INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Wed,  8 Nov 89       Volume 89 : Issue 622
 
Today's Topics:
          Binaries distribution within BITNET/EARN/NETNORTH.
                      Mega with TOS 1.4 crashes!
                 questions, questions, questions ...
                      Text Based Windows for ST
                         TOS 1.4 vs. ARKANOID
                            Vapourware!!!
                    WordPerfect ST vs. version 5.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 9 Nov 89 01:59:57 GMT
From:
 cs.utexas.edu!samsung!shadooby!sharkey!math.lsa.umich.edu!hyc@tut.cis.ohio-stat
e.edu  (Howard Chu)
Subject: Binaries distribution within BITNET/EARN/NETNORTH.
 
In article <"89-11-07-13:21:58.47*UI0T"@DKAUNI2.BITNET> UI0T@DKAUNI2.BITNET
 ("Thomas Koenig") writes:
>to BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET with the command HELP in the first line of the
>body of the text. A warning: BITFTP delivers the files it retreives
>from the FTP - servers in NETDATA - format (IBM's own), so that there
>is probably little use requesting files from outside BITNET...
>
 
What a cute idea. Surprised no one else did this before...
 
>> hearts) start shipping this stuff out of GENIE and into
>> distribution (like Volker has done) or send it to Panarthea. Life
>> would be grand, then.
>I agree.
>
 
I thought GEnie and Compu$erve restricted distribution of stuff that
was uploaded to them... At any rate, using these services costs me
real money, while eating up megabytes of disk on the University
machines is pretty much free. What's worse, it takes a long long long
time to download anything meaningful from GEnie or CI$, which is
probably the most discouraging reason for me. (Time is money, connect
time to them is Lots of money...?-) I can just ftp straight to disk
usually, so no delays there... If I could ftp files off compuserve.com,
I'd do it, but otherwise I just don't have the time, and I'd be surprised
if anyone else did.
 
>There is one thing I like to see, too: can somebody tell the net
>what FTP servers are available for ATARI ST stuff and in which
>directories it is stored (using BITFTP is not exactly interactive,
>as you have to use mail to get there)? I'm sure many people would
>appreciate that.
 
To see the Atari files on terminator.cc.umich.edu, IP address 35.1.33.8,
go into the "atari" directory after logging in (anonymous ftp). Look
from there, or grab the Index file.
 
>
>Thomas  Koenig                   UI0T@DKAUNI2.BITNET
>                                 UI0T%DKAUNI2.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
>(soon: new address, old machine) UI0T@IBM3090.RZ.UNI-KARLSRUHE.DBP.DE
>'Ich dachte nicht, ich untersuchte.'            Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
--
 -=- PrayerMail: Send 100Mbits to holyghost@father.son[127.0.0.1]
 and You Too can have a Personal Electronic Relationship with God!
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Nov 89 17:36:12 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!sequent!mntgfx!dclemans@uunet.uu.net  (Dave
 Clemans @ APD x1292)
Subject: Mega with TOS 1.4 crashes!
 
From article <5440075@hplsla.HP.COM>, by andyc@hplsla.HP.COM (Andy Cassino):
>
> Does anyone have advice about what may be the problem?
>
 
One problem can come up if you switched from a two chip to a six chip
ROM set.  The ST runs right at (or above...) the upper margins of the
drive capability of some of the buffer chips.  If you happened to have
weak buffer chips (particularly the two 74ls373 chips) or a weak
memory controller chip (the MMU; chips stamped with "imp" especially
are getting a reputation for causing problems), the system may start
having problems.  I.e. while it may run fine with a two chip ROM set,
it may have problems with a six chip set or with something plugged
into the cartridge port.
 
Messages from James Allen (of FAST Technologies) on Genie have
recommended replacing 74ls373 chips with 74as373 chips, and if
you still have problems, start swapping MMU chips (especially if
you have one labeled "imp").
 
dgc
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 9 Nov 89 03:36:16 GMT
From: max.sunysb.edu!figuei@sbcs.sunysb.edu  (Francisco Figueirido)
Subject: questions, questions, questions ...
 
Hi netters! I have some questions which maybe some of you can
answer.
 
(1) I got version 2.0e of UniTerm from terminator.cc.umich.edu,
and it comes with some fonts (unifont.arc) which I can't make it
to load. According to the readme files it has a new command
(loadfont(index,filename)) but whenever I try it it either doesn't
do anything or tells me it cannot open the file. Can anybody help me
with this? I really hate the system font!
 
(2) I am in love with GCC but have only 1Meg on my 1040ST, so I
am eager to expand its memory. I know many of you have such
expansions, so I would really appreciate any informations about
this (which brands are available, pros and cons, what speed the
ram chips have to be (I guess it's 120ns?), etc.). Related to this,
does anybody have any experience with Fast16 or any other accele-
rator board? I would like to know something more about them.
 
BTW, I didn't like the floating point routines in GCC so I spend
some (not negligible) time writing my own. They are not perfect,
probably have many bugs, but if anybody is interested just tell
me and I will send him/her the code. But some words of caution:
I wrote them (in assembly, of course!) to operate on 80-bits
floating point numbers (using some ideas from a BYTE article by
Rick Grehan), so the interface with the compiler is a little bit
akward (I didn't want to recompile GCC). But I also rewrote the
(arithmetic) operations on doubles using my extended version
and am using that regularly (and they work fine, although not
very fast). I did this because I prefer accuracy over speed
(I wouldn't do any VERY intensive computation on a ST!) and got
it! I have (not very fast) routines for sqrt, exp, logs, etc,
which give me correct answers to 20 decimal digits. Anyway, if
anybody is interested just contact me.
 
Sorry for the length of my letter! It's my second one (I think).
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Nov 89 16:07:01 GMT
From: bnlux0!max.bnl.gov!atc@sbcs.sunysb.edu
Subject: Text Based Windows for ST
 
I know there are public domain versions of curses floating around
for the ST.  However, I was wondering if anyone has seen some
REAL text windowing software for the ST?
 
So, let's hear it, anyone see some text windows out there?
 
-----
sbarr@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu
atc@max.bnl.gov
atc@bnlux0.bnl.gov
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Nov 89 20:40:47 GMT
From: helios.ee.lbl.gov!ncis.tis.llnl.gov!blackbird!news@ucsd.edu  (News System
 Account)
Subject: TOS 1.4 vs. ARKANOID
 
I've installed TOS 1.4 and ARKANOID doesn't seem to detect the mouse
movements.  I'm sure this is due to illegal access and I would be
willing to track down (and hopefully fix) this bug if some of you
assembly gurus can clue me in as to the right way to detect mouse
movements and hints as to the wrong way (under the old TOS) that
was used.
 
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Bill Hodges                    |  Me?  People who speak for the Air Force get
 bhodges@blackbird.afit.af.mil  |  paid a lot more than I do! I just work here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Nov 89 18:25:05 GMT
From: unhd!al770@uunet.uu.net  (Anthony Lapadula)
Subject: Vapourware!!!
 
Greg Csullog wrote:
 
> How many netters have actually used a NeXT computer or even seen one. Just
> because YOU have not seen one does not mean it does not exist or it is
> vapourware. The same goes for the TT, the ATW, the STACY, the LYNX.
 
Isn't it true that anyone may buy a NeXT at BusinessLand?  (Haven't
gone to see for myself, poor college student that I am....)
 
The point is that the TT and especially the LYNX have (IMHO)
missed their marketing window.  The recent discussion of TT vs. '386
Unix boxes comes to mind, and Nintendo's GameBoy (lousy as it is)
will have the pocket game market sewn up before most of the country
even sees a LYNX.
 
> Why do some many netters bash Atari in the Atari forum? If you hate Atari
> so much, get on the Mac or PC forum circuit and stop suffering. Let us
> Atari users have fun without having to listen to your bitching.
 
It's not that we hate Atari(1), it's just frustrating to see good
products buried because they're late.
 
-- Anthony Lapadula
 
(1)  I do resent being told in late '85 that my 1040ST would indeed
be able to use the Blitter, which, of course, was due out RSN.  Don't
know if I should blame my dealer or Atari, but the example stands.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Nov 89 21:35:48 GMT
From: ncrlnk!ncr-sd!tw-rnd!johnl@uunet.uu.net  (John Lindwall)
Subject: WordPerfect ST vs. version 5.0
 
In article <891106.09014497.067340@SFA.CP6> Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET (Z4648252)
 writes:
>
>    A question was asked regarding how the ST version of WordPerfect compared
>to version 5.0 for other systems:  IBM and Amiga.
 
I'd just like to point out that the Amiga version of WordPerfect is not 5.0,
it is 4.1.X.  It seems that both Atari and Amiga markets are being similarly
treated by WP corp.  A few months ago WordPerfect announced that development
of WP for the Amiga would cease and all the programmers would be moved to
IBM or Mac products.  After a massive mail/email campaign, WordPerfect decided
to continue selling WP for the Amiga as well as keeping a small staff working
on bug fixes and occasional feature upgrades.  They stated that 5.0 for the
Amiga was NOT in their plans.  Does this sound familiar to people here?  I
beleive that this same scenario was played out to you Atari owners.
 
[...]
>        Both the Mac versions (version 1.xxx) and ST versions allow real
>pull down menus or key commands.  Currently, the IBM and Amiga versions
>don't allow this without optional third party add-ons.
 
Amiga WP DOES have menu selections for WP commands as well as the normal
yucky keyboard commands.  Are you talking about some other features here?
If so, I'd like to hear about them so we can lobby WP to add this feature
to the Amiga version.
 
[...]
>                     Incidentally, the current version is incredibly
>rock solid...
 
Again, Amiga and Atari owners have a (rare) point of agreement here.  The
Amiga version of WP is also a solid, well-maintained product.  Thank you
WordPerfect for your efforts to make good products for your smaller markets!
 
>
>Larry Rymal:  |East Texas Atari 68NNNers| <Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET>
 
One question: Does Atari WP have the full document display screen?  On my IBM
(at work) we use V 5.0, which allows you to get a graphic display of your page
which shows the text in the correct fonts, as well as underlines, bold, italic,
etc.  Amiga WP does not have this, but I wish it did.  Very handy, and paper-
saving.
 
--
John Lindwall                     |   "Not my employer opinions; mine"
johnl@tw-rnd.SanDiego.NCR.COM     |   a man, a plan, a beer, reeban alpa nama
----------------------------------+--------------------------------------------
Amiga PenPal V1.2 for sale: $75. All original disks, manual, box. Registration.
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #622
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