No Fragments Archive 12: Textmags & Docs/nf_archive_12.iso/MAGS/TEXTMAGS/ATARI16/INFO91.ZIP/INFO91/177.TXT

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 26KB | 610 lines

Info-Atari16 Digest         Fri, 29 Mar 91       Volume 91 : Issue 177

Today's Topics:
                              1040STE's
                                  _
               Can't connect a 1040st to a TV Set  :-(
                  Connecting to a Non-atari monitor?
                             Dr. Who Pics
                        GCR + 1.44Mb floppies
                   memory upgrade woes on a Mega 1
                                 Mice
                  Need Forms for Publishing Partner
                     Re: Atari ST Graphics and C
              Response to Mr. Choi re: Notebook machines
                              Spice POC
                             STE DMA bug
                                sundog
                  Thoughts on DC Utilities (2 msgs)
                            Unix on the TT
               Your article(s)  (Was: Re: union demo 2)

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

Date: 29 Mar 91 10:23:32 GMT
From: fernwood!portal!cup.portal.com![e-mail] (William Edward
 JuneJr)
Subject: 1040STE's
To: [e-mail]

Are the MegaSTes released in the US yet?
I'd like to trade up to one from a Mega4, anyplace do this?

Ed June
Fido 1:133/308

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

Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 06:19 GMT +1
From: ____ Zarko Berberski ____ <[e-mail]>
Subject: _
To: [e-mail]

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|              if you feel this is not of general interest            |
| send answer to my address and I'll post summary as a single message |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+

  Could any kind soul tell me where I could find precise information on
PCX, .GIF, .TIFF, .PAC, .IMG formats and/or sources for conversion to
and from .IMG (.PCX, .GIF, .TIFF, .PAC, <-> .IMG). I wouldn't mind if it
is PC-code - actually anything in human-readable form would do.

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

Date: 27 Mar 91 23:09:32 GMT
From: hpcc05!hpyhde1!hpycla!hpcuhc!hpda!hpcuhb!hpindda![e-mail]
 (Michael Goo)
Subject: Can't connect a 1040st to a TV Set  :-(
To: [e-mail]

>in comp.sys.atari.st/[e-mail] (Ryan 'Gozar' Collins)
>writes:
>
>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (David D. Dean)
 writes:
>> It turns out that they (The Atari Company) did not include an RF modulator
>> for their 1040st line.  DARN!!!    That really ticks!
>
>On a related note, is it possible to add a RF modulator to an older ST?
>I've noticed that there is space on the motherboard for it, but nothing is
>there.
>

The Atari monitor connector has a line for composite video.  This is essentially
regular NTSC signal without being modulated to a TV frequency.  You can buy or
build a cable that will go from the monitor port to a composite connector
(usually a regular RCA jack)  Some TV/monitors can use a composite signal
directly.  For TVs that can't, a composite -> channel 3/4 modulator should be
obtainable at the local Radio Shack.

Hope this helps.

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

Date: 28 Mar 91 23:46:02 GMT
From: mcrware!mwca![e-mail] (Bill Sheppard)
Subject: Connecting to a Non-atari monitor?
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bob Malay) writes:
>Help! How can I connect a Zenith Data Systems ZVM-135 RGB Monitor to an
>Atari 1040STE?
[specs deleted]

Whether this will work depends on what sync rates it is capable of supporting;
it certainly has the right connections.  Judging by the model number (135) and
supported modes, it almost sounds like the Philips/Magnavoc CM135 which is now
being sold by Atari (minus the composite and digital RGB options) as the
SC1435...
--
 ##############################################################################
 # Bill Sheppard  --  [e-mail]  --
 # Microware Systems Corporation  ---  OS-9: Seven generations beyond OS/2!!  #
 ######Opinions expressed are my own, though you'd be wise to adopt them!######

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

Date: 29 Mar 91 02:07:04 GMT
From: noao!asuvax!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!rpi!uupsi!dorsai![e-mail]
 (David Shapiro)
Subject: Dr. Who Pics
To: [e-mail]

> I am looking for any picture of the Tardis (the telephone box) from the
> BBC show "Dr. Who".  Any ST-readable format will be OK (ie. PI/PC?, IFF,
> GIF, TNY, etc.).  Any help from users out there would be greatly
> appreciated.

The Gooey (GUI) BBS @ 212-876-5885 has a file section just for British TV
shows, including Doctor Who. A large number of .GIFs are online....

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

Date: 28 Mar 91 18:41:46 GMT
From: otter.hpl.hp.com!hpltoad!ghiggins![e-mail] (Graham Higgins)
Subject: GCR + 1.44Mb floppies
To: [e-mail]

Anyone know whether Spectre GCR handles the 1.44Mb floppy ugrade?

Cheers,

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: 29 Mar 91 08:52:13 GMT
From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!wciu!abode![e-mail] (Luis Outumuro)
Subject: memory upgrade woes on a Mega 1
To: [e-mail]

        Hi Neil,
                Actually several of the items you mentioned actually do exist.
Namely the PS3000 (I bought two, and yes... one of them looks great on top of
my Mega ST4), Mega ST1 and the 4160STe.
        The PS3000 is a JVC-built SC1224 (yes... a color monitor) with a
built-in SSDD floppy drive.
        The Mega ST1 I had limited availability in parts of Europe (Germany I
think, someone correct me if not).
        The 4160STe does exist (I set some up at the NAMM show); although it
is just a 1040STe with 4m of SIMM's added.  It cheaper for Atari, the dealers
and the users to just let the dealers and users to upgrade a 1040STe to 4m.
Bye.............

                                        Luis
/s

--
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Luis Mark Outumuro III                |  "Well... you're damned if you do,
Computer Office Products 818/813-1051 |   and you're damned if you don't!"
Infoline                 818/813-1053 |         - Bart Simpson, 1990...

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

Date: 29 Mar 91 02:26:24 GMT
From:
 uhura.cc.rochester.edu!ub!dsinc!unix.cis.pitt.edu!gvlf3.gvl.unisys.com!tredysvr
 !cellar![e-mail] (Darling)
Subject: Mice
To: [e-mail]

Someone asked about alternative mice for the ST.  I've been through 3
counting that miserable clunker that came with the machine, and I really like
the Golden Image Optical mouse I've got now; it's the most durable, the most
comfortably shaped, and the switches are on a hair trigger.  Highly
recommended.


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

Date: 29 Mar 91 03:11:41 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!shell!nuchat!menudo.uh.edu!r
 [e-mail] (Paul Stephen Sears)
Subject: Need Forms for Publishing Partner
To: [e-mail]

Ok.... So I swallow my pride... *sigh* but does anyone have any forms
that can be used with publishing partner or with Word Writer ST?  Or
even Ascii?  I am looking for some legal forms, especially a bill of
sale and a lein.  Anyone have any or any recomendations?  I will also
take one for a Mac (Sheesh!) if you have one......

Thanks.


--
Paul Sears      The Univ. of Houston |"The greater an individual's power
Student of the College of Technology | over others, the greater the evil that
[e-mail]      ***        | might possibly originate with him."
[e-mail]     * * *       | - PROPAGANDA, from A Secret Wish (CD)

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

Date: 29 Mar 91 05:51:06 GMT
From: stanford.edu!msi.umn.edu!cs.umn.edu!thelake![e-mail] (Steve
 Yelvington)
Subject: Re: Atari ST Graphics and C
To: [e-mail]

[In article <[e-mail]>,
     [e-mail] (Andy Dickinson) writes ... ]

>       I'm wondering if anyone could give me some information on
> Atari ST AES/VDI calls.  I am using the Sozobon C development system
> and I have the bindings for these calls, but I can't seem to find
> anything on what the calls actually are!  Everything I read seems to
> assume that I own a copy of the ST Development Toolkit, which I don't.
>
>       Does anyone know of any documentation I might be able to find
> online which would explain how to use these calls?

Online? Not much. The Tim Oren ``Pro GEM'' series should be available
at atari.archive.umich.edu; it's a GEM programming tutorial. You also
should make a point of grabbing all the GEM C code you can find.

(This is a good point at which to insert another appeal for authors
of PD programs to publish their source code.)

Books to look for include the Abacus ``Atari ST GEM Programmer's
Reference'' and Bantam's ``Atari ST Application Programming'' (which is
out of print).

Try your college library and don't forget about interlibrary loans.

Using the Bantam book as a guide, I wrote a set of AES bindings a couple
of years ago and fully intended to complete the job with VDI bindings and
documentation, but set the project aside when Ian Lepore's GEMfast
libraries appeared. Maybe I should have done the docs anyway.

----
  Steve Yelvington / P. O. Box 38 / Marine on St. Croix, MN 55047 USA
  INTERNET: [e-mail]    UUCP: plains!umn-cs!thelake!steve
  GEnie: S.YELVINGTO2               Delphi: YELVINGTON

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

Date: 29 Mar 91 09:03:22 GMT
From:
 noao!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!think.com!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!
 ira.uka.de!fauern!faui43.informatik.uni-erlangen.de![e-mail] (Claus
 Brod)
Subject: Response to Mr. Choi re: Notebook machines
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (T R Hall) writes:

>       Otherwise, why not be a reasonable human being, and make CONSTRUCTIVE
>criticism, based on (gasp!) actual knowledge?  This does NOT mean "say only
>nice things", be as critical as you like, but do so to try to improve the
>product.

You asked for it, you get it: I'd like to have an external mouse port
for the ST Notebook. At CeBIT, I was told that there would be none.
I don't vote for a mouse bundled with the notebook; I've been told
that mice are real power-hungry. But there should at least be the option.
The reason I ask for this is that most people that were allowed to
have a little hands-on practice with the ST Notebook didn't like the
mouse replacement gadget very much (well, at least most of the people
I talked to at CeBIT, including many developpers).

I think you've done a tremendous job with the ST Notebook as far as
I can tell from what I know now. My first reaction was: "Can I take
it with me right now?" I've fallen in love with this machine at the
very first sight.

The PAD prototype, however, appeared to be unstable at CeBIT. It didn't
recognize a single letter I wrote. I was told that this was due to electrostatic
charge or something, but well...

Let me express that I am very pleased with the way things are going now
@atari. Keep it up.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Claus Brod, Am Felsenkeller 2,                  Things. Take. Time.
D-8772 Marktheidenfeld, West Germany            (Piet Hein)
[e-mail]
Claus [e-mail]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Thu, 28 Mar 91 7:11:17 MST
From: Mark Rhyner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Spice POC
To: [e-mail]

I lost issues 77 thru 97 while xferring them from a laptop to a host.  In
one of these issues was an address at Berkeley to send for the source code for
Spice.

Are the past issues archived anywhere? And if not could someone send me that
address?

Thanks in advance,

Mark
# Mark F. Rhyner                              ################################
# USAISEC                                     #                              #
# ASQB-SEP-A                                  #  All comments are mine and   #
# DSN: 879-7440  COMM: [phone]         #  not attributable to any     #
# EMAIL: [e-mail]   #  Government organization.    #
# or     [e-mail] #                              #
##############################################################################

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

Date: 28 Mar 91 15:17:15 GMT
From:
 arizona.edu!cerritos.edu!nic.csu.net!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!wa
 ikato.ac.nz!comp.vuw.ac.nz!actrix![e-mail]
Subject: STE DMA bug
To: [e-mail]

Distribution:world

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
> Well I finally got bit last night.  The wonderful STE DMA (read harddrive)
> bug got me.  After doing a couple hours of work on the computer with probably
> 25 or so disk accesses it gave me the "somethings wrong with the disk drive"
> alert.  I then could no longer see the partitions even though the hard disk
> driver would run.  I have an ICD plus host adapter and a syquest drive.
>    Does this error (the STE DMA problem) always hammer the disk in the same
> manner?  If so, what is necessary to go and recover the drive.  No I didn't
> have a backup as I've had it only 2 weeks and wasn't sure if I liked my
> layout yet.  (Lesson learned though :-(  ).
>   I'll be contacting Atari about a warranty problem in the mean time.
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Jim Harres          [e-mail]

Well this has happened to me, was helping a friend that has just got
a STE, and was using my Drive connected to a Mega File 30, had
problems with this, the Mega File 30 would not connect to me Drive with
a Supra Host adapter
It had to be Atati to Mega File 30, then my Drive, this I can't understand..

Well after the 3rd STE, all different faults, The Directories of the
Mega File and mine where damaged, This was caused by the last but one
STE , we now have a STE that works..!!

With a use of a program, was able to Fix the Mega File 30.

But the big problem is that the data in the Directory of my 'C', Partition
are moved 2 bytes to the left, a total of say 6 sectors.

Is there a Util that can move the Data back , all the sector editors
that I have tried just over type, there is no insert mode !!

I don't realy want to retype over 3000 bytes..

Can some one Help !!

--
Roger W. Sheppard   85 Donovan Rd, Kapiti New Zealand...

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

Date: 28 Mar 91 16:35:52 GMT
From: aurs01![e-mail] (Jonathan Whitcomb)
Subject: sundog
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Chuck Schul)
 writes:
>what the hell is that game about???????

Sundog is my all time favorite game for the ST.  It is an early effort from
FTL (their first?), the folks that brought you Dungeon Master and Oids.

As the game starts, you have been released from indentured service in
the Mines, being told that you have inherited a space ship from a
distant uncle, who you've never heard of.  Unfortunately, you have
also inherited his contract to build a city on a distant planet.  If
you want the ship, you have to complete the contract.

You start out on the planet where the new city will be, and your
first task is to find the city's site.  Upon finding it, you will
be given a list of materials that you need to bring from other
cities, including Cyrogens...frozen workers who will build the
city.  In early levels you can find most of what you need on your
base planet, but as the game progresses, you have to explore other
worlds in other solar systems.

The game has lots of elements.  You have to keep your ship properly
outfitted with components.  These components often get damaged as
Pirates try to steal your cargo in interplanetary travel.  Locally,
various cities offer specialized goods, such as hand weapons (which
you need to ward off muggers), "custom" components for your ship,
illegal drugs (which you can experiment with or sell for profit...
or ignore completely) and so on.

There are lots of ways to play the game, but I don't want to give too
much away.  You must be a savvy negotiator to get good prices on
contraband, a good businessman to get the proper supplies for your
city and still make a profit, a good navigator to judge when the
best times to visit other star systems, a good fighter to survive
your bouts with the pirates, and a lucky SOB to survive to win!

All of the worlds have their own personalities, and half the fun
is exploring them.

Considering that you can find this game CHEAP these days, you should
really check it out...and resist the temptation of reading the
cheat files that are around (they not only defeat the purpose of the
game, but are also just WRONG about several things).  The fun in this
game is not just in winning it, but experiencing the extremely
detailed universe that has been created for you.
**********************************************************************
Jonathan Whitcomb                    UUCP: <[e-mail]>
Alcatel Network Systems, Raleigh, NC                    Delphi: JBWHIT


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

Date: 28 Mar 91 14:38:03 GMT
From:
 arizona.edu!cerritos.edu!nic.csu.net!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!wa
 ikato.ac.nz!comp.vuw.ac.nz!actrix![e-mail]
Subject: Thoughts on DC Utilities
To: [e-mail]

Distribution:world

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jonathan Whitcomb) writes:
> The March ST Informer had rave reviews for the new DC Utilities
> package, so I picked up a copy.  In general the programs are
> pretty good and useful, but there were a few bugs, and a couple
> of missing features.
>
Items Removed***
> Anyone else have any reflections on DC products?
>
> -Jonathan the verbose
> **********************************************************************
> Jonathan Whitcomb                    UUCP: <[e-mail]>
> Alcatel Network Systems, Raleigh, NC                    Delphi: JBWHIT
>

Well I did have a few problems with Squish and DC Plus.
I could not Squish Magic Formater, a DC PD program, mind you this is
the only program that has caused a problem so far.

Get a few problems with DC Plus, you can't set the Base Directory,
of the files that you wish to ARC/LZH from,
and if more than 2 pages of Extracted data, you get some funny things
going on, like click on a File, and a another file comes up in its place,
try to click on a Folder to open the files in it, no go,

Will not let you have more than 2 folders deep, in a LZH File, is this
the LZH Limit ?, unabel to save default paths, path is set from where
the Program is run from

But still they are Very good progams..

One thing that I like about DC, is they don't just  keep updating there
stuff every week or days, with some otheres its out of date as soon as you
get it ???
--
Roger W. Sheppard   85 Donovan Rd, Kapiti New Zealand...

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

Date: 28 Mar 91 21:30:15 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!execu!sequoia!uudell!fquest!
 [e-mail] (Mark Spacek)
Subject: Thoughts on DC Utilities
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (Harry Dodgson) writes:
>  [lots of stuff deleted]
> - -My main problem with DC Squish is that sometimes when
> - -I unsquish a program, it leaves a squished copy in the folder
> - -that I can't delete.  I guess it sets a read only bit, but I
> - -can't seem to clear it.
> > DC claims this is a TOS problem (I use V1.2).  What happens is
> > that TOS leaves two files in the folder with the same name (a
> > Squished and unSquished version), and then gets confused when
> > trying to erase one.  The solution is to rename one, and then
> > reboot.  Then you can get rid of the offending file.  A bit of a
> > hassle.  DC says that they will consider circumventing the problem
> > in the next version by using their own delete routine instead of
> > relying on TOS.
>
I thought this only happened when you were using it on an accessory or
auto folder program that was currently in use and TOS denied access to.
Seems to me that if there were a way around this that they certainly
would have found it, maybe not.  I've seen people try to rename the files
and delete them, but that doesn't help.  Just reboot without that .ACC or
PRG, do your stuff, then boot with it again.  If its not accessories or
auto folder programs you are talking about then you should be using
PFXPAK, it will give you better compression (I haven't been able to
compare the latest DC-Squish's compression to PFXPAK, in fact, I'm not
sure what version I did the comparison with, maybe 1.0.  I can find out
if its important)....  Glad to read some comments on the new DC-Utils, I
was gonna buy it at the San Antonio dealer a couple weeks ago, but they
were out.  Anyway...

----------------------------------------------------------------------
The preceding opinions are my own and not those of anyone else who
might be registered on fquest.fidonet.org.  All flames can be sent to
alt.flames since we don't read that here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 28 Mar 91 21:29:16 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!eru!hagbard
 !sunic!news.funet.fi!funic!santra!saha.hut.fi![e-mail] (Jari Lehto)
Subject: Unix on the TT
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Neil Forsyth) writes:
>
>Is it possible to buy a TT and run Unix (and possibly) X Windows right now
>as I type? And again, is the LAN port being used yet?
>
 First to LAN: If you use Spectre, the Mac-emulator in your TT, you can
use LAN as AppleTalk, just plug and play, it is 100% compatible!
Other ways: I haven't found anything yet...

And  Unix: My friend received mail from his friend, and there was following
information:
200Mb harddisk with Unix installed -> to replace the TT internal drive
 = $1600.00

I hope I remember correctly. I don't remember any details about this
Unix-package...

                                Jartsu

        *** Jari Lehto, [e-mail], [e-mail] ***

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

Date: 28 Mar 91 21:42:45 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!eru!hagbard
 !sunic!news.funet.fi!funic!santra!saha.hut.fi![e-mail] (Jari Lehto)
Subject: Your article(s)  (Was: Re: union demo 2)
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Chuck Schul)
 writes:
>any body have number 2.i saw number 2 once it is nice and i am looking for
>a copy of it.i have number 1 it is nice.but 2 will blow you mind with the
>graphics and sound.wow!!!if you have it fess up dudes.if you want a copy of
>one let me know.i will mail it out if you send 2 or 3 buck for a disk and
>mailer.

It is good thing to have people like you who are ready to do a lot for free
to keep Atari up and rise it even higher...

BUT: Would you kindly learn to write your messages in a non-machine way,
they are not so very easy to read in their present format.
Or, are you using something that disables <SHIFT>-key and does not allow
more than one space at a time?

I don't know really whether you are looking for version 2.i or 2...
You want a copy of it.i... What is that?
What exactly means that something is nice.but?
What the hell is sound.wow!!!if? Sound file that follows .iff pictures?

        No hard feelings...
                Jartsu

        *** Jari Lehto, [e-mail], [e-mail] ***

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

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