INFO-ATARI16 Digest Mon, 9 Oct 89 Volume 89 : Issue 504 Today's Topics: Avant-Garde's PC_DDRVR.SYS (2 msgs) Database Free RAM from Atari Link format Monitor for all resolutions PD Word Processors Ram upgrades for 520 st Serial port Disk driver Spectre GCR and colour monitor ST->IBM PC, Floppies OK w/TOS 1.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 9 Oct 89 17:15:43 GMT From: aiki!kron@sun.com (Kenneth Kron) Subject: Avant-Garde's PC_DDRVR.SYS From article <1989Oct8.202742.10601@cs.dal.ca>, by silvert@cs.dal.ca (Bill Silvert): > Lars-Erik Osterud recently pointed out that you can use > Avant-Garde's PC_DDRVR.SYS to read normal ST disks on a PC. > -- > Bill Silvert, Habitat Ecology Division. > UUCP: ...!?uunet,watmath?!dalcs!biomel!bill > Internet: biomel@cs.dal.CA BITNET: bs%dalcs@dalac.BITNET How do you get pc_ddrvr.sys, is this sold as PC software or what ? Inquiring minds wanna know! Kenneth Kron ----- The opinions I expressed were mine, the opinions you formed are yours. kron@eng.sun.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1989 19:29:54 MET From: LarsErikOsterud Subject: Avant-Garde's PC_DDRVR.SYS I don't know any other way to get PC-DDRVR.SYS than to buy PC-Ditto or copy it from somebody that has PC-Ditto. Again this would be illegal (if somebody from Avant-Garde doesn't free PC_DDRVR.SYS from copyright) Lars-Erik / ABK-BBS +47 2132659 / ____ ______ ________________________ Osterud / larserio@ifi.uio.no / /___ / The norwegian ST __________/ ______________________/ ____/ / Klubben, user association ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 89 23:16:07 GMT From: gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!ctrsol!sdsu!crash!pnet01!dm@tut.cis.ohio-state.e du (Dan Melson) Subject: Database Having no experience with databases, I am now in the market for one, and would appreciate it if you would share your likes and dislikes about the various ST databases. The sorts of things each does well, or poorly, would be especially appreciated. Please respond via e-mail. DM ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 89 16:04:47 GMT From: shlump.nac.dec.com!enginr.dec.com!landry@decwrl.dec.com Subject: Free RAM from Atari In article <10085@xanth.cs.odu.edu>, src@cs.odu.edu (Scott R. Chilcote) writes... " " I opened my Mega 2 last week to install TOS 1.4, and discovered a TRULY "AMAZING thing. The machine had a complete set of RAM chips, a total of "FOUR MEGABYTES worth, installed!! " " " " So, for the cost of soldering one pin of one IC to the motherboard, I "have a FOUR MEGABYTE computer!! " My guess is that this was a Mega 4 that didn't pass the checkout. In the same way that chip makers sell slow chips at slower specs, Atari is probably selling Mega 4 fallouts as Mega 2's. It's probably cheaper for them to give away the chips than to repair the boards (on the average). So you got lucky! chris ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1989 2:47:11 MET From: LarsErikOsterud Subject: Link format I use Personal Pascal 2 for all my programming and need a little help. You can include your own C and ASM routines in Personal Pascal, but it will only accept files with DRI linker format and all my C-compilers and Assembler uses GST linker-format. Does anyone out there have a program to convert GST to DRI linker-format ? If not, can somebody make such a program - I'll pay for it !!! Lars-Erik / ABK-BBS +47 2132659 / ____ ______ ________________________ Osterud / larserio@ifi.uio.no / /___ / The norwegian ST __________/ ______________________/ ____/ / Klubben, user association ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Oct 1989 21:07:02 MET From: LarsErikOsterud Subject: Monitor for all resolutions Somebody asked about monitors for all 3 ST resolutions... My friend has a Philips CM 8873 Personal Monitor This is a VGA multsync and supports all resolutions.... The difference between this monitor and other multisync is THAT THE PHILIPS CM 8873 HAS BUILD-IN SPEAKER AND AMPLIFIER !!! Lars-Erik / ABK-BBS +47 2132659 / ____ ______ ________________________ Osterud / larserio@ifi.uio.no / /___ / The norwegian ST __________/ ______________________/ ____/ / Klubben, user association ------------------------------ Date: 10 Oct 89 01:05:40 GMT From: ogccse!blake!themod@ucsd.edu (Chris Hinton) Subject: PD Word Processors Hello you netters, I need some help. I need a good PD Word Processor. I have (gak!) 1st Word, but I hate it with a passion. I also think spending $100+ for any program is just plain stupid. Any suggestions? Chris Hinton ---- themod@blake.acs.washington.edu Mod Software Systems Seattle, Wa 98195 "Why didn't you tell me he had one of those... things?" - The Joker. "My life is really...complex." - Bruce Wayne. "Excuse me... What does God need with a starship?" - James T. Kirk. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 89 20:02:00 GMT From: sunybcs!bediako@boulder.colorado.edu (Bernard Bediako) Subject: Ram upgrades for 520 st Can anyone tell give any recommendations on the best solderless ram upgrade kits? Right now I'm heading toward the EZ ram II. I need to know any comments/problems there are with it. Also, does it matter what speed (ns) chips I use? Will there be any problems using 100 or 80ns chips? Will things speed up if I use 80ns chips? (I'm planning on using 1M * 1 chips). thanks bernie bediako@cs.buffalo.edu Bernard Bediako --------=-=-=-=-=-> DOMAIN: bediako@cs.buffalo.edu ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 89 17:03:48 GMT From: gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!peregrine!ccic pg!paulm@apple.com (tmp Paul Moreau usenet acct) Subject: Serial port Disk driver Hi: I've been doing some drive changes on my ST latelly and been needing a backup system. I've tried turtle but I haven't loads of floppies that I can use for this nor the time to sit in front of my computer all day switching diskettes. What I do have is a couple of UNIX systems (one system V and one BSD 4.2) with lots of disk space and 5 1/4 cartridge tape drives. I then started to consider using the UNIX system but had to get the information to it some how. I thought of using xmodem but it also required some intervention. I've been writing disk driver code for a while (my MAXTOR 380 meg ESDI drive) and all of a sudden it flashed on me to just convert the actual I/O routines in the driver so that instead of going to the DMA port, it went via the serial port. I over came the non re-entrant BIOS problem and wrote a handler that runs on the UNIX system. I can create a disk file on the unix system from 128K to 16meg, start the TSR driver on the ST and Wella... I've got a drive 'P' on my st that I can just drag files or disk ICONS to and start the copy and go away for a while. If used with a disk caching program this drive can be quite fast. Well I've been reading this forum for quite a while and have downloaded a lot of great stuff. If anybody is interrested in my code I will post it PD on this net or (try) to mail it to whom-ever asks. Currently I am working on another UNIX side utility to copy to and from files from UNIX and the ST disk file. ---- .===========================================================. | ### ####### ### | N O R T H | /==============\ | | ### ### ### | A M E R I C A |< An STC Company >| | ### ####### ####### | (was CCI) | \==============/ | |-----------------------------------------------------------| | UUCP: ...ccicpg!dl2!paulm | Paul L. Moreau | | or ...ccicpg!dl1!paulm | Diagnostics Software Eng. | | or ...ccicpg!paulm | Irvine, California | `===========================================================' ------------------------------ Date: 6 Oct 89 19:05:58 GMT From: ubc-cs!alberta!calgary!cpsc!bremner@beaver.cs.washington.edu (David Bremner) Subject: Spectre GCR and colour monitor Does the Spectre GCR work with the Atari RGB monitor? ----------- BITNET: Bremner@UNCA-MULTICS.BITNET USENET: bremner@ksi.cpsc.ucalgary.ca ------------------------------ Date: 9 Oct 89 14:32:51 GMT From: att!chinet!saj@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Stephen Jacobs) Subject: ST->IBM PC, Floppies OK w/TOS 1.4 This is in reply to a whole bunch of *ABSOLUTELY*WRONG* messages about exchanging disks between Atari ST-s and IBM PS2 machines. A PS2 will correctly read from and write to any disk an ST can format so long as the boot sector doesn't lie about the format, and so long as the first 3 bytes of the boot sector are EB 34 90 (that was 3 bytes of hex, people). If you copy an IBM boot sector to a floppy with a format different from that described in that boot sector it will crap out. I ROUTINELY put the 3 magic bytes at the start of disks formatted with TWISTER and use them on PS2s. Don't bother flaming me for getting fed up, just fire up DRFLOPPY or MEMFILE (or even a PS2 sector editor) and TRY IT. Steve J. ------------------------------ End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #504 *****************************************