Info-Atari16 Digest Sun, 1 Dec 91 Volume 91 : Issue 629 Today's Topics: 4 SALE! Atari 1040ST for SALE Atari Archive Important News Flash Atari ST DEAD ? Atari Sys 5 Unix- any owners out there? C-compilers DESKTOP.INF - How do I install two o Does the AdSpeed STe *REALLY* double the speed? Lexicor ads Quick-ST 2 or 3 wanted rufus SHADOW question ST software 4 Sale! TT prices Wanted: ST Mono System Why ASV Is A Dead No Future Product Welcome to the Info-Atari16 Digest. The configuration for the automatic cross-posting to/from Usenet is getting closer, but still getting thrashed out. Please send notifications about broken digests or bogus messages to Info-Atari16-Request@NAUCSE.CSE.NAU.EDU. Please send requests for un/subscription and other administrivia to Info-Atari16-Request, *NOT* Info-Atari16. Requests that go to the list instead of the moderators are likely to be lost or ignored. If you want to unsubscribe, and you're receiving the digest indirectly from someplace (usually a BITNET host) that redistributes it, please contact the redistributor, not us. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 1 Dec 91 06:55:58 GMT From: apple!equinox!cs.unr.edu!chan@ames.arpa (Kaho Chan) Subject: 4 SALE! To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu FOR SALE: Okidata Okimate 20 Color Printer -24 pin, italics, underline, super, sub, condensed, color CyberPrint -program that works exclusively with Okimate 20 -print SPECTRUM 512 pictures (all the colors) -EXCELLENT printouts! -3 different print sizes TOTAL > $300. Will let go for $125 + COD S&H UPS O.B.O. (!!!!!!!) :( Won't run (Spectrum) with TOS 2.5 :( Thanks in advance... email: chan@mammoth.cs.unr.edu Kaho Chan<============= or call: (702) 358-7633 pst 12p-9p. ------------------------------ Date: 27 Nov 91 23:34:41 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!hp-cv!hp-pcd!hp-vcd!tomw@arizona.edu (Tom Williams) Subject: Atari 1040ST for SALE To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I have an Atari ST system for sale. Specs follow: 1. Atari 1040ST (1Meg RAM, color monitor, 760k internal floppy) 2. Atari SH204 20Mb hard disk never modified in any way, never had a single hardware problem, runs perfectly 3. Joystick, mouse 4. Software: -- Gobs! First Word simple word processing (name escapes me) Lotus 123-like spreadsheet Neochrome paint program DB One poor man's database Pagestream desktop publishing Dr. T's MIDI sequencing Musical scoring works with Dr. T's Music Studio yet another MIDI music program Mark Williams C C program development Falcon F16 simulator Flight Simulator flight sim + 2 scenery disks Dive Bomber "sink the Bismark" simulation Megablast fantastic arcade shoot-em-up Silent Service submarine simulator Star Raiders space action/adventure Much more that I can't remember right now. Lot's of public domain stuff. I also have a Casio CZ101 (small keys) synthesizer that I would probably part with if you are interested. Price? How about: $500 for everything but synthesizer $100 for synthesizer $50 shipping costs (lots of books,etc) If you are interested, write to me at tomw@vcd.hp.com or call me at (206)-944-2306. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 91 04:37:53 GMT From: noao!ncar!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!umich!terminator!terminator.cc.umich.edu!weiner@arizona.edu (Jeff Weiner) Subject: Atari Archive Important News Flash To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu And now a word from our man in the gnu, the umap uk/euro connection, the one, the only, Graham Higgins: Date: Thu, 28 Nov 91 17:57:33 GMT From: Graham Higgins Hmm. My usenet posting ability has just died. I'd be grateful if you could warn usenetters that the structure of gnustuff/tos has changed. Each leaf directory of the subdir tree has an aa.gnu. file containing the version or patchlevel of the GNU s/w in that leaf directory, the output from "ls -l *.zoo" and where appropriate, the text of the relevant README file. In addition, there is a Contents file, containing the output from "zoo -v *.zoo" e.g. gemlib has: aa.gnu.gemlib, Contents, gemolb.zoo and gemlib.zoo In the gnustuff/tos directory there are significantly new ls-R and ls-Rl files which interested usenetters should obtain. The gnustuff/tos structure is likely to remain stable for the immediate future. Have a look, see what I did. -- Graham Higgins << My opinions above are exactly that: my own, and opinions. >> -- Jeff Weiner --- weiner@atari.archive.umich.edu --- Umich atari posse Corner of Packard and State, 2nd house from Blue Front on Arbor 718 Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, +1 313 998 0892, near the Univ. of Michigan ------------------------------ Date: 30 Nov 91 23:45:57 GMT From: math.fu-berlin.de!rusmv1!ttinfo@uunet.uu.net (Markus Wenzel) Subject: Atari ST DEAD ? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Some bloody fuckin' bastard put this junk into the net: >> I am supprised that the Atari st has not died for the more > favourable Amiga 500 series. The atari is such a bad machine > that I am supprised people buy it !!! > > [...] rest of madness omitted! > Should ST's be put in the newsgroup rec.humor instead because they are all > jokes. Could anybody hang him up or cut off his _very_ thinwire cable? I'm not considering ATARI as the best computer, but once I had a VC 20 and a C 64, and for the reason I threw the damned floppy drive out of the window, I would not buy a COMMODORE computer any more! My opinion was, the British like to have a strange kind of humor. But they had better times, didn't they? * /dev/ Markus Wenzel, University of Stuttgart * * /usr/spool/mail/ wenzel@rus.uni-stuttgart.de * * /usr/voice/private/ +49 (0)7159 18201 * * /bin/ps -l TT admin on rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de * * /etc/motd >> We'll meet in /dev/null ...8-) << * ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 91 00:05:03 GMT From: math.fu-berlin.de!rusmv1!ttinfo@uunet.uu.net (Markus Wenzel) Subject: Atari Sys 5 Unix- any owners out there? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1991Nov29.213840.2746@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) writes: >In article <1991Nov26.141528.12615@rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de> ttinfo@rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de (Markus Wenzel) writes: >>In article <9939@cactus.org> covert@cactus.org (Richard Covert) writes: >>would not find the TT underpowered. I would never give my TT away for >>a 386 or 486 clone or a low cost Mac. Macs with the same performance are >>three times as expensive. > >Oh come on...We all know that I'm not a big fan of Atari, but this statement >is simply ridiculous. For the price of an Atari system with a decent >unix configuration, you could EASILY buy an Apple Quadra, a Sun Sparcstation >ELC, NeXTstation (68040 box) or a low end Apollo/HP box. I think we should cancel the discussions about prices, because they really depend on where you have to buy your stuff. Prices in USA seem to be entirely different from Europe, particularly Germany. I got the current prices from Atari Germany a few days ago, and I must agree, that a NeXTStation or a Sparc are propably the better solution. But Atari made an offer at the exposition in Duesseldorf that was simply great: a complete ASV workstation with TT/8, 210 MB HD and 19" screen for less than 8.000 DM. >Whether of not the TT is a decent home computer is one thing, but to try >to pawn it off as some sort of unix "workstation" is really funny when >you consider what other products are available for the same price range. > >Do you honestly think any serious unix user will take an Atari product >seriously? YES, I DO THINK SO. Thinking of A/UX and other buggy Unix implementations, I must say that I have only heard GOOD NEWS about ASV yet. I haven't got the money to purchase it right now, so I couldn't test it myself, but I'm sure one day I will do. And I am still proud of NOT owning a BIM compatible. I would buy a NeXT if I could, surely, but... my TT was all I could afford :-) * /dev/ Markus Wenzel, University of Stuttgart * * /usr/spool/mail/ wenzel@rus.uni-stuttgart.de * * /usr/voice/private/ +49 (0)7159 18201 * * /bin/ps -l TT admin on rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de * * /etc/motd >> We'll meet in /dev/null ...8-) << * ------------------------------ Date: 28 Nov 91 12:14:12 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!think.com!rpi!sarah!cs.albany.edu!psinntp!psinntp!tfd!afp!gna!linn!Marco.Fris@arizona.edu (Marco Fris) Subject: C-compilers To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In a message of <20 Nov 91 16:11:36>, fvlarsen@solan.unit.no (2:320/100.1) writes: > I am planning to buy myself a C-compiler for > the Atari ST. I have been browsing through some > to Lattice C 5.06.02 by HiSoft. Having great > confidence in Hisoft (thanx to DevPacST), this > compiler caught my interest. > In the early days Lattice had a bad reputation for speed of compilation & program execution, among others. This has been improved undoubtedly, but I don't know how much. Best by far is Pure-C (used to be Turbo-C ST) but you'll have to be able to understand (and stand) german. I worked with Laser C before that, and liked it a lot. Debugger was verry nice. Can't mention one single aspect where Turbo C doesn't run rings around Laser, though. - Marco - --- And now ... number one ... The Larch. Marco.Fris@p11.f202.n281.z2.fidonet.org or Marco.Fris@p11.f202.n281.z2.linn.gna.tfd.com ------------------------------ Date: 30 Nov 91 23:25:48 GMT cs.utexas.edu!wupost!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!umn.edu!msi.umn.edu!math.fu-berlin.de!unido!mcshh!malihh!pfunk.hanse.de!blackbox@arizona.edu (Michael KistenmacherNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNFF - How do I install two o To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In , Michel Forget writes: >Hello, > >How do I edit the DESKTOP.INF file so that it recognizes two (or three) >filename extensions for a particular application? For example, I would Simple and easy. For example I will show you some lines from my DESKTOP.INF: ... #P 03 04 C:\GUCK.TTP@ *.*@ #D FF 01 @ *.*@ #G 03 FF *.APP@ @ #G 03 FF *.PRG@ @ #P 03 FF *.TTP@ @ #F 03 04 *.TOS@ @ #G 03 04 D:\ARC\EXE_2_60.PRG@ *.LZH@ #G 03 04 D:\ARC\EXE_2_60.PRG@ *.LZS@ #G 03 04 D:\ARC\EXE_2_60.PRG@ *.ARC@ #G 03 04 D:\ARC\EXE_2_60.PRG@ *.ZOO@ #G 03 04 D:\ARC\EXE_2_60.PRG@ *.SFX@ #G 03 04 D:\ARC\STZIP.PRG@ *.ZIP@ #P 03 04 C:\BIN\EH_MGIF.TTP@ *.GIF@ ... As you see, I have simply copied the lines containing the '#G' command and replaced the extensions at the end of the lines. But be beware of your text-editor. It must not cut off bytes arbitrary, because there is a trailing at the end of each line, which is very important to TOS (As your editor might think it's not :-)). Also I recognized a (26hex) at the end of the DESKTOP.INF file. As I removed it, I could not see any difference when working on my ST, but perhaps it might be better to leave it there. Bye......Michael -- /------------------------------------\ | Michael Kistenmacher / blackbox | | 2000 Hamburg 61 / Schippelsweg 64 | | West Germany / ++ 49 40 552 37 66 | \------------------------------------/ ------------------------------ Date: 30 Nov 91 23:09:17 GMT From: tulane!ukma!aunro!ersys!mforget@ames.arpa (Michel Forget) Subject: Does the AdSpeed STe *REALLY* double the speed? To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Hello, As I've said several times, I plan to upgrade to an STe with 4 Megs of RAM soon, and I would also like to have a 16 MHZ machine. The question is, will the AdSpeed STe really double the speed of the machine or will it only double the speed of the processor? Older accellerator boards for the ST claimed to give 16 MHZ performance, but only actually improved the speed by 25-30%. What kind of performance can I expect from an AdSpeed STe? << ------------------------------------------ >> << mforget@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca >> << ersys!mforget@nro.cs.athabascau.ca >> << Michel Forget >> << "Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, >> << for they are not happy campers!" - UNKNOWN >> << ------------------------------------------ >> ------------------------------ Date: 29 Nov 91 18:58:43 GMT From: noao!ncar!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!csus.edu!beach.csulb.edu!nic.csu.net!csun.edu!kithrup!hoptoad!wet!wet.UUCP@arizona.edu (Ed Krimen) Subject: Lexicor ads To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu Here's a little information I found on GEnie concerning the images Lexicor uses for their ads. I remember someone here posting that they thought Lexicor was participating in some kind of advertising fraud. Atari-ST RoundTable Category 25, Topic 5 Message 82 Wed Nov 27, 1991 M.POCHE [Mick] at 01:19 EST Lee, I recently bought a copy of Atari Explorer and saw your advertisement on the inside back cover. Very nice. The pictures in the ad, one of a drop of water falling into a pool (which I believe is on the Phase-4 packaging, right?), and one of a tomato plopping into water are really impressive! The fine print at the bottom of the page states "Actual screens shown, Atari TT medium resolution, Atari/Lexicor 24 bit color card." Which picture is the TT shot, and which is from the 24-bit card? Also, were these pictures created start-to-finish with the Phase-4 line of software, or imported from another platform? Whichever, the ad is very nice and very professional looking. Maybe, hopefully, if I'm lucky, Santa Claus will be good to me this year and get some of your software for me! I'm getting tired of ashes and switches ;^) - Mick ---------- Atari-ST RoundTable Category 25, Topic 5 Message 83 Wed Nov 27, 1991 L.SEILER [LEXICOR] at 04:15 EST Mick, I have been waiting for three months for someone to ask your question! The picture of the Tomato was done on the TT using PRISM Paint with just the mag bits and color picker. It is based on one of my favorite subjects..."Japanese photo real action" art. it is quite popular in some circles. I started with several tissue sketches based on an ad I saw in a magazine. I made several greyline drawings in Prism paint then used these to make the color blends which would eventually be the finished drawing. with this work done I could then build a 256 palette for the final drawing. The next step was time consuming but required. I built a 3D model of the tomato and splash which I then rotated and shifted in Chronos untill it was positioned as you now see the final drawing. Now I saved a one frame .FLM in chronos and loaded it into Prismpaint. Now I had a "perfect" sketch to work with. I then loaded in my palette and began (in mag mode) painting in the various colors. I generally do an hour or so of work, then stop for a while only to return to it later. this way when I come back to the work I can stand back from the monitor and see the general impact of the work as it progresses. The final work is to take screen shots with a 35mm camera. to make the final image as smooth and realistic I generally "break" the focus to soften the image a bit. Thats the tomato project. The Drop is a simple truecolor rendering of a cad object in front of a painting of clouds. the water is just a reflective plade with some ripples modeled into it. It was done with our first prototype. Thats it. I wish we had a scanner that worked with the TT or our card! I would love to be able to use "24Bit images as background" images for animations. This will all come as soon as we get the VDI from ATARI. Lee ---------- ------------------------------ Date: 28 Nov 91 11:34:28 GMT Subject: Quick-ST 2 or 3 wanted To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In a message of <20 Nov 91 14:02:46>, cordes@ac.dal.ca (2:320/100.1) writes: > I think QuickST 1.6 was the last shareware version, everything later > being commercial. There were useable demo versions of later revisions, but everyone I've seen didn't perform as good as 1.6. - Marco - --- And now ... number one ... The Larch. or Marco.Fris@p11.f202.n281.z2.linn.gna.tfd.com ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 91 07:48:07 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!yale.edu!spool.mu.edu!think.com!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!homer.cs.mcgill.ca!davidd@arizona.edu Subject: rufus To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I can't get the version of rufus recently posted to un-zoo properly. I am using (what I think to be) the most recent version of zoo (2.1), and it only extracts the first file before it stops. Help, anyone? Or is it just a bad copy that was posted? David D'Andrea ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 91 05:58:00 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!gvlf3.gvl.unisys.com!tredysvr!cellar!revpk@arizona.edu (Brian 'Rev P-K' Siano) Subject: SHADOW question To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In Flash, I can configure my ASCII uploads to strip the linefeeds, thereby avoiding the linefeeds inserted by my local node's editor. However, using Shadow, I can't seem to turn the linefeed bit off. This is, obviously, a problem. Any suggestions? ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 91 06:50:21 GMT From: agate!apple!equinox!cs.unr.edu!chan@ames.arpa (Kaho Chan) Subject: ST software 4 Sale! To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu My MegaSTe won't run these... FOR SALE: Art & Film Director (retail $90) Captain Blood (too bad...) (retail $50) Time Bandit (ugh...) (retail $40) Major Motion (retail $40) MicroLeague Wrestling (retail $35) Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (retail $30) Spectrum 512 (uuugggghhhhh....) (retail $70) UniSpec (UUUGGGHHH... Spectrum + animation in a desk accessory) (retail $75) Speedball II (it's okay... liked Speedball I) (retail $40) Considering that half of these are old... I would like to sell all of them together + buyer pay S&H, COD UPS. Total > $450. I will sell it all for $150 O.B.O. (flexible on any combo too!) email: chan@mammoth.cs.unr.edu Kaho Chan<============= or call: (702) 358-7633 PST 12p-9p. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 91 08:59:25 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!doug.cae.wisc.edu!umn.edu!noc.MR.NET!ns!ns!logajan@arizona.edu (John Logajan) Subject: TT prices To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu There is some discussion of TT prices, so I thought I'd mention what Toad Computers lists their TT's for: TT030 2MB No HD $1499 Color Monitor $479 Mono Mon $999 2/8MB ST Ram $299/$799 4/16MB TT Ram $549/$1399 50/105MB HD $279/$389 -- - John Logajan @ Network Systems; 7600 Boone Ave; Brooklyn Park, MN 55428 - logajan@ns.network.com, 612-424-4888, Fax 612-424-2853 ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 91 06:00:31 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!yale.edu!spool.mu.edu!agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!ba014@arizona.edu (Matthew C. Brinkhoff) Subject: Wanted: ST Mono System To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu I'm looking for a 1040STf Monochrome system to do some experimenting on... I'd prefer 2+ megs of RAM, but even the base 1 meg system will do. I do *not* want non-working STs, or decked-out systems. This system is for experimentation, so I'd like to keep it inexpensive. Thanks! -- o-------------------------------------------------------------------------o | Orwell was an optimist! | ba014@cleveland.freenet.edu | E Pluribus Unix | o-------------------------------------------------------------------------o ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 91 05:06:09 GMT From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!sander@arizona.edu (Scott D Anderson) Subject: Why ASV Is A Dead No Future Product To: Info-Atari16@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article , thurlow@convex.com (Robert Thurlow) writes: > In <9962@cactus.org> covert@cactus.org (Richard Covert) writes: > > > >I contend that Atari's ASV (Atari Sys V UNIX) is a product > >with no future. > > >1) The Tt030's native (Atari original equipment) color resolution > > is too coarse to support X Windows. Proof of this fact is that > > Atari requires the user of their monochrome monitor, and does > > not support ASV under color. A monochrome only X windows > > workstation is not a viable commerical product. > > That'll sure be big news to NCD, which sells monochrome xterms by the > boatload, and to my company, which has bought a fair few. Why exactly > do you think color is necessary? Do you just like it because it's > prettier? a note from the user-interface point of view: to design a good color interface, you should design an interface that looks good on a monochrome, and then add the color, not the other way around. having x-windows at all makes it a viable commercial product, color or not. > > >3) The TT030 is overpriced. A Base TT0304/40 is about 2 grand. Add > > 1 grand for the monochrome monitor, another grand for more memory ( > > can't even use cheap memory 'cause you gotta buy an expensive memory > > board from Atari to add more memory), and another 2 grand for the > > ASV and you are up to 6 grand. And that is for an Atari computer > > whose resale value is pratically NIL. Ever try to sell a used > > Mega ST recently? A glut of those babies on the market now. > > Your comments on resale value are well taken, but have you seen what > used '386 machine go for these days? And yet people buy them if they > are the right tool. I'm also amused by your belief that you'd have > to spend $1K for a monochrome monitor and $1K for memory. Just how > fancy were you planning to get in this expenditure? I agree that the > TT030 is a pricey, fringe-market box, but you don't need to go so far > overboard to make this point. my company bought our TT for $1500. basic 2Meg RAM, 50MB drive, etc. the monochrome version was the same price. we also have recently bought an IBM ps/2 which is a 286 machine (i believe, don't quote me) for $1400. i would take the TT with unix over the ps/2 with unix any day. > > >4) No Big Name Vendors will support the TT/ASV. Proof of this is the > > fact that Atari can't provide a commerically supported C/C++ > > compiler for the ASV. Instead Atari is merely packaging the public > > domain FSF GNU compilers. While these are fine tools, they should > > be classed as "experimental" and aren't commerically supported. > > Do you really think that you can call someone at Atari to get help > > when you find a project killing bug in the GNU compilers? I think not. > > You must never have used GNU CC, as your comments are misleading. > GNU CC has a very good reputation for compiling correct and _fast_ > code. As for bugs, you're usually doomed if you find a new one, > as it usually isn't a quick job to fix the compiler and FedEx a > new copy. I expect quicker turnaround on a Unix kernel bug than > a compiler bug. gcc is probably the standard c compiler around here. not commercially supported, yes, but that is the *point* of the gnu project. very good software produced as freeware, to avoid the problems associated with commercial software based on profit margins... [point 6 and reply deleted] > > >so, if you care to argue the viability of the Atari ASV package > >please respond to my six points above. But remember the market place > >is the final judge and if ASV doesn't sell it won't last!! No one > >is going to buy ASV just to play games (and we all know that the > >TT030 is just a fancy games machine !!). > > This is probably the most unrealistic statement in your entire > article. The TT030 is either a serious machine or a failure at > being a serious machine because of the expense. Anyone buying > it for games should stop by and let me examine their wallet > closely for a few minutes :-) As a market analyst, you should > make sure you hang onto your day job for a few more years. my original understanding of the TT series was that of a high-end *music* machine. built in MIDI, very fast processor, high amounts of disk space for storing samples, etc. In fact, that is what it was pitched as to my company (a radio station) and this is the purpose for which we bought our machine, a purpose which it has served admirably well. > > Rob T > -- > Rob Thurlow, thurlow@convex.com > Recent poll results show that more Canadians believe that Elvis Presley > is alive than would vote for the current Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney. scott anderson ------------------------------ End of Info-Atari16 Digest ******************************