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Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!EU.net!Germany.EU.net!netmbx.de!zrz.TU-Berlin.DE!zib-berlin.de!news.th-darmstadt.de!News.Uni-Marburg.DE!news.belwue.de!iptc!newsserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de!zrawi01 From: wiedmann@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de (Jochen Wiedmann) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.introduction,comp.sys.amiga.misc,comp.sys.amiga.programmer,comp.answers,news.answers Subject: Amiga FAQ (Frequently asked questions) (Part 2 of 2) Supersedes: <AmigaFAQ-2-762303603@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de> Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.introduction Date: 29 Mar 1994 19:55:13 GMT Organization: InternetNews at ZDV, University of Tuebingen, Germany Lines: 1012 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Distribution: world Expires: Saturday, 16 Apr 94 21:42:28 (Z) Message-ID: <AmigaFAQ-2-764970148@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de> References: <AmigaFAQ-1-764970148@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de> Reply-To: wiedmann@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de (Jochen Wiedmann) NNTP-Posting-Host: mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de Summary: Frequently asked questions on the Amiga. New users should read this! Originator: zrawi01@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu comp.sys.amiga.introduction:2624 comp.sys.amiga.misc:27701 comp.sys.amiga.programmer:27448 comp.answers:4345 news.answers:16994 Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4 Archive-name: amiga/introduction/part2 Last-modified: 29-Mar-1994 Frequently asked questions (FAQ) concerning the Amiga. [2/2] ------------------------------------------------------------ This is the second part of the Amiga-FAQ. It is in Ascii format to be easily read by everyone. It is also available in AmigaGuide and Dvi format as part of the Amiga-FAQ archive. (File text/docs/AmigaFAQxxxxxx.lha on any Aminet site, where xxxxxx is the date of the last version.) Sections which have been changed since the last posting are marked with a "!", as lines in the text itself are. Added lines are marked with a "+" and a "<" shows, where lines are removed. Please note the following: - Changes since the last posting are marked with a ! changed this line/section, respectively + added this line < removed something before this line - An index is at the bottom of this part. If this still doesn't help: E-mail me, probably I can include an answer into the FAQ. - Suggestions, contributions, critics and beer bottles are very welcome. :-) Send them to: Jochen Wiedmann Am Eisteich 9 72555 Metzingen (Germany) Tel. 07123 / 14881 Internet: wiedmann@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de ===========================(Cut here)========================================= Disclaimer 1 CPU, Custom chips, RAM and other stuff 1 What are the 68EC020 and the 68EC030? 2 What's an FPU? 2 The Operating System 1 Can I use another Kickstart than the builtin? 3 Programming ! 1 What documentation do I need as an Amiga programmer? 2 What is CATS? ! 3 Where do I get the Amiga includes? 4 How do I become a developer? ! 5 What compilers (assemblers) are there? 6 Those never working Esc sequences! 7 Is it possible to use AmigaBasic on the A1200? 8 How do I localize my program? 9 How to obtain a pointer to a console's window 10 What are pragmas? 11 Where do I find the function xxx? 4 Applications 1 Text Editors 2 What word processors are there? 3 Desktop Publishing 4 What is TeX and where can I get it? 5 Are there any Postscript interpreters? 5 How about Graphics? 1 What are chunky and planar displays? 2 What is doublebuffering? 3 What monitors will work on my Amiga 1200/4000? 4 How do I switch between PAL and NTSC? 6 Emulators 1 Can I run Unix on my Amiga? 2 Is it possible to use the Amiga as X11 terminal? 7 Miscellaneous 1 Is there any unix version of LhA? 2 What are files ending with ...? 3 Is there a Stacker-like utility to pack my hard drive? 4 Where do I get Fish disk xxx? 8 Where and how do I get Software? 1 Files and databases on freely distributable software 2 A collection of tests 3 Getting files from a FTP server 4 Getting files from a Mail server 5 The Fish disks 1 The Amiga Library disks 2 The Fresh Fish CD-Roms 6 How do I Read and write MS-Dos disks? 7 How do I split large files? The Amiga-FAQ archive Contributions Credits Index 5 How about Graphics? ********************* Graphics is one of the major strengths of the Amiga. Why don't we have more answers here? :-( 5.1 What are chunky and planar displays? ======================================== Simply put, the terms `chunky' and `planar' (short for `bitplanar') refer to different ways of storing graphics information in a computer's memory. They are rather easy to understand, as far as things go, but incredibly difficult to explain: Computer images are arranged as a grid of pixels, each of which can be thought of as a number representing the color number of the pixel, sort of like a paint-by-numbers scheme. For example, here's a simplified example image, in four colors: 00302132 The Amiga stores this image in a `bitplane' mode. That is, it is represented by several planes of bits (binary digits, 1s or 0s). This is a four-color image, so each color number could be represented by two bits. Therefore there are two bitplanes: 00100110 Here's bitplane 0 00101011 And here's bitplane 1 -------- Now, let's add them up, binary style: 00302132 Which is the final image. If the image was in two dimensions, it would truly be composed of bit planes. However, I'd need three dimensions to show multiple bitplanes overlayed, and therefore for simplicity we're working in one dimension (which is all we need). Now, there's another way of storing this image. How about if we localize the bit data in little chunks? 00 00 11 00 01 10 11 01 = 00302132 This is the principle of the `chunky' pixel mode. Both methods of image storage are perfectly logical, and no one can say that one is better than the other. However, there are certain technical aspects which cause certain advantages and disadvantages. First, if you've seen colored text scroll on your Amiga, you know there is a bit of "flicker" that arises. Specifically, what happens is that while the text is scrolling, its color temporarily changes to something completely different. What's happening is that the computer's moving several bitplanes of data while the raster (monitor electron gun) is sweeping across the screen. What that means is that, if the raster catches the data while it's being moved, you can end up with some bitplanes being moved and some not. What if we filled bitplane 1 in the example above with 0s? Instantly all the 3s become 1s, and the 2s become 0s! This is what causes "flicker" when certain colors are scrolled. By contrast, if a chunky pixel display is caught while scrolling, all we see is a partially-scrolled image; the colors are preserved (since their units are the small ones). That's a disadvantage to planar pixels, but what about chunky pixels? Well, recall that a computer organizes information in terms of 8 bit bytes. These groups are static; you cannot decide to all of a sudden organize data in terms of three bytes or something! Therefore, when using chunky pixels, things get complicated if we decide to use a nonconvenient number of bits per pixel. In practice, the 8-bit (256-color) mode, and 24-bit (16 million color) modes are the most common candidates for chunky pixel displays. Finally, certain effects can be accomplished with the different systems. Bitplanar mode is particularly useful for things like shadows (where an extra bitplane is set with 1s instead of 0s), and chunky mode is great for perspective and "mapping" (since the data for each pixel is localized in a single "chunk"). The latter advantage makes chunky pixel mode really great for games, and is what made Wolfenstein 3-D possible. We all know that Amigas use the bitplane system for storing images. However, the Macintosh and PC(VGA) both use chunky pixel modes. While we can optimize our RAM usage with "bizarre" modes like 8- and 128-color, they gain the advantages of non-flicker scrolling, and the programming simplicity of just writing a byte where you want the pixel to go. The difference between the two modes becomes problematic in things like emulation. EMPLANT has a "chunky to planar" routine which it uses to convert a Macintosh display into an Amiga one. "Chunky to planar" routines are also useful for getting chunky-inclined things to run on Amigas (see TMAPDemo, rotdemo). On a side note, there was some confusion as to what EMPLANT used the MMU for with regard to chunky to planar. The MMU itself is incapable of performing the algorithm for the conversion; rather, it is used to detect what portions of the display memory are updated from the Mac side, and therefore the processor is saved from having to perform the chunky to planar conversion for the entire display. I sincerely hope that helped clear up most of the mystery concerning the terms "Chunky" and "Planar"! (Joseph Luk, jluc@eis.calstate.edu) 5.2 What is doublebuffering? ============================ Don't be ashamed if you haven't a clue as to what this is. It's rather simple, really. Imagine you wanted to animate something by drawing out each frame. Now imagine you had only one piece of paper. Even if you drew pretty fast, it would be difficult to see what the animation looks like because you'd have to erase the frame you just drew, in order to draw the next one! What if you had two pieces of paper? Why, then, you could see the difference between two adjacent frames. First you'd draw your first frame on the first piece of paper, then you'd draw the second frame on the other piece. Then you'd erase the picture on the first piece of paper, and draw in the third frame. Then you'd erase the picture on the second piece of paper, and draw in the fourth frame, and so forth. This is the principle of doublebuffering. The computer shows you the picture it just drew, then turns around and draws the next one. It then swaps the picture in front of you with the one it just drew, and repeats the process. The result is a smooth animation, because you never need to see the computer draw; all you see is each finished product. (Joseph Luk, jluc@eis.calstate.edu) 5.3 What monitors will work on my Amiga 1200/4000? ================================================== Monitors can be classified after the horizontal scan frequency they require. TVs, as well as C='s 1084 monitor, need frequencies around 15 kHz. VGA/SVGA need approx. 30 kHz. Multisync monitors can take many frequencies. In short: You can use any monitor you want with an A1200. BUT: - If you use a regular VGA/SVGA monitor, you can only use a few display modes (like DblPAL, DblNTSC and/or Productivity). I.e. (320|640) x (256|512|1024) for DblPAL. This is great for Workbench and all "serious" utilities (DTP etc), but don't expect any games to work... they don't use your preferences, just take over the machine and assume a 15 kHz monitor. Also, you cannot utilize the "Early Startup Control" screen (you know, disable cache, and that stuff), which also requires a 15 kHz monitor. Furthermore, VGA monitors don't have speakers. And the VGA-type modes don't support Genlocks. But for a lot of "serious" work, a VGA monitor is quite adequate. - You already know what happens with a 15 kHz monitor; the flickering in Interlace mode. A small tip: Try to use NTSC instead of PAL. This increases the refresh rate from 25 Hz to 30 Hz, at the expense of lower vertical resolution (482 lines maximum). The NTSC and PAL modes aren't as bad as many people think. If your monitor has a lot of phosphorous (long afterglow), PAL Laced can be quite OK, and it gives you a resolution of 1448x566 in SuperHiRes. That's the highest resolution currently supported on AGA Amigas, in _any_ display mode. - A Multisync gives you the best of both worlds. The new 1940 and 1942 monitors from C= are quite OK, although rather cumbersome to use... The h/v size and offset must be set manually each time you switch display mode. (1) For a VGA/SVGA or Multisync monitor, you'd need a little shiny box which gives you the standard 15-pin "D" connector. It costs around $15. There are other alternatives... like the "AmiVGA" box ($50 or so), which I think is a cheapo version of the Flicker Fixer. (But it's really a shame to use this on an AGA Amiga.) Also, you can get a VGA monitor, and hook up your TV to the composite or RF port on the Amiga - one monitor for games, one for serious stuff. (Per Espen Hagen, per.e.hagen@ffi.no) ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) A patch is available on Aminet for Kickstart 3.0 to do this without manual actions in the file `os30/util/Monitor30Patch.lha'. 5.4 How do I switch between PAL and NTSC? ========================================= PAL and NTSC are two different video standards, the former being European, and the latter being American. PAL has a slightly taller screen (256 lines non-interlaced, non-overscanned) as opposed to NTSC (200 lines), so if you see the bottom portion of a program's screen getting cut off on your American machine, chances are the program was written for PAL, and is running on your shorter NTSC screen. PAL and NTSC differences are somewhat less important to European users; since their machines default to PAL, running an NTSC program is no more than a minor annoyance having the screen only appear in the top portion of the display. Therefore, for us NTSC folks, switching into PAL mode becomes important to avoid loss of some picture on Euro Demos, etc. First, the most common misconception about switching between PAL and NTSC is that you need a Multiscan or special monitor for such a purpose. Not so! Just about any monitor can handle the minor signal difference between PAL and NTSC (50Hz vertical refresh versus 60Hz). The 108x, 19xx, and 20xx series, and even most TVs, can display both PAL and NTSC. Sometimes it is necessary to perform minor tweaking of vertical hold and/or v. size on your monitor to achieve full display, though this is trivial. What IS needed to switch between PAL and NTSC in software, is a "Fatter" (1MB) Agnus or better. If your system has more than 512K of CHIP RAM (use the avail command to find out) you have this chip. If you do not, ou can still construct a hardware switch (see below). The following directions assume you're an NTSC user who wants to switch into PAL mode, but the procedure for going from PAL to NTSC is much the same. The most common use of switching into PAL is for self-booting games, demos, etc. The best way to accomplish this on pre-3.0 systems is to use Chris Hames' Degrader program (most recent version: 1.30). Once you have procured this program, the switch is as simple as selecting "50Hz", and "50Hz System", then installing the program's ROMTag (little program that runs at boot-time) by pressing the "Survive Reset(s)" button. AmigaDOS 3.0 added a PAL/NTSC switch feature to its Boot Menu, and all you need to do in order to access this is hold down both mouse buttons as the computer boots. Select Display Options, Display Mode/PAL, and then Boot. If the program still fails to go into PAL mode (Zool is one I've found), you may wish to get Degrader anyway and try that. Software PAL/NTSC switching is easy and painless. Some people have gone even further by installing hardware PAL/NTSC switches. This results in a system which even the most nasty hardware-banging programs can't bring to its original configuration (if it has been switched). The procedure is simple - most Amigas have jumpers already - but beyond the scope of this document. Therefore, if your screen is too short or cut off, seek the different screen mode. You'll "see new horizons", literally! (Joseph Luk, jluc@eis.calstate.edu) (1) ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) PAL/NTSC switching with a MultiSync monitor is possible on 2.0+ and easily accomplished by moving the PAL monitor type to (or NTSC, as applicable, I have them both in) the Devs/Monitors drawer (from the Storage/Monitors drawer), reboot, then go into the Prefs drawer and select the ScreenMode program. You will see at least two PAL modes available (PAL and PAL Interlaced). Simply select one of the (usually non-interlaced for demos) and select "Use". All windows on the Workbench will close, the video mode will change, and then the windows will reopen - that simple! Allen J. Newton, anewton@alturia.abq.nm.us 6 Emulators *********** What? The Amiga isn't good enough? You really want it to be another machine? Well, look here... 6.1 Can I run Unix on my Amiga? =============================== Actually there are three Unix versions on the Amiga. All of them need at least 68030 (see 68EC0xx), probably a 68040 in the near future and seem to have problems with many hard-drive-controllers. You should have a good look into the documentation before installing it. Unix needs much resources, say at least 10Mb RAM and a 150Mb Unix-partition on the hard-drive. 1. Commodore offered a System V Unix in the past. It contained TCP/IP, X11 and other software and seemed to make a good job, but it was expensive and after all Commodore has dropped developing it. Commodore-Unix needs a streamer because it is distributed on tapes. 2. A Linux port is prepared. But actually there is not very much than the kernel. Specialists might like to use it, but it cannot be recommended for now. Linux is freely distributable. Sources: `ftp.uni-paderborn.de', directory `/pub/amiga/linux' or `ftp.uni-erlangen.de', directory `/pub/LINUX/MIRROR.tsx-11/680x0'. 3. NetBSD is freely distributable too. Like Linux it isn't ready for now, but it seems to make big steps. Most GNU software is said to run, especially emacs and gcc. I think it's worth to have a look on it. Sources: `ftp.uni-paderborn.de', directory `/pub/amiga/NetBSD' or `ftp.uni-erlangen.de', Directory `/pub/amiga/unix/NetBSD'. 6.2 Is it possible to use the Amiga as X11 terminal? ==================================================== Yes, it is. There are two different packages available: GfxBase offers a commercial version which is said to be excellent, but expensive. The distribution includes different window managers andclients. A demo version is on Aminet. (`gfx/x11/GfxBase-X11-Demo.lha') DaggeX is freely distributable and probably not finished yet. (It calls itself version 0.91.) Source: Aminet, `gfx/x11/DaggeX-0.91.lha' and `gfx/x11/twm_930531.lha'. 7 Miscellaneous *************** This last chapter contains some questions that don't fit in the chapters above. 7.1 Is there any unix version of LhA? ===================================== See Endings. 7.2 What are files ending with ...? =================================== Most endings on FTP sites or Fish disks tell you that the file is compressed and/or is an archive containing more than one file. Some programs even archive whole disks. Frequently found endings and programs to handle the related files are: *.sfx* Compressed archives which are included in an executable program: Just call the program and it will extract itself (sfx = self extract) *.lha* *.lzh* Compressed archives; recommended: LhA (`util/arc/LhA_e138.run' on Aminet or Fish disk 715) or Lx (`util/arc/lx100.lha' on Aminet), Unix version available (`misc/unix/lha-1.00.tar.Z') *.dms* Disks compressed using DMS (`util/arc/dms111.sfx' on Aminet or Fish disk 406) *.zom* Disks compressed using Zoom (`util/arc/Zoom_5.4.lha' on Aminet, Fish disk 682); an older version which you probably need for uncompressing PasTeX is found on Fish disk 459. *.zoo* Compressed archive; recommended: Zoo (`util/arc/zpp2-10.lzh' on Aminet or Fish disk 527) *.Z* *.z* *.gz* Compressed files; recommended gzip (`util/pack/gzip124x.lha' on Aminet), note that this are Unix files in most cases *.tar* Acrhive; recommended: tar (`util/arc/tar.lha' or `util/arc/gtar10.lha' on Aminet or Fish disk 445), note that tar is a Unix archiver and you often find soething like `.tar.Z'. *.arj* Compressed archive; recommended unarj (`util/arc/unarj-0.5.lha' on Aminet) *.zip* Compressed archive; recommended UnZip (`util/arc/unzip-5.1.lha' on Aminet), note that this are MS-Dos archives in most cases 7.3 Is there a Stacker-like utility to pack my hard drive? ========================================================== XFH does a good job. It operates as a handler and uses the XPK-libraries, so you have different compression modes (NUKE is a good choice) and possibly even more in the future. The only disadvantage is, that the size of a file is limited by RAM: Don't use it with less than 2MB of RAM. XPKDisk by Olaf 'Rhialto' Seibert is another stacker program that takes advantage of the variety of XPK libraries available. Unlike other harddisk compressors it does not compress the files, but creates a pseudo partition and stores the whole tracks as compressed files on your harddisk. Its major advantage is that it does not limit the maximum file size, because it works similar to trackdisk.device and therefore does not need too much temporary storage. But be careful: Never try to optimize an xpkdisk partition using ReOrg. It will trash your virtual partition. Another possibility is EPU. It's shareware and should offer the same as XFH, but without limiting the file size. Sources: Aminet, directory `util/pack', Fish disks 754 (XFH) and 858 (EPU) 7.4 Where do I get Fish disk xxx? ================================= Those FTP servers have that much space (or a CD-Rom) to have all fish disks available online: ftp.isca.uiowa.edu (USA, directory `/amiga/fx/fxxx') ftp.hawaii.edu (USA, directory `/pub/amiga/fish') ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de (Germany, directory `/pub/amiga/fish') ftp.uni-erlangen.de (Germany, directory `/pub/amiga/pd') ftp.funet.fi (Finland, directory `/pub/amiga/fish') Note that the CD-Rom's are not always mounted. See FTP. Another possibility would be to ask your local dealer. :-) 8 Where and how do I get Software? ********************************** Three questions arise in this context: Which programs can be found, where are they and how to get them and transfer them home? 8.1 Files and databases on freely distributable software ======================================================== Of course you need to know where you find things. Many good choices are listed in this paper, as I hope. Other sources are: *AmigaSciSchool* is a list of software and where you find it in Ascii format. It is posted monthly to the newsgroups `comp.sys.amiga.applications', `comp.unix.amiga', and `news.answers'. Additionally you will find it on Aminet sites (`text/doc/AmigaSciSchool-4.01'). It handles everything listed here and many more, for example GNU software, libraries (linked and shared), shells, Unix commands, educational and scientific software and much more. *FishCon* are lists of the Fish disk contents. (`fish/doc/fishcon-???.lzh' on Aminet) *FishXref* is a cross reference list of the Fish contents. (`fish/doc/fishxref-???.lzh' on Aminet) FishXref and Fishcon are in Ascii format. *KingFisher* A Fish disk database, (`fish/doc/Kingfisher1_30.lha', which is the program and `fish/doc/KFData850.lha' ,which contains the data, on Aminet or Fish disk 863) allows search by name and context. See Fish. 8.2 A collection of tests ========================= `Comp.sys.amiga.reviews' is a moderated newsgroup where tests of soft- and hardware, books and anything else relevant to the Amiga are posted. Its always a good idea to check this newsgroup for a review, if you are interested in something special. Of course you always find only the latest reviews, but the older postings are available per FTP from `math.uh.edu', Directory `/pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews' or on the Fish CDs. 8.3 Getting files from a FTP server =================================== Things are easy for those who have access to the Internet and a program called FTP (File Transfer Program). Nearly all Unix computers have it, but not all of them allow the use of FTP. FTP allows you to gain access to some other machines and store and/or retrieve files. Normally one needs an acoount on the remote machine to use it, bat a number of machines have a setup that allows everybody to log in as the user `ftp' or `anonymous', so anybody may get files from them. The most important of this servers are the Aminet servers, which mirror each other and hence should have the same files. They are the best choice if you are looking for Amiga software. Aminet hosts are USA (MO) ftp.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 USA (CA) ftp.cdrom.com 192.153.46.2 USA (TX) ftp.etsu.edu 192.43.199.20 Scandinavia ftp.luth.se 130.240.18.2 Germany ftp.uni-kl.de 131.246.9.95 Germany ftp.uni-erlangen.de 131.188.1.43 Germany ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de 130.149.17.7 Germany ftp.uni-paderborn.de 131.234.2.32 Germany ftp.uni-oldenburg.de 134.106.40.9 Germany ftp.coli.uni-sb.de 134.96.68.11 Switzerland ftp.eunet.ch 146.228.10.16 Switzerland litamiga.epfl.ch 128.178.151.32 UK ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.2.1 All these mirrors have a directory `/pub/aminet', where you will find much stuff. Please use a mirror close to you! Some other important hosts are ftp.funet.fi (Finland) ftp.isca.uiowa.edu (USA) ftp.hawaii.edu (USA) ftp.cso.uiuc.edu (USA) ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de (Germany) Note that grind, aachen and erlangen have the full collection of Fish disks available! See Fish disk xxx. To connect to a special host (ftp.uni-erlangen.de for example), you should type ftp ftp.uni-erlangen.de The host answers by requesting your login. You should type ftp No you are asked for a password. Please type your Email address here, if you have one. If not, use the password ftp. Now you're inside the host. There is a number of commands you may execute here. The most important are: *?* Prints the help text of the FTP command. Additionally you may type *? command* to get information on a special command. *bin* Tells the FTP program that you whish to transfer binary files. It is always a good choice to type bin as the very first command! Files you load without the bin command can be corrupt. *get <file>* Loads the given file from the host. On most Unix machines you can type something like `get file.txt -' or `get file.txt |more' to show a text on the screen. Note that there *must* be no blank between the | and the word more! *mget <pat>* Loads the given files. pat may contain Unix style like wildcards. *put <file>* *mput <pat>* Like get and mget, but transfer files from you to the remote host. This is in most cases not allowed, except for a special directory called `incoming'. You can place files here which you want to make public. *cd <dir>* Like the usual cd command. The commands get, mget, put, mput, dir and ls refer to the current working directory. *dir [<dir>]* *ls [<dir>]* Like `list' and `dir' on the Amiga. Note that the FTP-dir corresponds to the Amiga-list! *bye* Leaves the FTP program. When you have used FTP for the first times you will notice, that you always begin with executing the same steps: 1. Type the login (ftp in most cases) 2. Type the password (your mail address in most cases) 3. Enter the bin command 4. Change the current working directory (`/pub/aminet' for example) This may get executed automatically. What you need is a file called `.netrc' in your home directory. Note that it needs to be protected against others! The FTP program doesn't use it, if it can be read by anything else than you. (Protection is set using the command `chmod go-rwx .netrc'.) The .netrc file contains some entries for your most favourite FTP sites, each separated by empy lines. A typicel entry may look like this: machine ftp.uni-erlangen.de login ftp password <your mail address> or <ftp> macdef init bin cd pub/aminet Note that on some machines it is possible to use the machine name `default' which meets all machines not listed in .netrc. 8.4 Getting files from a Mail server ==================================== Another way to get files is to use a mail server. This assumes that you can send mail to Internet addresses and get mail from Internet hosts. It works by sending a mail to the server specifying some commands, for example send commands for the files you want. Important mail servers are ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com mailserver@nic.funet.fi ftp-mailer@ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de mrcserv@janus.mtroyal.ab.ca mail-server@ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu The most important commands are: *Help* Tells the server that you wish to get an Ascii file containing detailed explanation how to use the server. *Limit <number>* Specifys that you wish to get not more than <number> Kbytes per mail. Larger files get splitted into small pieces of at most <number> Kbytes which are sent as separate mails each. Note that the mails may get larger because of overhead. *Cwd <dir>* Sets the current working directory to <dir>. This directory is used by the commands send and dir. *Index* will return a list of files and/or directories that the server offers. Note that this may be *very* large! *Index <item>* returns a list of files containing <item> in their names. *Dir [<dir>]* returns a list of the files and directories in the given directory. *Send <file1> <file2> ... <fileN>* Tells the server to send the given files to you. *Begin* Tells the server to ignore all lines above this command. *End* Like Begin, but specifies to ignore the lines below. (A signature for example!) A typical session would be to send the following mail to the mail server: BEGIN CD /pub/aminet/util/arc SEND LhA_e138.run END 8.5 The Fish disks ================== A very good source are the Fish disks. One distinguishes between the floppy disks and the CD-Roms. 8.5.1 The Amiga Library disks ----------------------------- Fred Fish has started in the middle eighties to collect freely distributable software on floppy disks. There are more than 900 disks for now and very much good stuff on it. Most Amiga dealers sell them and most magazines contain addresses of people mailing them to you for about 3$ per disk or less. Fred Fish has announced to terminate offering software on floppy disks with number 1000. Instead he offers CD-Roms. See Fish CD. There are some things which can be found on the Fish disks, but not on Aminet. However, you can get them with FTP. See Fish disk xxx. 8.5.2 The Fresh Fish CD-Roms ---------------------------- Fred Fish is going on to offer freely distributable software. But now he collects it on CD-Rom's. He will release two different kinds of CD's: 1. Monthly released disks are divided into roughly three sections: 1. New material, which includes the material from the new unreleased floppy disks as well as material which does not appear in the floppy distribution, about 84Mb on the first disk. 2. Useful utilities that can be used directly off the CD-ROM if desired, thus freeing up the corresponding amount of hard disk space (GNU Emacs, Gnu C, GNU C++, Amiga E, PasTeX, AmigaGuide, Installer, 2.0 and 3.0-Includes, different archivers, tape drivers, the AmiCDROM filesystem and many other GNU and BSD tools, ...), about 150Mb on the first disk. 3. Older material from previous released floppy disks or CD-ROM's, about 404 Mb on the first disk. (Fish disk 600-910) 2. Disks containing the latest software as well as recent software in packed format only. (These are intended to be used for example in BBS's.) I recommend especially the first kind of Fish CD's. They cost about 20$ plus 3$ for shipping (5$ outside USA/Canada/Mexico) and are available from Amiga Library Services 610 N. Alma School Road, Suite 18 Chandler, AZ 85224-3687 U.S.A. Phone/FAX: (602) 917-0917 8.6 How do I Read and write MS-Dos disks? ========================================= No problem for owners of Workbench 2.1 or higher: The program CrossDos is part of the Workbench. All you have to do is mounting the device `pc0:' by putting it into the drawer `Devs:DOSDrivers' or by double-clicking the icon in `Sys:Storage/DOSDrivers'. Ms-Dos disks in drive `df0:' can now be handled in the usual manner replacing the word `df0:' by `pc0:'. For example the directory can be shown with the command dir pc0:. People still running Workbench 2.0 or lower need a program called `MSH'. You will find this on the Aminet (directory misc/emu) and on Fish disk 382. See Sources. After editing the file `devs:MountList' as described in the documentation you have to say Mount msh: in the CLI and can now do the same as above replacing the word `pc0:' with `msh:'. 8.7 How do I split large files? =============================== There are some archives which are too large to fit on one disk. To transfer them on disks you need to split them into smaller pieces and transfer each part on a separate disk. I recommend Martin Schlodder's `Splitter'. (Aminet, `util/misc/splitter_121.lha'. The archive contains binaries for MS-DOS and should be compilable without problems on any Unix system. The Amiga-FAQ archive ********************* The Amiga-FAQ is available in different formats: Ascii format (which is posted to the nets) AmigaGuide format (which is the adequate format on the Amiga) and in dvi format (to be printed). Additionally there is some stuff, that might be useful or interesting, but could not be included into the Amiga-FAQ: txt/amiga.history On the Amiga's history txt/story.txt The Commodore story (or: the Tramiel story ;-) txt/amiga.newsgroups Overview on comp.sys.amiga.* txt/amiga.sites List of FTP sites txt/AmigaOverview.tex A short overview on the Amiga-Soft- and Hardware txt/Hardware.tips For those people who can't live without solder src/JWSplit.c The source of a file splitter src/JWJoin.c The opponent to JWSplit src/addtoc.c Utility to add a toc to texinfo-created docs (this document uses it) I decided to collect these in the Amiga-FAQ archive. It is called AmigaFAQxxxxxx.lha (where xxxxxx is the date of the last release) and can be found on Aminet, directory `text/docs'. Contributions ************* This FAQ can neither get useful nor hit further development without your help. Suggestions, contributions, new answers, critics, anything is rather welcome. Please note, that very major subjects are absolutely missing yet: Nothing about sound, nothing on graphic cards, no Animation. These are some of the Amiga's best points! But I don't know them ... :-( So grab your keyboard (Your pencil? Well, if there's no other way...) and send mail to: Jochen Wiedmann Am Eisteich 9 72555 Metzingen (Germany) Tel. 07123 / 14881 Internet: wiedmann@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de Credits ******* My thanks go to: *Reinhard Spisser and Sebastiano Vigna* for the Amiga version of texinfo. This is written with it. *The Free Software Foundation* for the original version of texinfo and many other excellent programs. *Dylan McNamee* for contributing the sections on Editors, Word Processors, DTP and Postscript and some wording fixes. *Joseph Luk* for help in the section on chunky/planar, double buffering and PAL/NTSC *Urban Dominik Mueller* for the FAQ on FTP and Mail-servers. Index ***** .arj Endings .dms Endings .gz Endings .lha Endings .lzh Endings .netrc FTP .sfx Endings .tar Endings .Z Endings .z Endings .zip Endings .zom Endings .zoo Endings 68EC020 68EC0xx 68EC030 68EC0xx 68LC040 68EC0xx Amiga Library disks Fish floppy disks Amiga-FAQ archive Amiga-FAQ Archive AmigaBasic AmigaBasic AmigaSciSchool Infos Anonymous FTP Assemblers Compilers AutoDocs Includes C Compilers C++ Compilers Catalog description Localizing Catalog translation Localizing Catalogs Localizing CatComp Localizing CATS CATS Chunky displays Chunky vs. Planar Commodore, Frankfurt Developer Commodore, West Chester CATS comp.sys.amiga.reviews Reviews Compilers Compilers Console window WindowPtr Contributions Contributions Credits Credits CrossDos MS-Dos disks DaggeX X11 Desktop Publishing DTP Developer Developer DoMethod Missing functions DoSuperMethod Missing functions Doublebuffering Doublebuffering DTP DTP Editors Editors Emulators Emulators endings Endings Enforcer 68EC0xx Esc sequences Printer control FD-files Pragmas fd2pragma Pragmas file endings Endings Fish CD-Rom's Fish CD Fish disks Fish disk xxx Fish disks Fish Fish floppy disks Fish floppy disks FishCon Infos FishXref Infos FlexCat Localizing Forth Compilers Fortran Compilers FPU FPU Fresh Fish CD-Rom's Fish CD FTP servers FTP GfxBase X11 GigaMem 68EC0xx Graphics Graphics HD compression HD-Compression Hirsch & Wolf CATS history Amiga-FAQ Archive HookEntry Missing functions Includes Includes KingFisher Infos KitCat Localizing LibAllocPooled Missing functions Linux Unix Lisp Compilers locale.library Localizing Localizing Localizing Mail-server Mail MakeCat Localizing Memory, virtual 68EC0xx Missing functions Missing functions MMU 68EC0xx Modula-2 Compilers Monitors Monitors MS-Dos disks MS-Dos disks Msh MS-Dos disks Multiscan Monitors NDA Developer NDK Includes NDU Includes NDUK Includes NetBSD Unix NTSC PAL-NTSC Oberon Compilers packers Endings packers on Unix Endings Page Layout Languages Word Processors PAL PAL-NTSC Pascal Compilers Planar displays Chunky vs. Planar Postscript Postscript pragmas Pragmas Printer control Printer control Prolog Compilers Reviews Reviews RKMs Manuals Rom Kernel manuals Manuals Splitting files Splitting Stacker HD-Compression TeX TeX Text Editors Editors Unix Unix Unix-LhA Unix-LhA VGA Monitors Word Processors Word Processors Wysiwyg Word Processors X11 X11 XFH HD-Compression XPK HD-Compression -- Jochen Wiedmann E-Mail: wiedmann@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de