Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-0127/374.txt

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 28KB | 657 lines

Info-Atari16 Digest         Thu,  4 Jul 91       Volume 91 : Issue 374

Today's Topics:
                        A.A. Gnustuff, Sitrep.
                     Amiga is better then what???
                            Atari vs Amiga
                        Double Click programs
                         Gnu-emacs under MiNT
                          Lattice C Upgrade
                MEGA STE problems (Summarise) (2 msgs)
                           Mega STe wanted
                             PP2 trouble
Problem w/ TeX 3.1 at atari.archive (was Re: getting TeX up and running on your
 ST)
                         This week's program
                           Tos 1.4 software
                       TT monitor compatibility
                         Unwanted Amiga Input
                                  UW
                         what Atari DOES have

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 14:31:49 GMT
From: otter.hpl.hp.com!hpltoad!ghiggins![e-mail] (Graham Higgins)
Subject: A.A. Gnustuff, Sitrep.
To: [e-mail]

New releases on A.A.

Update11 received from jrb. Hence ...



and initially ...





On the stack for updating: lib, include, gdb (release!), util and gprof.

Graham
======

------------------------------------------------------------------
Graham Higgins                  |  [e-mail]
Hewlett-Packard Labs            |  [e-mail]
Filton Road, Stoke Gifford      |  [e-mail]
Bristol, U.K.                   |  ...!mcvax!ukc!hplb!gjh
Tel: [phone] x24014         Fax: [phone]
------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: My opinions above are exactly that, mine and opinions.
------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 11:45:01 GMT
From:
 noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia
 .edu!src.honeywell.com!msi.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!kksys!orbit!pnet51!chucks@arizona
 .edu (Erik Funkenbusch)
Subject: Amiga is better then what???
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Million Headed Monster) writes:
>>            since when does the STe have a graphics co-processor capable of
>> running concurently with the CPU?
>
>Since it was launched?

A Blitter is not a co-processor.

Does the Atari blitter have 3 DMA inputs which can be combined in any of 256
minterms and output on a 4th DMA channel?  is the Atari Blitter programmed by
a custom graphics co-processor that runs it's own programs seperate from the
cpu?

>
>>                                 since when does the STe have Multi-tasking?
>
>Since I decided to run a multi-tasking OS on it?

Well, so how great is this OS?  is not only multi-tasking, but re-entrant too?
 does it allow for multi-threadable applications and shared data structures?
Does it have ANY form of interprocess communication, much less a standard
form?

>
>> > However there is a 24bit card available for $800 with a coprocessor of some
>> > sort for really good graphics...
>>
>> just one?  i can buy 3 or 4 24 bit graphics devices for the 500 for under
>> $500.00.
>
>Wow!  That's $125 each.  Pretty good.  But what do you want three or four
>graphics cards for?  Wouldn't that use up all the expansion slots?

Don't be stupid.  you know what i meant, as well as everyone else here.  your
using semantics to distract people from your inaccuracies.

>
>> > An Ste with tos 1.6 and blitter performs pretty well...
>>
>> *IF* any software uses that blitter.  very little does.
>
>All ST software which uses the OS graphics routines will be speeded up by
>the blitter.  Many programs which *don't* use the OS have blitter support
>as well, since ST blitters have been around since 1987.

That uses the graphics routines.  and how many don't?  how many do?

>
>> > Compared to an Amiga 500 the amiga only has a slight edge over the Atari..
>> > (Note: for the price no other computer even comes close... )
>>
>> Really?  does the STe cost less than $500.00?
>
>I don't know about the US, but in the UK the STe is cheaper than the A500.

Is that why the Amiga is selling more units there than Atari?  they are more
expensive?  that's a Mac philosophy isn't it?  are you comparing mail order ST
prices to dealer Amiga prices?

>
>>                                                I have a book that attempts to
>> do the same thing on an Amiga and an ST, and they had to supply a whole bunch
>> of routines that had to be written from scratch to match what they used in
 the
>> Amiga's OS.
>
>What "same thing" were they trying to do?  Implement an Amiga OS, perchance?

No, actually it was a book from Compute Books called "3d Graphics programming
in C" or some such, don't have it handy since it's in storage.  No they
weren't implementing the Amiga OS, they were implementing standard 3d drawing
algoriths.

>
>>                                        hmm are there any companies developing
>> 16 bit audio boards?

Not from the mail i've been getting.  the only apparent contenders appear to
be using 16 bit sampling keyboards.

>
>What do you mean "developing"?  They're already on the market.
>
>> There are 2 of them.  the Applied Engineering 1.56 meg High Density, and the
>> Commodore 1.76 meg High Density.
>
>Can you read industry-standard 1.44MB floppy disks on those?  Either Mac or
>PC format?

Yes, with the commodore drive.  you see, it's impossible to get AT&T Unix
System V r4 certification if you don't support 1.44 meg high density drives.
no, the Applied Engineering drive is proprietary to them.

>
>> > Comparing an ST to an Amiga at purely CPU intensive things the Amiga can
 not
>> > be compared very favorably.
>>
>> Oh really?  and i suppose that there are numerous 020,030,and 040 boards
>> available for the STe?
>
>I don't know about "numerous".  At least one.

At least one what?  020, 030, 040?  i can buy an 040 board today that will
toast a NeXT.

>
>Now go away and play in your little .advocacy newsgroup.
>

If you didn't keep spouting bunk i would.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| UUCP: {amdahl!tcnet, crash}!orbit!pnet51!chucks | "I know he's come back |
| ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]        | from the dead, but do  |
| INET: [e-mail]                  | you really think he's  |
|-------------------------------------------------| moved back in?"        |
| Amiga programmer at large, employment options   | Lou Diamond Philips in |
| welcome, inquire within.                        | "The First Power".     |
`--------------------------------------------------------------------------'

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 11:05:06 GMT
From:
 noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.ed
 u!src.honeywell.com!msi.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!kksys!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]
 u (Erik Funkenbusch)
Subject: Atari vs Amiga
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (azog-thoth) writes:
>Anyways, my point is this: why point out all the good things about
>the Amiga, when most of the people in comp.sys.atari.st dont care?

I don't post things about the Amiga for my health.  The only posts i've made
are in defense to lies/misinformation that many of the ST users seem to post
whenever they feel threatened.  If ST people didn't spout these untruths, then
i would have no need to correct them, therefor you wouldn't see any of my
posts here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| UUCP: {amdahl!tcnet, crash}!orbit!pnet51!chucks | "I know he's come back |
| ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]        | from the dead, but do  |
| INET: [e-mail]                  | you really think he's  |
|-------------------------------------------------| moved back in?"        |
| Amiga programmer at large, employment options   | Lou Diamond Philips in |
| welcome, inquire within.                        | "The First Power".     |
`--------------------------------------------------------------------------'

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 18:04:57 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.ed
 u![e-mail] (Robert J Anisko)
Subject: Double Click programs
To: [e-mail]

  I was trying to think of some useful utilities that Double Click could
possibly implement.  What I personally could use (and am wondering who else
too) is a generic keyboard changer - i.e. right now I have my mouse
disconnected, and have to use the ALT-arrow keys to move the pointer.
But it would be much easier just to hit the arrows by themselves.
What I'm thinking of is a program to simply let you rearrange what keys
do what - this could help people with different keyboards (German etc)
where you could set up the keyboard as you like.  Easiest way I can
think of is as an AUTO program, with maybe a small config file, just
denoting what keys will act as what other keys, and leaving everything else
alone.

  I dunno if there is such a similar program out there, but it would come in
very handy...

                                        Robert Anisko
                                        [e-mail]

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 16:59:57 GMT
From: mcsun!corton!laas![e-mail] (Ralph P. Sobek)
Subject: Gnu-emacs under MiNT
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Peter Jackson)
 writes:
| >From: [e-mail] (Erling Henanger)
| >Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
| >Subject: Re: MiNT/MGR questions
| >Date: 5 May 91 19:17:01 GMT
| >
| >just nicely. I can fork shell commands, I can suspend emacs, it's all
| there except one thing :
| >I haven't been able to "dumpfix" xemacs, (Make a final dumped emacs) so
| I have to use
| >temacs -l loadup.el, whitch is no big deal if you have a TT, but on an
| ST....

I do not see why the above configuaration should be more difficult
than the original port of GNU emacs to the ST.  From the latter I have
learned that it is not easy to `dumpfix' ordinary xemacs.  I suggest
to Erling Henanger to save 2 emacs images from say the gulam shell:
save one, then do a recursive call of gulam and then save the second.
Then dumpfix should work, or so I would think.  This advice was sent
to me by Edgar Roeder at a time (quite some time ago) when he was more
talkative on the net.

--
Ralph P. Sobek                    Disclaimer: The above ruminations are my own.
[e-mail]                              Addresses are ordered by importance.
[e-mail], or ...!uunet!laas!ralph
If all else fails, try:                               [e-mail]
Phone: [phone]  FAX-1: ([phone]  FAX-2: ([phone]
===============================================================================
Got a Mega 4 ST.  Wishing it was a Mega STe!  :-| Do I *really* want a TT? ;

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 15:11:56 GMT
From:
 noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!torsqnt!lsuc!jimomura@ar
 izona.edu (Jim Omura)
Subject: Lattice C Upgrade
To: [e-mail]

     This is a matter I think will interest anyone who plans to use a
C compiler.  I sent my disks down to Goldleaf on June 21, and I received
my update today (July 4).  This is exceptionally fast!  You should
keep in mind that we're talking about mail crossing international
borders twice (Canada to US and then US to Canada).  I would guess
that they re-recorded the floppies and had the disks on the way back
to me on the very same day or at the longest, within 24 hours of
receiving them.  I should point out that I sent a Money Order, so
there would not be any reason to delay because of cheque clearing,
but even still I'm accustomed to having delays for updates far longer.
--
Jim Omura, 2A King George's Drive, Toronto, [phone]
lsuc!jimomura
Byte Information eXchange: jimomura

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 17:45:55 GMT
From: IFI.UIO.NO![e-mail] (LarsErikOsterud)
Subject: MEGA STE problems (Summarise)
To: [e-mail]

No no - The problem in Degas IS the faulty chip !!!!!!
After I changed my chip I never have trouble with Degas !!!!!
try showing some Spectrum512 pictures (in 8 Mhz without cache).
they also gets messed up with the faulty chip (and a lot of MEGA STE's have
this chip even though Atari won't admit it yet :-)  Try listening to the DMA
sound (machines with this fault also have "static" on the DMA sound)

 Lars-Erik  /  ABK-BBS [phone]  /   ____ ______ ________________________
  Osterud  /  [e-mail]  /   /___    /            The norwegian ST
__________/ ______________________/   ____/   /   Klubben,  user association

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 17:46:49 GMT
From: IFI.UIO.NO![e-mail] (LarsErikOsterud)
Subject: MEGA STE problems (Summarise)
To: [e-mail]

The last weeks several people having the same trouble with their
new MEGA STE has asked me how we fixed mine, and I hope this file
can help you fix it.  It's really the best machine Atari has made
so it would be terrible not to have it in perfect condition :-)

Errors on DMA-sound and video on MEGA STE - HOW WE FIXED IT !
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Here's a summary of what we found at service in Norway.
First - the errors on both machines we discovered were:

- Static/noise on DMA sound and MIXed standard ST sound.
- Sync-problems when using Spectrum512 pictures (vertical bars).
- Vertical flickering bars on monochrome (most at 8 MHz).
- Right edge of monochrome screen "flips" over to left edge
  when changing screen adress/resolution in mono-mode.

We tried to find a chip that could be the cause of all these
problems and found a big VLSI chip partly hidden under the right
edge of the VME-card holder. It's chip U502 on my MEGA STE and
is called GSTSHIFTER on the print-layout.  After looking at the
print-layout on both MEGA STE and standard STE we found the same
chip on standard STE, a combined sound/video chip but with a totally
different part-number.  Anyway, we removed the original MEGA STE
chip (made in 1990) and replaced in with the STE chip (from 1989)
and all the problems were gone.  If you want to "steal" a chip from
a standard STE it's chip U401 inside the STE (still GSTSHIFTER).

Disclaimer:  Even though this solved the problems for us it might not
             work for all MEGA STE's and you do this at your own risk

(I still would like Atari Corp to give some official information on
 this.  It's not "ONLY YOUR MACHINE" anymore.  It's quite a few...)

 Lars-Erik  /  ABK-BBS [phone]  /   ____ ______ ________________________
  Osterud  /  [e-mail]  /   /___    /            The norwegian ST
__________/ ______________________/   ____/   /   Klubben,  user association

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 23:49:32 GMT
From:
 noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!portal!cup.portal.com!Azog-Thoth@arizo
 na.edu (William Thomas Daugustine)
Subject: Mega STe wanted
To: [e-mail]

What the title says, says it all :-) Looking for a Mega-2 (or 4)
STe system. Hopefully at a reasonable price! Ive got a colour
monitor, so I just need the base unit...

Cash buy, or Ive some some 'interesting' items for trade...

Billy D'Augustine
[e-mail]

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 20:26:25 GMT
From: IFI.UIO.NO![e-mail] (LarsErikOsterud)
Subject: PP2 trouble
To: [e-mail]

Personal Pascal 2 trouble...
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I have a small problem with my Personal Pascal compiler.
When the compiler has been run several times (10-20 with TOS 1.4
but only once or twice on 2.05) GEM crashes the next time I start
a GEM program.  This is very annoying when I work with a new Pascal
program:  edit - compile - crash, reboot - edit - compile - crash etc

Does anyone know what's the matter ????
The only thing I found was that the compiler does NOT call
appl_exit when the compile was successful (could this cause
GEM to crash the next time appl_init is called).  Could this
be fixed with a patch program, or could someone fix the compiler
so it calls appel_exit before it quits (I'll pay for the job !!)

If someone has the soulution please tell me (this is so important
to me that I'll pay quite a bit for it if it fixes the problem :-)

 Lars-Erik  /  ABK-BBS [phone]  /   ____ ______ ________________________
  Osterud  /  [e-mail]  /   /___    /            The norwegian ST
__________/ ______________________/   ____/   /   Klubben,  user association

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 16:51:58 GMT
From: mcsun!corton!laas![e-mail] (Ralph P. Sobek)
Subject: Problem w/ TeX 3.1 at atari.archive (was Re: getting TeX up and running
 on your ST)
To: [e-mail]

First of all, it is true that with the new TeX 3.1, undump would
probably not run on a 1040 since the undumped file is approx. 800 Kb!!
(as David Paschall-Zimbel stated).  The older Tex 2.9, I was able to
undump on my old 1040 ST and it produced something a lot smaller.
[That's for information only.]

A related question: has anyone ported BigTeX to the ST?  I use the
above undumped LaTeX and it blows up since I exhaust TeX's pool!!

Now to the problem that prompted this posting:  it seems that TeX and
BibTeX under the TeX 3.1 directory at atari.archive use incompatible
TEXINPUTS environment variables.  For TeX/LaTeX, concerning my
application, I need the following:

setenv TEXINPUTS '.\acm;.;e:\tex\inputs\local;e:\tex\inputs'

But unfortunately BibTeX requires this to be translated to emacs'
style:

setenv TEXINPUTS './acm:.:/dev/E/tex/inputs/local:/dev/E/tex/inputs'

I would appreciate BibTeX being re-uploaded to a.a if it would use the
more std. (this is only an opinion!) TeX/LaTeX style of paths.  If it
would accept both, so much the better.

--
Ralph P. Sobek                    Disclaimer: The above ruminations are my own.
[e-mail]                              Addresses are ordered by importance.
[e-mail], or ...!uunet!laas!ralph
If all else fails, try:                               [e-mail]
Phone: [phone]  FAX-1: ([phone]  FAX-2: ([phone]
===============================================================================
Got a Mega 4 ST.  Wishing it was a Mega STe!  :-| Do I *really* want a TT? ;

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 22:03:48 GMT
From: infonode![e-mail] (Andrew S Krzywdzinski)
Subject: This week's program
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (ATARI
 Computer Enthusiasts) writes:
>DC Homey will home the mouse cursor to the center of the screen.  Just press
><ALTERNATE>+<CONTROL>+<LEFT SHIFT>+<H> at any time.
>
>- mike vederman / Double Click Software

What's the purpose of this program ? Is hitting 4 keys at the same time
so much easier than moving your mouse by 1 inch ?
I'm in the fog.

-andrew krzywdzinski

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 21:06:23 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!rpi!bu.edu!bucsf.bu.edu![e-mail]
 (Steven Selick)
Subject: Tos 1.4 software
To: [e-mail]

I have a 1040 STE with tos 1.6, and I wanted to have an older version
for tos on file just to look at. Is there a software version available?
I could whip up a quick dumper program to put tos into separate files if
necessary. Would that conflict with copywrites? Keep in mind, I have
1.6, and probably can't do anything with 1.4 anyway.
later,
Steve
<[e-mail]>

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 20:24:05 GMT
From: tardis.computer-science.edinburgh.ac.uk![e-mail]
Subject: TT monitor compatibility
To: [e-mail]

Could someone (probably someone with a TT) tell me what sorts of monitor the
TT can drive?

Can it drive the Atari SM124 monochrome monitor?

Is the NEC 2A Dual-sync monitor suitable?

Is the NEC 3D Multi-sync monitor suitable?

What are the monitor connections like on the back?

I ask these questions as it will depend on the answers as to when I buy a TT,
ie will I have to wait till I have enough for just the TT, or do I have to
wait till I've enough money to buy the Atari monitor as well.


I'm sure many prospective TT owners would like these questions answered, so I
suggest that answers be posted to the net.

Stephen Usher

Addresses:-

Janet:-         [e-mail]       or      [e-mail]
Internet:-      [e-mail]       or      [e-mail]

The second of these addresses disappears on the 1st August.

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 11:05:08 GMT
From:
 noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!src.honeywell.co
 m!msi.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!kksys!orbit!pnet51![e-mail] (Erik
 Funkenbusch)
Subject: Unwanted Amiga Input
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Christopher K. Brown) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Erik Funkenbusch)
 writes:
>>[.............................]  When in reality, it's just some nice Amiga
>>people trying to prevent the spread of false information.  [more garbage..]
>
>       Wow, someone help this guy, he's about to drown in his own
>bullshit.
>
>       Yeah.  Right.  Nice Amiga People.  Why would anyone with an Amiga
>EVER read this newsgroup.  It makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE.  I don't even
>know what the comp.sys.amiga.* newsgroups look like.  They could come up
>with spinning colors and talking clowns!  I wouldn't know!  And sure as
>hell don't care.
>
>       The Crusading Amigans, out to make the world safe for Commodore.
>
>(Please, I have nothing against Amiga users in general, just the ones
>who say stuff like the above quote, and really believe it...........)
>


What in my post was garbage?  It's the ST users that are getting violent,
My post is entirely credible.  My only pourpose of responses in this newsgroup
is when i see blaring technical inacuracies ("The Amiga wastes memory", "The
Atari OS is more complete..." etc..)  if these were not present, i would not
respond.  and i *DO* read the Atari newsgroups because i like to keep up on
other platforms, i read the mac groups as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| UUCP: {amdahl!tcnet, crash}!orbit!pnet51!chucks | "I know he's come back |
| ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]        | from the dead, but do  |
| INET: [e-mail]                  | you really think he's  |
|-------------------------------------------------| moved back in?"        |
| Amiga programmer at large, employment options   | Lou Diamond Philips in |
| welcome, inquire within.                        | "The First Power".     |
`--------------------------------------------------------------------------'

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

Date: 3 Jul 91 07:34:14 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!thelake!steve@a
 rizona.edu (Steve Yelvington)
Subject: UW
To: [e-mail]

[[e-mail] (John Bunch) writes ... ]

 > months ago..  Although I hate using it, cause I only have a color
 > monitor and it requires mono monitor only..   Anybody out there
 > thinking of porting it to color?  Would be appreciated by a few people
 > I am sure....

It's been done. I played around with a color Unix Windows a year or so
ago. I didn't find it very useful because the resolution of the color
monitor is not quite good enough for comfortable viewing of the small
fonts that are necessary to display full-size screens inside GEM windows.

People with color systems might find a more workable solution in a program
called Screens that runs on the Unix host. You can use any VT100 term
program (I used Uniterm) and flip among virtual terminals with a hot key.

I can't tell you where to find these items. It's been awhile since I had
access to a Unix site, so I don't need them myself.

 ----
 Steve Yelvington <[e-mail]>
 If mail fails, try [e-mail] ... the Minnesota domain
 MX site jhereg.osa.com apparently has been having difficulties.

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

Date: 4 Jul 91 11:45:02 GMT
From:
 noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia
 .edu!src.honeywell.com!msi.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!kksys!orbit!pnet51!chucks@arizona
 .edu (Erik Funkenbusch)
Subject: what Atari DOES have
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] writes:
>I have an ST and a TT. Both of these can use something the Mac, the PC and
>the Amiga cannot - the Atari SLM605 laser. For DTP, nothing can rival the
>speed of output and the number of applications that make use of that speed
>like Atari DTP packages.


huh?  you've obviosly never used a Mac with a LaserWriter IIntx.  those
puppies have an 030 in them.  by the way, have you seen the LaserJet III's?
they have variable resolutions.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| UUCP: {amdahl!tcnet, crash}!orbit!pnet51!chucks | "I know he's come back |
| ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]        | from the dead, but do  |
| INET: [e-mail]                  | you really think he's  |
|-------------------------------------------------| moved back in?"        |
| Amiga programmer at large, employment options   | Lou Diamond Philips in |
| welcome, inquire within.                        | "The First Power".     |
`--------------------------------------------------------------------------'

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

End of Info-Atari16 Digest
******************************