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INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Thu,  4 Jan 90       Volume 90 : Issue   10
 
Today's Topics:
                    Bitmapping species of Pickrel
             Comparing Apple and Atari peripheral prices
                  LHARC takes over?  Sure hope not!
               media change problem with Toshiba drive
           MetaCompco in general (was  Re: cambridge lisp)
                           request for ZOO
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Date: 4 Jan 90 20:03:00 GMT
From:
 cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!ria!uwovax!4224_51
 32@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Andrew Semple)
Subject: Bitmapping species of Pickrel
Message-ID: <4603.25a365a4@uwovax.uwo.ca>
 
  Well, another Christmas has passed and that means that lots of boys and girls
were happy to find an Atari under thier tree.  I didn't get one (another that
is).  But anyways,  'twas on Boxing day that my (now famous) Toronto Atari
dealer put on sale some STE's.  The price was $1200 (CDN).  I assume that is
fair since you got a 1040STE and a colour monitor in the deal.  Regardless, the
seven he had on hand sold in the first twenty minutes he was open, and he took
cash deposits on, wait for it, thirty-plus more.  Not a bad day sales wise I
should think.  The manager informed me that he had been selling off the old 520
and 1040 stock for about the last month, and hadn't anticipated the demand.
Life goes on...
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Semple                         Andrew.Semple@hydra.uwo.ca
2nd Year Applied Math/Computer Science
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario
Canada     "I think in the predicate calculus."   - I. Newton :-)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Jan 90 16:03:00 GMT
From: rochester!rit!ultb!clf3678@louie.udel.edu  (C.L. Freemesser)
Subject: Comparing Apple and Atari peripheral prices
Message-ID: <1855@ultb.isc.rit.edu>
 
> "Find a 3rd party Apple floppy drive that is totally compatible with
>  the Apple drives, and I'll show you a snowball that survived a trip
>  through hell.... "
>
>I don't have personal experience with third party Apple floppy drives so I
>can't argue this point.  I'm only familiar with the Mac line, and have spe-
>cifically limited my comments to this.  Are you referring to Mac or Apple
>II drives?  What are you basing this statement on?
 
A friend of mine is an Apple enthusiast, and he has told me all about
the incompatibility problems with Apple drives.  Since the Mac uses a
non-standard variable speed drive, making one yourself will be very
difficult.  Also, the fact that the Mac uses an electronic eject while
everybody else uses a manual eject will complicate the problem even
more.
 
>BTW, did your $350 include a new drive, cables, casing and power supply
>in addition to the Adaptek and ICD host adapter?  (ICD host adapter: $136.,
>Adaptek controller: $90-140. = >$226 leaves $124 for 20 Meg mech,
>power supply and case.)
 
Yes, it included a brand new ICD Host adapter ($100), an Adaptec 4000
($85), a Seagate ST-225 mech ($120), a power supply and case, and all
needed cables.  I must admit that I got the mech from a friend of mine
who owns a computer store, and pulled the 225 out of a machine he was
upgrading.  The rest of the stuff was purchased from mail order houses,
and YOU TOO can get them at this price.
 
Chris Freemesser, Rochester Institute of Technology :BITNET:%clf3678@RITVAX
    |||        ____________                         :GEnie: C.FREEMESSER
    |||       /___    /          (and 8-bit too!)   :USENET: clf3678@rit.isc
   / | \   ______/   /                              :        .edu
Call the A.C.O.R.N BBS (716)436-3078, 300/1200 baud :<-or my BBS
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Jan 90 18:07:33 GMT
From: clyde.concordia.ca!mcgill-vision!quiche!calvin!depeche@uunet.uu.net  (Sam
 Alan EZUST)
Subject: LHARC takes over?  Sure hope not!
Message-ID: <1922@calvin.cs.mcgill.ca>
 
In article <5440094@hplsla.HP.COM> andyc@hplsla.HP.COM (Andy Cassino) writes:
>
 >As for Usenet binaries, Steven Grimm has stated that LHARC source must
 >be available before LHARC'd binaries are acceptable. When/if that happens,
 >I would think that conservation of net bandwidth should make LHARC the
 >preferred program.
 >
well, at terminator.cc.umich.edu in atari/new directory, there is a file
called LHARCSRC.arc which looks like something worthwhile to look at...
 
 
--
S. Alan Ezust                                   depeche@calvin.cs.mcgill.ca
McGill University Department of Computer Science - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Jan 90 16:09:13 GMT
From: rochester!rit!ultb!clf3678@louie.udel.edu  (C.L. Freemesser)
Subject: media change problem with Toshiba drive
Message-ID: <1856@ultb.isc.rit.edu>
 
>       I read most of the messages on using generic drives with the ST and
>       didn't expect any problems but . . .
>
>       I'm adding a Toshiba ND-352TH-A also known as FDD4216G0D as a
>       second floppy.  If I leave the media change diode
>       (pin 34 ---|<|--- pin 28) out, everything works fine, except of
>       course media change is not detected.  With the diode, once the disk
>       is removed once it always appears write protected.
>
 This is a common problem with home-brew drives.  There are a number of
solutions to this problem:
 
1) Get TOS 1.4.  It fixes the problem for good by forcing a re-read of
the disk every time it is accessed.
 
2) Run a jumper between pins 2 and 28 of your drive.  On some drives,
   this will solve the problem.  However, the ND-352 isn't one of these.
   The signal becomes too weak.  TO boost it, use a 74HC14 buffer chip.
 
3) Install a momentary on switch between pins 2 and 28.  When you insert
   a disk, hold the button down, and it will detect the media change,
   and not screw up write protect.  This is somewhat clunky, but it
   works.
 
>               1) What is the media change signal really supposed to do?
>                  I guess that really is, what does Atari expect it to do?
>               2) What is supposed to reset it from the "media change"
>                  condition?
 
The ST hooks these two lines together (pins 2 and 28).  As I said
before, just hook em together.
 
>               3) Is it possible to use this drive with the ST?
 
Yes, very possible.
 
 
Chris Freemesser, Rochester Institute of Technology :BITNET:%clf3678@RITVAX
    |||        ____________                         :GEnie: C.FREEMESSER
    |||       /___    /          (and 8-bit too!)   :USENET: clf3678@rit.isc
   / | \   ______/   /                              :        .edu
Call the A.C.O.R.N BBS (716)436-3078, 300/1200 baud :<-or my BBS
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Jan 90 16:08:44 GMT
From: brunix!rjd@uunet.uu.net  (Rob Demillo)
Subject: MetaCompco in general (was  Re: cambridge lisp)
Message-ID: <24201@brunix.UUCP>
 
In article <1990Jan1.194827.25118@cs.dal.ca> bill@biomel.UUCP writes:
>
>I picked up a copy cheap from my dealer under the impression that
>MetaComCo had dropped it.
 
As I recall when I was trying to purchase MetaCompco's Lattice C:
 
The U.S. Distribution office (somewhere in CA) was closed down in
an attempt by MetaCompco to reorganize to save money. However, as of
last year anyway, you can still order directly from MetaCompco, U.K.
(As long as you mail them a money order in British Pound Sterling
denomination.) The proces for their products in the U.K. were only
slightly more expensive than in the U.S.
 
Products they were still making/distributing in April 1989: for the ST
        MetaCompco Assembler
        MetaCompco PASCAL (now 100% compatable with Turbo Pascal
                           in the IBM world)
        MetaCompco Lattice C
        MetaCompco Cambridge LISP
        MetaCompco Modula II
        MetaCompco STILT (??? Don't ask me, I have *no* idea)
 
All of these products come with the MetaCompco shell...a menu
driven shell that runs from the desktop called MENU+. MENU+ can
also be purchased seperately.
 
Now, I know their products are no longer up to the snuff of items
like Laser C (which I bought to replace Lattice C) or MWC...but
I am one of the original ST owners. (Bought a 520ST in latter half
of 1985...its still ticking just fine, thank you...even though
I hacked the hell out of it with a soldering iron. :) )
 
Way back then, MetaCompco was *the* only language vendor alternative
to the ridiculously priced Atari Developer's kit. (They only
had the Assembler and PASCAL then, so I bought both.) There was a
linker format war that went on that it looked like MetaCompco would
win, until MWC, MegMax and others powered onto the scene...
 
As such, I still have a soft spot in my heart for Metacompco...I hope
their other ventures go well..
 
 
 - Rob DeMillo                  | Internet: rjd@brown.cs.edu
   Brown University             | BITnet: DEMILLO%BRNPSG.SPAN@STAR.STANFORD.EDU
   Planetary Science Group      | Reality: 401-273-0804 (home)
"I say you *are* the Messiah, Lord! And I ought to know, I've followed a few!"
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Jan 90 15:55:20 GMT
From: brunix!rjd@uunet.uu.net  (Rob Demillo)
Subject: request for ZOO
Message-ID: <24200@brunix.UUCP>
 
To all those who answered my request for a copy of ZOO. Thanks!
Most told me the archives to look in, and one (thanks Graham!)
emailed me the binaries.
 
Appreciate the help, all!
 
-- Rob
 
 
 - Rob DeMillo                  | Internet: rjd@brown.cs.edu
   Brown University             | BITnet: DEMILLO%BRNPSG.SPAN@STAR.STANFORD.EDU
   Planetary Science Group      | Reality: 401-273-0804 (home)
"I say you *are* the Messiah, Lord! And I ought to know, I've followed a few!"
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #10
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