=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Tue, 13 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  194
 
Today's Topics:
                         Bookmark for the ST?
                 HELP! Floppy Drive not working out.
                  MWC technical support phone number
                    New Atari ST keyboard (2 msgs)
               ST sales #s was (Re: WHERE IS THE ABAQ?)
             Tick-tick-tick-CRASH! is not dead in TOS 1.4
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Date: 13 Feb 90 06:02:44 GMT
From: bane@mimsy.umd.edu  (John R. Bane)
Subject: Bookmark for the ST?
Message-ID: <22492@mimsy.umd.edu>
 
Does there exist, PD/shareware/commercial software for the ST that can do
a RAM image dump at intervals to help you recover from crashes?  The
phantom typist bit my wife again twice today; the first time she was
able to mouse Save and reboot with no damage done -- the second time
she lost an hour's work and her temper.
 
HELP!
--
ARPAnet: bane@mimsy.umd.edu
UUCP:...umcp-cs!bane
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Feb 90 09:31:45 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!fauern!fauern!csbrod@uunet.uu.net  (Claus Brod )
Subject: HELP! Floppy Drive not working out.
Message-ID: <2419@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
 
kawakami@ocf.berkeley.edu (John Kawakami) writes:
 
>I'm having a big problem.  I bought a 1.44Mb (high density) 3.5" floppy drive
>to replace the SS/DD drive I have now.  My plan was to just pop the drive
>in and use it like an ordinary DS/DD drive, not a DS/HD drive.  Well, it
>didn't work.
 
If you'd live in Germany, your problem would have been already solved. We
have published a way to connect 1.44 MB drives to the ST and read & write
720 KB _and_ 1.44 MB disks. Works perfectly, but involves some hardware
patching (will cost you <10 $). If you want to know more, get your hands
on "ST-Computer", issues 1/90 and 2/90, available from MAXON Computer,
Industriestrasse 26, 6236 Eschborn, West Germany, or snail-mail me for
further information (I can't be reached here): Claus Brod, Am Felsenkeller 2,
D-8772 Marktheidenfeld, West Germany.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Feb 90 17:18:53 GMT
From: attcan!utgpu!watserv1!watdragon!tiger!swklassen@uunet.uu.net  (Steven W.
 Klassen)
Subject: MWC technical support phone number
Message-ID: <20796@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
 
I'm sure that this came across the net before but now that I need
it I can't find it (of course).
 
Does anyone out there have a working phone number for MWC technical
support?  I tried calling the one in my manual and got a 'this number
has been disconnected' message.
 
Since I believe this has been on the net before, just e-mail me any
replies.
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Steven W. Klassen                       +-----------------------------+
Computer Science Major                  | Support the poor...buy fur! |
University of Waterloo                  +-----------------------------+
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Feb 90 17:08:42 GMT
From: attcan!utgpu!watserv1!watdragon!tiger!swklassen@uunet.uu.net  (Steven W.
 Klassen)
Subject: New Atari ST keyboard
Message-ID: <20795@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
 
>In article <2048@ultb.isc.rit.edu> clf3678@ultb.isc.rit.edu (C.L. Freemesser)
 writes:
>>
>> Well, there aren't any REAL replacement keyboards for the ST.  You can
>> buy those awful spring-things to stiffen up the keyboard, but they don't
>> work.
>>
>> I've been kicking the idea around of building a new keyboard with REAL
>> ...stuff removed...
>>
>> How do people feel about such a thing?  I'm surprised it has not been
>> done yet.  From what I hear, quite a few people would like something
>> better than this rubber crap we use now.
 
This may sound strange, but I personally, like the keyboard on my 1040ST
much better than the keyboards which come standard with an IBM AT, PS/2,
or (much worse) PC.
 
One of the things I learned in High School was how to touch-type.  My
fastest typing to date was 80+ words per minute on a professional
desk-top-publishing workstation.  (I don't recall the make.)  This
had a keyboard so sensitive that you could almost type on it by
blowing on the keys!
 
The keyboard on the ST isn't as nice as this, of course, but I can still
get a respectable 45-50 wpm while typing on it.  My only real complaint
about the ST keyboard is that the keys seem slightly farther apart
than others, but that is something one's fingers quickly get used to.
 
On an IBM, for comparison, I have NEVER hit faster than about 20-25 wpm.
The reason is that you must press the keys so far down before getting
a character.  When you push it all the way down it gets the further
resistance as the switch is activated.  This may be fine for those who
don't do much typeing, but if you have been trained to touch-type, your
fingers want to move to the next key as soon as they have hit the top
of the current key.  That is, if they don't have to push the key all
the way down, they can move to the next key faster, resulting in better
typing times.
 
Of couse this is all just my personal opinion and (from much of what is
seen on the net) there are many of you who don't agree with me.
 
This also really has nothing to do with the creation of replacement
keyboards.  Replacement keyboards are a good idea since they allow
the user to choose the one he wants.  (For example, there are some
really good touch typing keyboards for the IBM but they tend to be
pretty expensive.)
 
If you don't agree with me, that's fine; I just thought it was time
to get an alternate opinion on the net and say to the people at
Atari that there is someone (me) who does like their keyboard.
 
 
 
Steven W. Klassen                       +-----------------------------+
Computer Science Major                  | Support the poor...buy fur! |
University of Waterloo                  +-----------------------------+
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 13 Feb 90 07:06:16 GMT
From: obryan@gumby.wisc.edu  (Mark O'Bryan)
Subject: New Atari ST keyboard
Message-ID: <1990Feb13.070616.18451@gumby.cc.wmich.edu>
 
The biggest problem for me with the ST keyboards is that the gap between
the keys is too small; a problem which Atari has solved with the keyboards
on the Stacy and the new TT machines.
 
--
Mark T. O'Bryan                 Internet:  obryan@gumby.cc.wmich.edu
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI  49008
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 11 Feb 90 20:25:22 GMT
From: fluke!ssc-vax!uvicctr.UVic.CA!rwilson@beaver.cs.washington.edu  (Richard
 Wilson)
Subject: ST sales #s was (Re: WHERE IS THE ABAQ?)
Message-ID: <915@uvicctr.UVic.CA.UUCP>
 
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)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Feb 90 09:46:13 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!fauern!fauern!csbrod@uunet.uu.net  (Claus Brod )
Subject: Tick-tick-tick-CRASH! is not dead in TOS 1.4
Message-ID: <2420@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
 
grahamt@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Graham Thomas) writes:
 
>From article <22199@mimsy.umd.edu>, by bane@mimsy.umd.edu (John R. Bane):
>> The dreaded keyboard-repeat-and-lock crash bug is apparently not gone in TOS
>> 1.4.  For those of you who haven't seen it before, what happens is after
>> several minutes of fairly steady typing in an editor (I use Word Writer),
>> the keyboard suddenly starts slowly retyping the last seven or so keys you
>> typed, over and over again.  After about 10 repeats, your program crashes.
>>
>This is similar to various bugs which many people have encountered with
>First Word Plus.  (No coincidence, probably.  I understand that both
>Word Writer and First Word Plus were written by the same outfit - GST in
>the UK.)
 
The bug also occurs in TEMPUS 2.0, so it's not a proprietary GST bug.
It must be a quirk in AES; I don't think it's located in GEMDOS or lower-
level routines for they are documented very well here in Germany, and
someone would have come across the bug if it's been in GEMDOS or BIOS.
Since we have recompiled GEMDOS and BIOS source code, but no AES and
VDI source code, the only people to solve the problem are ATARI US.
 
I once read a msg related to this problem that stated that you could
escape the deadly repetition of the last few keys by pressing a combination
of SHIFT, CONTROL and ALT keys. This allows for quick saving before system
breakdown.
 
Claus Brod (sorry, I can not be reached here, but I can read public
replies)
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #194
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