Info-Atari16 Digest Wed, 29 May 91 Volume 91 : Issue 300 Today's Topics: :-) (was: Re: Mega STe Question (or Problems)) DEALER & MAIL ORDER HOUSE LIST!! DIY RAM upgrade Info-Atari16 Digest V91 #297 Mega STe and Hard Disk Mega STe applications Mega STe Question (or Problems) Neodesk3.0x Update ???? only_ste.lzh (was Re: ST User Virus!) (2 msgs) RS-232 Port READ/WRITE status Strange Tempus / Mupfel / AES bug ST User Virus! TRANSFERRING FILE TO & FROM PORTFOLIO TT users 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: 29 May 91 10:03:38 GMT From: mcsun!cernvax!chx400!urz.unibas.ch!hofer@uunet.uu.net (Remo Hofer) Subject: :-) (was: Re: Mega STe Question (or Problems)) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1991May28.114007.22430@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>, csbrod@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Claus Brod) writes: > > ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) writes: >>Jerry Pournelle in his 'review' in Byte also commented on this delay. He >>made it seem like his TT waited for several minutes however. > > Which sheds some light on the way he likes to test gadgets. He would only > have to press any key... But where is any key located on your keyboard? I couldn't find it on mine. :-) Remo Hofer -- RFC822: or X.400: S=hofer;OU=urz;O=unibas;P=SWITCH;A=ARCOM;C=CH HEPNET/SPAN: CHGATE::YOGI::HOFER or 20579::48130::HOFER ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 03:39:06 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!mips!pacbell.com!iggy.GW.Vitalink.COM!wide ner!netnews.upenn.edu!wharton.upenn.edu!zeibari@arizona.edu Subject: DEALER & MAIL ORDER HOUSE LIST!! To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hello All, This is the list of dealers I have received so far. They are in NO PARTICULAR ORDER, I just append incoming mail to the end of this document. I did edit some of your mail messages to keep it short, you can ask the companies questions as to what they offer exactly. I am not responsible for the accuracy of the information listed below and I am not in anyway affiliated with any of the companies. Hope this helps everyone. p.s. If you object to this posting, please flame me either on the net or thru email, I would like any feedback you give me (positive | negative ;-) AtariVille in San Antonio, TX. phone: (512)736-1405. hardware and software Goldleaf Publishing: (415) 257-3510 software MicroTyme: 1-800-255-5835 hardware,software,repairs Toad Computers: (301) 544-6943 hardware,repairs "The Byte Track", 10971-101 St, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5H 2S9 1-800-667-2983 (1-800-MOR BYTE) (403)-424-0066, FAX: (403)-421-4039 Hardware - mainly hard drives, SCSI units - good prices other peripherals (mice, modems, other goodies) IB Computers 2511B West 11th Ave. Eugene, OR 97402 (503)-485-1424 hard/software, some 8bit support as well. B+C Computervisions 3257 Kifer Road Santa Clara, CA 95051 800-969-8810 (408) 749-1003 hardware,software D&P Computer 800-535-4290 hardware,software Micro Computer Depot 800-845-3070 hardware,repairs The Electronic Clinic 301-656-7983 hardware,software,repairs CompuWare 908-290-2242 hardware,software,repairs American Techna-Vision 800-551-9995 8-bit hardware,software,repairs Sideline Software 800-888-9273 software The ST Connection 303-423-6805 PD/Shareware Rising Star Computers 800-252-2787 hardware,software Best Electronics 408-243-6950 parts for ST/8-bits Computability (800) 558-0003 hardware,software Brad Roltgen software, 1St Stop numbers were not given hardware,software L&Y Electronics 13644C Jefferson davis Highway Woodbridge, VA 22191 (703) 643-1729 Great service from them on my Mega won me over, and they have decent prices (competitive with mail order) hardware,software Software House Perinton Square Mall, Fairport, NY 14450, 716-223-7658 ST Hardware/Software storefront. Authorized Atari dealer. Authorized Atari 8-bit & ST service. ALP Micro systemes, 4535, ave. du Parc, Montreal, Quebec, H2V 4E4,Canada, tel. 514/848-0755. As far as I know, they do not do any mail order business. I usually buy from Island Computer and Software in Farmingdale, NY (also in Coram, NY). Sorry, I don't have any other information on how to reach them handy right now. Call directory assistance (516 area code) if you wanna look them up. They are dealers, no mail order as far as I know. They carry Atari computers and software. Also DOS and Amiga. Butler's Computer Service 206-942-9096 or 622-2559 Hardware,Software,Service Cave Creek Computers 206-893-0933 Hardware,Software,Service Xanth Corporation 206-643-9697 Hardware,Software,Service Hello, I don't have the phone numbers handy, but two excellent dealers reside in the Fort Worth/Dallas, TEXAS metroplex. These are Computer Discoveries of Dallas and MegaByte Computers. Both are full service, have a strong customer base. RUN PC 524 W. Laurel #2 Fort Collins, CO80521 (303) 493-5565 M-Sat 10AM - 6 PM hardware,software also Protfolio and Lynx. RIO Computers 800-782-9110 hardware,software,repairs ComputAbility 800-558-0003 hardware,software Software Discounters of America 800-225-7638 software San Jose Computer 800-726-8576 hardware,software 1st STOP computer systems 800-252-2787 hardware,software Carter Graphics & computers 801-628-6111 Hardware,software Computer Garden 800-456-5689 software **************************************************************** Greg Zeibari email: zeibari@wharton.upenn.edu school: Temple University work: University of Pennsylvania disclaimer: If it's going to happen, it will happen on my shift. **************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: 28 May 91 11:46:47 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!keele!nott-cs!lut.ac.uk!elmar@uunet.uu.net (Mohammad A. Rahin) Subject: DIY RAM upgrade To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Keywords: RAM, 2.5 Mega Byte, 520/1040 ST(FM) In article <1991May27.132828.5352@lut.ac.uk> M.A.Rahin@lut.ac.uk (Mohammad A. Rahin) writes: >I've uploaded a text file to atari.archive describing a DIY RAM upgrade >procedure. This is for upgrading the memory of 520/1040 ST(FM) to 2.5 >(or perhaps to 4) Mega Byte using inexpensive 2x1MB SIPP modules. This >article is written by Christopher Hicks. > >- Rahin > Forgot to specify the name of the file. The file name is 2_5ram.zoo and should be placed in atari/misc and also for a limited time in atari/newitems directory. Sorry for the mess-up. - Rahin ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 10:20:18 +0200 From: MULDER13%F2.NHL.NL@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU Subject: Info-Atari16 Digest V91 #297 To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu UNSUB Paul Henno Mulder ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 1991 06:31:42 PDT From: Sammy_Mesbah.XRCC@xerox.com Subject: Mega STe and Hard Disk To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu This is the first time I've posted, so I hope this works. I have a 1040STf with TOS 1.4 and an ICD Advantage+ with a Seagate 85M SCSI hard disk. I am planning to buy a Mega 1 STe at the end of the summer and upgrade it to 4 megs, but I have a few questions that some of you may be able to help me with: Is upgrading a Mega 1 STe as easy as plugging in new SIMMs? ICD told me that the Mega STe DMA port is different from a standard ST DMA port, ie. a different size connector. They said they would have an adapter cable by June. This is OK in that I assume I will still be able to use my ICD board for the hard drive but I'm wondering if I actually need it. Does the Mega STe already have a SCSI controller built in? Since the Mega 2 and 4 STe have built in hard drives, I assume there is a controller. Does the Mega 1 STe have this as well? I was planning on a Mega 1 since I really do not want another hard drive (85 megs is plenty) and the dealers say that the 2 and 4 must come with a hard drive. As well, does anyone know how easy it is to hook up a Multisync monitor to the Mesga STe? I can get a good deal on a .25mm dot pitch multisync so I wonder if there is and adapter available. Also, has anyone noticed any difference with 16 MHz or is the RAM too slow to make it noticeable? If this works out, anyone want to buy a 1040 STf w/ TOS 1.4 and a mono and colour monitor? Thanks in advance Sam Mesbah sammy_mesbah:xrcc@xerox.com (I think) ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 12:07:37 GMT From: IFI.UIO.NO!larserio@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (LarsErikOsterud) Subject: Mega STe applications To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Exacly the same problem I had.... I know of LOTS of examples of MEGA STE's with this bad chips that causes the monochrome diplay to wrap when you change screen adresse and causes static in the DMA sound, but Atari Corp won't confirm this and tell me that this is only a problem with my machine (but you are the 4th one I've heard about). Replace the chip with a chip from an old STE (not the same number so you need the print-layouts for both MEGA STE and STE to do this, the chip is called GSTSHIFTER and has to do with both video and sound in the STE machines..) I would again like a comment on this from Atari Corp. You can't just ignore this problem that applies to a great number og MEGA STE's !!!!!??? Lars-Erik / ABK-BBS +47 2132659 / ____ ______ ________________________ Osterud / larserio@ifi.uio.no / /___ / The norwegian ST __________/ ______________________/ ____/ / Klubben, user association ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 05:54:01 GMT From: fs7.ece.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!redmond@sei.cmu.edu (Redmond English) Subject: Mega STe Question (or Problems) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu >>As just a reminder, there exists KILLDRV which turns off that darn >>floppy disk light. It was either posted to USENET or is available >>from atari.archive. Both source and binaries should be available: > >KILLDRV will just turn out the LED and not the floppy motor, right? On my Ste, when I boot off the hard drive without a floppy, it's ONLY the floppy LED that stays on. The motor goes off by itself. Red/. ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 08:55:40 GMT From: mcsun!unido!opal!gmdtub!prosun!ralph@uunet.uu.net (Ralph Berg) Subject: Neodesk3.0x Update ???? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hello Neodesker, where I can get the Update for Neodesk3 to Neodesk3.0x? Who knows about the main differences? Is symbol count on the desktop (now 32) increased? Thanks in advance Ralph ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Berg, Reichenbergerstr.89, D-1000 Berlin 36, West Germany during day 030/25499151 German National Research Center for Computer Science, FIRST ralph@prosun.first.gmd.de ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 10:00:03 GMT From: mcsun!corton!laas!ralph@uunet.uu.net (Ralph P. Sobek) Subject: only_ste.lzh (was Re: ST User Virus!) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1991May28.202555.16251@lsuc.on.ca> jimomura@lsuc.on.ca (Jim Omura) writes: | This brings to mind that 1 of the things | I looked at from the Net recently was this "only_ste.lzh" sound | demo package. Now this is a strange package with what seems to | be a whole disk compressed into an ".MSA" file which in turn was | LHARC'd. I unpacked this kit just this morning. When I unpacked | the disk I used the MSA.PRG auto-formatting command. It seems to | me that this method of packaging might allow for transporting of | boot sector or other viruses. Has anybody else unpacked this demo | kit recently? I just unpacked this demo for friends last nite! I don't have an STe or MegaSTe, but I got 4 Mb and they were needed. First off, I received only_ste.lzh through the News at work. Unfortunately, only_ste.lzh is incompatible with MS-DOS compatible floppy disks, since they're limited to 720 Kb. As a reminder, only_ste.lzh is 802661 bytes long. What to do? I used "split" on my SPARC to chop the file in half. Each half was put on a separate floppy and taken home. At home, I became worried about concatenating two binary file parts together. I then decided to run full blown GNU emacs (not mg, jove, nor micro-emacs) with a 1 Mb RAM disk. I then inserted into my emacs buffer both halfs of the file and saved it to the RAM disk. Of course there was no more room to unpack the file. It tested out okay. Well, I copied it to a floppy and extracted back to the RAM disk. I then ran MSA to create the demo floppy. Ouffhh!!! ;-| The first thing I did then was to run VKILLER on it. It stated that the floppy was executable, but no known virus was found!! 8-) Did anyone have a much easier time of it? I only hope that few items of this sort travel through USENET or are uploaded to atari.archive. Normally, large *.lzh or *.zoo can be split up differently since the individual member files are less than 720 Kb. -- Ralph P. Sobek Disclaimer: The above ruminations are my own. ralph@laas.fr Addresses are ordered by importance. ralph@laas.uucp, or ...!uunet!laas!ralph If all else fails, try: sobek@eclair.Berkeley.EDU =============================================================================== Proud owner of a Mega 4 ST. Wishing it was a Mega STe! :-| ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 12:54:15 GMT From: mcsun!inesc!unl!unl!spa@uunet.uu.net (Salvador Pinto Abreu) Subject: only_ste.lzh (was Re: ST User Virus!) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu on 29 May 91 10:00:03 GMT, ralph@laas.fr (Ralph P. Sobek) said: > I used "split" on my > SPARC to chop the file in half. Each half was put on a separate > floppy and taken home. > At home, I became worried about concatenating two binary file parts > together. I then decided to run full blown GNU emacs (not mg, jove, > nor micro-emacs) with a 1 Mb RAM disk. I then inserted into my emacs > buffer both halfs of the file and saved it to the RAM disk. Of course > there was no more room to unpack the file. It tested out okay. Well, > I copied it to a floppy and extracted back to the RAM disk. I then > ran MSA to create the demo floppy. Ouffhh!!! ;-| The exact procedure I followed was to run lharc on Unix (a DECstation 5000 unpacks LZH archives a *little* faster than an ST :-), split the file in two, and then wrote the floppies. On the ST the easiest way I found to do this was to `cat' the two parts (using GNU cat from cs.uni-sb.de), a lot faster than creating a RAMdisk and using GNU Emacs, I'd say... > Did anyone have a much easier time of it? I only hope that few items > of this sort travel through USENET or are uploaded to atari.archive. > Normally, large *.lzh or *.zoo can be split up differently since the > individual member files are less than 720 Kb. The thing might be to have a simple stand-alone SPLIT/JOIN program on the ST. If I knew more about GEM I'd do it myself (maybe I'll give it a try someday). By "simple" I mean one that does NOTHING but the equivalent of Unix's split and cat, ie. no headers or CRC's. Anyway, regarding the only_ste demo, I must confess it's absolutely fabulous. -- -- Salvador Pinto Abreu spa@fct.unl.pt Universidade Nova de Lisboa, PORTUGAL ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 11:07:59 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!ariel.unm.edu!cs.um n.edu!uc!shamash!timbuk!marc@arizona.edu (Marc Bouron) Subject: RS-232 Port READ/WRITE status To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <16525@helios.TAMU.EDU>, n160ao@tamuts.tamu.edu (Mark Lehmann) writes: > Curses > ------ > Did anyone find a curses subroutine library for C on the Atari ST? > I am looking for some type of terminfo or termcap. There are two curses packages at atari.archive: one is a GNU version. > Thanks. > Mark Lehmann > Senior - Texas A&M University > IBM AIX Technical Support > > tamuts.tamu.edu!n160ao > > I am also interested if anyone found curses routines. [M][a][r][c] ################################################################################ # # marc@sequoia.cray.com # . . # # Marc CR Bouron # M.Bouron@cray.co.uk (ARPA) # _|\ /|_ # # Cray Research (UK) Ltd. # M.Bouron@crayuk.uucp (DOMAIN) # (_|_V_|_) # # +44 344 485971 x2208 # M.Bouron@uk.co.cray (JANET) # | | # # # ...!ukc!crayuk!M.Bouron (UUCP) # # ################################################################################ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 10:51 From: "Thomas Koenig" Subject: Strange Tempus / Mupfel / AES bug To: Info-Atari16 Discussion I recently stumbled across what I cosider to be a bug in Tempus, Mupfel, AES or any combination of these... I did the following things: 1) I installed a renamed Tempus somewhere along my $PATH, with different installations from the ones I normally use, which I named VI.PRG :-) 2) In Mupfel, I set the Variable VI_PRG to D:N, in order to avoid typing tree every time I wanted to load another text from my working directory 3) In my current directory, I wrote a program which uses rscs_load() and rscs_gaddr() afterward to get the addresses of some strings for error messages. There were no other AES calls in between. All the calls returned 1 to indicate successful completion. What I got as pointers, however, was far from correct; all of them had their lower words set to zero, and there was one NULL pointer. Needless to say, my program threw two bombs at me as soon as I used these pointers... All of the conditions in 1) and 2) were necessary to reproduce this bug. The SHEL_FIX program did not help. I used a Mega ST 2 with TOS 1.04, Tempus 2.01 and 2.10 and Mupfel 1.2. The only resident programs were AHDI 3.0 and POOLFIX3. Nice, eh? Thomas Koenig EARN/BITNET : UI0T@DKAUNI2.BITNET INTERNET : UI0T@IBM3090.RZ.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE X.400 : S=UI0T;OU=IBM3090;OU=RZ;P=UNI-KARLSRUHE;A=DBP;C=DE ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 91 09:42:15 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma!grahamt@uunet.uu.net (Graham S Thomas) Subject: ST User Virus! To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu From article <10099@suns2.crosfield.co.uk>, by imt@crosfield.co.uk (ian taylor): > (This is probably only of interest to UK netters, although I believe ST User > magazine is available internationally by mail order) > > Has anyone had problems with this months (June) ST User cover disk? > I think that there is a free virus included on the coverdisk, which mangled > the directory of two of my disks before I eradicated it. This is the second > time that ST User has done this, and frankly I am bloody unimpressed. Anyone > who's got this disk, beware. I checked this out with George Woodside's VKILLER. My disk is clean. It was formatted with Martin Backschat's FASTCOPY III, and has a formatter ID of 'IBM' in bytes 3-5 of the bootsector, but the serial number is OK - i.e. it doesn't correspond with an MS-DOS version number. It looks like ST User is innocent this time. (Innocent of this, at least. On the cover disk is what they call - several times - the 'very latest version of UniTerm'. The version is in fact 2.0c. The last version that Simon Poole released is, I believe, 2.0e011. 2.0c is quite usable; if they didn't shout so much about the program being "hot from the programmer's fingertips" - with a 1987 copyright date??? - I wouldn't mind.) Graham -- Graham Thomas, SPRU, Mantell Building, U of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RF, UK Email: grahamt@syma.sussex.ac.uk Phone: +44 273 678165 Fax: .. 685865 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 21:24:05 SST From: Suthipuntha Subject: TRANSFERRING FILE TO & FROM PORTFOLIO To: INFO-ATARI16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hello, Although I bought my Atari Portfolio since it first released last year, I hardly use it. I recently try its parallel and serial adapters. I can use both to print the document with the HP LaserJet IIP but I cannot use both adapter to transfer files to and from the Mega 4. I have tried parallel file transfer using the software that comes with the adapter called 'FT.COM' and running FT.COM on Mega4 with SuperCharger but I cannot get it to work. It works well when I connected to IBM-AT though. Is the problem due to the Mega 'non standard' parallel prot with no busy signal on pin 10? Is there any- way to work around this problem (such as putting jumper, etc.). Serial interface also not working with Mega 4. I tried it with Flash V1.6 on Mega 4. I also found that the pin out in the serial interface manual is not correct (may be only applies to the manual of the 1st batch of portfolio). It took me few hours to figure out by making a serial cable to link it to the Lase rJet IIP first the PIN 2 and PIN 3 has to be reverse from what shown in the manual in order to get file to print. Pin out for modem cable also incorrect. ct It is very unfortunate that both computer are the same brand but cannot communi -cate to each other whereas the Z88 has no problem in transmit and receive file to and from Atari Mega 4. I would appreciate any suggestion/solution on this matter. Anyone has more luck or has written a proper transfer program for the ST? I also recall someone mentioned about the Portfolio Discussion group. I would like to know the address of them too. Thanks in advance, Suthipuntha, School of Architecture, National University of Singapore AKISUJAR@NUSVM.BITNET ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 10:35 N From: Subject: TT users To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu slammy@admiral.UUCP (Dave Litchman) writes: >Ok, I'm sure we've all SEEN the TT, at shows and such, but does anyone >HAVE one yet? Yes, I even use it. Chris Evelo ============================================================== Dept. of Occup. & Chris Evelo Environm. Health MFAGKCHR@HMARL5 (BITNET) and Toxicology. University of Limburg Tel: 31-43-888635 P.O. Box 616 Fax: 31-43-436080 6200 MD Maastricht The Netherlands ============================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 May 91 11:42:03 +0100 From: Stephen Kendrick To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I am getting a TT, but I already have an HD with an ICD host adapter and driver software. This allows me to select the boot partition, auto folder progs, and accessories. I ****!!!NEED!!!**** this feature, but am afraid I will lose it if I have to boot from the TT's own drive. Any Ideas on how to get around this would be welcolmed. Would this dealer list tell me where I could get a US TT, thereby saving myself a lot of $$$s? If so, how do I get hold of it? On the subject of ST World, it does appear to be going monthly as a supplement free with Atari ST User, and it's not worth the paper it's written on any more. Lets hope someone brings out a TT World, devoid of any gaming type rubbish for us more serious users!! The slow boot up of !!ALL!! Atari machines from hard disk is indeed due to the length of time they try to see a floppy. This allows people to put a disk in AFTER turning on the machine, if they don't like doing so before. The reason they always look for a floppy is to allow a floppy boot to override the HD boot. Why? Well, what if your latest Auto folder or DA master piece on the HD keeps crashing, and you don't have the option to select them? What could you do about it if the machine always booted straight from HD first? Atari moves in mysterious ways, their wonders to perform. On the subject of UNIX for the TT, is it going to be available as a package after purchase? If so, will it allow X11/Xwindows and X/GemOnX to run, or even include them? Will a poor, lowly, Skint English Student be able to afford such a package? More Questions...Can you upgrade TT Ram with 4Mb(8 bit) SIMMs?? If so, then why is it $300 cheaper to buy a TT2 and upgrade to 10Mb, than to buy a TT8. This is why I want a UNIX package AFTER purchase!!! Last, but not least, Will the 1280x960 Wyse Monochrome 16" monitor produce the Hi Res TT display? I can get one for 352 pound sterling. Thanks for reading all this if you did. If you didn't, so what? +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "I've been drunk for a week! Oooh. My heads hurts..."-Zaphod Beeblebrox | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | From another guy who lives wher the ST rides High!!! Later!!! Stevie. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ End of Info-Atari16 Digest ******************************