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INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Thu,  8 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  174
 
Today's Topics:
                      Epson LQ800 driver for Mac
                  I've seen a PC Ditto II working...
                   Info needed: Ethernet for the ST
                    Software Piracy In Atari Clubs
                         The 'PHANTOM TYPIST'
             Tick-tick-tick-CRASH! is not dead in TOS 1.4
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Date: 8 Feb 90 21:17:36 GMT
From:
 zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!crdgw1!control!kassover@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
 (David Kassover)
Subject: Epson LQ800 driver for Mac
Message-ID: <5163@crdgw1.crd.ge.com>
 
I am attempting to attach an Epson LQ1500 printer to a Mac Plus.
My particular printer has a SERIAL interface board, which means
Grapplers are useless, since the output end of same are all
Centronics.
 
Furthermore, I believe that the LQ1500 (which is about 4 years
old) and Imagewriters of the same vintage are, in fact,
identical.
 
I have gotten so far as to connect the LQ1500 to the mac, use the
chooser to select the IMAGEWRITER, and cause Word to print
something.  Nothing appears at the print head.  By using an RS232
 breakoutbox, I have detected that there are actually bits going
down into the printer.
 
Furthermore, the printer works just fine when connected in the
normal way to my VAX.
 
I have scanned through the multivolume work entitled something
like "INSIDE THE MACINTOSH", which says that the default printer
and modem port selections are 9600 baud, eight bit characters and
TWO stop bits.  Setting the printer to accept two stop bits is an
experiment I will try, probably some time in the next week.  I
will also try to convince the local Epson representatives that
there might be a driver I could just buy.  (but I would rather
not, at this point)
 
In the meantime I would appreciate any clues that could be
supplied in this matter.  I will post whatever works, if any.
 
Please reply by E-mail, since articles seem to evaporate very
quickly around here (halflife seems to be 2 days)
 
Thanks again
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 20:50:46 GMT
From:
 zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!image.soe.clarkson.edu!news@tut.cis.ohio-state.ed
 u  (,,,2684025)
Subject: I've seen a PC Ditto II working...
Message-ID: <1990Feb8.205046.14824@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>
 
Many people have been asking if ANYONE had gotten their PC-DITTO II
to work correctly...
 
A friend of mine received and played with his pc-ditto II for a week
with no luck... Installed, the board caused his MEGA2 to bomb!!
 
When he was finally able to get through to AG, they told him that his
BLITTER was conflicting with the board, and that if he saved the desktop
with BLITTER disabled, that would take care of it...
 
Besides some physical difficulties (like getting the board inside his MEGA2
which already had a hard drive inside it) that were kludgable...
He has gottn it to work.
 
The board is HUGE... about 5" by 7" !!!
and he connects it every time he wants to use it, because he has gotten too
used to the speed the BLITTER gives him.  He has the PCD II board OUTSIDE
his computer, and has ribbon cables running too it!
 
But hey, it works fast, (MUCH FASTER THAN PC-DITTO I), and looks like
a reasonable clone...  We didn't run speed tests, so can't give ya any
hard numbers...
 
AAron nAAs
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 21:04:49 GMT
From: rochester!kodak!nelson@louie.udel.edu  (Bruce Nelson)
Subject: Info needed: Ethernet for the ST
Message-ID: <2331@kodak.UUCP>
 
A member of our user group is looking for information on the availability
of an Ethernet interface for the ST. He mentioned a unit being manufactured
in Germany. Does anyone out there have any information on Ethernet for the ST?
 
Bruce Nelson
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 20:22:31 GMT
From: brunix!rjd@uunet.uu.net  (Rob Demillo)
Subject: Software Piracy In Atari Clubs
Message-ID: <28529@brunix.UUCP>
 
In article <9002071529.AA10375@SAIC.COM> steveg@SAIC.COM (Stephen Harold
 Goldstein) writes:
>
>       >From: brunix!rjd@uunet.uu.net  (Rob Demillo)
>       >Subject: ST S/ware Rental Places
>       >Message-ID: <28201@brunix.UUCP>
>[writes about organized piracy by Atari 'User Groups']
>
>If you're ever in the Washington D.C. area, stop in on a NOVATARI
>meeting - 2nd Sunday of the month, in Springfield VA.  You should be
>pleasantly surprised.
 
I am pleasantly surprised already...you are the third response I
read regarding other's users group. I'm glad to hear that the situation
is reversed in your communities.
 
As to the user group meetings I went to that had massive piracy: I did
file a complaint with the FBI. They had me fill out a couple of forms,
and that was the last I heard.
 
 - Rob DeMillo                  | Internet: rjd@brown.cs.edu
   Brown University             | BITnet: DEMILLO%BRNPSG.SPAN@STAR.STANFORD.EDU
   Planetary Science Group      | Reality: 401-273-0804 (home)
"I say you *are* the Messiah, Lord! And I ought to know, I've followed a few!"
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 18:19:49 GMT
From: van-bc!ubc-cs!alberta!ccu!bright@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (Bob Bright)
Subject: The 'PHANTOM TYPIST'
Message-ID: <1990Feb8.181949.6042@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
 
In article <17814@laurel.athertn.Atherton.COM> alex@Atherton.COM (Alex Leavens)
 writes:
>Regarding the phantom typist and hunting it down...
>
>The TSR Newbell.prg (which replaces the bell on the Atari with
>digitized sound playback) seems to make this bug happen fairly
>frequently;  all you need to do is pop up the 'About GEM' dialog
>box from the desktop, click on anywhere _but_ the OK button, and
>wait for the sound to stop playing.  About 1 in 4 times, you'll
>get multiple playbacks of the sound, followed by a whole series
>of keyclicks (the phantom typist!).  As soon as you press a key,
>the typing stops.
 
 
What you describe is _not_ the infamous "phantom typist"; it is rather
the well-documented problem of the machine spewing out an infinite
series of escape characters until a key is pressed.  The latter
problem is generally harmless enough (unless, that is, your
application does something quirky with escapes); if memory serves, the
experts attribute the behaviour in question to applications spending
too long in interrupts.
 
You can tell that your machine is possessed by the real phantom typist
when you're typing merrily away and suddenly the machine slows down
dramatically, or appears to lock up altogether.  If you stare at the
screen long enough, the characters which you typed when the machine
began to slow down will eventually be read from the keyboard buffer,
one by one, at an abominably slow rate (ranging from numbers of
seconds to perhaps minutes).  If you're very lucky, you can spend the
next five minutes inputing the keystrokes to save your document (but
see below), and then reboot to get rid of the phantom; but if he's
managed to get a sufficiently firm grasp on the machine, it will
probably just lock up or bomb completely.
 
Note that word processors seem to be the phantom's favorite target,
though some users have reported that he sometimes gnaws on Flash;
perhaps any keyboard-intensive application is a candidate.  The
problem is definitely not limited to any one company's applications;
Word Writer, Word Perfect, 1st Word+, and Flash users have all been
bitten at one time or another.  If (as kbad recently suggested) the
phantom is due to bad programming practice rather than a bug in TOS,
then a lot of major developers are breaking the same rule or rules,
and it would sure make everyone's lives a lot easier if we could
isolate them.
 
One thing I haven't seen mentioned in previous discussions of the
phantom is that the slowdown is connected to mouse movement.  (I
posted concerning this a few days ago, but I'm not sure the posting
made it out.)  Next time the phantom strikes, try moving the mouse
slightly after each keypress.  Here's the typical scenario when the
phantom strikes me in Word Perfect:
 
1. The machine slows to a crawl; keystrokes and mouseclicks take
   effect only seconds after a key is pushed or button clicked.
2. I hit F7 ("Exit").  Nothing happens.
3. I move the mouse slightly.  "Save file?" dialogue appears instantly.
4. I respond with "y".  Nothing happens.
5. I move mouse slightly.  File is instantly saved and "Exit?"
   dialogue appears.
6. I respond with "y".  Nothing happens.  Etc.
 
Maybe the fact that keystrokes take effect immediately when the mouse
is moved suggests something that will help to ferret out the phantom.
At the very least, moving the mouse may save you a few tense moments
the next time he strikes. BBB
--
Bob Bright <bright@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Dept. of Philosophy
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Man  R3T 2N2  (204) 474-9680
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 18:52:26 GMT
From: phoenix@g.ms.uky.edu  (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
Subject: Tick-tick-tick-CRASH! is not dead in TOS 1.4
Message-ID: <14077@s.ms.uky.edu>
 
In article <1990Feb6.174024.13984@ccu.umanitoba.ca> bright@ccu.UManitoba.CA (Bob
 Bright) writes:
>1.  Machine slows to a crawl; keystrokes and mouseclicks have an effect
>    only seconds after a key is pushed or button clicked.
>2.  I hit F7 ("Exit").  Nothing happens.
>3.  I move mouse slightly.  "Save file?" dialogue pops us instantly.
>4.  I respond with "y".  Nothing happens.
>5.  I move mouse slightly.  File is saved, and "Exit?" dialogue pops
>    up.
>6.  I respond with "y".  Nothing happens... etc.
>Does this behaviour suggest anything to anyone?
>Bob Bright <bright@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
 
     Uh... Yeah! Actually, it does, and I don't even own an ST. (SO please:
if my idea is completely off base, sorry for the bandwidth. Please don't
bother with flames.)
     I had a lockup problem not entirely dissimilar with one of my Amiga
systems a while ago, only the "fix" was to pop _any_ diskette out and back
in. The problem turned out to be not software, but a bad CIA chip (Complex
Interface Adaptor; chip that converted disk, serial, keyboard etc output
into something the processor could handle; i.e. an I/O chip) that was
sending noise on the signal lines. Replacing it fixed the problem.
     So here's the question: could this be a similar situation, caused
by excessive RF interference or a bad run of chips? Somebody out there
who likes taking apart their ST systems might want to try improvising
with additional (and removing - see if it happens more) shielding.
                                                     - R'ykandar.
--
| R'ykandar Korra'ti, Editor, LOW ORBIT | phoenix@ms.uky.edu | CIS 72406,370 |
| Elfinkind, Unite! | phoenix@ukma.bitnet | PLink: Skywise | QLink: Bearclaw |
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #174
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