happens after a couple of seconds, re-open the menu and try again.
6.8
(Click with <menu>? − that’s against Acorn’s guidelines surely?!)
6.8
However, if you just bring up the dialog box and click <menu> off any of
the icons (e.g. on the grey window background) then the Task Manager
aborts and the only way to recover a normal machine is to press <ctrl-
reset>. (Oops!)
6.8
Boot-up options
6.8
An item on Peter Young’s wish list for RISC OS 4 is the ability to call
different !Boot sequences by pressing user-defined keys at power-on. I
agree that it would be useful to have this built into the operating
system. However, it is already quite easy to achieve a similar result. I
know that some people find Ian Copestake’s !TWO very useful for this
purpose. Alternatively, you can “do it yourself” without too much
difficulty. Assume, for example, that you have saved two Desktop boot
files called Plain and Fancy in a directory called BootFiles. Then
create a Basic file in the root directory called !Boot reading as
follows:
6.8
CLS
6.8
PRINT‘’“Choose one of the
6.8
following sets of
6.8
Boot-up preferences“‘’
6.8
PRINT“ 1. Plain”
6.8
PRINT“ 2. Fancy”
6.8
PRINT‘’“Type 1 or 2”
6.8
A$=GET$
6.8
CASE A$ OF
6.8
WHEN “1”:OSCLI(“Desktop -File $.BootFiles.Plain”)
6.8
WHEN “2”:OSCLI(“Desktop -File $.BootFiles.Fancy”)
6.8
OTHERWISE: OSCLI(“Desktop”)
6.8
ENDCASE
6.8
There are numerous variations on this theme. You can use negative INKEY
values to test for a key being held down rather than waiting for a
keypress with GET$. If you like, you can put Plain and Fancy in, say,
the !System directory instead of creating a new directory, or you can
rename the Basic file !Run, create a directory called !Boot and move
!Run into it along with Plain and Fancy.
6.8
Obviously, you can adapt this idea to suit your purposes, but beware of
pressing R or <Delete> when you switch the computer on, since these will
reset your configuration!
6.8
Splitting the boot sequence into two parts like this was recommended
last month for making sure that the SCSIFiler module is properly
installed before the desktop is initialised. It also opens up a number
of other possibilities....
6.8
It has always seemed to me that the usefulness of the facility for
automatic saving of desktop boot files is limited (a) because they tend
to get cluttered up with unnecessarily opened directories and booted
applications, and (b) because they omit necessary things like virus
protection modules, extra screen modes, etc. Problem (a) can be reduced
by making sure that you only open those directories that you want open
and boot those directories that you want booted before you save the
desktop boot file (the equivalent of Plain or Fancy in the above
example); (b) can be solved by following the two-stage approach and
putting the more technical bits in a hand-crafted pre-desktop !Boot
file, which you will probably not want to change very often, while the
desktop boot file is left simply to run applications, open directories
and fire up the pinboard.
6.8
So far as I can see, you will still need to do some hand-editing of the
desktop boot file if you want a non“-RISC OS 3 aware” application to be
booted or run automatically. Alternatively, you can get an application
to auto-boot by having the desktop boot file automatically open the
directory that the application is in. Furthermore, you can get the
application to run automatically by editing its own !Boot file to run
the !Run file.
6.8
Tim Nicholson notes that you must also split the boot sequence into two
parts if you want to follow the suggestion in the March Acorn User for
altering the desktop initialisation banner.
6.8
In Archive 6.5 p33, Colin Singleton reported problems with trying to
switch from one “world” to another by double-clicking on a second boot
file. He has concluded that you must reset the computer first, since
running the second boot file doesn’t clear memory first: it simply tries
to add the applications listed in it to those that are already running.
6.8
Finally, to end this section on boot files, a quote from Colin
Singleton, with whom I have a lot of sympathy: “The autoboot facility is
not much use if it does only half the job. I need to be able to
understand what it has produced and to patch it up accordingly. I might
as well carry on using my old boot file, which is what I am doing. The
new feature is useless (and very confusing) for those users who do not
know how to build a boot file. Perhaps in time all software will be
‘aware’ of boot files, then the feature will be useful.”
6.8
ARM3 too fast for Watford scanner (?)
6.8
Mr A. Shell found that, after he upgraded to RISC OS 3 and installed an
ARM3, his Watford Electronics Hand Scanner 1990, Issue 2 (using a Geni
Scan-4500) stopped working. However, he has found that after entering
the command *Cache off, the scanner works perfectly. When the scanning
is finished, *Cache on speeds the processing up.
6.8
Zooming in Draw
6.8
When I acquired Artworks, I thought one of its neatest features was the
ability to use the mouse to mark the area into which you want to zoom.
Now, I have found while reading the manual (Applications Guide p48) that
Draw does just the same – in fact, it goes one better, because you don’t
need to select a zoom tool first, you just hold down <shift> and drag
with <adjust>. To return to your previous scaling you use <Ctrl-R>; the
manual also describes various other hot-key combinations to adjust the
scaling.
6.8
Turning CapsLock off
6.8
Peter Young has a few old, and some not so old, programs which will only
take upper case input, and putting *FX202,1 into the !Run file meant,
with RISC OS 2, that he didn’t have to remember to press capslock first.
In RISC OS 3, this call seems to turn off keyboard input entirely,
though it occasionally produces input different from what is typed for a
couple of presses before it crashes the machine.
6.8
I think, if I have interpreted the Programmers’ Reference Manual
correctly (pages 511-512 in the RISC OS 2 manual), that the correct code
to turn capslock off while leaving the other keyboard settings unaltered
is *FX 202,16,239; the command *FX 202,16 will turn capslock off but may
alter some of the other settings.
6.8
What *FX 202 does is to alter the “keyboard status byte”. If the command
is given in the form *FX 202,R1,R2 then R2 controls which bits of the
status byte are changed and R1 supplies the new bits. In technical
terms, the new value of the status byte is made equal to
6.8
(the old value AND R2) EOR R1
6.8
Therefore, to force a particular bit in the status byte to adopt value n
(either 0 or 1) you leave that bit unset in R2 and made equal to n in
R1; to leave a bit unchanged you set it in R2 and unset it in R1.
6.8
Capslock is controlled by bit 4 (the one with value 16), so to set it
(thus turning capslock off) you use the values 239 (= 255 minus 16) and
16 for R2 and R1 respectively.
6.8
The shortened form of the command, *FX 202,R1 has the same effect as *FX
202,R1,0
6.8
(It’s not clear to me why *FX 202,1 should have worked either in
RISCOS 2 or on the BBC.)
6.8
Editing !Run files
6.8
Peter Young asks if one is allowed to amend the !Run files of commercial
programs. My answer is that there is no reason at all why you shouldn’t,
so long as you know what you are doing. You could, for instance, include
a command to turn capslock off (see above) or a command to run a printer
driver automatically. Some programs allow you to change preferences by
setting up system variables in the !Run file. In RISC OS 2, some people
even amended the !Run file of Acorn’s !Edit to make it run on a system
with lots of fonts.
6.8
ROM Speed
6.8
Seán Kelly writes that the old ROM speed up trick still works on some
computers with RISC OS 3.1. On an Archimedes, the ROM speed can be read
with the following Basic lines:
6.8
SYS “OS_UpdateMEMC”,0,0 TO R%
6.8
PRINT (R% AND &C0) DIV &40
6.8
The lowest speed is 0, the highest 2 − the MEMC data sheet defines a
value of 3 as ‘not meaningful’ although it appears to have the same
effect as 2. The speeds are not absolute, but depend on the computer’s
memory clock speed. On old A440, RISC OS 3.1 selects a value of 2, so no
speed up is possible, but on an A5000, a value of 1 is set by RISC OS
3.1 and changing this to 2 increases the machine’s speed by about 5%.
6.8
The ROM speeds can be set by using:
6.8
SYS “OS_UpdateMEMC”,&00,&C0: REM slowest, speed 0
6.8
SYS “OS_UpdateMEMC”,&40,&C0: REM speed 1
6.8
SYS “OS_UpdateMEMC”,&80,&C0: REM fastest, speed 2
6.8
These lines are included as programs on the monthly program disc,
together with the short program called ACK which, on Seán’s un-sped-up
A5000, executes in about 1 second. Double-clicking on one of the speed
changers followed by ACK will show how the different speeds affect your
computer. An A5000 appears to run at speed 2 with no problems. Program
Speed2 can be automatically run by !Boot, providing a slight performance
boost to A5000s.
6.8
RMFaster-ing
6.8
Seán Kelly also reports that *RMFaster on certain modules, such as
Basic, can produce a useful increase in speed for applications that read
the ROM a lot. Without an ARM3, the speed increase can be very large −
with the cache off, he has found Basic programs that run over 30% faster
with Basic in RAM. With the cache on, the increase tends to be about 5%,
so RMFaster-ing on an ARM3 machine is really a waste of memory unless
time is really important.
6.8
Interestingly, both ROM speed-ups and RMFaster-ing only produce a slight
speed increase, typically 5%, on an ARM3 machine. This appears to show
that the cache’s hit rate is very high.
6.8
Also on the program disc ...
6.8
Also on the monthly program disc are a number of utilities from Rob
Davison: SmoothM – a relocatable module which averages mouse coordinates
and is ideal for use in pixel-based art packages such as Paint or
Artisan. To use it, double click on the module and enable averaging with
the command *SmoothON. To restore normal use, enter the command
*SmoothOFF. This module is public domain and is, in fact, based on an
article which appeared in Archive 1.5 (February 1988) by Malcom
Banthorpe.
6.8
SolDrag and NormDrag are short programs to turn solid sprite dragging on
and off.
6.8
Tools and 22Sprites are modified toolsprites and high resolution icon
sprites.
6.8
Some Bugs
6.8
First, from Rob Davison:
6.8
There are quite a number still in the operating system. Most are very
obscure, but some are quite serious and one may be slightly embarrassing
to Acorn! Hopefully, they will do a ‘RISC OS 3 Extras disc’ to fix the
more important ones.
6.8
• Impression style icons − There is a serious bug in this part of the
window manager. If the application you are writing uses a dialog box
similar to the in-built applications (e.g. Edit) when quitting, but
including the new style icons, the operating system reports an abort on
Data transfer after the application has quit. The solution is to close
and delete all windows yourself and call Wimp_Poll enough times to
ensure that they have all gone before quitting.
6.8
• Paint − Load the application and repeatedly create 256 colour sprites
of 128x64 pixels. Paint bombs (usually) when the sixth sprite is created
with an ‘Unrecoverable internal error SpriteExtend: Bad pixel
translation table’.
6.8
The only good point is that your file is preserved in Wimp$ScrapDir
before Paint dies.
6.8
The problem mentioned in Archive, where the name in the save dialog box
is corrupted in some circumstances, still exists.
6.8
• !Edit − This is a fairly worrying one (R. W. Darlington has found
similar problems). Edit has had the same bug since its first release in
RISC OS 2.00. Sometimes, the text window is not redrawn properly and the
caret can appear to be on a different line. Text is deleted or inserted
at the wrong place and it can sometimes be quite a while before you
realise what is going on. I encounter this problem much more now because
of the excellent facilities for editing Basic programs. If Acorn can’t
get windows to redraw correctly in all circumstances, what chance do the
rest of us have? (Quick fix: press <f12>, <return>, <return> before
doing any major editing.)
6.8
• Operating system bugs − I have one (and only one) 800Kb ‘E’ format
disc which works and verifies fine on RISC OS 2.00 whereas RISC OS 3.00
and 3.10 absolutely refuse to look at it and tell me ‘Disc not
formatted’.
6.8
I have managed to get the dreaded ‘Abort on Data transfer’ while using
interactive file copying but only under extreme provocation. It was much
more common in 3.00!
6.8
There is another problem where, if you set the MOUSE RECTANGLE to allow
the pointer off the left of the screen and then record button clicks,
the y-coordinate is set to −1 with the first returned button click. E.g.
6.8
*POINTER 1
6.8
MOUSE RECTANGLE -1000,-1000,2000 ,2000
6.8
MOUSE TO 100,500
6.8
REPEAT
6.8
MOUSE x%,y%,b%
6.8
PRINTTAB(0,0);“x=”;x%;“ ”
6.8
PRINTTAB(0,1);“y=”;y%;“ ”
6.8
PRINTTAB(0,2);“b=”;b%;“ ”
6.8
UNTIL b%<>0
6.8
END
6.8
Run this and move the pointer off the left of the screen. Click a button
and the displayed y coordinate changes to −1 regardless of the last
position. (The solution is to do another mouse read immediately after
the UNTIL and use the values returned from that.)
6.8
Next, from Seán Kelly:
6.8
!Paint has two bugs related to deleting rows and columns in sprites. The
first is that when columns to delete are selected by dragging right with
the mouse, it is not possible to delete the rightmost column of the
sprite (no matter how far it is zoomed in). The second is that, when
dragging rows to delete downwards, the topmost row (where the operation
was started) is not deleted.
6.8
If there is data in the RAM filing system, RISC OS 3.1 complains if you
attempt to leave the desktop by selecting EXIT from the task manager
menu, although the RAMFS is not affected.
6.8
Sometimes, a RAMFS filer window stays on screen when the RAMFS has been
killed.
6.8
Finally, from R. W. Darlington:
6.8
When I load so many items on the iconbar that it has to scroll to reach
opposite ends and I then delete an item from the middle of the list, I
sometimes finds that as well as the deleted one disappearing, other
icons disappear leaving only their names. Also, all the directory icons
and application icons disappear from directory viewers leaving only
their names as reminders as to what is there.
6.8
In !Paint, when I try to x-scale or y-scale a sprite, I find that it
takes one column off the right hand edge and puts it at the left hand
edge.
6.8
Has anyone else experienced these or other bugs?
6.8
Matters Arising
6.8
Alarm (switching between GMT and BST)
6.8
(Archive 6.3p15 / 6.5p35) Colin Singleton confirms that the alarm set
for 1 a.m. on 7th February 1994 is to remind you to set the BST on and
off dates in 1994.
6.8
Don’t worry: you don’t have to stay up to catch this alarm: it will come
up when you next switch the computer on.
6.8
Ken Cowap has sent in a description which he hopes will complement the
rather brief instructions in the Applications Guide (p132) on this
rather convoluted facility:
6.8
When this option is selected, Alarm will automatically switch between
GMT and BST times on the dates you specify. Click on the arrows to
change the time, day, month and year.
6.8
Entries must be for one calendar year only even though the “BST starts
on:” date may already have passed. Any such past date will be ignored
but must be entered nevertheless.
6.8
As the changeover dates are liable to undefined variation from year to
year, Alarm will issue a warning during the month prior to that of the
next year’s first expected changeover.
6.8
The warning will be recorded in the Alarm Browser Window as “Application
alarm set by Alarm”, and the dates/times of valid changeover(s) will
still be activated. These alarms appear in dark grey and cannot be
selected. When the warning is activated, a message appears saying: “The
dates for entering and leaving BST are no longer valid and should be
reset as soon as possible.” and two options are offered: “Reset them
later” and “Reset them now.” The warning will be repeated automatically
at 24 hour intervals until “Reset them now” is selected and the dates
and times are reset.
6.8
Ken warns that anyone wanting to experiment by setting the system clock
into the future should take care to back up their alarms first, since a
“move into the future” will activate and lose all alarms set to go off
before that date. Also note that there is a long delay accompanied by
unexplained hourglass activity before the warning notice appears.
6.8
Impression dongle
6.8
(Archive 6.5 p32) Colin Singleton has been assured by Computer Concepts
that shorting the pins of the Impression dongle can do no harm.
Switching the computer off while Impression is running can cause
problems. Apparently, the reason is that Impression continually checks
that its dongle is present and, if it happens to be checking when power
is lost, the dongle is liable to receive a burst of static which renders
it inoperable. This will drain away if you leave it for a time (perhaps
a few hours) but the quick cure, according to CC, is to short the lines
to each other using a small coin rubbed against the rows of male pins.
Colin recommends removing the dongle from both the machine and the
printer first.
6.8
Getting the hare and tortoise into step
6.8
(Archive 6.6 p59) Jim Nottingham has written in response to my plea...
“the solution is to fire up the computer in slow mode with a *Configure
Cache off command and run the !Arm3 application in the Boot file. This
brings up the computer with the cache on and the hare on the iconbar. If
you want the computer to boot up with the Arm3 cache off, add *Cache off
to his Boot file after running the Arm3 application.”
6.8
Well! I must be completely dense. I’ve tried to follow these
instructions to the letter. I have typed *Configure Cache off at the
command line (and *Status confirms that the cache configuration is
“off”) and I have a !Boot file (file type “Desktop”) the first two lines
of which read:
6.8
Filer_Boot ADFS::Four.$.!System
6.8
RUN system:!Arm3
6.8
When I boot up, the cache is off and the tortoise on the iconbar. When I
click once on the tortoise, the cache is turned on, but the tortoise
stays. When I click a second time, the hare appears but the cache is
turned off. Adding Cache on as the next line of the !Boot file doesn’t
seem to help. What do I do next (apart from swapping the names of the
two icons as I’ve suggested before!)?
6.8
Pinboard backdrop sprites
6.8
In Archive 6.4 p12, R. W. Darlington gave a suggested modification to
the !Boot file which results in a different backdrop being shown each
time the computer is reset. His method causes the available sprites to
be chosen in strict rotation. Geoffrey Rimmer has suggested a variation
of the same idea which would choose one of the sprites at random.
6.8
Assuming, as before, that there are 75 sprites called Sprit00 to Sprit74
in the directory PinSp, his suggested code is:
6.8
Set S$ <Sys$Time>
6.8
SetEval S$ S$ RIGHT5
6.8
SetEval NN STR(VAL(S$ RIGHT2 + S$ LEFT2)MOD 75)
6.8
If LEN(NN)=1 Then SetEval NN “0” +NN
6.8
SetEval Tile$Name “Sprit”+NN
6.8
Pinboard
6.8
Backdrop -T ADFS::4.$.PinSp. <Tile$Name>
6.8
Finally ...
6.8
Page 140 of the User Guide says that the example commands to set
Alias$@PrintType and Alias$@RunType variables must have trailing spaces.
Does anyone know why? A
6.8
Supermarket − In Four Languages
6.8
Alex Thomas
6.8
This review is a language teacher’s perspective on the ‘Supermarket’
language programs produced by New Era Software in four languages
(English, French, German and Spanish).
6.8
Surely, I thought, this must be every modern language teacher’s dream
software for the Archimedes. Just think of the realistic situations set
against the background of shopping in a supermarket which could meet the
demands of the National Curriculum (Modern Languages and IT) and the
GCSE syllabuses. This disc must, I thought, deal with asking for
particular items, quantities, containers, problems at the checkout,
queries about the bill, breakages, complaints, special offers, coupons,
shoplifting, advertising, job vacancies − the potential is tremendous.
6.8
With my mind buzzing with such expectations, I was eager to try out this
program with a class, so I sat down after school to run through it and
plan some meaningful tasks. I was hoping to use the German version, so
that was where I started. I needed to enter the shop name and a message
to go on the till receipts − everything was in German, so I was feeling
very positive about the program. (The function keys are used for accents
in all the languages.) The next screen asked for information about what
is bought, the price, the amount tendered, method of payment − still all
in German, as are the print commands, etc.
6.8
Having entered some information, I printed it out − a very basic till
receipt with my list of items and prices, which are totalled with the
amount of change calculated and my message from the first screen (thank
you). It was much the same as all those till receipts I have brought
back from various trips in recent years, except that at least the pupil
has to enter the items bought and understand approximately twenty items
of vocabulary which appear on the screen for each “customer”.
6.8
I began to plan tasks for my beginners using the printouts. One pupil
could produce one and the others ask questions to find out the prices.
We could produce them for different shops and compare prices.... but
then, I have a cupboard full of attractive, colourful supermarket
advertising leaflets from Germany, in class sets, surely it would be
better to use them!
6.8
I decided to go back to the program to see what else it has to offer
which the GCSE sets could use. I pressed “clear” to see what happened −
the chance to enter another list of items and prices! Since the computer
totals the prices and works out the change, you can’t even work on
complaints at the checkout, except by pretending that the wrong price
was entered.
6.8
There is no list of acceptable items, so there is no spellcheck, it
accepts complete nonsense − an item is any set of letters, a price any
number. There are no graphics, no variations on the basic layout and
content, nothing which will interest the pupils or give them a sense of
achievement, unless the teacher spends hours devising speaking tasks
based on till receipts.
6.8
Is it worth taking the whole class to the computer room to produce a
till receipt, or devising a flexible learning lesson with a variety of
small group activities so that this program can be used on the one
computer in my room? No, definitely not. I have some much better ideas
based on my wide selection of realia!
6.8
The program’s handbook suggests many sophisticated possibilities using
product files and bar codes which may be valid for teachers of
Technology, etc to develop. However, as a language teacher, I have not
yet found the time to work on these areas which seem to have little to
do with communication, verbal or written. In case I was too hasty in my
rejection of this program, I decided to use it with a class anyway. The
first pupil (below average year 9) got to the printing stage and said
“Now what?” − “That’s all it does”, I replied. He returned to his group
to do the structured oral tasks I had set up, showed them his till
receipt and the rest asked, “Wouldn’t it be quicker if we just wrote one
out miss?” A
6.8
Hints and Tips
6.8
• A5000 serial port problems − Several of you will have experienced
problems with dead or dying serial ports on their A5000s. Acorn are
aware of problems on early A5000 p.c.b.s and have a fix for them.
However, there are still some problems with static. Until Acorn find a
solution, the best we can do is take suitable precautions. (1) Use
braid-screened cable and connect the braid to the connector shells at
both ends. Also, never connect a cable when the machine at either end is
switched on. Always switch on both devices after the cable has been
connected.
6.8
• Filer_CloseDir − On my 4Mb A3000, I like to open ‘related’ windows to
various programs and then close them again when finished, by using
Filer_OpenDir <pathname> <position> and Filer_ CloseDir <pathname>
respectively. I put these commands in the !Run file of !BJ10e Turbo
Drivers, one before the command to run !Runimage and the other after.
Readers should be warned that the command Filer_CloseDir clashes with
CC’s Turbo Driver (v2.09b) when using their Compression filing system
(CFS) (v1.17). If the Turbo driver is loaded first and then CFS, you
will find that, when trying to quit the Turbo Driver, it goes into an
error loop with SWI &43303 not known and only a <ctrl-break> or <reset>
will release the computer so you lose all unsaved files, etc. No problem
occurs when they are loaded in reverse order or when Filer_ CloseDir is
deleted from the !Run file of !BJ10e.
6.8
Does anyone know whether any other programs clash with Filer_CloseDir?
Brian Cocksedge, Midhurst.
6.8
• Filofax printing − We had a letter printed on a piece of Filofax paper
which proved that you can do so with a Canon BJ200 with CC’s Turbo
Driver software using a custom page size of 95 × 165 mm. If you use
Impression (II or Junior), it shows the print area so it is easy then to
create a suitable frame and choose a small typeface (say, 8 pt) and view
the page at 200%. Brian Stewart, Nairn.
6.8
• Inkjet printing − When inkjet/bubblejet printouts need a relatively
large amount of ink, the paper can become a little wrinkled. To remove
the wrinkles, pass the paper through a laser printer by printing a blank
page. This calendars the paper to its original smooth finish. George
Foot, Oxted.
6.8
• Laser toner cartridges − The first sign you get that a laser toner
cartridge is about to run out is a line down the paper which is
obviously very low on toner. If you “rock the cartridge gently”, you may
be able to spread the toner out sufficiently to get a few more sheets
out of it. Try rocking first but then eventually, try shaking. Beware,
if you shake too soon, you can end up with toner all over the place!
Colin Singleton, Sheffield.
6.8
• ShowPage confusion − It has been said within the pages of Archive that
“ShowPage does not work with RISC OS 3”. This is not entirely correct.
It will not work with RISC OS 3 fonts, i.e. those which have their own
kerning tables, and it will not work with RISC OS 3’s ROM fonts.
However, if you want to use ShowPage, all you need to do is to replace
the in-built fonts (Corpus, Homerton and Trinity) with ones within your
own font folder and included a FontRemove command to remove the ROM
fonts. A
6.8
Hints and Tips
6.9
• Anti-aliased fonts − I find that anti-aliasing on a standard
resolution monitor gives a far too blurred image. My hint is to use the
outline version of the System font at an unexpanded point size. A bit of
experimentation is needed to get it right if you habitually use the
screen at some scale other than one to one but when you get it right,
the result is a nice fast, clean and clear font on any DTP or
wordprocessing package while you work on the text. Remember to change
the font to your preferred version for the final print. I am afraid I
can’t remember where I obtained the Outline System font.
6.9
On my Pentoms game, I changed the transfer coefficients to sharpen up
the edges of my fancy fonts but that does not work well/at all on
RISC OS 3. Is there a way of getting a program to automatically check
which OS it is running under so that I can disable this facility where
it won’t work? Or is there another way of sharpening RISC OS 3 fonts?
Yes I know about turning off anti-aliasing but that is not quite the
same thing at all − bits of the letters are missed if you do that.
Simon Anthony, Nottingham.
6.9
• Backing up in one pass − The “Next” slot in the Task Manager can be
set from a !Boot file in RISC OS 3 to make backing up and copying of
full 800Kb discs occur in a single pass. Use the command
6.9
WimpSlot -next 864K
6.9
inside your !Boot file. Barry Thompson,
6.9
Alternatively (for RISC OS 2 owners) you can allocate more memory to the
Next Task slot by issuing the Wimp_SlotSize SWI call from Basic. All
that you need is a Basic program containing the line:
6.9
SYS “Wimp_SlotSize”,-1,<slotsize>
6.9
where <slotsize> is in bytes (e.g. use 65536 for 64Kb.)
6.9
Simon Moy, NCS.
6.9
• !Boot files are not strictly necessary within applications. They use
up disc space and slow down the opening of windows (especially over a
network). If an application’s !Boot file only contains the IconSprites
command, then this can be moved to the !Run file, and the !Boot file can
be deleted. The only effect is that the application will not show the
correct icon in the filer window until the application is actually run.
Keith Harja, Derby.
6.9
• Gods passwords − On this month’s program disc is all you need for
getting the passwords for Gods. Andrew Ferguson, London N15.
6.9
• Mono TIFF files − In reply to help for Ray Dawson in Archive 6.5 p18
for producing mono TIFF files from B&W scanned sprites. I have used
!MakeTiff version 2.00 by John Kortink to do exactly that. I examined
the resulting Tiff file using Graphics Workshop (under the emulator) and
Translator, and they both showed the converted sprite as a B&W image.
Chris Bass, Grimsby.
6.9
• Symbols for Impression − When using Impression, or even more so
Junior, it can sometimes be tedious to find a desired symbol from a font
such as Dingbats. Therefore, I have created a number of text files which
can be dragged into any Impression document. The format for such files
is “® ”, without the quotes. This returns the type to its default size,
selects the desired font, inserts the character with ASCII code 174 and
resets the font to its default. N.B. The space at the end is essential.
This is so that one can do a <ctrl-right> to end of text. Without this
space, the font is not reset. I have given a number of pre-prepared ones
to Paul for inclusion on this month’s program disc. Neil Walker,
Norwich.
6.9
You need to be very careful with this one. I tried it on Impression 2.19
and it gave an internal error and Impression bombed out! This was
because I didn’t have the symbol font in my system. I tried it on
version 2.17 and it complained politely that it didn’t have Symbol font
and let me carry on. I presume that the difference is because
Impression, from 2.18 onwards, has no limit to the number of fonts it
can handle so that part of the code must have been changed. Don’t say we
didn’t warn you! Ed.
6.9
• Testing printers’ on-line status − Here is a way of testing whether
the printer is on- or off-line:
6.9
10 *FX 3,10
6.9
20 PRINT CHR$(0);
6.9
30 a = INKEY(20)
6.9
40 a = ADVAL(-4)
6.9
50 *FX 3,0
6.9
60 *FX 21,3
6.9
70 IF a <> 1023 THEN
6.9
80 PRINT “Printer not on line”
6.9
90 ELSE
6.9
100 PRINT “Printer on line”
6.9
110 ENDIF
6.9
120 END
6.9
Paul Ribworth, Gloucester
6.9
• Using high density discs − Until the advent of the A5000, all
Archimedes computers had an 800Kb 3½“ disc drive so the problems of
different disc densities didn’t really arise. With the introduction of
the new A3000 and A4000 series, 1.6Mb drives are becoming more common
and some users are trying to save a few pence by formatting normal
density discs to 1.6Mb.
6.9
Users of BBC and Master computers learned that there is no point in
paying extra for 80 track discs as the cheaper 40 track were actually
identical. The same is NOT true of 800Kb and 1.6Mb discs. The magnetic
coating on high density discs uses finer particles than the coating used
on standard (double density) types. This is designed to accept higher
signal levels without distortion. When the higher capacity format is
used, the drive automatically uses a stronger magnetic field to imprint
the data on the discs surface.
6.9
Sometimes, good quality normal density discs can accept this level but
it does represent a severe overload. Even if all appears well at the
time, the larger particles used in the normal density coating are
frequently unable to retain the high level of magnetism required so it
can leak away in time making part of the data unreadable.
6.9
Also, you should not use high density discs in a normal density drive if
they have previously been formatted to 1.44 or 1.6Mb. The lower flux
levels used for the normal format may not be able to completely erase
the earlier data. This can then ‘break through’ and corrupt data saved
later at the lower flux levels used with the smaller format. It may
sometimes take more than a month for this to happen. So don’t be fooled
into thinking that everything is OK just because all seems to be well
when you first format the disc. Many Archimedes users who have
‘borrowed’ preformatted 1.44Mb discs from work to use in their 800Kb
drives have experienced this problem.
6.9
There is no reason why you cannot use a NEW high density disc at 800Kb,
it will just be more expensive.
6.9
Because of this, it is obviously useless to do what used to be common
practice with the old 40/80 track discs, namely try to format them to 80
tracks and if it didn’t work use them for 40 track. Once you have
attempted to format an 800Kb disc to 1.6 or 1.44 Mb there is no going
back. I have had some success using a tape head demagnetiser to
completely wipe out data on 800Kb discs which had been formatted to
1.6Mb so that they could be reformatted to 800Kb, but not everyone has
one of these.
6.9
PC drives all have a sensor which detects the extra hole in a high
density disc and won’t allow you to specify the wrong format. For some
reason, Acorn didn’t implement this feature on the Archimedes although
the detector is present on all high density drives. It is therefore
possible, by accident, to format a normal density disc to 1.6Mb. On a
PC, to do this you need to drill a hole in the case of the disc so it
can’t happen unintentionally.
6.9
The most pernicious thing about this problem is that it can lead you
into a false sense of security. A normal density disc may format
perfectly to 1.6Mb and, for months, everything will appear to be well.
Then suddenly some of the data may become slightly corrupt, although the
disc may not actually appear to have any errors.
6.9
If your data is precious enough to be worth saving, it’s worth the extra
few pence that the proper discs cost. The only time that I have known
people use normal density discs successfully as high density was with
expensive branded discs costing about £1.30 each. As this is
considerably more than the price of unbranded high density discs, it
seems a foolish risk to take. David Holden, Sydenham. A
6.9
Hints and Tips
6.9
• Anti-aliased fonts − I find that anti-aliasing on a standard resolution monitor gives a far too blurred image. My hint is to use the outline version of the System font at an unexpanded point size. A bit of experimentation is needed to get it right if you habitually use the screen at some scale other than one to one but when you get it right, the result is a nice fast, clean and clear font on any DTP or wordprocessing package while you work on the text. Remember to change the font to your preferred version for the final print. I am afraid I can’t remember where I obtained the Outline System font.
6.9
On my Pentoms game, I changed the transfer coefficients to sharpen up the edges of my fancy fonts but that does not work well/at all on RISC OS 3. Is there a way of getting a program to automatically check which OS it is running under so that I can disable this facility where it won’t work? Or is there another way of sharpening RISC OS 3 fonts? Yes I know about turning off anti-aliasing but that is not quite the same thing at all − bits of the letters are missed if you do that. Simon Anthony, Nottingham.
6.9
• Backing up in one pass − The “Next” slot in the Task Manager can be set from a !Boot file in RISC OS 3 to make backing up and copying of full 800Kb discs occur in a single pass. Use the command
6.9
WimpSlot -next 864K
6.9
inside your !Boot file. Barry Thompson,
6.9
Alternatively (for RISC OS 2 owners) you can allocate more memory to the Next Task slot by issuing the Wimp_SlotSize SWI call from Basic. All that you need is a Basic program containing the line:
6.9
SYS “Wimp_SlotSize”,-1,<slotsize>
6.9
where <slotsize> is in bytes (e.g. use 65536 for 64Kb.)
6.9
Simon Moy, NCS.
6.9
• !Boot files are not strictly necessary within applications. They use up disc space and slow down the opening of windows (especially over a network). If an application’s !Boot file only contains the IconSprites command, then this can be moved to the !Run file, and the !Boot file can be deleted. The only effect is that the application will not show the correct icon in the filer window until the application is actually run. Keith Harja, Derby.
6.9
• Gods passwords − On this month’s program disc is all you need for getting the passwords for Gods. Andrew Ferguson, London N15.
6.9
• Mono TIFF files − In reply to help for Ray Dawson in Archive 6.5 p18 for producing mono TIFF files from B&W scanned sprites. I have used !MakeTiff version 2.00 by John Kortink to do exactly that. I examined the resulting Tiff file using Graphics Workshop (under the emulator) and Translator, and they both showed the converted sprite as a B&W image. Chris Bass, Grimsby.
6.9
• Symbols for Impression − When using Impression, or even more so Junior, it can sometimes be tedious to find a desired symbol from a font such as Dingbats. Therefore, I have created a number of text files which can be dragged into any Impression document. The format for such files is “® ”, without the quotes. This returns the type to its default size, selects the desired font, inserts the character with ASCII code 174 and resets the font to its default. N.B. The space at the end is essential. This is so that one can do a <ctrl-right> to end of text. Without this space, the font is not reset. I have given a number of pre-prepared ones to Paul for inclusion on this month’s program disc. Neil Walker, Norwich.
6.9
You need to be very careful with this one. I tried it on Impression 2.19 and it gave an internal error and Impression bombed out! This was because I didn’t have the symbol font in my system. I tried it on version 2.17 and it complained politely that it didn’t have Symbol font and let me carry on. I presume that the difference is because Impression, from 2.18 onwards, has no limit to the number of fonts it can handle so that part of the code must have been changed. Don’t say we didn’t warn you! Ed.
6.9
• Testing printers’ on-line status − Here is a way of testing whether the printer is on- or off-line:
6.9
10 *FX 3,10
6.9
20 PRINT CHR$(0);
6.9
30 a = INKEY(20)
6.9
40 a = ADVAL(-4)
6.9
50 *FX 3,0
6.9
60 *FX 21,3
6.9
70 IF a <> 1023 THEN
6.9
80 PRINT “Printer not on line”
6.9
90 ELSE
6.9
100 PRINT “Printer on line”
6.9
110 ENDIF
6.9
120 END
6.9
Paul Ribworth, Gloucester
6.9
• Using high density discs − Until the advent of the A5000, all Archimedes computers had an 800Kb 3½“ disc drive so the problems of different disc densities didn’t really arise. With the introduction of the new A3000 and A4000 series, 1.6Mb drives are becoming more common and some users are trying to save a few pence by formatting normal density discs to 1.6Mb.
6.9
Users of BBC and Master computers learned that there is no point in paying extra for 80 track discs as the cheaper 40 track were actually identical. The same is NOT true of 800Kb and 1.6Mb discs. The magnetic coating on high density discs uses finer particles than the coating used on standard (double density) types. This is designed to accept higher signal levels without distortion. When the higher capacity format is used, the drive automatically uses a stronger magnetic field to imprint the data on the discs surface.
6.9
Sometimes, good quality normal density discs can accept this level but it does represent a severe overload. Even if all appears well at the time, the larger particles used in the normal density coating are frequently unable to retain the high level of magnetism required so it can leak away in time making part of the data unreadable.
6.9
Also, you should not use high density discs in a normal density drive if they have previously been formatted to 1.44 or 1.6Mb. The lower flux levels used for the normal format may not be able to completely erase the earlier data. This can then ‘break through’ and corrupt data saved later at the lower flux levels used with the smaller format. It may sometimes take more than a month for this to happen. So don’t be fooled into thinking that everything is OK just because all seems to be well when you first format the disc. Many Archimedes users who have ‘borrowed’ preformatted 1.44Mb discs from work to use in their 800Kb drives have experienced this problem.
6.9
There is no reason why you cannot use a NEW high density disc at 800Kb, it will just be more expensive.
6.9
Because of this, it is obviously useless to do what used to be common practice with the old 40/80 track discs, namely try to format them to 80 tracks and if it didn’t work use them for 40 track. Once you have attempted to format an 800Kb disc to 1.6 or 1.44 Mb there is no going back. I have had some success using a tape head demagnetiser to completely wipe out data on 800Kb discs which had been formatted to 1.6Mb so that they could be reformatted to 800Kb, but not everyone has one of these.
6.9
PC drives all have a sensor which detects the extra hole in a high density disc and won’t allow you to specify the wrong format. For some reason, Acorn didn’t implement this feature on the Archimedes although the detector is present on all high density drives. It is therefore possible, by accident, to format a normal density disc to 1.6Mb. On a PC, to do this you need to drill a hole in the case of the disc so it can’t happen unintentionally.
6.9
The most pernicious thing about this problem is that it can lead you into a false sense of security. A normal density disc may format perfectly to 1.6Mb and, for months, everything will appear to be well. Then suddenly some of the data may become slightly corrupt, although the disc may not actually appear to have any errors.
6.9
If your data is precious enough to be worth saving, it’s worth the extra few pence that the proper discs cost. The only time that I have known people use normal density discs successfully as high density was with expensive branded discs costing about £1.30 each. As this is considerably more than the price of unbranded high density discs, it seems a foolish risk to take. David Holden, Sydenham. A
6.9
Using RISC OS 3.10
6.9
Hugh Eagle
6.9
More encouragement for the faint-hearted!
6.9
Stuart Bell says: “Having read the RISC OS Column for the past few months, I approached the upgrade with caution, afraid of all sorts of installation and compatibility problems. I guess that by the nature of the things, it’s those people who encounter problems who write in, thereby giving a false impression of the true situation. So, if you’re still with RISC OS 2 and thinking about upgrading, be encouraged. Installing RISC OS 3 on my A310, including removing the main board and installing the IFEL ROM carrier board took about an hour from start to finish, and I experienced no unforeseen problems.
6.9
“Having been warned of problems with Compression 1.1, I de-compressed all files first. I await the free upgrade from CC. There is the reported problem with early versions of Font-FX and that’s in hand.
6.9
“A couple of warnings, though: As well as powering up with <Delete> depressed, also make sure that you’ve re-connected the keyboard first. (Don’t laugh – it could have been you! That cost me several minutes of panic.) Secondly, alter the Font Size figure before loading your first Impression document, which otherwise can take several minutes to load with a 32Kb buffer.”
6.9
• Avie Electronics 4Mb A310 upgrade − The following information has come from Avie: LK12 should be altered to 1-3 and 2-4. Issue 1 PCBs do not have LK12 and require modification as follows:
6.9
Option 1: pins 2 and 24 on all of the ROMs are to be swapped. Remove pins 2 and 24 from each ROM socket by bending them up. Join pin 24 on all ROMs to GND. Join pin 2 on all ROMs to LA18 on IC28, pin 18.
6.9
Option 2: remove pin 2 from each stamped socket on PCB and strap a wire between the pins and LA18. Likewise, pin 24 can be strapped to GND after removing the pins in the stamped sockets.
6.9
Hardware problems
6.9
Watford Electronics ARM3 − When Colin Wood fitted a Watford Electronics ARM3 upgrade to his A410 it didn’t work. “The screen flashed red/blue, but no beep. Just dead.” As he had recently fitted RISC OS 3, he decided to replace the RISC OS 2 chips and everything seemed OK, but when he put the RISC OS 3 chips back, again it didn’t work. Watford’s help line couldn’t help, so he returned the ARM3 and since they were (again) out of stock he cancelled his order and got most (but not all, apparently) of his money back. Another ARM3, from CJE Micro’s, worked first time.
6.9
Watford A310 RAM upgrades − Watford Electronics say that they are aware that their early A305/310 RAM upgrades do not work with RISC OS 3 but they do not have any solution. They simply recommend that you buy one of their newer RAM upgrades instead because they do work with RISC OS 3. Fortunately, IFEL have stepped into the breach. They can offer new PAL chips to plug into the Watford boards that will solve the problem. These PAL chips are £3 +VAT each from IFEL and you need to state whether you have the 2Mb or the 4Mb version. (This refers to the upgrades that consisted of two PCBs with a ribbon cable along the RHS of the machine.)
6.9
Program problems
6.9
QuicKey clash − J. Nichols reports that, if QuicKey is loaded from within a !Boot file, it can remove the *Opt 4,2 status from the booted disc resulting in a disc which no longer runs a !Boot file.
6.9
!Edit – Following last month’s reports of a “bug” in Edit we now have the following from Tom Rank: “There seemed to be a rare problem with Edit the other day; my text (exported from Ovation) was displayed in a most corrupted way, with a large amount of blank screen to start with and then disintegrating words. I thought it was a problem with Ovation. However, when I tried to show it to John Wallace of Risc Developments at BETT, the file displayed without problems, as it did back on my own machine the next day. Any idea why?”
6.9
Fun School 4 (for the under 5s) – Tom Rank found that this ran under RISC OS 3.00 but not 3.10, but Europress Software supplied an updated disc very promptly which now works.
6.9
Freddy Teddy – Topologika supplied a new version to Tom Rank on the spot at BETT!
6.9
Ovation – Tom Rank says you are urged to obtain 1.37S (dated 17 January 1993). This overcomes the saving with <F3> problem – which really was a problem, so do upgrade. They have also restored the ‘select all’ shortcut − but only if you use the right-hand <Ctrl> key along with A (to avoid the problem of catching <Ctrl-A> instead of <Ctrl-S> or just <A>).
6.9
This version also contains three new printing options, not documented: Fit, Centre and Registration marks. These should be self explanatory, but Tom is not quite sure about them!
6.9
Break147 and SuperPool – D. S. Allen got these to work using the information provided by David Holden in the April column. He writes: “In Break147 there is one Basic program called !Snook which contains the line
6.9
90SYS 26,64,64.
6.9
A REM statement in front of the SYS will cure the problem and the program will then run under RISC OS 3.1.
6.9
“Similarly, in SuperPool there is a Basic program !Pool in the Data directory in which line 60 has the same SYS 26,64,64 statement.
6.9
“Note that to make these changes, people will require the read/write version of Mark Smith’s excellent ArcFS program.” (Or, presumably, an equivalent utility such as SparkFS.)
6.9
Superior Golf / Construction Set – We reported in Archive 6.7 p43 that Dave Wilcox had found that these did not work in RISC OS 3.10. Rob Brown, however, says he has had no problems with them.
6.9
Corruption – Rob Brown says that this can be made to work by modifying its !Run file to kill the RISC OS 3 Shared C Library module and load the very old version of the module supplied with the game. To do this, include at the beginning of the !Run file the line:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
and then add at the end of the file the following two lines:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
RMLoad SharedCLibrary
6.9
to remove the old version and reload the RISC OS 3 version of the module. He points out that it may well be advisable to Quit any other applications that may be using the RISC OS 3 Shared C Library module before running the game.
6.9
Freddy’s Folly – Rob Brown advises that this game contains a !Run file (in Basic) which includes an automatic ‘auto-configuration’ of the computer’s memory as well as setting up a number of initial program parameters. The various auto-configuration elements should be deleted from this file. A further complication is that the disc is copy protected, but it should be possible to rename the original !Run file (to say !RunOLD) and re-save a new !Run file containing only the initial program parameters. He also advises that the game assumes that the default disc drive is 0. For users with a hard disc this can easily be set by typing:
6.9
Drive 0
6.9
at the command line (accessed by pressing function key <F12>) before starting the game. Alternatively, the game’s !Run file can be appropriately amended by including the “<Obey$Dir>” command.
6.9
NOTE: the advice on Corruption and Freddy’s Folly is included in the program compatibility chart which Rob Brown has compiled and which has been included on the Archive monthly program disc. He will welcome any information which will help him to make the chart as comprehensive and up-to-date as possible. His address is “Valtanee”, Brighton Road, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6UP.
6.9
Aldebaran – (see Archive 6.8 p23) Atle Mjelde Bårdholt has contacted the author and has learned that, on his A310 with IFEL’s 2Mb upgrade, he has to add 8Kb to the WimpSlot values in the !Aldebaran.!Run file (from 624Kb to 632Kb). Then everything works fine. He says this might be due to the RAM upgrade: Aldebaran seems to work fine on any other Archimedes with RISC OS 3.1. He adds a final bit of advice: “Get a copy!”
6.9
Printing
6.9
Printing to file
6.9
Tom Rank has found that the hint from Simon Moy in Archive 6.2.7 about editing the number of text lines seems redundant under RISC OS 3.10, and that printing to a file (at least with the Epson LQ-860 driver) resulted in a printout which aborted with an “address exception at &038B5BE0”, a frozen printer and an incomplete document (the last few millimetres were lost). This is particularly irritating as printing to a file is the only way, apart from buying a direct laser printer or a CC Turbo Driver, to avoid the long wait for print out. (How about using the PROdriver shell for use with Acorn drivers? See the review on page 43. Ed.)
6.9
Using fanfold paper
6.9
Tom Rank comments: “Feeding single sheets into a printer soon becomes a pain, but sheetfeeders come expensive, so A4 fanfold paper seemed a good idea (even though it’s about four or five times more expensive than better quality photocopy paper at a discount stationer!). However, with RISC OS 3.00, I could never get the settings right, so the print always crept up or down the page until it crossed the fold. With RISC OS 3.10, I’ve finally got it to work, whether by fluke I’m not sure. Using the LQ-860 printer driver with my Epson LQ-550 printer, the correct settings from the paper sizes menu are: top margin 8mm and bottom margin 15mm; save these with a name like ‘A4 Fanfold’ and the margins can be automatically set each time. These settings seem to work OK with single sheets too.”
6.9
Filing Systems
6.9
Beebug 5¼“ disc interface
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: “I got my Beebug 5¼“ disc interface (date 1989) to work by setting the step rate for an 80 track double-sided drive to 12ms (lower values may well work; I’m just cautious), and whereas RISC OS 2 worked with “Ready” (switch 6 on the interface) supplied by the on-board PAL, RISC OS 3 works more reliably with it passed through from the drive.”
6.9
Dismounting between filing systems
6.9
According to Mike Sawle, applications which frequently switch between filing systems seem to require the *DISMOUNT command before selecting an alternative filing system in order to ensure correct execution. Common error messages are Ambiguous Disc Name and Bad Error Block.
6.9
Miscellaneous Hints & Tips
6.9
• Faster copying, etc. – Rob Davison recommends that if there is nothing else you want to do when copying files, then click <Menu> over the filer action window and choose ‘Faster’.
6.9
• In the midnight hour – Atle Mjelde Bårdholt found that, whenever he switched his computer on between midnight and 1 a.m., a day was added to the internal clock. He then found that this seemed to be caused by the presence in his !Boot file of the command *Set Sys$Year 1993 (which he had included because he has some programs that set the year back to 1988). When this command is removed, the midnight hour problem goes away. Does anyone know the reason?
6.9
• Fan filters and the A5000 – Tom Rank found that, although magazines mention the need to change the filter from time to time, there was no mention of how to do this and on fitting the RISC OS 3.10 upgrade he could see no filter anyway. Is there one, he asks? The Acorn representative at BETT told him that the design of the machine made it superfluous; he couldn’t quite follow why, but it was something to do with the direction of airflow.
6.9
• Flippin’ objects in Draw – Having travelled all the way from Derbyshire to the Acorn User Show, Tom Rank “asked the man on one of the other magazines’ stall if there was an equivalent in Draw to the ‘flip’ option in Paint, as it’s sometimes useful to turn a picture round to face the other way. The expert, although helpful about other items, couldn’t tell me, but my son revealed the following tip, which he said he thought was obvious. Must talk to him more often....
6.9
“To flip an object in Draw, select it and, from the ‘transform’ menu (RISC OS 3), set x scale (or y scale or both) to −1 (minus 1). This also works in the RISC OS 2 version of Draw but there the ‘transform’ option is chosen from the Select menu.”
6.9
• Lost lines in Edit − Eric Ayers has found that double-clicking on large text files to load them into Edit has caused several lines to be missing from the middle of the text. Apparently, this does not happen if he drags the files to the Edit icon on the icon bar. Any ideas?
6.9
• More fonts in RISC-OS 3 − Gary Atkinson of KudlianSoft recommends the following additions to the !Fonts.!Boot and !Fonts.!Run files to enable one or more separate font directories to be added to and removed from the font path simply by double-clicking on the fonts application directory.
6.9
The !Fonts.!Boot file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| Boot file for !Fonts.
6.9
| Nothing happens if you put this in | a RISC OS 2 machine except that
6.9
| the !Fonts sprite is set up − this | means that, when a RISC OS2 !Fonts
6.9
| directory is seen the !Boot file
6.9
| will not be run; double clicking
6.9
| on the appropriate !Fonts will
6.9
| force installation.
6.9
|
6.9
| Take care when merging RISC OS 2
6.9
| fonts with these (RISC OS 3) fonts
6.9
| - many fonts are contained in the
6.9
| RISC OS 3 ROM and thus do not
6.9
| appear in !Fonts; normally you
6.9
| should not copy the corresponding
6.9
| RISC OS 2 fonts!
6.9
Iconsprites <Obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Obey
6.9
| The next command boots up your
6.9
| normal font directory
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts 0
6.9
The !Fonts.!Run file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| !Run file for !Fonts,
6.9
| version 1.05 (20-Aug-91)
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Error These fonts are for use with
6.9
RISC OS 2.12 or later
6.9
|Obey <Obey$Dir>.!Boot
6.9
| The extra *FontInstall means that,
6.9
| if you double-click the Fonts
6.9
| directory, all such directories
6.9
| will be re-searched for any new
6.9
| fonts.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
IF MoreFonts=1 THEN FontInstall <Obey$Dir>. ELSE FontRemove <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
|FontInstall
6.9
The !Boot file is only run on the first time that the filer sees the !Fonts application, hence the initialisation of MoreFonts to zero. Every time the directory is double-clicked, the !Run file will toggle the value of this variable between 0 and 1. This is done in the line:
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
If the value is 1, the FontInstall command adds the new directory to the font path and initialises all of the fonts. If the value is 0, the FontRemove command removes the temporary font directory from the font path.
6.9
If you require more than one spare directory, you will need to use different variables, such as MoreFonts2 or FancyFonts.
6.9
In practice, it is better to have a directory called fonts inside your !Fonts application which contains your preferred normal fonts at switch-on, and a directory called spare (for example) which contains the set of fonts that you wish to switch in and out. Then in your !Boot file, the FontInstall command becomes
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.fonts.
6.9
and the IF...THEN statement in the !Run file has <Obey$Dir>.spare. in place of the two occurrences of <Obey$Dir>. .
6.9
Miscellaneous Comments
6.9
FontEd
6.9
When Tom Rank spoke to an Acorn representative he was told that they were not contemplating the release of FontEd and that it is NOT public domain. An early version got there by mistake via SID and it really ought not, he said, to be distributed by PD libraries.
6.9
The Acorn representative acknowledged that Acorn were unlikely to do anything about this situation, as it was “only an early version and won’t work on RISC OS 3”. According to Tom this is partially true; a friend of his has had problems with version 0.28, but at least some of the time it runs on an A5000. However, he observes that it is a pity that Acorn actually seem to be discouraging anyone else from working on fonts. (There is a version of FontEd on Careware 7, released in May 1990, but it has been updated since then. Acorn haven’t objected, presumably because of the charitable aspect. Ed.)
6.9
Screen blanking during floppy disc access
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: “Many things are very much more elegant in RISC OS 3 but with one notable exception. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw what happens to the screen during floppy disc accessing. Whether my ARM3 cache is dis- or enabled, in mode 24 the screen either flashes or is blanked when loading, saving or formatting. If RISC OS 2 didn’t need to do this, why is it allowed now? (It did, in fact, happen in mode 21 under RISC OS 2 – HE.) Some re-coding is needed, even if the resultant code is a little slower. More significantly, who was the Acorn person in authority who thought that it is acceptable in 1993 to produce a computer which professes to be a ‘world-beater’ which, when using floppy discs, looks like the Sinclair Spectrum (or was it the ZX81?) reading from cassette tape circa 1983? This just looks so tacky. I know that serious use demands a hard disc, but first impressions count for a lot, and a lot of demonstrations will be on floppy-based A3010’s. This is not good enough, Acorn.”
6.9
Basic program compaction errors
6.9
R. W. Darlington writes: “I am writing on a matter of utmost urgency.
6.9
“There seems to be a growing urge amongst programmers to use a program compactor on Basic RunImage files. Unfortunately, I know of no Basic compactor program that does not exhibit a certain disastrous fault.
6.9
“If, for instance, a Basic program contains any floating point or pseudo variables followed by a Basic keyword or statement, then when it is compacted and the space between the variable and the keyword is removed, that line will generate an error.
6.9
“For instance, if the program contained the line
6.9
10 IF TRUE THEN VDU7
6.9
which when compacted becomes
6.9
10IFTRUETHENVDU7
6.9
the lack of space between TRUE and THEN will generate an error.
6.9
“The same is true for any line containing a floating point variable:
6.9
10 ha=TRUE
6.9
20 IF ha THEN VDU7
6.9
will crash when compacted because of a lack of space between ha and THEN.
6.9
“I have come across numerous examples of RunImage files which have these errors in them. One of them is Acorn’s new RISC OS 3 !SciCalc. Others are new versions of Translator and Creator.
6.9
“Please can you draw Archive readers’ attention to these problems as soon as possible? Or, if any reader knows of a Basic compactor that does not produce these errors, please can they let us know where it may be obtained?”
6.9
Matters Arising
6.9
Setting Caps Lock (*FX 202)
6.9
Unfortunately, the advice I gave last month about using *FX 202 may have been a bit confusing because, after explaining that Peter Young wanted a command to turn Caps Lock on, I then described how to turn it off! The command to turn Caps Lock on, leaving the other settings unchanged, is *FX 202,0,239.
6.9
The shortened form *FX 202,32 should turn Caps Lock on, but may have side effects.
6.9
Note also that, to make sure that the LED indicators are correctly updated after a *FX 202 command, it is a good idea to follow it with the simple command *FX 118.
6.9
The bits of the keyboard status byte have the following meanings:
6.9
bit value meaning
6.9
0 (1) 0 Alt off
6.9
1 Alt on
6.9
1 (2) 0 Scroll Lock off
6.9
1 Scroll Lock on
6.9
2 (4) 0 Num Lock on
6.9
1 Num Lock off
6.9
3 (8) 0 Shift off
6.9
1 Shift on
6.9
4 (16) 0 Caps Lock on
6.9
1 Caps Lock off
6.9
5 (32) (“Normally set”)
6.9
6 (64) 0 Ctrl off
6.9
1 Ctrl on
6.9
7 (128) 0 Shift enable off
6.9
1 Shift enable on
6.9
(This information is taken from the RISCOS 2 Programmers’ Reference Manual.)
6.9
Boot-up options (Archive 6.8 p26)
6.9
Peter Young has suggested that it might be better to use INKEY$ with a delay of, say, 5 to 10 seconds instead of GET$ so that, if nobody presses a key, the computer will continue with the boot file after a short delay.
6.9
Unexpected messages from IDE filing system (Archive 6.8 p24)
6.9
Peter Young (who has a Beebug IDE interface) has confirmed that, even after creating space for a directory cache, he still gets unexpected messages unless he uses full pathnames. For instance, if he starts with the commands
6.9
*DIR IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the subdirectory ‘B’ as expected. However, if he uses the abbreviated pathname instead:
6.9
*DIR $.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the directory ‘BASIC’ even though the heading of the directory listing correctly says that the CSD is IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$. BASIC.B. The computer’s confusion is further demonstrated by the fact that if he then enters:
6.9
*DIR ^
6.9
*CAT
6.9
it replies Directory ‘@’ not found.
6.9
‘Interrupt’ module (Archive 6.6 p55)
6.9
In March, we reported M. P. Sawle’s request for help in getting the Interrupt module (Archive Shareware disc 6) working under RISC OS 3, but since then neither he nor we have heard anything. Does no-one else use this module? Can its author help?
6.9
Using RISC OS 3.10
6.9
Hugh Eagle
6.9
More encouragement for the faint-hearted!
6.9
Stuart Bell says: “Having read the RISC OS Column for the past few
months, I approached the upgrade with caution, afraid of all sorts of
installation and compatibility problems. I guess that by the nature of
the things, it’s those people who encounter problems who write in,
thereby giving a false impression of the true situation. So, if you’re
still with RISC OS 2 and thinking about upgrading, be encouraged.
Installing RISC OS 3 on my A310, including removing the main board and
installing the IFEL ROM carrier board took about an hour from start to
finish, and I experienced no unforeseen problems.
6.9
“Having been warned of problems with Compression 1.1, I de-compressed
all files first. I await the free upgrade from CC. There is the reported
problem with early versions of Font-FX and that’s in hand.
6.9
“A couple of warnings, though: As well as powering up with <Delete>
depressed, also make sure that you’ve re-connected the keyboard first.
(Don’t laugh – it could have been you! That cost me several minutes of
panic.) Secondly, alter the Font Size figure before loading your first
Impression document, which otherwise can take several minutes to load
with a 32Kb buffer.”
6.9
• Avie Electronics 4Mb A310 upgrade − The following information has come
from Avie: LK12 should be altered to 1-3 and 2-4. Issue 1 PCBs do not
have LK12 and require modification as follows:
6.9
Option 1: pins 2 and 24 on all of the ROMs are to be swapped. Remove
pins 2 and 24 from each ROM socket by bending them up. Join pin 24 on
all ROMs to GND. Join pin 2 on all ROMs to LA18 on IC28, pin 18.
6.9
Option 2: remove pin 2 from each stamped socket on PCB and strap a wire
between the pins and LA18. Likewise, pin 24 can be strapped to GND after
removing the pins in the stamped sockets.
6.9
Hardware problems
6.9
Watford Electronics ARM3 − When Colin Wood fitted a Watford Electronics
ARM3 upgrade to his A410 it didn’t work. “The screen flashed red/blue,
but no beep. Just dead.” As he had recently fitted RISC OS 3, he decided
to replace the RISC OS 2 chips and everything seemed OK, but when he put
the RISC OS 3 chips back, again it didn’t work. Watford’s help line
couldn’t help, so he returned the ARM3 and since they were (again) out
of stock he cancelled his order and got most (but not all, apparently)
of his money back. Another ARM3, from CJE Micro’s, worked first time.
6.9
Watford A310 RAM upgrades − Watford Electronics say that they are aware
that their early A305/310 RAM upgrades do not work with RISC OS 3 but
they do not have any solution. They simply recommend that you buy one of
their newer RAM upgrades instead because they do work with RISC OS 3.
Fortunately, IFEL have stepped into the breach. They can offer new PAL
chips to plug into the Watford boards that will solve the problem. These
PAL chips are £3 +VAT each from IFEL and you need to state whether you
have the 2Mb or the 4Mb version. (This refers to the upgrades that
consisted of two PCBs with a ribbon cable along the RHS of the machine.)
6.9
Program problems
6.9
QuicKey clash − J. Nichols reports that, if QuicKey is loaded from
within a !Boot file, it can remove the *Opt 4,2 status from the booted
disc resulting in a disc which no longer runs a !Boot file.
6.9
!Edit – Following last month’s reports of a “bug” in Edit we now have
the following from Tom Rank: “There seemed to be a rare problem with
Edit the other day; my text (exported from Ovation) was displayed in a
most corrupted way, with a large amount of blank screen to start with
and then disintegrating words. I thought it was a problem with Ovation.
However, when I tried to show it to John Wallace of Risc Developments at
BETT, the file displayed without problems, as it did back on my own
machine the next day. Any idea why?”
6.9
Fun School 4 (for the under 5s) – Tom Rank found that this ran under
RISC OS 3.00 but not 3.10, but Europress Software supplied an updated
disc very promptly which now works.
6.9
Freddy Teddy – Topologika supplied a new version to Tom Rank on the spot
at BETT!
6.9
Ovation – Tom Rank says you are urged to obtain 1.37S (dated 17 January
1993). This overcomes the saving with <F3> problem – which really was a
problem, so do upgrade. They have also restored the ‘select all’
shortcut − but only if you use the right-hand <Ctrl> key along with A
(to avoid the problem of catching <Ctrl-A> instead of <Ctrl-S> or just
<A>).
6.9
This version also contains three new printing options, not documented:
Fit, Centre and Registration marks. These should be self explanatory,
but Tom is not quite sure about them!
6.9
Break147 and SuperPool – D. S. Allen got these to work using the
information provided by David Holden in the April column. He writes: “In
Break147 there is one Basic program called !Snook which contains the
line
6.9
90SYS 26,64,64.
6.9
A REM statement in front of the SYS will cure the problem and the
program will then run under RISC OS 3.1.
6.9
“Similarly, in SuperPool there is a Basic program !Pool in the Data
directory in which line 60 has the same SYS 26,64,64 statement.
6.9
“Note that to make these changes, people will require the read/write
version of Mark Smith’s excellent ArcFS program.” (Or, presumably, an
equivalent utility such as SparkFS.)
6.9
Superior Golf / Construction Set – We reported in Archive 6.7 p43 that
Dave Wilcox had found that these did not work in RISC OS 3.10. Rob
Brown, however, says he has had no problems with them.
6.9
Corruption – Rob Brown says that this can be made to work by modifying
its !Run file to kill the RISC OS 3 Shared C Library module and load the
very old version of the module supplied with the game. To do this,
include at the beginning of the !Run file the line:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
and then add at the end of the file the following two lines:
6.9
RMKill SharedCLibrary
6.9
RMLoad SharedCLibrary
6.9
to remove the old version and reload the RISC OS 3 version of the
module. He points out that it may well be advisable to Quit any other
applications that may be using the RISC OS 3 Shared C Library module
before running the game.
6.9
Freddy’s Folly – Rob Brown advises that this game contains a !Run file
(in Basic) which includes an automatic ‘auto-configuration’ of the
computer’s memory as well as setting up a number of initial program
parameters. The various auto-configuration elements should be deleted
from this file. A further complication is that the disc is copy
protected, but it should be possible to rename the original !Run file
(to say !RunOLD) and re-save a new !Run file containing only the initial
program parameters. He also advises that the game assumes that the
default disc drive is 0. For users with a hard disc this can easily be
set by typing:
6.9
Drive 0
6.9
at the command line (accessed by pressing function key <F12>) before
starting the game. Alternatively, the game’s !Run file can be
appropriately amended by including the “<Obey$Dir>” command.
6.9
NOTE: the advice on Corruption and Freddy’s Folly is included in the
program compatibility chart which Rob Brown has compiled and which has
been included on the Archive monthly program disc. He will welcome any
information which will help him to make the chart as comprehensive and
up-to-date as possible. His address is “Valtanee”, Brighton Road, Lower
Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6UP.
6.9
Aldebaran – (see Archive 6.8 p23) Atle Mjelde Bårdholt has contacted the
author and has learned that, on his A310 with IFEL’s 2Mb upgrade, he has
to add 8Kb to the WimpSlot values in the !Aldebaran.!Run file (from
624Kb to 632Kb). Then everything works fine. He says this might be due
to the RAM upgrade: Aldebaran seems to work fine on any other Archimedes
with RISC OS 3.1. He adds a final bit of advice: “Get a copy!”
6.9
Printing
6.9
Printing to file
6.9
Tom Rank has found that the hint from Simon Moy in Archive 6.2.7 about
editing the number of text lines seems redundant under RISC OS 3.10, and
that printing to a file (at least with the Epson LQ-860 driver) resulted
in a printout which aborted with an “address exception at &038B5BE0”, a
frozen printer and an incomplete document (the last few millimetres were
lost). This is particularly irritating as printing to a file is the only
way, apart from buying a direct laser printer or a CC Turbo Driver, to
avoid the long wait for print out. (How about using the PROdriver shell
for use with Acorn drivers? See the review on page 43. Ed.)
6.9
Using fanfold paper
6.9
Tom Rank comments: “Feeding single sheets into a printer soon becomes a
pain, but sheetfeeders come expensive, so A4 fanfold paper seemed a good
idea (even though it’s about four or five times more expensive than
better quality photocopy paper at a discount stationer!). However, with
RISC OS 3.00, I could never get the settings right, so the print always
crept up or down the page until it crossed the fold. With RISC OS 3.10,
I’ve finally got it to work, whether by fluke I’m not sure. Using the
LQ-860 printer driver with my Epson LQ-550 printer, the correct settings
from the paper sizes menu are: top margin 8mm and bottom margin 15mm;
save these with a name like ‘A4 Fanfold’ and the margins can be
automatically set each time. These settings seem to work OK with single
sheets too.”
6.9
Filing Systems
6.9
Beebug 5¼“ disc interface
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: “I got my Beebug 5¼“ disc interface (date 1989) to
work by setting the step rate for an 80 track double-sided drive to 12ms
(lower values may well work; I’m just cautious), and whereas RISC OS 2
worked with “Ready” (switch 6 on the interface) supplied by the on-board
PAL, RISC OS 3 works more reliably with it passed through from the
drive.”
6.9
Dismounting between filing systems
6.9
According to Mike Sawle, applications which frequently switch between
filing systems seem to require the *DISMOUNT command before selecting an
alternative filing system in order to ensure correct execution. Common
error messages are Ambiguous Disc Name and Bad Error Block.
6.9
Miscellaneous Hints & Tips
6.9
• Faster copying, etc. – Rob Davison recommends that if there is nothing
else you want to do when copying files, then click <Menu> over the filer
action window and choose ‘Faster’.
6.9
• In the midnight hour – Atle Mjelde Bårdholt found that, whenever he
switched his computer on between midnight and 1 a.m., a day was added to
the internal clock. He then found that this seemed to be caused by the
presence in his !Boot file of the command *Set Sys$Year 1993 (which he
had included because he has some programs that set the year back to
1988). When this command is removed, the midnight hour problem goes
away. Does anyone know the reason?
6.9
• Fan filters and the A5000 – Tom Rank found that, although magazines
mention the need to change the filter from time to time, there was no
mention of how to do this and on fitting the RISC OS 3.10 upgrade he
could see no filter anyway. Is there one, he asks? The Acorn
representative at BETT told him that the design of the machine made it
superfluous; he couldn’t quite follow why, but it was something to do
with the direction of airflow.
6.9
• Flippin’ objects in Draw – Having travelled all the way from
Derbyshire to the Acorn User Show, Tom Rank “asked the man on one of the
other magazines’ stall if there was an equivalent in Draw to the ‘flip’
option in Paint, as it’s sometimes useful to turn a picture round to
face the other way. The expert, although helpful about other items,
couldn’t tell me, but my son revealed the following tip, which he said
he thought was obvious. Must talk to him more often....
6.9
“To flip an object in Draw, select it and, from the ‘transform’ menu
(RISC OS 3), set x scale (or y scale or both) to −1 (minus 1). This also
works in the RISC OS 2 version of Draw but there the ‘transform’ option
is chosen from the Select menu.”
6.9
• Lost lines in Edit − Eric Ayers has found that double-clicking on
large text files to load them into Edit has caused several lines to be
missing from the middle of the text. Apparently, this does not happen if
he drags the files to the Edit icon on the icon bar. Any ideas?
6.9
• More fonts in RISC-OS 3 − Gary Atkinson of KudlianSoft recommends the
following additions to the !Fonts.!Boot and !Fonts.!Run files to enable
one or more separate font directories to be added to and removed from
the font path simply by double-clicking on the fonts application
directory.
6.9
The !Fonts.!Boot file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| Boot file for !Fonts.
6.9
| Nothing happens if you put this in | a RISC OS 2 machine except that
6.9
| the !Fonts sprite is set up − this | means that, when a RISC OS2
!Fonts
6.9
| directory is seen the !Boot file
6.9
| will not be run; double clicking
6.9
| on the appropriate !Fonts will
6.9
| force installation.
6.9
|
6.9
| Take care when merging RISC OS 2
6.9
| fonts with these (RISC OS 3) fonts
6.9
| - many fonts are contained in the
6.9
| RISC OS 3 ROM and thus do not
6.9
| appear in !Fonts; normally you
6.9
| should not copy the corresponding
6.9
| RISC OS 2 fonts!
6.9
Iconsprites <Obey$Dir>.!Sprites
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Obey
6.9
| The next command boots up your
6.9
| normal font directory
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts 0
6.9
The !Fonts.!Run file should be amended as follows:
6.9
| !Run file for !Fonts,
6.9
| version 1.05 (20-Aug-91)
6.9
RMEnsure FontManager 2.89 Error These fonts are for use with
6.9
RISC OS 2.12 or later
6.9
|Obey <Obey$Dir>.!Boot
6.9
| The extra *FontInstall means that,
6.9
| if you double-click the Fonts
6.9
| directory, all such directories
6.9
| will be re-searched for any new
6.9
| fonts.
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
IF MoreFonts=1 THEN FontInstall <Obey$Dir>. ELSE FontRemove <Obey$Dir>.
6.9
|FontInstall
6.9
The !Boot file is only run on the first time that the filer sees the
!Fonts application, hence the initialisation of MoreFonts to zero. Every
time the directory is double-clicked, the !Run file will toggle the
value of this variable between 0 and 1. This is done in the line:
6.9
SetEval MoreFonts MoreFonts EOR 1
6.9
If the value is 1, the FontInstall command adds the new directory to the
font path and initialises all of the fonts. If the value is 0, the
FontRemove command removes the temporary font directory from the font
path.
6.9
If you require more than one spare directory, you will need to use
different variables, such as MoreFonts2 or FancyFonts.
6.9
In practice, it is better to have a directory called fonts inside your
!Fonts application which contains your preferred normal fonts at switch-
on, and a directory called spare (for example) which contains the set of
fonts that you wish to switch in and out. Then in your !Boot file, the
FontInstall command becomes
6.9
FontInstall <Obey$Dir>.fonts.
6.9
and the IF...THEN statement in the !Run file has <Obey$Dir>.spare. in
place of the two occurrences of <Obey$Dir>. .
6.9
Miscellaneous Comments
6.9
FontEd
6.9
When Tom Rank spoke to an Acorn representative he was told that they
were not contemplating the release of FontEd and that it is NOT public
domain. An early version got there by mistake via SID and it really
ought not, he said, to be distributed by PD libraries.
6.9
The Acorn representative acknowledged that Acorn were unlikely to do
anything about this situation, as it was “only an early version and
won’t work on RISC OS 3”. According to Tom this is partially true; a
friend of his has had problems with version 0.28, but at least some of
the time it runs on an A5000. However, he observes that it is a pity
that Acorn actually seem to be discouraging anyone else from working on
fonts. (There is a version of FontEd on Careware 7, released in May
1990, but it has been updated since then. Acorn haven’t objected,
presumably because of the charitable aspect. Ed.)
6.9
Screen blanking during floppy disc access
6.9
Stuart Bell writes: “Many things are very much more elegant in RISC OS 3
but with one notable exception. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw
what happens to the screen during floppy disc accessing. Whether my ARM3
cache is dis- or enabled, in mode 24 the screen either flashes or is
blanked when loading, saving or formatting. If RISC OS 2 didn’t need to
do this, why is it allowed now? (It did, in fact, happen in mode 21
under RISC OS 2 – HE.) Some re-coding is needed, even if the resultant
code is a little slower. More significantly, who was the Acorn person in
authority who thought that it is acceptable in 1993 to produce a
computer which professes to be a ‘world-beater’ which, when using floppy
discs, looks like the Sinclair Spectrum (or was it the ZX81?) reading
from cassette tape circa 1983? This just looks so tacky. I know that
serious use demands a hard disc, but first impressions count for a lot,
and a lot of demonstrations will be on floppy-based A3010’s. This is not
good enough, Acorn.”
6.9
Basic program compaction errors
6.9
R. W. Darlington writes: “I am writing on a matter of utmost urgency.
6.9
“There seems to be a growing urge amongst programmers to use a program
compactor on Basic RunImage files. Unfortunately, I know of no Basic
compactor program that does not exhibit a certain disastrous fault.
6.9
“If, for instance, a Basic program contains any floating point or pseudo
variables followed by a Basic keyword or statement, then when it is
compacted and the space between the variable and the keyword is removed,
that line will generate an error.
6.9
“For instance, if the program contained the line
6.9
10 IF TRUE THEN VDU7
6.9
which when compacted becomes
6.9
10IFTRUETHENVDU7
6.9
the lack of space between TRUE and THEN will generate an error.
6.9
“The same is true for any line containing a floating point variable:
6.9
10 ha=TRUE
6.9
20 IF ha THEN VDU7
6.9
will crash when compacted because of a lack of space between ha and
THEN.
6.9
“I have come across numerous examples of RunImage files which have these
errors in them. One of them is Acorn’s new RISC OS 3 !SciCalc. Others
are new versions of Translator and Creator.
6.9
“Please can you draw Archive readers’ attention to these problems as
soon as possible? Or, if any reader knows of a Basic compactor that does
not produce these errors, please can they let us know where it may be
obtained?”
6.9
Matters Arising
6.9
Setting Caps Lock (*FX 202)
6.9
Unfortunately, the advice I gave last month about using *FX 202 may have
been a bit confusing because, after explaining that Peter Young wanted a
command to turn Caps Lock on, I then described how to turn it off! The
command to turn Caps Lock on, leaving the other settings unchanged, is
*FX 202,0,239.
6.9
The shortened form *FX 202,32 should turn Caps Lock on, but may have
side effects.
6.9
Note also that, to make sure that the LED indicators are correctly
updated after a *FX 202 command, it is a good idea to follow it with the
simple command *FX 118.
6.9
The bits of the keyboard status byte have the following meanings:
6.9
bit value meaning
6.9
0 (1) 0 Alt off
6.9
1 Alt on
6.9
1 (2) 0 Scroll Lock off
6.9
1 Scroll Lock on
6.9
2 (4) 0 Num Lock on
6.9
1 Num Lock off
6.9
3 (8) 0 Shift off
6.9
1 Shift on
6.9
4 (16) 0 Caps Lock on
6.9
1 Caps Lock off
6.9
5 (32) (“Normally set”)
6.9
6 (64) 0 Ctrl off
6.9
1 Ctrl on
6.9
7 (128) 0 Shift enable off
6.9
1 Shift enable on
6.9
(This information is taken from the RISCOS 2 Programmers’ Reference
Manual.)
6.9
Boot-up options (Archive 6.8 p26)
6.9
Peter Young has suggested that it might be better to use INKEY$ with a
delay of, say, 5 to 10 seconds instead of GET$ so that, if nobody
presses a key, the computer will continue with the boot file after a
short delay.
6.9
Unexpected messages from IDE filing system (Archive 6.8 p24)
6.9
Peter Young (who has a Beebug IDE interface) has confirmed that, even
after creating space for a directory cache, he still gets unexpected
messages unless he uses full pathnames. For instance, if he starts with
the commands
6.9
*DIR IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the subdirectory ‘B’ as expected. However, if he
uses the abbreviated pathname instead:
6.9
*DIR $.BASIC.B
6.9
*CAT
6.9
he gets a catalogue of the directory ‘BASIC’ even though the heading of
the directory listing correctly says that the CSD is IDEFS::IDEDisc4.$.
BASIC.B. The computer’s confusion is further demonstrated by the fact
that if he then enters:
6.9
*DIR ^
6.9
*CAT
6.9
it replies Directory ‘@’ not found.
6.9
‘Interrupt’ module (Archive 6.6 p55)
6.9
In March, we reported M. P. Sawle’s request for help in getting the
Interrupt module (Archive Shareware disc 6) working under RISC OS 3, but
since then neither he nor we have heard anything. Does no-one else use
this module? Can its author help?
6.9
Using RISC OS 3
6.10
Program points
6.10
• QuicKey – Last month (Archive 6.9 p 61), we reported a problem with
this program. Ian Copestake has written to say that this problem was
cured by an update released in April 1992 – over a year ago! – and was
caused by a bug in RISC OS 3. He says that customers can always obtain
minor updates like this by returning their original disc plus £1 worth
of postage stamps (or a reasonable overseas equivalent). He also asks if
contributors can check that they have up-to-date versions before
reporting problems.
6.10
• Fourth Dimension games – A. H. Hunt had a problem with Black Angel
(“one of the casket segments was missing at the Planet Valve (23%)”) but
this was rectified by 4D immediately. He also says that Break147 and
Saloon Cars run (for him) without any problems.
6.10
However, Arthur Taylor found that the hint by D. S. Allen in Archive 6.9
p62 on Break147 and SuperPool didn’t work for him. Perhaps
significantly, the relevant line of the Basic program was line 100 not
line 90 in his copy, and also his program wasn’t compressed but was
heavily protected. (I wonder whether the version of Break147 which A. H.
Hunt has would work on his machine, and whether Fourth Dimension can
supply it?)
6.10
• Rotor − This game from Arcana does not work on RISC OS 3 and Arcana
have, apparently, gone bust. Fortunately, Superior Software have bought
out the rights to the program and sell it as part of their “Play it
Again, Sam 1” compilation. Apparently, if you send your Arcana version
of Rotor to Superior with a cheque for £10, they will send you a copy of
Play it Again, Sam 1. John Waddell, Renfrewshire.
6.10
• Recommended programs (which do work) – Arthur Taylor strongly
recommends Simon Burrows’ FontsPlus: he has created four fonts
directories and with FontsPlus on the iconbar he can choose to have all
or none of them active (if none, the ROM fonts are still available); if
he doesn’t load FontsPlus, then they are all available “... simple as
that!”
6.10
He says that other PD or shareware programs that seem to work fine with
RISC OS 3.10 include: DiskBase v0.65, DiskCat v1.50 (disc cataloguers),
FuncKeys v2.02 and KeyWindow v1.40 (keystrips and keys from the desktop)
and a super neat new mode changer from Dave Thomas: !Mode v1.03 – it can
store up to 8 modes in a small desktop window and seems very well
behaved.
6.10
• Watford scanner − In Archive 6.8 p27, we reported problems with the
Watford Handscanner (1990, issue 2). Apparently, there is an upgrade to
the software (version 1.1) available from Watford. D Webb, Cumbernauld.
6.10
Disc drive problems
6.10
• 360Kb PC discs − Richard Fallas writes: “While trying to transfer data
to the hard drive of an old PC recently, I discovered that there are no
hard and fast rules about compatibility with 40 track discs. Previously,
I had used my switchable 40/80 track 5¼“ drive (with Beebug Interface)
under the emulator, having set up a suitable device in the config.sys
file. This no longer works under RISC OS 3.10, so I tried to transfer
directly.
6.10
“The disc format was correctly identified and the files written (with
switch set to 80 track) without hitch, but the PC didn’t want to read
them (using copy *.*), although it would give me the directory listing.
6.10
“Being stubborn, I tried again, saving and copying file by file. This
worked... sometimes! The longer the file the greater the chance of a
glitch, but eventually I got all the files across. This worked on files
up to 75Kb in size, so persevere!”
6.10
• IDE drives – Arthur Taylor advises that you should not assume that the
IDE support built into RISC OS 3 will work with an IDE drive that has
been added to a pre-A5000 computer. He found with his IDE drive supplied
by DT that he had to set the number of IDE discs to zero in !Configure
and then run DT’s setup, after which he had no problems.
6.10
• ST506 drive fitted to an A3000 – Tony Flaherty was interested to read
of the hardware problem experienced by Colin Wood (Archive 6.9 p61) when
fitting a ARM3 to his A410, since he has recently experienced a similar
problem with his A3000. He writes:
6.10
“I have a basic ARM2 machine with RISC OS 3.1 and an Orion 2 Mb upgrade.
I recently added an external 20 Mb ST506 hard disc using an ex-PC MFM
drive and an Acorn external controller. The drive and a suitable power
supply/fan sit in a home-made expansion box. I suffer the usual A3000
problems with regard to the oxidation of the memory connectors. The
hard disc also tends to generate defects if the system is powered down
in an abnormal way (i.e. not <ctrl-shift-f12>).
6.10
“My problem was symptomatically the same as Colin’s in that, initially,
the system froze completely while I was editing a First Word Plus
document eventually forcing me to press <reset>. The screen flashed red
then blue with no further action − a power down produced the same
results, I tried this several times to no avail. Finally in desperation,
I opened the box but nothing looked out of place (no charring or loose
leads). I powered up the machine and this time all was well, however,
when I verified the disc 20 or defects were reported, when these were
added to the disc’s defect list, using *DEFECT, some of the files within
the first Word Plus application directory where corrupt and this had to
be restored from a backup.”
6.10
Tony wonders, therefore, whether Colin Wood’s assumption that his
problem related directly to the ARM3 upgrade was correct. Could the
problem lie with RISC OS 3.1? Does anyone have any views on this?
6.10
Other matters arising
6.10
• Cache control − In response to the comments about difficulty on
RISC OS 3 with hares, tortoises and ARM3s, David Percival has sent in an
application that controls it properly. It evens notices if you have
typed in a cache-on or cache-off command or have executed one within a
program and it still displays the correct icon on the iconbar! David
Percival, Swanley.
6.10
• Redraw problems (Archive 6.8 p29) − A problem of incorrect screen re-
drawing in !Edit was mentioned. Tim Nicholson has had the same problem
with Deskedit! He says it seems to be a particular problem with
unformatted text that only has carriage returns/line feeds as paragraph
breaks and nowhere else. Since both pieces of software have the same
problem, he wonders if the bug is in the SharedCLib? Has anyone else had
the same problem?
6.10
• Printing after Artworks (Archive 6.5 p31 and 6.8 p24) – Roger King
reported a problem with spurious fine horizontal lines about 4mm long
scattered throughout printouts when printing from another application
after printing from Artworks. Steve Hutchinson found that putting his
LaserDirect podule in a different slot (as recommended by Computer
Concepts) solved this problem for him. Unfortunately, this didn’t work
for Roger. However, he has now found a cure: after printing from
Artworks, select “Queue control” from the printer icon and then select
“Flush buffer”. He observes that it would seem that Artworks is leaving
something “nasty” in the printer buffer, although a CC representative
with whom Roger discussed the problem suggested that Acorn’s printer
drivers might be at fault.
6.10
• Photocopying via LaserDirect (Archive 6.8 p24) – Tim Powys-Lybbe has
got version 2.10 of the LaserDirect printer driver which works quite
satisfactorily and he has no more problems “photocopying” from Scanlight
Plus.
6.10
He adds cryptically that “some things may not print totally as one would
expect in Paint or Scanlight Plus, particularly their positioning on the
page, but putting them into Draw or Impression totally solves the
problem.” A
6.10
Hints and Tips
6.10
• Altering Impression frames − Here is another one of those hints that
everyone but me probably knew about all the time: If you want to change
the attributes of several different frames, (like making them all
transparent) all you do is click on the first frame, call up Alter frame
(with <ctrl-f10>), make the changes and then click OK with <adjust>
instead of <select>. This keeps the Alter frame dialogue box on screen.
Then click <select> on the next frame to be changed and make the change
in the Alter frame dialogue box which is still there on screen. This
speeds things up no end. Jochen Konietzko, Köln, Germany.
6.10
• Background printing − Various comments in Archive have suggested that
you need the Ace PROdriver in order to get background printing. However,
Keith Sloan’s PD program !Spooler (on Shareware 24) works with a
Panasonic 1124 + Impression II on RISC OS 3.11 − cheaper than using a
PROdriver! Chris Dawson, Derby.
6.10
• Disc storage boxes − Looking for new disc storage boxes? Look no
further than your local Supermarket or D.I.Y. Superstore! I have
recently purchased the Module 2000 Box and Lid (Ref. no’s. Unit 2 and
Lid 2) manufactured by Addis, the plastic kitchen accessory
manufacturers. The size of the box is 450×190×127.5mm and comes in
various colours. The combined cost of the box and lid recently was £4.78
and it holds approximately 144 discs. (I have arranged them in four
rows, each holding 36 discs). What is more, it is made in Britain, like
the Acorn Archimedes, and better in style and strength. Give me Addis
any time! Timothy Brown, Kent.
6.10
• Floptical drives − I offer the following as ‘Hints’ arising out of the
fairly extended process of getting my floptical drives to work (with
much help from Morley), in the hope that they will be useful to other
new owners.
6.10
The drive will not work at all with older ROMs fitted to the SCSI
interface board − you need version 1.12 at least. If you already have a
SCSI hard disc (or other SCSI peripheral) there should be no termination
resistors in the floptical drive. They are easily removed but you have
to remove the drive from its case first − they are close to the ribbon-
cable connector on the underside of the drive.
6.10
The drive is recognized as two devices. The 21Mb disc counts as a hard
disc and appears as SCSIDrive5 in my case (as I already had a SCSI
drive), while the facility for reading and writing to ADFS discs counts
as a floppy drive. I could not get the floppy device to be recognized at
all using the SCSI_conf program on Morley’s support disc, but had to do
it manually, using: *configure scsifslink 0 2 (followed by a reset).
This gives a ‘floppy’ icon called SCSIDrive0. (My drive arrived set up
as SCSI device 2 − you would need to modify the configure command if it
was set up to be another number.) There is no conflict between the SCSI
and ADFS floppy drives, although they are both called 0, and anyway the
computer will not allow you to call the SCSI floppy drive 1 if there is
no SCSI floppy drive 0.
6.10
The writing under the SCSI drive icons changes from the drive name to
the disc name when a disc is mounted. This is potentially confusing
until you know about it, because the default name of the 21Mb disc is
the number of the drive. I got into even worse confusion because I had
tested the Floptical on its own, so the disc became labelled “disc4”.
When I restored the real SCSI hard disc as well as the Floptical, I got
an error message saying there was a conflict of disc names.
6.10
By the way, since the floptical drive will not format discs, does anyone
know of a source of high-density floppies formatted ADFS 1.6Mb? Philip
Draper, Borehamwood.
6.10
In view of this problem with flopticals being unable to format 1.6Mb
discs, we are offering pre-formatted discs at £17 for 10. Ed.
6.10
• Pocket Book battery connections − The middle battery connector on the
Pocket Book/Psion 3 does not allow the use of AA batteries with indented
