=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Mon,  5 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  157
 
Today's Topics:
               drawings -< pic, laserjet, postscript??
                     Floppy drive 1.44 meg woes!
                                Gemini
   ICD's Cleanup (was Re: Is there a (reliable) CHKDSK for the ST?)
                          mega2 discontinued
                        Only in Canada? Pity.
          Problems with HP and other MS-DOS formatted disks.
                    SF 354 ===> double sided drive
            Weirdness with High Density drives and the ST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Feb 90 22:21:47 GMT
From: ubc-cs!fornax!chapman@beaver.cs.washington.edu  (John Chapman)
Subject: drawings -< pic, laserjet, postscript??
Message-ID: <273@fornax.UUCP>
 
In article <249@fornax.UUCP<, chapman@fornax.UUCP (John Chapman) writes:
<
< Does anyone have, or know of, a program which will let you
< create (relatively) simple line drawings and which will
< produce as output (in order of preference)
<
< 1. PIC commands
< 2. an HP LaserJet
< 3. Postscript
<
 
That is troff pic btw not pic format images. I haven't had a
reply to the original posting - surely someone has wanted to
do this before?
 
 Thanks,
        john
 
 chapman@cs.sfu.ca
 uunet!van-bc!syssol!john
 
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Feb 90 19:27:39 GMT
From: rochester!rit!ultb!clf3678@rutgers.edu  (C.L. Freemesser)
Subject: Floppy drive 1.44 meg woes!
Message-ID: <2103@ultb.isc.rit.edu>
 
>
>  I'm haveing a few problems hooking up my 1.44 meg teac. I was wondering
 
[Stuff deleted]
 
 From what I know, you can't use HD on the ST.  The controller chip
can't handle it.  Just be glad it works in 720k mode.  :~)
 
 
 
Chris Freemesser, Rochester Institute of Technology :BITNET:%clf3678@RITVAX
    |||        ____________                         :GEnie: C.FREEMESSER
    |||       /___    /          (and 8-bit too!)   :USENET: clf3678@rit.isc
   / | \   ______/   /                              :        .edu
Call the A.C.O.R.N BBS (716)436-3078, 300/1200 baud :<-or my BBS
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 90 15:09:15 MEZ
From: ONM65%DMSWWU1A.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Operator Stefan)
Subject: Gemini
Message-ID: <9002051409.AA00372@hugin.math.dmswwu>
 
Hello, world!
 
I've read some messages descibing the new desktop named
GEMINI and I realized, that now's the time to mail some
words of explanation.
 
One and a half year ago a friend of mine and I started to
develop a new desktop for the Atari ST. The actual version
offers the following features:
- Icons on the desktop background (folders and files)
- faster windows with two icon sizes and any monospaced
  GDOS fonts in text mode
- correlation between files and icons, files and applications
  via UNIX-Wildcards
- builtin UNIX-like shell, which runs in a GEM-window (using
  any monospaced font you like)
- TOS programs are running inside this window
- any program can be started as 'overlay', which means that
  Gemini is completely removed from memory and only a small
  manager (20 KB) is running.
- key-scrolling in file windows (you press 'm' and the window
  tries to display as many filenames starting with 'm' as
  possible)
- if you drag a file on a program icon, Gemini starts the program
  giving the filename as parameter
- draggable dialog boxes (flying dialogs) with shortcuts for every
  entry (of course there are menu shortcuts, too)
- many other features I got so used to that I can't think of them
  no more
 
How to get Gemini:
Four months ago we started to distribute the german version as
shareware and I heard that someone had posted it to usenet.
In the version 1.0 of the program all the texts were written
in english (but not the doc files), but the current version 1.1
is completely in german. Don't panic, you don't need to buy a
german dictionary! We'll make an english and german version REAL
SOON NOW and will post them to usenet. (Watch out for us!)
 
Gemini is a shareware program. The shareware price in Germany is
50,- DM (Deutschmark) and we're still thinking of a way to get this
over the ocean. If You have any good idea or any experiences, please
tell us!
 
thats all for now, cu :-)
 
        Stefan Eissing (pronounce it 'Icing')
 
        onm65@dmswwu1a.bitnet
 
You can send hardmail to:
        Stefan Eissing
        Dorfbauerschaft 7
        D-4419 Laer-Holthausen
        (West-Germany)
 
('UNIX' is a trademark of you-know-who)
('REAL SOON NOW'is a trademark of Atari Computers)
 
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Feb 90 19:20:02 GMT
From: rochester!rit!ultb!clf3678@rutgers.edu  (C.L. Freemesser)
Subject: ICD's Cleanup (was Re: Is there a (reliable) CHKDSK for the ST?)
Message-ID: <2100@ultb.isc.rit.edu>
 
>I have ICD CLEANUP, and it did save me lots of times.
>
>However, there is one small catch (I believe).  It only works with ICD host
>adaptors.
>
>I can't confirm this, as I only have an ICD, but I remember trying to run it
>off of floppy when my hard drive was really on the fritz, and it said 'no ICD
>host adaptor present' and aborted.  (the DMA bus was locked, I think)
>
I also have ICD CLEANUP for my BBS hard drives, and it is VERY nice.
It does everything automatically.  All you really need to do is stand
there and click on CONTINUE.
 
However, it DOES require the ICD Host Adapter, and it DOES cost $29.95
(from ICD).  However, it's worth it.  The last thing I want to deal with
are bad sectors on a BBS HD.
 
The program does let you get into the nitty-gritty (if you wish).  It's
reconfigurable and gives you quite a few options.
 
 
 
Chris Freemesser, Rochester Institute of Technology :BITNET:%clf3678@RITVAX
    |||        ____________                         :GEnie: C.FREEMESSER
    |||       /___    /          (and 8-bit too!)   :USENET: clf3678@rit.isc
   / | \   ______/   /                              :        .edu
Call the A.C.O.R.N BBS (716)436-3078, 300/1200 baud :<-or my BBS
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 5 Feb 90 15:00:40 GMT
From: ak2w+@andrew.cmu.edu  (Alan Kennedy)
Subject: mega2 discontinued
Message-ID: <sZnNIMC00WBLM1FEhp@andrew.cmu.edu>
 
I just heard from J&R Music World that the Mega2 has
been discontinued.  I had an order for one in with
them for about the last month and phoned to find out
about the delay.  The bad news was the discontinuation.
The good news was that all of us with outstanding
orders would be getting a Mega4 for the price of the
Mega2.  I assume that is just good customer relations?
Or does it mean that the Mega4 will soon be discontinued?
 
Alan Kennedy
English Dept.
Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh
ak2w+@andrew.cmu.edu
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 90 08:30:00 EST
From: U009%CCIW.bitnet@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca
Subject: Only in Canada? Pity.
Message-ID: <90Feb5.084435est.57905@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>
 
A few points:
 
I wouldn't bother trying to smuggle it into the US. Just declare it
and pay the duty. Better in the long run, especially if you eventually
want to depreciate it if you are earning money with it.
The Lynx I bought across the border only cost about 3 percent duty on the
unit and the games... the killer was the Federal Sales Tax at thirteen
percent (not that I intend to earn money! My kid probably will... can you
spell "hustler").
 
Re the non-USA availability of Atari stuff:
 You got the Lynx, didn't you? Quit complaining :-)
 
I had to drive to Rochester in a snow storm to get mine (actually the
family gave me lots of encouragement to go... or else!)
 
Regards, Stu Beal, VE3MWM, (U009@CCIW.BITNET),
National Water Research Institute,
Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
 
The future lies ahead... and behind us lies...   lies...   lies.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 05 Feb 90 14:37:02-0100
From: Ivan D. Reid <ivan@cvax.psi.ch>
Subject: Problems with HP and other MS-DOS formatted disks.
Message-ID: <408*ivan@cvax.psi.ch>
 
        There have been several messages lately about weird results when using
diskettes formatted on IBM-type machines (especially HPs).  Basically, the ST
seems to trash the directories/FATs.  This *MAY* be the same problem I ran into
last year transferring disks to & from an HP-150.  There are two problems with
this, neither of which HP is likely to have changed in later machines:
 
a) the HP-150 insists that the first three bytes in the bootsector be an Intel
JMP SHORT <displacement>/NOP, where the value of displacement is critical
(can't remember the value off-hand :-(, this despite the MS-DOS developer's
guide suggesting that any value of displacement is OK, as well as the 3-byte
JMP LONG <disp>, to validate an MS-DOS diskette.
 
b) the HP-150 also uses *TWO* reserved sectors, and has DOS loading data in the
second sector, after the boot sector.  The Atari TOS (up until the Megas; I
can't check 1.4 as I don't believe Atari Schweiz has released it yet -- I'm
still waiting for a Blitter!) *ASSUMES* only one reserved sector, so when it
reads a HP-150 diskette it gets the FAT, directory, and data sectors all off by
one.  I guess you can see the problems that can occur if the two machines don't
agree on the location of all these items...
 
        The first problem is readily fixed with a format programme or sector
editor; just use DEBUG to read in the boot sector of a disk formatted on the
DOS machine (L0 n 0 1 where n=0 for A:, etc) and dump out the first bit (D0) --
note the first three bytes (probably EB xx 90) and, following a hint on the net
last week, also the Media Descriptor Byte at location 015h.  Make sure that
your Atari disk has the same values here and you may be able to read it on the
DOS machine.  While you have the dump in front of you, also check bytes at 01eh
and 01fh; these give the number of reserved sectors. If it's anything other
than 01 00 (e.g. 02 00 on the HP) then TOS is guaranteed to trash or misread
disks formatted on the DOS machine.  I wrote a patch that enabled me to
intercept BPB calls and correct the information returned to the caller in these
cases.  It's short, so the docs and UUE file follow.  Because of its ancestry I
won't post the sources -- they're available on request.
                                        ivan
 
------------------------ Coupez ici! 8< -------------------------------
 
                        NEWBPB.PRG
                        ==========
 
        A programme to allow the Atari ST to read properly diskettes
                with more than one reserved sector.
 
PROBLEM
======= The Atari ST, at least up until the Mega ST versions (I haven't been
able to check TOS1.4 or the STe TOS), had a bug where it assumed that all
floppies had only one reserved sector -- the boot sector.  This bug occurs in
the routine to return the BPB (Bios Parameter Block) for the diskettes.  This
causes problems when trying to read, for example, disks from a HP-150 MS-DOS
machine, which has two reserved sectors, since the calculated locations for the
rest of the disk (FAT sectors, root directory, and so on) are wrong.
 
SOLUTION
======== I have written a little programme, based on ideas from a couple of
programmes from Landon Dyer of Atari Corp., a RAM-disk written by Volker
Brandt, and a virus I dissected in September 1989, which intercepts the BPB
routine and recalculates the FAT, directory, and data locations from
boot-sector information which is left in memory after the BPB routine is
called.  This apparently works because of the way the rest of TOS interprets
the BPB data; in particular, it obviously requires that the two FAT copies are
contiguous, and calculates the start of the first by subtracting the FAT length
from the position of the second.
 
TO USE
======  The programme NEWBPB.PRG should be run before you try to access
diskettes with more than one reserved sector.  This can be accomplished by
double-clicking on it from the desktop.  If your need to read these disks is
more than casual, you may want to put the programme in the AUTO folder of your
boot-disk so that it is automatically executed as you boot. It only needs to be
run once as it stays resident until the machine is powered down, but it
shouldn't do any harm if it is executed again (just waste time and
memory-space).
 
DISCLAIMER
========== This appears to work on the one HP-150-formatted diskette I have.
Tha's a 100% success rate, but your mileage may vary!  As with any programme of
this nature, you should test it carefully (write-protect disks, etc.) before
trusting it.  If there's any problem, please let me know and I'll try to fix
it, but I make no warranty as to the fitness of this programme for any purposes
and disclaim any responsibility for any harm resulting from the use of the
programme.
 
                Ivan Reid.  Untersiggenthal 29/11/89
 
ivan@CAGEIR5A.BITNET    ivan@rzsin.sin.ch       20550::IVAN
 
----------------8< Schneiden Sie hier, bitte! >8 ------------------------------
table
 !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?
@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]~_
begin 644 NEWBPB.PRG
M8!H   "\          @                  "!O  0@*  ,T*@ %-"H !S0z
MO    0 CP    +PO/    *8_/  F3DY<CS\\   O.0   +P_/  Q3D%@_DY6y
M   _+@ (('D   # 3I ,7P ";%!(YP ,*GD   3&*$ 0+0 /X4 0+0 .T&P x
M"#E   K0;  (T&P !CE   P0+0 4X4 0+0 3D&P #,"\  #__X'L  (Y0  .w
M0FP $" ,3-\P $Y>3G4C~0  !'(   # (_P    \   $<DYU    & 82%F8&v
! &P u
 t
end
------------------------- Hack here, mate! -----------------------------------
 
 
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 4 Feb 90 19:24:47 GMT
From: rochester!rit!ultb!clf3678@rutgers.edu  (C.L. Freemesser)
Subject: SF 354 ===> double sided drive
Message-ID: <2102@ultb.isc.rit.edu>
 
In article <90032.152738JTT106@PSUVM.BITNET> JTT106@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>
>   I have two SF 354 drives and would like to upgrade one of them to a
>double sidded drive.  I tried to directely replace the drive mechanism with
>a sony double sided mechanism.  This didn't work.  Does anyone out there
>know how to upgrade one of these things, I know it can be done I have
>seen direct replacements for sale in magazines.
 
Some drive mechs won't work on the ST.  I do know that there is one
Sony drive that won't.  I believe Jameco sells them for $59 or so.
 
Depending on what mech you had in the drive before, it could be easy or
hard.  When I did the replacement on my old 354, it was a plug-n-play
affair.  Recently, I did another replacement on a friend's 354, and it
was a nightmare.  I guess Atari used different interface boards (those
boards that have the Atari connectors on them) for different mechs.
 
If you could tell us what mechs you have in those drives, it would be
easier to diagnose the problem.  One simple thing you might check is the
drive ID jumper on the mech itself.  Make sure it is on D0.  You might
also have to play with the other jumpers to get it working correctly.
 
 
 
Chris Freemesser, Rochester Institute of Technology :BITNET:%clf3678@RITVAX
    |||        ____________                         :GEnie: C.FREEMESSER
    |||       /___    /          (and 8-bit too!)   :USENET: clf3678@rit.isc
   / | \   ______/   /                              :        .edu
Call the A.C.O.R.N BBS (716)436-3078, 300/1200 baud :<-or my BBS
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 5 Feb 90 13:48:28 GMT
From: mailrus!uflorida!mephisto!prism!iadt3tb@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (T.
 Terrell Banks)
Subject: Weirdness with High Density drives and the ST
Message-ID: <5670@hydra.gatech.EDU>
 
In article <9002040453.AA12498@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu> boyd@nu.cs.fsu.edu (Mickey
 Boyd) writes:
?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.
?--
  Yep, I recognize this one.  When it happened to me I found out that I
 had a virus on my Atari boot disk (damn near all the rest of my atari
 disks, too!).  This virus was one of those guys that put something in the
 boot sector and then sit around infecting any disk accessed in the Atari.
 Run a virus fixer program on your Atari disks and get all of them cleaned
 up and then the IBM to Atari to IBM transfers should work OK just like
 you are doing them.
 
            Have fun,
               Terry
 
 
--
T. Terrell Banks  uucp:  ? 'insert a backbone name here' ?!gatech!prism!iadt3tb
Georgia Insitute of Technology - I.S.A.      Internet: iadt3tb@prism.gatech.edu
190 Third Street NW                                     Bitnet : iadt3tb@gitvm1
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0185
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Mon,  5 FEB 90 14:27:40
From: WOODALLP%VAX1.COMPUTER-CENTRE.BIRMINGHAM.AC.UK@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
 
***************
NOTE: THIS IS NOT SENT BY ME, PLEASE REPLY TO ADDRESS AT END
***************
 
 
Subject: SAMPLERS - the one that I want....
 
SAMPLERS: I have been trying to find a decent sampler at "the right price".
What I need is something a bit more professional then the likes of REPLAY
(8-bit, mono, minimal MIDI, designed for L-M Rez gaming types....), but not
quite up to ADAPI,II,AKAI-S900 spec.
 
In fact, what I could do with is (in order of importance):
At least 2 outputs (pref 4) and able to bung different sounds down each.
A good MIDI control - not just note on/off, pitch etc, but control too.
Support/upgrades etc.
12 bits (though 8 can still sound good, so not too important...)
Good Mono display.
Priced 200-300 quids. (Pounds Sterling to you across the pond....)
 
I have looked quite a bit, and no body seems to have a package to fit the bill.
I had hoped Germany would have something - Their stuff is generally 10-20 times
better then UK offerings, but my best chance seams to be the ProSampler by
Galaxy coming out in March (so they say...). G-Datas' AS sound sampler III is
16 bit MONO! no good for me.....
 
As for the Britsh offerings, Tony Racine at AVR has some good ideas, except
that he does not think the market exists for what I want. I put this down to
him not knowing about the recording industry. (Think: Most Studios have at
least one ST (for running Pro-24 etc) so a good sampler using a Mega as control
and memory would really sell. If the studios use them, bedroom studios like
mine will too to maintain compatability)
 
The biggest joke is POWER COMPUTING (I noticed that someone else on the net
seems to question this firm....). They "market" MOUSE MUSIC, which on paper
looks good (8 bits only, but Stereo, so more than one ouput), but talking to
various people (including Chris, the programmer) got me worried, there were
problems they said.... So I asked Power Computing for a Demo. The weeks passed,
Ken (of PC) kept saying it would be with me of friday/friday/friday etc. What
finally convinced me was when Chris left the company - after falling out with
the hardware designer! I would never now touch Power Computing with a
bargepole, a very very long one too!
 
So: If anyone out there knows of a Sampler that has multiple outs, please let
me know!!!
 
Thanks,
 
Fraser Stephens, UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK::ZDEE050
 
 
 
 
------------------------------
 
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #157
*****************************************