Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-0040/m26471.txt

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Info-Atari16 Digest   Thursday, September 14, 1989   Volume 89 : Issue 471

This weeks Editor: Bill Westfield

Today's Topics:

                        Novice after one year!
                        Re: DeskJet refilling
          Re: Duesseldorf: personal impression of the TT(T)
                Graphics file formats on new machines
                     Macintosh Stuffit .SIT files
                   Re: COLOREMU.PRG... What is it?
                     Re: QuickST/TurboST/Blitter
                   Re: ROM disassembly for TOS 1.4
                             compatibles
                     Re: Flash/Shadow and QuickST
             Re: ROM disassembly for TOS -- A suggestion.
                       Re: Help with HD for ST
                        Re: Mac Paint pictures

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:     Tue, 12 Sep 1989 16:16 EDT
From:     Greg Csullog <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Novice after one year!
To:       <[e-mail]>

I work at a large government research centre that has quite a few Atari
computers. Today, another employee asked me for help on using the Atari.
The funny thing about the situation is that he has been using the ST
as a Mac for about a year but he has never used it as an ST! The system
was set up for him and it automatically boots to Mac mode using Magic Sac.

I just thought netters might get a kick out of hearing about a case where
someone has never used an ST as an ST and could be a novice to GEM after
using his Atari computer for a year.

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 89 20:34:00 GMT
From: agate!bionet!sdsu!ucselx![e-mail]  (pat coffey)
Subject: Re: DeskJet refilling
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
 writes:
>
>WARNING: for those who did not notice it until now: NEVER close the cover
>while the printer is working. The cover just touches the head and it will
>cause damage to the head (stripes on paper). Propably someone at HP
>forgot about the thickness of the plastic cover. The part that touches the
>head is bent towards the head for pure cosmetic reasons!!
>
I'm not quite sure what you mean.  Never print with the cover closed or
never close the cover during a print operation?  Also are the
stripes white on black or black on white?  I've noticed white
stripes in my large fonts.  I thought it was because I was a bad kid
and refilled my cartridge.

--
     _   _        Ms. Pat Coffey
    |_) (_        San Diego State University
    |             [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 89 20:07:57 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!laura![e-mail]  (Andreas Toenne)
Subject: Re: Duesseldorf: personal impression of the TT(T)
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Neil Forsyth) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Andreas Toenne) writes:
>>FlightSimulator does not run even on a ST with HyperCache. (16Mhz 68000)

>If I remember correctly Sublogic wrote Flight Simulator to load at
>an absolute address. That is why it breaks when you have any memory hungry
>programs like caches already loaded. Slapped wrists to Sublogic.

No way!

FSII runs perfectly with installed ram-discs, accs or disc caches.
They must have done some other magic to prevent any performance
improvement :-)

    Andreas Toenne
    [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 89 20:05:03 GMT
From: microsoft![e-mail]  (Darek Mihocka)
Subject: Graphics file formats on new machines
To: [e-mail]

I've got a question about the new graphics modes, such as Hyperscreen,
Moniterm, and the new graphics modes in the STE and TT. Is there a
standard file format that will allow interchangability of graphics
images from one machine to another. Up until now, .PI1, .PI2, .PI3 and .NEO
seem to have been the standards because everybody had a 32000 byte screen.
What will happen now that screens are larger than 320K? None of the
above formats bother to include the screen resolution in their files.
Does Getrez() on the STE and TT just return higher numbers, like 3, 4, 5,
so you could theoretically update Degas to support .PI4, .PI5, etc, files.
Or are we all going to start using TIFF or GIF or color Mac paint?
Is TOS 1.4 smart enough to produce proper screen dumps on Hyperscreen
and other resolutions, or is Alt-Help a thing of the past? Do the new
graphics modes still work the same way (i.e. bit planes) or have they
scrambled screen memory in new and wonderful ways? A simple modification
to say, the Degas file format, might be to keep the first word which
indicates the graphics mode (0, 1, 2, 3, etc, which would map on to an
appropriate number of bit planes) followed by the color pallete and then
the image. Now, if the screen is not the standard 32000 bytes, invert
the high bit of the first word, and follow it immediately by two words
indicating the screen resolution, then the pallete, then the image.
i.e. a 1024x512 16 color image would have a header like this:
word 0: $8000 ($8000 | $0000)
word 1: $0400
word 2: $0200
words 3 thru 18: colors
words 19 to end: graphics image
That way normal Degas will puke if you try to load this new format, but
not the other way around.
Alternatively, you could go with a format that uses the normal Degas
format and appends additional data to the end of the file. The image would
then be stored in such a way that if you use Degas to load the image, it
would think it's loading a 640x400 image and display the upper left
640x400 pixels of the much larger image.
The reason I'd like to know is because I'm thinking of updating Megablit
<shrieks of horror from the other users> for the new graphics modes and
up until now I never did figure out how to implement a feature to save
the entire drawing area. (Megablit is a very cheap public domain larger-than-
screen graphics editor which I wrote way before Touch Up came out, so don't
believe those Touch Up ads <grin>).
Now that I've scared everybody away with the scary thought of a son of
Megablit, can I get some input from whoever has bothered to read this far?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darek Mihocka                 ST Xformer 2.5                    CIS: 73657,2714
Box 2624, Station B              MegaBlit                         GEnie: DAREKM
Kitchener, Ontario            Quick Utilities                    DELPHI: DAREKM
N2H 6N2                                                             BIX: darekm
Canada                               CheapNet: ...!uw-beaver!microsoft!w-darekm
(519)-747-0386      A mind is a terrible thing to waste, so just say no to TOS.

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 89 22:41:48 GMT
From:
 swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!leah!rpi!uruguay![e-mail]
  (Tim Onders)
Subject: Macintosh Stuffit .SIT files
To: [e-mail]

Does anyone have an ST program that unpacks Stuffit .SIT files? If
not, does anyone know where I can get the source code?

                    Tim Onders
                    [e-mail]
                    [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1989 1:16:26 MET DST
From: LarsErikOsterud <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: COLOREMU.PRG... What is it?
In-Reply-To: Your message of 11 Sep 89 23:45:46 GMT

Sorry about the missing DOC...
It's something i hacked together to run COLOR (low-res) programs on my
monovhrome monitor.  It's slow, and for some reason it won't work on all
ST's (works great on my MEGA and 520 with TOS 1.4)

  Lars-Erik   /   ABK-BBS [phone]   /   ____ ______
   Osterud   /   [e-mail]   /   /___    /

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1989 1:20:44 MET DST
From: LarsErikOsterud <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail] (Albert Yarusso)
Subject: Re: QuickST/TurboST/Blitter
In-Reply-To: Your message of 11 Sep 89 16:22:30 GMT

Yes, I know that Turbo-ST is faster, BUT does it support font-switching ?
The old one did not.  If the new one checks the line-a variables and don't
kill the vt52 emulation I'll buy one at once.  Just give me an adress !!!

  Lars-Erik   /   ABK-BBS [phone]   /   ____ ______
   Osterud   /   [e-mail]   /   /___    /

------------------------------

Date: 12 Sep 89 23:11:14 GMT
From: hall![e-mail]  (Bill Rosenkranz)
Subject: Re: ROM disassembly for TOS 1.4
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Dutka) writes:
=In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill Rosenkranz) writes:
=>do these include src code? i thought not.
=
= [he describes a few headers and a driver example]

i mean the entire OS, not just a few header files. atari provides all the
header files ON DISK that u need with the dev kit. i mean src to the BIOS
of the computer...

my admitedly quick glances at the ROM kernel and other amiga books looked
pretty good, but it would be impossible to see how accurate the documentation
is.

=This particular book cost me only $34.95...

if you get all 4 or 5 amiga books (readily available in many bookstores)
you end up paying over $100 (not bad, actually) but you get no compiler.
atari $300 is actually quite reasonable by comparison, especially since
atari decoupled docs from compiler in the dev kit. (i have the original,
so i don't know how things work now w.r.t. dev kit).

=| John Dutka         | "No matter how big a straw, you can't suck water up |
=| [e-mail] |  more than 34 feet."                                |
=| [e-mail]  |     -A WPI PROFESSOR WHO WISHES TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS |


-bill
[e-mail]


(BTW: does anyone know if MINIX-ST uses BIOS/XBIOS/GEMDOS? i suspect it
uses BIOS/XBIOS and does its own GEMDOS. can u still get at line-A from
minix? some day i'll get around to buying it...)

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 89 21:40:38 GMT
From: att!occrsh!uokmax!metnet![e-mail]  (Brian
 Hilbern)
Subject: compatibles
To: [e-mail]

This is to the person thinking about buying a PC compatible.

In a couple weeks PC Ditto II will be coming out.  For $230 you can run
IBM software on a 3.5" disk and if you buy a 5.25" drive you can run
5.25" IBM software.  This would be a better than buying a new system
because you will have the advantages of the ST and the advantages of
the IBM.


--
Brian Hilbern - via FidoNet node 1:147/10
UUCP: ...!att!occrsh!uokmax!metnet!Brian.Hilbern
INTERNET: [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 5 Sep 89 00:10:53 GMT
From:
 usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!peregrine!ccicpg!cci632!rit!ritcv!ajy
[e-mail]
Subject: Re: Flash/Shadow and QuickST
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jeffrey K.
 Long) writes:
>
>After I updated to Version 1.6 of Turbo-ST, I've NO compatibility problems
>with any combination of software!   I recommend v1.6 of Turbo-ST to all!!
>
Me too!  I bought Turbo ST from a software store locally and when I booted
it up on my 1040 I saw it was version 1.4.  Knowing that version 1.6 had
just come out, I called SofTrek and was surprised (and glad)
to learn that they are offering a free upgrade policy to anyone who purchased
Turbo ST between July 1 and October 1, 1989.  The next day I sent out the
disk and about a week later (!) I received an updated disk in the mail!

Turbo ST 1.6 FLIES!!!!  Version 1.4 was fast, but my eyes nearly popped out
of my skull when I saw GEM windows pop up on the desktop at lightspeed!!

__________________________________________________________________________
 Albert Yarusso               | [e-mail]
 Rochester Institute of Tech. | rutgers, ames!rochester!ritcv!ajy2208
 Computer Science             | [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 13 Sep 89 00:15:59 GMT
From: haven!uvaarpa!hudson!astsun7.astro.Virginia.EDU![e-mail]  (Greg
 Lindahl)
Subject: Re: ROM disassembly for TOS -- A suggestion.
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill Rosenkranz) writes:
>
>though john's suggestion is (probably) legal (i think i've seen these sorts
>of programs for the PC), the general idea is for atari to freely distribute
>the code to either 1) developers for a small fee, 2) all for a small fee.
>what is the big problem? everyone with an ST HAS the code on very accessible
>ROMs.

Atari distributes source for the BIOS and XBIOS in the dev kit docs.

>From what they've said, they DON'T OWN the source to the VDI, AES, and
GEMDOS. I have gathered this from comments made here and elsewhere.
They have been fixing bugs by decompiling pieces of it. [If I'm wrong,
someone please correct me...]

So, that's the big problem. Perhaps.


------
Greg Lindahl
[e-mail]                                             I'm not the NRA.

------------------------------

Date: 6 Sep 89 00:07:58 GMT
From:
 brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!peregrine!ccicpg!c
ci632!rit!ultb![e-mail]  (C.L. Freemesser)
Subject: Re: Help with HD for ST
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ajay Choudhri) writes:
>Hardrive.
>Its sitting here in front of me, hoping it can be hooked up to my ST.
>Well my questions are.
>1) Does anybody know anything about Rodime 21meg HD model# RO204??

I have one running on my BBS.  Great drive!

>2) It has a card edge connector. One has 10 contacts, the other part has
>   17 contacts, these two are separated by about a 1/2 inch.  Is this
>   standar ST506?? or SCSI or ESDI.

It is a standard ST506/412 drive, not a SCSI or ESDI drive.

>3) If it is ST506, I am under the impression I can use Adaptecs 4070 or 4000a
>   controllers+host adaptor. can I do this for the others?

Yep, I use an Adaptek 4000a with this drive.  You can use practically
any 506/412 drive on an Adaptek.

>   I mean if it is SCSI or ESDI, do I just need a Host Adaptor??
>   or do I still need a controller.

You need a controller.  Like I said, it does not have an embedded
controller.

>4) I bought a case and power supply so thats no problem but does the adaptor
>come with a DMA cable?

The ICD Host Adapter I use comes with the DMA cable.  However, you will
have to get a 50 pin header-header cable, 32 pin card edge-header cable,
and 20 pin card edge-header cable.  The "10 and 17 pin card edge" you
referred to are really 20 and 34.  Look at BOTH sides of the card.  Also
pin 1 on each card connector is labeled.

>5) Theres a wire trailing off this behemoth, is this a grounding wire??

I had no wire hanging off mine.  Is it connected to the housing, or the
circuit board?  Also, the bank of four "pins" on the side of the drive
are ID pins.  However, pin 1 (if I remember) is on the right hand side.

>thanks to everyone who can help me..

You're welcome.

Chris Freemesser, Rochester Institute of Technology | What I like :
BITNET: %clf3678@RITVAX   GEnie: C.FREEMESSER       | 1) My Atari ST
USENET: Just reply and hope it gets through         | 2) My '77 Mercury
Call the ACORN BBS [phone], 300/1200 baud     | 3) Coke Classic

------------------------------

Date: 11 Sep 89 19:17:00 GMT
From: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxa.cso.uiuc.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Re: Mac Paint pictures
To: [e-mail]



    PICSW7.prg (PD) at terminator 35.1.33.8 or e-mail me if
    your innaccessible to the archive or just lazy.

    I also wrote a Magic Sac/Aladin to ST file transfer
    program (TOS interface, just cats and you select a letter)
    which I have used to move mac pics to ST format to
    be loaded by PICSW7 and saved in any number of formats
    if you or anyone else is interested...

    -Spieu!
    Gregory Mathias Lemperle-Kerr

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End of Info-Atari16 Digest
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