=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Sat,  3 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  152
 
Today's Topics:
                      Big troubles with STEs ???
                                 C++
                         gemdos, bios, xbios
                      Help Needed with MICRO RTX
                            Hisoft's WERCS
                  IBM PC / ATARI ST Disk Screwed Up
                         Resettable RAM Disk
                          TURBO-C Question!
            Weirdness with High Density drives and the ST
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Date: 1 Feb 90 17:12:09 GMT
From: hp-ses!hpbbn!hpgnd!alex@hplabs.hp.com  (Alexis MERMET-GRANDFILLES)
Subject: Big troubles with STEs ???
Message-ID: <4280007@hpgnd.HP.COM>
 
Hi there,
 
I really get confused with all rumours I have heard about STE machines.
 
I have red that they do not work properly with a monochrome monitor.
Especially they would get lost if one try to use the new capabilities
( Hardware scrolling , new blitter ) on a monochrome monitor.
 
It is a famous French ST magazine "ST-Mag" which wrote that...
It seems there are some big problems with STEs.
 
They have also written that external drives 3'5 and 5'1/4 could not be
accessed properly with STE machines .
 
Has anybody met these problems with STEs on monochrome monitors or
with external floppies ?
 
Is it a hardware problem or a TOS 1.6 problem ?
Is there the same problem on TOS 1.4 machines ?
 
Will STACY allow external 5'1/4 disks ?
 
Thanks a lot for your answers.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 3 Feb 90 16:59:57 GMT
From: portal!portal!cup.portal.com!buggs@apple.com  (William Edward JuneJr)
Subject: C++
Message-ID: <26559@cup.portal.com>
 
I can access the panarthea machine by mail.
How do I access the terminator machine?
No, I don't have ftp here.
 
Ed <Net neophyte> June
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 3 Feb 90 18:43:11 GMT
From: eagle!ncastellano@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: gemdos, bios, xbios
Message-ID: <6288@eagle.wesleyan.edu>
 
A few questions for you atari hackers out there...
 
First, how can I read a character from the keyboard without echoing it to the
screen?  Currently, I am polling the keyboard with bios(1, 2) which returns a
-1 when a key is pressed, then reading the key with gemdos(1) which echoes it
to the screen.  Is there a function similar to gemdos(1) which will give me the
value but not echo it to the screen?
 
Second...can someone describe the parameters for xbios 8 and xbios 9 (Floprd
and Flopwr)...I'd like to use these to make a disk-to-file-to-disk
conversion program but the only docs I have on system calls for the st is a
header file (OSBIND.H) ... not much to work with.  Anyone know of a text file
anywhere that has at least some description of these functions?
 
                    Thanks,
                            nick
 
 
--
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Mathematics is the subject in which we never know what we are talking about,
nor whether what we are saying is true.  -Bertrand Russell
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Nicholas Steven Castellano     | Box 4127 Wesleyan Station | Disclaimer: I am
ncastellano@eagle.wesleyan.edu | Middletown CT 06457       | irresponsible.
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------------------------------
 
Date: 2 Feb 90 08:18:45 GMT
From:
 eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!unido!uklirb!incas!genesis!hoenig@bloom-beacon.mit.edu
 (Helmut Hoenig)
Subject: Help Needed with MICRO RTX
Message-ID: <3518@incas.informatik.uni-kl.de>
 
gossa@chefs.dec.com (Andrew Goss) writes:
 
 
>       Hi I need some help with installing MICRO RTX. (I can't evaluate it's
>usefulness to me if I can't even get it to work !!) .
 
>       On Investigation using MON ST I discovered that the program was falling
>over at the TRAP #5 in RTX_INSTAll with an 'Illegal Trap' message. (Is this due
>to MON ST stealing/reseting the TRAP #5 vector ??). TRAP #5-#15 all point to
>the same address is this correct ???
 
        I have the same problems in my Turbo C-Environment. At least I can
test the programs after leaving the environment, as Turbo C restores the
vectors. I temporary solved the problem by writing a tiny program which
copies the trap-vectors to the area of user-vectors, befor starting the
C-environment. I changed the RTX_INSTALL-function to set the trap-vectors
back to these vectors befor executing the trap. But I still hope for a
better solution.
 
Good luck.
 
Helmut Hoenig
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 1 Feb 90 14:24:16 GMT
From: otter!gjh@hplabs.hp.com  (Graham Higgins)
Subject: Hisoft's WERCS
Message-ID: <570056@otter.hpl.hp.com>
 
HiSoft's address is:
 
HiSoft, The Old School,
Greenfield, Bedford
MK45 5DE
 
+44 525-718181
 
Fax: +44 525-713716
 
Graham
======
 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Graham Higgins                  |  Phone: (0272) 799910 x 24060
Hewlett-Packard Labs            |  gray@hpl.hp.co.uk
Bristol                         |  gray%hplb.uucp@ukc.ac.uk
U.K.                            |  gray@hplb.hpl.hp.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: My opinions above are exactly that, mine and opinions.
------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 1 Feb 90 23:20:33 GMT
From: hp-ses!hpdml93!rona@hplabs.hp.com  (Ron Abramson)
Subject: IBM PC / ATARI ST Disk Screwed Up
Message-ID: <15480006@hpdml93.HP.COM>
 
I have heard that you should format the floppy on the same
drive that you intend to do your file writing with.
 
Try formating the disk on the Atari using DC Format
or some other utility that allows you to use the
IBM boot sector.  Then try again.
 
Most of my transfers are done in the opposite direction
from what you want.  That is, I format the floppy with
 
format B: /N:9 /T:80
 
on the HP to get a 720 K format.  Then I write the files
on the HP.  When I take the disk home, I can read them
without trouble.
 
I hope that this helps.
 
Regards,
 
Ron Abramson
 
phone:   (208) 323-4293
email:   rona@hpdml92.HP.COM
uucp:    hplabs!hpdml92!rona
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 3 Feb 90 16:50:14 GMT
From: portal!portal!cup.portal.com!buggs@apple.com  (William Edward JuneJr)
Subject: Resettable RAM Disk
Message-ID: <26558@cup.portal.com>
 
I thought MWC *ONLY* works with its ram disk?!
Seemed like I tried the CodeHead one and it didn't work.
But then that profile file is a killer to edit too, well, to me it is!
 
 
Ed June
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 3 Feb 90 16:51:46 GMT
From: usc!snorkelwacker!spdcc!merk!alliant!linus!nixbur!nixpbe!mboen@ucsd.edu
 (Martin Boening)
Subject: TURBO-C Question!
Message-ID: <784@nixpbe.UUCP>
 
>I'm trying to compile 'BISON' on my ST using the TURBO-C compiler. After
>a few changes the compilation was successful, but the linker still gives
>some weird errors.
 
>     "16 bit PC relative overflow"
 
Try setting the option for absolute calls. The problem you're encountering
stems from the compiler setting everything for PC-relative calls and Gnu
BISON is simply too big an object for this to work even though the separate
functions may compile just fine. Don't nail me on it but I think that's the
-P option.
 
Best of luck.
 
M. Boening
--
Email: in the   USA ->  ...!uunet!philabs!linus!nixbur!mboening.pad
       outside  USA ->  ?...!mcvax?!unido!nixpbe!mboening.pad
Paper Mail: Martin Boening, Nixdorf Computer AG, DS-CC22,
            Pontanusstr. 55, 4790 Paderborn, W.-Germany
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Feb 90 04:52:42 GMT
From:
 sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!neat.cs.toronto.edu!omicron.cs.f
 su.edu!fsucs.cs.fsu.edu!boyd@decwrl.dec.com  (Mickey Boyd)
Subject: Weirdness with High Density drives and the ST
Message-ID: <9002040453.AA12498@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu>
 
I have had the following happen to me, and am unable to explain or correct it.
Anyone having a solution or an explination please post to this newsgroup, or
reply to me directly.
 
  The scenario:
 
       1.  I formatted a 3.5" floppy in Double Density mode on an 386
           equiped with High Density drives (I used format b: /t:80 /n:9)
       2.  I then put some files on it, with the PC (not an st).
       3.  Took it home to my trusty ST, ready to blast through some editing
           with Tempus 2.  Files read fine from the disk, in and out of
           subdirectories.
       4.  Take back my now edited and improved files, and shove the disk
           back into the 386.
       5.  386 gives me no volume name (there was one), and no files.
 
After some experimentation, I have found that if I modify a disk in any way
(with the ST), the contents will be gone as far as the 386 is concerned.  I
am most miffed.
--
 
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    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------
         Mickey Boyd                 |    "Nobody can be exactly like me.
                                     |      Even I have trouble doing it."
             FSU Comp Sci            |              - Tallulah Bankhead
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #152
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