Info-Atari16 Digest Thu, 5 Sep 91 Volume 91 : Issue 470 Today's Topics: 24 pin printer driver for Spectre Atari Computer for sale! Atari Printer Setup COMPATABILITY (2 msgs) Conclusions: How do I stop Control-C? Current status of Autoswitch Overscan Falcon Disks Gemini/Fonts Machine Prices (was Re: ATW adon for ST's (was RE: CD-I)) (2 msgs) Railroad Tycoon RAM disks for Mega4/ste??? Yes! Sozobon C -- Mail? Stacey Advice, please Star NX-1000 driver for 1st World Plus Super Charger 286? (2 msgs) TeX Advice Trouble With New Floppy Drive 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: 5 Sep 91 18:22:47 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!kno w!daemon@arizona.edu Subject: 24 pin printer driver for Spectre To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Where can I get a 24 pin printer driver (for a Roland Raven) to use with MacWare under Spectre? For the user asking about LDW, it's compatible with LOTUS 2.1. Latest version of LDW that I have is 2.0. Hope this helps. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 17:45:32 GMT From: haven.umd.edu!umbc3.umbc.edu!umbc5.umbc.edu!chuck@purdue.edu (Chuck Rickard) Subject: Atari Computer for sale! To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu FOR SALE: Atari 1040 ST 1 meg main system memory Internal 720K 3.5" disk drive TOS 1.4 Operating System ROMs Surreal Systems internal clock chip Atari SC 1224 Color monitor Original super-sharp JVC model Semi-"Home-brew" hard drive SH 204 case and power supply/fan ICD Advantage Host Adapter (w/clock) OMTI SCSI-to-MFM converter Seagate ST-251 40 meg drive (flakey) DMA cable Atari standard mouse WordPerfect for the Atari ST Abacus Chartpak Misc. system disks for the above system ...and any other misc. Atari formatted disks that I have All this great stuff for just $750 or best offer! I'd rather sell the system as a whole, but if I get offers for most of the pieces, then I'll go that way. Anyway, if you have an offer, then make it! The worst thing that can happen is that I'll say "No way!" I prefer email, but if you would rather call, you can reach me at (301) 521-0015. Thanks! -- Chuck Rickard (chuck@umbc5.umbc.edu) ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 15:48:00 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!edcastle!david@uunet.uu.net (D Mallon) Subject: Atari Printer Setup To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Printer Problems (Atari-Silver Reed) I'm currently trying to link up a silver reed Daisy wheel printer to my atari, through the parallel printer port. However, there seems to be some confusion between the two regarding line feeds i.e. I get about one line then rubbish. The Atari seems to only offer a very simple set-up facility for printers i.e. Install Printer, with no way to alter control characters. If anyone out ther has overcome a similar problem I'd appreciate their advice. Thanks, David. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 19:44:08 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!spool.mu.edu!agate!boulder!horton.Colorado.ED U!chuj@arizona.edu (CHU JEFFREY) Subject: COMPATABILITY To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I plan on purchasing a multisync monitor for the ATARI ST. I was wondering would the following monitors work with the Omniswitch(?) in both monochrome and color modes. SONY 1304 HG (the one I own now) Panasync 1391 Samsung Syncmaster 3 suggestions? or any others (below $350 cost). If the Sony 1304 will work then that would be great! I don't wish to purchase anything over $350.00 cause the ACER that was offered to me was for $340.00 which will do both modes right? Thanks in Advance, Jeff EMAIL: chuj@horton.colorado.edu ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 23:55:53 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio- state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!aa399@arizona.edu (Len Stys) Subject: COMPATABILITY To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In a previous article, chuj@horton.colorado.edu (CHU JEFFREY) says: >I plan on purchasing a multisync monitor for the ATARI ST. >I was wondering would the following monitors work with the >Omniswitch(?) in both monochrome and color modes. > > SONY 1304 HG (the one I own now) > > Panasync 1391 > Samsung Syncmaster 3 > suggestions? > or any others (below $350 cost). > >If the Sony 1304 will work then that would be great! >I don't wish to purchase anything over $350.00 cause the ACER >that was offered to me was for $340.00 which will do both modes >right? > > Thanks in Advance, > Jeff > > >EMAIL: chuj@horton.colorado.edu > > > In addition to this, I'd like to know if I buy a multisynch monitor, can I later connect it to an IBM clone and display VGA graphics with it? Thanks. -- ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 21:15:31 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!portal!atari!apratt@arizona.edu (Allan Pratt) Subject: Conclusions: How do I stop Control-C? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu mforget@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Michel Forget) writes: >2. Use getch() and putch() to do the input and output, and use cfg_ch() >to modify the functions to use the BIOS calls mentioned above. This >would be more portable than the above method, ... I disagree. It assumes that everybody else who uses your source code has the same library that you have. Even if it's popular & widespread (like MWC or something) it's still not portable. There's a third alternative: use Crawio(c) for output and Crawcin() for input. These are GEMDOS functions, not BIOS functions, and as such are redirectable and other stuff. The redirection doesn't actually work before TOS 1.4 for some of the single-character I/O calls, but that's Yet Another Good Reason To Upgrade. ============================================ Opinions expressed above do not necessarily -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp. reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else. ...ames!atari!apratt ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 22:13:23 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.co lumbia.edu!iraun1.ira.uka.de!fauern!opal!ki@arizona.edu (Karsten Isakovic) Subject: Current status of Autoswitch Overscan To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hello Gerald, >Chuck, Rio Computers was going to be the US distributor of >A-O, last I heard. I called them a few times in August to >find out about it, but it seemed that it was always destined >to be there about a week after my call. Now that the academic RIO has got 10 AS-Overscans at the 20.8, befor the ATARI fair in Duesseldorf started. Since Richard was at the fair, the first date to buy a AS-OverScan in the US was around 28'th of august. Greetings, Karsten ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 23:08:24 GMT From: noao!ncar!asuvax!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!as903@arizona .edu (Bruce Urbanski) Subject: Falcon Disks To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu You can order the mission disks right from SH.. I recommend mission disk II ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 91 01:44:19 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.p itt.edu!rjast1@arizona.edu (Robert J Anisko) Subject: Gemini/Fonts To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Okay, you are saying that Gemini can only use Monospaced fonts. Now how can I tell the difference... Robert Anisko rjast1@unix.cis.pitt.edu ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 13:38:24 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!slxsys!ibmpcug!mantis!mathew@uunet.uu.net (Kernel Mustered) Subject: Machine Prices (was Re: ATW adon for ST's (was RE: CD-I)) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1991Aug16.172116.2704@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@cunixb.cc.colu | In article <1991Aug12.203647.431@newcastle.ac.uk> D.C.Halliday@newcastle.ac | > | >While talking about the ATW it is now available for 2500pounds with | >educational discount. (Thats Half price!) | | So what? You can go out right now and buy a 21 MIP Sun SPARCstation | ELC for the same price in the US (about US$5,000). What you forget is that although the exchange rate is about $1.7 : #1, generally computers cost about 1.5x or 2x as much over here as they do in the USA. For example, over here a SPARCstation is about #5000, not $5000. mathew ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 20:09:40 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!samsung!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cunixf.cc.columbi a.edu!cunixa.cc.columbia.edu!cmm1@arizona.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) Subject: Machine Prices (was Re: ATW adon for ST's (was RE: CD-I)) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article mathew@mantis.co.uk (Kernel Mustered) writes: >In article <1991Aug16.172116.2704@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@cunixb.cc.colu >| In article <1991Aug12.203647.431@newcastle.ac.uk> D.C.Halliday@newcastle.ac >| > >| >While talking about the ATW it is now available for 2500pounds with >| >educational discount. (Thats Half price!) >| >| So what? You can go out right now and buy a 21 MIP Sun SPARCstation >| ELC for the same price in the US (about US$5,000). > >What you forget is that although the exchange rate is about $1.7 : #1, >generally computers cost about 1.5x or 2x as much over here as they do in >the USA. > >For example, over here a SPARCstation is about #5000, not $5000. Well, if you're going to spend 5K pounds anyway, why not just take the Concorde over to NY and buy a SPARCstation ELC and take the Concorde back to merry ol' England. At least this way you can travel and have a few beers while you're at it. :-) I'm amazed at European prices. You can get a 486-33mhz system here for less than US$3,000 also. Perhaps, that is why Atari machines don't sell very well here. According to J&R Music World's latest pricing, a monochrome Mega-2 STe will cost you US$1400+. Most people would probably prefer to get a low end Mac or medium-end PC clone for that amount of money (unless they want a MIDI machine...and the Mac is making inroads in that market as well). Cheers, Chris --------------+---------------------------------------------------------- Chris Mauritz | Cuba's *superior* human rights record is only part of the | answer; it's superior social conditions are another. --------------| -Harel Barzilai- ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 22:53:20 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs .ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!as903@arizona.edu (Bruce Urbanski) Subject: Railroad Tycoon To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu If you have a GCR and can't wait. get the MAC version...it works just fine.. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 17:44:43 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!eastapps!ea stnews!gaudreau@arizona.edu (Joe Gaudreau {Dances with PostScript}) Subject: RAM disks for Mega4/ste??? Yes! To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1991Sep4.224835.1235@ac.dal.ca> cordes@ac.dal.ca writes: (Joe Gaudreau {Dances with PostScript}) writes: Hey! that's me! > Are there any RAM disks that *work* on a Mega4/Ste? I've tried a The only ones (of the reset-resistant variety) I've found are the Codehead Ram Disk (on the Codehead Utilities Disk) and Keith Ledbetter's L-Ram, part of his LUTILS, in utilities/lutils.arc on Terminator. The Codehead one is terrific, in that you can set it up at *and remove it* at any time without re-setting. The Mark Williams rde_sty for the Ste works quite nicely on the Mega4/Ste. It has many nice variations but the one I like the best is being able to save the ram disk image as a .tos file, which can be loaded once with whatever you populated it with: I have drive o: setup for Turbo-C development with 1.5 meg and it just barely fits all the compiler tools, libraries, includes, emacs, and gnu-make. It get's used with the 'Master' shell and it's purpose is essentially to be a 'rom' drive. There'a around 400k left for diddling or temp stuff. *but* the cool part is that I saved the configured and populated ram drive as a binary (900k-ish) - it's a built in feature of rde. Now, when I load the ram drive, everything is there. Compiles are *SO* fast, it's simply unbelievable - saves wear and tear on the HD too. *Gulam* or some other shell (like Master) is highly recommended for talking to rde - it lets you do much much more than the gui it comes with. Thanx to all. Grins, Joe -=- ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 18:42:30 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!thelake!steve@a rizona.edu (Steve Yelvington) Subject: Sozobon C -- Mail? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu [In article , mforget@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Michel Forget) writes ... ] > Hello. I heard that there will be a new version of Sozobon C released > soon. Does anyone know the mailing address of the authors, and whether > or not they will still ship the package out to people for the $10 > mentioned in their documentation for version 1.0 of Sozobon C. The > reason I am asking is that I don't have access to a Mail Server (like > Bart) or comp.binaries.atari.st (although the second one might be fixed > soon). I would like to get the newest version of Sozobon C that I can, > and if this is the only way I can, I'm game. The new version that I've been looking at was not prepared by the original Sozobon team. It was put together by Ian Lepore, the guy who wrote the GEMFAST bindings. I don't know whether Ian wants to get into the disk- shipping racket, and at any rate I don't have his mailing address. But as soon as 1.62i is released, I'm sure I can persuade the Minnesota Atari ST user group to package it as a Disk of the Month. MAST DOMs are available to nonmembers as well as members and are priced at $4 (US) each, plus postage. If you're outside the USA, better add a couple of dollars. Probably the best way to send funds in this small amount is to purchase International Reply Coupons at your local post office; MAST can convert them to U.S. stamps, which are always useful. I'll post an announcement here as soon as 1.62i is released. Meanwhile, if you want to get a jump on the mails, you could send a letter and a check or IRCs to: MAST P.O. Box 120016 New Brighton, MN 55112 USA Include in your note that you want Sozobon C 1.62i (or better). You don't want 1.61i, which was on last month's DOMs, since it has some problems (all apparently fixed in the new version). ---- Steve Yelvington, Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota (USA) steve@thelake.mn.org Member, Burned Out Newspapercreatures Guild ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 91 01:41:54 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.p itt.edu!rjast1@arizona.edu (Robert J Anisko) Subject: Stacey Advice, please To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu On the IBM emulator, I have heard of I THINK PC-Speeds being put inside a STacy - you might want to talk to a STacy owner or possibly a dealer about that... On the MAC side, just get Spectre GCR and the MAC ROMS, and you have a PORTABLE MAC for a WHOLE LOT LESS than an actual MAC portable... Robert Anisko rjast1@unix.cis.pitt.edu ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 23:16:03 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!uwm.edu!bionet!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!nosc!crash !pnet01!trag@arizona.edu (Jim Trageser) Subject: Star NX-1000 driver for 1st World Plus To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Anyone have a hex file for 1st WordPlus for the Star NX-1000 printer? I tried the Epson files, but I can't get bold NLQ and when I corrected the hex codes within the Epson file to correspond to Star nlq bold, I started getting quadruple line feeds when I used italics. (although I didn't touch the italics or linefeed coding. Very weird). UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!trag ARPA: crash!pnet01!trag@nosc.mil INET: trag@pnet01.cts.com ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 91 00:54:36 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!apple !portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@arizona.edu Subject: Super Charger 286? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Anyone who wants an IBM emulator for specific applications such as games, and for graphics capabilities such as VGA, and for expansion options, should buy the only REAL PC emulator, an actual IBM style system. A used turbo XT system will probably cost less than an ST emulator, will run ANY pc program, and will be expandable to use just about ANY peripheral you could ever want. An ST emulator should only be for someone who doesn care about expansion, and who doesn't have any serious applications in mind. As good as they are, the ST pc emulators will never match even the most basic true PC... BobR ------------------------------ Date: 6 Sep 91 03:38:48 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!rj ast1@arizona.edu (Robert J Anisko) Subject: Super Charger 286? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <46588@cup.portal.com> Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com writes: >Anyone who wants an IBM emulator for specific applications >such as games, and for graphics capabilities such as VGA, >and for expansion options, should buy the only REAL PC emulator, >an actual IBM style system. If you have the $$$ and space (see below)... >A used turbo XT system will probably cost less than an ST >emulator, will run ANY pc program, and will be expandable to >use just about ANY peripheral you could ever want. The expansion is a definite. But can you get a comparable system for the same price (in terms of software capabilities, not expansion/cards) Besides, who wants an XT anyways? (if I wanted one, I would have bought a laptop for a good price) -- for me gotta go AT for compatibility... >An ST emulator should only be for someone who doesn care about >expansion, and who doesn't have any serious applications in >mind. I agree on the first part, and disagree on the second. I used/will use IBM emulators for programming (TurboC, Smalltalk/V) among other things. They worked well with Supercharger (regular flavor) and should work well with an ATSpeed. For that matter, they work on the software PC-DITTO of all things! > >As good as they are, the ST pc emulators will never match even >the most basic true PC... > >BobR (referencing ATSpeed16): But for someone like me who only needs to run basic software (i.e. anything not tied to an expansion card), then something like the ATSpeed16 is ideal - gives CGA/Tandy color, Herc/EGA/VGA mono (the various resolutions allow for compatibility with many programs which are resolution-dependent; 286 (and optional 287) give compatibility to programs that use these chips specifically. If I wanted a killer-PC system, I'd buy one - but as I have my ST and have NO intention of getting rid of it, I don't need 2 COMPLETE systems cluttering up my already cluttered area. I just want to be able to run software as needed, and no more. An emulator will get one through college courses, anyways... Robert Anisko rjast1@unix.cis.pitt.edu "get some suntan oil - I feel some flames coming this way :-)" ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 18:01:40 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!yale.edu!cs .yale.edu!cs.yale.edu!fischer-michael@arizona.edu (Michael Fischer) Subject: TeX Advice To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <3265@tamsun.TAMU.EDU> n160ao@tamuts.tamu.edu (Mark Lehmann) writes: >What I'd like to here is a success story. > >My prof got me interested back in TeX and LaTeX today. I want it for >my St. I have aboiut 9 Meg of space left on my hard disk and 1 Meg of >memory that I want to upgrade to 2.5 Meg. Should I do this. > >I see so many complaints about TeX on the ST. Should >I even try? > Yes, TeX and LaTeX are viable on the ST. My wife is in the midst of producing a 550 page manuscript of a book using it. I use LaTeX for all of my own writing. One of the nice features is that I can freely move tex files back and forth between my Sun Sparcstation 1 at work and my Atari MegaST at home and compile them, preview them, or print them at either location. The only real noticable differences between the two systems are screen size and speed. The ST compiles roughly 10 pages/minute; the Sparc runs approximately 10 times faster. Whether you should try to bring it up on your system is another matter. TeX and its associated programs and files comprise a large and complicated system. You will need the 2.5 Meg of memory. The 9 Meg of hard disk space you have available might be enough, but you won't have much left over after you install TeX and its fonts and related programs. Getting ahold of suitable fonts may not be so easy. Fonts files are generated using MetaFont for specific printers and resolutions and are quite large. Fonts generated for "write black" laser printers will work on the SLM 804, which is a "write white" printer, but they don't look as good as ones generated especially for a "write white" printer. I couldn't find a complete set of screen and printer fonts in the usual places, so I finally ended up generating one myself. This took several hours of time on a Sparc. I don't know whether it could have been done on the ST or not, but if so, it probably would have required 30 or 40 hours of CPU time or more. Here are the components that I can recommend. All are available on atari.archive.umich.edu or on tex archives such as labrea.stanford.edu: 1. Basic TeX engine: tex version 3.1. 2. Latex macros. 3. Screen previewer: showdvi. 4. Laser printer driver: dviprint (packaged with showdvi). Instead of 3 and 4, one can use dvips to convert .dvi files (produced by TeX) to PostScript files, which can then be printed or viewed using appropriate PostScript tools such as Ghostscript or Ultrascript. Optional components: 5. Bibliography tool: bibtex. 6. Font generation: metafont. In addition, you will need a good ascii text editor for preparing input files for TeX/LaTeX. TeX is not a "wordprocessor" in the usual sense and does not provide tools for data entry. I use either MicroGnuEmacs or Tempus, but any editor capable of reading and writing pure ascii files will work. Hope this helps. -- ================================================== | Michael Fischer | ================================================== ------------------------------ Date: 5 Sep 91 14:30:33 GMT From: pa.dec.com!hollie.rdg.dec.com!ryn.mro4.dec.com!rgb.dec.com!rost@decwrl.dec.com (My name is Brian Rost) Subject: Trouble With New Floppy Drive To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu The floppy in my 1040ST died, so I went out and got a Mitsubishi DSDD drive for $50 and threw it in last night. At first, nothing worked. OK, turn over the ribbon connector, that's better. Hmm, still not right, oh yeah, use the drive select jumper to select drive 0. Now it reads all my floppies. Try to format a blank floppy...nothing!! "Drive not responding...disk may be corrupted". ???I'm totally confused. I don't hear the head moving around when I try to write or format. The drive is brand new and was inspected by the dealer before shipping. I'm thinking there is some other stupid jumper or switch on it somewhere. Brian Rost @rgb.dec.com 508-568-6115 **************************************************** * * * The above does not reflect the opinions of * * my employer. * * * * If music is outlawed, only outlaws will be * * musicians. * * * **************************************************** ------------------------------ End of Info-Atari16 Digest ******************************