=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Wed, 14 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  199
 
Today's Topics:
                        16 meg partition limit
                          3.5" disks needed!
                          Atari ST For Sale
                           bizarre problem
                      Developer's Documentation
                       disk caches  for 1040ST
                           more drive woes
                          PC SPEED problems
                  User support? Re: harddisk-backup
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 13 Feb 90 23:39:46 GMT
From: imagen!atari!apratt@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (Allan Pratt)
Subject: 16 meg partition limit
Message-ID: <2039@atari.UUCP>
 
brazil@pawl.rpi.edu (Timothy E. Onders) writes:
 
>In article <1990Feb6.223637.15845@sj.ate.slb.com> greg@sj.ate.slb.com (Greg
 Wageman) writes:
>>
>>What Atari has changed, I believe, is to treat the "recno" parameter
>>as an UNSIGNED int, with a range of 0 to 65535, and consequently a
>>32Mb limit.
 
Wrong.
 
>Actually, the logical sector size was also increased [...]
 
Right.  The logical sector size is now "large enough so the partition
can be represented by 32767 sectors," which is to say 512 bytes
for <16MB, 1024 bytes for <32MB, etc. all the way up to 8K/sector
or more.
 
This means BIG TROUBLE for any program which does Rwabs() calls and
expects to get 512 bytes per sector: you should use Getbpb() to FIND
OUT how big sectors are, rather than assuming any one value.  It's also
BIG TROUBLE for programs which add buffers to GEMDOS via the "bufl"
system variables: it's hard (not impossible) to tell how large each
buffer must be.  Get the AHDI 3.00 Release Notes from Atari (available
to developers) for the grubby details.
 
>>the old Dfree()/FAT search bug rears up
 
There is no such bug; I think you mean "really horribly slow implementation."
 
>>and file creation takes nearly forever.
 
That part is true.  So take your own advice and get TOS 1.4!
 
============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily     -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.      ...ames!atari!apratt
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 13 Feb 90 17:56:12 GMT
From: uw-entropy!dataio!pilchuck!ssc!fyl@beaver.cs.washington.edu  (Phil Hughes)
Subject: 3.5" disks needed!
Message-ID: <477@ssc.UUCP>
 
I also have been buying MEI disks for years.  Some of the last batch I
gave the electric drill treatment to and formatted them HD.  No problems.
--
Phil Hughes, SSC, Inc. P.O. Box 55549, Seattle, WA 98155  (206)FOR-UNIX
     uunet!pilchuck!ssc!fyl or attmail!ssc!fyl            (206)527-3385
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 13 Feb 90 16:42:59 GMT
From: mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!mcdphx!hrc!force!covertr@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu
  (Richard E. Covert)
Subject: Atari ST For Sale
Message-ID: <489f3518.14a1f@force.UUCP>
 
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####### ####### ######           #####     #    #       #######
#       #     # #     #         #     #   # #   #       #
#       #     # #     #         #        #   #  #       #
#####   #     # ######           #####  #     # #       #####
#       #     # #   #                 # ####### #       #
#       #     # #    #          #     # #     # #       #
#       ####### #     #          #####  #     # ####### #######
 
 
System specs:
 
Atari 520 ST upgraded to one megabyte of memory
 
Double Sided/Double Density 800K floppy drive (works fine up to
82 tracks, 10 sectors per track)
 
Realtime clock in ROM chip
 
Either Thompson Color Monitor (13") or Atari Color monitor (12"), your choice
of one of these two monitors. I perfer the Thompson monitor because of its
larger screen.
 
A 85 megbayte Seagate hard drive in a dual drive cabinet, with the
ICD Host Adapter and the Latest ICD Formatter/Partitioner. You can add
another 85 meg drive for about $500 (Hard Drive International sells the bare
drives for that price).
 
$1,500 firm (and if you ask me nicely I may throw in some games that I
don't play any more)
 
Send Email to the address below or call me at home at (602) 993-6463
 
--
 Richard E. Covert, Lead Engineer of Software Tools Group
 AG Communications Systems, Phoenix AZ   (602) - 581-4652
 TCP/IP: covertr@gtephx
 UUCP: ?ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!zardoz!hrc | att?!gtephx!covertr
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 13 Feb 90 16:35:16 GMT
From: att!dptg!lzsc!hcj@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (HC Johnson)
Subject: bizarre problem
Message-ID: <1290@lzsc.ATT.COM>
 
In article <7956@pt.cs.cmu.edu>, gael@b.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Gillette Elvgren) writes:
>
>   I just recently bought a Mega2 with a monochrome monitor and wanted
> to hook up the mono with my 520ST giving the Mega my color monitor.
> Everything works fine except the monochrome monitor doesn't display
> anything with the 520ST.  I've tried the ST with color and the mega
> with both (color and mono).  Apparently my ST doesn't like the mono.
> The monitor's power is on, and I can here keyclicks but no display.
>
>   Does anyone have any advice?
>
Two obvious source of problem in the 520:
1. the connector is broken.  The mono signal is on a different pin.
2. one of the monitors ASSERTS a signal to the 520.  If it thinks its always
   color, mono will surely be screwed up.
3. Internally the mono signals must make it thru parts of the motherboard
   to get to the connector.   (Maybe also thru a chip! [ my drawings are
   home]).
 
Bottom line.  Your 520 is Broken.
 
Howard C. Johnson
ATT Bell Labs
=====NEW address====
att!lzsc!hcj
hcj@lzsc.att.com
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 13 Feb 90 15:01:55 GMT
From: att!chinet!saj@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (Stephen Jacobs)
Subject: Developer's Documentation
Message-ID: <1990Feb13.150155.17518@chinet.chi.il.us>
 
In article <703@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu> jlf@a.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (Jack L Forester)
 writes:
>
>What's up?  Is there or is there not going to be a package consisting of only
>the documentation?  If there is, will I have to be a professional developer
>or can a PD/Shareware author get these materials?  I don't run a software
>company, nor do I have a business plan - I just enjoy programming my ST.
>
I can't even guess what Atari policy might be, but I'm a registered developer
who's only done PD and shareware on the ST (but I have such wonderful plans...)
Nobody seems to object.  There is a difference between the amount ANY company
is going to go out of its way for someone who has just joined a program and
someone who is selling an accessory (like a popular program) that creates a lot
of new business, but in general Atari gives excellent support when it comes to
specific questions or technical issues.  Most of the complaints I've seen or
heard from developers have been either about inconsistent business/strategic
cooperation (like David Small's recent problem getting a TT) or about lack of
general help in certain areas (like the difficulty of browsing the documents).
Unless Atari policy changes, I recommend developer registration as one of the
best deals in personal computing.
                                       Steve J.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Feb 90 09:53:03 GMT
From: mcsun!hp4nl!ruuinf!praxis!atari@uunet.uu.net  (Atari-ST Software)
Subject: disk caches  for 1040ST
Message-ID: <2436@ruuinf.cs.ruu.nl>
 
In article <BAMMI.90Feb12234717@dsrgsun.ces.CWRU.Edu> bammi@dsrgsun.ces.CWRU.Edu
 (Jwahar R. Bammi) writes:
 
>In article <3561@tahoe.unr.edu> mikew@wheeler (Mike Whitbeck) writes:
>> I also tried dcache (Dijkstra). I believe it only caches read
>> buffers and not write. I would like to cache both read/write
>> operations (floppy and hard disks) and have control over
>> flushing the buffers (e.g. a 'sync' command).
 
>       Dcache does all of the above. (sync via 'dcache =f' if i remember
>correctly, or via the supplied ACC). It can optionally *not* write
>through.
 
Correct.
 
However if you want to use dcache on a floppy
you have to be careful (the manual also warns for this):
- Don't change floppies without 'invalidating' and syncing the cache
  for a floppy.
- Formatting a floppy from the desktop with a cache for the
  floppydrive turned on fails.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Feb 90 07:23:21 GMT
From: ocf.berkeley.edu!kawakami@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (John Kawakami)
Subject: more drive woes
Message-ID: <34302@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
 
I STILL have yet to get my floppy "upgrade" working.  What I have is:
 
Toshiba 1.44M drive
The parts of an Atari SS/DD drive
 
What I want to end up with is:
 
A DS/DD drive (for now)
 
What I have ended up with is:
 
A SS/DD drive using the 1.44M part.
 
The problem appears to be the fact that the head/side select line on the
adapter board in the Atari drive unit (the little board behind the actual
drive) does not have that signal connected to the drive.  There are some
traces leading from the corresponding pin on the fat atari cable through
the board, but the pin going from the board to the drive is not connected.
 
I checked the signal levels and it appears that when side 1 (of 1 or 0)
is selected, the drive stops moving the head around.
 
I also tried connecting the line from the computer to the drive directly,
but this did not work.
 
Any clues anyone?
 
PS. I've already done the pin 10 - pin 14 jumper and I can get SS/DD
performance.
 
 
John Kawakami       kawakami@earthquake.berkeley.edu
                    ucbvax!earthquake.berkeley.edu!kawakami
                    take-a-right-up-the-hill-then-a-left-on-leroy
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 90 07:03:00 EST
From: Greg Csullog <01659%AECLCR.bitnet@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Subject: PC SPEED problems
Message-ID: <90Feb14.070736est.57736@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>
 
After a few days of limited experience with PC Speed I have come across two
very *serious* problems.
 
(1) Every 3rd or 4th time I try to boot PC Speed, the video gets broken
    up. Instead of seeing seeing the message to insert a DOS disk, I
    see something like
 
    .....       where the pixels of the characters are speard apart.
    ..   ..     Following this, the system locks up.
    ..   ..     <---representation of letter D with pixels spread out
    .....
 
 
(2) If I run Word Perfect or dBASEIII Plus, everthing starts OK but as soon
    as I try some speedy operations, the system locks up or I get a stack
    overflow message. For example, pressing F3, F3 brings up WP help and
    typing the letter A brings up a help screen for functions that start
    with A. If I type A, B, C, ... quickly to switch topics, LOCK UP.
    Same thing with dBASE's ASSIST mode - if I switch menus quickly, I
    get a stack overflow message. NORTON's Change Directory will give a
    stack overflow message everytime I attemp to change directories.
 
    When I tried to install PC GEM/3, I would see
 
    >New installation
     Change existing
 
   Then I would see
 
    >C
     D
 
    Next, when the screen to select a graphics card popped up, the
    computer would lock up.
 
    Can someone on the net who lives in Germany pass this info on to
    SACK, the creators of PC Speed.
 
I may just have a buggy board. If not, if this is typical of PC Speed, my
recommendation is avoid the product at all costs. Hopefully, someone on the
net (maybe someone from Michtron, the US reps) can help me out and solve
these problems.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 13 Feb 90 16:26:20 GMT
From: att!dptg!lzsc!hcj@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (HC Johnson)
Subject: User support? Re: harddisk-backup
Message-ID: <1289@lzsc.ATT.COM>
 
In article <8533@pogo.WV.TEK.COM>, bluneski@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (Bob Luneski)
 writes:
>
> In <"90-02-09-11:06:10.92*UK14"@DKAUNI2.BITNET> O. Steinmeier writes:
>
> >...
> >So, if you know a reliable, fast, cheap (PD or shareware preferred)
> >harddisk backup program, would you send me a message?
>
> So you want it to be fast, reliable, and do everything but wash the kitchen
> sink but you don't want to pay for it????  Typical.
>
> of users to PAY for quality software.  NOBODY wants to develop software for
> a machine that you can only sell 500 copies of a program before it's on half
> the bulletin boards across the country.
>
Whats great is that the Atari is easily programmed by good hackers and so
so much is free.  [The term hacker, is used here in its original complimentary
sense].
 
Turtle is available on USENET as freeware (I think is free, otherwise its
sharware and cheap).  It is fast, reliable and even tries to wash the dishes.
 
Howard C. Johnson
ATT Bell Labs
=====NEW address====
att!lzsc!hcj
hcj@lzsc.att.com
 
------------------------------
 
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #199
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