Supremacy 1/Supremacy-1.iso/TOOLS/STFAQ.ZIP/st.faq

Text File | 1997-01-16 | 76KB | 2,229 lines

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

Welcome to comp.sys.atari.st! Please read this FAQ before posting a question
to comp.sys.atari.st, since a lot of common questions are answered here.

Thanks to David Paschall-Zimbel    ([e-mail]) for
compiling most of this FAQ.

The following is an index of the questions answered in this part of the FAQ.
For easy access to a particular question, search for the tag surrounded by
colons (i. e. :GNU:). Questions marked with '*' are new or changed.


 WEL      Welcome to comp.sys.atari.st
 EMILY    Hints from Emily Postnews
 BOOKS    What books are available for the Atari ST?
 DEV      How do I become a developer for the Atari ST?
 ERR      What does TOS ERROR nn mean?
 FREE     What is Free-Net and how can I get access?
 MAGS     What magazines are available for the Atari ST?
 TIPS     TIPS AND HINTS from other users
 ZNET     Where can I get copies of ZNET?
 EXPLOR   Where can I get copies of Atari Explorer Online?
 PD       Where can I get Public Domain/Shareware software?
 MAIL     E-Mail file servers
 FTP      Anonymous FTP servers
 COMP     Atari-related companies
 IAAD     Independent Atari Developers
 CREDIT   Who has contributed to the FAQ?


Welcome to comp.sys.atari.st
============================

This newsgroup is devoted to discussion about 16 and 32 bit Atari micros.  At
present that includes the Atari 520ST, 1040ST, Mega ST, STe, STacy, Mega STe,
TT, and Falcon. There are also emulators for the Apple Macintosh and IBM
PC/XT/AT available.

Most of the people who read this newsgroup are technically oriented.
The newsgroup serves as a resource for Atari users ... feel free to
contribute to the discussions.

Associated newsgroups include:

    comp.binaries.atari.st    ! uuencoded binary programs
    comp.sys.atari.st.tech  ! technical programming/hardware topics
    comp.sources.atari.st   ! uuencoded/shar sources


Hints from Emily Postnews
=========================

(Thanks to John Henders ([e-mail]) for this bit of
 _humor_.)

   Emily Postnews Visits comp.sys.atari.st

   ( Due to popular demand, (well at least one persone asked anyways),
Emily has taken time out of her busy schedule to answer a few commonly
asked questions specific to c.s.a.st. )

   Dear Emily.
      Some Amiga user is raving on c.s.a.st about how wonderful
his computer is, and how awful mine is. What should I do?
            signed My Computer is NOT a Toy.

   Dear My Computer, etc,etc.
      Many people's egos are so tied to their possessions, they
have to affirm their existance by raving about the superiority
of their machine to anyone who will listen. You should immediately
flame these people into cinders, using every rumour or misconception
you've ever heard about their brand of computer, as this will cause
lots of posts, and develop into a massive flame war, which is one
of the main reasons most people read c.s.a.st. If this didn't happen
every six months, everybody would unsubscibe to this newsgroups from
boredom.
      Or, you could put comp.sys.amiga.advocacy in the Followup to:
line, and any article replying to yours would go to the newsgroup
designed for this discussion.
      Or, if your newsreader supports it, you could build a KILL FILE,
which eliminates any post that has the word Amiga in it.

    Kill files can be created in rn and trn by hitting the 'K' key.
This will make a kill file based on the article you were reading
at the time. Then control K will put that file in the editor for you
to play with. You use the same regexp commands here that are in rn.
For example. /[Ff]oo/h:j would search all headers of unread articles
for both Foo and foo, and junk them. Check the docs for your newsreader
for further details.


   Dear Emily.
      I like flame wars, and want to start one of my own, so my name
will be as famous as Richard Covert's.
         Signed, Too much Time on My Hands.

   Dear Too much time.
      Sorry it took so long to reply, but Richard's in my kill file
and someone had to forward your post to me, or I'd never have seen it.
      Flame wars are fun. They're the main reason people creted Usenet,
and should be encouraged at every opertunity.
      Some of the most common tricks for starting flame wars are as
follows.
   1: Post a note in another newsgroup telling all the users there that
they own a piece of junk, and if they had a half a brain, they'd have the
same computer you do, as it's obviously the best.
   2: Toss a bit of slander against another computer in a totally
unrelated post. This guarantees a follow up, even if your original
post wasn't of any interest.
   3: Create a signature file that has a put down of another computer
in it. This will get flame wars going in threads that have completely
unrelated Subject: lines, thus slipping through all but he most exacting
kill files.
      I hope you find these tips handy in creating your next flame war.
And just remember, your computer MUST be the best, after all, it's yours.


What books are available for the Atari ST?
==========================================

The (Almost) Complete Guide to Atari Reference Books

    Atari Coropration
    1196 Borregas Avenue
    Sunnyvale, CA 94089

  Atari TOS Developer's Kit

Atari has now make the developer's documentation public (meaning you don't have
to be 'a developer' to buy it). See DEV above
for more information.


        Atari UK Software Support
    Atari
    Atari House
    Railway Terrace
    Slough, BERKS
    United Kingdom
    SL2 5BZ
    Tel [phone]

  "A few people have asked for more info on the release by Atari UK of
  the programming docs.  They have been released as 5 books."

  Programming Guides GEMDOS/BIOS & general programming. 238 pages. #29.99.
  (# = the British pound).  Still Another Line A Doc (SALAD), Intelligent
  keyboard protocol, chkdsk3 docs, midi assoc address sheet.

  Programming Guides New machines. 184 pages. #29.99.
  Rainbow TOS release notes, STE developers addendum, STE TOS release
  notes, TT030 TOS release notes, TT030 hardware ref manual, VMS expansion
  for TT & MegaSTe. Includes 2 disks of utilities, examples, xcontrol &
  docs.

  Programming Guides - GEM VDI
  Programming Guides - GEM AES - combined books. 514 pages. #49.99

  All the above together #99.99

  Hardware and Chip Specs. 228 pages. #29.99
  Engineering hardware spec, ACSI, MC6850, 68901, ay3-8910, wd1770, blitter
  Monitor & cartridge port. Also schematics.

  [Info from a posting by Iain Laskey dated 30 Nov 1991]

        Compute! Publications,Inc.
        PO Box 5406,Greensboro NC
        27403(919-275-9809)

  Computes Technical Refence Guide Volume One. VDI
  Sheldon Leeman
  ISBN 0-87455-093-9

  Computes Technical Refence Guide Volume Two. AES
  Sheldon Leeman
  ISBN 0-87455-114-5

  Computes Technical Refence Guide Volume Three. TOS
  Sheldon Leeman
  ISBN 0-87455-149-8

  Learning C. Programming Graphics on the Amiga and Atari ST.
  Marc B. Sugiyama and Christopher D. Metcalf
  ISBN 0-87455-064-5

  Compute's ST Applications Guide. Programming in C
  Simon Feild,Kathleen Mandis and Dave Myers
  ISBN 0-87455-078-5

        Scott,Foresman and Company.
        Professional Publishing Group
        1900 East Lake Avenue,Glenville IL
        600025

  Learning C on the Atari ST
  Joseph Boyle Wikert
  ISBN 0-673-18738-1

        Sybex Inc.
        2344 Sixth St.
        Berkely,CA
        94710

  Programmers Guide To GEM
  Phillip Balma and William Fitler
  ISBN 0-553-34397-1

    Taylor Ridge Books
    PO Box 48
    Manchester, Connecticut   (no zip listed) usa
    [phone]

  C-manship Complete, $19.95
  Calyton Walnum
  No ISBN

"a decent book on programming your st gem/aes/vdi plus other stuff that is
based on the 31 articles that Clayton Walnum wrote for Analog. It was written
on a mega 4 with Calamus."

    Addison-Wesley Pub.

  68000 Assembly Language
  Donal Kantz & James Stanley
  ISBN 0-201-11659-6

"An interesting book on 68000 for the Atari (and amiga too, but both in
the abstract)"

        atari.archive.umich.edu

  Assembly Language Programming
  Robert Arp
  Disk archives, not published in paper at this time.

"It is an excellent guide to assembly languuage programming.  It is very
large and takes quite a while to make a hard copy if you desire to do so.
The file names are arp68k-book.tar (the text) and arp68k-pix.Z.tar
(.img files to go along with the text)."


****************************************************************
*
*  THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ARE CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT
*

        Abacus Software,Inc.
        5370 52nd Street,S.E.
        Grand Rapids,MI
        49508

  Atari ST Internals
  K Gerits,L. Englisch and R. Bruckmann
  ISBN 0-916439-46-1

  Atari ST GEM Programmers Reference
  Norbert Szczepanowski and Bernt Gunther
  ISBN 0-916439-52-6

  Atari ST 3d Graphics Programming
  Uwe Braun
  ISBN 0-916439-69-0

  Atari ST Disk Drives Inside and Out
  Uwe Brawn,Stephan Dittrich and Axel Schramm
  ISBN 0-916439-84

  Atari ST Machine Language
  B.Grohmann,P.eidler and H.Slibar
  ISBN 0-916439-48-8

  Atari ST Introduction to MIDI Programming
  Len Dorfman and Dennis Young
  ISBN 0-916439-77-1


        Bantam Books,Inc.
        666 5th Avenue
        New York,New York
        10103

  Atari ST Application Programming
  Lawrence J. Pollack and Eric J.T.Weber
  ISBN 0-553-34397-\1



****************************************************************
*
*  This List can be freely distributed and added to
*  All I ask is that people identify the added information as
*  their own
*       John Henders
*       Vancouver,BC
*       On Usenet  uunet!ubc-cs!van-bc!jhenders
*       On ForumST  John henders@448
*       On GEnie c/o D.LEMAY2
*
*    C-Manship & 68000 Assembley Language suggested by Joe Gaudreau [DPZ]
*    Robert Arp's Assembley Language book suggested by David P. Forrai [DPZ]


How do I become a developer for the Atari ST?
=============================================

Contact Bill Rehbok, [phone]

[UNITED STATES ONLY. IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, CONTACT
 YOUR COUNTRY'S ATARI HEADQUARTERS FOR MORE INFORMATION.]

Bill can explain the program to you, and send an information packet if you
desire.

Atari has gone to a 2-tier developer membership.  The 'higher quality'
developer support goes to commercial developers, and costs $250.  The
'no-hand-holding, no announcement of company future products, no access
to discounted hardware' goes to noncommercial developers, at an initial cost
of $125, plus $50 renewal fee each year.

Both tiers receive the ST/TT Developer Kit and all developers have to fill
in an application form and a non-disclosure agreement.  Contact Bill for
more information.

Atari is now selling the developer's kit (or parts of it) seperately. No
project-in-development or non-disclosure agreement is necessary.


:ERR:   ??.??.??
What does TOS ERROR nn mean?
What do the bombs on my screen mean?
====================================

The information below was written, in part, by Darryl May, and posted on
GEnie in January (of ????) by John Townsend.  The original also appeared in
the June 1988 issue of _Current Notes_ (122 N. Johnson Rd., Sterling, VA
22170). It has since found its way to me, and is being posted to
comp.sys.atari.st as a service to readers.

Alan Pratt wrote to tell me that the basic information may be correct, but
that it cannot be dubbed "official" unless it originates, on paper, from
Atari.  This makes sense, as electronic communications are easily
modified, even accidentally.

Roland Waldi provided information regarding the difference between TOS and
GEM return codes which appears to be correct.  The tables have been modified
to reflect his information.

    The following is an unofficial list of the errors that can appear
while you are operating your ST computer.

          Error description         return code      alert box #
          ======================================================
             OK (no error)....................0
             Fundamental error...............-1
             Drive not ready.................-2
             Unknown command.................-3
             CRC error.......................-4
             Bad request.....................-5
             Seek error......................-6
             Unknown media...................-7
             Sector not found................-8
             No paper........................-9
             Write fault....................-10
             Read fault.....................-11
             General error..................-12
             Write protect..................-13
             Media change...................-14
             Unknown device.................-15
             Bad sectors on format..........-16
             Insert other disk..............-17
             Invalid function number........-32............1
             File not found.................-33............2
             Path not found.................-34............3
             No handles left................-35............4
             Access denied..................-36............5
             Invalid handle.................-37............6
             Insufficient memory............-39............8
             Invalid memory block address...-40............9
             Invalid drive specified........-46...........15

             No more files..................-49...........18
             Range error....................-64...........33
             Internal error.................-65...........34
             Invalid program load format....-66...........35

The last code is the infamous "TOS error 35"!

Also, some unofficial information via Alan Pratt:

  Notably, you should add -48: ENSAME (not the same drive, occurs when
  you call Frename and the two names you give aren't on the same drive),
  and -67: EGSBF: you can't use Mshrink to GROW a block of memory.


     Those bombs that appear on your screen are error messages from
 the 68000 micro-processor.

                                           Number
          Description                     of bombs
          ===========================================
             Reset: Initial PC2...............1
             Bus Error........................2
             Address Error....................3
             Illegal Instruction..............4
             Zero Divide......................5
             CHK Instruction..................6
             TRAPV Instruction................7
             Privilege Violation..............8
             Trace............................9
             Line 1010 Emulator..............10
             Line 1111 Emulator..............11
             [unassigned, reserved]..........12
             [unassigned, reserved]..........13
             Format Error....................14
             Uninitialized Interrupt Vector..15
             [unassigned, reserved].......16-23
             Spurious Interrupt..............24
             Level 1 Interrupt Autovector....25
             Level 2 Interrupt Autovector....26
             Level 3 Interrupt Autovector....27
             Level 4 Interrupt Autovector....28
             Level 5 Interrupt Autovector....29
             Level 6 Interrupt Autovector....30
             Level 7 Interrupt Autovector....31
             Trap Instruction Vectors.....32-47
             [unassigned, reserved].......48-63
             User Interrupt Vectors......64-255


What is Free-Net and how can I get access?
==========================================

                    A "Remodeled" Atari S.I.G. Opens

       By now many of you have heard of the Cleveland Freenet, or more
specifically the Atari S.I.G. on the Cleveland Freenet.  For those who
haven't, the Cleveland Freenet is an experimental computer system providing
free public community telecomputing.  Basically, it's a lot like a public
library of the future.  Many of these systems are popping up all over the
country.  Don't be surprised if one pops up in your neighborhood in the
future.

       Recently the Atari SIG has undergone a significant face-lift.  All
the regular areas are intact including its news sections, user group
newsletter, online magazine sections, general as well as specific
computer discussion boards (8 bit, 16/32 bit, Lynx, Portfolio), and our
weekly Sunday night multi-chat conference.

       The conference starts at 8pm EST sharp and is on channel
"+Ataricon".  What the staff at the Atari SIG has added, has given the
Atari SIG the potential to cover all grounds of Atari and its related
products.

       The most noticeable addition to the Atari SIG is the Programming
and Development Forum.  This forum is intended to be used by developers,
professional programmers, and Atari hackers (the old definition of
"hacker") as a means to share ideas, help each other out, and find out
the latest technical information on Atari's products.  This board is ran
by newly acquired SIG Operator, Peter Haller, a professional programmer
who is running developer sections on hardware and software development,
programming, MIDI applications development, Graphics Design,
plus many other sections that can definitely become a programmer and
developer's dream come true!

       Last, but definitely not least, the Atari SIG has a restructured
Product Info and Support Board and a new Special Applications Board.
The Support Board includes a vast library of support lists.  These lists
range anywhere from phone numbers of Atari dealers and producers, to
software reviews for 8 bit, 16/32 bit, Lynx, and Portfolio software.
To sum it all up this area covers what's out there, who makes it, and how
to get it for all Atari products.  The Special Applications Board is
just starting out.  Currently there is an area for users of MIDI on the
ST.  MIDI users are encouraged to use this as a means to discuss MIDI
related topics.  This section is expected to expand in the future.

        Accessing the Atari SIG has never been easier.  One can access it
via Internet by telenet'ing to 129.22.8.75 or "Freenet-in-b.cwru.edu"
or by calling [phone] 300/1200/2400 bps.  Once on the system,
a user can apply for an account application and logon as a visitor.
Once here, simply type "Go Atari" to get to the Atari SIG.  A visitor
can go anywhere on  the Freenet and can read anything.  They can't
post messages until they get their permanent accounts, however.

For additional information on obtaining access to Freenet write to
myself via the e-mail addresses above or by writing the SIG at its US
mail address:
               The Atari SIG
               P.O. Box 21815
               Cleveland, OH 44121 USA

Lastly, a freenet application is available in the mail by writing a
request to the above address if you rather not download it from Freenet.

        The Atari SIG is ready to serve the thousands of Atarians throughout
the world.  We look forward to seeing you all real soon!  Remember the
staff of the Atari SIG are volunteering their time for no pay and the
Cleveland Freenet, as well as the Atari S.I.G., is a non-profit organization
existing for the free exchange of information.

--

Mark Leair
Atari SIG Public Relations

Internet e-mail: [e-mail]
CIS e-mail     : internet>[e-mail]


What magazines are available for the Atari ST?
==============================================

If you've got updates, mini-reviews,
or more information on other magazines, please send them to me via e-mail.

As always, WRITE to a company before sending them money for a subscription.


US mags:

AtariUser, published by Quill Publishing Company
---------

Cover Price: US $1.00  Canada $1.45  UK 1.50 (AtariUser is available for free
[$6.00/50 magazine shipping charge] from participating computer dealers,
bookstores & user groups!)

Subcription Rate: $21.30 US Bulkrate, $41.30 US First Class.
Address: AtariUser, 113 W. College Street, Covina, CA  91723 USA


Current Notes, published by Current Notes Inc.
-------------

Cover Price: US $3.95

Subscription Rate: $27.00/year (Atari clubs registered with Current Notes may
subscribe at $23.00/year) US, $35.00/year (Canadian club members at $31/year)
Canadian, Foreign rate $44/year.

Address: Current Notes Inc., 122 N. Johnson Rd., Sterling, VA  22170 USA


Atari Interface:
---------------

Write for a free sample copy of the Atari Interface magazine
(Unicorn Publications, 3487 Braeburn Circle, Ann Arbor, MI  48108)

AIM is soon to be available in Canada, Europe and Mexico, and should be in
all local WaldenSoftware stores and many bookstores.  If your "local"
Atari dealer doesn't have it, he should be able to get it for you...



UK Mags:
(Thanks to Sam Marshall <[e-mail]> and Kevin Busby
<[e-mail]> for some of the info here.)

ST Applications:
---------------

formerly the ST Club Newsletter, this is now the only
non-games mag in the UK (although see ST World below).  Approx. 4,500
copies per issue sold.  News, reviews, interviews, tech tips, general
forum, programmers' forum, PD catalogue.  DTP'd on an ST.  Retains a
'user-driven' feel.  Recommended.  The associated ST Club runs a PD
distribution service and distributes a couple of commercial programs too
(Fontkit Plus, UIS III, Molgraph, CRL Virus Killer, etc.).

12 issue Subscription now:
         With Disk 6 Mags                  Without Disk Mags

UK:          #26.50                        #18.00
Europe (air) #30.50                        #21.00
World (air)  #38.50                        #31.00

Address:  ST Club, 2 Broadway, Nottingham, NG7 1PS, UK.

ST World:
--------

 formerly the leading UK non-games mag.  Became a quarterly
'buyer's guide' in Autumn 90.

ST Format:
---------

all-purpose 150-page monthly, mainly aimed at young people.
Lively, but of uneven quality.  Big leisure section, but other areas
covered too.  Includes cover disk - mix of games demos and (usually out
of date) PD utilities.  Probably the biggest-selling UK ST mag.  Has had
several public rows with Atari UK.

Future Publishing, Somerton, Somerset, TA11 6TB  Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]

Atari ST User:
-------------

like ST Format.  Generally (amongst online users) thought
to be not quite as good.

ST Action:
---------

games, games and more games.  And games.

Atari ST Review:
---------------
Lots of info, more mature editorial style than Format, but not so
polished.  1 cover disk per issue.

Subscriptions: PO Box 500, Leicester, LE99 0AA. Tel: [phone].

There are also, I think, some MIDI mags with strong ST content.  I don't
have their names.



German Mags:

ST-Magazin, TOS, and ST-Computer united in August 1993 to the
"ST Computer", which is the only remaining magazine in Germany.
(I don't know if the following info still holds, then. --Steven)

ST Computer:
-----------
11 issues/year, typical around 180 pages
Subscription: DM 80 (domestic),  DM 100 (normal mail), DM 130 (air mail)
Address: Heim Verlag, Heidelberger Landstr. 194, D-6100 Darmstadt 13 GERMANY

French Mags:

ST Magazine
-----------
Monthly in French. Oriented towards developers, professional users. Comes
with a disk each month.
ST Magazine - 10, rue Hegesippe Moreau - 75018 Paris - France
(French Teletel users: 3615 Teletel access, code STMAG)

STart Micro
-----------
Monthly, includes a cover disk. 11 issues per year. 64 + 16 (separated) pages.
Price: FF38 per issue, subscription: FF360. Subjects: Desktop publishing,
graphics, initiations to C and GFA Basic, survey of outcoming software, music,
folders. Minitel access: 3615 code ATARI. Address: FC Press, 57 rue Danton,
92300 Levallois-Perret, France.


Dutch Mags
----------

ST, published by Stichting ST , postbus 11129  2301 EC Leiden  the Netherlands
---
cover price: fl 6,95
Independent magazine by and for atari ST users.
covers all different topics from applications to games and hardware.
60 pages.

6 times a year. One year subscription fl 35,-
black and white pages.

Atacom, by Atari Club Groningen.
-------
Never seen this one. I suppose you have to be a member of the club or so.
price is fl 4,95.
Adress of the club: Atari Club Groningen, Postbus 9164
9703 LD Groningen, the Netherlands.

Atari Nieuws, by Atari ST computer club Nederland
-------------
News paper sized publication. Lots of colour on newspaper pages. Not too many
pages though.
price is fl 3,95 (cheap cheap)
monthly publication.
adress: ACN, Postbus 5011, 2000 CA Haarlem, the Netherlands.

GFA-info, by GFA gg (usergroup)
---------
Publication of the GFA-basic usergroup. This group has a lot of mainly
educational software available.
price is fl 5,00

adress: GFA gg, Frankrijklaan 14, 2034 BA Haarlem, the Netherlands

ST News, by Stichting Computers Eindhoven
--------
This is an electronic magazine. It has been around for about 6 years now
and is completely in English!!! The first issues were in Wordplus format
back in 1986 but from the 6th issue on it included a readerprogram
both for color and monochrome. Even with music.
price is fl 10,00
adress: S.C.E., Kornoeljelaan 22, 5552 RC Valkenswaard

Swiss mags:

Atari ST News Schweiz
---------------------
Dutch Atari ST Nieuws translated into German for the Swiss :-)


TIPS AND HINTS from other users
===============================

Any 'multisync' monitor which handles 70 video fields a second can be used
   with the ST; the custom cable involves no tricks, or commercial ones are
   available.  The original NEC multisync does NOT handle 70 fields a sec.

More than 3 bombs often means more than 1 error, so interpretations are
  tricky.

An ST-formatted disk which is not readable by a PC can be made readable by
   putting the 3 bytes EB 34 90 (those were 3 bytes of hex) at the beginning
   of the boot sector (sector 1 of track 0).  This can be done with
   either an ST or PC absolute sector editor. The Desktop of TOS 1.4 and
   higher does this automatically.

Some (older) PC-3.5"-drives cannot deal with the short track-header produced
   by ST formatters. On those drives, ST-formatted disks are not readable,
   independent of their boot sector contents. The other way, however, does
   always work: format on the PC.

When using disks formatted on a PC in an ST, make sure to insert and access
   a disk with a different serial number in between disk changes.

For those with the 'inaccessible' mouse and joystick ports, a joystick
   extender cable will make life easier.  The Y-cable joystick extenders make
   it extremely easy to keep mouse and joystick connected to port 0, and a
   joystick extender cable in port 1 makes for easy hookup after you've moved
   the machine.

BARREL is a program which can redirect printer-data to a file.  It comes in
   handy when your printer is unavailable, and the program does not already
   have an option to 'print-to-a-file'.  (It is available on the atari.archive
   server.)

DBLEFEAT is a program which can redirect disk access from, say, drive A to
   drive B.  Handy when a program 'hard-codes' the data drive, and you
   wish to use your hard drive instead.  (It is available on the atari.archive
   server.)

On the Desktop, holding the right mouse button allows
   you to manipulate files in other windows. This is useful for a number
   of reasons. An example is this: say D:\BLAH.ARC is a file you would
   like to extract to D:\, but ARC.TTP is on C:\. Top D:\'s window, then
   hold the right button while double-clicking ARC.TTP in an inactive window.


Where can I get copies of ZNET?
===============================

ZNET is now Atari Explorer Online. Please see EXPLOR for more info.


:EXPLOR:   ??.??.??
Where can I get copies of Atari Explorer Online?
================================================
Atari Explorer Online magazine is available on CompuServe and GEnie. You can
also get copies mailed to you by sending an e-mail message to

    [e-mail]

indicating you wish to subscribe.

They won't get to you on Friday (which is when they're posted), but Greg
Lindahl provides an excellent service to the networking community by sending
these out.

Atari Explorer Online and some information from the Current Notes user
magazine are also available from the atari.archive server under
/atari/magazines.


Where can I get Public Domain/Shareware software?
==========================================================

There are FTP sources and a comp.sources.atari.st/comp.binaries.atari.st
mail server.  You can also try the commercial on-line services such as
GEnie, CompuServe, Delphi and Bix.

Using FTP, most files should be retrieved in BINARY format (at least those
ending with the suffix of .ZIP, .ARC, .LZH, .ZOO, .PRG, .TTP, .TOS)

Mail servers encode files.  You will need a program called 'uudecode' in
order to change files ending with the suffix .UUE (or .UAB, .UAC, etc.)
into their original form.


E-Mail file servers

[e-mail]:
---------------------------------

Spud holds all of the comp.sources.atari.st / comp.binaries.atari.st
postings.  If you aren't reading these two newsgroups, you should consider
doing so.  You may obtain uuencoded files as e-mail.  You can obtain a
help file by mailing a message to [e-mail], with
the main body of the message being the word 'help'.

[e-mail]:
-----------------------------

The atari.archive server is mentioned many times in this article.  It contains
a multitude of Atari ST PD and shareware programs.  If you don't have access
via FTP you can obtain many of the files via e-mail.  You should first obtain a
help file by mailing a message to [e-mail], with the main
body of the message being the word 'help.'.  If you are from a uucp site,
please enclose this statement also 'path host1!host2!....', where
host1!host2!... is your path. Please read the help file completely before you
ask questions, and then send any you may have to [e-mail].
Any questions about the archive or specific files go to
[e-mail] (or [e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail], or
[e-mail] :-)


[e-mail]:
---------------------------------

This is a UK public domain archive, available to sites within the UK via
via JANET.

[e-mail]:
---------------------------

This is a german public domain archive. This only has comp.binaries.atari.st
and comp.sources.atari.st.

[e-mail]:
------------------------------

Same place as above, but this one carries other software than just
comp.binaries.atari.st and comp.sources.atari.st.


[e-mail] (or uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!ruuinf!mail-server):
---------------------------------------------------------------
send the following message

    begin
    path [e-mail] (PLEASE SUBSTITUTE *YOUR* ADDRESS)
    send ATARI-ST/index
    end

NOTE: *** PLEASE USE VALID INTERNET ADDRESSES IF POSSIBLE. DO NOT USE
ADDRESSES WITH ! and @ MIXED !!!! BITNETTERS USE [e-mail] ***

The path command can be deleted if we receive a valid from address in your
message. If this is the first time you use our mail server, we suggest you
first issue the request:
    send HELP

[e-mail]:
------------------------

Mail messages with the contents HELP will bring you some usage information
and GET PROG-A16 FILELIST will provide you with a list of files.  Subscriptions
to INFO-A16 are also available on this server.  INFO-A16 is a digest of
messages from comp.sys.atari.st.


Anonymous FTP servers

Note:  The generally accepted practice for FTP use is as follows:

    1. Limit access times to non-working hours.  This is usually 6-8 pm
       to 8-9 am LOCAL time.  LOCAL time means local to the computer
       you are accessing!  For example, 4 P.M. in Minneapolis, Minnesota
       is 10 P.M. in England, and 10 A.M. in Germany is 4 A.M. in New
       York.

    2. Once you connect, issue the following commands at your FTP
       prompt:

        user anonymous
        <YOUR e-mail address should be entered at the Password: prompt)
        ls
        cd <to the appropriate directory>

    3. Limit downloads, especially across the ocean.  Remember, there are
       other people who are using the same lines as you.


Atari FTP sites (the list is -not- exhaustive)
----------------------------------------------

atari.archive.umich.edu    [141.211.164.8]


uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft (available to UK users via JANET)

  Note:  Access is a bit different for this archive site, use the following:

    user pdsoft
    pdsoft (at the Password prompt)


ftp.Germany.EU.net [192.76.144.75]


ftp.cs.ruu.nl [131.211.80.17]

src.doc.ic.ac.uk

This site has a mirror of atari.archive.umich.edu in /computing/systems/
atari/umich.


Atari-related companies
=======================

This is a (still under construction) list of companies and addresses that
might be of use to Atari ST users. Please send me addresses for the blank ones
on this list. See also IAAD, it lists many more companies that are not on
this list.


Berkeley MicroSystems
P.O. Box 20119
Oakland, CA  94620

(510) 547 - 2191


E.A. Brown
3404 Pawnee Drive
Alexandria
Minnesota  56308
Info:  612-762-8847
Orders: 800-322-4405
Product: Software and Hardware distributor

GengTec

JRI

Marvin AG

Matrix Datensystem
Talstrasse 16
7155 Oppenweiler
Germany

tel. [phone]
fax. [phone]

Supra
7101 Supra Drive
Tangent, Oregon 97389
[phone]


TKR GmbH & Co. KG
Stadtparkweg 2
W-2300 Kiel 1
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]

Wittich Computer


Independent Atari Developers
============================

Each entry has the following format (when applicable):
     Company Name
     Member Name
     Mailing Address
     Phone(s)
     Product Names
The listing is provided below in ASCII format.  An additional
file is available in CardFile format.  Please note that the
product listing is not comprehensive nor detailed, and new
products are continually released.  Please feel free to contact
individual members for information about their listed products.
For more information about the IAAD, contact any Board Member.

IAAD Board Members:
     D.A. Brumleve, President
     James C Allen
     Nathan Potechin
     Nevin Shalit

Member Listing:

Anthill Industries
Judith Baumgardner
P.O. Box 361
Mt. Vernon OH 43050-9998 USA
614 393 1524

Apprentice Software
James D Yegerlehner
22205 Swan Road
South Lyon MI 48178 USA
313 437 0526
Neural-network Construction Set

Baggetta_Ware
Albert Baggetta
P.O. Box 759
Agawam MA 01001 USA
Eliemouse Complimentary Coloring Book/The Comic Book Collector/
The Mis-Adventures of Eliemouse/Shakespeare: The Sonnets

Barefoot Software
Brad Cox
19865 Covellow Street
Canoga Park CA 91306 USA
818 727 0632 (fax)
818 727 7143
SMPTETrack/EditTrack/GenEdit/EZ Score+/Hybriswitch

Beckemeyer Development Tools
David Beckemeyer
P.O. Box 21575
Oakland CA 94620 USA
510 530 0451 (fax)
510 530 9637
Hard Disk Sentry/Hard Disk Toolkit/SCSI Tape Kit

Robert M Birmingham
13630 SW 101 Lane
Miami FL 33186-2814 USA
305 385 1942

Cali-Co. Superior Software
Josh Snyder
P.O. Box 9873
Madison WI 53715 USA
608 255 6523
Mah-Jong Solitaire

Canoe Computers
Tony Ridley
11006 150 Street
Edmonton AB T5P 1S1 Canada
403 487 6838
FrankenSTein/Warp 16 Accelerator/Tiny Ram

chro_MAGIC Software Innovations
Jim Collins
516 North Jackson
Joplin MO 64801 USA
417 623 7393
Guitaristics/Pianistics/Pianistics Encyclopedia/Pianistics
Professor

Clear Thinking
Craig Harvey
2753 Plymouth Road Suite 137
Ann Arbor MI 48105 USA
313 971 6035 (bbs)
313 971 8671
EdHak/Metapsychology Primer

CodeHead Technologies
John Eidsvoog, Charles Johnson
P.O. Box 74090
Los Angeles CA 90004 USA
213 386 5789 (fax)
213 461 2095 (bbs)
213 386 5735
G+Plus/MultiDesk Deluxe/HotWire/CodeKeys/CodeHead Utilities/
Warp 9/Calligrapher/MaxiFile/Lookit & Popit/MIDIMax/MIDI Spy/
Avant Vector/MegaPaint/Cherry Fonts/Genus Font Editor/
TOS Extension Card

Compo
Robert Engberson
104 Esplanade Avenue Suite 121
Pacifica CA 94044 USA
415 355 0869 (fax)
415 355 0862
That's Write/Write On/C-Font/CompoScript/That's Address/Musicom/
PC Speed/AT Speed/AT Speed C16

Cybercube Research Ltd.
Manfred Doewich
126 Grenadier Crescent
Thornhill ON L4J 7V7 Canada
416 886 3261 (fax)
416 882 0294
CyReL SUNRISE M16-1280 True Color High Resolution Graphics Card/
CyReL SERENADE M16-1280 True Color High Resolution Graphics Card/
CyReL VidiMix8 Desktop Video Module/CyReL Serial Mouse Manager/
CyRel Palette Master

D.A. Brumleve
Dorothy A Brumleve
P.O. Box 4195
Urbana IL 61801-8820 USA
217 367 9084 (fax)
217 337 1937
Kidpublisher Professional/Super Kidgrid/Kidpainter/Multiplay/
Telegram/Creative Discovery Packet/Learning Games Packet

DMC Publishing
Nathan Potechin
2800 John Street Unit 10
Markham ON L3R 0E2 Canada
416 479 1882 (fax)
416 479 1880
Calamus 1.09N/Calamus SL & modules/Calamus Font Editor/
The Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing/Outline Art/
INVISION Elite

Ditek International
David Fletcher
2800 John Street Unit 15
Markham ON L3R 0E2 Canada
416 479 1882 (fax)
416 479 1990
DynaCADD

Dr. Bobware
W. David Parks
180 N. Hazeltine Avenue
Campbell OH 44405-1024 USA
216 743 4712
ScanLite/MVG: MultiViewer Graphica/MVG Modules Disks 1, 2, & 3

Elan Software
Paul Dube
550 Boul. Charest Est P.O. Box 30232
Quebec G1K 8Y2 Canada
418 683 9189 (fax)
418 692 0565
Solutions

eSTeem, inc.
Tom Nielsen
72 Shades Crest Road
Hoover AL 35226-1014 USA
205 987 9208
eSTeem PILOT

Fair Dinkum Technologies
John 'Hutch' Hutchinson
P.O. Box 2
Los Alamos NM 87544 USA
505 662 7236
CrossWord Creator II/Word Search Creator/Cryptographer/InfoDisk/
Cyberdrome: The Hoverjet Simulator/Puzzle Pack

FAST Technology
James C Allen
14 Lovejoy Road
Andover MA 01810 USA
508 475 3810 (fax)
508 475 3810
Turbo25/TinyTurbo030/Turbo030/TurboRAM

GT Software
Tyson T Gill
12114 Kirton Avenue
Cleveland OH 44135-3612 USA
216 252 4272
CardFile (distr. by Gribnif)

Gadgets by Small, Inc.
David M Small
40 West Littleton Blvd. #210-211
Littleton CO 80120 USA
303 791 0253 (fax)
303 791 6098
Spectre GCR

Goldleaf Publishing Inc.
Lauren Flanagan-Sellers
700 Larkspur Landing Circle Suite 199
Larkspur CA 94939 USA
415 257 3515
WordFlair II

Gribnif Software
Dan Wilga, Rick Flashman
P.O. Box 779
Northampton MA 01061 USA
413 247 5622 (fax)
413 247 5620
NeoDesk 3/NeoDesk CLI/STalker 3/STeno/XBoot/CardFile 4/
Convector Professional/Arabesque Professional/XBoot III/
Crazy Dots 8/Crazy Dots 15

Doug Harrison
P.O. Box 66236
Baton Rouge LA 70806-6236 USA
Opus (shareware)/Lookit & Popit (distr. by CodeHead)

HiSoft
Alex Kiernan, David Link, Dave Nutkins
The Old School
Greenfield Bedford MK45 5DE England
[phone] (fax)
[phone]
Devpac 3/HiSoft BASIC 2/Lattice C/HighSpeed Pascal/FTL Modula-2/
WERCS/Harlekin 2/HiSoft C/ProFlight/K-Spread/K-Comm/K-Word/K-Data
(HiSoft products distr. by Oregon Research Associates)

ICD, Inc.
Tom Harker
1220 Rock Street
Rockford IL 61101 USA
815 968 6888 (fax)
815 968 2228
The Link/AdSCSI Micro ST/AdSCSI ST/AdSCSI Plus ST/AdSpeed ST/
AdSpeed STe/FA-ST Hard Drive Kit/FA-ST Tape Backup/Cleanup ST/
ICD Professional Hard Drive Utilities/ICD Tape Backup Software/
Advantage Micro ST/Advantage ST/Advantage Plus ST/STHA/
Personal Pascal

It's All Relative
Gregory J Kopchak
2233 Keevan Lane
Florisant MO 63031 USA
314 831 9482
It's All Relative/BookMaker/Forecaster3/AbbreviatorST/
Photo CD Conversion/Photo Show/View and Script/Kodak Photo CD
Images

JMG Software International, Inc.
George Geczy, David Thompson
892 Upper James Street
Hamilton ON L9C 3A5 Canada
416 575 0283 (fax)
416 575 3201
HyperLINK

M.P. Graphics Systems
Mario Perdue
P.O. Box 501289
Indianapolis IN 46250-6289 USA
317 335 3775
Noids-II

MS Design
Henry Murphy, Carl Stanford
611 West Illinois Street
Urbana IL 61801 USA
217 351 6412 (fax)
217 384 8469
FontPak 1 & 2/Wheeler Quick Art CD-ROM/
Wheeler Quick Art Image Disks

Medical Designs Software
William Penner
3235 Wright Avenue
Bremerton WA 98310 USA
206 479 2157 (bbs)
206 373 4840
ECTStat/IOLCALC/MultiWriter/SERIALFX

Merlin Group, Inc.
George Richardson
96 Hoyt Street
Kearny NJ 07032-3311 USA
201 998 0932 (fax)
201 998 4441

Missionware Software
John Trautschold
354 N. Winston Drive
Palatine IL 60067-4132 USA
708 359 9565
lottODDS/Printer Initializer/Flash II

MUSICODE Software
Melinda Turcsanyi
P.O. Box 1109
Oakhurst CA 93644 USA
209 642 2380

NewSTar Technology Management
Charles Smeton
P.O. Box 122
Columbia MD 21045-0122 USA
410 544 1329 (fax)
410 544 6943
The STraight FAX!

Oregon Research Associates
Bob Luneski
16200 S.W. Pacific Highway Suite 162
Tigard OR 97224 USA
503 624 2940 (fax)
503 620 4919
Diamond Back II/Diamond Edge/Knife ST/Ultimate Virus Killer/
DevPacST 3/DevPacTT/HiSoft BASIC 2/Lattice C 5.5/HiSoft C/
HighSpeed Pascal/FTL Modula-2/Tempus 2/WERCS/Harlekin 2/
True Paint/ProFlight

Paradigm Software Products
Mark T O'Bryan
1369 Concord Place Suite 3-B
Kalamazoo MI 49009-2201 USA
616 372 5972
Omni-Banker ST

Power Thought Software
Harlan Hugh
116 Sumach Street
Toronto ON M5A 3J9 Canada
416 594 9355 (fax)
416 594 9355
INVISION Elite (distr. by DMC)

SKWare One
Sterling K Webb
P.O. Box 277
Bunker Hill IL 62014 USA
618 462 2171 (evenings)
Seurat/ColorScan/Auto*Art/PS-2GDOS

Soft-Logik Publishing
Deron Kazmaier, Mark Wetzel
P.O. Box 510589
St. Louis MO 63151-0589 USA
314 894 8608 or 800 892 8608
PageStream/ImageClub Clip Art/ImageClub Fonts/Business Forms

Sothan Software
Gene F Sothan
9395 North Wall
Portland OR 97203 USA
503 283 4566
IB Harddisk Backup and Restore/Autosort/Writeboot

Step Ahead Software, Inc.
Nevin Shalit
496-A Hudson Street Suite F39
New York City NY 10014 USA
718 858 4164
TrackerST/Tracker For Windows

Straight Edge Software
Frank Pawlowski
P.O. Box 6407
Nashua NH 03061 USA
603 672 8150
FPPRINT/OutBurST!

Strata Software
Eric Rosenquist
94 Rowe Drive
Kanata ON K2L 3Y9 Canada
613 591 1922 (fax)
613 591 1922
STalker & STeno (distr. by Gribnif)

SuperSoft
John Buckner
731 North Clinton
Grand Ledge MI 48837 USA
517 627 6965
TeleView Tele/TeleView BBS/D.A.M.I./The Fisherman

Synergy Resources
Roger Richards
754 N. Bolten Avenue
Indianapolis IN 46219 USA
317 231 4158 (fax)
317 356 6946
GEMvelope!/SynthView DW-8000/SynthView K1

Taylor Ridge Books
Clayton Walnum
P.O. Box 78
Manchester CT 06045 USA
203 643 9673
C-manship Complete/ST Assembly Language Workshop/
GFA Basic Toolkit/VDI Quick Reference/AES Quick Reference/
TRB Shareware Companion

TEAM Software
Marshall Lake
P.O. Box 7332
Washington DC 20044-7332 USA
703 538 4598 (fax)
703 533 2132
A Day at the Races/A Day at the Races Companion/
3 Days at Gettysburg

Weinress Consulting
Norm Weinress
3236 Velma Drive
Los Angeles CA 90068 USA
213 876 7704
D.E.K.A.

Wintertree Software Inc.
Phil Comeau
43 Rueter Street
Nepean ON K2J 3Z9 Canada
613 596 1575 (fax Attn)
613 825 6721
The GramSlam Grammar and Style Checker/Grammar Expert/
Spelling Sentry

WizWorks!
Chet Walters
P.O. Box 45
Girard OH 44420 USA
216 539 5623
Image Cat/Mug Shot!/Coalesce Image Merger/Ma Hubbard's Cupboard/
Mug Shot Data

Xerox Corp
Robert L. White
101 Continental Blvd. M/S ESC1-257
El Segundo CA 90245 USA
310 333 3497
Printer Drivers For Xerox Printers

Zocra Technologies
Craig Buchanan
4-319 Mackay Street
Ottawa ON K1M 2B7 Canada
613 741 5817
STyle/STipple


How do I deal with Archived files (.ZOO, .ARC, .LZH)?
=====================================================

Files ending with suffixes .ZOO, .ARC, .ZIP and .LZH are archive files.  They
are binary files which may contain one or more other files in a compressed
format. Archive files usually take up less disk space, and for this reason have
become quite popular for transferring large files via modem.

In order to extract the files from an archive file, one must use an archive
program.  Here are the correspondences:

ZIP     Use UNZIP.TTP or STZIP.PRG
ARC    Use ARC.TTP
LZH    Use LHARC.TTP
ZOO    Use ZOO.TTP

A few hints for first-time users:

* Most archivers will give a short summary of commands if invoked with no
  arguments.
* If in doubt, to extract a file, copy the archiver to the directory that the
  file is in, and run the archiver with the arguments 'x [filename]'.
* If you have TOS 1.4 or higher, and/or a CLI, you can avoid copying the
  archiver by just changing the current directory to where the file is. See
  TIPS for a tip on how to do this from the desktop on TOS 1.4 or higher.
* Read the documentation for the archivers you use, they will almost certainly
  answer all your questions. Documentation is usually included in both the
  source and binary distributions (such as zoo21bin.zoo).

ARCHIVERS
These programs are all available via FTP from the atari.archive server, in the
/atari/archivers directory.  Recommended files are:

    arc602.ttp   - version 6.02 of ARC, includes features to archive
               subdirectories and also include comments with files.

    arc602.arc   - contains documentation.  UnArc using arc602.ttp.

    arc521e.arc  - older version of ARC.  Used mostly by those who want
               speed, better compression, and don't care about
               archiving subdirectories.  UnArc using arc602.ttp.

    lharc.ttp    - version 2.0 of LHARC.

    lzh201i.lzh  - Thomas Questors lzh utility.  German documentation.
               UnArc using lharc.ttp

        stzip22.lzh  - STZip, with GUI interface

        unzip41.lzh  - Old version of unzip

    zoo21.ttp    - version 2.1 of ZOO

    zoo21bin.zoo - ZOO archive includes documentation. UnArc using
               zoo21.ttp.



Some info on Magic Shadow Archiver
==================================
(This was provided by Chris Herborth)

MSA Archives

The Magic Shadow Archiver (MSA) is a disk archiving program that allows
an entire disk to be compressed into one file for transmission.  The
Magic Shadow Archiver (in shadow.[arc?|lzh?|zoo?] on
atari.archive.umich.edu in ~/Archivers) creates .MSA files, which are
often compressed using a normal archiver, such as zoo or lharc.

Magic Shadow is notoriously bad when used on a 1/2 meg ST and only one
floppy drive.  Its disk access and memory use are very badly thought
out, and could result in over 160 disk swaps when unpacking an 80 track,
double-sided disk.

Due to the fact that it was the _only_ disk image archiver around for
quite a long time, Magic Shadow is the de-facto standard for creating
disk images of computer demos and other pieces of software that cannot
be easily compressed as files.

Because MSA files are disk images, they can only be used to recreate a
floppy disk.  There is (currently, see below) no way to extract the
files from an MSA archive without writing it to a floppy disk.

Magic Shadow works perfectly with any legal TOS floppy format, even high
density disks found in modified STs and most MegaSTes and TTs.

Chris Herborth ([e-mail] at work,
[e-mail] at home,
C.HERBORTH on GEnie) is writing a much more efficient MSA extractor,
called UnMSA.  UnMSA will minimize the number of disk swaps, and speed
decompression considerably.

Daryl Richards (no email address, yet) is working on an MSA-Mounter,
which will allow someone to unpack an MSA archive to RAM or a file on
a hard disk.  This uncompressed disk image will then be added to the
system as a logical drive (much the same way a RAMdisk adds a drive to
the system).  MountImage on the Mac is an example of the way MSA-Mounter
will eventually work (MountImage is so good, you can install new
versions of the Mac OS using floppy disk images stored on your hard
drive).

There is yet another MSA archiver now, called MSA II, by Phillip Lang.


What Command Line Interpreters are available?
=============================================

There are a large number of Command Line Interpreters for the Atari ST.
Some of the more popular ones include:

    gulam      the 'classic' cli, somewhat UNIX in flavor

    BASH      GNU Bourne Again Shell

    ksh      Korn Shell - available under MINT

    gemini    MUPFEL is the shell used by the gemini environment

        master    MS-DOS/Unix mixture, shareware.

    okami      a German shell with many useful utilities built in

    pcommand  an MS-DOS-like shell

    csh      C-shell, standard on Unix

    tcsh      Enchanced C-shell - available under MiNT

Check atari.archive under /atari/cli or /atari/mint, or check one of the
other FTP sites for files.


What does TOS ERROR nn mean?
What do the bombs on my screen mean?
====================================

The information below was written, in part, by Darryl May, and posted on
GEnie in January (of ????) by John Townsend.  The original also appeared in
the June 1988 issue of _Current Notes_ (122 N. Johnson Rd., Sterling, VA
22170). It has since found its way to me, and is being posted to
comp.sys.atari.st as a service to readers.

Alan Pratt wrote to tell me that the basic information may be correct, but
that it cannot be dubbed "official" unless it originates, on paper, from
Atari.  This makes sense, as electronic communications are easily
modified, even accidentally.

Roland Waldi provided information regarding the difference between TOS and
GEM return codes which appears to be correct.  The tables have been modified
to reflect his information.

    The following is an unofficial list of the errors that can appear
while you are operating your ST computer.

          Error description         return code      alert box #
          ======================================================
             OK (no error)....................0
             Fundamental error...............-1
             Drive not ready.................-2
             Unknown command.................-3
             CRC error.......................-4
             Bad request.....................-5
             Seek error......................-6
             Unknown media...................-7
             Sector not found................-8
             No paper........................-9
             Write fault....................-10
             Read fault.....................-11
             General error..................-12
             Write protect..................-13
             Media change...................-14
             Unknown device.................-15
             Bad sectors on format..........-16
             Insert other disk..............-17
             Invalid function number........-32............1
             File not found.................-33............2
             Path not found.................-34............3
             No handles left................-35............4
             Access denied..................-36............5
             Invalid handle.................-37............6
             Insufficient memory............-39............8
             Invalid memory block address...-40............9
             Invalid drive specified........-46...........15

             No more files..................-49...........18
             Range error....................-64...........33
             Internal error.................-65...........34
             Invalid program load format....-66...........35

The last code is the infamous "TOS error 35"!

Also, some unofficial information via Alan Pratt:

  Notably, you should add -48: ENSAME (not the same drive, occurs when
  you call Frename and the two names you give aren't on the same drive),
  and -67: EGSBF: you can't use Mshrink to GROW a block of memory.


     Those bombs that appear on your screen are error messages from
 the 68000 micro-processor.

                                           Number
          Description                     of bombs
          ===========================================
             Reset: Initial PC2...............1
             Bus Error........................2
             Address Error....................3
             Illegal Instruction..............4
             Zero Divide......................5
             CHK Instruction..................6
             TRAPV Instruction................7
             Privilege Violation..............8
             Trace............................9
             Line 1010 Emulator..............10
             Line 1111 Emulator..............11
             [unassigned, reserved]..........12
             [unassigned, reserved]..........13
             Format Error....................14
             Uninitialized Interrupt Vector..15
             [unassigned, reserved].......16-23
             Spurious Interrupt..............24
             Level 1 Interrupt Autovector....25
             Level 2 Interrupt Autovector....26
             Level 3 Interrupt Autovector....27
             Level 4 Interrupt Autovector....28
             Level 5 Interrupt Autovector....29
             Level 6 Interrupt Autovector....30
             Level 7 Interrupt Autovector....31
             Trap Instruction Vectors.....32-47
             [unassigned, reserved].......48-63
             User Interrupt Vectors......64-255



What is GDOS, and where can I get it?
=====================================

GDOS stands for Graphic Device Output System (at least that's what my copy of
STart, volume 1 number 1 said...)

There is a newer version, called SpeedoGDOS, which should be available
commercially from Atari.  It is currently included with AtariWorks, and some
Falcon packages.  SpeedoGDOS uses scaleable fonts - you do not need to create
a font file for every point size. There are desk accessories which allow you
to manipulate available fonts, and also CPX programs for the newer Atari
Control Panel.  For those who only have limited memory, a newer version of
GDOS is also included with the distribution.  For those with investments in
older bit-mapped GDOS fonts, they may be used with the new version of GDOS or
used as bit-mapped (ie. non-scaleable) fonts within SpeedoGDOS.

You can get a copy of "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About GDOS (and
more)" by Douglas N. Wheeler from the atari.archive server.  The file is
/atari/programming/gdos.arc.

There is a German version of GDOS available from the atari.archive server.
The file is /atari/utilities/amcgdos.arc.

Currently, there are no truly public domain sources for the GDOS system files
or font files (at least those supplied by Atari).  You can get these files
with many commercial programs, such as Degas Elite, WordFlair, etc.  You might
also want to check your local user group to see if they received a copy of the
WordFlair demo program (also available on GEnie).  The demo program appears to
have the GDOS system and font files.

In the UK The ST Club (2 Broadway, Nottingham, UK NG1 1PS. Tel 0602
410241, Fax [phone])  is a licensed GDOS distrubutor:
Catalogue No's:
GDOS-A Driver + Fonts 9-pin
GDOS-B Driver + Fonts 24-pin
GDOS-C Installed system for Opus (9 pin)
GDOS-D Opus 24-pin
GDOS-E FontGDOS + drivers
GDOS-F 300dpi printer fonts

Disks 2.95 pounds each.


What GNU software is available for the ST?
==========================================

The Free Software Foundation C compiler, commonly known as GNU C (or gcc) is
avaiable for the Atari ST.  The minimal memory required to do any useful
(i.e. beyond 'hello world') programming is 2 megabytes.  A 4 megabyte system
is recommended.

There is an extensive archive of the latest GNU C programs via anonymous FTP
on atari.archive.  GNU C is also available at most European FTP sites. The
latest version of GCC available for the ST is 2.4.2, this version includes
built-in support for C++.

Note that most GNU documentation comes in TeXinfo format. Documentation in
this format can be fed into TeX for printing. It can also be processed by
Emacs' texinfo to make an info file, which can be viewed on-screen with
Emacs' info mode. These two functions can also be performed by the
standalone programs 'texinfo' and 'info' (on atari.archive as /atari/tex/
tnxf241b.zoo).

The following can be found in the /atari/gnustuff/tos directory of
atari.archive: (Note: all of these have Unixmode and MiNT support)

BASH        Bourne-again shell
BISON        Yet another YACC (Yet Another Compiler Compiler)
COMPRESS    Compatible with Unix compress
DIFF        Compares files; PATCH does the inverse
EMACS        Extreme editor :-)
Fileutils    Unix file utilities
FLEX        Lexical analyzer, like Unix lex
GAWK        AWK report generation language
GCC 2.4.2    C, C++ compiler
GDB        GNU debugger, with source level C support
Ghostscript    Postscript clone
GROFF        Text formatting system
GREP        Regular expression search, like Unix grep
MAKE        Like Unix make
MAKEINFO    Stand-alone system to process .info files
PATCH        Changes files from diffs; DIFF does the inverse
PROF        Profiles executable code
RCS        Revision Control System
SED        Stream editor
Smalltalk    Smalltalk; object oriented language
TAR        Tape archiver like Unix tar


Where can I find Ham Radio software for the ST?
===============================================

Plenty of Ham Radio software is available for the Atari ST:

        Morse code
        Radio Teletype (RTTY)
        Packet Radio (W0RLI BBS and K9AQ TCP/IP)
        Satellite Tracking
        WEFAX
        Color Slow Scan TV (SSTV)
        etc.

For more information contact the Atari Microcomputer Network:

        Newsletter Editor -     Gil Frederick, VE4AG
                                130 Maureen Street
                                Winnipeg, Manitoba
                                R3K 1M2  Canada
or
        Program Librarian -     John Adams, KC5FW
                                17106 Happy Hollow
                                San Antonio, TX 78232
                                U.S.A.
or
        Tune into the weekly net Sundays 16:00 UTC on 14.325 MHz.

73,
John Langner, WB2OSZ


Public Domain/Shareware languages...
====================================
(This section is getting an overhaul, but I don't have the time to finish
the overhaul right now... Sorry, check back next month.)

There are a large number of programming languages available for use with the
Atari ST.  Programmers seem to flock to the Atari ST, and if you know of a
language, you can probably find it, or an equivalent, for the ST.

68000 assembler/disassemblers: a68, turboass,
abc
APL
AWK
BASIC
C
C++
cross assemblers (z80, 6502, 68xx,8031/80xx)
Elan
FORTRAN
FORTH
FP
Hope
ICON
LISP
Little Smalltalk
Modula2
OPS5
perl
PROLOG
SCHEME
SIOD
Smalltalk
XLisp
XProlog
XScheme

Check the atari.archive server under /atari/languages.  Most other archive
sites will have a language directory which you can also check.


Is MINIX available on the Atari ST?
===================================

MINIX is a UNIX-like operating system for the IBM PC, XT, AT, 386,
and PS/2, as well as the Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, and
later in 1991, Sun SPARC.  It is available with all the source code for
the entire operating system, the libraries, and nearly 200 UNIX-like
utilities.

Demonstration disks for the IBM PC line and Atari ST are available for free
via anonymous FTP for people on the Internet.  A Macintosh version will be
online soon.  (If you can't wait, see below.)

To get a free demo disk and the manual, use ftp to connect to
ftp.cs.vu.nl (192.31.231.42) and look in pub/minix/demo.  The READ_ME
file describes the contents of the directory and how to use it.  Be sure to
fetch and read this first.  It contains important information.

If you don't have FTP access, you can buy the demo disk package from Prentice-
Hall for $10 by calling [phone] or FAX [phone].  Please DON'T
ask me to send it by email.  I have quite enough work already thank you.
The ordering numbers for Prentice-Hall are:

  - MINIX 1.5 IBM demo disk         (0-13-582768-x)  (in stock now)
  - MINIX 1.5 Atari demo disk       (0-13-582792-2)  (in stock now)
  - MINIX 1.5 Macintosh demo disk   (0-13-582784-1)  (in stock now)

Please note that although the demo disks are available for free on line,
MINIX itself is copyrighted software and is not available on line.  The
demo disks are also copyrighted, but permission is hereby granted to
upload and use them for evaluation purposes. The READ_ME file tells how
MINIX can be ordered.

AS A COURTESY TO US, PLEASE DO NOT FTP DURING BUSINESS HOURS (EUROPEAN
TIME).  PLEASE FTP AFTER 11 A.M. EASTERN STANDARD TIME.
If you want to follow the MINIX discussion, read the comp.os.minix
newsgroup, which is quite active and has almost 50,000 subscribers.

Have fun!

Andy Tanenbaum ([e-mail])


What is MiNT?
=============
MiNT is a free multitasking operating system extension for TOS. It is somewhat
like BSD Unix from the programmer's perspective. MiNT can run up to 1 GEM
program along with a lot of character-based programs simultaneously. MGR
and MW2 can both put multiple terminal windows on screen, and bgacc can
put a number of terminal windows on a GEM screen. MiNT and lots of stuff to go
with it can be found at atari.archive.umich.edu:/atari/mint.

TOSWIN is the new replacement for bgacc: it provides lots of nice features like
variable fonts, menus, selectable window gadgets, etc. GEMTERM is a similar
package (it's not part of the standard MiNT distribution) modelled after TOSWIN
and XTerm.

A somewhat interesting note: MiNT is now the kernel of Atari's multitasking
OS, MultiTOS. Originially MiNT stood for 'MiNT is Not TOS', but it's now
'MiNT is Now TOS'. :-)


Is there a version of XWindows for the ST?
==========================================

There actually is a port of XWindows to the ST now, although it is pricey.
Here's the (slightly hacked up) announcement for it:

X/TOS/window/server and X/TOS/window/server/color
-------------------------------------------------
Vendor:
        X/software Michael Gehret
        X/TOS division
        Marktstrasse 8
        W-8944 Groenenbach
        Germany
        TEL: [phone]
        FAX: [phone]
        email: [e-mail]
CPU:
        Atari Mega ST, STE, TT
        68000 to 68040
Memory:
        2 Mbytes (4 Mbytes recommended)
Operating System:
        TOS 1.4 or higher
Mouse:
        Atari mouse
Graphics:
        X/TOS/window/server:
                monochrome 640x400x1,
                monochrome 1280x960x1 (TT, SM194)
        X/TOS/window/server/color:
                monochrome 640x400x1,
                monochrome 1280x960x1 (TT, SM194)
                color 320x200x4
                color 640x200x2
                color 640x480x4
                color 320x480x8
Ethernet Card:
        Atari Card (Mega or VME bus)
        Riebl/Wacker (Mega or VME bus)
        Biodata BioNet 100 II (DMA port or VME bus)
Network Software:
        Atari/Riebl/Wacker ANS TCP/IP
        Biodata TCP/IP
Disk Space:
        none (two floppy disks, may load fonts from second disk or font server)
Features:
        full X11 Release 5 implementation
        Shape, Multi-Buffering, MIT-SUNDRY-NONSTANDARD extensions
        PEX extension optional
        support of font server protocol
        support of X Display Manager Protocol
        access control support
        compatible to OSF/Motif and OpenLook
        high performance (more than 32,000 Xstones on TT)
        fast cursor tracking
        backing store and save unders support
        size of virtual screen limited by memory only, automatic panning
        X/TOS/window/server/color supports all video modes at the same time,
                including dynamic visuals
        loadable key maps (xmodmap format), full support for European keyboard
                layouts
        3-button mouse emulation with Atari 2-button mouse
        may run parallel to GEM (switching with hot key), configurable multi
                tasking priorities
        about 50 fonts supplied


Why won't demo x run on my machine?
===================================

90% of the time, if a demo does not run on your American ST, you probably
need to be in 50Hz mode to use it. Get a program like 50hzboot.prg from
atari.archive to allow this.


What is the format for [x] paint program data?
==============================================

There is a periodic posting of ST Picture Formats, edited by David Baggett.
The file is on the atari.archive server under /atari/graphics/picfmts.doc.


:PD:   93.06.11
Where can I get Public Domain/Shareware software?
==========================================================

There are FTP sources and a comp.sources.atari.st/comp.binaries.atari.st
mail server.  You can also try the commercial on-line services such as
GEnie, CompuServe, Delphi and Bix.

Using FTP, most files should be retrieved in BINARY format (at least those
ending with the suffix of .ZIP, .ARC, .LZH, .ZOO, .PRG, .TTP, .TOS)

Mail servers encode files.  You will need a program called 'uudecode' in
order to change files ending with the suffix .UUE (or .UAB, .UAC, etc.)
into their original form.


E-Mail file servers

[e-mail]:
---------------------------------

Spud holds all of the comp.sources.atari.st / comp.binaries.atari.st
postings.  If you aren't reading these two newsgroups, you should consider
doing so.  You may obtain uuencoded files as e-mail.  You can obtain a
help file by mailing a message to [e-mail], with
the main body of the message being the word 'help'.

[e-mail]:
-----------------------------

The atari.archive server is mentioned many times in this article.  It contains
a multitude of Atari ST PD and shareware programs.  If you don't have access
via FTP you can obtain many of the files via e-mail.  You should first obtain a
help file by mailing a message to [e-mail], with the main
body of the message being the word 'help.'.  If you are from a uucp site,
please enclose this statement also 'path host1!host2!....', where
host1!host2!... is your path. Please read the help file completely before you
ask questions, and then send any you may have to [e-mail].
Any questions about the archive or specific files go to
[e-mail] (or [e-mail],
[e-mail], [e-mail], or
[e-mail] :-)


[e-mail]:
---------------------------------

This is a UK public domain archive, available to sites within the UK via
via JANET.

[e-mail]:
---------------------------

This is a german public domain archive. This only has comp.binaries.atari.st
and comp.sources.atari.st.

[e-mail]:
------------------------------

Same place as above, but this one carries other software than just
comp.binaries.atari.st and comp.sources.atari.st.


[e-mail] (or uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!ruuinf!mail-server):
---------------------------------------------------------------
send the following message

    begin
    path [e-mail] (PLEASE SUBSTITUTE *YOUR* ADDRESS)
    send ATARI-ST/index
    end

NOTE: *** PLEASE USE VALID INTERNET ADDRESSES IF POSSIBLE. DO NOT USE
ADDRESSES WITH ! and @ MIXED !!!! BITNETTERS USE [e-mail] ***

The path command can be deleted if we receive a valid from address in your
message. If this is the first time you use our mail server, we suggest you
first issue the request:
    send HELP

[e-mail]:
------------------------

Mail messages with the contents HELP will bring you some usage information
and GET PROG-A16 FILELIST will provide you with a list of files.  Subscriptions
to INFO-A16 are also available on this server.  INFO-A16 is a digest of
messages from comp.sys.atari.st.


Anonymous FTP servers

Note:  The generally accepted practice for FTP use is as follows:

    1. Limit access times to non-working hours.  This is usually 6-8 pm
       to 8-9 am LOCAL time.  LOCAL time means local to the computer
       you are accessing!  For example, 4 P.M. in Minneapolis, Minnesota
       is 10 P.M. in England, and 10 A.M. in Germany is 4 A.M. in New
       York.

    2. Once you connect, issue the following commands at your FTP
       prompt:

        user anonymous
        <YOUR e-mail address should be entered at the Password: prompt)
        ls
        cd <to the appropriate directory>

    3. Limit downloads, especially across the ocean.  Remember, there are
       other people who are using the same lines as you.


Atari FTP sites (the list is -not- exhaustive)
----------------------------------------------

atari.archive.umich.edu    [141.211.164.8]


uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft (available to UK users via JANET)

  Note:  Access is a bit different for this archive site, use the following:

    user pdsoft
    pdsoft (at the Password prompt)


ftp.Germany.EU.net [192.76.144.75]


ftp.cs.ruu.nl [131.211.80.17]

src.doc.ic.ac.uk

This site has a mirror of atari.archive.umich.edu in /computing/systems/
atari/umich.


Is TeX/LaTeX available on the Atari ST?
=======================================

The TeX/LaTeX typesetting programs are available on the Atari ST.  Check the
atari.archive server under /atari/tex.  Fonts and device drivers
(including one for the Epson 9-pin printers) are available on the
atari.archive server.

The latest version of TeX (3.14) has recently been made available on the
atari.archive server.  The files are in a subdirectory of their own.

Graham Higgins recently wrote a message in comp.sys.atari.st indicating the
minimum files needed to get a working TeX/LaTeX system up and running on the
Atari ST.  He said:

    You'll need, at minimum:

    The binaries for LaTeX/TeX :StTeXBin
    The style files           :StTeXSty
    The font macros            :StTeXTfm

        If you want to screen-preview, you'll need screen font files (showdvi)
    If you want to print locally, you'll need printer font files (dvifont)

    Allow 5Mb.

For a step-by-step article on setting up Tex and LaTeX, send an e-mail request
to [e-mail].  Be sure to mention 'tex.setup'.

There is also a complete, ready-to-install distribution called CS-TeX. The
latest version, 4.0, is available at atari.archive: /atari/tex/cs-tex-4.0.
This consists of 8 disks full of TeX stuff, plus an installation program
that takes care of the details for you.

=====================================================================

Who has contributed to the FAQ?
===============================

If you've contributed to this FAQ but aren't mentioned here, tell me!

David Paschall-Zimbel ([e-mail]) compiled the bulk
 of the FAQ.
Steven Ourada ([e-mail]) is the current maintainer.

Juxtaposer ([e-mail])
Eugen Bauknecht ([e-mail])
Ate Brink ([e-mail])
Dorthy Brumleve ([e-mail])
Kevin Busby ([e-mail])
Michael Clark ([e-mail])
John Cummins ([e-mail])
Stefan Damerau ([e-mail])
Jean-Etienne Doucet ([e-mail])
Ben Gilbert
Edgar Greuter ([e-mail])
John Henders ([e-mail])
Chris Herborth ([e-mail])
Graham Higgins
John Hutchinson ([e-mail])
Stephen Jacobs ([e-mail])
Michal Jaegermann ([e-mail])
Eric S Johansson ([e-mail])
Martin Kite ([e-mail])
Ed Krimen ([e-mail])
Mark Lavi ([e-mail])
Mark Leair ([e-mail])
John Langner
J.J. Lehett ([e-mail])
Jari Lehto
Sam Marshall ([e-mail])
Don Maple
Darryl May
Frederic Mora ([e-mail])
Erlend Nagel <[e-mail]>
Michael Niermann ([e-mail])
Helmut Neukirchen ([e-mail])
Thomas Omerzu ([e-mail])
Piet van Oostrum ([e-mail])
Brian Peterson ([e-mail])
Alan Pratt
Laurenz Pruessner ([e-mail])
James Reno ([e-mail])
Eric Smith ([e-mail])
Andy Tanenbaum ([e-mail])
Shoou-yu Tang ([e-mail])
Oddvar Tveito FTO ([e-mail])
Wayne (?) ([e-mail])
John Townsend
Joachim Vance ([e-mail])
Roland Waldi


Hope you liked the comp.sys.atari.st FAQ. If you have comments,
suggestions, more material, etc., mail me at [e-mail]

Thanks to David Paschall-Zimbel    ([e-mail]) for
compiling most of this FAQ.

                     Later,
                        Steven Ourada
--
Steven Ourada --- [e-mail]
"have no faith in constitution, there is no bloody revolution"
                 -- The Police

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

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

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