========================================================================= INFO-ATARI16 Digest Wed, 18 Apr 90 Volume 90 : Issue 459 Today's Topics: Bug in CSD, no help from MWC PC Ditto 3.0, ICD Adapter, DOS BOOT Severe Dcreate() bug in GEMDOS 0.23 Sozobon C and GEM... SUMMARY: STE compatibility and Hard Disk recommendations TOS 1.4 info Zoo output to file (Was: Re: EPROM programmer wanted.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 Apr 90 15:59:32 GMT From: chinet!saj@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (Stephen Jacobs) Subject: Bug in CSD, no help from MWC Message-ID: <1990Apr18.155932.4173@chinet.chi.il.us> I've been talking to the ST support guy at Mark Williams Co a lot lately (found 2 MAJOR new bugs in the C compiler while working on the umoria port-- if you use bitfields, be careful and check the generated code; the other one is too obscure to worry about). Anyway, as stated, they aren't presently doing upgrades or new products for the ST. They are, however, still providing help and advice. They are still doing the record keeping needed to get back into ST development fast, should the demand appear. If the expected 520ST blitz sells lots of machines (that could go either way), it might make the difference. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 18:39:08 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!deimos.cis.ksu.ed u!uafhp!uafhcx!cjy@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Calvin Yockey) Subject: PC Ditto 3.0, ICD Adapter, DOS BOOT Message-ID: <4085@uafhp.uark.edu> In article <1578@lzsc.ATT.COM>, hcj@lzsc.ATT.COM (HC Johnson) writes: >>[previous article describes problems using ICD Adapter and PCD2] > > The DOCs with PC_Ditto (II) describe the problem and a fix. I can't find any reference to it in the doc's I recently received with my PCD2. Can you point me in the right direction? > > The problem: > >[Detailed explanation of the reasons for the problem omitted] > > Avant-Garde now supplies a fixup program with PC-ditto II, but its > needed for I also. What's the name of the fixup program? I have a program to fix Atari drives, but that's it. Tried it and it didn't work. > > > Howard C. Johnson > ATT Bell Labs > att!lzsc!hcj > hcj@lzsc.att.com Thanks for any pointers Howard or anyone else can give me. Calvin Yockey cjy@uafhcx.uark.edu Univesity of Arkansas ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 17:30:41 GMT From: fernwood!portal!atari!apratt@uunet.uu.net (Allan Pratt) Subject: Severe Dcreate() bug in GEMDOS 0.23 Message-ID: <2154@atari.UUCP> alderaan@tubopal.UUCP (Thomas Cervera) writes: >apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt) writes: >> #include >> main() >> ? >> int fd; >> long err; >> >> fd = Fcreate("silly",0); >> Fclose(fd); >> err = Dcreate("silly"); >> printf("err is %ld\n",err); >> exit(0); >> ? >>prints "err is -36" (EACCDN, access denied). I'm using TOS 1.4's GEMDOS. > Uhm. Maybe your C library does the Fsfirst ? Uhm. The capitalized "function calls" are actually direct OS calls, with no library intervention. What you see is what GEMDOS saw, with no interference from anything. What do you take me for? ============================================ Opinions expressed above do not necessarily -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp. reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else. ...ames!atari!apratt ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 19:32:58 GMT From: netnews.upenn.edu!msuinfo!news@rutgers.edu (David Schultz) Subject: Sozobon C and GEM... Message-ID: <1990Apr18.193258.5015@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> I was reading about needing dastart.o and some other libraries in order to run Sozobon from GEM. I currently run from Gulam, BUT on a 520ST with only one DS drive, it would be nice to compile from GEM. That would give me an extra 200K to work with. I've got some big projects coming up, so if someone can help me out, please do. #define DISCLAIMER "It's NOT my fault...!" _____________________________________________________________________________ David W. Schultz | | 312 N. Case Hall | schultzd@cpsin.cps.msu.edu | M Michigan State Univ. | schultzd@frith.egr.msu.edu | S E. Lansing, MI 48825 | Last Chance: 517 355-7033 | G ________________________|_______________________________|____________________ # # # _______________________________________ # # # / ________________ # # # /________ / # # # / / # # # _____________/ / # # # __________________________________________________#_____#_____#______________ -- #define DISCLAIMER "It's NOT my fault...!" _____________________________________________________________________________ David W. Schultz | | ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 16:51:21 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!edcastle!eric@uunet.uu.net (E S Fraga) Subject: SUMMARY: STE compatibility and Hard Disk recommendations Message-ID: <3371@castle.ed.ac.uk> First of all, thanks to everybody that answered my posting. This is the promised summary in response to my posting a couple of weeks ago. Essentially, the answers to my two questions are: 1. the STe's are compatible with everything I would want one for (mostly editors, compilers, shells, and terminal emulators). 2. all kinds of different answers although Third Coast Technologies got the most votes (not that the number is statistically valid :-). I have included all useful (i.e. > 0 information content :-) responses at the end of this posting. Again, thanks to everybody that answered! eric ---------------------------------------//------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------//------------------------------------ From: Herbert Sauro I saw your mail on comp.sys.atari.st concerning STE compatibility. Four things I run regularly are: Mark Williams C - no problems so far TeX from Tools of W. Germany - no problems so far Gulam - if you ask for free mamory it bombs out, otherwise seems ok Prospero Pascal - no problems so far. I think you'll find that the majority of serious software runs without problems. Its probably mainly games which are having problems with compatibility. Basically don't believe what you read in the mags, expecially ST Format and those weeklies. Herbert Sauro Genetics, KB, Edinburgh PS I have a 2MB STE (SM124 of course) + home-made hard disk and I am quite happy with it (especially the price, 450 pounds for 2MB STE). ------------------------------------//------------------------------------ From: olorin@ed.cs.tardis I've just got an STE myself (4 meg 600 quid from best prices). The following stuff I have checked and it appears OK. GCC , Minix , Gulam , TeX ... I'll check Uniterm. Mind you there's a rumour going round of an imminent price increase ... ------------------------------------//------------------------------------ From: "Jwahar R. Bammi" eric, i have second hand report from people who use some of the stuff that i wrote/ported that it all works on the STE (and TT, some of the stuff was shown at Ceebit), this list includes: gulam, gcc, TeX (StTeX, undump, BiBTeX), zmdm (terminal emulator with x/y/z modem). gulam: dont use the 'mem' builtin command, and you'll be ok. no one have reported any other incompatibility. -- bang: ?any internet host?!dsrgsun.CES.CWRU.Edu!bammi jwahar r. bammi domain: bammi@dsrgsun.ces.CWRU.edu GEnie: J.Bammi ------------------------------------//------------------------------------ From: Graham Thomas Eric, I'd appreciate it if you'd pass on whatever answers you get. I'm thinking of getting an expanded STE myself. The hard disk question is tricky, isn't it? We've had reasonably good reliability from our Atari SH205s and Megafile 20s, but they lose out a bit on price/performance. Supra disks have been a bit flaky (I know of three which have been ordered. Each has had to be sent back to be replaced. Frontier have been very good with support, and two of the three replacements have been reliable.) The Power Computing disks look tempting in terms of price, but I don't trust the company (not from personal experience - just things I've read about them from other users). The Vortex drives are heavily advertised in German mags, and are probably wery well made, but they're a bit more expensive than others. Third Coast drives might be the best compromise. I've not used any, and the company, I've heard, is a bit small and chaotic, but I've not heard of serious problems or dishonesty. Cheers, Graham ------------------------------------//------------------------------------ From: CSTMCS@stafpol.cr83 Sender: "JANET CSTMCS@UK.AC.STAFPOL.CR83" I think the best on the market at the moment is the THird Coast Technologies 65Mb or 85Mb drives. These are reasonably large, and relatively cheap. (65MB = #599, 85MB = #699) Both will take a second internal hard drive, which if it's SCSI embedded, can simply be plugged in. TCT offer a 4.5% educational discount, which you'd probably be able to use if you work at Edinburgh Uni. As an alternative, since the TCT drives are so easily upgradable, you might like to buy a smaller unit, and add an additional drive. In Micro Computer Mart there are regular advertisements for 40Mb Scsi drives for about #100. In the last issue, there was even a 85Mb Nec drive for #150. Finally, the TCT drives are some of the fastest available (typically 25ms) and have favourable reviews in various magazines (ST World, Jun 89 (?), ST User, Aug 89/May 89 etc. THe 85MB has a removable drive mechanism for security. I'll be buying a 65Mb drive next month, so if you get good reviews of other drives, could you forward the details to me, (though I have checked the competition very thouroughly:-) Good luck, Mark ( Computing Services, Staffordshire Polytechnic ) ------------------------------------//------------------------------------ From: SCOFFIN@ox.vax >From : Rob Scoffin Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Oxford SCOFFIN@uk.ac.oxford.vax I have just read your plea in info-atari16 for largish Atari HD's. We have two 65Mb drives bought from Third Coast Technologies in Bradford (look in any copy of ST User for details). The drives come in pretty "basic" cases but they seem well made and have enough space (and power supply potential) to add a second drive or a tape streamer (TCT sell their disks redy fitted with 40Mb streamers if you like). The disk driver software and utilities provided seem much better than the stuff that comes with the "Real" atari drives.... The last time I looked at their ad's I think they were offering 105Mb (all the way from 20Mb upwards) at quite a reasonable price... So far we have had no problems at all with either drive.... Hope this helps.... Robbie Scoff ================ p.s. Atari's financial health ???? Who does care ???? ------------------------------------//------------------------------------ From: Ralph Haglund Hi, I am not in England, but I can always say what I would do... Obviously buy a STE520 and put in SIMMs myself. Get a 105Mbyte hard disk from Germany for DM1999. Fast, SCSI. I got an 85Mb in August from that same company that now sells that beast. My disk slowly died with more and more errors (after all it is a Seagate, the 105Mb one isn't... ), returned the whole a few weeks ago to Germany, and a few days back I got paper from the customs here that it was back, they just wanted a few additional papers to show it was a return so I wouldn't have to pay customs twice. Dunno what you plan to do - I occassionally do service on Ataris so I am not afraid of opening them up... |-------------------------------------------------------------| | Want to talk to me? Try: | | QRALPH@SELDC51 || QRALPH@SELDC52 || qralph@dna.lth.se | | My name? In official Sweden it is: 4.901.185.654 (secret) | | Anywhere else: Ralph Haglund | | Disclaimer: If it works, it's out of date. | |_____________________________________________________________| ---------------------------------------//------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------//------------------------------------ -- +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Eric S Fraga, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Edinburgh | |phone: +44 31 667 1081 x2955, e.s.fraga@uk.ac.ed or e.s.fraga@ed.ac.uk | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 17:37:03 GMT From: fernwood!portal!atari!apratt@uunet.uu.net (Allan Pratt) Subject: TOS 1.4 info Message-ID: <2155@atari.UUCP> hcj@lzsc.ATT.COM (HC Johnson) writes: >I think Atari did it correctly. >For moves between logical disks, copy && remove is required. >For the degenerate case of rename, there is still the problem of a failure >during the operation with the file being lost. So copy && remove is >still the safest course. No, for the degenerate case the Desktop uses the Frename function, which diddles the directory entries, rather than doing a copy+delete. As of TOS 1.4, the Frename function is safer than before: there is no reasonable failure which will lose your original. The new directory entry is created before the old one is removed. This wasn't the case before. (Of course, extending a directory involves writing the FAT, and that can go wrong and clobber your file. Or you could be renaming within one directory, and a write error there could clobber your file. But I said reasonable failures.) O ye of little faith. Then again, any of ye who have faith in GEMDOS's robustness or fault-tolerance are living in a fool's paradise. ============================================ Opinions expressed above do not necessarily -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp. reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else. ...ames!atari!apratt ------------------------------ Date: 18 Apr 90 13:58:02 GMT From: eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!unido!laura!heike!klute@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Rainer Klute) Subject: Zoo output to file (Was: Re: EPROM programmer wanted.) Message-ID: <2114@laura.UUCP> In article <29061@cup.portal.com>, buggs@cup.portal.com (William Edward JuneJr) writes: |>>If your shell (or the GEM desktop) does not handle io redirection |>>correctly (I think Gulam doesn't) use Arcgsh to get the listing. It works. |> |>I have MT C Shell, wonder if it'll do it. |>Does Arcgsh allow print out of listings? I used to have that somewhere..... How to instruct Arcgsh to write the output of Zoo to a file instead of the screen: Click on "Filenames..." in the main Zoo dialog box, then select a file as "Standard output". Dipl.-Inform. Rainer Klute klute@heike.informatik.uni-dortmund.de Univ. Dortmund, IRB klute@unido.uucp, klute@unido.bitnet Postfach 500500 |)|/ ...uunet!mcvax!unido!klute D-4600 Dortmund 50 |\|\ Tel.: +49 231 755-4663 ------------------------------ End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #459 *****************************************