No Fragments Archive 12: Textmags & Docs/nf_archive_12.iso/MAGS/TEXTMAGS/ATARI16/INFO91.ZIP/INFO91/542.TXT

Text File | 1992-05-11 | 30KB | 717 lines

Info-Atari16 Digest         Sat, 19 Oct 91       Volume 91 : Issue 542

Today's Topics:
                              Atari Abaq
                                Demoes
                                Falcon
                       Fligth Simulator on STe
                            Font addresses
                               Font adr
                    Help with a printing problem.
                        How much is Mega STE?
                               Mega STe
                          Multigem (2 msgs)
                          Panther & Jaguar.
                    SC1224 color monitor for sale
                    Wanted german mag: ST-computer
                              whining HD
        Why programs don't work (was Fligth Simulator on STe)

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 13:41:32 GMT
From: mcsun!uknet!ukc!slxsys!ibmpcug!demon![e-mail] (Iain Laskey)
Subject: Atari Abaq
To: [e-mail]

The abaq did indeed get to the market in the UK and Europe. I saw a very nice -
setup at one of the UK shows with the Abaq linked to a Kodak 35m scanner/colou-
r printer.
It scanned in perfect full colour pictures and allowed pretty impressive cut
and paste between different parts and pictures and then allowed a nice new
picture to printed of the result. The output couldn't be faulted as a normal 3-
5m picture.
It is now no longer sold in the UK as far as I know although I beleive it is s-
till sold in some European countires (Germany?).
The technology is still being looked at though and may re-surface at later dat-
e.Possibly as a bolt on for STs

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 14:12:24 GMT
From: dhmolde.no![e-mail] (Torbjorn Ose)
Subject: Demoes
To: [e-mail]

OK, let's ramble a bit about these demos that cause so much trouble...

First of all a couple of words about myself. I'm the kind of guy who enjoy
hacking my way through protections etc., AND I collect demos. I've got almost a
hundred demodisks by now, so I know what I'm talking about... :-)

Delirius 3 (or 2.75):

This demo is STE only (forget it if you have an ST). It uses 4096 colors,DMA
sound and Hardware scrolling.

Because of the WORST disk routine I've seen for ages it doesn't load properly
on anything but <MegaSte machines.. This is probably due to Atari Changing some
timing somewhere. The weird thing is that they use their own disk-routine while
still using Gemdos(9) to write the text on screen!! Why didn't they use Xbios
to load the screens when they didn't throw away the OS??

I've got it in files on my harddisk and if I can find some spare time I'll
do a file version of it. But since it's really a CRAP demo, It'll probably take
a while until i finish it..


Oh Crikey Wot a Scorcher!:

This is a QUALITY demo ('spose you'd kill me if I said anything else Stefan?)
and it works on anything but TT's. I don't have TT access (yet) so I can only
guess, but it's probably the sync protection in the boot sector that doesn't
work on TT. AND any screens in the demo that relies on cycle-timing wouldn't
work. There are NOT many screens in Crikey that relies on cycles though, so
most screens should work on TT.

You guessed it! I've got this one in files on my harddisk as well, and I've
tried some of them in 16Mhz on my Mste and they run ok. (there is absolutely NO
reason to run them in 16Mhz though as they all run in 1 Vbl on 8Mhz machines)
The hidden screen doesn't work with my buggy shifter though... :-(

Since the demo has been hacked to pieces by a lot of guys, there is really no
reason why The Lost Boys (reading this Tim?) couldn't release a new version
withouth the sync-protection.... The biggest problem is that TT's are so
expensive that NO demo programmers have them (well, almost nobody..) AND no
technical details are available...


Just my 5 cents worth...

PLEASE don't ask me to email any of my demos/files. I've got enough problems
with the sysadm :-(   (and I DO NOT have FTP.)

Floppy trades could be arranged if I could get some stuff from you...

Cheers,
        Torbjorn Ose <[e-mail]>    I'll be back.... (Arnold S.)

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 16:43:10 GMT
From:
 arizona.edu!cerritos.edu!nic.csu.net!usc!cs.utexas.edu!utgpu!watserv1!watdragon
 !rose.waterloo.edu![e-mail] (Chris Herborth)
Subject: Falcon
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Drew
 Whitehead) writes:
}Has anyone heard of the supposed Atari 68040 machine - The "Falcon"?
}John Nagy referenced it in his "News" article in the October issue of
}AtariUser mag.  Has any heard any rumors about its release and its specs?
}
Anybody know if Atari is going to use stupid names for their new machines,
or is this just another games machine a la Lynx/Jaguar/whatever?

---------------=============================================---------------
Chris Herborth, 3B Hons English RPW    cjherborth@{rose|lotus}.waterloo.edu
Tom Waits says:                                           GEnie: C.HERBORTH
Don't trust a man in a blue trench coat/Don't drive a car when you're dead.

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 10:49:52 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!spool.mu.edu!munnari.oz.au!comp.vuw.ac.nz
 !actrix![e-mail] (Roger Sheppard)
Subject: Fligth Simulator on STe
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mr
 Stephen R Usher) writes:
> In article <[e-mail]>
 [e-mail] (C. van Reeuwijk) writes:
> >In <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
 (LarsErikOsterud) writes:
> >
> >>I run FSII on my MEGA STE (even in 16 Mhz with cache), no problem.
> >>In 16 MHz the scrolling is much smoother too - great !!!!
> >
> >C. van Reeuwijk                  e-mail: [e-mail]
> >Delft University of Technology   Phone: [phone]
> >Dep. of Electronic Engineering   Telefax: [phone]
> >Mekelweg 4
> >2628 CD  Delft, The Netherlands
>
> I run FSII on my TT all the time with no problems, as long as I turn the
> caching of first, but this is only so the display doesn't flicker.
>
> It runs fine from the hard disk (on my ST and TT) as long as there is NO DISK
> CACHE. The disk cache seems to play havoc with the poor program.
>
> Steve
>
> Addresses:-
> JANET         [e-mail]       or      [e-mail]@uk.ac.uknet
> Internet      [e-mail]       or      [e-mail]@uknet.ac.uk


There are a Few Versions of F.S. II, may be you have a old one,
I can check the version that I have..but could it be 2.01 ??


















--
***  Roger W. Sheppard      *      [e-mail]  ***
***  85 Donovan Rd        *    *   GEnie.  R.SHEPPARD5               ***
***  Kapiti                        At least I don't Flicker,         ***
***  New Zealand..          *      not like a dying light globe      ***

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

Date: Sat, 19 Oct 91 15:24:51 CET
From: Ulf Rimkus <[e-mail]>
Subject: Font addresses
To: [e-mail]

Oliver asked:

>Who can tell me how to get the address of the TOS-font independent from
>the TOS version? I already know how to get it using TOS 1.02, but now I
>have TOS 1.04 and the addresses are not the same. I tried to get it by
>testing with GfA-Basic but I had no success. I couldn't get the address
>for the font used by GEM (not GDOS!).
>There are two addresses, one for TOS output (like PRINT in GfA-Basic),
>the other for GEM output (like TEXT in GfA-Basic) and a third one for the
>8*8 pixel font. That address would be interesting for me, too.

>Looking forward for your answer...
>Oliver

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

I hope that can help. Unfortunatly (for Oliver) I'm programming in
C.

/* Font-address for GEM */
Vdiesc->cur_font->fnt_dta
/* Font-adddres for TOS */
Vdiesc->v_fnt_ad

In color-mode Vdiesc->cur_font->fnt_dta points to a 8x8 font.
The Vdiesc-structure is predefined in Turbo-C/PureC. That is the
beginning of the so-called negative linea-variables. I guess there
should something similar in GfA-Basic. This variables you can find
from TOS 1.0 to 1.04 (at least I did :-) ).
Literature: "Atari ST Profibuch", Sybex
            "Helpscreens in TurboC/PureC
Greetings, Ulf ([e-mail])

P.S. For all who are reading the german computer magazine ST-Computer:
     In the ST-Computer 10/91 p. 78 ff. is a very interesting articel
     about this subject.

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

Date: Sat, 19 Oct 1991 13:09 +0200
From: DRAGAN PROTIC <[e-mail]>
Subject: Font adr
To: [e-mail]

        Hi Oliver!

        I don't know if this will be of any help, but here is a short GFA
Basic listing for selecting between 8/16 point font (for non-graphics
printing, ie. VT52). It's easy selecting font size in graphics modus, all you
have to type is DEFTEXT ,,,16/8, but with PRINT command, you need the
following routine:

'
@font(2)                      ! ***       BIG FONT=2, small FONT=1
'
PROCEDURE font(font%)
  LOCAL dummy$,dummy%
  dummy$=MKL$(&HA0002009)+MKI$(&H4E75)
  dummy%=VARPTR(dummy$)
  DPOKE CONTRL+2,0
  DPOKE CONTRL+6,2
  DPOKE CONTRL+10,102
  LPOKE INTIN,LPEEK(C:dummy%()+font%*4)
  VDISYS 5
RETURN
'

        You call the procedure with @font(size%)
        where size% is either 1 (small) or 2 big, 16 pt. font)

        Cheers,

        Dalibor

__________________________________________________________________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off  \ \
the shore of Orion. I watched C-beams... glitter in the dark, near the   \ \
Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears... in \ \
rain. Time to die.  ________________________________________________      / /
 - "Blade Runner"  | C|C | [e-mail]  Ph:011/457-116 |    / /
___________________|--+--| Dalibor Lanik, using friend's account... |___/_/
                   | C|C | Sredacka:9, Belgrade 11000, Yugoslavia   |
                    \___/ \__________Proud_to_be_ortodox!__________/

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 06:03:47 GMT
From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!rpi![e-mail] (Robert Jeffrey
 Pinelli)
Subject: Help with a printing problem.
To: [e-mail]

It sounds like your "print density" control is not set right.  I have a Mega
2 and when I first started doing screen dumps I had the same problem.  The way
to fix it is to go in to the control panel and click on the "Install Printer"
option.  You should get a window that has different print densities.  The
default is 1280, i believe, and you need to set it to 960.  That should
compress your screen dumps to fit on your page.

                         .sigless,
                                Rob

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 22:16:47 GMT
From: ub!galileo.cc.rochester.edu![e-mail] (Ling Cherd Ho)
Subject: How much is Mega STE?
To: [e-mail]

Can anyone let me know if they think they have got a cheap
Mega STE? I like to know how much is a Mega STE2 or 4
with a hard drive (and how big is the hard drive).

Thanks.


..
   Holich

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 11:15:18 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!spool.mu.edu!munnari.oz.au!comp.vuw.ac.nz
 !actrix![e-mail] (Roger Sheppard)
Subject: Mega STe
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Knut
 Grunwald) writes:
> They are about 50 to 70% faster in practice. You notice the difference
> at once, at least it you have worked a bit and then try an old ST.
>
> Compatibility problems:
> The STe scrolling and screen flip. This will be fixed by Atari.
> This problem does mainly occur with games on the monochrome screen
> and has never occured (by me) with application like text or DTP
> programs or compilers.
>
> An other Problem is the position of the TOS-ROMs. Since they are now
> 256k the address has moved, which may fool poorly programmed
> applications. (unfortunately this may be your favorite PD-Program).
>
>
> The rest of the machine is fine, but here are some tips:
>
> Try to get a bigger HardDisk. e.g. Buy the machine without HD and get
> a 100 MB Quantum or Connor. Esspecially the Connor reduces the noise
> substantial. The 48 MB will fill up very fast.
>
> Try to get it with 4 MB or make the upgrade with SIMM's at once.
> 2 MB are fine, but 4 MB are better and the extra cost is not much
> compared to the machines price.
>
> Try to get it with the 68881 included. It costs only 99 DM in Germany
> and, if you use TurboC 2.0 it is supported. Any floating point
> application benefits from it and the price is like the memories price
> realy low. I measured a speedup of 2 for +,_,*,/ and >4 for sin,cos.
> That's a lot for 99 DM.
> If will never need floating point leave it out, but think about it.
>
>
> The packet price may make the upgrades even cheaper, since a lot of
> shop give you percentage on the device, but not on parts. Also changing
> the Harddisk against a bigger one is not always possible or you will
> have a big loss.
>
> Knut Grunwald, [e-mail]

I don't think its posible to get a Mega STE with a bigger drive, if
you get the one with out the Drive, you have to go to Atari to get the Parts
for the drives to be fitted, but do they sell the parts with out Drive.?

There are rumours that you have to bye all the Parts from Atari..??
and that meens drive as well..
--
***  Roger W. Sheppard      *      [e-mail]  ***
***  85 Donovan Rd        *    *   GEnie.  R.SHEPPARD5               ***
***  Kapiti                        At least I don't Flicker,         ***
***  New Zealand..          *      not like a dying light globe      ***

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

Date: 20 Oct 91 02:15:44 GMT
From:
 arizona.edu!cerritos.edu!nic.csu.net!usc!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue
 .edu!vivaldi.ecn.purdue.edu![e-mail] (James D Yegerlehner)
Subject: Multigem
To: [e-mail]

Hello Everyone,

An outfit called E. Arthur Brown is advertising a program for the
ST called "MultiGEM", and since I remembered it being mentioned here
on the net, I was hoping someone who knows more about  it could answer some
questions I have about it.

The ad says  that a GEM program opens up in its own window.  But can
other programs be left running in the background?  Or is it merely
a more sophisticated task switcher?  And what happens if those programs
running in the background want to update their windows?  And what about
TOS programs: do they open into a window, or do they run as they
usually do?  And if they run as they usually do, how does one switch
to a GEM program?

The ad also says that programs appear in the Desk Accessory
Menu so you can switch between them.  Does this mean that one is
limited to at most 6 programs + desk accs.?

Has anyone who uses it found any particular bugs?  Can Pagestream
1.82 and Turbo C run under it?  How about msh and gulam?

Since I suspect this is a topic of general interest, I think
resonses to the net are appropriate.

Thank you very much in advance,

Jim


--
__  __               |    |
 \  / __  __  __  __ | __ |__  __  __  __      Jim Yegerlehner
  \/ |--'|  ||--'|   ||--'|  ||  ||--'|        1132 Hawkins Graduate House
   | `-- `--|`-- |   |`-- |  ||  |`-- |        W. Lafayette  IN 47906

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

Date: 20 Oct 91 02:52:49 GMT
From:
 arizona.edu!cerritos.edu!nic.csu.net!usc!chaph.usc.edu!aludra.usc.edu!rjung@ari
 zona.edu (Robert Jung)
Subject: Multigem
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]>
 [e-mail] (James D Yegerlehner) writes:
>An outfit called E. Arthur Brown is advertising a program for the
>ST called "MultiGEM", and since I remembered it being mentioned here
>on the net, I was hoping someone who knows more about  it could answer some
>questions I have about it.

  Yep. I bought it when I got my 4-megabyte 520STe. Nice program, though I
haven't really exploited it to a sickening degree yet.

>The ad says  that a GEM program opens up in its own window.  But can
>other programs be left running in the background?  Or is it merely
>a more sophisticated task switcher?

  MultiGEM multitasks programs by multitasking the AES calls, I believe. TOS
and TTP programs open up in their own window, which allow them to multitask
to some degree. GEM programs run in the usual windows they always do, which
means your screen can get a little crowded.

  It is NOT a program switcher. It does true multitasking; you can literally
print a file from STeno, edit an image in Easy-Draw, and write in Word Writer
ST all at the same time. Note that your CPU will slow down as a result, so
don't expect to triple your productivity immediately.

>The ad also says that programs appear in the Desk Accessory
>Menu so you can switch between them.  Does this mean that one is
>limited to at most 6 programs + desk accs.?

  Yes. MultiDesk by CodeHead is recommended (I'm waiting for MultiDesk
Deluxe right now). You can switch between programs by clicking on their
window, or click on their Accessory entry to bring that task "to the front".
You are also limited by GEM's "seven windows maximum" limit.

>Has anyone who uses it found any particular bugs?  Can Pagestream
>1.82 and Turbo C run under it?  How about msh and gulam?

  The author claims that Pagestream will run under it, but I can't verify
that. Most of the programs that don't run well with MultiGEM are either
[a] less-than-sturdy to begin with (WordUp, many earlier ST software), or
[b] don't "use GEM properly" (paint programs). The author also claims that
Calamus, PageStream, WordFlair, 1st Word, LDW, and many other programs
MultiGEM without problems. I've seen Touch-Up multitask without problems,
so I think it's definetely a case of how well your software follows the rules.

  If you find a program that gives you problems, you can configure MultiGEM
to stop multitasking when that program is run; other tasks are still resident,
but will stop multitasking until you exit. In a worst-case situation, you can
have MultiGEM flag you when you are running a very unreliable program, so
you can reboot without MultiGEM and run it "the old-fashioned way". Other
options let you specify how much memory a program will allocate, and you can
also run Accessories directly from the Desktop.

  You must have TOS 1.2 or later. More memory is recommended, and a CPU
accelerator wouldn't hurt. I'm running with an 8MHz with TOS 1.62 and 4
megabytes, so my only minor problem is with speed.

>Since I suspect this is a topic of general interest, I think
>resonses to the net are appropriate.

  As it is right now, MultiGEM is not perfect, but it's a big step in the
right direction. I think this is a quality product, and I hope the author
continues to do more with it.

                                                --R.J.
                                                B-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    # ## #              Send replies to [e-mail]
    # ## #
   ## ## ##             I wrote this. If you've got a comment, give
####  ##  ####          it to me and let's cut out the middleman.

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 19:46:03 GMT
From:
 arizona.edu!cerritos.edu!nic.csu.net!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.o
 hio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu![e-mail]
 (Gerard Pinzone)
Subject: Panther & Jaguar.
To: [e-mail]

In a previous article, [e-mail] () says:

>Someone mentioned two machines Atari is/was (rumored?) to be
>working on called Panther and Jaguar.  Does anyone know what
>they are or where rumored to be?
>
These are (were) supposed to be Atari's answer to the Super Nintendo.
Originally, the Panter was going to be a 16-bit game system, but
like most of Atari's new products, it never came to be. Maybe it was for
the best since last I heard, the Pnather will be a 32 bit game system with
16 million colors (pallete)!
--
Just on the border of your waking mind, there lies another time, where darkness
and light are one. And as you tread the halls of sanity, you feel so glad to be
unable to go beyond. I have a message from another time.....   - ELO: "Prologue
from the "Time" album -- Daicon IV Opening Animation    [e-mail]

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 18:47:45 GMT
From: ulowell!woods.ulowell.edu![e-mail]
Subject: SC1224 color monitor for sale
To: [e-mail]

For sale: 1 Atari SC1224 color monitor.  It's one of the older(and from what
I've read and been told) better models.  I haven't used it in about 7 months
since I sold the CPU but it was worlast used it.

I am asking for the best reasonable offer + shipping.  Reply here or by mail
if interested.  Or you can call me at [phone] if interested.
Thank you.

Brian

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 11:09:08 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!yale.edu!think.com!spool.mu.edu
 !munnari.oz.au!comp.vuw.ac.nz!actrix![e-mail] (Roger
 Sheppard)
Subject: Wanted german mag: ST-computer
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jerker Nilsson)
 writes:
> Is there anyone who can give me a clue on how to get the german mag
> ST-Computer to Sweden. It seems to be impossible trough the normal channels.
> Any help is valuable. Email in English, German or Swedish - PLEASE!
>
>                - Jerker Nilsson, email [e-mail] -
>      ---- My opinion may change, but not the fact that I am right! ----
>          Insert own toughts here. The above is mine, and only mine!
>
>

I had 2 addesses for ST-Computer and sent 2 letter with reply coupons
and never heard a thing from them..




--
***  Roger W. Sheppard      *      [e-mail]  ***
***  85 Donovan Rd        *    *   GEnie.  R.SHEPPARD5               ***
***  Kapiti                        At least I don't Flicker,         ***
***  New Zealand..          *      not like a dying light globe      ***

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

Date: 19 Oct 91 11:05:22 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!asuvax!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!spool.mu.edu!munnari.oz.au!comp.vuw.ac.nz
 !actrix![e-mail] (Roger Sheppard)
Subject: whining HD
To: [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
 (Michel Forget) writes:
> [e-mail] (Gerald Greenberg) writes:
>
> > Does anybody have any suggestions for help with my CDC 40 meg
> > HD (in an ICD FAST) setup that has worked well for a couple of
> > years but has started to whine when it comes up to speed for
> > ST boot-up?  You see, when I start it now, it starts fine, but
> > then when it clicks into the mode when it is ready for the ST,
> > it starts to whine.  I can get it to work by powering up and
> > down a few times, but I'm wondering if there is some way to
> > fix this problem more permanently?  Or am I going to have a
> > dead drive soon?
> > Thanks,
> > Gerry
> > [e-mail]
>
>
> This raises an interesting question of my own.  I have a MegaFile 30 by
> Atari, and often I hear it "beeping".  Chirping might be a better word.
> Usually I hear the sound on writes to the drive.  Is this normal?
> Anyone?
>
>
> <<  ------------------------------------------  >>
> <<        [e-mail]          >>
> <<     ersys![e-mail]       >>
> <<               Michel Forget                  >>
> <<  "Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards,   >>
> <<  for they are not happy campers!" - UNKNOWN  >>
> <<  ------------------------------------------  >>


Get a lead (Graphite) HB pencil and rub it over the earth strap that
contacts a peg on the spindle end of the drive,
they tend to get dry and squeek.

Note: You will have to lift up the earth strap spring a little to get the pencil
underneath it, but please Don't force it..

Not all drives have a spring, some use a plastic cap that is part of
the control card, you would have to remove the card to get at it, but
then that type should not squeek....

Note: this is called a Static ground strap, it earths the spindle to stop
static charges building up on the platters, they don't get a good earth
though the bearings because of the grease in them..
--
***  Roger W. Sheppard      *      [e-mail]  ***
***  85 Donovan Rd        *    *   GEnie.  R.SHEPPARD5               ***
***  Kapiti                        At least I don't Flicker,         ***
***  New Zealand..          *      not like a dying light globe      ***

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

Date: 18 Oct 91 21:03:10 GMT
From:
 noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!linac!convex!egsne
 r!ataritx!atari![e-mail] (Allan Pratt)
Subject: Why programs don't work (was Fligth Simulator on STe)
To: [e-mail]

[e-mail] (C. van Reeuwijk) writes:
>After that, I bought a Mega STe. And I discovered that I could not run
>FSII at all, so I took
>out a disassembler and tried to find the cause. It appears that there is
>a loader program, FS2.PRG, that loads and relocates the code from either
>the color or monochrome version of FSII. However, *IT LOADS THE PROGRAM
>TO A FIXED ADDRESS*, $28000. This may, or may not be an address that is
>already used by other programs, but if you have a harddisk with some ACC's,
>a disk cache, or The FOLDRxxx.PRG program it is very likely that the ram
>at that address *is* in use.  To prove this to myself, I have de-installed
>the auto-boot disk-driver, and started FSII directly from floppy.
>It worked!

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the question "why doesn't program
X work on machine Y?"

Program X might have been written by real dingbats, that's why.

It might load at an explicit address.  It might use really low memory in an
attempt to foil debuggers, and using that memory might not be as harmless
as it was in the TOS version the author designed it for.  It might assume
that ROM starts at $FC0000. It might demand (inexplicably) that a certain
system buffer appear below address $1000, as Crack'ed does.  It might
clobber a system resource (like Timer C) and then expect BIOS calls to go
on working.

It might run off the end of memory looking for something above phystop,
with a guard against doing that on a 4-meg machine: ST's won't give bombs
when you access non-existent memory under 4MB, but STe and TT will.
The Shadow (background-download) detection code does this.

It might have a bug that wasn't fatal in old TOSes, like I recently found
in Starglider: it has this instruction

        move.b  $df,$fffa0f

instead of this one:

        move.b  #$df,$fffa0f

The second one clears a single bit in the MFP in-service register the first
moves whatever value happens to be in memory at $df into that register.
Since $df is the low byte of an exception vector that isn't used, you're at
the mercy of the address where the bomb handler landed in ROM.

My point is that we just can't fix these things.  I don't like the fact
that Starglider doesn't work under new TOS, but I can't help it.

============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily     -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.      ...ames!atari!apratt

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End of Info-Atari16 Digest
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