INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Wed, 22 Nov 89       Volume 89 : Issue 691
 
Today's Topics:
                             desktop.inf
          Gadgets by Small - Possible new '030 add-on board!
                               GEM HELP
                        Hard Drive Woes: HELP!
                            Shareware Mac
                             STe TOS BUG
                     TOS 1.4 Incompatibility List
                            Vapourware!!!
                             X Windows TT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Nov 89 09:57:00 GMT
From: iconsys!caeco!jose!the-land!the_land!ur_lord@uunet.uu.net  (ur-lord)
Subject: desktop.inf
 
Steven Lee,
           Duplex and highbit stripping is not handled by TOS. Your own
           program will have to handle those chores.
                                       ur-lord@The_Land
                                       jsmodula@bix
                                       synergist@genie
                                       jim kershner@110/150.200
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 22 Nov 89 02:27:57 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com  (Ken Badertscher)
Subject: Gadgets by Small - Possible new '030 add-on board!
 
gl8f@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) writes:
 
| Now if you essentially mounted a 16mhz 68030 with a 16
| bit data path onto the same board [as T16]
| then you'd have something that would speed things up more
| than the Turbo16. Right?
Right.  And something else to keep in mind: the TOS used in the
STE does not use the line F compression that previous TOS versions used.
 
| But the TT *is* a compatible redesign with 32-bit everything, right?
Right.
--
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 22 Nov 89 02:31:13 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com  (Ken Badertscher)
Subject: GEM HELP
 
domen@wiener.crin.fr (Eric Domenjoud) asks:
| 1/ How do I put the mouse at a specified location on the screen ?
You need to intercept the mouse cursor change vector, which is an
interrupt routine, and feed the coordinates you want to the AES.
Check the vex_motv() function documentation in whatever books you're using.
 
| 2/ How do I bound the mouse to a box xmin-xmax,ymin-ymax ?
With your own mouse interrupt handler installed, you can effectively limit
the motion to whatever you want by discarding any mouse movement that causes
the cursor to go outside of your bounding box.
 
| 3/ What does the GEM function CELLARAY and how do I use it ?
The cellarray VDI function is not supported in TOS.
--
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 22 Nov 89 10:38:56 GMT
From:
 cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uicbert.eecs.uic.edu!di
 llenbu@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Hard Drive Woes: HELP!
 
/* Written  3:54 pm  Nov 19, 1989 by zimm@portia.Stanford.EDU in
 uicbert.eecs.uic.edu:comp.sys.atari.st */
/* ---------- "Hard Drive Woes: HELP!" ---------- */
 
> a) Should I reformat the partition and hope there are no real hardware
> problems with the drive itself? As far as I can tell, the ICD utilities
> won't allow one to reformat a single partition: how does one accomplish
> this? (I DON'T WANT TO REFORMAT THE WHOLE DRIVE!!)
 
  You can Zero the directories of a single hard drive partition with
a program called HDUTIL.PRG available from the ICD customer support BBS.
Also, a program called DLII comes in handy for repairing corrupted
disks (floppy or hard drive).  DLII is also available at the ICD BBS.
 
> b) Is there any way of determining which sectors are permanently corrupted,
> so that when I reformat the partition I can tell the drive to ignore them?
 
  When you format the hard drive with the ICD utilities, it will tell you
which sectors are bad and will automatically skip them.  The next time you
 format your drive, you can tell the format program where you discovered bad
 sectors
the last time you formatted it.  When you purchased your HD, a list of bad
sectors should have been included with it.
 
  -= John Dillenburg =-
 dillenbu@uicbert.eecs.uic.edu
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 22 Nov 89 12:23:50 GMT
From: eru!luth!sunic!tut!ra!uwasa.fi!hv@bloom-beacon.mit.edu  (Harri Valkama
 LAKE)
Subject: Shareware Mac
 
In article <641@nixpbe.UUCP> capit@peun11.uucp (Capitain) writes:
>I didn't receive any answer at all to my first mail.
>Is there really no interest in a shareware mac emulator???
 
I think there is interest (actually a lot) but at least I didn't
get a very precise view about what is needed as a hardware. I know
that I am not capable of doing add-on boards. I have the Mac Roms
though (if it can use 128K ROMs). But if someone can certify that
I can get a hold of the hardware needed I'm for YES.
 
--
 
                                Harri Valkama (hv@uwasa.fi)
                                anon. ftp site (128.214.12.3)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 22 Nov 89 02:48:41 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com  (Ken Badertscher)
Subject: STe TOS BUG
 
A patch program should be available for the DESKTOP.INF bug you mentioned.
It was unfortunate that some ROMs went into machines before we found that
particular bug.  A new STE ROM release has been made which fixes the problem.
Only a few European versions of TOS were affected.
 
Contact the customer support people at the Atari subsidiary in your country,
and ask for STE_FIX.PRG.  If you are unable to get the STE_FIX.PRG, please
please drop me a note and I'll try to post it to the net.
 
Other than that, the two bugs we knew about in Rainbow TOS - the
internal AES and Rsconf() bugs - are fixed in STE TOS.  The screen
behaviour you describe sounds very strange.  It could be a hardware
problem (a bad BLiTTER?  I don't know - I'm not a hardware guy).
 
I apologise sincerely for any trouble the DESKTOP.INF save bug has caused
any STE owners, and hope you can get the replacement ROMs soon.
--
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 22 Nov 89 03:05:16 GMT
From: ubc-cs!alberta!calgary!cpsc!savrtka@beaver.cs.washington.edu  (James
 Savrtka)
Subject: TOS 1.4 Incompatibility List
 
>
> Please speak up if you find errors in the incompatibility list.
>
>
> "Down                       John Morton               M.E. Machine Shop
>  Down in the basement    jmorton@euler.berkeley.edu   Etcheverry Hall
>  We hear the sound of machines..."                    Univ. of Calif.
 
Well, after having no problems with US version 3.01, I received an error
message today about 'This is the US version.  You must have a US machine.'.
 
This occurred when I placed pc-ditto.prg in the AUTO folder and tried to
have it execute upon boot-up.  So out it went, along with the error message.
 
              jim
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 22 Nov 89 03:06:19 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com  (Ken Badertscher)
Subject: Vapourware!!!
 
Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com writes:
 
| Neil Harris was the "Director of Marketing Information" [...]
| He promised the blitter upgrade, many times..  officially.
 
Bob, I can't speak for Dave Meile, although I have the highest respect
for him, but _I_ have been an Atari follower for many years, in the
mags, online, and in news media.  I can not remember a single time that
anyone from Atari officially announced availability of a BLiTTER
upgrade for 520s or 1040s.  I _do_ remember that Neil and others
mentioned that it was being worked on.  I guess you just heard what
you wanted to.
 
One other thing - I never would have come to work for this company if
I thought that its basis of operation was fraudulent.  Your innuendo is
getting extremely tiresome on the net, and the only reason I bothered to
respond to this particular message was to toss some facts at your attack
on Neil Harris.  If it is your intention to chase all Atari personnel off
the net with your venom, then believe me, you are coming close to succeeding.
--
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Nov 89 23:48:37 GMT
From: fox!portal!cup.portal.com!buggs@apple.com  (William Edward JuneJr)
Subject: X Windows TT
 
Anyone do any work with Mach?
I wonder how hard, probably REAL *8~), it would be to port?
Thinkin' in particular of the TT, when it & real Un*x is available.
 
Is Mach PD?
 
Ed June
Fido 1:133/403
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #691
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