home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Software Vault: The Gold Collection
/
Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
/
cdr12
/
v93n04z.zip
/
V93N047.IBM
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-05-12
|
25KB
|
656 lines
12-Apr-93 14:35:33-MDT,25197;000000000000
Mail-From: GHICKS created at 12-Apr-93 13:49:09
Return-Path: <INFO-IBMPC-REQUEST@wsmr-simtel20.ARMY.MIL>
Message-ID: <930403134453.V93N47@wsmr-simtel20.Army.Mil>
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 93 13:44:51 GMT+1
From: "Info-IBMPC Digest" <Info-IBMPC@wsmr-simtel20.Army.mil>
Reply-To: Info-IBMPC@wsmr-simtel20.ARMY.mil
Subject: Info-IBMPC Digest V93 #47
To: "Info-IBMPC Distribution": ;
Info-IBMPC Digest Sat, 3 Apr 93 Volume 93 : Issue 47
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <GHICKS@wsmr-simtel20.Army.Mil>
Today's Topics:
486 memory errors (2 msgs)
Displayable/Editable picture of Bill Clinton wanted
DBase IV V1.1 strange behaviour...
Divide Overflow
DMA information (to Mosha Vainer RQ).
Foxpro 2.5 in the mail...?
HOW TO DISPLAY DXF ON WINDOWS ?
HP LaserJet II upgrade
IBM Value Point Impressions
Stacker 3.0 & DOS 5.0 (V93 #38)
Keystroke Buffering (V93 #39)
Listing reports over 133 characters wide
MTEZ/DALLAS FAX info needed
Pantone vs. CMYK vs. RGB vs. HSB vs. HLS
PC SPECIFICATIONS
TELETEXT and PC (A)
Re: windows 3.1 will not install
Re: comspec vs shell
Send Replies or notes for publication to: <INFO-IBMPC@brl.mil>
Send requests of an administrative nature (addition to, deletion from
the distribution list, et al) to: <INFO-IBMPC-REQUEST@brl.mil>
Archives of past issues of the Info-IBMPC Digest are available by FTP
ONLY from WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL in directory PD2:<ARCHIVES.IBMPC>.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 06:48:23 TUR
From: Jim Ritterbusch <RITTERBUS001@WCSUB.CTSTATEU.EDU>
Subject: 486 memory errors.
I vote along with the chip error group. I have seen this type of error
on a friends machine, and it was cured by replacement of one of the
SIMMs.
Just because the machine is new does not mean that it cannot fail.
Just because two identical machines did the same thing doesn't prove
anything either. If the SIMMs were from the same manufcuring run, it
is _almost_ likely that they _would_ have identical errors.
Since there are two machines, it is easy to "borrow" a SIMM from one,
then sequentially place it in each socket on the other machine, and see
if the error goes away. The only thing it will cost is a half hour of
time. Of course, make certain to follow the manufacturer's
instructions for removal and replacement of the SIMMs - they are
usually secured by small plastic clips which will break if not handled
properly.
BTW - the fact that it only occurs when EMM386 is loaded suggests to me
that the problem lies at an address in extended memory. When EMM386 is
not loaded, this address would never be accessed, hence no error. I
have _never_ seen a parity error caused by software. The very nature
of a parity error points to hardware.
Jim Ritterbusch
ritterbus001@wcsu.ctstateu.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 07:39:23 EST
From: Steve Rimar <D1SAR%AKRONVM.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Subject: 486 memory errors.
I had a memory parity error that occured 4 times one night. The next
day I called tech support and they told me to reseat the simms and if
that did not work they would replace all of them. They told me that
reseating will fix the problem a lot of times because when the PC is
shipped they get bounced around a lot. I reseated the simms and
haven't had a parity error since. The tech support person said that a
parity error is the simms problem. Hope it fixed the problem.
* STEVE RIMAR INTERNET: D1SAR@VM1.CC.UAKRON.EDU *
* INFORMATION SERVICES BITNET: D1SAR@AKRONVM *
* THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON *
* AKRON, OHIO 44325
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 13:21:29 -0500 (EST)
From: Paul Robinson <TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM>
Subject: Displayable/Editable picture of Bill Clinton wanted
I am looking for a picture (in color, if possible) of Bill Clinton
which is displayable on an IBM-PC type display. What I want is
something I could perhaps edit with a paint program, so a TIFF image
would be nice. I want to display this image on the screen, then run a
line above and below it as a message, for a game I'm writing in Pascal.
Also, if anyone knows sources for a means in either Pascal or a routine
which can be called from Turbo Pascal to display/crop an image on
screen. What I want is something that would do the whole screen in all
but perhaps the top and bottom inch; it's for the opening screen.
If you've seen the "attract" screen on Castle Wolfenstein 3-D, which
shows the user's character hiding behind a wall while a guard in a
hallway is walking toward him, and the hallway is in the background,
this is similar to the kind of picture I'm looking for: a color graphic
image.
Thank you for your assistance
Paul Robinson -- TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 13:29:00 -0500 (EST)
From: Paul Robinson <tdarcos@access.digex.com>
Subject: DBase IV V1.1 strange behaviour...
I wanted to reply to your message sooner but I happen to be in the Bad
Weather part of the U.S. and we are just recovering from the 12+ inches
of snow out here.
Alain LEROY <alain@tintin.csl.sni.be> writes:
> I have a strange problem while running DBase IV in the
> following environment :
>
> MS-DOS V5.01 with HIMEM.SYS loaded,
> 486 DX 33
> HD IDE 245 Mb
> RAM 8Mb
>
> The problem(s) is (are):
> - When starting DBase IV, the following message appears : "DBase IV is
> not configured for the active code page. (Q)uit/(C)ontinue ?" or
> something like that...
I have a pretty good idea. Your address ends in ".be" which implies
you are in or are near Belgium. Most likely your CONFIG.SYS file
indicates that you are using something akin to CODE PAGE 32 via the
COUNTRY= command in CONFIG.SYS. (32 is the international telephone
code for the country of Belgium; see my Internet RFC 1394 for the
conversion table). If you are not in Belgium but one of the nearby
countries, then the code for that country applies.
What is then happening is that DBASE IV expects some country it would
recognize and doesn't know yours. The default is code "1" which is the
United States, of course.
If your CONFIG.SYS is setting a code page, such as COUNTRY=32 in
CONFIG.SYS, or if you use one of the alternate keyboards, take it out
and see if this fixes that problem. You may have to use some other
country's code that uses your particular language. If you need it for
French, try code 33 instead for France. Or try 49 for German, and so
on. Or you may end up having to use English after all.
--- Paul Robinson TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 13:51:51 EDT
From: David Kirschbaum <kirschd@sesi.COM>
Subject: Divide Overflow (V93 #39)
>Date: Mon, 01 Mar 93 11:10:44 EST
>From: "Thales R. Azevedo" <PRTHAL%BRUERJ.bitnet@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
>
> We have a pc/xt in our isntallation.
>
> Now ( Today ) it is during the boot time sending a forward message:
>
> " Divide overflow "
>
> What is this ? What i do? And have a problem, the drive C has
>Stacker 2.0. I loss everything ?
Well, it's too late for you to invite me to Carnival, but I guess I'll
try to help you anyway :-)
That report usually comes from a program with a problem (or a bug).
Had you recently added any new programs, TSRs, drivers, etc. to your
CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files? If so, there could be your problem.
I gather you can't boot at all? If that's the case, boot off a floppy
and see if you can still reach your hard drive. (You know, just change
to C: drive and try to do a dir.)
I'm not experienced with stacker at all, and don't know what DOS
functions still remain to access that hard drive. However, it can't be
COMPLETELY inaccessible, or DOS couldn't even reach the CONFIG.SYS to
load Stacker! So you MUST be able to read SOMETHING on that drive
after booting from a floppy. (Let's hope so anyway.)
But try REM'ing out any new (or suspicious) lines in CONFIG.SYS or
AUTOEXEC.BAT. (Check their dates first to see if either has recently
been modified. That might tip you off as to who might've modified
them.) Be sure to check for any CONFIG.BAK or AUTOEXEC.BAK files (just
in case the original is still lying about).
After taking out any suspicious lines (and that could mean EVERYTHING
except those minimum lines required to load Stacker), try to reboot
from the hard disk.
But I betcha it's a new program with a bug.
Good luck!
David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
kirschd@sesi.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 09:23:28 MSK
From: "Lev S.Chesalin" <LCHESALI%ESOC1.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Subject: DMA information (to Mosha Vainer RQ).
Here you find a very old (1992) draft document I have prepared for
sending to you. Sorry the final version is destroyed and now I have no
PSB to make the draft more accurate - PLS excuse me: the project is
finished about 2 years ago and the time to 'cleaning' it is not
available now - I am leaving for 2 weeks business trip tomorrow.
Yours Lev.
----------------------------------- 10-22-1992 ------------------
I send you 'chips' of an old DMA using project. PLS excuse if there are
some errors. I have tried to eliminate them but...
It seems that for data exchange with 40 Kbytes per second it is
reasonable to use DMA channel. The problem is first of all in the
necessarity to make a special hardware for data transfer. The
simplified logic description of its function is as follows.
When the data are ready the HW has to generate a DMA request signal
(active high) on one of the free DMA Request lines (e.g. DRQ1, b18 on
PC XT/AT bus). After receiving the corresponding DMA acknlege signal,
active low (-DACK1, pin B17 in the example) the HW has to output the
byte of data (or 16 bit of data if AT channel 4-7 is used) on data bus
lines during the time of the active -IOR signal, active low (pin B14 ).
DRQ may fall down immediately after receiving DACK (there is a
possibility to produce next data transmission in the same DMA session
if DRQ stays high long time enough - till next -IOR signal active but
for the data flux 40 K bytes per sec it is not necessary).
If you inform me about your Fax number I can send a drawing of the card
used in my old project.
The working SW may be divided in tree parts:
(1) Initialization of the DMA controller and STARTING
the operation (receiving);
; set DMA
CLI
OUT :0Ch:,AL ; clear byte flip-flop - so next will be LOW byte
mov al,025h ; channel 1, read DCD - write into memory, address inc, rq mode
OUT :0Bh:,AL ; mode
mov ax,ddd ; space for data receiving address base
shiftm: add ax,1000h ; as DMA is limited to page, go to start of page 64 Kbytes
and ax,0f000h
; also not the best solution but PSB !
mov datbad,ax ; save data buffer base address
OUT :02:,AL ; 0 as a base (channel 1)
OUT :02:,AL
MOV CL,04
ROL AX,CL ; *16
OUT :83h:,AL ; page address of channel 1
MOV AL,0FFh
OUT :03:,AL ; -1 as a count (channel 1) (64K of data)
OUT :03:,AL
STI
MOV AL,01 ; clear mask for channel 1
OUT :0Ah:,AL
;
; example of one of the ways of memory reservation 64 KB segment
; with A11-A0 x000h (exactly NOT the best one but PSB!)
ddd segment
dw 16*1024 dup (?) ; 32 Kbytes
ddd ends
ddd1 segment
dw 16*1024 dup (?)
ddd1 ends
ddd2 segment
dw 16*1024 dup (?)
ddd2 ends
ddd3 segment
dw 16*1024 dup (?)
ddd3 ends
(2) Checking of the data buffers filling & using of the filled buffers
(e.g. writing of filled buffer on hard disc);
tstlr:
; here you can test the finish of the operation
out 0ch,al ; clear byte f-f
in al,:02: ; low address byte
mov bl,al
in al,:02: ; high address byte
mov ah,al
mov al,bl ; address
sub ax,adrw
cmp ax,rlen ; is necessary amount of data received ?
jl tstlr ; not yet, to receive more
; the rlen bytes of data are received,
; here you have to use the data
jmp tstlr
(3) Closing of the DMA operation.
MOV AL,05 ; set mask for channel 1 - STOP dma receiving
OUT :0Ah:,AL
You have to be accurate with stack segment - it should not overlap with
data.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 11:28:01 -0600
From: johnboyd@ocdis01.tinker.af.mil (John Boyd;LAHDI;336-5301)
Subject: Foxpro 2.5 in the mail...?
I bought Foxpro 2.0 on the last day of the initial competitive upgrade
period; with the understanding that I'd get 2.5 automagically, with no
further action necessary on my part, when it came out. I've seen
people talking about using it for a while now, some have had it long
enough to dislike it and offer it for sale even! I still haven't
gotten mine. Is anybody else still waiting for theirs? Is anyone from
Microsoft listening? Does anyone have a phone number I can call to
jack someone up about this? Thanx for any assistance!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 13:30 +8
From: Helena Wong <CSHWONG%CPHKVX.bitnet@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: HOW TO DISPLAY DXF ON WINDOWS ?
Hello, Could anybody tell me how to display AutoCad DXF files on
Windows 3.1 using Borland C or C++, or any other method? Thanks in
advance.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 11:25:04 EST
From: Wally Veale <WVEALE%UGA.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Subject: HP LaserJet II upgrade
After HP released the LJ III, they offered an upgrade for the LJ II.
You would mail your LJ II to HP and they would replace some internal
parts to enhance the print resolution and add internal scalable fonts
in Times Roman and Helvetica type styles. HP no longer offers this
upgrade. Does anyone know of a third party company that offers a
comparable upgrade? Please reply directly to wveale@uga.cc.uga.edu and
I'll summarize to the list.
Thanks
Wally Veale
University of Georgia
WVEALE@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
------------------------------
Date: 17 Mar 1993 07:48:55 -0700 (MST)
From: Ernie DeVries <DEVRIES@NAUVAX.UCC.NAU.EDU>
Subject: IBM Value Point Impressions
I'd like to know if anyone has any experiences with the new IBM Value
Point series. One of the higher-ups in our organization would prefer
that we buy these because they are IBM. Many of the rest of us feel
that we will be better served by anything else (well almost). Anyway,
if anyone has any good/bad experiences to relate, I'd like to hear
them.
Specifically, we want to know about
1) Performance. How does it run against a similar Gateway?
2) Maintenance. What does it cost for common replacement parts like
floppy drives.
3) Expandability. Can you add another hard drive easily. Can you
swap the existing hard drive easily? Does it take standard SIMMS or
are they some- thing special from IBM?
4) Will the Windows NT Beta run on it?
We are specifically looking at the 486sx25. Thanks for the replies.
| /\ Ernie DeVries |
| / \/\ Academic/Personal Computer Services |
| /\/ \ \/\ DeVries@nauvax.ucc.nau.edu |
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 18:59:51 EST
From: "Drew Derbyshire" <ahd@kew.com>
Subject: Stacker 3.0 & DOS 5.0 (V93 #38)
> From: CGKarras@world.std.com (Christopher G Karras)
>
> >In response to Mike's question about whether to use Stacker 3.0 or
> >SStor and DOS 5.0 and DR-DOS 6.0. My recommendation is to use DOS 5.0
> >along with Stacker 3.0. So, far I have not had any major conflicts
> >between Stacker 3.0 & DOS 5.0, or any software running under them.
>
> What about waiting a bit for DOS 6.0, due out at the end of March. It
> has Stacker-like compression built in.
Due to a law suit from Stac Electronics, this was dropped (for now)
from the latest DOS 6.0 beta. MS also dropped certain e-mail/network
support because of confusion among the user base. This was all from PC
Week or ComputerWorld about a month back ...
-ahd-
--
Internet: ahd@kew.com Voice: 617-641-3739
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 08:24 EST
From: George Buckner <GRB%NCCIBM1.BITNET@ncsuvm.cc.ncsu.edu>
Subject: Keystroke Buffering (V93 #39)
Bob Zenhausern mentioned a problem with keystroke buffering on his 486.
> I recently upgraded to a 486 dx 50 mhz motherboard and everything seems
> fine except for spreadsheet programs. I have found this same problem
> with Lotus 123 v2.3 and v3.1, as well as Quattro Pro v4. The problem
> is that intermittently keystrokes get buffered and then come out in
> bunches.
This sounds like the behavior I've been noticing intermittently on a
recently purchased 486DX/50 (EISA w/ SCSI2). I would also be interested
in why this happens.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1993 09:43:08 -0500
From: gquinn@is.morgan.com (Gareth Quinn)
Subject: Listing reports over 133 characters wide
I hope someone on the Internet can help me with this problem. I
currently use a package called Viewit(V Communications, Inc) which
allows me to view reports which are 133 characters wide. The problem
with this package is that it can only handle 133 characters on a
Mutlisync monitor. I need a similiar package which can be used on VGA
monitors. Is there one available?
Please respond to me - gquinn@is.morgan.com and I will send a summary
to these lists
Thanks for all the interesting hints from past newsletters.
Gareth Quinn
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 8:06:11 EST
From: Daniel A Nielsen <dnielsen@letterkenn-emh1.army.mil>
Subject: MTEZ/DALLAS FAX info needed
I own a Dallas FAX 2496VC FAX/VOICE/MODEM. I tried calling their
support BBS to get the latest voice master program and and received a
this number disconnected msg. I called their order and tech lines with
the same result. I then called MTEZ's support BBS (FAX/MODEM software
bundled with hardware) and got another this number disconnected msg. I
then called MTEZ tech support line and again got a disconnected msg,
but it also stated that you should now call 801-228-9915. This number
connects you with Word Perfect's Voice mail. I guess WP must have
bought out MTEZ. WP's voice mail tells me to call Dallas FAX's
disconnected number if I have any questions. Talk about a run around!
Can anyone give me good numbers for DALLAS FAX or MTEZ support? Anyone
out there have a DALLAS FAX product? Maybe even the last version of
VMASTER? Any one know how to convert MTEZ's .EXP file format to .PCX
so I can send FAXs through my OCR software? Any info appreciated. I
will consolidate msgs sent to me and post them to the list if I get any
:-) .
Thanks in advance
dan
------------------------------
Date: 17 Mar 1993 11:02:51 +0100 (MET)
From: "Jan Hemel, Rekencentrum RUG" <HEMEL@RC.RUG.NL>
Subject: Pantone vs. CMYK vs. RGB vs. HSB vs. HLS
Does anyone know where to find definitions and/or conversion tables of
the different colour definition systems?
I need to use the Pantone colour 320, had it converted by Corel Draw to
CMYK and HSB to be able to reconstruct the exact colour in WP
Presentations.
It turned out that:
1. The scales for RGB run from 0-100 in Corel Draw, from 0-255 in
Presentations. Which one is correct?
2. Even after conversion of these scales, the colour specified in RGB
was definitely not the same as the one specified in CMYK. I know that
RGB is used for coloured light an CMYK for coloured print, but if both
Presentations and Corel Draw can convert between these two systems, why
don't they yield the same values? Is one of them simply wrong (which
one?) or am I seeing it too simple?
3. Corel Draw offered also the HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brilliance??)
scores. Presentations on the other hand, HLS (Hue, Lightness,
Saturation?). How do these to compare? My impression is that Hue is the
same, and the other ones don't seem to be linearly interrelated.
Correct?
Thanx for any help.
Jan Hemel e-mail: HEMEL@RC.RUG.NL
Rekencentrum der Rijksuniversiteit fax: +31 50 63 3406
Postbus 800 tel: +31 50 63 3399/8080
9700 AV Groningen
The Netherlands Even WordPerfect isn't
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 93 12:26:31 EST
From: "MIKE STELMAT (413)494-2883" <STELMAT@guid2.dnet.ge.com>
Subject: PC SPECIFICATIONS
Howdy,
Does anyone out there know where I might find the specifications for
the design of PC equipment. I am thinking of designing and selling my
own motherboards, cases, power supplies, etc. I need to know things
like:
1. Location of mounting holes.
2. Motherboard size.
3. Connector types and locations.
4. Case size.
5. Interface demensions for disk drives.
6. etc.
I know I could reverse engineer it, but a book or any literature would
simplify the process.
Thanks for any help!
Mike Stelmat.
stelmat@guid2.dnet.ge.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 93 09:00 MET
From: Hans de Wolf <HW23316@nlr.nl>
Subject: TELETEXT and PC (A)
Ian Spillane asked about Teletext and a PC:
Yes, it is possible to access teletext from a PC. You will need a
special card in your pc, and special software. I know that some cards
monitor the teletext information, and collect the pages that are of
intwerest to you, and write them to a file. Some software even
interprets the info (like stock exchange info), and make tables or
graphs. There is also a way to download software via teletext (I think
some german television stations broadcast software on teletext pages)
Hans de Wolf
(hw23316@nlr.nl)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 13:33:21 +1000
From: wchang@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (William CHANG)
Subject: Re: windows 3.1 will not install
Info-IBMPC@wsmr-simtel20.ARMY.mil writes:
>I had a similar problem, but with reading disks. Try loading all the
>discs into a temporary directory. Then install windows from that
>directory.
>The problem I had is interesting because I think it is a software
>hardware interaction. From DOS I could read a disk, do anything with
>it, etc. etc. but as soon as I made a mistake, or changed discs, the
>system would hang with the drive light on, as yours did.
Could be a contact problem with your floppy drive cable. The signal
line for 'disk detected' or similar could be damaged. In my case, my
signal for 'disk removed` went, and everytime a new disk was put in the
system still had the last one's directory in memory. Worse still, when
I wrote stuff on it, the previous directory became the new FAT file!
(not nice!)
> [...Lots of text deleted...]
Yours.
William
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 22:15:37 GMT
From: Andreas Lang <K573605%CZHRZU1A.BITNET@CEARN.cern.ch>
Subject: Re: comspec vs shell
> Should comspec and shell in your config.sys and autoexec.bat point
> to the same command.com? Do they have to? What will happen if
> they don't?
They don't HAVE to, but the normally DO.
TWO reasons to have a shell statement pointing to command.com
(I'm NOT speaking here of command.com alternatives):
1a) more environment space: shell = c:\command.com /e512 /p
1b) keep command.com in another place than the root dir of the boot
drive (some (badly written) programs won't find command.com if not
located in c:\): shell = c:\dos\command.com ...
ONE reason to manually insert a comspec pointing to command.com (I'm
NOT speaking here of command.com alternatives): 2) reload the
transient part of command.com from a ramdisk:
set comspec=<ramdrive>:\command.com
I had my PCs set up this way for for DOS 3.3 and 4.01, but dropped it
with DOS 5.0 (see below).
My questions:
1) Dis I overlook any other good reasons to do such things?
2) Does it make sense combining 1a) and 2)? Which amount of env space
do I get if the transient part gets reloaded from a ramdrive? The
standard amount or the shell specified amount?
3) Am I right that the "transient part reloading" question has gone
away using dos=high in DOS 5.0?
Thanks for your answers, andreas
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest V93 #47
********************************
-------