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rea 2 nor rea 5 nor rea 6 nor rea 9 nor ************ Topic 2 Fri Jan 18, 1991 D.KAYE at 23:41 PST Sub: '81 partition.help Sort programs reset '81 drive and subdirectory is losot dir reappears An old 64 prg DIR SORT PRINT will sort and print but does not save the directory. Help.. *s 5 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 3, Topic 2 Message 1 Fri Jan 18, 1991 D.KAYE at 23:47 PST I've loaded 4 different 1581 alpha sorter prgs from the 1571 drive and each pogram resets the 1581 drive so that the subdirectory is lost and the root directory reappears. There is an old 64 program calDIR SORT PRINT" which will do an alpha sort and then print the sorted directory. Unfortunately, it doesn't save the newly sorted directory on the diI've looked at the code in the sort programs but I'm not sure I can find the line which resets the drive. Any help will be much appreciated. ------------ Category 3, Topic 2 Message 2 Sat Jan 19, 1991 H.HERMAN1 at 03:57 EST DK, Have you considered using your WP? Most all commercial WP's support partitioning on the 1581, and also allow for loading a directory into their buffer. From there, doing a block sort should get the directory in alpha order, and ready for printing. Using a WP has the added advantage in letting you edit, add, and change stuff around to your liking before doing any printing. Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 2 Message 3 Sun Jan 20, 1991 C128.JBEE at 16:14 EST I should have a 1581 partition utility up in the libraries somewhere :D It should be called "part.tin.me.jbe" if it isn't I will upload it. It splits a 1581 into (4)1541 partitions. I also have a sort program (written by someone else) that will let you sort partitions. If I forget to upload them remind me in a couple of days. JBEE (: ps.I believe CMD's HD sorter for native partitions will also work on 1581s. ------------ Category 3, Topic 2 Message 4 Sat Jun 06, 1992 CMD-DOUG at 10:42 EDT Resetting of the 1581 partition is caused by sending an INITIALIZE command. There used to be a utility floating around somewhere that would correct this (until the drive is powered down or reset). ------------ Category 3, Topic 2 Message 5 Sat Jun 06, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] at 18:19 EDT It was also published a while ago in TC128, so if you have any older issues look through those. ------------ 3 ************ Topic 5 Sun Nov 01, 1992 A.PEROTTI (Forwarded) Sub: Help with PCIII and CADPAK 128 Can a partition on the 1581 be used for the dictionary in PaperClip III? And why am I having such difficulty in CADPAK 128? 24 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 1 Sun Nov 01, 1992 A.PEROTTI (Forwarded) To anyone who can help me with some problems: I recently got a 1581, WOW, what a drive! I started messing around with partitions and thought it would be really handy to have the spell check dictionary for Paper Clip III in a partition on my data disk. I set up the partition just fine an was able to access it through the use of PCIII's disk command feature, but when doing the spell check at some point the program resets the drive and I end up back in the root directory. Should I just give up? I have also noticed that words I want added to my dictionary, for some strange reason, do not get added. I should say I am running PCIII in 128 mode on a 128D with a 1581 attached. Now for CADPAK 128. I have been doing some drawing with CADPAK lately and I cannot save my drawings. I have tried everything, I think, but I can't get the program to save on the internal 1571 or the 1581. I am using the mouse version if that helps. I have been toying with these problems for some time now so any help will bbe greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!! --Tony Perotti ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 2 Mon Nov 02, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] (Forwarded) Paperclip resets the 1581 (covered in a previous issue of TC-128 with a fix) but I never used it. I just put PCiii, the dictionary, the WHOLE thing on my data disk. Also, if you are going to use PCiii on your data disk I suggest using CONTROL Z to save your files. Besides loading faster the ascii text uses about 1/3 the space as PRG files. Words will not be added to your dictionary if the program cannot find the files to save it to. Make sure that USR file for the dictionary is copied to your data disk. Also, if you have a REU (or not) you can save 200+ blks by not copying one of the PCiii boot files to your disk: pciii128g or pciii128/rc You can also modify the boot program so everything loads from the 1581 (or any device number). What you do is load and run PCiii, set up how you want it to save and load files (#9?), then save configure to disk. Then exit to basic and modify the boot file so it loads from #9. If you want to keep it neat, you could always save your data files to a partition, though I found that a hassle. What I do when the disk gets full is just make a whole disk copy. Then I delete all the old data files from the disk. Then I pop the original disk away in case I need the files someday and use the newly copied disk with the deleted files. Another benefit of doing it this way is in case you add a misspelled word to your dictionary. Just recopy all the PCiii dictionary files from the last disk copied. Use a newly formatted 1581 disk to start with and add "dividers" at the end of the file copying to easily separate your data files from the PCiii files. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 3 Mon Nov 02, 1992 CBM-ED [e.g.bell] (Forwarded) You could also use The Write Stuff if you are at all interested in changing software. John: There has been a discussion ongoing for awhile about disabling the reset-moving-to-root-directory thing on the 1581 for some time. Does your article deal with that or just the disable of the i0 command. That appeared in Transactor from Miklos G. many years ago, but many say it only works on the initialize but not a reset. (i.e. works w/open 15,8,15,"i0" but not with open 15,8,15,"u:") If it disables the latter, I would be interested in the article myself, tho more for information as I'm not high on partitions for other reasons. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 4 Mon Nov 02, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] (Forwarded) If memory serves me right, it rewrote the vector in the 1581. I still have a bit of indexing to do before I upload it. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 5 Mon Nov 02, 1992 CBM-ED [e.g.bell] (Forwarded) I know there are people who would be interested in it, especially if it overrides the reset. It is a bone of contention that a program that does that to determine which type drive is being used also will mess up any of the user's soft device number settings. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 6 Tue Nov 03, 1992 HOWIE-CBM (Forwarded) Ed, 1581's have no prob keping a device number that gets set thru software. Neither a "u: nor a "i0" will change it. Thinking about it *nothing* will change its device setting. That is so long as it is within the USR file "copyright cbm 86". I quess you could also include something to open a partition too. But, doing this is so task specific, I suspect there are times when having this may be more trouble than a convenience, since the only way to then access the root would be thru the "/". Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 7 Tue Nov 03, 1992 CBM-ED [e.g.bell] (Forwarded) Perhaps with that provision, Howie, but somehow I don't think that would appease the peoplewith the objection. The device number was one of the concerns, as also was any custom stuff, tho I guess I'm getting WAY off-topic here. :: grin :: ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 8 Wed Nov 04, 1992 CMD-DOUG (Forwarded) Howie, are you sure that a 'UJ' won't reset a soft device number on the 1581? Seems to me that it does, though 'UI' should not. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 9 Wed Nov 04, 1992 HOWIE-CBM (Forwarded) Doug, The 1581 will do whatever the "copyright cbm 86" file might tell it. So if it says to be device #12, that is what it will be. Now you can still change the drive to another number thru software, but any of the uj's or ui's would set it back to #12 again. All of this presumes, of course, that there is a disk in the 1581 with that one block file on it. Actually that file can be as long as necessary to load additional stuff into the drive's ram. That is why I suggested the addition of a routine to open a partition. So any program sending resets would have the drive return to the desired partition, or in effect do nothing, which is what the user wants. However, there may be times when a user might want a reset to let it return to the root. But then, a different disk in the drive with a different content to its "copyright cbm 86" file could take care of that. Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 10 Wed Nov 04, 1992 CBM-MARK (Forwarded) Hey, neat Howie! I didn't know all that about the "copyright cbm 86" file!! Either I haven't looked in the right place in the 1581 manual or all this good stuff you're telling us isn't in there (wouldn't surprise :) Mark ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 11 Wed Nov 04, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] (Forwarded) As for CADPAK 128, I don't know. I tried using it once and got so frustrated I returned it. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 12 Thu Nov 05, 1992 HOWIE-CBM (Forwarded) Mark, It is all there in the 1581 Manual. A bit hidden from general view, but there nevertheless. It is in the section called "Auto Boot Loader", page 88 in my Manual. Follows the format described in "Utility Loader", page 87. Maybe its use has been limited because it is so well hidden? A lot of stuff can get done with these files. Only application I've seen has been the `set 1581 number'. I would quess that it could even instruct the 1581 to do some real co-processing. :) Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 13 Thu Nov 05, 1992 CBM-ED [e.g.bell] (Forwarded) This is nifty, Howie, but in light of the original discussion, more work than what the average person would want to do. There is more involved there than just plinking out a BASIC program and calling it that name. It has to be in ML, it has to reside and execute in DRIVE RAM, it has to follow a certain file format, etc. All in all, not the cake walk a relative beginner would have just changing a device number with the U0># instruction. It is definitely do-able though. I never disputed that. Better would be an irq changer as started this discussion that would change the reset vector to eliminate that pesky device number resetting i0 command (assuming that it would also control the u0 reset too). Otherwise, the CBM file is a lot of work to fix a very isolated problem (in terms of people who have it). My solution with my Magic program is to say 'This is the way the program works. If it is worth it you have to deal with that.' That is not the best attitude, but at least anyone can do it. I have only in all the stuff I've ever read seen 2 good descriptions of how to use the BlockExecute stuff, which is what happens when this file is found, and both articles as I recall were in old Transactors... again limiting most users because the T was a limited circulation mag with a self-limiting format... it was mainly for advanced users. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 14 Thu Nov 05, 1992 J.KARN (Forwarded) Tony, Re. using the 1581 with Cadpak-128. Although you can't directly save a file from Cadpak-128 to the 1581, Cadpak will read a file from the 1581. This means you can still use the 1581 to archive Cadpak files. You simply have to save the Cadpak file to your 1571 drive, then use any good file copy utility to copy the file(s) to the 1581. I ran into the same problem with my SFD 1001 drive; Cadpak will read files from the drive, but won't save files to it. J.Karn ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 15 Thu Nov 05, 1992 A.PEROTTI (Forwarded) Thanks for all the great advice and information. I'll let you know how things go with the solutions you have provided. --Tony ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 16 Thu Nov 05, 1992 CBM-MARK (Forwarded) ::blush:: I found the reference to 'copyright cbm 86' in the 1581's manual, Howie. Thanks! But as Ed mentions, programming something for the drive ram is not for the average user. I'm one of those average users ;) Though, if I *really* put my mind to it I might be able to. Mark ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 17 Thu Nov 05, 1992 D.RAY1 [Dale] (Forwarded) The artilcle in TC128 that JBEE refers to shows how to redirect the vector when the 1581 was sent a reset. It could be modified to work for any command you want to redirect to your own user defined routine. For this fix to work your program must allow the user to send commands to the drive, so you can switch between partitions. The fix as outlined does work for some software, not all. You would have to make sure you "fixed" any drive command that calls the reset routine built into the drive as a subroutine. I set this up for a friend who was using a 1581 with a Plus 4, and for him it worked fine. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 18 Fri Nov 06, 1992 HOWIE-CBM (Forwarded) Ed, ha!! I *never* said it was easy... :) And, there is *NO WAY* that I understand any of this... To correctly write a `copyright cbm 86' file in addition to everything you just listed, a super knowledge of CBM DOS doesn't hurt. One reason I so much like that file in our Library "SET.1581.NO". It is a "simple" Basic (originally Basic2, but I think I might have put in some minor things that make it a Basic7, which can be taken out), which asks for user input (what the user may want the file to do) and then proceeds to correctly write the `copyright' file to the 1581. Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 19 Fri Nov 06, 1992 CBM-ED [e.g.bell] (Forwarded) Well, it doesn't take any genius to write DOS code... just a memory map which I don't have (for the vectors), but I have only ever seen 1 article that really came close to a good description of how to generate the checksum required, tho I'm sure a little tinkering would reveal it. Just not stuff for the average guy. Personally, I just take the approach that if my program is worthwhile, you'll put up with the resets. But if what John mentioned does the job (resetting the drive vector to prevent it from resetting the partitions, etc) so much the better. FWIW, the 1571 and 1541 also have similar mechanisms in them... they look for filenames starting with & or filenames of &, and execute them via a command to that effect sent over the error channel. It is not a widely known thing, I don't think, but it has always been available, and could be used to do the same job you mention the CBM... file doing. I had to look, but you can find a little blurb on this on page 80 of your 1571 manual. Don't have one for the 1541 anymore, but I believe it is for that too. Maybe not. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 20 Fri Nov 06, 1992 R.KNOP1 [Rob Knop] (Forwarded) The 1541 does also do the "&" files. I have one that I got out of a Compute! WAY back when (this was back when Compute! still used to have the square binding AND the exclamation point). It was a simple little thing that stopped the "drive" chatter e.g. when formatting disks. -Rob ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 21 Sat Nov 07, 1992 CMD-DOUG (Forwarded) Re: Cadpak 128 What was stated is correct...the regular version of Cadpak 128 will NOT save files to a 1581. But, having spent some time at Abacus, and having had the responsibility of moving a number of titles over to 1581 format during that time, I can tell you that author Roy Wainwright and I did spend some time going over why this DIDN'T work. Roy did some messy things with the directory during SAVE (he isn't listening, is he?), and actually pulled something from drive memory as I recall. A phone call to Fred Bowen at the time lead to the equivalent location in the 1581, and a couple hours of programming led to a 1581 version of the program. Now, I've been away from Abacus for a few years, but with any luck, they can still provide you with a 1581 version of Cadpak ON A 1581 disk for $10...provided you are the registered owner of the program. ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 22 Sat Nov 07, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] (Forwarded) That is a great tidbit of news! ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 23 Wed Nov 11, 1992 A.PEROTTI (Forwarded) Thanks for all the great information!!! Paperclip works just fine without partitions so I'm not sweating it. That is very interesting about the CBM usr file, I found the info in my drive manual too. CADPAK is no longer giving me headaches, based on advice received here I successfully save work to my 1571 and I will have to send for the 1581 upgrade! Thanks again --- Tony ------------ Category 3, Topic 5 Message 24 Wed Nov 11, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] (Forwarded) :) ------------ 3 ************ Topic 6 Tue Feb 02, 1993 R.KNOP1 [Rob Knop] (Forwarded) Sub: CP/M system enhancements ...starting with James Waltrip/Randy Winchester's BIOS-R6, ZPM3, ad ZCCP... 8 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 3, Topic 6 Message 1 Tue Feb 02, 1993 R.KNOP1 [Rob Knop] (Forwarded) Well, I got release 2 of BIOS-R6 from Randy Winchester, and built a new system with it (including ZPM), and the system seemed to work. Haven't had a chance to play around with it, but it did boot succesfully. I'll be uploading that shortly. You can use the CXSYS.GET file to just directly build a system with the files in there without modification, and it should work. However, if you have an REU, you might want to edit CXIO.ASM to change your drive search path first. (These are the drives on which it looks for the .COM files for commands you type.) The default one that's set up is A:,* -- which means first it searches drive A:, then it searches your current drive. The temp drive is set to drive A:. This configuration should work on everybody's system, since you need a drive A: to boot in the first place. However, if you have an REU, you might want to change the search path to M:,*,A:, since loading commands from the REU is faster than from a disk drive. (No bets on REU vs. RAMLink though :) Also, if you have an REU you will almost certainly want to change your temp drive to M:. Let me know if people would be interested in a quick cookbook on how to change your drive search path in the CXIO.ASM file before building a new system. Also, shortly when C=Hacking #5 is released, I will have a whole host of other neat CP/M files from Randy, including ZCP the souped up CCP replacement (taylored to work on the C128) and a number of other CP/M utilities (some of which are 128 specific). I will be uploading those here to. -Rob ------------ Category 3, Topic 6 Message 2 Thu Feb 04, 1993 HOWIE-CBM (Forwarded) Rob, I would appreciate a brief(?) tutorial on what to change in the CXIO.ASM. I'm okey running things, not so okey when it comes to making them. And, those new files from Randy sound *very* interesting. I'll keep my eye glued for the C= Hacking Issue #5. Speaking of custom modifications (we were weren't we?) I wonder if it is possible to have the sys see and use, for example, a one Meg REU? And, suppose I want to change things on the fly, will the ZCCP let me do things like changing order, temp, and display with SETDEF? It is sure nice to see all these improvements. Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 6 Message 3 Thu Feb 04, 1993 R.KNOP1 [Rob Knop] (Forwarded) Re: supporting CP/M one meg or more REU's: at one point, I started poking though the CP/M code trying to figure out how to allow an up to 2 Meg REU be used as up to 4 512K RAM drives, M:, N:, O:, and P:. (But perhaps I should make them K:, N:, O:, P: ? :) This was about 2 years ago, and I've forgotten most everything I did, though I do have notes. I may still do this someday. Re: SETDEF, yes, that still works in the same manner with BIOS-R6. So, really, you don't need to hardcode the drive search path when building a new system. I just did it so I could skip the SETDEF step. Makes the system feel more "personally customized" too :) For an interesting article on improving the general operation of your CP/M system, see Randy Winchester's article in issue #28 of TC128. And, his upccoming article in Hacking #5. Howie: I will put together a short cookbook on how to change the hardcoded drive search path, once I get enough of my wits about me to do it.... -Rob K:N:O:P: ------------ Category 3, Topic 6 Message 4 Fri Feb 05, 1993 HOWIE-CBM (Forwarded) Thanks Rob!! Now let me see if I have this right.... SETDEF K:, N:, O:, P: LOL!! I like this!! :) oh! While you might be anticipating projects, a couple of undone thingies that I would sure like to see: [1] Having the sys grab the time/date from CMD's RTC, and [2] Having dBASE grab the date from the sys. It seems to do this for everyone's computer except the 128. Did I just ask for too much? :/ Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 6 Message 5 Mon Feb 15, 1993 C128.JBEE at 23:16 EST Using the "old" system, when trying to access a (non CPM) disk I get the error message "slicer r b00-01" What is a "slicer"??? ------------ Category 3, Topic 6 Message 6 Tue Feb 16, 1993 HOWIE-CBM at 06:29 EST JBEE, A "slicer"? Isn't that something used by a deli to make delicious sandwiches! If you want to see something even more amusing... Uh.. um... well for you it might not be so amusng..... Anyway, ask for a directory of a 1581 CP/M disk while in 128 mode. Yup! Somehow or other the "A...." name rears its head. Go figure? Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 6 Message 7 Tue Feb 16, 1993 C128.JBEE at 10:05 EST Guess it must be an inside "joke" from whoever wrote the dos? ------------ Category 3, Topic 6 Message 8 Tue Feb 16, 1993 HOWIE-CBM at 10:40 EST ooopss...... In order to see that other funny name, the disk should be a 1571, with the two sys files on it. Howie <who goofed> ------------ 3 ************ Topic 9 Fri Mar 20, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] (Forwarded) Sub: Floating Point routines A few questions about floating point routines someone wrote to me that I need answers too. 6 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 3, Topic 9 Message 1 Fri Mar 20, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] (Forwarded) Someone wrote to me and wanted to know if there are any floating point routines available that he could add to his programs. He has scientific C128 programs that need the accuracy beyond the F.P. routines build into the C128 roms. What is his best way to go ? Binary? Binary Coded Decimal? Geos? Where can I find the routines for him? ------------ Category 3, Topic 9 Message 2 Sat Mar 21, 1992 HOWIE-CBM (Forwarded) JBEE, I saw a message thread about this very thing recently. I am not sure where, but I am sure that I didn't understand 90% of it... :( Something about changing 8 bit numbers into 16 bit ones. Hope this helps! Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 9 Message 3 Sat Mar 21, 1992 R.KNOP1 [Rob Knop] (Forwarded) GEOS doesn't have any floating point routies itself. When I needed to use floats in GEOS, I patched into the 128 ROM routines. (Which is, at least to me, an interesting topic in itself. See the RPN128 and RPN64 sources, which are in the GEOS library here, for more info on that.) Howie, were you referring to the C= Hacking Mag that appeared on Usenet? One article in there (I believe an article about VDC graphics) had a scheme for representing floating point numbers. I am pulling this purely from (my) memory, but I think it went something like this: Each floating point (FP) number has four bytes. The first two represent the integer part in the usual way (giving you a range of -32768 to 32767). The last two represent the fractional part, in binary analogously to how decimal numbers represent fractional parts. In decimal, the first place is 1/10th's, the second place is 1/100th's, etc. In binary, the first bit is 1/2's, the second bit is 1/4's, the third bit is 1/8's, etc. This scheme could easily be extended to include whatever precision you wanted. You could have 2 bytes of integer part and 6 bytes of fractional part to have a limited range but very accurate floating point representation. The problem is, you have to write your own FP routines. Addition and subtraction aren't hard, but things like log, sin.... It might be more efficient to use the IEEE double precision FP format. I am sure one could find the format documented in some CS book or another; and I suspect one could find pseudocode or C source code to floating point routines for these guys. When I get a chance (probably not until next Wednesday), I will archive and upload this Usenet C= Hacking Mag to one of the Programming libraries here. There are some interesting things in there. -Rob ------------ Category 3, Topic 9 Message 4 Mon Mar 23, 1992 HOWIE-CBM (Forwarded) Rob, The discussion about FP numbers was part of a C Language thread over on one of the Forums on CompuServe. Can I say that here... :? The C= Hacking Mag on Usenet was fascinating. I had forgotten that it to made reference to this. By all means, do upload a copy to the Lib, when you get the chance. It is chock full of useful info that can be referred to by developers/programmers. Thanks! Howie ------------ Category 3, Topic 9 Message 5 Sat Jun 27, 1992 CBM-ED [e.g.bell] (Forwarded) Sorry for taking so long to reply to this, but I kind of forgot what I knew in terms of a reply, John. The ABACUS program BASIC 128, the BASIC compiler for the C128, says in its manual that it uses FP routines previously found only on the bigger computers. I can't verify it, but if your friend is willing to take Abacus/the author at word value, this may be the answer to your question. ------------ Category 3, Topic 9 Message 6 Sat Jun 27, 1992 C128.JBEE [* Sysop *] (Forwarded) Thank you Ed :) ------------ 3