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INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Tue, 20 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  234
 
Today's Topics:
           Discontinuation of Info-Atari16 digests (2 msgs)
                        disc testing (2 msgs)
                                 GDos
                         Info atari-16 DIgest
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Date: 20 Feb 90 17:48:01 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!math.lsa.umich.edu!dyer@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
 (Jon Brode)
Subject: Discontinuation of Info-Atari16 digests
Message-ID: <11059@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu>
 
In article <9002200805.AA14582@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> UNM409@DBNRHRZ1.BITNET
 writes:
>I can't believe that so far there has not been a single reply to the recent
>announcement that the Info-Atari16 digests will be discontinued.
 
Y'know, back in August when it was announced that info-atari16 would be
discontinued because score was being retired, both Howard Chu and I sent
messages to Ravi volunteering to take over the list. Neither of us ever
received a reply...
 
>Why is it that the real work is always left to a few people like Ravi et al?
>Yes, I'd volunteer, but I'm only on a BITNET end node, so I can't do anything.
 
Well, if its not too much trouble for the person who is currently running
it to contact me, I think we may still be able to set it up on terminator.
 
Jon Brode  --  dyer@math.lsa.umich.edu                  Boycott Apple!
 
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Date: 20 Feb 90 16:12:45 GMT
From: naucse!tar@arizona.edu  (Tim Roeder)
Subject: Discontinuation of Info-Atari16 digests
Message-ID: <1890@naucse.UUCP>
 
In article <9002200805.AA14582@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, UNM409@DBNRHRZ1.BITNET
 writes:
> Hello all,
>
> I can't believe that so far there has not been a single reply to the recent
> announcement that the Info-Atari16 digests will be discontinued.
 
     Acutally, I seem to recall having read a few <abliet VERY few>
comments concerning the upcoming demise.
 
>
> [stuff deleted]
>
> But no, that blasted piracy discussion (runner-up is the Phantom typist one)
> happily continues, people are posting huge signatures with two-line messages,
> others post in triplicate, and the digests are discontinued due to TOO MUCH
> NET TRAFFIC!!!
>
 
     I agree that some of the 'discussions' are not very worthwhile,
though I would think that the one related to the 'PHANTOM TYPIST' isn't
too out of line.  It may help to find out the culprit and get it fixed.
 
> Why is it that the real work is always left to a few people like Ravi et al?
> Yes, I'd volunteer, but I'm only on a BITNET end node, so I can't do anything.
>
> Or am I missing something??  Flame away.
>
 
     You may indeed be missing something <no flame intended>.  I've been
quietly bothering my System Administrator to finish our Internet link so
that our site can be the host for INFO-ATARI16.  Ravi (et al) have been
informed of my efforts, and have expressed hope that within a few weeks
the move can be accomplished.
 
     I apologize to Ravi, etc. if my response to this is somewhat
premature.  I hadn't said anything about this before because I thought
it would be imprudent to raise everyone's hopes while everything was
still a bit 'iffy'.  However, I felt the need to respond to Volker's
post.  My apologies to anyone who might be offended.
 
 
 
--
Timothy A. Roeder - Northern Arizona University/Univeristy of Arizona
UUCP: ...!arizona!naucse!tar
Internet: arizona.edu!naucse!tar -- troeder@mis.arizona.edu
Bitnet:   roedert@arizvm1.BITNET
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 20 Feb 90 12:29:28 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!fauern!fauern!csbrod@uunet.uu.net  (Claus Brod )
Subject: disc testing
Message-ID: <2443@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
 
pjj@r2.uucp (Pete Jinks) writes:
 
>1) Although formatting sometimes detects faults, why doesn't it always do so ?
>   Is it because I need to use several different test patterns (slow) ?
 
The DESKTOP formatter checks for format errors and maps them out in the FAT.
It does this by verifying the contents of the sector in memory and on disk.
This test, however, is not perfect. You might use several test patterns to
improve this.
 
>2) Does such a program exist already ?
>   If not, would people like a copy if & when I get it working ?
 
I have written a few programs that do parts of the job. They were published
on the disk that belongs to my book SCHEIBENKLEISTER, a floppy and hard disk
book. Some months ago, I started writing something like you want to write
now, but never completed it. If you have a version ready, I would lllove
to get one.
 
>3) To speed things up, I am trying to access a track at a time. With 2-sided,
>   9 sector per track discs, rwabs will not let me read 18 sectors, but will
>   let me read 9 - is this as expected ?
 
RWABS works perfectly when being asked for 18 sectors. No problem. Are you
sure you have set all the parameters correctly?
 
>4) I would also like to reposition the read/write head over the next track
>   while I am checking the previous track - how can I do this ?
>   Are there any other ways to speed things up ?
 
You will have to delve into direct FDC programming for doing this. Learn
German and read my book 8-) 8-)
 
>5) I suspect that TOS will automatically check the sector(s) written to disc
>   for me - is this so ? how can I turn it on (or check that it is on) if it
>   is optional ?
 
TOS automatically verifies what you're writing on disk if the verify flag
at $444 (system variables area) is set.
 
>6) Like an idiot, as I was using C for the first time, I accessed drive '0'
>   instead of drive 0 (i.e. 0x30 instead of 0x00) and got to my hard disc.
>   Which partition did this access ? I think that I corrupted a sector & want
>   to get the right replacement from backup.
>   Which hard drives can be write protected ?
>   Is there software available which will "write protect" my hard drive ?
>   (I don't mean virus-proof it)
 
Accessing partition 0x30 should fail and give you a RWABS error (unknown
drive). At least, I think it should do so. Will reconsider that one.
 
There are some hard drives that can be write-protected by hardware.
There are also many software solutions for this problem; one of those
is my hard disk driver (included in the book mentioned above) that
write protects hard disk partitions.
 
>7) I have been offered a formatter that will give 11 sectors per track. Could
>   anyone with experience of using discs with 10 or 11 sectors per track
>   comment ?
>
Try 11 sectors, and if your drive doesn't moan, it won't do ever. If you
have a drive that spins too fast 11 sector formatting will fail because
there's not enough space on the track.
 
10 sector formatting is perfectly safe and highly recommended.
 
Claus Brod
--------------------------
I don't know what I mean and I hate standard disclaimers.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 20 Feb 90 12:38:43 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!fauern!fauern!csbrod@uunet.uu.net  (Claus Brod )
Subject: disc testing
Message-ID: <2444@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
 
mwnewman@watmsg.waterloo.edu (mike newman) writes:
 
>I've used various 10/11 sector-per-track formatters.  However, I stopped
>using them a while back after I seemed to be getting more disk errors
>then other family members on the same machine.  Errors included desktop
>claiming a non-empty disk was empty (although if booted from, auto programs
>would work) - usually cured by a cold boot; erasure of the boot sector -
>which I was able to fix by copying a boot sector from another disk of the
>same format; and the final straw for me - complete erasure of all fat and
>directory sectors on the disk.
 
I've written the first German 11 sector formatter called HYPERFORMAT and
have more than two years of experience with this program and with the
whole problem. The problems you're describing are very typical for
boot sector viruses! 10 sector disks are perfectly safe. 11 sector disks
might introduce some difficulties if you own a drive that spins too fast.
This can be cured by adjusting the rotation speed internally.
 
>Another thing: I remember reading in an old copy of the developer docs or
>the abacus disk book (sorry can't remember which, I don't have it here)
>about the minimum space needed for the control information (required for
>each sector) and the acutal available space per track, and concluding that
>11 sectors is impossible: it won't fit (?!?), and 10 is very tight.
 
The Abacus disk book tells you a lot of stories, and we had a lot of
fun with it laughing all night... 10 sectors aren't tight. 11 sectors
are, but it works if you have a drive that spins at the correct speed.
 
BTW: We have expanded disk capacity up to 14 sectors per track (needs
a little hardware hack), and it works fairly safe. We even have connected
1.44 MB HD disk drives to standard STs (again, with a tiny hardware hack),
and now we're pushing those disks to 21 sectors per track. Ain't that nice?
 
Claus Brod
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 08:57 EST
From: FRACHEL@umiami.Miami.EDU
Subject: GDos
 
I have a really simple question here:
 
Where might I obtain G-Dos?
 
Is it commercial? Pd? What? They dont seem to sell it at any of the
stores around here.
 
Thanks,
 
Frank
 
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 90 09:11 EST
From: FRACHEL@umiami.Miami.EDU
Subject: Info atari-16 DIgest
 
If the info-atari16 digests are being discontinued, will I still
be able to post messages to the net?  I cannot post directly to
it, so I have to send my messages to info-atari16@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil
which in return sends them to the net.
 
Concerned,
 
Frank Rachel
 
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #234
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