NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30/NN_1992_30.iso/spool/comp/sys/ibm/pc/digest/180

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Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest
Subject: Info-IBMPC Digest V92 #189
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Date: 8 Dec 92 22:32:29 GMT
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Info-IBMPC Digest           Tue,  8 Dec 92       Volume 92 : Issue 189

Today's Editor:
         Gregory Hicks - Rota Spain <[e-mail]>

Today's Topics:
                      2 problems needing an answer
                  Brand new OS/2 2.01 beta information
                       Character set translation
  DO NOT SEND ANY {GET WELL, POST, BUSINESS} CARDS TO CRAIG SHERGOLD!
                Dos 5 + Win 3.1 bug in 'assign' command
                           Hard drive "burps"
                       IDE And SCSI with a Twist
                 Zen and the Art of Internet (V92 #178)
     Is dos 6.0 gonna multitask? Or have no memory barrier (2 msgs)
                   Looking for TIFF viewer in windows
                     Macintosh diskettes (V92 #177)
              New OS/2 FTP sites and Trickle subscriptions
                   STACKER and New Drive Installation
                               CGA Fonts

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Archives of past issues of the Info-IBMPC Digest are available by FTP
ONLY from WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL in directory PD2:<ARCHIVES.IBMPC>.

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

Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 11:52:13 LCL
From: [e-mail]
Subject: 2 problems needing an answer...

i've got 2 problems with my PC.The one concerns the graphics' card
and the other is less complicated.

_1_  I'de like to operate my PC from another room ,that is keep
keyboard and screen on my desk and leave cpu unit(drives+disk,etc..) in
another room.Is this possible ?

_2_ i've got an OLD computer (in fact it's ancient) but before donating
it to the museum and buying something like a 486 or waiting for a 586 i
decided to take full advantage of it's graphics' card. The computer is
a HYUNDAI 8086 4.77/10 Mhz equiped with MVA graphics' card.

This card is capable of emulating CGA(320x200x4 colors,640x200x2
colors) and Hercules graphics.  BUT in the manual it says that
320x200x16 colors and 640x200x16 colors can be seen on the screen,and
it has a demo program, it really works!!!  Well i've got Fractint (a
fractal generating program) which needs ax, bx, cx and dx registers'
values in order to function in those modes above.  So if anyone has or
had the same PC i'de like to know whether he knows the values for the
registers or if he knows where i could find them in the manual.  The
manual doesn't say anywhere anything about ax,bx,cx,dx registers.
Nevertheless it mentions many things about programming the card, but i
don't know anything about programming the card...

I'd expect any ansers either by e-mail or in the list.

Thanks on behalf,
Greg Tsakaleris
Agriculture engineer in Thessaloniki University,Greece.

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

Date: 19 Nov 92 06:10:08 GMT
From: "Mohit K. Goyal" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Brand new OS/2 2.01 beta information!!!!

PLEASE REMEMBER I DO NOT HAVE THE BETA and have no more info than what
you read.  Please do not email me.

I got this off of FIDOnet.  Its interesting.  We finally know the
answer to whether the next version of OS/2 will be called 2.1 or 2.01!
(unless Albert is wrong. :) )

From: ALBERT SHAN
To: ALL
Subject: OS/2 2.01 INTERNAL BETA

Just got the new 2.01 beta.  This release is meant for IBM internal
testing only.  It consists of 25 diskettes, with most of SP, and WinOS2
3.1 only (no WinOS2 3.0).  A number of files are post SP, this includes
all the .ADD, UHPFS.DLL, and OS2DASD.DMD.

System appears to be stable (for me, this is much better than SP, and
is almost as good as GA).  There are a number of install glitches, both
OS/2 side and WinOS2 side.  I did manage to get around them and is all
installed now.  There appears to be generic SVGA drivers (640x480,
800x600, 1024x768 all 256-color) for Tseng, ATI, Video 7, Paradise and
Trident.  Haven't try that out, as I got a hung during SVGA driver
install, and the system trashed.

Still running 8514/A, and it appears to be faster than SP and probably
close to GA speed.  32-bit GRE is here, and WPS folder operations is a
*lot* faster.  Objects appear almost instantly upon opening folders (I
have tried Templates and Productivity, they are fast).

The install dialogs are also changed so printer, CD-ROM, SCSI adapter,
can be setup with the same mouse/display/keyboard dialog.  CD-ROM
support includes:

Hitachi CDR-1650S, 1750S, 3650, 3750
IBM 3510, CD-ROM II
NEC CDR-35, 36, 37, 72, 73, 74, 77, 80, 82, 83, 84
Panasonic CR-501, LK-MC501S
Sony CDU-541, 561, 6211, 7211, 6111
Texel DM-3020, 3021, 3120, 5020, 5021, 5120, 3024, 5024
Toshiba 3201, 3301

There are some major new features in this beta.  However, I dont't have
any program to verify their functionality.  Here is a list:

o   OS/2 support for Windows** 3.1 applications
o   Pen Presentation Manager* hooks
o   MSCDEX support
o   Enhanced Format Utility
o   DMQS override
o   Access Control List (ACL) installed
o   PCMCIA support
o   Enhanced printer support
o   DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) client
o   Security hooks
o   Enhanced CD-ROM support
o   Advanced power management (APM) (except
    mouse support)
o   Multimedia support (except software motion
    video)

Productivity apps appear to be unchanged (for now), and there appears
to be one additional applet to be included in 2.01 GA (can't said what
it is because a vendor is selling a similar product right now).

In additional, I can now start a DOS task from within WinOS2!  The DOS
task will be started from the OS/2 desktop as a background process.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with this release...  Now if they can fix
all the damn install bugs...<g>

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

Date: Sat, 28 Nov 92 09:34:08 EST
From: (Marshall D. Abrams) <[e-mail]>
Subject: Character set translation

If I understand correctly, MS-DOS uses an extension to 7-bit ASCII that
is known as 8-bit ASCII, also known as the IBM extended character set.
There are two sets of character graphics assigned to the character
codes in the (decimal) range 128 to 255.  They are known as code pages
437 and 850.  There may be other code pages, but I've never seen them.

Windows uses a different set of character graphics for the characters
in the 128 to 255 range.  They call it ANSI, but I'm told it is more
properly known as ECMA-94.  There is one font that I have discovered,
TERMINAL, that uses code page 437 graphics in Windows.

Transfering files between the MS-DOS and Winddddows environemnts is a
real pain when these upper 128 characters are used. Does anyone know of
a filter, WinWord macro, or stand-alone program to translate between
the character sets?

Sincerely,
Marshall D. Abrams
 e-mail    [e-mail]
 telephone [phone]     Information Systems Security Div.
 secretary 703.883.5397     The MITRE Corporation, Mail Stop Z202
 facsimile 703.883.1397     7525 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102-3481

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

Date: 17 Feb 92 19:43:21 GMT
From: Gene Spafford <[e-mail]>
Subject: DO NOT SEND ANY {GET WELL, POST, BUSINESS} CARDS TO CRAIG SHERGOLD!

If you call the ``Children's Make a Wish'' foundation, you will find
that they are not soliciting any form of card for Craig Shergold or
anyone else.  Better yet, if you call the Guinness people (US publisher
is "Facts on File" @ 212-683--2244 ext. 336), you can get this same
story confirmed.  You will also find that they will no longer endorse
or support any effort to break this record.

Many years ago, Craig Shergold had a brain tumor, believed inoperable.
He sought to set the Guinness record for get-well cards.  The call was
well-publicized, and he did, indeed set the record (consult a recent
edition of the book --- he has received in excess of 16 million cards
to date; he officially set the record as of 17 Nov 1989).

As part of this whole story, his plight caught the attention of John
Kluge, the US billionaire, who paid for Craig to come to the US and
receive specialized treatment.  As a result, Craig has recovered
completely from his tumor.  He is also no longer seven, but well into
his teens (you can see how out-of-date the request for cards is from
this -- it's like circulating a letter encouraging people to vote for
Carter for President).

The problem is that the mimeographed sheets and letters seeking cards
for Craig have continued to be circulated.  As a result, cards continue
to pour in to the post office for Royal Marsden Hospital in England.
Worse, the appeal has mutated into various other versions, such as an
appeal for business cards, one for postcards, and another version that
appeals for holiday cards.

The Shergold family has publicly appealed many times that people cease
to mail them cards and letters, and that no more appeals be made on
their behalf. One easily accessible way to verify this is with the
article on page 24 of the 19 July 1990 NY Times.  People Magazine wrote
an article about it on June 1, 1991, page 63.  Even Ann Landers has
carried an item on this [6/23/91], but people still keep trying to send
cards.  Both Guinness and Royal Marsden have repeatedly issued press
releases asking people to stop circulating requests for cards, as they
are creating an undue burden on both the hospital and the postal
service.

The Guinness people have discontinued the category to prevent this kind
of thing from ever happening again, and are doing their utmost to kill
any further mailings.  The Royal Marsden Hospital is at a loss what to
do with the cards that continue to arrive --- most are being sold to
stamp collectors and paper recyclers, and none go on to Craig.

This appeal for Craig, as well as many urban legends, regularly appear
on electronic bulletin boards around the world, and in many
organizational newsletters and bulletins.  It is both heartening and
unfortunate that there are so many well-meaning people who continue to
propagate these stories.  It is too bad that so many people are
unwilling to verify their information before passing such things along,
especially when a simple phone call will suffice to do so.  In this
case, opening a recent copy of a book carried by nearly every library
and bookstore would illuminate the situation.

If you would still like to do something for a dying child, consider
making a donation to a charity such as UNICEF or to the International
Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Magen David).  Many thousands of children
are dying daily around the world from disease and starvation, and
countless millions more are suffering from the ravages of war, famine,
disease, and natural disaster.  Think how many of them might be helped
by the millions of dollars in postage spent on cards to Craig
Shergold....   Addresses (in US) are:

    UNICEF               American National Red Cross
    1 UN Plaza         17th & D Streets
    New York, NY 10017   Washington, DC 20006
                 Attn: international children's aid

[Also, I encourage you to save this announcement, in either electronic
or hard copy form, and to post it to any bulletin board you've seen the
original plea on.  If you see it in the future, as you probably will,
you can attach a copy of this announcement.  Wouldn't it be great to
finally kill this story, which spreads like a virus? - MRH]

Professor Gene Spafford
Dept. of Computer Sciences
Purdue University
W. Lafayette IN 47907-1398
[e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 14:06:10 +1100 (EST)
From: [e-mail] (Philip FX Ryan)
Subject: Dos 5 + Win 3.1 bug in 'assign' command

Hi

Although there may well be a workaround for this (of which the simplest
is to do all formatting in MS-Dos rather than in Windows), there is a
bug in the combination of the Dos 'assign' command and Windows 3.1 File
Manager.

I have put

assign a=b b=a

into my autoexec.bat file so that the 3.5 inch disk floppy is the 'A:'
drive on my '486. (And the 5.25 inch floppy is the "B:" drive, although
they are PHYSICALLY connected the other way around.)

When I wish to format, using Win3.1 File Manager, a disk, it does not
properly recognize that the drives have been logically swapped. For the
FORMATTING, it thinks that the _hardware_ "a:" drive is still the "a:"
drive, despite the 'assign' command. For the VERIFICATION, it thinks
that the _hardware_ "a:" drive is now the _software_ "b:" drive, in
accordance with the 'assign' command.

Other workarounds? Who does one email bugs to?

All help appreciated

Phil Ryan
MRL DSTO Melbourne
Australia

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

Date: Wed, 25 Nov 92 18:30:22 EDT
From: Tom Frenkel <[e-mail]>
Subject: Hard drive "burps"

Hi -- I have an IBM-clone PC (AST 386-sx running DOS 5) ... not sure of
the hard drive brand.  But every few minutes, the hard drive does this
kind of "burp" ... makes some kind of noise, and for 1 or 2 seconds it
is locked up -- the PC often freezes (if it's doing I/O) until the hard
drive has finished "burping".

Aside from the noise and the interruption of I/O activity, the
operation of the PC seems completely normal.  Is this "burping" some
kind of housekeeping process?  I'm beside myself with curiosity.
Thanks!

    --Tom Frenkel (Internet: [e-mail])

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

Date: 17 Nov 92 14:45:16 GMT
From: Jim Erickson <[e-mail]>
Subject: IDE And SCSI with a Twist

[e-mail] writes:
>[e-mail] (Wolfgang Kalthoff) writes:
>> [e-mail] (Marc WANDSCHNEIDER) writes:
>>
>>>I am considering mixing a SCSI drive in with my IDE drive sometime
>>>in the near future.  However, I want to make sure that the 340MB IDE
>>>is still the drive that boots the system, and ends up as the C:
>>>drive.  Can I add a SCSI Controller, tack a 200MB SCSI drive onto it,
>>>and still keep the IDE drive as the primary one.
>
>
>>>How would one go about entering that into the BIOS...?  (I seem to
>>>recall that SCSI drives aren't entered into the BIOS or something
>>>like that !)
>>
>> Simply plug in the controller and the drive. That's all!!
>
>Not quite so easy as that.. If you want the SCSI drive to be a
>secondary drive, you have to disable the bios on the SCSI controller.
>(At least in the adaptec), then load a couple of device drivers
>ASPI4DOS and another that I forget (I'm at home and my documentation
>is at the office). You don't have to put anything in the BIOS. But it
>does work fine.

   The Adaptec 1542B controller will automatically set itself up as the
secondary HDD controller if it sees an IDE drive out there. There is no
need to disable the BIOS it most cases and the ASPI drivers are only
needed if:

1)you have two IDE drives so the SCSI has to set up as e: or later,

2)you have two (or more) SCSI drives so one of them must set up as e:
or later,

3)you want to avoid using Smartdrive's double buffering (a good
reason), or

4) you may need it if you have devices other than HDDs attached to the
Adaptec.

   I have set up this controller alone, and with both one and two IDE
drives in a system (1 SCSI drive). It was plug-n-play except that the
ASPI drivers needed to be loaded for the dual IDE setup.

>Make sure that when you purchase the SCSI controller, you get the
>version that comes with the device drivers (Adaptec kits them
>separately, so that the controller can be purchased with or without
>drivers).

>>>I've been looking at the UltraStor 14F, but there is also the possibility
>>>of picking up an Adaptec.

Pick up the Adaptec 1542B-K (the -k is the "kit" with the device driver
software).  It's pretty much the 'standard'.

Jim Erickson             ZZZZ EEEE  OO   SSSS   ZEOS International, Ltd.
[e-mail]   INET     Z E    O  O S       Technical Support Dept.
uunet!zeos!support UUCP    Z  EE   O  O  SSS    530 5th Ave N.W.
Any opinions expressed    Z   E    O  O     S   St. Paul, MN 55112
herein are my own!       ZZZZ EEEE  OO  SSSS    FAX         [phone]

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

Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 12:57:33 EST
From: Prince Bytor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Zen and the Art of Internet (V92 #178)

      I have this file on my BBS. It is in compress format. It is
approx 75K using LHArc. You can get if from there if you can't find it
out in FTP.

       BBS name: Omega Concern
       Phone # : [401]-295-2725
       Time    : 24hrs/7days
       Speeds  : 300-14.4k baud

The File can be found under the Amiga Misc file section.

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

Date: 17 Nov 92 18:59:40 GMT
From: Alex Oren <[e-mail]>
Subject: Is dos 6.0 gonna multitask? Or have no memory barrier????

[NOTE: The following is 'slightly' tounge in cheek...  gph]

I have reliable inside information stating that DOS 17.0 will break the
1MB barrier and DOS 23.0 will add preemptive multitasking.  The bugs
and incompatibilities these features will spawn will be cleared by the
time we reach release 34.52d

[End 'tongue in cheek...  gph]

The bottom line:
If you want an operating system which will:
- Address more than 1MB
- Multitask
- Run your old DOS software
- Have those goodies you always wanted and DOS lacked

Use OS/2 or Win/NT or any other OS capable of the above and forget
about DOS.  What do you care about a name as long as the features are
right?

Arivederci,
  Alex.

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

Date: 17 Nov 92 18:41:07 GMT
From: Alex Oren <[e-mail]>
Subject: Is dos 6.0 gonna multitask? Or have no memory barrier????

>DOS doesn't have a 640K barrier.  DOS will use as much CONTINOUS
>memory it can find.

Wrong!

DOS, as a real-mode-8086 operating system (?) cannot use more than 1MB
of memory (ROM, RAM and variations).

The 1MB barrier comes from the 8086 architecture.  The 640K barrier
comes from IBM's design of the PC, where 384K where reserved for the
BIOS, video buffer, adapter memory etc.

If an OS uses memory schemes which depend on more than 20-bit address
space (XMS), require protected-mode (DPMI, VCPI) or special hardware
support (EMS) then it cannot run on a plain PC/XT compatible, so it is
not "DOS".

However, there were computers which implemented the video buffer higher
in memory, leaving DOS with more than 640K (though less than 1MB)

Arivederci,
Alex

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

Date: Fri, 27 Nov 92 7:11:45 EDT
From: David Kirschbaum <[e-mail]>
Subject: Looking for TIFF viewer in windows

In Info-IBM #178:

>Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 13:21:19 EST
>From: <[e-mail]>
>
>    I'm looking for a TIFF viewer that works under MS windows. If no
>one knows of one, can I get some suggestions on a TIFF convertor to
>GIF, that can read LZW compressed TIF images... For example, VUIMG
>doesn't seem to be able to handle this compression.

I've been very pleased with the Alchemy Mindworks products (a firm up
in Canada, eh?).  A fast fgrep of the SIMTEL20 index reveals:

PD1:<MSDOS.WINDOWS3>
GUSWIN.ZIP,262238,921107,Alchemy Mindworks Graphic Workshop for WIN 3.1

PD1:<MSDOS.GRAPHICS>
GRFWK61M.ZIP,370010,920330,View/cvt/print MAC/IMG/GIF/TIFF/EPS graphics

The first (GUSWIN, AKA GWSWIN) is for WIN3; the second is for DOS (but
also works quite well when evoked from Windows).

Both these do far more than just view TIFF files, of course ..
conversion, cropping, etc. etc.  *Very* nice programs (as are all the
programs from them).  I'm most impressed!  (And yes, both of them
*will* convert from TIFF to GIF, handle compressed TIF images, etc.
Many other graphics formats as well.

Shareware, but quite inexpensive.

Usual disclaimers, of course.

David Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 25 Nov 92 09:45:25 +0100
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Macintosh diskettes (V92 #177)

In IBMPC-L #177 someone asked for a program to read Macintosh 3.5"
diskettes.  I've read somewhere else that there is a program named
'mac-dos' that should do the trick.

I've found files called 'mac-dos.zip' and 'mac-dos.lzh' on the ftp-site
nic.funet.fi.  Maybe it is available at other sites, just start
looking.

Harry Wedemeijer                        Internet : [e-mail]
TNO Institute of Applied GeoScience     Bitnet   : [e-mail]
P.O. Box 6012                           Phone    : [phone]
2600 JA  Delft, The Netherlands         Fax      : [phone]

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

Date: Sat, 28 Nov 92 12:19:52 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: new ftp sites and Trickle subscriptions

[Forwarded by "Drew Derbyshire" <[e-mail]>, author of UUPC/Extended
- an *excellent* mail handler, and, I think, now USENET news interface
for DOS, Windows, and OS/2 machines.  gph]

Sites from which to get OS/2 software by anonymous FTP.  (Includes
those listed in the August issue of OS/2 Monthly.)

      name                     address                  directory

ftp-os2.nmsu.edu             128.123.35.151           pub/os2
  formerly hobbes.nmsu.edu; extensive, mirrors watson
mtsg.ubc.ca                  137.82.27.1              os2:
access.usask.ca              128.233.3.1              pub/archives/os2
luga.latrobe.edu.au          131.172.2.2              pub/os2
funic.funet.fi               128.214.6.100            pub/os2
software.watson.ibm.com      129.34.139.5             pub/os2
  official fixes, unofficial enhancements
cc1.kuleuven.ac.be           134.58.8.32              anonymou 201
  extensive
pdsoft.lancs.ac.uk           148.88.64.2              micros/ibmpc/os2
ftp.uni-stuttgart.de         129.69.1.12              soft/os2
  formerly rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de; home of emTeX and relatives
tethys.rz.uni-osnabrueck.de  131.173.17.10            pub/os2
  Redbooks 1-4 in .inf format
sun0.urz.uni-heidelberg.de   129.206.100.126          pub/os2
  mirrors watson, has German updates
ftp.uni-erlangen.de          131.188.1.43             pub/os2
  has German updates

Former sites reported as inactive for OS/2 as of 27 Nov 92

novell.com                   130.57.4.1               pub/os2
  reported to have abandoned os/2: newest may 92


Also consult the latest FAQ, available on most of the preceding.

If you are not able to do FTP directly, there are several options.
Send a single-line message HELP to [e-mail] or to
[e-mail] for information about their FTP mail servers.
Also, the same message to [e-mail] or listserv@
blekul11.bitnet will get you information about their archive server.
(Those on Bitnet can use TELL to expedite this.)

It is also possible to subscribe to a continual update of OS/2 fixes
and patches, so that you are automatically sent the latest versions.
For information on this service, send a one-line message with no
subject line to [e-mail] consisting of /help . Note the
slash: it is necessary. From Bitnet, you can do this interactively as

            TELL trickle at trearn /help

You will receive the help file. Look for the section  Subscribing to
Files. Near the beginning of the help file you will find a list of the
Trickle servers, so that you may use the nearest.

Please send additions, suggestions, and comments to:

%          Phillip E. Parker
%  __ 2    Math. Dept.                 Bitnet: pparker@twsuvm
% |__)     Wichita St. Univ.         Internet: [e-mail]
% |        Wichita KS  67260-0033         Fax: [phone]
%          USA

--
Internet:       [e-mail]             Voice:          617-641-3739

 UNIX is a SPACEWAR game with a file system grafted on it.

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

Date: Sat, 28 Nov 92 20:06:25 CST
From: Steve Lowe <[e-mail]>
Subject: STACKER and New Drive Installation

 SITUATION:  40MB hard drive with STACKER installed.  Objective is to
install new 80MB in same system.  However, we want to make the 80MB
drive the boot drive (ie, 'C') such that we can transfer files from the
old 40MB drive and place it in another system.

 Any suggestions would be appreciated.

     Steve Lowe

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 | Steve Lowe                           INTERNET: [e-mail]  |
 | Director, Computing and              PHONE:    [phone]             |
 |   Information Services                                                  |
 | Aurora University            -------------------------------------------|
 | 347 S. Gladstone Avenue     | The will of God will never lead you where |
 | Aurora, IL  60506           |  the grace of God cannot keep you.        |
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------


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

Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 15:47:09 +0200
From: Har-Shoshanim Gilad <[e-mail]>
Subject: cga fonts

the problem i'm facing is loading fonts to the cga screen on my
notebook and they have to be the HEBREW character set.  does anybody
have the way for CGA?

thanks

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

End of Info-IBMPC Digest V92 #189
*********************************
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