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09MIC95.TXT
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2006-10-19
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MICROREVIEWS FOR SEPTEMBER 1995
by Charles Good
HYPER COPY by Mike Dodd
In the July 1988 issue of MICROpendium Mike Dodd wrote about a
mysterious author working on a fast copy program for the Geneve. Mike
wrote, "The author does not wish to reveal his/her name at this time;
however, any comments sent to me will be forewarded." That software
author turned out to be Mike Dodd.
Hyper Copy is one of the very few applications that runs directly out
of MDOS on a Geneve. You can't use it on a 99/4A system, even one
with an 80 column card. It is the fastest disk copier anywhere for
Geneve and 99/4A disks. Although Hyper Copy has been available for
several years, it has not yet been reviewed in Micropendium. I have
talked to several Geneve users who didn't know of its existence.
Hyper Copy is so good that all Geneve users should own it.
The first time I used Hyper Copy to copy a DSDD disk I was amazed as I
watched what happened. The Geneve sucked the entire contents of the
master DSDD disk into the Geneve's vast memory in just one pass and
then spit it out to the unformatted target disk. The whole copy
process using a CorComp disk controller took only 58 seconds!
Verification is not total with this type of fast copy. Most disk
errors are reported, but some go undetected. You can set verification
"on" and this will completely check the target disk guaranteeing 100%
reliable copies. However verification "on" greatly inclreases copy
time. With verification "off", copying a DSSD disk also takes 58
seconds. A SSSD disk takes 29 seconds. These are really fast times,
and all include formatting and minimal verification of the target
disk.
Some comparisons, all with target disk formatting and some sort of
verification using a CorComp controller:
--Rediskit (my favorite 99/4A track copier, sharware by James
Schroeder): DSDD 82 seconds, DSSD 75 seconds, SSSD 36 seconds.
--Track Master 1 (another 99/4A track copier, sharware by Barry
Boone): DSDD 96 seconds, DSSD 91 seconds, SSSD 53 seconds.
--"Diskcopy" command directly from MDOS on a Geneve: DSDD 485 seconds,
DSSD 312 seconds, SSSD 155 seconds.
--Copy QM (a one pass IBM disk copier running on my 386 DX40): time to
copy a 360K disk, which is the same as a DSDD TI/Geneve disk- 60
seconds.
Yes, Hyper Copy is the fastest whole disk copier I have ever tested,
as fast or faster than my best IBM disk copier. And it can do some
additional tricks, not found on most other fast copiers, that make
disk copying even faster. Hyper Copy will copy to and from a horizon
ramdisk and it will copy one master to multiple drives. You can for
example copy a disk to the Geneve's internal ramdisk or to a Horizon
ramdisk. Then you can copy from the ramdisk to floppy drives 1,2,3,
and 4 with formatting of the copy disks. (You need a CorComp or Myarc
controller to use floppy drive 4.) This makes lots of copies of one
master disk really fast! Adjustments you can make within Hyper Copy
for interlace and skew allow the copy disks to run at maximum loading
speed on the Geneve, often faster than the original. I don't really
understand these adjustments, so I just accept the suggested
defaults.
When you buy HyperCopy you get on one SSSD disk versions that support
the TI, CorComp, and Myarc floppy disk controller cards. There is no
version of Hypercopy that is usable with floppys controlled by the
Myarc HFDC, which is too bad.
If you own a Geneve and copy disks you really should own Hyper Copy.
It is a commercial product now available for $15 from 9640 news. This
is a reduction in price from when Hyper Copy was offered a few years
ago by Genial Computerware.
----------------------------
AMS COPY by Jack Mathis
Here is a new whole disk copy program for 99/4A users. It requires
the AMS memory expansion card and is distributed as public domain
software to AMS purchasers. It is very easy to use in part because it
does not first require you to initialize the AMS card by running the
AMS program ABOOT.
AMS Copy has the look and feel of the disk copying part of DM1000. In
fact it is the author's stated intent to incorperate AMS Copy into a
new version of DM1000 for the AMS card. You can select "Sector" or
"Bit Map" copying. As many sectors as possible are sucked into the
AMS before being read out to the target disk. With a 128K AMS card
you can copy a SSSD disk in one pass. With a 256K AMS card you can
copy a DSSD (720 sector) disk in one pass or a DSDD disk in two
passes. You need a 384K AMS card for one pass copying of DSDD disks.
The unusual thing about this disk copyier is that the contents of the
disk remain in memory. You can make multiple copies of the same
master disk without spending unneeded time reading the master disk
into memory again and again. Unfortunately the multiple copy feature
only works with one drive. You can only specify a single output
dirve. To make multiple copies you remove the previous target disk
from this drive, put a new target disk in the drive, and press a key.
Here are some time comparisons copying all sectors of the same DSSD
master disk with formatting of the target disk. AMS Copy- first copy
330 seconds, second and subsequent copies 255 seconds. DM1000 v3.5
and DSKU v4.2 both took 333 seconds. Rediskit, my favorite 99/4A
track copier, can do this job in 75 seconds. These speed comparisons
are somewhat misleading. Rediskit always formats the target disk,
even if it is already correctly formatted. Times the other copy
programs listed here will be faster if time is not taken to format the
target disk. They only take the time to do a format if they sense the
target disk is not already formatted to the same capacity as the
master disk.
So why use AMS Copy if Rediskit is so much faster? Because of
reliability, particularly in making reasonably fast multiple copies of
the same master disk. Sector copy programs such as AMS Copy will
never make a bad copy. You are guaranteed that your copy will contain
no errors that prevent it from being read on someone else's computer.
When you use fast copy programs such as Rediskit or HyperCopy there is
increased risk of destination disk errors that will not be reported by
the copy program. AMS Copy will detect and tell you about all master
or target disk errors. For 100% safe disk copying AMS Copy is one of
the fastest copy programs available.
-------------------------
TI NOPOLY by Jon Dyer and Joe Delekto
This game requires an AMS card with 128K or more memroy. It is public
domain and you get it as part of the software package that comes with
the AMS card. TI Nopoly does an excellent job illustrating how speed
and graphics of assembly games can be enhanced by having the entire
game reside in the AMS bank switched memory. First you run ABOOT and
then you load TI Nopoly from the "Load and Run" or "Load and Retain"
options of the ABOOT menu.
Everything you need to keep track of the game is displayed on screen.
The upper left shows the game board and the location of the player's
pieces on the board periphery, from two to eight players. In the
center of this game board is a graphic of the current player's
position. These graphics have been accurately copied from the
original monopoly game board. As a playing piece moves around the
board each board position graphic is shown VERY rapidly until the
piece reaches its destination. These board position graphics are
quite well done and make game action visually very attractive.
In the upper center of the board are the dice. The middle right shows
a status menu of choices. The lower screen half shows data of each
player's owned properites, the information found printed on the back
of property cards in the original board game. The player who has the
current turn can view the information for each property one at a time
by cycling through owned properties using the arrow keys. Property
data displayed includes Current Rent, Mortage Value, Improvements
(number of houses built), and Cost Per House.
Prior to rolling the dice a player may do any of the following with
properties he owns by pressing a key: (S)ell properties or houses back
to the bank, (M)ortgage, (B)uild houses, or (D)eal. A player can also
do these things after dice roll if he needs to raise extra cash to pay
rent. If you press (D) you get these options relating to properites
of other players: (T)rade, (Buy), and (T)rade. These are all menu
prompted and the computer keeps track of the results.
To roll the dice you press (R) and you see and hear the dice as they
roll on screen. If you land on an unowned property you are given the
opportunity to (B)uy or (C)ontinue without buying. If you land on
your own property you are told so and your turn ends. If you land on
someone else's property the rent you owe is immediately deducted from
your money and given to the propoerty owner.
Other features of the original board game are all there and
functional: jail and get out of jail free cards, income tax, luxury
tax, community chess and chance cards, etc. If you land on Free
Parking you get all the tax money collected, or $50. If you roll
doubles you get to roll again. If you are in jail you get to roll
first and only if you don't roll doubles are you asked to pay to get
out of jail. This slight deviation from the original rules saves you
from wasting a get out of jail card or fee when you roll doubles
anyway.
There are some program bugs. Sometimes the sprite of a player
disappears as it travels around the playing board and reaches the
current dice roll's destination. It is still there and will reappear.
Sometimes the game will let you purchases houses even if you don't own
all the properties in the group and sometimes (this is VERY annoying)
the game won't let you purchase houses even though you do own the
necessary properties.
I have played several TI Nopoly games with my 14 and 9 year old
children and the kids say they like the game also. I sometimes play a
2 player game all by myself, making the decisions for both players.
Games seem to go quite fast. Just press the (R)oll key and the
current player zooms around the board. One does not normally consider
speed to be important in Monopoly, but the two other Monopoly games I
know of for the 99/4A are painfully slow. Even with its somewhat
significant bugs I consider TI Nopoly the most enjoyable of the
various 99/4A Monopoly look alikes.
-----------------------
TIA PRINT by Bruce Harrison
TIA SIGNS source unknown
TIA Print is simple to use public domain program will print almost any
TI Artist black and white picture using almost any 9 pin epson
compatible printer. It uses 25 sector TIA pucture files with the "_P"
file ending. The resulting output is properly proportioned (a circle
looks like a circle) and fills an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper.
TIA Print loads as either EA5 or as XB LOAD. You are asked to verify
your printer name and are then asked for the drive containing the TIA
picures. Drives can be 1-9 or A-Z. The program then presents you
with a list of only the "_P" 25 sector files on that drive. Move the
cursor around with the arrow keys and press <enter> when the cursor is
next to a picture file name you want to examine. That picture is then
displayed in black and white on screen. If there is a color file for
the picture (a _C file) it is ignored. If you like what you see press
P and your picture is printed. Press any other key and you are back
to the list of "_P" pictures so you can examine another picture on
screen.
Printing takes awhile, between 2 and 10 minutes. Large blank areas
are recognized as such and the printer will quickly line feed past
these parts of the picture. This saves printing time. MAX RLE and
other TI software will print TIA pictures, but nothing does it as
conveniently from a menu list of pictures and almost nothing else
prints them SO BIG!
I have an application that is perfect for TIA Print. I have 4 DSSD
disks of full TIA signs that somebody donated to my user group's
library several years ago. Each sign has a fancy border and often has
a cute graphic in addition to the lettering. These signs contain cute
and sometimes serious messages and are designed to fill a full sheet
of paper. Now I have convenient and free software that will do this.
The 112 signs on these 4 disks include "Things I Gotta Get Done"
followed by some blank lines for you to fill in, "If you want quick
answers ask the boss, If you want right answers ask the secretary",
"Ask me, I might say YES", "It makes the day long when you get to work
on time.", and many others.
Send me $1 and I will send you TIA Print on a SSSD disk. It comes
with fully commented source code, a couple of original TIA pictures
for you to view and print, and user friendly documentation. When you
get it, give Bruce a phone call and tell him how much you appreciate
his public domain programming efforts on our behalf.
Send me an additional $4 and I will send you the four DSSD disks full
of TIA Signs.
------------------
ACCESS:
Southwest 99ers. This user groups manufactures and sells AMS memory
expansion cards which come with two of the programs reviewed here. A
265K card costs $100. P.O. Box 17831, Tucson AZ 85731. Voice phone
520-747-5046.
9640 News (Berry Miller, source of HyperCopy). P.O. Box 752465,
Memphis TN 38175. email bw.miller@genie.geis.com