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INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Sun, 18 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  223
 
Today's Topics:
                           Calamus PD Fonts
                             disc testing
                      Need answers for questions
                       OK, so they sell the STe
                      Reading from a data stream
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Date: 18 Feb 90 00:18:41 GMT
From: silver!stowe@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu  (stowe)
Subject: Calamus PD Fonts
Message-ID: <36188@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
 
In article <9002151504.AAhelblinde01048@helblinde.uio.no> arneso@IFI.UIO.NO
 (Arne Olav Sommer) writes:
>
>I  have just got hold of the following 24 CALAMUS PD Fonts
>
> Apple, Artdecoy, Bullet15, Bullet25, Bully, Bullyc, Camelot, Celtic,
> Classy, Cupertin, Dali, Hebrew, Manville, Math, Monroe, Oblique, Oldeng,
> Oldirish, Pioneer, Pittsbrg, Silic, Steela_z, Stilleto and Wolftrap.
>
>They are all rather dissapointing, though, with lots of missing letters,
>digits and symbols.
 
>BTW  If anyone has other PD Calamus Fonts - please send them to me :-)
 
The reason they're missing letters and things is because they are *not*
PD fonts... they are demo versions of Shareware fonts from Sol Guber
(S.GUBER on GEnie).  You should also have received the ReadMe files that
indicate how you can get full alphabets.  I believe his price is quite
reasonable, and is based on the number of fonts you get... if I remember,
it was about $12 US a set.
 
Look for the MS fontsets that will be distributed shortly as well... they
are quite well done and very interesting.
 
 
 
 
-=-=-                              -=-=-                                 -=-=-
stowe@silver.ucs.indiana.edu                        You're not strange.  I am.
-=-=-                              -=-=-                                 -=-=-
 
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Date: 16 Feb 90 18:09:53 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!mucs!r2!pjj@uunet.uu.net  (Pete Jinks)
Subject: disc testing
Message-ID: <690@m1.cs.man.ac.uk>
 
I am trying to write a floppy disc tester to check the magnetic medium.
i.e. write a known pattern to disc & check that it is there on reading.
(and perhaps patch the FATs (& directories?) if it finds a new fault)
 
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) ?
 
2) Does such a program exist already ?
   If not, would people like a copy if & when I get it working ?
 
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 ?
 
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 ?
 
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 ?
 
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)
 
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 ?
 
Thanks for any help that you can give me.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 18 Feb 90 00:11:39 GMT
From: silver!stowe@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu  (stowe)
Subject: Need answers for questions
Message-ID: <36187@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
 
In article <9002170530.AA19950@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> S54394GR@ETSUACAD.BITNET
 (Robert Gambs) writes:
>I have several questions and I hope someone can help me:
>
>First, is STart mag still out (I know St-log/analog went down recently) and if
>so, does anyone know why I am having so much trouble finding a copy?
 
Yes, STart is still available.  We get it at our store.  Do you have a Walden
or Dalton's bookstore?  Ours here also carry STart.
 
>Can anyone suggest a DS/DD ext drive for a 1040st (beside the 314)?  I need one
> that is very inexpensive and something that will hold up.  Has anyone heard
>of the BeaST drive?
 
Yes... the BeaST is a nice drive.  We sell the MaSTer drive at our store.
The main reason we chose the MaSTer over the BeaST is that the BeaST doesn't
have an output port... only input.  MaSTer has both.  The price is about
the same for both drives.  (They list around $230.  As an example, we carry
the MaSTer for $150.)  We've had many people who have been very happy.  The
MaSTer is only slightly larger than the BeaST.  (Certainly not significantly
so... it's 2"x4"x8".)  The MaSTer uses the Chinon mech.  The BeaST uses the
NEC.  (Same mech as in the GTS-100, so users of GCR may wish to beware.)
We have also sold the BeaST and have no reported problems as well.
 
Hope that helps!
 
Holly
 
-=-=-                              -=-=-                                 -=-=-
stowe@silver.ucs.indiana.edu                        You're not strange.  I am.
-=-=-                              -=-=-                                 -=-=-
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 18 FEB 90 00:16:58 CST
From: Z4648252 <Z4648252%SFAUSTIN.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: OK, so they sell the STe
Message-ID: <900218.00165749.037772@SFA.CP6>
 
DAVID SCHREIBER stated:
>....the ST is doing far, far better in Canada than south
>of the border. Americans, on the other hand, are outraged at the
>suggestion that they are not the centre (Cdn. spelling) of Atari's
>strategy. I'd add that, in general, Americans are outraged at the idea
>that they are not the centre of the world, but that would be a cheap
>shot. Besides, they are awfully nice people, if a little self-involved.
 
    I take exception to the above statement.  I'm not outraged at
Atari U.S.A..  No, I'm hurt instead and feel betrayed.  I rejoice
that at least some nation in the North Americas is getting decent
treatment for its users.  Relish your ST market, Canada, and don't
take it for granted!
    I could care less if the U.S. is the center (U.S. spelling - grin)
of the ST market.  What I do care for is that I can get reliable info
about my computer which I've invested money in and be assured that the
computer which I've put my money and time into will still be around
and supported.  I feel betrayed for I have no idea whether or not
my ST will be an orphan or not by the end of this year.
    Here are areas which I feel betrayed in:
 
1.  The Mega2 ST.  I bought it because I was *assured* by the man
    himself during a convention that it would be the front-end for
    the ATW.  That idea was abandoned.  Fine, but the assurance came
    across as fact and was literally promised as fact.
 
2.  Education.  As an educator, I was assured that Atari would pursue
    an aggressive marketting strategy for schools in a manner similar to
    that done for the Pets of ten years ago.  Our school has yet to
    receive a reply from Atari regarding the stocking of a music
    lab utilizing MIDI.  Apple Mac will more than likely win the bid
    since they at least responded.
 
3.  Documentation.  As a user, I cannot find 'official' Atari documentation
    designed for users that is of technical nature.  Docs that come to
    mind is that similar to the technical manuals SUPPLIED with the
    Amiga 500 and optional manuals similar to the Commodore 64 or 128
    Reference manual.  Are we Atari STers rated any less?  No, but as
    far as docs are concerned, the ST seems to be built for developers, not
    for users.
 
4.  Stagnant software.  Software such as TimeWorks Desktop Publisher
    is buggy and will not be upgraded due to the lack of ST exposure.
    I bought the product several years ago.  A more aggressive market
    might have caused that program to be expanded.
 
5.  3rd market support.  Well, a bright spot.  It is fantastic.  Due
    to Dave Small, Gordon Moore, George Woodside, the CodeHeads, DoubleClick,
    and others, the ST continues to keep its head above water.  WordPerfect
    also sees a market potential.
 
---
    These are just rambling items in my head that come to mind as I
compose this on-line.  However, and again, I don't care if the U.S.
market is the center or not.  I just want promises made to not be
broken, follow-up on correspondence, and customer support.  As an
ST user who has sunk some money into the Atari ST since summer of 1985,
I feel betrayed by Atari.
    Ok, enough of this.  I normally don't flame and will probably get
scorched.  SIGH
 
Larry Rymal:  |East Texas Atari 68NNNers| <Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 17 FEB 90 14:38:48.33-GMT
From: DUJARDIN%FRESE51.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU
Subject: Reading from a data stream
 
In INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 #211, Ron DiNapoli wrote :
 
>I am interested in reading a serial stream going at 230K bits/sec into
>my ST.  I've been thinking of using the drive port (documentation says
>it moves at 250K bits/sec) but I am not sure it will work.  I'd like to
>avoid using the internal expansion bus...  any ideas?
 
Why wouldn't we use the RS-232 port for such speeds ? I know that this port is
usually used at baud rates <= 19200, but if you read the specs of the 68901,
you
see that it can be much faster : there's only a bit to change in a register,
and
things go 16 times faster. The trouble is that the documentation states that
such speeds should only be used for synchronous communications, and i don't
think it is available on the ST. There seems to be no way of adressing the
RS-232 port with the DMA (!).
Of course i did a few tests, and it seems to work allright. Maybe it caused
some
damage to my hardware (i didn't notice anything yet !), but 57600 bit/s works
fine. I did the test between my ST and a PC (incidentally, RS 232 ports on PCs
can work at 115200 bit/s - there's a file exchange program using this speed).
You can set up this speed with Rsconf, and even use bios buffers ! The maximum
speed is 614400 bit/s : not so bad, isn't it ?
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #223
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