Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-3157/44.txt

Text File | 1992-05-11 | 27KB | 653 lines

Info-Atari16 Digest         Sat, 25 Jan 92       Volume 92 : Issue  44

Today's Topics:
                            Amiga flamers
                        Amiga geeks, read this
                      Atarians, where are you...
                      Dungeon Master, once again
           Enlightenment (was RE: Yet another ST for sale)
                       Hyperformat disk on a PC
                   Is STart magazine utterly dead?
                          MIDI out to audio
                         Monitor Refresh Rate
                 Multifinder for Atari-ST ? (2 msgs)
                          New Supra Modem...
                     Questions about TOS versions
                           Smalltalk for St
                            ST Drive blues
                          UNIX2DOS (2 msgs)
                             What to do?
                       Yet another ST for sale

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

Date: 24 Jan 92 21:44:37 GMT
From: noao!ncar!gatech!udel!brahms.udel.edu![e-mail] (Donald R Lloyd)
Subject: Amiga flamers
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Brian Cooper)
 writes:
>I certainly agree -- I get tired of adding kill file entries for each new
>idiot that comes along with a commodore and an attitude.  Never mind the
>relative merits of their computers; I am now convinced I would NEVER buy
>a machine that caused its users to go wandering around picking fights with
>owners of other brands!  Does the monitor put out some special radiation

     If you followed that advice, you'd never have bought _any_ computer
at all.  Maybe a used Vic 20 ("I know it's a piece of junk, but I bought
it because nobody who owns one ever says it's better than anything else!")

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

Date: 25 Jan 92 02:33:10 GMT
From: news.hawaii.edu!uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu![e-mail] (Jimmy Chan)
Subject: Amiga geeks, read this
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (William Thomas
 Daugustine) writes:
>
>If you are an Atari ST user, and have no desire to move to an Amiga
>quit out of this.

{Other dribble deleted for brevity}

What does owning an Atari ST have to do with being able to read
comp.sys.atari.st.  I don't recall owning something was a prerequisite
for reading a newsgroup.  Anyone with an interest in reading about Atari STs
are entitled to join in.  If you want to keep out unwanted posts in
a newsgroup I would suggest having the newgroup moderated but until then
anyone is entitled to read and post news though this does not forgive
those who only enjoy flame-baiting and those who have to use derogatory
remarks to get there points across.

Sorry, I keep reading posts from self-proclaimed net police to get
out of a newsgroup when they have no authority to do so.  Just because
someone posts something another reader doesn't like, we get these ravings
of "GET OUT OF HERE".  This is a forum for discuss not censureship.


--
/-----------------------------\
|[e-mail] |
\-----------------------------/

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

Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1992 22:48 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Atarians, where are you...
To: [e-mail]

1/24/92


If the Amiga/Atari slagging match has descended to the level of
gloating about "eleven-character file names", hasn't it become
terminally silly?

Anybody whose ego is so fragile that it depends upon a computer brand name
for sustenance is too bl**dy dim to contribute anything to these discussions.
Shall we get on with more worthwhile topics (such as *somebody* sending
me an answer to my question about downloading problems on Zmodem)?

M. Johnston   ([e-mail])

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

Date: 23 Jan 92 23:58:05 GMT
From: haven.umd.edu!uflorida!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!sigma![e-mail] (Mickey
 Boyd)
Subject: Dungeon Master, once again
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>,
 [e-mail] (Ben Gilbert) writes:
>Ok, I have played through Dungeon Master and I am at the end, you know I'm
>sealed off down there with Chaos, I've destroyed all the flame-sloth things
>and the dragon and I have the firestaff etc....
>
>
>My question is simple :  HOW do I kill Chaos?  I know it's something about
>fluxcaging/fusing but I have been fighting him for at least 5-10 hours (no,
>not all at once) with no effect.  Someone help please, I'm running out of
>food/water...
>
>Ben

Surround him with fluxcages (all 8 squares around him), and fuse.  He will
not weather the experience well.

--
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------
             Mickey R. Boyd          |  "Come to your senses professor
          FSU Computer Science       |     Fernberg.  You did not transcend
        Technical Support Group      |     the time-space continuum.  You
       email:  [e-mail]    |     got drunk in a topless bar."
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------

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

Date: 25 Jan 92 00:08:25 GMT
From: nevada.edu!jimi2!equinox!pyramid.cs.unr.edu![e-mail]
Subject: Enlightenment (was RE: Yet another ST for sale)
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> you write:
>[e-mail] writes ...
>
>> Heh heh....  Like a rat scrambling to abandon a sinking ship, yet another
>> Atarian offers up his 'computer' hoping that some fool will be stupid enough
>> to buy it.
>
>       I just wanted to mention that I can see at least 4X as many Amigas
>for sale per week as Ataris.  In fact they had to create a whole seperate
>newsgroup just for unloading Amigas!
>
>> Heh heh....

GEE.  WOW.  Are we Atari users being enlightened by the Amiga cult users?!

There are many Amiga newsgroups and a few Amiga users have to pick
comp.sys.atari.st!

The question of the hour is:  WHY?

Their continual gripes, denunciations, and immaturity is clogging our group!

Are they trying to lower our moral?  Or are they disturbed?

(Please NOTE that this is directed at the immature poster NOT some other
computer user correcting mistakes in posts of Atari users).
              ~~~~~~~~~~
Are you going to move to Japan because the US' economy is down?

All I can say is:  SHUT UP.... it's getting ridiculous!!!!!!!!

*OR* they should flame through Email!!!!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     __________                   _______
    / ________()  Kaho Chan(man) /      /
   / / L_____    University of  /*     /
  / /_/_____()  Nevada, Reno    \     /
 /_________    Internet:         \   /
 L________()  [e-mail]     \/~

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

Date: 25 Jan 92 07:57:32 GMT
From: waikato.ac.nz!aukuni.ac.nz!kcbbs!status![e-mail] (Jon Clarke)
Subject: Hyperformat disk on a PC
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Ryan 'Gozar' Collins) writes:

>      Well, it also depends on the PC. My roomates Zentih with a HD drive
> could read the extended formats. (I don't know if I've tried 11 sectors,
> maybe I'll do that tonight and find out.) We joked about how his Zenith
> could read and write to my ST disks, saying the computer had the "Atari
> Spirit!!" I haven't tried it with a PS/2 or anything though. But I know
> the Zentih could read 10 sectors/80 tracks. (CHKDSK came back with 800K
> free on the disk.)
>

There is an old adage .. "Man with sector editor can make any disk say it is
more than it is under dos/tos/gem etc..) Weither or not the drive will read
past a certain point is another matter..

                           _
 Jon Clarke              o( )    STaTus BBS, The Atari BBS in Auckland, NZ
 [e-mail]     /  /\    If that does not work try these address's
 Z*NET PC Global Point    kcbbs.gen.nz!status!jonc or on GEnie : J.CLARKE6
 Auckland, New Zealand    or we are also FIDO Node  3:772/105  FNET:Oneday

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

Date: 25 Jan 92 08:24:07 GMT
From: waikato.ac.nz!aukuni.ac.nz!kcbbs!status![e-mail] (Jon Clarke)
Subject: Is STart magazine utterly dead?
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Gordon James Farrell) writes:

> I had about 7 or 8 myself) by creating a new company (I forget the name),
> transferring all of Antic's  assets to the new company, and declaring Antic t
> be non-existant!!!!!  Therefore, they don't owe their subscribers (or any of
> their other creditors) any money!!!!!!
>

 Well you could always hit the holding company with a "218" for the
outstanding  subscription you have and put them into chapter 11 so to speak
for a few days. I am sure this will do good for their crediblitiy (it might
even feel goooooood).

(These are my thought and mine alone , right Jack, "yhea right")

                           _
 Jon Clarke              o( )    STaTus BBS, The Atari BBS in Auckland, NZ
 [e-mail]     /  /\    If that does not work try these address's
 Z*NET PC Global Point    kcbbs.gen.nz!status!jonc or on GEnie : J.CLARKE6
 Auckland, New Zealand    or we are also FIDO Node  3:772/105  FNET:Oneday

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

Date: 24 Jan 92 18:57:17 GMT
From: mcrware!mwca![e-mail] (Bill Sheppard)
Subject: MIDI out to audio
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (William Thomas
 Daugustine) writes:
>
>Hi. I am interested in a hopefully easy way to take the stuff that
>I record via MIDI on my STe, and somehow pump it thru the STes
>stereo audio out. Anyway I can do this without buying stuff like
>expensive digitizers?

MMM (Midi Music Maker) will play Midi files through your speaker, though it
doesn't attempt to synthesize anything other than standard ST 'beeps'.
Available from atari.archive, GEnie, and other fine sources.  Shareware.
--
 ##############################################################################
 # Bill Sheppard  --  [e-mail]  --  {uunet,sun}!mcrware!mwca!bill  #
 # Microware Systems Corporation -- OS-9 / OS-9000 / CD-RTOS -- [phone] #
 ############# Opinions expressed are my own and usually wrong ################

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

Date: 25 Jan 92 00:38:32 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!news-server.
 csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!newshost.uwo.ca!obelix.gaul.csd.uwo
 .ca![e-mail] (John Tucker)
Subject: Monitor Refresh Rate
To: [e-mail]

Hi, This could be FAQ but here it goes:

        I am attempting to write a vertical blank routine which will
maintain a simple timer by incrementing a counter.
        I think I need to know the monitor refresh rate to assign a
real world value to this (or do I?).

        Comments, better ideas, clarifications are definitely welcome.

        Oh, by the way, the language I am using is assembly.

        Replies by posting here welcome, or e-mail them and I will
summarize.

I am:
        REAL WORLD: John Tucker
        JOB:        [e-mail]
        SCHOOL:     [e-mail]

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

Date: 24 Jan 92 19:23:18 GMT
From: olivea!spool.mu.edu!umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!thelake![e-mail] (Steve
 Yelvington)
Subject: Multifinder for Atari-ST ?
To: [e-mail]

[In article <[e-mail]>,
     [e-mail] (Patrick Haggood) writes ... ]

 >>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Florence Maraninchi)
 writes:
 >>>Or perhaps someone can find another way of solving my problem :
 >>>I would like to use a Lisp interpreter which does not allow to call an
 editor.
 >>>And I don't want to quit the interpreter, then to load the editor, etc...
 >>>for each modification of the source.
 >
 > I don't know Prolog from ADA(m) (forced pun, sorry) but I found that by
 > modifying the macros file that came with C-Breeze, I am now able to
 > compile G++ from the menu bar, ala Turbo-C on PC's.  Works pretty well,
 > too.  You can probably find C-Breeze for less than $20 mail order; I
 > think I bought mine at a WAACE for around that.

E. Arthur Brown sells it, but I don't know whether they ship to France.

You can do pretty much the same thing with most versions of MicroEMACS
(and, I think, Origami as well). I usually compile C code directly from
my editor, using Sozobon C and a version of Conroy's MicroEMACS that I
compiled with Sozobon. But note that the compiler doesn't stay resident;
it has to be loaded for each pass.

If you have enough RAM to hold the Lisp interpreter on a RAMdisk and still
run it, that might speed things up considerably.

It sounds like what's really needed here is just a task switcher, like
the old Juggler program. I don't know if it's still available, or if it
supports non-GEM programs. Never used it.

 --
 Steve Yelvington, Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota     <[e-mail]>
 Note: Mail to the .mn.org domain has been failing for about a month.
       If your mail bounces, try cs.umn.edu!thelake!steve.
       It's probably another side effect of the Super Bowl.
       (I'm praying for a blizzard on Super Sunday.)

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

Date: 24 Jan 92 00:01:37 GMT
From: haven.umd.edu!uflorida!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!sigma![e-mail] (Mickey
 Boyd)
Subject: Multifinder for Atari-ST ?
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Florence Maraninchi) writes:
>
>I need something like the equivalent of the Macintosh multifinder for Atari ST.
>Does it exist ?

There is an application called Revolver which can give you multiple ST's
that you can select with hot-keys.  For example, you can split a 4 meg ST
into 4 1040ST's (functionally at least), and switch back and forth between
them.  In your case, you would probably (given 4 megs) use 3.5 megs for LISP
and 512k for your editor.

>
>Or perhaps someone can find another way of solving my problem :
>I would like to use a Lisp interpreter which does not allow to call an editor.
>And I don't want to quit the interpreter, then to load the editor, etc...
>for each modification of the source.

If it is a GEM application you might try using an accessory editor, like
STENO.


--
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------
             Mickey R. Boyd          |  "Come to your senses professor
          FSU Computer Science       |     Fernberg.  You did not transcend
        Technical Support Group      |     the time-space continuum.  You
       email:  [e-mail]    |     got drunk in a topless bar."
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------

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

Date: 23 Jan 92 23:57:01 GMT
From: haven.umd.edu!uflorida!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!sigma![e-mail] (Mickey
 Boyd)
Subject: New Supra Modem...
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>,
 [e-mail] (Ben Gilbert) writes:
>Hi, I recently saw an ad in a friend's computer magazine for a new
>Supra modem, something like the Supra 2400 PLUS, it says it has
>asynchronous 300,1200,2400 bps (that's the usual I suppose), 4800 bps
>with MNP 5, and 9600 bps with v32.bis or v42.bis (can't remember which).
>So can I actually pay the CHEAP $130 bucks for this modem and dial up
>my school net at 9600 baud?  Sounds like a good deal to me, I know that
>my school dial-in IS this new v32(42).bis thing, someone tell me, 9600
>baud would be awesome for only $130 mail order...
>

Um, I think perhaps they are referring to optimal throughput with compression.
Thus, you could conceivably get 9600 baud every once in awhile (when you
just happen to be modeming something that can be compressed 4-1), but the
modem will not operate at that speed all the time.  I have found that
even at true 9600 baud (32000 baud optimal), the overhead introduced by
the MNP error checking just about cancels out any speed advantage from
data compression.

--
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------
             Mickey R. Boyd          |  "Come to your senses professor
          FSU Computer Science       |     Fernberg.  You did not transcend
        Technical Support Group      |     the time-space continuum.  You
       email:  [e-mail]    |     got drunk in a topless bar."
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------

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

Date: 24 Jan 92 23:42:23 GMT
From: ogicse!orstcs!orstcs![e-mail] (John Thaanum)
Subject: Questions about TOS versions
To: [e-mail]

Anybody out there swapped the new TOS 2.06 into their old ST?
How tough is it to install?  I'm also wondering how the new TOS deals with
things like lack of Blitter, only 512 color palette, etc.

Do any of you know if Falcon runs under 2.06?  I've had 1.4 installed for
a while, and my copy of Falcon craps out at the "Insert Disk Two" prompt.
I like the game, but not enough to justify ripping the cover of my machine
and popping 1.0 back in every time I want to play it.

So do I get TOS 2.06, or sell Falcon, or just quit asking so many questions?

Thanks,


--
      +--------------------------------------------------------+
           John Thaanum          [e-mail]
        "A better tomorrow takes your best today..."  -Triumph
      +--------------------------------------------------------+

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

Date: 25 Jan 92 04:30:04 GMT
From: comp.vuw.ac.nz!actrix![e-mail] (Alex Valdez)
Subject: Smalltalk for St
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
> Is there a binary of Smalltalk (not "Little Smalltalk") that runs on a
> Mega4Ste? Is it PD? If so, where is it? If not, where is it, anyway!
> Thanks.

GNU Smalltalk is in a.a. I've no idea how good it is as I have never
tried running it.
--
================================Alex Valdez=============================

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

Date: 24 Jan 92 00:11:33 GMT
From: haven.umd.edu!uflorida!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!sigma![e-mail] (Mickey
 Boyd)
Subject: ST Drive blues
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Stuart Charman)
 writes:
>
>I have but a lowly single-sided internal drive, and am desperately in need
>of an update to double-sided. Can anyone give me any advice as to the best
>or cheapest way to go about this. Can I simply buy a external drive, or must
>I fit a new internal. What price an internal, can I fit it myself.

Get the file "ibmdrive.lzh" from atari.archive.umich.edu.  It will tell you
all you want to know about ST drives.

Buy a Teac mechanism.  They do not seem to have the media change detection
problem that other mechs sometimes have with ST's.

Feel free to email if you get stuck.

--
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------
             Mickey R. Boyd          |  "Come to your senses professor
          FSU Computer Science       |     Fernberg.  You did not transcend
        Technical Support Group      |     the time-space continuum.  You
       email:  [e-mail]    |     got drunk in a topless bar."
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------

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

Date: 25 Jan 92 01:49:03 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!garbo.uc
 c.umass.edu!dime![e-mail] (Michael Kieras)
Subject: UNIX2DOS
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Marc
 Bouron) writes:
>I downloaded UNIX2DOS.LZH, believing it to transmogrify UNIX text files to DOS
>text files, i.e. convert the <LF> record relimiters to <CR><LF>.  However, I
>don't seem to be able to get the program to do anything.  There were no docs,
 so
>I've been `shooting in the dark'.  The program itself is only %450 bytes long.
>Is the copy at a.a wrong?  I am wrong?  (Don't answer that...)  Any clues
 and/or
>divine insight would be very much appreciated.  Otherwise, I'll just have to
>write the program myself, and that's just not cricket!

Unix2dos is a neat little program that makes the system recognize
forward-slashes (/) as directory separators instead of back-slashes.
I run it from my auto folder.

The only problem I have with it is that I can't used it to input a
top-level directory as just "/".  The version I have is 1.2.  Does
anyone know of a more recent version that can handle "/" to mean a
root directory?


Michael Kieras
[e-mail]

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

Date: 25 Jan 92 01:53:40 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!garbo.ucc.u
 mass.edu!dime![e-mail] (Michael Kieras)
Subject: UNIX2DOS
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> I write:
>The only problem I have with it is that I can't used it to input a
                                                 ~~~~
AAARGH!  I hate it when I miss typos.  Obviously, it should be "I
can't use it to..."  Sorry to waste more space with a correction.

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

Date: 24 Jan 92 21:45:41 GMT
From: noao!ncar!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi![e-mail] (Robert Jeffrey
 Pinelli)
Subject: What to do?
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
 (Roger Sheppard) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Robert Jeffrey Pinelli)
 writes:
>> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Scott R.
 Chilcote) writes:
>> >
>> >Hey, Ken, this isn't as twisted as it sounds!
>>
>>    --Rob
>>
>> p.s. To get an idea how old my mega is, it has the 6 chip ROM set in it that
>> almost NO Megas have!  Boy am I glad I didn't take Toad Computer's word for
>> it when ordering my TOS 1.4 upgrade!
>>
>
>Can you tell me what the problem was , as these machines can take both,
>the 2 chip set is far better as it has less buss loading..
>
>The only problem could be with very old ST's and ones with 2 rom sockets
>as they can only take this 2 chip set, with out adding the extra sockets..

  As far as I know, you cannot pop a 2-chip set into 2 of the sockets on a
motherboard designed for a 6 chip set.  That would mean that each socket
must be addressed as if it were actually 3.  Toad was quite adamant in
its advertisements about making sure which set you needed (which is
why I went through the ordeal of opening up my Mega to check!)

--Rob

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

Date: 24 Jan 92 21:41:06 GMT
From: noao!ncar!gatech!udel!brahms.udel.edu![e-mail] (Donald R Lloyd)
Subject: Yet another ST for sale
To: [e-mail]

     I have a feeling I'll regret posting here, but here goes anyway:

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
 (Roger Sheppard) writes:
>Well I quoted negative sales, meaning that they are taking there A500 Plus
>back to the shops as they don't play games any more.
>One shop here stated to me that only 2 games in the shop would work on
>the New A500 +.
>The games that are packed with the machine, most don't work, Commodore
>include a list with the machine of the games that don't work..
>And even Lemmings does not work, is that a old game..??

     Commodore laid down rules long ago about what not to do to
maintain compatibility.  If the rules were followed, the software
generally worked.  If not, it's the developers' own fault.
     Lemmings works fine on my A3000 running the same version of the OS
as the 500+, with the added complication of a 25MHz '030, different bus
structure, etc.  Not all old games fail either... I can still run Defender
of the Crown (probably the first Ami game, released something like 7
years ago) on the latest hardware.

>All this has been confirmed by 2 other Amiga Shops here

     My statements are confirmed by the machine I'm typing this on :-).

>Hey this new work bench that they have still can't lasso files, to
>copy or delete..

     Funny, I do it all the time.  Maybe I've got some sort of virus that
adds lassoing capability to the workbench?

>And they still use Sum Checks on all there disks..!!

   Uuhhhh... so?


     I'm curious as to the state of Atari in Europe at this point.  Nothing
in this post is meant as a flame or insult; I'm just trying to offer
corrections to some inaccuracies and ask some honest questions.  No, I'm
not an Amiga user who skims the Atari groups looking for flame wars to jump
into.  I occasionally peek into c.s.a.st out of a genuine interest in what's
going on in the ST world.

     OK, now that the flame retardant has been applied, back to my question:
how is Atari doing in Europe?  From the little I've heard lately it sounds
as if they're heading downhill there and picking up speed.  Is the TT selling
much?  I have yet to see a TT in person.  There are, as far as I know,
_no_ Atari dealers or users' groups left in this (admittedly small) state,
and all 3 ST users I've known have long since moved on to other machines.

     What kind of features does the latest TOS have?  I don't even know
what version it is, which machines it runs on, etc.  Could somebody maybe
send me some informative screen shots (in GIF or IFF format) :-)?

     Oh, and a note to whoever posted part of this thread to c.s.a.advo
with a 'Please get this out of our newsgroup' type heading.... not a good
idea.  It only attracts more of us insecure, jealous Amiga users into
c.s.a.st to see what's going on, and steamrolls into a cross-posted
flame-fest that can go on for months.

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

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