=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Sun, 18 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  225
 
Today's Topics:
                         Hard Disk Defragger
                  I've seen a PC Ditto II working...
                   mx2net20.  Any binaries for it?
                      Neodesk trashcan accessory
                         ST mice & longevity
               ST sales #s was (Re: WHERE IS THE ABAQ?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Feb 90 02:53:38 GMT
From:
 swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!ohstpy!miavx1!tmwh
 itehead@ucsd.edu
Subject: Hard Disk Defragger
Message-ID: <805.25db24e2@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu>
 
In article <2045@onion.reading.ac.uk>, adp1@rosemary.cs.reading.ac.uk (Andrew
 Pollard) writes:
> Hello,
>  I would like to know if there is a Public Domain Hard Disk Defragger
 available
> for the ST. If so, from where can it be obtained?
>  Reply by an article, or email me.....
>
> Thanks, Andrew.
>
>
 *******************************************************************************
 *
>                        adp1@uk.ac.reading.cs.rosemary
>                         Andrew.Pollard@uk.ac.reading
>
 *******************************************************************************
 *
 
When I first got my hard drive, I found a pd defragger on a local BBS.  I read
the doc file and it suggested BACKUPS and more BACKUPS before running a program
which is supposed to check the structure of the disk and possibly fix it before
doing any defragging.  I backed up all 3 partitions, and ran the checker, and
it said my hard drive had link problems or some such.  Well, I ran the
defragger anyway and it trashed my partition.  I restored the partition, and
the next day I want to MicroTyme and bought Hard Drive Trubo Kit from Michtron.
It also had a chkdsk, but aside from some blocks that were marked as bad when
the drive was originally formatted, it found no errors.  The manual tat came
with it assured me that the program had been written so that in the worst case,
I would lose very little data if something went wrong.  I still had my
back-ups, so I defragged my partitions.  30 meg in less than 15 minutes, it was
awesome!  I run the check portion and the defrag portion about every other
week.  I've been doing this for about 6 months without a SINGLE problem.  Twice
I have had the checkdisk report a disk error, and both times it fixed them
without any data loss.
 
The moral is, PD defraggers are risky (IMHO).  I know my exerience with this is
limited to only two packages, but I can't say enough good things about how the
product I purchased works.  And I pulled the PD defragger to my trashcan 6
months ago and haven't missed it.  HDTK was money well spent!
 
BTW, it also backs up your hard drive in one of three ways, and it comes with a
disk cache too.  (I don't use the cache much, because I only have 1 meg and
can't afford to allocate enough memory to make the cache worthwhile...)
 
               ____
                /  _   _/  _/        Todd Whitehead
               / /_/ /_/ /_/        Miami University
                                      Oxford, Ohio
             If it looks like I said it, I probably did...
_____________________________________________________________________________
          I'm graduating in May as a Systems Analysis Major!
                        Anybody wanna hire me?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Feb 90 02:40:00 GMT
From:
 pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!ohstpy!miavx1!tmwhitehead@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Subject: I've seen a PC Ditto II working...
Message-ID: <804.25db21b1@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu>
 
In article <1990Feb8.205046.14824@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>,
 opielask@clutx.clarkson.edu (,,,2684025) writes:
>
> When he was finally able to get through to AG, they told him that his
> BLITTER was conflicting with the board, and that if he saved the desktop
> with BLITTER disabled, that would take care of it...
 
....
>
> and he connects it every time he wants to use it, because he has gotten too
> used to the speed the BLITTER gives him.  He has the PCD II board OUTSIDE
> his computer, and has ribbon cables running too it!
>
......
>
> AAron nAAs
--
 
Why doesn;t he try getting a software blitter like Turbo ST?  That might help a
lot of the speed problem, then he could leave the board hooked up all of the
time...
               ____
                /  _   _/  _/        Todd Whitehead
               / /_/ /_/ /_/        Miami University
                                      Oxford, Ohio
             If it looks like I said it, I probably did...
_____________________________________________________________________________
          I'm graduating in May as a Systems Analysis Major!
                        Anybody wanna hire me?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Feb 90 03:47:27 GMT
From:
 swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!ohstpy!miavx1!tmwh
 itehead@ucsd.edu
Subject: mx2net20.  Any binaries for it?
Message-ID: <808.25db317f@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu>
 
There was a file in the comp.sources.atari.st that was supposed to be modula
source code for a program that will allow the connection of two ST's using the
Midi ports, and allow one to serve files to the other.  As I don't have modula
for my ST (And am not REALLY interested in getting it, could somone pleas post
a binary executable file to somp.binaries.atari.st.
 
I would be most apreciative....
 
               ____
                /  _   _/  _/        Todd Whitehead
               / /_/ /_/ /_/        Miami University
                                      Oxford, Ohio
             If it looks like I said it, I probably did...
_____________________________________________________________________________
          I'm graduating in May as a Systems Analysis Major!
                        Anybody wanna hire me?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Feb 90 03:44:33 GMT
From:
 pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!ohstpy!miavx1!tmwhitehead@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Neodesk trashcan accessory
Message-ID: <807.25db30d2@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu>
 
In article <90045.192605BGB100@psuvm.psu.edu>, BGB100@psuvm.psu.edu (Bruce
 Blanar) writes:
> "Neodesk trashcan accessory"?  I've never heard of it and I use Neodesk
> all the time.  Is this something in a newer version?
>
>  __   __   __   Bruce Blanar            |"Everybody need a mood lifter,
> |__) | _  |__)  Penn State University   | Everybody need reverse polarity."
> |__).|__|.|__). BGB100@PSUVM.bitnet     |                      -Rush
>                 voice: (814)862-8036    |
 
Neotrash is a recoverable trashcan accessory.  It replaces the trashcan on
Neodesk 2.05 or higher versions only.  It was distributed by Gribnif as
"freeware" as a 'gift' to it's users.  At first I thought, "Great! now it will
be just like the black hole on the NeXT!"  But upon reading the documentation,
I found out that it IS like the black hole on the NeXT.  What that means is
that you have to go through two steps to delete something.  When you drag an
item to the trashcan, it removes the entry from the directory, and stores it in
a hidden file on the root of the disk that the file was deleted from.  It keeps
the bytes on the disk that are used by the file marked as used so they don't
get overwritten.  Then if you want to recover a file you just double click on
the trashcan and select it and click on recover.
 
There are three drawbacks to this:
 
1)  Your trashcan fills up real quick, and the new trashcan isn't a real
replacement for the old trashcan.  (If you drag an icon from the desktop to the
trashcan, it will try to actually delete that item.  Bit it IS recoverable).
 
2)  Since the clusters are marked as used, but are not assigned to a file,
programs that check the structure of the disks will report errors, and
optimizers will TRASH the disk.
 
3)  The files still take up valuable space on your hard drive.
 
Still, it IS freeware, and some of you may be interested in using it, so I will
be posting it tonight to comp.binaries.atari.st.  (If I get time...)
 
I just wonder why they didn't make it easier and just hide the files that have
been deleted....
 
               ____
                /  _   _/  _/        Todd Whitehead
               / /_/ /_/ /_/        Miami University
                                      Oxford, Ohio
             If it looks like I said it, I probably did...
_____________________________________________________________________________
          I'm graduating in May as a Systems Analysis Major!
                        Anybody wanna hire me?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Feb 90 03:55:05 GMT
From:
 swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!ohstpy!miavx1!tmwh
 itehead@ucsd.edu
Subject: ST mice & longevity
Message-ID: <810.25db334a@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu>
 
While we're talking about mice, I just purchased Practical Solutions' cordelss
mouse!  It works VERY well.  Has an incredible feel and response.  It's SO nice
not to have the cord getting tangled up all of the time.  I've had it for
exactly one week, and after reading about all these mice problems and different
rollers and such, I opened the door to my roller, and it has metal rollers,
that are already showing a little bit of build-up.  I have a mouse mat, but I
think that may be part of the problem.  Seems like mats would just trap dirt
and let them get inside.  My mat has a sort of cloth covering, but I've seen
mats that are hard and feel almost like plastic.  Has anybody used a mat like
this, and did your mouse get all dirty inside?
 
               ____
                /  _   _/  _/        Todd Whitehead
               / /_/ /_/ /_/        Miami University
                                      Oxford, Ohio
             If it looks like I said it, I probably did...
_____________________________________________________________________________
          I'm graduating in May as a Systems Analysis Major!
                        Anybody wanna hire me?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Feb 90 11:45:55 GMT
From:
 swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!ohstpy!miavx1!rlco
 llins@ucsd.edu
Subject: ST sales #s was (Re: WHERE IS THE ABAQ?)
Message-ID: <800.25d8fea4@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu>
 
In article <915@uvicctr.UVic.CA.UUCP>, rwilson@uvicctr.UVic.CA.UUCP (Richard
 Wilson) writes:
> In article <90Feb8.215641est.58581@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca> 01659@AECLCR.BITNET
 (Greg Csullog) writes:
>  [ATW sales numbers info deleted]
>
>>Has anyone seen Atari's latest figures on the number of STs and Megas
 installed
>>worldwide?
>>
> ST Format #6 (Jan '90) p.19 - "We're now on the brink of the 90s and there's a
> a million STs in the world - Sam Tramiel reckons on 1.5 million - half of them
> in Germany alone."
>
> "There are around 160,000 STs in the UK and about the same in France."
>
> Rich                  (rwilson@uvicctr.UVic.CA.UUCP)
 
Does anyone know how these figures compare with the Amigas, Macs and IBMs out
there?
 
        Ryan
 
   rlcollins@miavx1.bitnet
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #225
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