Info-Atari16 Digest Thu, 30 Jan 92 Volume 92 : Issue 56 Today's Topics: (And all those stupid Amiga/Next msg's) Anonymous FTP.. CHECKERBOARD GRAY AND TOUCHUP Did anyone write a good read() for Mint (or TOS)? MapleV MASTER V6.0 (SHAREWARE) Mega/STe question (2 msgs) Multifinder for Atari-ST ? QuickST3 -> MEGA_STe... / CrackArt Shellp, Gulam, GFA Basic SM124 Monitor Problem STOS 3D TOS 1.4 fixes? Uniterm manual Useful information uuencode & uudecode What to do? Yet another ST for sale 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: 30 Jan 92 09:39:44 GMT From: mcsun!sun4nl!alchemy!piet@uunet.uu.net (Piet van Oostrum) Subject: (And all those stupid Amiga/Next msg's) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I think the best thing to do is to send these people mail messages staing that their discussion is in the wrong group. It would even be better if we had a moderator (not a censor) who could cancel messages like this and other amiga flamers -- Piet* van Oostrum, Dept of Computer Science, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands. Telephone: +31 30 531806 Uucp: uunet!mcsun!ruuinf!piet Telefax: +31 30 513791 Internet: piet@cs.ruu.nl (*`Pete') ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 14:36:17 GMT From: mcsun!sun4nl!infnews!vreeken@uunet.uu.net (Maarten Vreeken) Subject: Anonymous FTP.. To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1992Jan30.121137.8238@actrix.gen.nz>, Roger.Sheppard@actrix.gen.nz (Roger Sheppard) writes: |> Is there a list of Anonymous FTP, Atari support sites that some |> one could send to me, or direct me to were I could find such a list.. |> |> Thanks..! |> |> |> -- |> *** Roger W. Sheppard * Roger.Sheppard@bbs.actrix.gen.nz *** |> *** 85 Donovan Rd * * GEnie. R.SHEPPARD5 *** |> *** Kapiti At least I don't Flicker, *** |> *** New Zealand.. * not like a dying light globe *** A frequently asked question. Here are some sites and their addresses: atari.archive.umich.edu 141.211.164.8 cs.uni-sb.de 134.96.252.31 faui43.informatik.uni-erlangen.de 131.188.31.3 jyu.fi 130.234.0.1 rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de 129.69.1.12 sol.cs.ruu.nl 131.211.80.5 um.cc.umich.edu 35.1.1.43 star.cs.vu.nl 130.37.24.6 At least one of them will have a FTP-list with more sites. Maarten Vreeken (vreeken@cs.utwente.nl) ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 16:50 -0300 From: CHIASSA@Umoncton.CA Subject: CHECKERBOARD GRAY AND TOUCHUP To: info-atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I had part of a map with areas of homogenous gray shading at least on the screen that I prepared with "TOUCHUP". The resolution was 300 DPI. I saved it as a TIFF file and then imported it into WORDPERFECT 5.1. All of the gray shading comes out in a checkerboard pattern. Is there anything I can do to cure this, I don't even known what causes it. Thanks ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 13:00:42 GMT From: mcsun!uknet!warwick!nott-cs!dpg@uunet.uu.net (`Grave' Dave Gymer) Subject: Did anyone write a good read() for Mint (or TOS)? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article muts@fysap.fys.ruu.nl (Peter Mutsaers) writes: >for some applications I would very much like to be able to have a >read() (or an Fread() implemented in the kernel even better) that >generates vt52 escape sequences from Funcion/cursor/etc keys, so the >ST can be a real vt52. > >Also, I would like that ALT-combinations do not return '0', but the >ascii code, with the 8th bit set. This would make porting of unix >editors/shells with full keyboard use much easier. (I hate to resort >to GEM and do not even start it up at a reboot). There is a relatively easy way to do this under MiNT; you write a program which opens a pseudo-tty as the server, then opens it as a client, too, then spawns a shell (like bash or tcsh) which is on the client end of the pty, and then reads input from the console (via Fgetchar() or Bconin()), and converts F-keys and so on into vt52 strings, before passing them down the pty to the shell. It must also print the shell's output on the screen (although it could just leave the shell's o/p attached direct to the console). (The select() call comes in handy here!) Hope this helps some... -- `Grave' Dave Gymer | "When your problems seem like mountains, 42 St Mary's Park, | You feel the need to find some answers, Louth, Lincs, | You can leave them for another day, LN11 0EF, ENGLAND | Don't try so hard." - Queen ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 09:07:47 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!darwin.sura.net!Sirius.dfn.de!chx400!bernina!h b9zz@arizona.edu (Marco Zollinger) Subject: MapleV To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hi I just bought a licence for the MapleV symbolic math package for the Atari ST. It works very good and quite fast, but the problem is that there is no 3D plot possibility. My question is: Is there somebody of Waterloo University on the Net? Does somebody know if there are plans to devlop this feature? Thank you in advance Ciao --- Rick -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opinion expressed here are mine, and I'm proud of them !!! And don't forget that: "No problem is so big or so complicated that it can't ------------------------------ Date: 29 Jan 92 19:45:40 GMT From: math.fu-berlin.de!uniol!unido!sbsvax!coli-gate.coli.uni-sb.de!uhf!pingu.saar.su b.org!edgar@uunet.uu.net (Edgar Greuter) Subject: MASTER V6.0 (SHAREWARE) To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hi! If you are not interested in commandline oriented shells, you should say 'n' now. To everybody else, i have to offer a special goodie: The newest version of MASTER (V6.0) is now available as SHAREWARE. Today i have uploaded it to cs.uni-sb.de in /pub/atari/shells. Look for master.zoo. What is MASTER ? It is a shell for all Atari ST computers. It feels a bit like COMMAND.COM and a bit like /bin/csh for unix. If you have worked with Gulam or similar shells, you should take a look at it. Which resources do you need to run it ? An Atari ST computer with at least 150 kB of RAM, a single-sided disk drive and TOS version 1.0 or later. MASTER will run on a TT, but some features might not work (probably you would never need them). What are the basic features of MASTER ? You get many built-in commands, editable command lines, history, expansion of shell-variables with a single keystroke and file-name completion. MASTER can execute external programs (TOS, GEM or MiNT) or batchfiles. You can use i/o redirection for any builtin or external command using >, >>, 2>, 2>>, 2>&1, 1>&2, <, << and | or the special variable-redirections of MASTER into and out of shell variables =>, ==>, ->, -->, <-. What are the advanced features of MASTER ? You can use most of the extended argument passing conventions ever mentioned on the net (including MWC, xArg and the Atari standard) thus passing up to 32 kB of parameters to any program knowing about these methods (BTW: 32 kB is the limit that TOS has for passing environments to programs, with xArg you could pass as many bytes as you like). You get symbolic links (much like those in MiNT - but we had them back in 1987) that affect any program using GEMDOS filesystem calls. You can also watch the activities of programs related to files. You get pipes (using in-core-buffering instead of temporary files) between any two commands wether builtin or not. You can use job-control in TOS (not only with MiNT installed!) much like in the csh under BSD. For example you could say: less example.txt them inside less press ~Z back in the shell, you could say emacs another.c then inside emacs press ~Z back in the shell, you can either go back to emacs with "%%" or "%2" or go back to less with "%1" then finish less and back in the shell restart the suspended emacs with "%2" ... Programs doing screen-output can be stopped after a specified amount of lines (usually a page) by appending a single |-symbol at the end of the command. When a program is stopped in this way (looks like "command | more" under unix), you can see the next page or line or suspend screen output until a specified string (actually a regular expression) occurs in the output line. And you can even say "!command" and start another shell-command (which can be any program). Job-control will work in these cases too! Which interfaces to other programs has MASTER ? MASTER can be called with a command as parameter. It can also be called via the system()-call (it hooks itself into the _shell_p vector) and this call IS RELIABLE (there are NO PROBLEMS with memory ownership as mentioned for other shells on the net). MASTER can for instance be used as the underlying shell for VENUS, the GEM part of GEMINI (though venus.app has to be patched to expect MASTER instead of MUPFEL). The values of shell-variables can be asked about with a special system call. The shell itself can be expanded with so called Master Module eXtensions (example modules are included in the distribution). - Edgar Before i forget it. These are the builtin commands: alias ask beep bye car cat cd cdr chmod chrono close cls comp copy cp date del delete diff dir dirs dump elapsed era erase err eval exit export fgrep files find format free get getline goto grep help history inverse jobs kbd key kill ll ln lock ls md memdump mkdir module more move mv normal on open pack page pause popd printf pushd pwd quit rd rem ren rename restore rewind rm rmdir rs232 save set set? setenv shift show shrink sleep status time touch type unalias unlink unlock unpack unset unsetenv version which zcat l25 l50 The available control constructs are: break continue else goto if loop while -- Edgar Greuter Francoisstrasse 21 6600 Saarbruecken Email: roeder@cs.uni-sb.de edgar@pingu.saar.sub.org (will change to: .saar.de) ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 10:44:50 GMT From: mcsun!unido!news.uni-bielefeld.de!techfak.uni-bielefeld.de!itschere@uunet.uu.ne t (Torsten Scherer) Subject: Mega/STe question To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <...>, au036@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Chris Burgess) writes: |> |> Is there any documentation available on how to switch between |> 8Mhz and 16Mhz processor speeeds on a Mega/STe under program |> control, not with the control panel? |> |> Chris Burgess |> Yes, it is. It's the adress $FF8E21 and the lowest two bits are used to switch between 8 and 16 MHz and to enable the cache. TeSche -- torsten scherer, universitaet bielefeld, germany e-mail to : itschere@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de There is a theory which states that if ever anyone would find out what the universe exactly is and what it is for it will be instantly replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. D.N.A. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Jan 92 18:06:37 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs .ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!au036@arizona.edu (Chris Burgess) Subject: Mega/STe question To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Is there any documentation available on how to switch between 8Mhz and 16Mhz processor speeeds on a Mega/STe under program control, not with the control panel? Chris Burgess ------------------------------ Date: 29 Jan 92 19:22:35 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.ed u!ira.uka.de!sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de!news.belwue.de!news.uni-ulm.de!news@arizo na.edu (Joerg Ballschmiter) Subject: Multifinder for Atari-ST ? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In <29446@imag.imag.fr> maraninx@imag.fr writes: > > > I need something like the equivalent of the Macintosh multifinder for Atari ST. > Does it exist ? > > Or perhaps someone can find another way of solving my problem : > I would like to use a Lisp interpreter which does not allow to call an editor. > And I don't want to quit the interpreter, then to load the editor, etc... > for each modification of the source. > You should try MultiGem for the ST. If your programs are GEM-conform, you will not have any problems with it. In Germany it costs about 150DM, that are about 100$. -Joe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ! Bitnet: ccc_ball@dulruu51.bitnet Internet: ccc_ball@rzmain.rz.uni-ulm.de ! ! Joerg Ballschmiter Gartenhalde 68 W-7900 ULM-Maehringen GERMANY ! ! Chaos Computer Club ULM ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ \ [ DISCLAIMER ] / \________________________________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 92 23:46:30 GMT From: mcsun!uknet!stl!robobar!ibmpcug!demon!news@uunet.uu.net (Keith Sommerville) Subject: QuickST3 -> MEGA_STe... / CrackArt To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu "QuickST and the Mega/New TOS" Still worth it belive it or not, although the improvements are not quite as dr- amatic ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 09:45:06 GMT From: math.fu-berlin.de!news.netmbx.de!unido!sbsvax!roeder@uunet.uu.net (Edgar Greuter) Subject: Shellp, Gulam, GFA Basic To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu arktik@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Ryan Daum) writes: >I want to create a shell to go in my soon-to-be-released "TreeTop" BBS package >(hierarchical message base system) that would let you use standard gulam or >mupfel commands while adding some of my own and creating a new environment. >The problem is, I'm writing this in GFA Basic. (I know, I know, but you find >me a language that is interpeted as well as compiled, has a wonderful editor >like GFA, and lets you fix mistakes and problems on the fly... Besides, I'm a >floppy user) >Help me! In the archive /pub/atari/shell/master.zoo on cs.uni-sb.de is sample code to call _shell_p (here Master, but usable for other shells too) written in GFA Basic. There are also versions for Omicron Basic and C. Hope this helps you! - Edgar -- Mail: Edgar Greuter E-Mail: roeder@cs.uni-sb.de Fran\c{c}oisstra\ss e 21 D-6600 Saarbr\"ucken -o- -o- Germany ~ Phone: 0681/583934 `---' ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 18:47:46 GMT From: noao!ncar!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.e du!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!au036@arizona.edu (Chris Burgess) Subject: SM124 Monitor Problem To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I am having a problem with a SM124 (Goldstar) monitor. When the screen is mostly black, the white portions of the screen are very dim, and as more white is displayed the white return to normal brightness. Has anybody seen this problem before? Is there somthing I need to tweak on the monitor? Chris Burgess ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 15:15:52 GMT From: mcsun!uknet!sys-uea!sms@uunet.uu.net (S.M.Sowerby) Subject: STOS 3D To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu brucel@castle.ed.ac.uk (Bruce Lamond) writes: >Does anyone know if Mandarin have released, or are going to release, >STOS 3D? I have been eagerly awaiting it since I got STOS a couple of >years ago, and plans for it were mentioned then. I have recently seen >AMOS 3D in the shops, so I thought it might be on the way. >Thanks One of the UK ST mags (either Atari ST User or ST Format) recently said it would be out real soon, but I don't know how soon that is. The article showed some screen shots which looked OK and quoted someone as saying it will not be noticeably slower than any commerical 3D games. I'll believe that when I see it but hope it's right. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Sowerby, Postgraduate layabout, School of Information Systems, University of East Anglia, Norwich. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Jan 92 13:09:58 GMT From: mcsun!uknet!pyrltd!mwuk!tony@uunet.uu.net (Tony Mountifield) Subject: TOS 1.4 fixes? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I have just ordered a 6-ROM upgrade to TOS 1.4 (Yo!). I believe there are one or two niggly little bugs for which there are fixes to install in the AUTO folder. Can anyone send me a list of these, including the filenames to look for in such places as atari.archive or lancs.pdsoft? Thanks in advance. Tony. -- Tony Mountifield | Microware Systems (UK) Ltd. INET: tony@microware.co.uk | Colden Common, WINCHESTER, SO21 1TH. UUCP: ...!mcsun!uknet!mwuk!tony | Tel: 0703 601990 Fax: 0703 601991 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** Any opinions are mine, not Microware's - but you knew that anyway. ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 11:43:17 GMT From: mcsun!sun4nl!infnews!vreeken@uunet.uu.net (Maarten Vreeken) Subject: Uniterm manual To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hello, Does anybody know if there is a postscript version of the Uniterm manual and if so how to obtain it. Thanks, Maarten Vreeken (email: vreeken@cs.utwente.nl) ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 13:55:17 GMT From: mcsun!uknet!pcl!vatec@uunet.uu.net (Edd Deegan) Subject: Useful information To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hi fellow Atarians Two reasons for posting this message. 1) Does ANYONE know what happened to that great ST NEWS? It was a monthly disk-magazine, one of the best, and supported by some pretty important people. Stefan Posthuma and Richard Karsmakers (he of AVK virus killer fame) were the editors I believe. I stumbled across a couple of very old issues and got hooked. Any info would be appreciated. 2) ST information I have got hold of a book that lists some legal system variables. SO for the benefit of all, here are some useful snippets that many people might find useful. A comprehensive list of ST variables, valid on all ST's. Address (.Length) Name $408 .L Gem vector for ending a program $42E .L Address of the end of RAM $432 .L Address of the user memory (TPA) $43E .W If non-zero, a disk access is in progress $440 .W Seekrate. See table below Value in $440 Seekrate time 0 6ms 1 12ms 2 2ms 3 3ms $442 .W Time span between two timer calls. $444 .W If non-zero, a verify is performed after every disk access $446 .W Contains device number of boot drive $448 .W If non-zero, then screen refresh is 50hz $44C .W Holds resolution: 0=low, 1=med, 2=high (This can be set as well as read) $44E .L Pointer to logical screen address $452 .W If zero, VBL is disabled $454 .W Number of vertical blank routines $456 .L Pointer to VBL_queue $45A .L If non-zero, assumed to be a pointer to a colour palette which will be loaded at the next VBL (Note: I'm English, hence 'colour'!) $45E .L Address of video RAM which will be set during next VBL $462 .L Ongoing counter for number of VBL interrupts. This is incremented every VBL $466 .L Number of VBL routines executed $46E .L When another monitor is connected, then this vector is jumped to. Defuault is reset. $482 .W If non-zero (set by an AUTO program) then the ST will attempt to load a program called COMMAND.PRG as an alternative to the desktop. $484 .B Attribute for console output BIT Meaning 0 Key click on/off 1 Key repeat on/off 2 Control-G bell on/off 3 SHIFT key checked on/off $4A2 .L Pointer to saved registers after a BIOS call. $4AC .W Storage for X coordinate of cursor after ESC-Y $4BA .L COunter for 200hz system clock $4C2 .L 32 bit vector for connected drives 0=A 1=B .... Changing a bit will make the ST believe that the relevant drive is on/off line. $4CE 8 x .L 8 addresses forming the VBL queue. Some free so you can install your own VBL routines. $4EE .W Incremented by 1 when ALT-HELP pressed. This forces a hardcopy. $4F2 .L Pointer to start of operating system The above system variables can be used to bypass certain TRAP calls, such as XBIOS 5 (setscreen). They are legal variables, and shouldnt change. Any questions: Mail me. Edd Deegan vatec@uk.ac.pcl.sun -- PS: Sozobon C rules OK. (An' I've only got v1.01!) -- ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 92 13:56:02 GMT From: mcsun!unido!news.uni-bielefeld.de!techfak.uni-bielefeld.de!itschere@uunet.uu.ne t (Torsten Scherer) Subject: uuencode & uudecode To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu After I finally managed to connect to atari.archives.umich.edu and got some nice programs sent, another problem occurs. All these files are of cource uuencoded. They're also split in more smaller files. When I try to uudecode them, I olny get the message "no end line". How do I have to put these fragmented files together again? I'm sorry, but I don't understand what's written in the Unxi manual. Thanks in advance TeSche ------------------------------------------------ torsten scherer, universitaet bielefeld, germany e-mail to : itschere@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de There is a theory which states that if ever anyone would find out what the universe exactly is and what it is for it will be instantly replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. D.N.A. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 92 23:46:21 GMT From: mcsun!uknet!stl!robobar!ibmpcug!demon!news@uunet.uu.net (Keith Sommerville) Subject: What to do? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu "great little programs like the Mouse Speeder" Its so great it doesnt work properly! On my TT, if you set the screen blank option and the modem flag so that it doesnt blank during modem activity, it still blanks out if you use anything other than modem 1. I use the other serial ports cos they work properly! ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jan 92 23:46:17 GMT From: mcsun!uknet!stl!robobar!ibmpcug!demon!news@uunet.uu.net (Keith Sommerville) Subject: Yet another ST for sale To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu The TT is alive, maybe not too well, but definately exists in Europe, this is done on a TT. the new TOS is a definate improvement in terms of the Desktop- which in some in oops which in some instances is better than NeoDesk. ------------------------------ End of Info-Atari16 Digest ******************************