*---== CPU NEWSWIRE ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" _____________________________________ from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" April 20, 1990 No.4.16 ======================================================================= CPU NewsWire Online Magazine¿ featuring STReport ~ Online __________________________ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST/14.4 FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ ** F-NET NODE 350 ** 500mb Online ** STR'S owned & operated support BBS carries ALL issues of CPU/STR Newswire¿ and An International list of private BBS systems carrying CPU NewsWire for their users enjoyment __________________________________________________________________ > 04/20/90: CPU Newswire¿ #416 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ---------------------------- - The Editor's Podium - CPU REPORT - CPU STATUS REPORT - POOLFIX4 - MIDITASKING? - STACY POWER - PCD2 SHEESH! - BECKEMEYER NEWS - CPU CONFIDENTIAL ---===*** ATARI USING BRAIN DEAD MMU CHIPS? ***===--- ---===** STE DELAYED TILL JUNE? **===--- ---====*** ATARI TAIWAN BUSTED FOR PIRACY! ***====--- ========================================================================== CPU NEWSWIRE¿ "Only UP-TO-DATE News and Information" -* FEATURING *- Current Events, Up to Date News, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== CPU/STR's support BBS, NODE # 350 invites systems using Forem ST BBS to participate in Forem BBS's F-Net mail network. Or, Please call # 350 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging ideas about the Atari ST computers through an excellent International ST Mail Network. ========================================================================== AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ========================================================================== > The Editor's Podium¿ Ah yes.... a week closer to the PACE show and the Atari arena is still anxiously awaiting the long overdue arrival of the fabled STe. Sure enough, it certainly has passed the FCC testing ..weeks ago. Now, "where is it" is the haunting question from coast to coast. I can't help but recall the now very famous; "real soon now" as an appropriate answer. While third party activity is high, the reports from the west coast and central regions leave a great deal to be desired. It appears that Atari is in a 'holding pattern' for some odd reason. Time will reveal the true reasons for the more than obvious delays. Sadly, the repeated delays have hurt the few dealers Atari has left, reasonably, one can't help but wonder just what Atari is doing or going to do to show their appreciation to the dealers who HANG TOUGH and remain with Atari. Atari has, in the past, shown some reciprocity for their loyalty. This sure seems like the longest drought we have seen from Atari in ages, almost as long as the one between the 800xl and the 130xe and realistically speaking its just as damaging to the dealers. Someone ought to spread the goodwill and cheer on Wall Street, it appears the "pinstripes" have ATC finishing last this year with a probable buy out in the offing. Jack had better step in and get this outfit back on track, the shrill screaming on the top floors of Atari are not in character any longer nor are they anywhere near as effective as Jack's bellow. In fact, most folks who hear the 'tinny, high pitched' screaming are mostly "amused." Speaking of third party developers and suppliers, it seems there are two of them (well known) squaring off and getting set for an opportunity to give their hard earned dollars to attorneys. As the song goes... "when will they ever learn?" There still is time....... Ralph........ Question of the Week: "Where are my Explorer issues I subscribed for?" ********************************************************************** :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. **** SIGN UP FEE WAIVED **** The system will now prompt you for your information. THE GENIE ATARI ST ROUNDTABLE - AN OVERVIEW ___________________________________________ The Roundtable is an area of GEnie specifically set aside for owners and users of Atari ST computers, although all are welcome to participate. There are three main sections to the Roundtable: the Bulletin Board, the Software Library and the Real Time Conference area. The Bulletin Board contains messages from Roundtable members on a variety of Topics, organized under several Categories. These messages are all Open and available for all to read (GEnie Mail should be used for private messages). If you have a question, comment, hot rumor or an answer to someone else's question, the Bulletin Board is the place to share it. The Software Library is where we keep the Public Domain software files that are available to all Roundtable members. You can 'download' any of these files to your own computer system by using a Terminal Program which uses the 'XMODEM' file-transfer method. You can also share your favorite Public Domain programs and files with other Roundtable members by 'uploading' them to the Software Library. Uploading on GEnie is FREE, so you are encouraged to participate and help your Roundtable grow. The Real Time Conference is an area where two or more Roundtable members may get together and 'talk' in 'real-time'. You can participate in organized conferences with special guests, drop in on our weekly Open COnference, or simply join in on an impromptu chat session. Unlike posting messages or Mail for other members to read at some later time, everyone in the Conference area can see what you type immediately, and can respond to you right away, in an 'electronic conversation'. ********************************************************************** > CPU REPORT¿ ========== Issue # 63 ---------- by Michael Arthur Remember When.... Jack Kilby, then a newly hired engineer at Texas Instruments, invented the concept of integrated circuit on July 24, 1958, and how, in January 1959, a Fairchild Corp. physicist called Robert Noyce independently arrived at a more complete integrated circuit model? Or how Jack Kilby later headed the team which invented the pocket calculator, and Robert Noyce went on to become a founder of Intel Corporation? CPU MacNews¿ =========== Ashton Tate Announces Full Impact 2.0 Spreadsheet ------------------------------------------------- Ashton-Tate Corporation has recently announced Version 2.0 of its Full Impact spreadsheet program for the Macintosh. Full Impact 2.0, which requires at least 1 Meg of RAM, features: - Improved Support for Presentation Graphics: Several different types of charts, including Three Dimensional Bar Graphs, can now be generated. Chart positioning is improved, with the ability to control the elevation or perspective of a graph, or rotate it using the mouse. 32-Bit Quickdraw is also supported, allowing a 16 million color palette for charts. - Improved print quality for Postscript printers, and support for many other output devices and non-Postscript printers. - Intelligent Recalculation. With this, the entire spreadsheet is not recalculated after every change or addition, but only those spreadsheet cells which are affected by that change. This results in MUCH faster recalculation times. - Import/Export (Load/Save) support for Excel spreadsheet files, and the ability to make any Full Impact object (like text, pictures, or charts) a "Button", or clickable object. Spreadsheet macros can then be latched onto these buttons, resulting in "Button Macros" which are activated when one double-clicks on them. Apple Revenues Increase by 7 Percent In Second Quarter ------------------------------------------------------ Apple Computer Inc., has reported these financial statistics for the end of the Second Quarter of 1990. Interestingly, its International Sales made up 47 percent of its revenue (a 7 percent increase), and Apple is now saying that while it predicts increased growth in International sales, it is "cautious" about strong growth in American sales at this time. Also, while it has maintained its single-digit revenue growth rates (which are slim, when compared to its previous double-digit revenue growth rates since 1985), Apple has improved its net margins due to the lower cost of DRAM chips and other components, as well as the introduction of the Mac IIcx and Mac IIci.... Fiscal Year 1989 Fiscal Year 1990 Revenues - Second Quarter: $1.2 Billion $1.3 Billion Six Month Period: $2.8 Billion $2.6 Billion Earnings - Second Quarter: $56 Million $132 Million Six Month Period: $196.8 Million $256.7 Million CPU INSIGHTS¿ ============ CeBit, Unix, and the Atari 68030 TT ----------------------------------- Path:bdt!unisoft!hoptoad!pacbell!ames!uakari.primate.wisc.edu !zaphod.mps.ohio-state. du!rpi!uupsi!sunic!tut!tukki!jyu.fi!sarnila From: sarnila@tukki.jyu.fi (Pekka Sarnila) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Atari TT Message-ID: Date: 27 Mar 90 20:10:08 GMT Sender: news@tukki.jyu.fi Distribution: comp Organization: University of Jyvaskyla Lines: 55 Well they had the TT in CeBit (also the unix model). The TOS version (TT030/2) should be available in Germany in May: - 2 Megabytes of memory - 40 Meg hard disk (not 30 even they say so) - VGA monitor - 6500 DEM (available only in this configuration) The box (TT Cabinet) is really silly looking. The unix version (TT/030X)should be available to developers in May: - 2 Meg (slow) memory for Video - 4 Meg full speed memory (unix will use primarily this) - HD size not sure yet (at least 80 and propably 120, 170) - tower case - either 14 inch (VGA) color monitor (640x480 16 out 4096 colors) or 19 inch mono monitor (1280x960 mono) (really nice with X) - price not yet know (round 10000 DEM) (Editor's Note: All models of the TT have 2 Megs of slower burst-mode RAM, which serves as both Video RAM and System RAM) The unix version (ATX = Atari Unix) is officially (AT&T) Sys V.3.1 (SVID 2) but it has really a BSD 4.3 kernel modified for Sys V. On shell level command switches are Sys V, but the kernel also has: - Full BSD 4.3 syscall interface - BSD Signals (including ones needed for full job control) - BSD Sockets - TCP/IP - BSD Fast File System - disipline 2 tty driver (supports SIGSTOP etc. = ^Z). This gives nearly full BSD compatibility. Csh is the full BSD with full job control, (and) Tcsh compiles. (Also,) Gnu CC (1.36), CC+, gdb, gas are fully ported (really same as Sun m68k) and officially distributed by Atari. Comes with NFS and X11.4 (has got 3 button mouse). For developers there also comes the Hewlett Packard extended XFaceMaker tool kit. Kernel size with basic drivers + TCP/IP + NFS is 650K (large). Pager is so customized that it will take pages from full speed memory first, and only if that runs out, from the slower dual-purpose (video) memory. As I tried it out it seemed OK. (^Z) really worked. The (VGA style) display seemed slowish (must be in driver). For a X-Windows Terminal the speed seemed fine. It seems like a nice (BSD) hackers home unix machine (better then Sys V 3.2/80386). But .... Two buts. 16MHz, it is 1990, should be at least 25 (it seems that TOS compatibility requires either 16 or 32, for video shifter to work properly). And the price!!!!. I think far too much to really compete with 386. It seems Atari really doesn't trust it will sell in great volume, for the current projected price is clearly a low volume price. Also it is late. It took so long because Atari wanted full TOS compatibility. The Unix only prototype was ready more than two years ago. It seems Atari didn't believe a Unix only version would sell well enough, and also they wanted a future for the TOS Line. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pekka Sarnila, University of Jyvaskyla Finland sarnila@tukki.jyu.fi ------------------------------------------------------------------- (Editor's Note: ATX (Atari Unix) also comes bundled with X/Desktop 2.0, as described in last week's issue of CPU Report.) But ponder, if you will, this question: 1) Digital Research has recently stated that it will begin to focus less on GEM itself, and more on making GEM-based applications. Given the prospect of Apple losing its lawsuit against Microsoft, how will this affect the Atari ST? > CPU STATUS REPORT¿ ================= - Scotts Valley, CA SEAGATE SUED BY CONNER PERIPHERALS ----------------- Conner Peripherals has recently launched a lawsuit against Seagate Technology Inc., the world's leading hard disk OEM Vendor, alleging, among other things, a breach of contract. Conner Peripherals charges that after it bought out Imprimis Inc., a company which supplied Conner with thin film heads (an important hard disk drive component), Seagate illegally stopped shipment of thin film heads to them. The lawsuit also accuses Seagate of fraud, a interference with contractual relationship, and unfair competition. Conner Peripherals is seeking both injunctive relief, and monetary compensation in this lawsuit. Conner Peripherals, among other things, makes the Hard Drive Atari is bundling with the STacy 2 and 4 ST Laptops.... Cambridge, MA OSF, UNIX INTERNATIONAL, AT&T END UNIX UNIFICATION TALKS ------------- The Open Software Foundation, Unix International, and AT&T's Unix Software Division have abruptly ended a six-month long series of Negotiations on both merging the three organizations, and creating a universal Unix standard. Not surprisingly, the only thing that all three organizations agreed to do is support X/Open, POSIX, and X/Windows as Unix industry standards. However, all three companies had previously stated their support of these standards at least a year before this meeting. One reason that the talks broke down because of organizational and management issues involving an OSF/UI merger. However, the main reason was the same technological issues which caused the formation of the OSF and Unix International. While Unix International insisted on AT&T Unix System V.4 becoming the Operating System Kernel, the OSF wanted to use its OSF/1 Operating System, which uses the Mach OS as its Unix Kernel. Also, while the OSF insisted on OSF/Motif becoming the Graphical User Interface for the "Super Unix", UI wanted to develop a common API (Application Programming Interface) for both OSF/Motif and AT&T/Sun's Open Look GUI's. While the OSF and UI are still talking about unified standards for multiprocessing extensions to Unix, and support for non-Roman character sets, the only Unix merger now foreseen is AT&T's selling off parts of its Unix Software Division to Unix International. However, several member companies of the Open Software Foundation, such as IBM, DEC, and Hewlett Packard, reaffirmed their support for the OSF/1 Operating System. OSF/1, currently in Beta Testing, is based on A/IX (IBM Unix) Version 3, with the Mach OS (currently used on the NeXT Computer) as its System Kernel. - Provo, UT NOVELL STOCKHOLDERS SUE NOVELL TO BLOCK MERGER --------- Two Novell stockholders recently filed a lawsuit against Novell Inc.'s Board of Directors, charging that by making a Letter of Intent to merge with Lotus, the Board put its own interests ahead of the company's stockholders. The lawsuit alleges that Novell shareholders were, "offered a deal substantially below the fair and inherent value" of the company, and that the merger isn't in the stockholders' best interests. With the lawsuit, the two stockholders are seeking an injunction against the Lotus/Novell Merger. However, since the Merger agreement has to be approved in June 1990 by all of Novell's stockholders, the lawsuit may not have much effect.... Interestingly, while Novell was prepared for stockholder protests to the merger, it seems that the speed of this lawsuit was unexpected. The lawsuit also reflects the sentiments of a lot of Novell stockholders, who feel that Lotus is essentially buying out Novell, and getting a very good bargain (to their detriment) in the process. This sentiment was responsible for a 10 percent drop in Novell's price shortly after the Merger announcement. However, Industry Analysts are now saying that the merger could help both Lotus and Novell software be more versatile in the networking field, to the detriment of Microsoft. - San Francisco, CA IS SOVIET SILICON VALLEY ON HORIZON? ----------------- The Soviet Union has signed an agreement with the Bechtel Group, a major engineering, architecture, and construction company, to fund a project studying the feasibility of developing a "Soviet Silicon Valley" near the city of Troisk, a small city 20 miles southwest of Moscow, which now holds a major Soviet scientific Research Community. Called the Troitsk Research Development Project, it is aimed at designing a commercial high technology center for international businesses to help develop and invest in Soviet advances in fields such as nuclear fusion and laser technology. The Soviet Union is also giving $100 million a year to fund this project, which is expected to provide a more conducive environment for the Soviet Union to develop avenues into the worldwide marketplace. Among other things, the Bechtel Group expects to eventually build Conference Centers, a new International Airport, and an advanced telecommunications network in Troisk by the year 2010. By that time Troisk, which currently has a population of 30,000, is expected to have a population of over 100,000.... ________________________________________________________ > POOLFIX4 CPU/STR InfoFile¿ It gets better all the time. ========================== From: MFAGKCHR@HMARL5.BITNET Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: POOLFIX4 Message-ID: <9004050709.AA03798@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 4 Apr 90 11:55:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 101 I had problems in getting POOLFIX3 running with CBHD 3.5 (the hardisk driver from scheibenkleister). I asked Claus Brod about it. It turns out these problems have nothing to do with the FAT problems I am experiencing. POOLFIX3 just does not like any other programs that run before it and grab the TRAP#1 vector. Claus has send me an update of POOLFIX which he called POOLFIX4. The readme file is included below. I will send the update to anyone who can put it on an archive site, just ask. Chris Evelo POOLFIX4 ======== Yep, it's true, TOS 1.4 is buggy. Well, ATARI has done something about it and released several fix programs to blow up your AUTO folder. A very... ahem... remarkable representative of this kind of programs is POOLFIX written by Allan Pratt which tries to fix a new bug in the pool manager. Allan released three versions of this program, and then he settled down with a long sigh of relieve thinking he did it right at last. Well, he wasn't quite right. Allan's POOLFIX versions needed to be placed first in the AUTO folder because POOLFIX tries to locate some illegal system variables by following the TRAP #1 vector into ROM code. If any program occupies the TRAP #1 vector before POOLFIX shows up, things are messed up: POOLFIX refuses to install itself. This isn't a big problem for most of you out there, but it is a problem for people using hard disk drivers and other programs that start up before AUTO folder programs and use the TRAP #1 vector for their own purposes. It is also a pain in the neck for everyone to be forced to re-order their AUTO folder once again, and as time passes by, you tend to forget which programs in the AUTO folder need to be started in which order, and soon chaos spreads. I was faced with the problem when I realized that POOLFIX3 didn't want to install itself when my own hard disk driver (included in the book SCHEIBENKLEISTER), version 3.5, was running. This is due to the fact that I use the TRAP #1 vector in CBHD 3.5 (my HD driver) to do some DESKTOP.INF patching that my readers urged me to implement. The problem, however, could have been solved easily if POOLFIX would follow the official ATARI guidelines for XBRA completely. CBHD 3.5 uses XBRA to notify other programs that it linked into the TRAP #1 vector, and so it would be no problem for POOLFIX to follow the TRAP #1 XBRA chain into ROM. Allan, however, didn't think of this neat possibility - being able to follow the chain was, as far as I know, one of the main reasons for adopting the XBRA standard. (The same problem occurs with FATSPEED, a freeware (?) GEMDOS speed-up for TOS 1.2; if the programmer of FATSPEED should read this some day, he or she should think of implementing this follow 'the chain into ROM technique' into FATSPEED, too. Thanx so much.) As always, users are forced to do the patching themselves. In this case, I reassembled POOLFIX and inserted a full-blown XBRA algorithm. Apart from that, I optimized the program a bit so that it occupies lesser space in RAM than the previous version. It's also a bit shorter on disk, but since it uses 2 clusters as before, there's no speedup when booting. BTW: I used TURBO ASS for this job, a remarkably fast shareware assembler written by Markus Fritze and Soeren Hellwig, Birkhahnkamp 38, 2000 Norderstedt 1, West Germany. POOLFIX4, as I called it, has been tested successfully on my MegaST with TOS 1.4 in ROM, on my STE with TOS 1.6 in ROM, and with a 1040 with TOS 1.2 (where it doesn't install itself since TOS 1.2 doesn't need the patch). If there are any incompatibilities with any programs, please tell me: Claus Brod Am Felsenkeller 2 8772 Marktheidenfeld West Germany (049-)(0)9391-3206 ============================================================== 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 ============================================================== ___________________________________________________________ > BECKEMEYER DEVELOPMENT CPU/STR FOCUS¿ Keeping 'em working! ==================================== PRODUCT INFORMATION HARD DISK TOOLKIT $29.95 RETAIL Fast, Reliable Hard Disk Backup/Verify/Restore The backup program safely copies data from your hard drive to floppy disks. It maintains the full directory/file-name information, including date, time, and file attributes. Backups can be done on a whole partition, a single folder, a folder and all its sub-folders, or using file masks (wildcards like *.DOC). Multiple file masks may be used on the same backup set. Many options are provided for the backup, including compression method, floppy drive type, and incremental mode, where only the files modified since the previous backup are copied, saving time and floppy disks. All opion selections can be safved to a configuartion file so that you don't have to setthem each time you run the program. The data is written to the flopy disk using a raw format for speed and data security. Using this advanced data format gives higher performance and increased data reliability. Each file has a checksum to guarntee that it is safely stored on disk. If one backup disk becomes damaged, you do NOT lose the entire backup set, you might lose a portion of the file(s) contained on the bad part of the disk, but you won't lose all the files. Individual files and folders can still be listed or restored using the HARD DISK TOOLKIT programs. There are three options for storing your data: raw (uncompressed), standard compress, and fast compress. Raw is the fastest (up to 1 MB oper minute) and standard compress requires the fewest number of disks (storing up to 4MB per disk). Once the file is stored, the file will automatically be restored or listed correctly -- you don't have to remember how you saved it. The program will tell you how many disks are needed for the backup. It can format the floppy disks for you as it fills them up (format and write). There is a format "as needed" option where the program will automatically detect if a disk needs to be formatted, and only format the disk if necessary. Files of any size can be safely backed up, even if they exceed the size of RAM or one floppy disk. There is no need for a large RAM disk or 1MB of RAM -- The programs will run in as little as 150K of RAM. There is a verify program which will compare the contents of the files on the backup disks with the actual files on the hard disk and report any errors. If the verify succeeds, you can be assured that you have a safe and accurate backup, each file matching byte for byte and each diskette containing no errors. Since errors can be introduced after the backup diskette is written, this is much safer than any write verify on-the-fly scheme, which are error-prone and unreliable. The restore program can restore by the same selcetion criteria as the backup, so you can restore just a folder or file, or the whole disk partition. It will automatically create directories as needed and it has options for selecting whether or not existing files should be over- written. HARD DISK SENTRY $49.95 RETAIL The Hard Disk Repair and Optimize Utility SENTRY is the safest and most reliable disk maintenance utility you can buy. It is three programs in one. The repair program will analyze TOS formatted disks (floppy or hard disks) and report any inconsistencies and system problems. If so instructed, SENTRY will repair the damaged disk and clean up all the problems, sometimes recovering lost files and "forgotten" disk space. This function alone is well worth the price of the entire set of programs included with SENTRY. These problems do occur on TOS disks on a fairly regular basis and they will "catch" you someday. Without SENTRY you would have to reformat and restore your disk to correct even a simple problem which SENTRY will repair in a few seconds. The second function, is the disk optimizer, which reorganizes the data on a "fragmented" disk to put things "back in order" again. The result of this is that TOS can read and write to the disk much faster. SENTRY gives you an option for leaving an area of free space near the start of the disk which can greatly speed up TOS file creation and writing. The third part of the SENTRY package is a low-level disk tester. This is handy when you suspect a disk is damaged or wish to confirm that it is not. It will test every sector of a disk (floppy or hard disk) and verify that it is readable. It also has a non-descructive write test option. If a sec or is bad, this program can mark it bad in the FAT table so that TOS won't use it. CONTACT: BECKEMEYER DEVELOPMENT PO BOX 21575 OAKLAND CA 94620 (415) 530-9637 GENIE: D.BECKEMEYER CIS: >INTERNET:UNISOFT!BDT!DAVID UUCP: ucbvax!unisoft!bdt!david ________________________________________________________ > Stock Market ~ CPU NewsWire¿ Watchin' the Sheckles Grow? =========================== THE TICKERTAPE ============== by Michael Arthur Concept by Glenn Gorman First Week: April 2,1990 - April 6, 1990 ---------- On Monday, Atari Stock went down 3/4 of a point, but shot up 3/8 of a point on Tuesday. Atari Stock went up 1/4 of a point on Wednesday, but went down 1/8 of a point on Thursday. Finally, it was up 1/4 of a point on Friday. Finishing up the week at 6 3/8 points, Atari stock went down 1/8 of a point since the last report. Apple Stock was down 3/8 of a point from Friday, March 30, 1990. Commodore Stock was down 7/8 of a point from 3/30/90. IBM Stock was down 1/4 of a point from 3/30/90. Stock Report for Week of 4/02/90 to 4/06/90 _________________________________________________________________________ STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.| -----|-------------|------------|-------------|------------|-------------| Atari|5 3/4 - 3/4|6 1/8 + 3/8|6 3/8 + 1/4|6 1/4 - 1/8|6 3/8 + 1/8| | | | | | 57,000 Sls | -----|-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------| CBM |8 3/8 - 1/4|8 3/8 ---- |8 1/4 - 1/8|7 7/8 - 3/8|7 3/4 - 1/8| | | | | | 47,400 Sls | -----|-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------| Apple|40 1/4 ----|41 3/4 |41 1/4 - 1/2|40 1/4 - 1|39 7/8 - 3/8| | | +1 1/2| | |1,055,700 Sls| -----|-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-------------| IBM |105 7/8 -1/4|106 5/8 |106 1/2 -1/8|106 1/8 -3/8|105 7/8 -1/4| | | +3/4| | | 752,300 Sls | -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' Second Week: April 9,1990 - April 13, 1990 ----------- On Monday, Atari Stock went up 1/8 of a point, but for the rest of the week its price remained the same. Finishing up the week at points, Atari Stock went up 1/8 of a point since the last report. Apple Stock was up 3 3/8 points from Friday, April 6, 1990. Commodore Stock was 3/8 of a point from 4/06/90. IBM Stock was up 1 1/4 points from 4/06/90. Stock Report for Week of 4/09/90 to 4/13/90 _________________________________________________________________________ STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.| -----|------------|-------------|------------|-------------|-------------| Atari|6 1/2 +1/8|6 1/2 ----|6 1/2 ----|6 1/2 ----|6 1/2 ---- | | | | | | 36,500 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------| CBM |7 3/4 ----|7 1/2 -1/4|7 1/4 -1/4|7 3/8 + 1/4|7 3/8 ---- | |7 3/4 | | | | 109,500 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------| Apple|41 1/8 |41 1/4 +1/8|42 1/2 |43 1/4 + 3/4|43 1/4 ---- | | +1 1/4| | +1 1/4| |1,891,100 Sls| -----|------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------| IBM |105 1/2 -3/8|105 7/8 +3/8|106 3/8 |107 1/8 +3/4|107 1/8 ---- | |105 7/8 | | +1/2| | 921,600 Sls | -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' 'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day. 'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation. '----' means that the stock's price did not change for the day. ______________________________________________________________ > BRODIE "On The Road Again" CPU/STR InfoFile¿ =========================================== BOB-BRODIE [Atari Corp.] posts; Ok, here is the present plans for next group of appearances. Leaving tomorrow for the MidWest Atari Swapfest on April 22, 1990 Saturday, April 28th, at an areawide meeting of user groups in the Western New York area, to be held at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Please contact BRUCENELSON here on GEnie for further info. Sunday, April 29th, at the North East ATARIfest in Pittsburgh. May 9th, a visit with the South County Users Group, in San Jose, CA. That is on a Wednesday evening, at 7PM at San Jose Computers. Saturday, May 12th, a meeting with the Phoenix Area ST Users Group, in Phoenix, AZ. Please contact LE Pulley here on GEnie for details on the time and location of the meeting. Monday, May 21, a meeting with the San Diego Atari Computer Enthusiasts. Contact Richard Betson - TALON.TECH here on GEnie for meeting time and place details, or perhaps STACE...nothing happens in San Diego without him knowing about it!! Tuesday, June 12th, a meeting in Upland, CA with the Atari Anonymous Users Group. Meeting to be held in the Upland Public Library at 7:00PM. Contact Todd Bane (T.BANE here on GEnie) for further details. Other plans for the rest of the year include visits to Sacramento, Ashville North Carolina, Seattle, Spokane, Milwaukee, Glendale, and Boston. More information as those dates come closer. Regards to all, and hope to catch you at one of the meetings. Bob Brodie ___________________________________________________ > CPU NEWSWIRE CONFIDENTIAL¿ Sayin' it like it is..... ========================= - Chicago, IL. **** MARK WILLIAMS CO. KISSES ATARI OFF **** ------------ Mark Williams 'C' for the Atari ST at one time, "was" bundled with the ST Development Kit... Used to be and never will be again according to the recent commentary emanating from MWC Co. "We have no intentions of providing any further upgrades for the Atari ST market." Atari continues to "win friends and influence people"....... At the same time, MWC has released Coherent. Coherent is a complete multitasking Unix-like operating system that runs on top of an existing operating system. It is being positioned as a more reliable alternative than Minix and a less expensive option than Xenix and the "real Unixes." $99.95 is the price. However it is not anticipated that it will be ported to the ST. - Sunnyvale, CA. ****** ATARI TAIWAN BUSTED FOR PIRACY! ****** -------------- Atari Corp. replied to accusations by the Business Software Alliance that it found several UNAUTHORIZED individual copies of Ashton-Tate Corp. and Lotus Development Corp. business software disks in use on PC compatible computers at Atari Taiwan Manufacturing Corp. in Taipei. Atari's reaction was as expected, catagorical denials of any wrong doing or condoning of the actions of a few individuals. They (Atari) made it very clear that the infractions were perpetrated without the company having any knowledge of the infractions. - Chicago, IL. **** ATARI USING BRAIN DEAD MMU CHIPS? **** ------------ The newer MMU's coming out from IMP that Atari use will not address above 1MB. The Atari part number escapes me, but it's something like CO900209-001 or some such. The one that works is the COxxx12-38. A quote from a memory upgrade informational letter .... "In the 1989 ST's we have noticed a MMU that can only address up to a Megabyte of memory. Atari has adopted this policy to stop users from upgrading. The good news is that you can get the older style MMU (CO25912-38) from your dealer or from us for around $40.00 and replace the newer MMU CO100109-001 in five minutes." Certainly Atari has the user's best interests in mind when these decisions are made, perhaps it was done this way to protect the user from the headaches of the LS373s or maybe the problem of trying figure out what they are to do with all the new memory. - Sunnyvale, CA. ***** STE TO BE DELAYED UNTIL JUNE? ***** -------------- According to reliable insider information, the fabled story of the on again - off again delivery of the STe to the US market is facing delays once again! This time it seems someone "forgot to order or send out the order for the required stamped metal sheilds the FCC requires for the STe to pass. In case you were unaware, the STe did pass the FCC approval tests and can now be sold in the USA. If there were some here to sell. There may be a few delivered in April, but the bulk is expected to be delivered to dealers during the month of June. As for other product, well its basically the same story, late May to early June... And those products, the 520stf, monitors etc., have all passed the FCC certification test a long time ago. So why the outrageous and harmful delays?? In any case, the drought will be over "real soon now". - Sunnyvale, CA. ****** MEGA STe A REALITY? ****** -------------- With the multitudes of users clamoring for the positive decision to manufacture the STe in the Mega style cabinet. There is more than a flicker of real hope that the "wigs" at Artari will give this configuration serious consideration. Here's hoping they take a moment to listen to the userbase and once again, come out with a real winner. Almost all our mail pertaining to this subject is in favor of the Mega STe. _______________________________________________________________ > STACY CASE CPU/STR InfoFile¿ ITS A POWER SUPPLY TOO! =========================== April 18, 1990 For Immediate Release MultiByte Portable Power Case _________________ The Portable Power Case is a soft carrying case and integral battery power source for the Stacy laptop computer from Atari. The standard configuration allows a Stacy4 with a 40 megabyte hard disk drive to operate for up to four hours on battery power. These batteries can be completely recharged in under an hour with, or without Stacy being on. The charger's microprocessor control prevents overcharging and all battery packs are equipped with quick blow fuses for additional protection. The Portable Power Case provides two pockets for battery packs. Fresh battery packs may be inserted with Stacy on, thus providing potentially unlimited battery power. Additional battery packs may be purchased with endurance capabilities of four or eight hours. A Portable Power Case with two fully charged, eight hour battery packs would have an endurance of sixteen hours. A third pocket is provided to store the charger, and there is an extra pouch on the lid for books, extra floppies, cables, and anything else one would want to carry. Stacy itself is attached to a stiff middle divider that has enough space to also attach Spectre GCR, or any other large cartridge without difficulty. The top lid zips off for unlimited easy access to Stacy and all of the connectors on the back. Constructed of thick Cordura(tm) nylon, the carrying case is water resistant, protecting Stacy from the elements, and padded, preventing bumps and scratches. The MultiByte Portable Power Case is available in Flat Back, Stacy Grey, Woodland Camouflage, and Hot Fluorescent Pink. (Additional colors are available upon special request.) For additional information, orders, or technical support twenty-four hours a day, call (703) 406-9139 or FAX (202) 625-6447. The new MultiByte Portable Power Case gives you the freedom to use your Stacy laptop computer anywhere and at anytime. MultiByte Portable Power Case for the Atari Stacy Suggested Retail - $348 MultiByte Power ... Without The Plug 15 Wedgedale Dr., Sterling, VA. USA 22170 Voice (703) 406-9139 / FAX (202) 625-6447 Specifications and prices subject to change without notice. Stacy, Stacy4 and Atari are trademarks of Atari Corp. Spectre GCR is a trademark of Gadgets by Small, Inc. MultiByte Portable Power Case is a trademark of MultiByte, Inc. Additional notes: The MultiByte Portable Power Case will be on display Sunday, April 22, 1990 at the PACE AtariFest in Pitsburgh, PA. ________________________________________________________________ > PCD2 SHEESH! CPU/STR OnLine¿ They're busy because of what?? =========================== The users on both of the major online services are getting extremely restless and need some solid answers now. Ctsy CIS and GEnie ST RT Sb: Avant-Garte...the PITS!! Fm: Mike Lovelace To: All As many of you, I waited long and patiently for Avant-Garte's PC Ditto II. Upon receiving it, I instantly knew that it would not fit inside of my 520ST, which has a 4 meg upgrade. The original add stated that it WOULD fit inside of ANY ST with or without RAM upgrade. After a month and a half of fruitless attempts to contact AG on their phone line, I finally got through today, in order to request a refund. I was told that since it has been over 30 days since I received it, they will NOT honor my request for refund. The device was never installed, nor was an install attempted. The reason they give is "I should have contacted them within 30 days". Not that it matters that I was unable to get through to them due to constant busy signals, "days off", and short hours. Not that it should matter that they FRAUDULENTLY advertised the product as being compatible with ALL ST's. Not that it should seem strange that it was OK for them to hold our money for MONTHS longer than originally stated. Just don't be unable to contact THEM for an extra 2 weeks or you are SCREWED! Plain and simple! Avant -Garte has went from an excellent company to a complete JOKE in the computer world. It seems I must now do things the hard way and seek litigation against this sorry excuse for a company on the basis of fraud. Once an avid supporter, I will now do everything in my power to bring this company to it's knees. It was bad enough getting jerked around for months of cinstant delays. It was worse being their beta testers. This is the final straw, and is beyond belief! If any others out here are experiencing similar problems obtaining a refund, please contact me so that we can discuss a Class Action Lawsuit against Avant-Garte. --Mike Lovelace D.DALEN1 posts; Avant Garde In reference to my earlier question about Quattro Pro.. (thanks for the response), first a little background... When using PCD 1, I could only get it to work by installing it as a color monitor and running it in color mode on a MONO monitor. Without changing a thing and switching to the color monitor (or any other way of booting it ), the program would hang just about the time the spreadsheet was about to be drawn. In other words right after the startup screen it would start to draw the spreadsheet and hang. Then without touching the software, I would switch to the mono monitor and reboot, then QPRO would work. (on PCD 1, if your patient). Now when I try PCD 2 it reacts with the same lockup no matter what I try. I have reinstalled it several times with many combinations and no luck. I hope you can figure it out. It's a wonderful program going to waste. On the subject of sounds. I have tried Tetris, (the real one) and it works, but I can play it at the top level due to the slowdown. (and I'm the worlds worst game player). I want to get some games for my 3 year old and need to know if they're going to work before I buy. I too, have found that communication is IFFY under PCD2 sometimes I can get a program to work other times the keyboard goes away and won't come back until I reboot. Any news on EGA? Thanks. Dan Dalen DCASTALDI posts; Avantgarde: Only me again reminding you that I still have problems with my comm port! Communications are very unreliable (at best). I have also experienced the slowdowns when using graphic intensive programs - what gives? L.LOE posts; AG: I am having problems with my PCDII. This is the same problem that I have had since I got it to get past the boot. It locks up at random in most of the programs that I use. I seem to get only 4.8 volts from my power supply and it drop another 2 tenths (4.6) by the time it gets to the coprocessor socket. I really would like to keep this thing but if this keeps up, the frustration factor is going to cause me to send it back. I do get continuity on all of the pins. H E L P !!!!! P.S. If anyone knows what to do help me, because I really want to keep this thing! Larry Loe ( L.LOE) B.STRINGER posts; Hi all, I seemed to have similiar problems with the old pal chips, loose clip, etc. Finally got PCD2 to work and then noticed increasing rate of crashes and bombs over next 2 weeks. The problems seem to be solved by soldering the chip to the cpu chip. Be very careful for all 64 joints and use a 15 watt iron (the Radio Shack one seemed to have a good taper). It don't think the installation should be considered "solderless" any more than it is an internal installion. The board works in a ZipLoc bag in back of my 1040ST. But it does work! I.ADAMS posts; Avantgarde - one more try at getting some support for this thing. I have spent countless hours over the last several weeks dialing and re-dialing your telephone number with no luck. I have no more time to spend at that. My board doesn't work. It has the new PALs, I've tried both the old and new software, I've checked the "clip" continuity, and I don't have the "bad" chips in my ST. I have a 520ST-FM, Rev. D motherboard with the CPU parallel to the internal drive. PCD-II tells me to insert the DOS disk and then when I hit RETURN there's one drive-stepping growl and everything locks up but the blinking cursor. Is there a fix for this? I've seen some speculation that PCD-II just won't work with Rev.D ST's, and I notice that you don't seem to have ever used any Rev.D machines in your testing. Also, have you come up with a smaller version of the board? There's no way this thing will fit into my computer short of tearing parts out of the computer and I've no intention of doing that. I might use it externally IF it would work at all. J.PIERCE5 posts; It seems many of us are not able to view Spectrum Pictures with pc-ditto II installed, IS THERE A FIX FOR THIS????????????????????? Also, any word on EGA? Let's face these graphics are pitiful. Jim Pierce BOOJIBOY posts; In response to some of the above messages, (1) I think I have a solution to the clip problem. What A-G has to do is make a "clip clamp" which would be made of a non-conductive material and compress the pins of the clip against the pins of the CPU. Something like two small bars, one on either side of the clip with holes at either end. Nut and bolt at one end and the same at the other. Tighten the bolt on both ends and the clip will force a good connection. As a bonus, the clip would stay in place without soldering and would allow for easy removal for use on another computer. I will accept a modest royalty on this idea!!! :) (2) I have experienced no problems with viewing Spectrum pictures, but it sounds like a timing problem some people are having which may be a result of the extra load, sounds like replacement of the 74LS373 chips are in order. (3) As to the daughterboard in the Megas, I had to desolder the daughterboard from the CPU and solder it to the corresponding pins on the PCD2 clip. It worked fine. Use a 15 watt soldering iron and any old solder sucker, which is available at most electronic stores for around $10.00. See Ya! P.ANTHONY posts; To PPS, your Mega 2 sounds just like mine. First the little board on top of the 68000, unsolder it and solder it to the same pins that stick through the top of the PC Ditto II clip (pins 12 through 16 if I remember correctly, count them before you desolder). I stongly recommend you solder the PC Ditto II clip to your 68000 (I had problems with lockups after my Mega warmed up that went away when I soldered the clip). It is not easy to remove the expansion bus clip to get at the 68000 pins (I gave up and broke away the plastic and bent the pins out of the way so I could get at the 68000, then straighted out the expansion bus pins). As to you IMP chips, the two square ones should be replaced, I also replaced the rectangular video shifter chip just to be safe. My local Atari dealer charged a nominal $20 to swap all three chips. Hope this helps you. P.Anthony MUSE [Tomas] posts; I have the Rev D motherboard in my 1040ST, the 68k chip is parallel to the drive. At this point I have pc-ditto II working pretty well. Some minor things are happening, like I can't run some programs twice in the same session without a complete cold boot. On the subject of Spectrum pictures, I've been doing some experimenting. I have the newer, ajustable power supply and I have been able to boost the output to the point where the problem disappears completely. The 5+ volt pin was reading 5.27 at the post and somewhat less on the PCditto board. Unfortunately, adding the EZ-RAM board has drained the +5v line such that SPC files will not display well unless the emulator is unplugged . I haven't tried it yet, but it seems to me that if I run a solid line to whatever component needs the boost in order to show the pictures, I could leave PCditto II hooked up all the time and I can wrap up all my little hardware hacks and get back to *using* my ST! I also think that the board could use an extra ground to the ST chassis. My voltage readings at co- processor socket improved when I used the ST's chassis as the ground point. I don't think I'll install the screws just yet. *smile* ===Tomas=== Sb: Avant-Garte...the PITS!! Fm: Mike Lovelace To: Jim Ness Jim, still working on the 2.0 version of QC? I too was surprised by AG's attitude. I was further dismayed when I was told Bill Teal would call me, and as of yet, he has not. I suspect their new attitude has to do with them losing their butt on the ditto II screw up? The sad thing is that I can't even find someone who will buy it at cost due to it's lousy reputation! This has been a bad experience from the start. First the months of delay, the non-working boards, and now this. I think what really ticks me off the most is that all during the months of delay, we were told "Trust Us...it will be worth the wait". They didn't mind holding people's money for months and expected us to understand. Now when it comes to them, they want to enforce a 30 day timeline! This company is truly pathetic! AG and the Teals have lost ALL credibility as far as I am concerned. --Mike _________________________________________________________ > MIDITASKING CPU/STR PROBE¿ What is it supposed to do? ========================== ctsy GEnie RT IS MIDITASKING MULTI-TASKING OR NOT? Below we present a number of posts centered around a confusing point of information or two. It seems that certain of Atari's folks feel completely different about what or how Miditasking is to work or be put to use.. Hopefully, by spotlighting this issue, a clear answer will be forthcoming. John Townsend posts; I don't know much about this one other than it was being handled by Frank Foster here at Atari. I will pass along the message and see what kind of information comes my way. For those that don't know.. Frank has been out of the country for quite some time now. It's been at least a month. -- John JLS [John STanley] posts; John, if someone working on an important project at Atari is leaving the country for over a month, does Atari normaly just let the messages for that person stack up on their desk and 'hope' that the developers trying to make serious business decisions relating to ST products will still be around (in business) when the person in question returns??? This is VERY disturbing news. R.NOAK posts; Jim, That's bad news. I really liked the IM stuff. Do you know if Dr. T will only support current product or will they handle upgrades, bug fixes, etc.? The fact that there is no contract is a real shocker... from those I spoke with, it seemed a done deal. Perhaps John or Bob from Atari could let us in on the latest developments? Randy REMO posts; Randy, Here's a new twist for you [and the rest of us]. Intelligent Music, the developers of MIDI-Tasking, have gone out of the software business. Dr. T will be distributing and handling tech support for almost all of their current products across ST, Mac and Amiga. I spoke with Richard Lainhart at IM about what this means for MIDI-Tasking and his comment was that there has been NO action from Atari since last NOVEMBER. IM has yet to finalize any agreement (never seen a contract) and is seriously questioning Atari's committment to multitasking. In fact, they can't even get Atari to return their phone calls. Is this yet another case of Atari pulling out at the last second leaving the developer (and we users) in the dust? The project is still staffed, for the moment, at IM but a lot of uncertainty and little cause for any long term activity. Jim Pp REMO posts; Frank Foster is finally back at Atari so I asked for his comments on the current MIDI-Tasking situation. Bottom line is that Atari is 100% committed to the project and that it is viewed as a multitasking vehicle for both MIDI and nonMIDI applications. There has been a slow but steady acceptance of MIDI-Tasking by the numerous MIDI developers. NonMIDI developers should contact Frank at Atari to get the system software and see what is involved. Dave - I hear you and John, and know full well that your system certainly has been around the longest with a great amount of support and development. I don't speak for Atari (thank God!) so cannot comment on merits of one versus the other. Before you and others continue lambasting MIDI-Tasking, I simply ask you to take a look at it so that the rest of us could benefit from well-informed criticism rather than 2nd hand speculation. I don't pretend to know enough system level programming to say where one works and another is doomed. Quite honestly your comments sound a lot like sour grapes (having also read your other posts on different categories in this roundtable). I'd like to know exactly where the flaws are, as you see it. Jim Pierson-Perry DOUG.W posts; It would have been nice if Atari had sent copies to developers before they accepted it as the standard... It reminds me of HDX 3.0, which was announced to developers the same day it was uploaded to the public. --Doug C.F.JOHNSON at 21:51 PDT Jim, The irritating thing about MIDI-tasking to many developers is that, as Doug said, once again Atari has decided on a "standard" with absolutely NO consultation of the people who've been writing and marketing applications and system level software for the ST for years. The unfortunate truth is that many MIDI developers operate in a total vacuum, as far as real-world ST software; they don't use, and aren't even aware of, many of the most popular non-MIDI products. And as a result, many of their programs only work in a computer with NO TSRs and NO accessories loaded. Given this...yes, it is rather galling that Atari suddenly announces a multitasking "standard" that will be written and developed by programmers who have knowledge only in a certain very specialized field. I'll reserve any further comment for now. But I'll just add one more thing; I also have heard that the number of non-MIDI (or even MIDI) applications that will run under MIDI-tasking is quite small. - Charles P.S. I'm not saying that ALL MIDI developers are guilty of the Ivory Tower syndrome. Stefan Daystrom of Hybrid Arts, in particular, has been really great about finding solutions and cooperating with non-MIDI developers. TOWNS [John @ Atari] at 02:31 EDT Charles.. please, turn off the flames. The idea behind MIDITASKING.. (notice I didn't say MULTI-tasking) is that it provide a way to run multiple MIDI programs at the same time. It is designed to be a solution for our MIDI customers who need it. It is NOT designed as the final solution for a multi-tasking TOS. This type of project (multitasking TOS) would be done in house. -- John C.F.JOHNSON posts; John, We seem to have two very different outlooks on MIDI-tasking here. On one hand, Jim's message seems to say that Frank Foster told him MIDI-tasking is: >> viewed as a multitasking vehicle for both MIDI and >> non-MIDI applications. On the other hand, your last message says: >> It is designed to be a solution for our MIDI customers who need it. >> It is NOT designed as the final solution for a multi-tasking TOS. Which is the official line? I know that articles in STart and elsewhere have definitely given the public the idea that MIDI-tasking is going to be usable with all "properly-written" GEM programs. (Whatever that means.) If MIDI-tasking is not designed to be used in non-MIDI situations, then somebody needs to start getting their PR straight. - Charles Editor Note: We have often been categorized as too critical when it comes to Atari and its dealing with the userbase. We ask only one question here; "Is this miditasking TRUE multi-tasking or are we again involved in a shell game of words?" On one hand we are told it is multi-tasking and on the other hand, we are told it is a means to an end and not necessarily multi- tasking. We are sure to hear more on this one folks... ________________________________________________________ > ONLINE TODAY CPU/STR OnLine¿ The wires are hummin'! ============================ ONLINE TODAY ============ by O. Steele Hi! This week I've completely caught up in the GEnie message base. Expect a lot of new recent activity reported next week. Also, next week and for a few weeks later, I'll stress covering the download section while maintaining current info in the message base. And eventually, I'll be juggling the message base, download section and the weekly conferences with timely reports on each. GAMES - CATEGORY 9 Beware, certain games do not work on all ST systems! Topic 7 covers games incompatible with certain versions of TOS (semi-recent activity). Recent activity in topic 26, English Imports and New Releases. Get info on the latest games and imports. ATARI USER GROUP SHOWS - CATEGORY 11 Keep up to date on the current events of the upcoming Atarifest Pittsburgh show (April 28, 29 1990) in topic 11. The Midwest Atari Swapfest has some activity; it's coming up shortly. See topic 16. The WAACE Atari show (scheduled for October 6, 7 1990) has some early activity (October 6, 7) in topic 6. And the World of Atari Anaheim show, although over, is overflowing with messages after the fact in topic 14. THE OTHER STUFF - CATEGORY 12 Having problems with your system? Virus attacked you? NeoDesk's Recoverable Trash Can icon discussed. According to John Eidsvoog, it causes orphan clusters. Also, Cheetah copier mentioned as unreliable even as version 2. See Topic 16. ATARI - CATEGORY 14 Atari users seem to be captivated over whether Atari advertises or not. The reason is simple, most everyone knows that advertising will make or break a product. Although we aren't seeing national huge media blitzes, the situation does seem to be improving, from ads in airline magazines to local dealer spots. Atari's latest marketing situation in topic 3. Do you wish Atari would finish that blasted Diablo emulator update for the SLM804 laser printer? Post "specific" bug reports in topic 11. Apparently Bob Brodie has talked to Leonard, who in turn won't release the emulator (which has been upgraded) until he can be sure that all bugs have been eliminated. Atari has a ton of printouts of bug reports, but he wants "specific" bug reports. Excuse me, but isn't that the programmer's job? Is it too radical an idea to have the programmer check out the emulator very thoroughly, possibly even release an interim version that has as many bugs fixed as HE (why do the users have to be burdened) can find. Then release an update (a louisiana the Codeheads' continuous upgrade plan). For Atari, or at least its executives that's a radically new concept! Topic 29 contains everything you every wanted to know about the Stacy portable and more. Developers have 'em and Hard Drive problems are supposedly fixed. Atari is shipping to MIDI dealers, some have received them and sold out already (at list price of $2899.95). The STe Topic also contains mucho info. Where's my STe? All the hurdles Atari claimed were hurdles are jumped. And still we don't see STe's. Also, upgrading the STe's memory (4 MB for about $240) and various STe related issues (JRI color board). See topic 40. Latest word on the ATW is possible release in Canada and Europe (topic 38). In the Feedback to Atari section, there's an interesting discussion of Softsource, a way to get demos of commercial products for the ST. Pros and cons discussed in topic 31. Seems like all of the promised Atari product categories are active. The TT is no exception. Throw in some CD-ROM discussion and you have topic 35. __________________________________________________________ > Hard Disks CPU/STR InfoFile¿ Affordable Mass Storage.... =========================== NEW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!! ============================ ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC. P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _____________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). -ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE- (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!) (all cables and connectors installed) * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * * ICD ADVANTAGE HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED * * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS * 51mb #SGN4951 529.95 65mb #SG60101 619.95 80mb #SGN296 709.95 100mb #SG84011D 839.95 170mb #SGN2962 1369.95 260mb #SG60102 1849.95 >>ALL ABCO DRIVES ARE HIGH SPEED UNITS<< Ask about our "TAX REFUND SPECIALS" CALL FOR SUPER SAVINGS ON ALL OUR OTHER CUSTOM UNITS FROM 30mb --==*==-- SHIPPING AND INSURANCE INCLUDED ============================================ * SYQUEST 44MB (#555)>> ABCO "44" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE * - SYQUEST 44 MB removable media drive - ICD ST Host Adapter - ICD Mass Storage Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable - Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart. COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN! >> SPECIAL NOW ONLY __$865.00__ << *** SPECIAL SYQUEST OFFER!! *** ORDER YOUR SYQUEST UNIT NOW AND GET A SECOND COMPLETE UNIT! ****** for $100.00 LESS! ****** -> DO IT YOURSELF BARE SYQUEST UNITS $625.00ea 2 for $1150.00 * cartridge included * Syquest Mechanism - 2 year warranty * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED $1539.00 * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - 50mb SQG51 $1279.00 30mb SQG38 $1199.00 65mb SQG09 $1339.00 85mb SQG96 $1399.00 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS ***** COMING SOON! INSITE FLOPTICAL DRIVE ***** August-September, 1990 20 MB 3.5 FLOPPY DISK MASS STORAGE OPTICAL DRIVE! uses standard 3.5" floppy disks and Floptical disks Will access and read your present library of floppys $789.95 approx. CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) *** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms *** ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR LARGER units are available - (special order only) NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - Keyboard Custom Cables Call for Info ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! please, call for details Personal and Company Checks are accepted. ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY! CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319 Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service 9am - 8pm EDT Tues thru Sat _______________________________________________________________ > A "Quotable Quote"¿ ================= "BLIND LEADERSHIP IS THE CATALYST OF EXTINCTION" ...Alfred E. Newmann -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CPU/STR¿ "Your Independent News Source" April 20, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright ½ 1990 No.4.16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, CPU¿ NEWSWIRE¿ CPU/STR¿ or CPU Report¿. Reprint permission is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. All reprints must include CPU NEWSWIRE, CPU/STR or CPU Report and the author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, the editors and staff are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein. --------------------------------------------------------------------------