC, ZIP, etc. I don't care how I get the program, even if I have to mail someone a blank disk! Thanks to anyone who can help me! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven J. Greer | UUCP: ...!pitt!edinboro!gcc!stu892103 School:Box 2444 | INTERNET: stu892103%gcc@edinboro.edu Grove City College |=============================================== Grove City, PA 16127 | | DAMAGE INC. Home:--Box 25, Main St. | Volant, PA 16156-0025 | -Metallica -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 23 Mar 91 16:20:30 GMT From: uvaarpa!haven!umbc3!gmuvax2!scoile@mcnc.org (Steve Coile) Subject: Looking for a way to print with Spectre GCR (3.0) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu We've got an Atari 1040ST w/1 meg RAM, running Spectre 123/GCR 3.0, and an HP DeskJet+. Does anyone know of any good printing programs we could use? We have MacPrint, but that REALLY doesn't show off the power of either the Mac OR the DeskJet, and it's SLOOOOOOWWWWWWW... Anyone know? Also, thanks to all regarding: - TOS escape codes - whether EDT exists for the ST (unfortunately, it is NOT at atari.archive =( Anyone know a good place to FTP it from?) Steve "Stevers!" Coile scoile@gmuvax[ "Maturity is knowing when and where to act immature" ------------------------------ Date: 23 Mar 91 19:27:17 GMT From: astroatc!vidiot!brown@rsch.wisc.edu (Vidiot) Subject: Macrovision Eliminators To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1991Mar23.022954.2080@jato.jpl.nasa.gov> hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu) writes: < Excerpts from netnews.comp.sys.atari.st.tech: 22-Mar-91 Re: ST Pad specs > Marshall Lake@irscscm.UU (310) > Simply incredible!! Not really. Look at recen PC Worlds, and lookit whats goin on over i the MesS-DOS, Windows world. PEN Windows, and the new GO systems, pen pad. They will have opersting sytems BASED around this technology form the ground up, with pseudo 3D GUI and a lot of other niceties. I doubt Atari will really go the whole 9 yards with this. They have just jaded me too often in the past. I have STacy, so I know what Atari doesn't do right :~(! As far as VME video for the MEGA and TT. Yes you can have VME video, but so what. with no attempt by atari to form any reasonable enhanced video support ala 32bitQuickDraw, all intensive graphics software will have to go through loops (PC type drivers etc.) to run on more than a few boards. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Mar 91 16:19:41 GMT From: van-bc!rsoft!mindlink!a341@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Bill Moore) Subject: Summary: "Help! Hot Memory?" To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Here is a quick summary of what I gleaned from responses to my "Help! Hot memory?" request for information. - There are three possible problems: 1. The MMU chip is not seated properly or makes faulty connections when it is hot. 2. There is a pin socket on the memory expansion board that makes a faulty connection with one of the pins of a memory chip when it is hot. 3. One of the memory chips fails at least partially when it is hot. The narrow vertical lines on the screen "indicate that particular bits in each word of memory are not functioning". H. C. Edelmann, from the University of Karlsruhe, very kindly posted a program on March 15 which allows testing of the individual memory chips and their contacts. My thanks to all of the people who took some time to reply to my request for help. Each response was useful. Bill Moore ------------------------------ Date: 23 Mar 91 22:03:16 GMT From: o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!mc4c+@pt.cs.cmu.edu (Mark Choi) Subject: Two New Computer Announcements - CeBIT To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu > Excerpts from netnews.comp.sys.atari.st: 22-Mar-91 Re: Two New Computer > Announ.. T R Hall@atari.UUCP (1095) > As the designer of said notebook-ST(e), I have held off introducing > the subject, but as long as you brought it up ... > The "Announced List Price" of the basic 1 MByte system RAM, 20 MByte > IDE hard drive (no internal floppy, alas) system is $2000.00, with > production > slated for July/August (actually, the delay is mostly to cut the steel > tools for the plastic). Hey, guy, good work! But... Why no monitor port, I want colour graphics! And a floppy drive is a must. almost all PC notebooks got 'em, and if Atari ever wants to sell to anyone other than current atari faithful, they had better follow the competition. DS/DD is archaic! We need 1.44 meg, not just for this notebook, but for all ST/TT's. I write this in the hope that enough external pressure will force a redesign. Also, without a cartridge port, unless D.Small makes his internal emulator, there will be no Mac market. This is too bad. BTW, I have STacy, and so I know how badly Atari can screw up in the portable market! -GEISHA- P.S. but I want one anyway! ------------------------------ Date: 22 Mar 91 22:08:53 GMT From: hpda!hpcuhb!hpindda!goo@hplabs.hp.com (Michael Goo) Subject: Uniterm & Kermit To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Try using kermit's binary mode ( -i I think) ------------------------------ End of Info-Atari16 Digest ******************************