Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-3155/642.txt

Text File | 1992-05-11 | 27KB | 695 lines

Info-Atari16 Digest         Fri,  6 Dec 91       Volume 91 : Issue 642

Today's Topics:
                  Atari's Cartridge port??? (2 msgs)
                             Atari Spirit
                          GEM ain't so bad!
                  Intermittent Boot Problem on MEGA4
                         Is anyone out there?
                          More on TT prices
                      RSC file documentation???
                              Rufus 1.06
                       Rumors on the 520STe...
                    Should someone buy an ST now?
                                 STEs
                     ST Games for sale (UK only)
                             ST on stage
                                 test
                             UnixWindows
                 Why ASV Is A Dead No Future Product

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 14:18:23 GMT
From: pa.dec.com!shodha.enet.dec.com!janus.enet.dec.com![e-mail]
 (Bahman Rafatjoo)
Subject: Atari's Cartridge port???
To: [e-mail]

As promised here is the timing informaion on the ST ROM
Cartridge port. The port is mapped to the address range
FA0000-FBFFFF, and is decoded to produce two ROM enable
signals ROM4 (FA0000-FAFFFF) and ROM3 (FB0000-FBFFFF).
For a read (the only operation allowed) the timing of
the signals on the connector is as follows:



A1-A15  -----<XXXXXXXXXAddress ValidXXXXXXXXXXX>---------

LDS/UDS %%%%%%%%%%___________________%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

ROM4/ROM3 %%%%%%%%%___________________%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


Address valid to LDS/UDS On: 60nS
LDS/UDS On to ROM3/ROM4 On: 10nS
LDS/UDS On time: 280nS
LDS/UDS Off to ROM3/ROM4 Off: 10nS
ROM3/ROM4 Off to address invalid: 140nS

Here, 'On' means low and 'Off' is High.

Hope this is useful.

Bahman.

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 18:55:49 GMT
From: infonode!ingr!b11![e-mail] (Cery McCormick)
Subject: Atari's Cartridge port???
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
 writes:
> Can any-one help me with this.
>
> Looking at the cartridge port of the ST i can find 16 data connections
> but only 15 addresses.
>
> I want to be able to both read and write to the cartridge port. Also I can
> find no reference to the speed of the cartridge port.
>
> Rob.

        The lowest address bit (A0) is omitted since there are two
signals /UDS and /LDS to indicate which byte is valid.
        As for writing to the cartridge port, it can't be done directly.
The MMU causes a BUS ERROR (or something like that) if you try. You can
use a scheme where in the process of reading the cartridge port, part of
the address used becomes address and/or data for an address on the
cartridge plug in board. Then logic on the board performs the actual
write. I've been successfull at this technique. It's slower, but it
works.

- J. Cary McCormick

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 09:10:09 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!lapis.labmed.um
 n.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Atari Spirit
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
>>Is Analog magazine still going???????? What about that other one,
>>I forget the name, oh yah, Antic (aka: Antique), is that still
>>around?
>
>
> Nope... Atari Corp. killed ANALOG magazine years ago, just like they
> killed ANTIC and more recently START magazine.  They also killed
> ROM magazine, and ST Applications.

Bob isn't being quite truthful with you here, of course.

ANALOG/ST Log magazine was 'killed' by Larry Flint Publications.  It was
allegedly making a profit when it was axed.  Very nice articles and reviews,
great C programming column (which Clayton Walnum later turned into his first C
programming book for the ST).  They had some good programs in the magazine,
including the first release of OPUS (which later got rewritten and then
released as ShareWare - a fine spreadsheet at a relatively low price).  I don't
know if the magazine programs are still on CompuServe or not.

ANTIC magazine was 'killed' by the lack of enough 8-bit advertisers to support
a full-blown magazine.  Actually, it was moved into START magazine, a sign that
the company, ANTIC, was having cash-flow problems.

START magazine was 'killed' by the parent corporation -- there is currently
some talk going around about a class-action suit against the publisher(s) in
order to recoup monies which were allegedly siphoned off into other ventures of
the publisher, including an IBM PC magazine.  Authors haven't received payment
for articles, subscribers haven't been repaid for non-fulfilled subscriptions,
etc.

ST Applications was 'killed' by success.  The publisher didn't have the capital
to expand further.

ROM magazine - I don't know, is this the Canadian magazine which published
several very nice issues and then quietly left the scene?

Bob also failed to mention:

ST Journal (and its predecessor, whose name I cannot remember, even though I
had a subscription and received their excellent disk each month).  They failed
due to undercapitalization as well, I believe.  (People buying issues at the
newstand, rather than subscribing, cause most of the problems for new and
expanding magazines.  The publisher doesn't receive as much money from newstand
sales.  This isn't a problem if there are a lot of advertisers, but advertisers
don't generally sign on unless there is a large subscription base ... and
subscriptions don't take off until there are a lot of advertisers.  It's a form
of catch-22 [obscure reference to the basic philosophy behind the novel by the
same name].)

Compute! ST - Failed because of lack of solid articles.  The magazine was
basically an instruction book for the disk they provided each month.

Still ticking:

Current Notes - an excellent user-group-based magazine that went 'national'
back in '86? (I still have the December issue which first appeared on a local
newstand .. I'm working from memory here, folks, since I've had an ST since
late '86 ).  Technical articles galore.  Their latest issues are getting better
and better.  This may become the new US 'glossy'.  (Actually, I wouldn't mind
subscribing to Current Notes again, rather than buying it at the newstand ...)

AtariUser - a little over 1/2 year old now, good articles and reviews,
intriguing advertising (anyone used the 'hypercard'-like program distributed by
Zephyr?), and fairly inexpensive ... we distribute copies to all of our members
at the monthly MAST (Minnesota Atari ST) user group meetings.

ST Informer - more years old.  An excellent monthly newspaper, complete with
fast-breaking news, good reviews and some general articles.  I haven't
subscribed for a while (tight budget this year with a 10-month old boy around
the house), but I fully intend to resubscribe come my birthday in January...

ST Connection - a very good source of information on Public Domain, FreeWare
and ShareWare programs.  Nice reviews.  Another of my 'birthday' subscription
desires.

Any others?



--

David Paschall-Zimbel           [e-mail]

"The most important fact about Spaceship Earth: An instruction book didn't come
with it." -- R. Buckminster Fuller

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

Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1991 12:07 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: GEM ain't so bad!
To: [e-mail]

Anyone who bitches about GEM and praises Windows might want to read the
October 29 issue of PC Magazine, pg 85. The article "Windows Bugs:
Conspiracy of Silence?" just reinforces what I have said many times on
the net. PC users are so sensitive about their machines finally being
user friendly that they refuse to admit to the crappy parts of Windows.
I said it before and I'll say it again. The best part of Windows is
Windows applications. The worst part of Windows is Windows itself!

Hey, I love my GEM 3. Rock steady. In combintation with MultiGEM and
MultiDesk I have a highly productive work environment. Hey, right now
I have STalker, STeno, MultiDesk, Pagestream and WordPlus going at the
same time on my TT. The last two are running under MultiGEM. From
the problems I have seen with Windows on the two machines in the next
office (386SX Compaq and AKRAN '486 clone), I wouldn't give up my
TT for those boxes with Windows! Gimme GEM anyday!

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 15:19:15 GMT
From:
 noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs
 .ohio-state.edu![e-mail] (David Butler)
Subject: Intermittent Boot Problem on MEGA4
To: [e-mail]

>>A friend has left me with his Atari Mega 4 (bought in the STates) to
>>test, claiming that it wouldn't boot off his hard disk, and could I
>>test it with another hard disk please. Duly done, I find that it will
>>boot first time about 20% of the time, about 30% of the time it will
>>drag itself up on the 2nd-5th attempt, and the other 50% of the time it
>>bombs out.
>>
>>As it doesn't seem to be a hard disk problem, I'm supposing it's a CPU
>>fault. Does this behaviour ring any bells out there? I seem to recall
>>earlier messages on faulty chips (though I think they were for the
>>ST-FM so I didn't pay too much attention).
>>
>>Thanks in advance for any info
>
>Both of my Megas are this way on reboots.  They generally boot okay
>initially if I power up the hard disk first, wait until it spins up
>and completes its internal tests, and then power on the CPU.  But
>reboots often fail, and the only "solution" I know is to keep
>rebooting.

Weird, mine does not do this... Oh, yea! Use a disk in drive A with a program
or boot-sector that causes the machine to restart every time the program is
loaded. This eliminates the problem! Also, I recently picked up a program
called "SCUZZY-WAIT", or something like that which creates a disk with a boot
sector that causes the ST to monitor the Hard drives until each gives the
"ready" signal, and then boots from them.

By the way, you really should read my cool .sig file ;-)

- David Butler -      [e-mail]

                     -I can be like a reptile
                      reptile man,
                      I can be like a reptile
                      reptile man,
                      just slide me in
                      just slide me in -       - Willie Phoenix -

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 19:12:14 GMT
From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu![e-mail]
 (ZORGON PLADE ESQ.)
Subject: Is anyone out there?
To: [e-mail]

From:   CBS%UK.AC.UKC::MDG2  6-DEC-1991 02:36:38.58
To:     PFT033
CC:
Subj:

Via: [5039534314333514534335]; Fri, 6 Dec 91   2:36 BST
Received: from merlin by mercury.ukc.ac.uk   with UKC POP3+  id aa14377;
          6 Dec 91 2:36 GMT
Date: Fri, 06 Dec 91 02:36:18 +0000
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]

===============================================================================
=                                                                             =
=             Just a quick message to any "scene" demo-writers...             =
=                                                                             =
=                   EMAIL me now! (esp. any D.Force members.)                 =
=                                                                             =
===============================================================================
=         [e-mail] (aka Griff of E.I (Inner Circle))             =
===============================================================================

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

Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1991 11:43 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: More on TT prices
To: [e-mail]

Here is an example of TT prices locally (cannot post the name
of the dealer on USENET). Note: these are Canadian $ prices where
$1US = $1.15 CDN so divide by 1.15 to get US equivalent prices
(and compare with TOAD's US prices)

MEGA STE, 1 meg, 50 meg SCSI  $1099
MEGA STE, 1 meg, 80 meg SCSI  $1289
MEGA STE, 2 meg, 50 meg SCSI  $1164
MEGA STE, 2 meg, 80 meg SCSI  $1349
TT030   , 2 meg, 50 meg SCSI  $1859

2  meg ST RAM for TT  $299
4  meg TT RAM for TT  $599
8  meg TT RAM for TT  $799
16 meg TT RAM for TT $1399

SC1224  monitor  $239
SM124   montior  $189
TTM195  monitor  $999 (1280x960)
PTC1426 monitor  $599
SLM 605 laser   $1279

ABC 386DX (40 MHz), 2 meg RAM, 1.44 floppy
80 meg 17 ms HD, SVGA graphics (1024x768)
DOS 5.0, Windows 3, mouse $1949

Portfolio with 128K card and parallel interface $469

These prices are NOT high. In addition, anyone who wants Atari
to survice does not want prices to be any lower. Atari has to
earn the $$$ needed to continue development of its product lines.

So, Rich Covert, not all places in the world have high Atari prices.
For comparison, I saw a Commodore price sheet (info directly from
Commodore, not third party) in which SPECIAL dealer pricing was
offered on an Amiga 3000 for teachers. As I can best recall, it
had 1 meg RAM, VGA monitor, 52 meg HD and "Amiga Professional" soft-
ware pack for some $3800 CDN. At those prices, the TT looks FREE!



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

Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1991 16:48 EDT
From: "Bob Schaedel - Canisius College Computer Center -
 [e-mail]"
Subject: RSC file documentation???
To: [e-mail]

   Where can the documentation for the resource file editor included in
   the GFA basic 3.5e package be had?

   Or does anyone know of any good books on this subject?


                             Thanks in advance
                                   BobS


   [e-mail]

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 18:09:08 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!malgudi.oar.n
 et!yfn.ysu.edu!ysub!psuvm!frmop11!dearn!dmswwu1c![e-mail]
Subject: Rufus 1.06
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jeroen Scheerder) says:
>In principle I agree; but after searching *very* hard for recent Rufus
>versions
>(using archie) and came up with zip.
>I found only an 'old' 1.04 that I uploaded unchanged to atari.archive.
>Then someone told me a Dutch BBS had 1.06; I uploaded (using Uniterm...)
>and read the documentation with the sole purpose of contacting the authors
>as Julian Reschke - the famous author of the Profibuch - suggests.
>I did not find any way of contacting them - apart from writing to the German
>bank the shareware fee must be paid to.

What's the problem? Just ask. Michael's email adress is:

[e-mail]


It's THAT easy.

___________________________ cut here _____________________________________
Julian F. Reschke, Hensenstr. 142, D-4400 Muenster, Phone: ++49 251 861241
fast eMail: [e-mail],    slow: [e-mail] (++49 251 77216)
____________________ correct me if I'm wrong _____________________________

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 19:38:12 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.o
 hio-state.edu!linac!unixhub!slacvm![e-mail] (Terry Reeves)
Subject: Rumors on the 520STe...
To: [e-mail]

I don't know about now, but the 520 STe I bought a few months ago has 4 Meg's
of RAM. As far as I know the only difference between a 520 STe and a 1040 STe
is the amount of memory that comes standard.

                                                        Terry W. Reeves

Disclaimer: The above are my own delusions. My reality isn't.

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 15:01:23 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.
 ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu![e-mail] (David Butler)
Subject: Should someone buy an ST now?
To: [e-mail]

>    Instead of bickering over which computer is better, I would like to ask
>    what machine you would recommend to a friend, family member, etc. Limit
>    the choices to something the average Joe could afford. For example, a
>    $10,000.00 SPARC station is out of reach to 99.9% of home users(and
>    overkill too). I don't want to put any hard limit on cost, like say
>    $3000.00 and under...use your own discretion and explain.

(long post about why he would not recomend an Atari delete)

Well, as a long-time Atari owner I hate to admit it, but I would not recomend
Atari either. I would probably recomend an Amiga first. The support is
reasonably good, and Amax II is a pretty solid product (in fact, Amax beat the
Spectre at getting system 7 compatibility!) for using mac software.
I honestly like the Amiga way more than macs or pc's, especially the Amiga 3000
with the 2.0 "roms" actually called "magic rams" at this point I think. Also,
Commodore has been doing VERY well as a company from what I hear.

If the person was an obvious novice I would probably recomend a Mac Classic or
LC (like you). If they needed engineering applications (CAD etc...) I would
reccomend a high-powered DOS machine. But as for an Atari, I just could not
recomend one to anyone with the present situation being what it is...
rats....

By the way, you really should read my cool .sig file ;-)

- David Butler -      [e-mail]

                     -crawl to you
                      crawl to me
                      writhing in ecstasy
                      into the rhythm
                      into the sea
                      reptile man-            - Willie Phoenix -

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 18:55:05 GMT
From: sgi!odin!flatcat.wpd.sgi.com![e-mail] (Steve Whitney)
Subject: STEs
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Thorsten Dietrichkeit) writes:
|>
|> t>By the way, does anyone have ST-Es out there?  What is the
|> difference
|> t>between
|> t>them and a normal ST?  Has any major software been written for the
|> ST-E yet?
|>
|> - 16 MHz and cache
|> - new 2.0x desktop
|> - VME-bus
|> - a socket for an 68881-16
|> - 2 RS-232 ports
|> - stereo sound
|> - LAN-interface
|> - hardware-scrolling
|> - 4096 colours
|> - memory can be upgraded by SIPs
|>
|> Thorsten Dietrichkeit
|> - germany -

This reply is inaccurate.  Those are the differences between MEGA STEs and
normal STs.  Stereo sound, 4096 colors, hardware-scrolling, and upgradable
memory are also available on plain STEs.

        --Steve

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 17:26:16 GMT
From: mcsun!uknet!stl!crosfield![e-mail] (ian taylor)
Subject: ST Games for sale (UK only)
To: [e-mail]

Just in time for Christmas, I am clearing my software shelf in time for new
purchases...hence this once in a lifetime offer...all software boxed with
manuals etc etc
I am willing to haggle, or consider exchanges, and I would be happy to lose the
lot for about 130 pounds.

*five quid*
Kult            Thrust          FOFT            Barbarian2
Baal            Warhead         Starglider      Carrier Command
Terrorpods      Mercenary       XenonII         Andes Attack
Backlash

*ten quid*
Powermonger     StarGliderII    Xenomorph       Falcon+mission disk
Virus           Infestation     Damocles        Corporation
Supremacy

*fifteen quid*
3D construction kit
Flight of the Intruder
STOS Basic

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? PEOPLE, C'MON!!

__Ian__
_______________________________________________________________________________
| Ian Taylor (x4097)    | The opinions expressed |"Nothing exists outside of  |
| Crosfield Electronics | here are not mine.     | our perception of reality, |
| Hemel Hempstead, UK   | God came to me in      | and reality is already half|
|                       | a vision and told me   | video hallucination"       |
| [e-mail]         | to do it.              | Dr O'Blivion **VIDEODROME**|

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

Date: 5 Dec 91 22:10:03 GMT
From: mcsun!uknet!slxsys!ibmpcug!demon![e-mail] (Iain Laskey)
Subject: ST on stage
To: [e-mail]

You should go and see a Jean Michel Jarre concert. Wall to wall Mega ST's!
The ST is the machine of choice amongst the music community with many appearin-
g
on stage. Tangerine Dream even mention Atari and some Atari people on their
album sleeves.

I know a great many people in bands and ALL ue Atari's and either Notator or
Cubase for sequencing.

###############################
# Iain R Laskey               #
# [e-mail] #
###############################

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 14:37:35 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!ubrinf!wowbagger![e-mail] (Christoph Koerner)
Subject: test
To: [e-mail]

Just testing, sorry for wasting bandwidth...

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 16:07:43 GMT
From: noao!ncar!unmvax!nmt.edu![e-mail] (Eric A. Hobbs)
Subject: UnixWindows
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
 (CHU JEFFREY) writes:
>This is actually a IBM PC question, but with ST related issues, so
>sorry about this.
>I have UnixWindows for the ST, but is it also available for the PC?
>(like for Win 3.0? or OS/2?).  I know it was originally made for
>the MAC, but later for the ATARI STs.  I sold my monochrome for
>the ST and need to use this program, so anyone know of the program
>for the PC?
>
>                               Thanks,
>                               Jeff
>
>
>


Yes there is.  At the SIMTEL archive, there is a version of it, and
there supposedly is a new version of it for Windows 3.0.

-----------
Eric A. HOBBS?
[e-mail]

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

Date: 6 Dec 91 13:48:07 GMT
From: noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!milano!cactus.org![e-mail] (Richard
 Covert)
Subject: Why ASV Is A Dead No Future Product
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (
 Volker A. Brandt ) writes:
>
>
>Wrong.  Atari does not support the TT color monitor at this time.  There
>definitely will be a color X server, and I'm sure it will run on the TT
>monitor.  And the Unix is really targeted for the new 040 machine due to
>be shown at CeBIT 92.

OH no, Not Another Dog And Pony Show!!

Atari always seems to have an Ace up their sleeve when you get
disillushioned about their current products. It is funny how the
"Next Atari computer' is going to be the Wonder Of The Century.

But then when it comes out, if it comes out, it is years late,
and behind the others in tehcnology. The TT's color graphics are
at least 2 years behind those on a decent PC clone. and the TT's
dual bandwidth (is it 16Mhz or is it 32MHz) shows that Atari really
didn't know how to design a FAST CPU in the first place. The TT
was originally designed to run at 16MHZ, including all of the PALSs
and ASICs. But by the time the TT was ready to be released, once
again years late, even Atari realized that a 16MHz TT wouldn't sell
at the TT's project prices. So they did a quick patch and doubled
the CPU's clock rate. But Atari didn't want to delay the TT any longer,
so they didn't change the rest of the TT. Hence, part of the TT runs
at 32MHz and part at 16MHz.

A real prefession design? Huh? Nope, just another Atari kludge!

So Atari is always promising the next machine ass a solution to the
bugs in the current machines. Atari's policy on upgrades is to dump the
current buggy machine and buy their next buggy machine. Real clever
marketing that!!

>
>
>>3) The TT030 is overpriced.
>
>Look at mac prices and shut up.

You can buy a new Mac IIci with A/UX for the same price as a TT030
with say 20 megs of ram and their ASV package. And with the Mac IICi
you can run A/UX in color. Try that with the TT030/ASV combo. Of course,
these prices are USA prices. I don't know what the relative costs
are in Europe.

>
>
>In any store that sells standard SCSI peripherals.
>
>>6) ASV won't support TT programs. It is a known fact that the ASV
>>   package can't run TOS/GEM programs. So, that means exiting UNIX,
>>   which is no simply task in of iis self, and rebooting into TOS.
>>   All other systems (SCO UNIX and MAC A/UX) allow their native OS
>>   programs to run from within their UNIX. But once again Atari
>>   Corp is too little and too late.
>
>Will this be a drawback for such serious Unix users as you?

I believe that you have to compare Atari's ASV to products available
for either the PC or the Mac. and both of those platforms offer
UNIX with X Windows that support either MSDOS or Mac OS programs
from within an X Window.

So, yes, not being able to run TOS/GEM programs from within ASV is a serious
drawback. Especially since you won't see anything to replace
PageStream or Calumus under ASV for the forseeable future.

>
>>[...] is going to buy ASV just to play games (and we all know that the
>>TT030 is just a fancy games machine !!).
>
>No comment to that ...
>
 The above comment was meant as a tease against folks who take their
TTs too seriously. I guess no one understood that though!! Poor joke,
I guess. But everyone knows that Atari are just game machines!!

>>sincerely yours for the flaming
>
>No problem, we all know you, Richard!! :-)
>--
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Bitnet:   UNM409@DBNRHRZ1                              Volker A. Brandt


--
Richard E. Covert                 [e-mail]
CACTUS                  ..!cs.utexas.edu!cactus.org!covert

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

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