=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Fri, 12 Jan 90       Volume 90 : Issue   34
 
Today's Topics:
                          1040STE, at last!
                       Aegis Animator (3 msgs)
                            ARC 6.02 bugs
            file program (was: Re: lharc/arc/zoo/compress)
                        GDOS font file formats
                        Mathcalc by Leo de Wit
                            MIXED (2 msgs)
                          Multifinder on GCR
                  PC Ditto II availability (again)?
                         Physbase vs Logbase
                           Poolfix problem
                                STacy
                             STE problem
                        TOS 1.6 and the 68030
                   Why does OVERSCAN not install ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 10:42:37 GMT
From: mcsun!sunic!kullmar!pkmab!daniel@uunet.uu.net  (Daniel Deimert)
Subject: 1040STE, at last!
Message-ID: <2573@pkmab.se>
 
In article <9001060801.AA03913@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 01659@AECLCR.BITNET (Greg
 Csullog) writes:
>The following would not run from my auto folder (activated after the
>tests on the software listed above):
>
>Pinhead
>UIS II
>Headstart
 
I can not comment on Pinhead and Headstart, but the UIS II can easily
be patched to work on the new TOS ROMS since the problem [bombs] are
caused by direct jumps to the ROM.
As illegal as before, but it works. (I have a working version myself.)
 
If you like, I can try to patch Pinhead/Headstart as well. Send me an e-mail.
 
--
    Daniel Deimert, Fridstavagen 4, S-715 94 Odensbacken, SWEDEN
    Internet:   daniel@pkmab.se
    UUCP:       ...?uunet,mcvax?!sunic.sunet.se!kullmar!pkmab!daniel
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 22:38:43 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!tekig5!roberth@uunet.uu.net  (Robert Hall)
Subject: Aegis Animator
Message-ID: <5372@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>
 
Ani-ST is indeed downloadable from GEnie. (I did it last night).
And it's true, all Jim Kent asks for is a smile.
 
My question:  I didn't see any documentation on GEnie.
Does anyone know it they're there, or if there's another source
for docs?
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Anything I say here is my own fault, not Tektronix'.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 15:24:07 GMT
From: brunix!iris.brown.edu!mjv@uunet.uu.net  (Marshall Vale)
Subject: Aegis Animator
Message-ID: <25269@brunix.UUCP>
 
In article <18126@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU> davidli@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (David
Paschall-Zimbel) writes:
> ACtually, Ani-ST is "shareware", and was released to GEnie, for one,
before
> it appeared on the STart disk.  I believe that Jim Kent wanted a "smile"
as
> payment ...
 
 OOppss.  I didn't read the Ani-ST article at all so I guess I just
got caught with an assumption in my mouth. :-)  Sorry everyone.
Guess that's what I get for reading the Net first thing in the morning,
brain doesn't work.
 
-- mjv@iris.brown.edu
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 11 Jan 90 23:46:21 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com  (Ken Badertscher)
Subject: Aegis Animator
Message-ID: <1950@atari.UUCP>
 
mjv@iris.brown.edu (Marshall Vale) writes:
| In article <1513@castle.ed.ac.uk> aimd@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Davidson) writes:
| > The public domain version is called Ani-ST.
|  Sorry, but it is not PD but was released on a STart disk...
 
Sorry, but it is PD.  Jim Kent first released it on BIX, as "shareware" -
the recommended donation is a smile ;).  STart picked it up and put it
on their disk, but they have no copyright on it.
--
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 18:19:48 GMT
From: shlump.nac.dec.com!engage.enet.dec.com!oldtmr!wallace@decwrl.dec.com  (Ray
 Wallace)
Subject: ARC 6.02 bugs
Message-ID: <1422@engage.enet.dec.com>
 
I could not get ARC 6.02 to work with UNARC. ARC bombs everytime UNARC calls
it.
 
---
Ray Wallace
                (INTERNET,UUCP) wallace@oldtmr.enet.dec.com
                (UUCP)          ...!decwrl!oldtmr.enet!wallace
                (INTERNET)      wallace%oldtmr.enet@decwrl.dec.com
---
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 19:00:07 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!sbsvax!roeder@uunet.uu.net  (Edgar Roeder)
Subject: file program (was: Re: lharc/arc/zoo/compress)
Message-ID: <2124@sbsvax.UUCP>
 
In article <47fb17d2.81da@digital.sps.mot.com>, chen@digital.sps.mot.com (Jinfu
 Chen) writes:
> It's much easier to write a program to identify the compression format
> and call appropriate compression program to handle the data file. Under UNIX,
> this is trival as each of these four compression schemes has an unique 'magic'
> number. The UNIX command `file' can be used for such application. If you add
> following lines in the 'magic' file (/etc/magic), the command should be able
> to identify the format of an compressed file:
> [omitted entries for /etc/magic file]
 
If somebody is interested: i have done a port of this file-program some time
ago when it was posted to comp.sources.unix. I have also collected some magic
numbers used by st-programs. The program can be used to identify files as
executables, objects, sources for some language and even to provide
informations about them like name of the font in a GDOS font file or size of
the various sections (TEXT, DATA, BSS) in executables.
If i get enough requests, i could post the binary and/or source to the
comp.?binaries,sources?.atari.st group (of course with all the collected
st-specific entries for /etc/magic).
 
        - Edgar
--
 
Mail:  Edgar R\"oder                    E-Mail: roeder@cs.uni-sb.de
       Liesbet-Dill-Stra\ss e 3
D-6602 Dudweiler                               -o-   -o-
       W-Germany                                   ~
Phone: 06897/74643                               '---'
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 16:09:13 GMT
From: hpl-opus!hpnmdla!hpsad!randyh@hplabs.hpl.hp.com  (Randy Hosler)
Subject: GDOS font file formats
Message-ID: <750042@hpsad.HP.COM>
 
There is a file called gdos.arc.  It can be ftp'd from:
 
   [35.1.33.8]              terminator.cc.umich.edu
 
When you get in;  cd ?atari/unindexed.
 
---
 
   |\   | |     _ |                        Randy Hosler
   |/   |-| /\ <  | [] /\                  randyh@hpsadpk
   |\ . | | \/ _> | \_ |                   (707) 974-3677
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 15:57:49 GMT
From: maytag!water!ljdickey@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu  (L.J.Dickey)
Subject: Mathcalc by Leo de Wit
Message-ID: <2893@water.waterloo.edu>
 
I just tried MathCalc by Leo de Wit that was posted recently to
the binaries group.  (Posting-number: Volume 9, Issue 10)
 
I think MathCalc is very nice, in fact one of the nicest calculators
for the Atari that I have seen.
 
It seems clear to me that Mr. de Wit has made up his own mind about
what to include in it, and has not just blindly followed the keyboard
layout and functionality of some other commercial product.  The end
result is something interesting, powerful, and easy to use.
 
The package is a little short on the documentation, but it did
not take me long to figure out what some of his things were.
 
--
    L. J. Dickey, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo.
        ljdickey@water.UWaterloo.ca     ljdickey@water.BITNET
        ljdickey@water.UUCP             ..!uunet!watmath!water!ljdickey
        ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 19:24:12 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!math.lsa.umich.edu!hyc@ucsd.edu  (Howard
 Chu)
Subject: MIXED
Message-ID: <10636@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu>
 
In article <32896@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> pwp@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Paul Purdom)
 writes:
>Could someone say briefly what techniques the overscan software uses to do
>overscanning?
 
The hardware change is to cut the normal display enable signal (between
GLUE and Shifter) and replace it with the composite sync signal. This
allows you to actually display bits during the longer display enable cycle.
The overscan software changes the physbase and logbase, among other things,
to accomodate the larger display area. Unfortunately it's a little memory
hungry with an SM124. Since the signal the ST is spitting out is now at a
slightly greater bandwidth than the SM124 can accomodate, the effect is that
the "top left corner" of screen memory cannot be displayed properly. The
fix the overscan software uses is to add an offset between physbase and
logbase. This pushes the region of memory that the ST actually draws on
into a space that the SM124 can actually display.
 
This causes problems for a lot of programs that do page flipping for
screen drawing, animation, etc. They're typically set up to grab the
value of physbase, malloc a 32K chunk for their alternate buffer, and
toggle things in, swapping their original physbase and their new buffer
in for logbase as they please. This makes for a lot of screen garbage
when using overscan. [The original assumption, which is true on an
unmodifed ST, is that physbase == logbase. WIth overscan, logbase >= physbase
in order to position the screen appropriately. Thus, you can't swap them
around at will, you have to remember the original values, etc.]
 
I'm pretty sure the same sort of thing happens in color, but I haven't
played with it as much. Fixing Uniterm required searching for every hardwired
constant "24", "80", "132", "32000", etc., replacing them with appropriately
calculated variables, rewriting the code that manipulates the screen memory,
and finding weird little bugs caused by adding signed short integers to
long addresses. [That last is No Fun.]
 
I suspect that more programs will be incompatible than not. Another pitfall
is programs that use the Line-A screen width variable analogously with the
horizontal resolution variable. [On a plain ST, the screen width is 80 bytes,
in monochrome you get 640 pixels. No problem, 8 pixels per byte. With
overscan, you need 100 bytes per line, but you won't see 800 pixels on an
SM124. You could with a multisync monitor, but not otherwise. So, you need
to be careful, and some programs don't seem to take things into account
very well.] This all seems quite tedious, since programs are supposed to
let GEM worry about the nitty-gritty details of exact screen size. Some do,
and they work fine. Unix Windows is a slick example of one that does. Others
run into problems...
 
Gee, this turned out a lot longer than I'd planned. Anyway, I'm rambling now,
so I'll shut up.
--
 -=- PrayerMail: Send 100Mbits to holyghost@father.son[127.0.0.1]
 and You Too can have a Personal Electronic Relationship with God!
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 19:04:03 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!math.lsa.umich.edu!hyc@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
 (Howard Chu)
Subject: MIXED
Message-ID: <10635@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu>
 
In article <5929@umd5.umd.edu> matthews@umd5.umd.edu (Mike Matthews) writes:
>In article <10616@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu> hyc@math.lsa.umich.edu (Howard Chu)
 writes:
>>By hardware you can open it up and tweak some potentiometers inside to
>>expand the video image.. By software, probably the nicer way to go, you
>>can get the OVERSCAN software and *use* that black frame for more pixels.
>>688x480 on a fresh-out-of-the-box SM124.
>>
>Two quick questions:
>
>1) Where is this software?  I can do anonymous ftp, so a site name would be
>   muchly appreciated.
>
>2) Do ST programs such as PageStream recognize this?  Or, better yet (?),
>   Spectre GCR?
 
Sorry, I misspoke... You need to do some hacking to your ST motherboard
as well, to use overscan. If you'd rather not do that, you're better off
just tweaking the monitor. (It looks like a simple enough mod, though;
cut one trace, add a couple wires and a [debounced!] toggle switch.)
 
The software is available on terminator.cc.umich.edu. I don't have PageStream,
dunno what it knows. I know that Uniterm doesn't like it very much. I wrote
to Simon Poole, asking if he'd put out a new release that supports non-standard
screen sizes. Got no reply, so I've disassembled it and fixed it myself.
It's pretty cool now, 60 lines by 137 columns of text.
 
How do you start up Spectre GCR? The Overscan program runs from the AUTO
folder and tweaks some Line-A and other system variables. If you can boot
TOS before you start up Spectre, you might have a chance. Otherwise I doubt
it, but don't really know. If you wanted to make sure, you might be very
enterprising and burn your own TOS ROMs with the Overscan mods applied...
  -- Howard
--
 -=- PrayerMail: Send 100Mbits to holyghost@father.son[127.0.0.1]
 and You Too can have a Personal Electronic Relationship with God!
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 11 Jan 90 23:54:04 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com  (Ken Badertscher)
Subject: Multifinder on GCR
Message-ID: <1951@atari.UUCP>
 
01659@AECLCR.BITNET (Greg Csullog) writes:
| Does anyone at Atari know why a save desktop in medium resolution
| still results in a boot to low res on an STE?
 
Yes, and that's why John Townsend and I wrote an auto folder program
which solves the problem.  This program should be available where
you bought your STE.  If it isn't, have them contact dealer support
at the appropriate Atari subsidiary.
--
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 15:46:21 GMT
From:
 usc!cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!watcgl!electro!carlo@u
 csd.edu  (Carlo Sgro)
Subject: PC Ditto II availability (again)?
Message-ID: <1254@electro.UUCP>
 
Back in November I asked this and got minimal response.  So I ask again ...
 
        Has *anyone* received PC-Ditto II yet?  If so, how long ago?
 
Please E-mail and I'll summarize if there is interest.
--
 
Carlo Sgro                         Vote for your favorite .signature!
watmath!watcgl!electro!carlo       Call 1-900-GOODONE ($2 on your phone bill).
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 07:29:26 GMT
From: mcsun!unido!gmdzi!kloppen@uunet.uu.net  (Jelske Kloppenburg)
Subject: Physbase vs Logbase
Message-ID: <1865@gmdzi.UUCP>
 
jrd@STONY-BROOK.SCRC.SYMBOLICS.COM (John R. Dunning) writes:
 
>Can anyone tell me what's the difference between Physbase() and
>Logbase()?  When can I expect them to be the same/different?
 
Normally physbase and logbase point to the same memory. If You
set one of them to another screen memory then what you see is
shown from Physbase() and what You draw (VDI etc.) is drawn to
Logbase(). That can be used for animation: Show one screen, draw
the next image to another, then flip the Screens.
 
greetings, j.k.
 
      Kloppenburg@kmx.gmd.dbp.de
UUCP: kloppen@gmdzi
                                  In real life: Jelske Kloppenburg
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 04:49:10 GMT
From: rochester!rit!ritcv!ajy2208@rutgers.edu
Subject: Poolfix problem
Message-ID: <1522@cs.rit.edu>
 
In article <5928@umd5.umd.edu> matthews@umd5.umd.edu (Mike Matthews) writes:
>I just grabbed and installed poolfix.prg (which apratt posted <thanks!>), and
>have come across one minor problem.
>
>It and Neodesk 2.05 don't get along at all.  Everything works fine from the
>desktop.  This is true with and without shel_fix.prg.
 
When I threw poolfix in my autofolder and rebooted, I too had a problem
with Neodesk 2.05.  The Neodesktop (hmm!) would load but I couldn't
run any programs (the system would just hang when I double clicked
on something).  Well, I booted up the handy auto_organizer program
that came on my Codehead Utilities disk and made it the third program
to load, as opposed to the last.  Works great now!!!
 
Thanks Allan!
 
_____________________________________________________________________________
 Albert Yarusso, Rochester     ajy2208@ritvax.bitnet,ajy2208@ultb.isc.rit.edu
 Institute of Tech. _________________________________________________________
 Computer Science  /___   /    ?rutgers, ames?!rochester!ritcv!ajy2208
______________________/  /     ajy2208@ritcv.cs.rit.edu     GEnie:  A.Yarusso
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 22:30:56 GMT
From: milton!blake!ramsiri@beaver.cs.washington.edu  (Enartloc Nhoj)
Subject: STacy
Message-ID: <5315@blake.acs.washington.edu>
 
Sure is a nice looking full page ad in Feb's
Electronic Musician showing a STacy4 running
NOTATOR...
 
GOod going ATARI!
 
-kevin
ramsiri@blake.acs.washington.edu
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 18:05:19 GMT
From: shlump.nac.dec.com!engage.enet.dec.com!oldtmr!wallace@decwrl.dec.com  (Ray
 Wallace)
Subject: STE problem
Message-ID: <1421@engage.enet.dec.com>
 
In article <1990Jan11.164342.15604@newcastle.ac.uk>,
D.C.Halliday@newcastle.ac.uk (D.C. Halliday) writes...
>I think I have found a bug in the STE. When booting from a floppy with a colour
>display, the machine allways comes up in low res. The window positions etc are
 
Iv'e attached a note from someone else (slightly edited) which describes two
fixes for this STE bug.
 
    One bug I've found with the new 520STe is that it doesn't recal medium
    resolution. I just spoke to Atari's help line and they say there are
    two fixes for this.
 
    One is edit DESKTOP.INF and change the last byte in the #E C4 12 line
    for 13 (or 03 if the last byte was a 02, the 1 selects verifying file
    deletion). (I've read in another document that this is supposed to be 01
    for low rez, 02 for med rez, and 03 for hi rez, but the support desk
    say set to 03)
 
    You can also send them a blank disk and they return it with MEDRES.PRG
    which is put in the AUTO folder and also fixes the problem.
 
 
    Their address:      Atari Helpdesk,
                        P.O. BOX 200,
                        Dartford.
                        KENT.
 
    Richard
---
Ray Wallace
                (INTERNET,UUCP) wallace@oldtmr.enet.dec.com
                (UUCP)          ...!decwrl!oldtmr.enet!wallace
                (INTERNET)      wallace%oldtmr.enet@decwrl.dec.com
---
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 00:21:09 GMT
From: fox!portal!atari!kbad@apple.com  (Ken Badertscher)
Subject: TOS 1.6 and the 68030
Message-ID: <1952@atari.UUCP>
 
bradm@pro-grouch.cts.com (Brad Martin) writes:
 
| I have a friend who works for a company who makes 68030
| boards for 'other' computers who could have an '030 board out for the ST way
| before another well publisized project (Hi Dave :-) ).
 
68030 expansions that work on other computers may or may not work on the
ST - Jim Allen and Dave Small know this all too well.  The ST has some
unique hardware glue problems that make it tough to step into the 68000's
shoes (or pads, as it were).
 
Don't you think that if the STE were completely 68030 compatible, and
Atari could support it, that Atari would be crowing about that fact?
What third parties can do with the machines shipped by Atari, and what
_Atari_ can support on its machines are two vastly different categories
of things.  It is obviously doable, or Dave & Jim wouldn't have
considered doing it.  If any other hardware developers believe it's a
worthwhile project, they are welcome to contact Atari developer
support, and Atari will give them as much help as possible.
 
--
   |||   Ken Badertscher  (ames!atari!kbad)
   |||   Atari R&D System Software Engine
  / | \  #include <disclaimer>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 12 Jan 90 14:10:11 GMT
From: mcsun!hp4nl!tnoibbc!remco@uunet.uu.net  (Remco Bruyne)
Subject: Why does OVERSCAN not install ?
Message-ID: <1370@tnoibbc.UUCP>
 
Hello,
I found the program OVERSCAN.PRG to enlarge the ATARI  screen, but it
won't install.  Does the program need a specific version of TOS? I tried
TOS 1.4 beta and the normal (old) TOS-in-rom (1.2?).
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Remco
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
 Remco Bruijne      USENET: remco@tnoibbc    PHONE: +31 15 606437
------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #34
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